Naval Submarine Base (NSB) Kings Bay is located in the southeastern corner of Georgia. The 16,000-acre facility is home to the East Coast Trident submarine fleet. Its conversion from an Army terminal to a strategic submarine base represents the largest peacetime construction initiative the U.S. Navy has ever undertaken. Unfortunately, the historic use of asbestos during its construction and early operational years exposed military personnel and civilian workers who worked and served there over the years, as well as those involved in its conversion, to the risk of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
History of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
There is archaeological evidence that the land on which NSB Kings Bay was originally the home of pre-Columbian Indigenous peoples.[1] During the early 19th century, the land was divided into plantations, which operated until the end of the Civil War. It was subsequently broken into smaller parcels used for homes and small farms, as well as for fishing and harvesting shellfish.
Cold War Army Terminal
The land surrounding the Kings Bay site was acquired by the U.S. Army during the early 1950s, when Cold War national security concerns prompted the U.S. Army to identify strategic coastal military sites. The Army wanted to establish an ocean terminal that would be able to manage transporting and distributing ammunition during national emergencies. Construction began in 1955, with the facility completed in 1958. Over the years, the site was known by several names, including Kings Bay Army Terminal, Military Ocean Terminal Kings Bay, and MOTKI.[1]
Though the site was only intended to be used for emergencies, it was built with an extensive infrastructure, including a massive concrete and steel dock measuring 2,000 feet long and 87 feet wide. The building had three parallel railroad tracks running through it, which accommodated simultaneous loading of ammunition stores onto both multiple trains and via trucks. The Army also laid 47 miles of railroad track, complete with spurs branching off to temporary storage facilities that were protected by earthen barricades and bunkers. To enable marine access, engineers dredged a 200-foot-wide channel from the base to the Cumberland Sound, as well as two turning basins specifically to allow naval traffic.
Base Remained Inactive for Twenty Years
Despite the immense investment of time and materials involved in its construction, the Army terminal was never used for its original purpose. From 1956 to 1978, the facility’s status was categorized as inactive/ready. It was only used for reserve training exercises and to accommodate resources needed during natural disasters. It was briefly activated during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and the terminal was where disaster relief was coordinated after Hurricane Dora’s high winds, heavy rain, and storm surge caused major damage to homes, businesses, farm land, and infrastructure.
Navy Identifies Kings Bay as Optimal Site for Submarines
During this period, the land was leased by the Blue Star Shipping Company, which conducted commercial shipping and receiving on the site. By 1976, its advantages became apparent to the U.S. Navy, which identified the former Army terminal as an excellent location for its East Coast fleet of ballistic missile submarines and their support operations. In 1978, the transformation from an inactive army base into Naval Submarine Support Base Kings Bay began.[1]
The project involved substantial renovations of the existing Army infrastructure, disturbing significant amounts of asbestos that had been included in buildings constructed during the 1950s. The first submarines arrived in 1979: USS Simon Lake and USS James Monroe. These vessels marked the beginning of Kings Bay’s evolution into a submarine base. In 1979, the Navy’s leadership identified Kings Bay as the best East Coast location for its Ohio-class submarine program. After completing a comprehensive one-year environmental impact study and receiving approval from Congress, the Secretary of the Navy announced in 1980 that Kings Bay would become the home of the Trident submarine fleet. This decision was consequential for both the installation and the surrounding community.
Historic Peacetime Building Initiative
The construction program needed to convert the site to the Trident fleet’s base represented the most extensive peacetime building initiative in U.S. Navy history.[2] Spanning nine years and costing $1.3 billion in appropriations, the project created the necessary infrastructure to accommodate three major command facilities: the Trident Training Facility, the Trident Refit Facility, and the Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic. The upper base’s design set accessibility as a priority, ensuring that no building was more than a 15-minute walk from any other facility. The site’s construction also added housing, support facilities, a new training pool, and many other operational structures.
In January 1989, the USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) was the first Trident submarine to arrive at Kings Bay as its new home. The USS Pennsylvania followed later that year, marking the beginning of a rapid fleet expansion. Throughout the early 1990s, the base hosted commissioning ceremonies for the USS West Virginia, the USS Kentucky, the USS Maryland, the USS Nebraska, the USS Rhode Island, the USS Maine, and the USS Wyoming. The commissioning of USS Louisiana in September 1997 was the last of ten Trident submarines to be housed at Kings Bay.
