Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Eltanin' entry (live URL returned 404 on 2026-09-19; entry text verified via Wayback Machine capture 2024-05-28) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS > E > Eltanin; Wayback https://web.archive.org/web/20240528220316/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/eltanin.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records: Eltanin named for a star in the constellation Draco; launched 1957-01-16 by Avondale Marine Ways, Inc., Avondale, La.; turned over to Military Sea Transportation Service October 1957 for noncommissioned operation; classification changed to T-AGOR-8 on 1962-08-23.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1956-1962
- Limitations
- DANFS entry is minimal - omits laid-down date, stricken date, and disposal detail (dates supplied from BuShips/NARA-derived and MARAD records, rows ev-02/-03). Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information; supports identity and timeline only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-01
-
[2]MARAD ShipHistory database, ELTANIN, Detail 1417 (characteristics, milestones, digitized Form MA-383 status card 1417_2611AF.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 1417 milestone table; status card image /cards/1417_2611AF.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD record documents: ELTANIN, breakbulk type C1-ME2-13a, hull 46, built 10-1957 by Avondale Marine Ways; LOA 246.76 ft, breadth 51.5 ft, 2,486 gross tons, 1,850 DWT; entered James River Reserve Fleet 1990-02-21; withdrawn 1992-03-18 with reason 'Going for scrap'; 'Ship was transferred from Navy'; fate field: Scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1990-1992
- Limitations
- Custody and characteristics record only - the status card carries no asbestos, hazmat, materials, or condition-survey information, and does not name the scrap purchaser or breaking yard. Withdrawal 'going for scrap' establishes disposal event, not the scrapping location or any abatement performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-02
-
[3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USNS Eltanin (T-AK 270) Class' - compiled from NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships records (Entry P 62 boxes 25-26, 28; Entry P 52 box 121) and Senate Appropriations Committee hearings on H.R. 8873 (1954-05-12) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com AK-270 class page - class notes and ship notes tables
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Eltanin was one of six ice-strengthened ships in MSTS's FY1955 special construction program for DEW Line support, funded by a $50M special appropriation (Defense Department Appropriation Act of 1955, signed 1954-06-30). BuShips contract design by H. Newton Whittelsey released for construction 1955-03-16; construction contract awarded to Avondale Marine Ways 1955-09-22; keel laid 1956-06-04; launched 1957-01-16; delivered 1957-10-01. Modified at a New York shipyard 1961-62 into an Antarctic scientific laboratory for NSF (helicopter deck, balloon shelter, geophysical and meteorological gear, anti-roll tanks, protective bulwarks); reclassified T-AGOR-8 on 1962-08-23 effective 1962-11-15. Conducted 52 Antarctic research cruises 1962-07-05 to 1972-12-29. Loaned to Argentina 1974-02-19 as ISLAS ORCADAS under a 5-year lease; returned to U.S. Navy at Norfolk 1979-08-01 and berthed in the Navy reserve fleet at Portsmouth, Va., pending an NSF reactivation decision; stricken 1988-04-19; to MARAD custody JRRF 1990-02-21; title to MARAD 1990-07-02; departed JRRF 1992-03-18 following scrap sale.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1954-1992
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of primary records - the author cites specific NARA RG 19 entries and congressional hearings, but individual dates were not re-verified against the original record cards this pass. JRRF custody dates corroborated independently by the MARAD status card (ev-02); launch and reclassification corroborated by DANFS (ev-01). Conversion-yard name not given ('a New York shipyard'). No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-03
-
[4]Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (Columbia University), 'History of Lamont Ships' - institutional record of the observatory that ran Eltanin's underway geophysics program [other_primary]
- Locator
- LDEO Office of Marine Operations, 'Eltanin (1962-1975)' section; Wayback https://web.archive.org/web/20240523125913/https://lamont.columbia.edu/research-divisions/marine-large-programs/office-marine-operations/ship-history
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Lamont Geological Observatory installed and initially maintained Eltanin's underway geophysical equipment (precision depth sounding, gravity, magnetics, seismic reflection profiling); NSF's Division of Polar Programs funded the work. Between 1962 and 1975 scientists and technicians aboard logged and archived ~420,000 nautical miles of track between 40 degrees S and Antarctica, with more than 1,500 hydro stations and thousands of bathythermograph casts and bottom photographs. The ship was transferred to the Argentine Navy as Islas Orcadas and continued South Atlantic work, often with Lamont projects aboard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1962-1975
- Population
- Embarked scientists and technicians (1962-1975 program era)
- Limitations
