Naval Station Ingleside, located near Corpus Christi, Texas on Corpus Christi Bay, served as the United States Navy’s primary mine warfare installation and the homeport for the Mine Countermeasures Force from its establishment in 1992 through its closure in 2010 under the Base Realignment and Closure process. Naval Station Ingleside was home to the Navy’s Avenger class mine countermeasures ships (MCM), Osprey class minehunter coastal ships (MHC), and the helicopter mine countermeasures squadrons operating the MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter. Ingleside was established specifically to consolidate the Navy’s mine warfare forces in the Gulf Coast following the mine warfare lessons of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, when mines posed a significant threat to the coalition naval forces. The station’s facilities — pier complexes, maintenance shops, and support buildings — were constructed using construction materials of the early 1990s construction period. The mine countermeasures ships homeported at Ingleside — particularly the older Avenger class ships originally commissioned in the 1980s — incorporated construction materials of their building periods.

Naval Station Ingleside’s construction incorporated asbestos-era materials:

  • Mine countermeasures ship pier facilities — the pier facilities and ship support buildings at Naval Station Ingleside where Avenger class MCM ships and Osprey class MHC ships were homeported were constructed using the construction materials and specifications of the early 1990s facility construction period. Navy personnel from homeported mine countermeasures ships working in pier-side facilities at Ingleside accumulated background asbestos exposure from the pier facility construction
  • Mine warfare training and maintenance facilities — the mine warfare training facilities, maintenance shops, and technical support buildings at Naval Station Ingleside supporting mine countermeasures operations incorporated construction materials consistent with the early 1990s facility construction period
  • Helicopter mine countermeasures squadron facilities — the hangar and maintenance facilities supporting the MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter mine countermeasures squadrons at Ingleside were constructed using the construction specifications of the early 1990s facility construction period

Avenger Class MCM Ship Asbestos

Mine countermeasures ships homeported at Ingleside incorporated construction-period materials:

  • Avenger class MCM ship construction — the Avenger class mine countermeasures ships (MCM-1 through MCM-14), commissioned 1987–1994, were built with fiberglass-sheathed wooden hulls to minimize magnetic signature, a requirement of mine warfare vessels. The Avenger class ship construction specifications of the late 1980s to mid-1990s incorporated construction materials of that period in the ship’s interior spaces, engineering areas, and habitability spaces

VA Claims for Naval Station Ingleside Veterans

VA evaluates asbestos-related disability claims on a case-by-case basis. Veterans generally need evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, a current asbestos-related diagnosis, and a medical link between them. Navy personnel who served at Naval Station Ingleside and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.