Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]MARAD vessel 203, MA-199 status card and ship-description reverse [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MA-199 fields 1-13 and operating history; companion card 603c561d-6424-4d1c-977b-c3837cf624b6.jpg, upper left
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD cards identify American Explorer as T-AO-165, type T5-S-RM2a, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi, builder hull 469 and MA hull 53. Keel laid July 9, 1957; launched April 11, 1958; completed and delivered from Commerce to Navy October 27, 1959.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Administrative construction and delivery history only; no asbestos content or individual exposure information. Delivery is not a commissioning ceremony.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-01
-
[2]MARAD vessel 203, Form MA-169 ship description [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Engines, boilers and propulsion columns
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ship-description card marks turbine engines, oil-fired water-tube boilers and single-screw propulsion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Equipment categories do not establish asbestos content. No boiler count or manufacturer is adopted; no nuclear-operation claim is made.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-02
-
[3]MARAD Annual Report FY1979, official DOT ROSA P copy [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Printed p.78, PDF p.86, N.S. SAVANNAH section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD FY1979 annual report describes American Explorer as a T-5 tanker under MSC charter and records approval to remove Savannah's main propulsion reduction gear for installation aboard American Explorer because its gear was in disrepair.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Approval is documented; an installation completion date, yard, work package and material composition are not. This is not evidence of asbestos transfer, disturbance or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-03
-
[4]MARAD vessel 203 status cards [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- DF entered field; CF November 1990 entry; BB top notation; AF Other Data
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD status cards document Beaumont reserve entry June 27, 1984. Later cards record a November 1990 departure for training activation, a February 28, 1991 MSC Desert Storm tender notation, and downgrade to NDRF status October 7, 1994. These later reserve records are outside the assigned Navy service interval ending September 1984.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- The June reserve-entry date is not silently substituted for the assigned September 1984 service endpoint. The endpoint remains uncorroborated by a retrieved Navy order; later reserve activation does not extend this batch's service interval. These cards contain no asbestos scope.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-04
-
[5]MARAD ShipHistory detail 203 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Milestones: July 8 and August 13, 2008
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD records a July 8, 2008 sale for scrap to SSMC and August 13, 2008 departure under the sales contract and withdrawal from inventory.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Sale and withdrawal are documented, not the completion date or method of dismantling, asbestos inventory, or abatement quantities.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-05
-
[6]GAO HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, October 18, 1979 [gao]
- Locator
- Highlights, policy summary
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO's 1979 Navy review describes a 1975 policy of replacing damaged asbestos insulation or insulation removed for necessary repairs, expanded in 1979 to selected high-maintenance areas. This supplies Navy-era context for a Tier 2 research record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Program-level summary; fieldwork concerned Long Beach and Norfolk. It does not name American Explorer, establish a visit to either yard, identify products aboard this hull, or prove personal exposure. Tier 2 is context only, not a hull finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-06
-
[7]U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Gavagan v. United States [court_record]
- Locator
- pp.1-3 (vessel/injury), pp.12-13 (reasoning and AFFIRMED)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Gavagan v. United States, No. 89-2965 (5th Cir., March 23, 1992), concerns a May 30, 1984 finger injury while turning a valve aboard the tanker American Explorer. The court affirmed judgment for the United States after a bench trial. Classified as other litigation, not qualifying asbestos litigation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Affirmed defense judgment concerns this finger-injury plaintiff and this accident only. No asbestos claim or exposure finding is established. Located through public web discovery and retrieved from the court, not returned by CourtListener. The opinion does not state a hull number.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-07
-
[8]Batch 9507 search ledger and retained source packet [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger; research/batch-9507/RESEARCH.md
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, product identification or asbestos litigation was located in the accessible sources reviewed for this batch. Ship-specific asbestos documentation remains unknown. The CourtListener sweep was blocked before results were returned.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- A bounded negative search finding, not proof of absence of asbestos or litigation. CourtListener exact-name variants and hull-number searches remain incomplete after HTTP 429; no CourtListener no-result claim is made.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-08
-
[9]NHHC Archives Branch Collection 94 finding aid [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Box 351, item 178 (search-index excerpt)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC indexed finding aid identifies Collection 94, Box 351, item 178: USNS American Explorer (T-AOT 165), Changes, 1978-1984.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Only indexed finding-aid text was accessible; direct PDF retrieval failed. Folder contents were not retrieved. This is a service-date research lead, not evidence of asbestos or a specific administrative action.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-american-explorer-09