- Institutional retrospective - states the transfer year as 1975 versus the documented 1974-02-19 Argentine flag transfer (ev-03/-13); treated here as program-era framing since NSF-funded science cruises under Argentine flag continued into 1975. Live page is Cloudflare-gated to automated fetches; content verified via Wayback capture 2024-05-23. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-04
-
[5]Gordon, A.L., 'A Circumpolar View of the Southern Ocean from 1962 to 1992,' Oceanography 25(3), 2012 (peer-reviewed; The Oceanography Society) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Oceanography 25(3):18-23, 'Eltanin and Islas Orcadas' section; DOI 10.5670/oceanog.2012.69
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed program history confirms the Eltanin/Islas Orcadas expeditions anchored the 1962-1992 circumpolar survey era: Eltanin was supported by NSF's Office of Polar Programs, was an ice-capable double-hulled ship refitted in August 1962 and reclassified T-AGOR-8, executed physical/biological/geological/geophysical oceanography with >1,500 hydro stations, and the survey continued as ARA Islas Orcadas under Argentine operation within the same US-Argentina framework.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1962-1992
- Limitations
- Science-program history, not an engineering or materials record; corroborates the research era and the hull's ice-capable construction, establishes nothing about shipboard materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-05
-
[6]Cassidy, D.S. et al., 'The ARA Islas Orcadas marine geology coring program: a research bibliography,' Polar Record (Cambridge University Press) - plus program framing in NSF Antarctic Journal of the United States [other_primary]
- Locator
- Polar Record bibliography, doi:10.1017/S0032247400009189; program framing per Antarctic Journal of the U.S. (NSF) cited therein
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documents that the final phase of the NSF research vessel's operation ran under a US-Republic of Argentina interagency agreement: renamed ARA Islas Orcadas, operated by the Argentine Naval Hydrographic Service, the ship collected >2,100 m of sediment cores over a five-year period processed at Florida State University's Antarctic Marine Geology facility (continuation of the circumpolar survey Eltanin began in 1962).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1974-1979
- Population
- Argentine Navy crew and embarked US/Argentine scientists (1974-1979)
- Limitations
- Confirms the five-year Argentine-era operation and program structure; contains no materials, refit, or asbestos information. Does not by itself document the flag-transfer date (ev-03/-13 carry the dates).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-06
-
[7]Bureau of Ships / Maritime Administration, 'Booklet of General Plans, Design C1-ME2-13a' (MA Plan 46-59-0 series; sheets 3-6 of 10 posted on MARAD ShipHistory for hulls 46/47/48, drawn 1957-01-09, issued 1958-03-27) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MARAD ShipHistory Detail 1417, 'C1-ME2-13a Booklet of General Plans.pdf' (sheets 3-6: outboard profile, inboard profile with machinery data, decks, midship/cross sections)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The design booklet for the type documents (sheets reviewed): diesel-electric machinery plant - two ALCO 4-cycle main-propulsion-generator diesel engines driving Westinghouse generators feeding two Westinghouse propulsion motors; twin screws; accommodations totaling 59 (deck dept 17, engine dept 17, stewards dept 11, 12 stevedore passengers, 2 additional passengers); refrigerated cargo spaces served by Freon-12 York Corp. plants; two cargo holds amidships with machinery and accommodation aft; ice-strengthened midship sections.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1955-1958
- Limitations
- Design-level document covering hulls 46-48 (Eltanin, Mirfak, Mizar), not a hull-specific record. The four posted sheets are arrangement drawings - they contain no material or insulation schedule and neither establish nor exclude asbestos aboard; material specifications would appear in the Whittelsey contract specifications, not the GA booklet.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-07
-
[8]Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, 139 S. Ct. 986 (2019), No. 17-1104 (U.S. Supreme Court, decided 2019-03-19) [court_record]
- Locator
- Syllabus and Kavanaugh, J., opinion, Part I; cert. to 3d Cir., 873 F.3d 232
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The Supreme Court's opinion records era-level Navy practice: manufacturers produced equipment for Navy ships that 'required asbestos insulation or asbestos parts to function as intended,' delivered much of it without asbestos, and 'the Navy later added the asbestos to the equipment' - documenting that mid-century Navy ship equipment was built around asbestos-containing components. The Court adopted a maritime duty-to-warn rule.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1950s-1980s Navy equipment era described; opinion 2019
- Population
- Navy ship crews and shipyard workers (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level doctrinal context only - names no hull and makes no finding about this vessel; the ships at issue were other Navy hulls. Included to anchor the era inference in ev-09 to a court-verified statement of Navy asbestos practice; does not establish exposure, causation, or legal eligibility for anyone aboard this ship.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-08
-
