Asbestos In Shipyards

San Diego Naval Shipyard - History

The bustling, thriving site that is today's San Diego Naval Shipyard would come as quite a surprise to the original proponents of the naval base. In 1907, when the Great White Fleet began its famous circumnavigation of the world, San Diego wasn't even on the list of ports to visit. The fleet, organized by President Theodore Roosevelt to tour the world as a show of U.S. Naval strength, was to sail directly up the West Coast beginning at San Pedro (Los Angeles) and culminating at Puget Sound in Washington. When a group of businessmen from San Diego discovered that the fleet would not be stopping at San Diego, they hired a tug to intercept the ships off Baja, California to try to negotiate a stop in their city. Their plan worked, and the Navy agreed to a three-day stopover in San Diego. When the fleet came within sight of San Diego in April 1908, it was met by an enthusiastic crowd of thousands - and welcomed to California by the governor himself. The hastily organized event made an indelible mark on Navy command.

It also launched the political career of event's chairman, William Kettner. Soon, as a Congressman, Kettner began an all out effort to entice the Navy to locate a shipyard in San Diego. The Navy was far from positive about the small city. In a letter from the General Board concerning the establishment of a naval station at San Diego, George Dewey wrote, ""Referring to the proposed establishment of a naval station at San Diego, the General Board believes that this place is not naturally well adapted for the purpose and that its strategic value as a supplement to other stations now existing in the same area would be small."

The Navy Establishes a Presence

As World War I began to press its urgency on the Navy, Kettner offered to the Navy - free of charge - facilities for a Naval Training Station at San Diego. Once the training station had been established, he quietly pressed for and won a naval hospital, a supply depot, and an aviation operation at North Island. By the time the war ended, San Diego was in a position to offer coordinated and connected services to the Navy in a way that no other city on the West Coast could. When the Navy sought to acquire a shipyard for repair and shipbuilding on the West Coast to manage the same operations carried out at Norfolk on the East Coast, San Diegans turned out again en masse to woo the Navy and turn the decision to their own city. Despite a tug of war between the Navy and a local landowner, Theodore Roosevelt soon issued General Order 78, establishing the facility that began as U.S. Destroyer Base, San Diego.

Over the next several years, the shipyard at the San Diego Naval Base grew in leaps and bounds. Repair facilities were expanded, more shops were constructed, and radio and torpedo schools were established. In 1924 alone, the San Diego Naval Shipyard decommissioned an amazing 77 destroyers and commissioned an additional seven. Under the command of Captain Chester Nimitz, the Navy undertook dredging projects that would deepen the harbor at San Diego, making it fit for larger naval ships and preparing the shipyard for the staggering burst of activity that would come with the onset of World War II.

World War II Launches Expansion

The increase in activity at the San Diego Naval Shipyard during the World War II years is paralleled only by the same scale of increase at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. By 1942, the Destroyer Base at San Diego included holdings of 29 buildings, including expanded fleet training schools and a newly-created amphibious force training unit. In 1943, the Navy determined that the facility at San Diego had expanded beyond its definition as a "Destroyer Base" and the San Diego base was re-designated as the U.S. Repair Base, San Diego.

Between 1943 and 1945, over 5,100 ships passed through the U.S. Repair Base, San Diego for repairs, outfitting, conversion, overhaul and maintenance. Among the maintenance operations was the construction and deployment of 155 floating dry docks to various naval stations around the world.

After the war, the base was re-designated yet again and renamed as the Naval Station, San Diego. By the end of 1946, the base had grown to more than 900 acres, housing 294 buildings that provided more than 6.9 million square-feet of floor space. The barracks could accommodate in excess of 18,000 enlisted men and 300 officers. The base expanded yet again during the Korean War to a regular workforce of over 14,000 employees and maintained that level through the 1980s.

Today, the Naval Shipyard at San Diego is part of the Naval Base San Diego complex, which employs more than 40,000 military personnel. It is a state-of-the-art, modern naval facility that is home port to about fifty ships, and is a city within a city, providing for the needs of not only its residents and employees, but offering pier side services for ships that dock there. The shipyard continues to provide repair and support services for the Naval Fleet, and is the linchpin of the West Coast arm of Naval Operations.

San Diego Naval Shipyard and Asbestos Exposure

Anyone who worked at the San Diego Naval Shipyard prior to 1980 was probably exposed to asbestos on the job. Throughout most of the twentieth century, asbestos was heavily used in and around naval stations because of its superior insulating and fireproofing qualities. Asbestos and asbestos-containing products were used for pipe insulation, boiler insulation, electrical wire coverings, in spray-on asbestos coatings, and for many other uses. When asbestos is broken into tiny fibers in the air, it may be swallowed or inhaled, and may eventually lead to serious health conditions, including mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that has no other known cause.

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