Naval Station San Diego — located on San Diego Bay at 32nd Street and commonly known as the “32nd Street Naval Station” — is the United States Pacific Fleet’s largest naval installation and a primary homeport for surface combatants of the Pacific Fleet. Operating since 1919, Naval Station San Diego has served as the home port for destroyers, cruisers, amphibious ships, and support vessels, while also hosting ship repair facilities, training commands, and naval support activities across its extensive waterfront. The surface combatants homeported at San Diego’s 32nd Street facility — built and outfitted during the WWII and postwar eras — were equipped with steam propulsion plants surrounded by asbestos insulation, with asbestos gaskets and packing at every valve and pump connection throughout their engineering spaces. Navy veterans who served aboard ships at 32nd Street, and workers in the facility’s support shops and maintenance operations, were exposed to asbestos from these vessel systems and the asbestos-containing materials in the station’s shore facilities.

Documented Asbestos — 32nd Street Naval Station in Litigation

Veteran Service — 32nd Street

Naval Station San Diego — Formal Documentation

Shipfitter Work — San Diego Navy

Asbestos at Naval Station San Diego

Pacific Fleet surface combatants: Naval Station San Diego served as the homeport for Pacific Fleet destroyers, cruisers, and amphibious vessels — ships built with steam propulsion systems surrounded by asbestos insulation throughout their engineering spaces. Machinist’s Mates and Boiler Technicians who maintained these engineering plants at the 32nd Street pier faced asbestos exposure at every maintenance cycle.

Destroyer tender operations: USS Dixie and other destroyer tenders homeported at Naval Station San Diego provided shipboard maintenance and repair support for the destroyer fleet — bringing the tenders’ own engineering personnel into contact with asbestos aboard both the tender and the destroyers being serviced.

Ship repair facilities: The ship repair activities at Naval Station San Diego — conducted by Navy personnel and civilian yard workers — required removing and replacing asbestos insulation to access piping and mechanical systems, generating intense asbestos exposure during every repair evolution.

Shore facilities and support infrastructure: The naval station’s pier facilities, maintenance shops, and support buildings were constructed during the base’s WWII and postwar expansion with asbestos-containing materials throughout their construction.

Navy veterans who were stationed at or served aboard vessels homeported at Naval Station San Diego (32nd Street), particularly Machinist’s Mates, Boiler Technicians, and Shipfitters who performed engineering maintenance at the 32nd Street facility, and who subsequently developed mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease, may qualify for:

  • VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) for veterans with documented duty at Naval Station San Diego in engineering maintenance or ship repair roles
  • Civil claims against asbestos product manufacturers whose materials were installed in vessels homeported at 32nd Street and in the station’s maintenance facilities

Key documents:

  • DD-214 or service records — documenting assignment to Naval Station San Diego or aboard vessels homeported at 32nd Street
  • Rating records — Machinist’s Mate (MM), Boiler Technician (BT), or Shipfitter (SF) with documented San Diego duty
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Documented asbestos exposure information derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.