Post-Cold War Reductions
After the Cold War ended, Kings Bay’s mission and composition changed dramatically. Following a comprehensive nuclear policy review, plans were put in place for the Ohio-class fleet to be downsized from 18 to 14 ballistic-missile submarines by 2005. To meet this requirement, the Navy decommissioned the four oldest Ohio-class submarines and converted them to guided missile platforms capable of carrying conventional weapons and special operations forces. This conversion was completed at Kings Bay along with the facility’s normal refit activities. When five submarines were transferred to Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state, Kings Bay received USS Florida (SSGN 728) in May 2006 and USS Georgia (SSGN 729) in 2007. Both were converted guided missile submarines designed for precision strike missions and special operations support.
Today, NSB Kings Bay encompasses approximately 16,000 acres, of which 4,000 acres are preserved as protected wetlands supporting diverse ecosystems. It serves as the headquarters for Submarine Group 10, Submarine Squadrons 16 and 20, and continues to operate the three major command facilities established during the 1980s expansion. The base is the home port for six Ohio-class Trident submarines and two guided missile submarines.
Asbestos Contamination Throughout Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
The years when the Kings Bay site was originally built, and throughout its early operational periods, the military made extensive use of asbestos-containing material. Though this practice was based on the strength, durability, and fireproofing that the material provided, it proved to be devastating for thousands of military personnel. Though the historically massive 1980s construction and conversion project used safer building materials, the Army terminal facilities built during the 1950s adhered to the military construction standards of their time, when asbestos use in numerous applications was mandatory.
When the Navy acquired and renovated these structures in the late 1970s, news of asbestos’s dangers had not yet been revealed to the public. With most of the original asbestos-containing materials remaining in place and those involved in the renovation work unaware of the need to protect themselves, construction workers and military personnel involved in the conversion project were exposed to the dangerous fibers released into the air.
Throughout the extensive construction, concerns about the potential dangers of asbestos were offset by the preference for the material’s exceptional fire-resistant qualities and thermal insulation properties—characteristics that were particularly valuable in submarine facilities and weapons storage areas. The Navy’s specifications for critical infrastructure, especially facilities handling ordnance and supporting nuclear operations, often required materials with the precise characteristics that asbestos provided.
Asbestos-containing materials appeared throughout Kings Bay in various forms:
- Boiler room insulation and thermal barriers
- Cable conduits and electrical wire insulation
- Ceiling tiles and acoustic panels in older structures
- Concrete foundation additives in Army-era buildings
- Fire-resistant clothing and protective equipment
- Firefighting gear and heat-protective garments
- Gasket materials and valve components
- HVAC system insulation and ductwork
- Paint formulations and protective coatings
- Pipe insulation throughout steam systems
- Roofing materials on Army-era structures
- Soundproofing materials in submarine facilities
- Thermal insulation in weapons storage areas
- Wall panels and insulation materials
The submarines homeported at Kings Bay presented additional exposure risks themselves. Despite the Navy’s efforts to phase out the material, vessels constructed during the late 1970s and early 1980s contained asbestos in various shipboard systems. Submarine construction included asbestos in engine room insulation, pipe coverings, gaskets, valve packing, cable insulation, and many other applications where fire resistance and thermal protection were essential.
Personnel Exposed to Asbestos Hazards
Asbestos-related diseases have an extended latency period: Diseases like mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer frequently take from 20 to 50 years between asbestos exposure and symptom manifestation. This means that military personnel and civilian workers who worked or served at Kings Bay from the late 1970s through the 1990s remain at risk for developing serious illnesses.
Individuals who directly handled asbestos-containing materials during construction, renovation, and maintenance activities experienced the highest exposure levels, but the microscopic nature of asbestos fibers meant that they easily became airborne and could spread far beyond the immediate work areas from which they were released. There was a strong potential for them to affect anyone working or living on the installation.
Personnel categories at elevated risk included:
- Boilermakers and steam plant technicians
- Cable installers and telecommunications specialists
- Construction workers on the 1980s building program
- Demolition crews working on Army-era structures
- Electricians installing and maintaining systems
- Equipment operators and heavy machinery personnel
- Firefighters and emergency response teams
- HVAC technicians and climate control specialists
- Insulators and thermal protection installers
- Machinists and precision equipment operators
- Maintenance workers servicing buildings and equipment
- Painters and surface preparation crews
- Pipefitters working on steam and water systems
- Plumbers installing and repairing infrastructure
- Railroad workers handling deliveries and materials
- Renovation crews updating Army terminal facilities
- Sheet metal workers and fabricators
- Shipyard personnel maintaining submarines
- Submariners serving aboard homeported vessels
- Veterans assigned to the base during the construction period
- Welders and metal joining specialists
Submarine crews suffered particularly concerning exposure scenarios. The confined spaces within these vessels, combined with poor ventilation in many compartments, allowed asbestos particles to accumulate in dangerously high concentrations. Personnel working in engine rooms, mechanical spaces, and equipment compartments encountered the highest levels of contamination.
Maintenance and refit operations on submarines homeported at Kings Bay created additional exposure pathways. Workers performing repairs, upgrades, and scheduled maintenance regularly disturbed asbestos-containing materials, releasing fibers that could affect not only the workers performing the tasks but also other personnel in the vicinity.
Secondary exposure represented one of the most tragic threats of all. Service members and civilian employees inadvertently carried asbestos fibers to their homes on their work uniforms, hair, and skin. Family members handling contaminated clothing or simply living in households with exposed workers could inhale or ingest dangerous particles, potentially developing asbestos-related diseases despite never working at the base themselves.
Environmental Concerns at Naval Base Kings Bay
Environmental contamination at Kings Bay has led to federal actions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documented decades of military operations that contaminated groundwater, soil, and sediment throughout the installation. Beyond asbestos, numerous other toxic substances ranging from pesticides to battery acid and various petroleum products contaminated the site. The Navy’s practice of burying waste materials in on-site disposal areas, some located near wetlands, allowed contaminants to leach into groundwater systems. The EPA has identified spills and leaking containers, including instances where significant volumes of contaminated oils have spread through the environment.
Even today, legacy asbestos materials remain in older structures and systems throughout the installation. Although current federal regulations mandate careful handling and proper safety protocols during renovation and demolition work, the potential for exposure continues if proper procedures are not rigorously followed.
Resources for Affected Veterans and Workers
Individuals who served or worked at NSB Kings Bay, and who’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or other asbestos-related conditions have multiple options for obtaining medical care and financial support.
Filing a VA Claim
One of the first steps veterans should take after diagnosis is to submit a claim to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Doing so provides numerous benefits. It provides access to the medical system, which maintains specialized treatment programs for asbestos-related diseases at VA Medical Centers across the nation. These facilities provide comprehensive diagnostic services, treatment options, and ongoing care management. The VA system can also coordinate treatment at premier cancer research institutions for veterans requiring specialized interventions.
Additionally, filing a claim connected to a service-connected asbestos disease may qualify veterans for disability compensation benefits, with mesothelioma cases typically warranting 100% disability ratings due to the severity of the condition and its established connection to military service. The VA has streamlined claims processing for asbestos-related conditions, recognizing the documented widespread use of asbestos in military facilities and vessels.
Legal Options
Beyond VA healthcare and disability benefits, asbestos exposure victims can pursue compensation through legal channels. Experienced asbestos attorneys can evaluate your case and guide you on the different possibilities available to you. These may include:
Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Fund Claims: Many of the companies that manufactured or supplied asbestos products to military installations have established bankruptcy trust funds specifically to compensate victims of asbestos exposure. These trusts hold billions of dollars reserved for claimants who can provide evidence of exposure to products from specific manufacturers.
Personal Injury Lawsuits: Veterans who’ve pursued lawsuits against the corporations responsible for supplying asbestos-containing materials to military facilities have resulted in significant jury awards providing money for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages related to asbestos diseases.
Workers’ Compensation Claims: Civilian employees who worked at Kings Bay may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, depending on their employment status and the specific circumstances of their exposure.
Speak to an Experienced Mesothelioma Lawyer
Successfully navigating the claims and compensation process associated with mesothelioma is complex and can be confusing. Victims of asbestos exposure will benefit from working with an attorney with significant experience in litigating asbestos cases. These professionals are well-versed in what is required to establish asbestos exposure history, identify responsible parties, gather necessary documentation, and manage all the processes involved.
Be sure to act quickly. A mesothelioma diagnosis is shocking, and it’s natural to want to take time to get used to the idea and consult with family and friends, but strict time limits have been set for filing different types of legal claims. These deadlines make moving quickly after diagnosis especially important. Each state has its own statutes of limitations for personal injury claims, and some trust funds have specific filing deadlines. Consulting with a compassionate legal professional who specializes in asbestos litigation ensures that mesothelioma victims have a good understanding of their options and make informed decisions before moving forward.
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