[9]Era inference anchored to the ship's documented build record: BuShips/MARAD design C1-ME2-13a constructed 1956-57 at Avondale under the MSTS special-construction program (ev-03, ev-07), in the period when Navy ship equipment and marine construction relied on asbestos-containing insulation, gasketing, and fireproofing (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Inference from ev-03 (construction program), ev-07 (design documentation), ev-08 (era Navy asbestos practice)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- As a 1957 government-designed cargo ship built to BuShips/MARAD contract specifications in the peak period of marine asbestos use, era-typical asbestos applications aboard this type would include thermal insulation on the diesel-electric plant's exhaust and machinery, gaskets and packing, joiner/bulkhead and fireproofing materials, refrigerated-space insulation, deck underlayment, and winch/crane brake linings. The diesel-electric plant means no boiler or steam-line lagging - the asbestos-relevant systems differ from steam-powered contemporaries.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1955-1957
- Population
- Construction trades (Avondale Marine Ways, 1956-57); conversion yard trades (New York, 1961-62); MSTS crew and embarked scientists; Argentine Navy crew 1974-79; 1992 scrapping workers
- Limitations
- Era/design-level inference, not a hull record - no material or insulation schedule for this design was located in the posted plan sheets, and no hull-specific document establishes asbestos aboard. Does not establish presence, quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-09
-
[10]Batch-413 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS, MARAD ShipHistory + status card + plan booklet, shipscribe/NARA-derived compilation, LDEO institutional history, peer-reviewed program literature, archive.org NARA file unit, web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-usns-eltanin-01 through sl-usns-eltanin-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, MARAD environmental review, or pre-disposal materials assessment naming this hull was found in the public sources searched. Litigation status is UNSEARCHED, not 'no result': CourtListener API v4 returned HTTP 429 (125/day limit exhausted, ~9.5h backoff) and the web UI returned 403, so the hull-name and hull-number docket sweep could not be executed this pass; a general web sweep returned only law-firm marketing list pages, which are excluded per sourcing rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2026-09-19
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1957 hull held by the government until a 1992 scrap sale is era-consistent with retained ACM at disposal, but that is inference. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. The blocked litigation sweep is a real gap, logged as such.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-10
-
[11]NARA file unit 'Plans for the Cargo Ship USS Eltanin (T-AK-270), 1789-1967' (Bureau of Ships contract plans dated 1955-09-12), digitized in the Internet Archive ship-design-drawings collection (item tak270ga1955, ~467 MB, 195 foldouts) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org item tak270ga1955; NARA provenance per item metadata (BuShips file unit)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-specific Bureau of Ships general-arrangement plans for T-AK-270 exist as a digitized NARA file unit (MA hull 46, Avondale yard 801). The set is drawing scans with no text layer; material/insulation specifications, if documented anywhere, would sit in the accompanying Whittelsey contract specifications rather than the GA drawings.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1955-1957 plans
- Limitations
- Existence verified; content not surveyed sheet-by-sheet (195 foldouts, image-only). The asbestos-relevant document is the contract specification volume, which remains unsurveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-11
-
[12]NARA record-group mapping: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships - shipscribe cites Entry P 62 boxes 25-26, 28 and Entry P 52 box 121 for this class's design files); MSTS/USNS deck logs for T-AK-270/T-AGOR-8; MARAD disposal-sale file for the ~1991-11-22 scrap sale; Argentine-era records via Servicio de Hidrografia Naval / Direccion Nacional del Antartico agreement file [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 19; NARA merchant/MSC logbook guidance; shipscribe 'special sources' note
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Record path mapped for ship-specific materials and disposal documentation: the Whittelsey contract specifications and BuShips correspondence in RG 19; MSTS/MSC deck logs and ship files (noncommissioned-vessel logs are held outside the RG 24 commissioned-ship series); the MARAD scrap-sale contract file which may carry hazmat/abatement terms for the 1992 disposal; and the NSF-Direccion Nacional del Antartico agreement records covering the 1974-79 loan.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1954-1992 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed and no spend authorized; whether any asbestos-specific document exists in these series is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-12
-
[13]Date-conflict resolution across sources: shipscribe (NARA RG 19-derived); LDEO institutional history; NavSource secondary summary; Argentine naval efemeride record (flag raised 1974-02-19, returned 1979-08-01); Polar Record program bibliography [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AK-270 ship-notes row for ELTANIN; LDEO 'Eltanin (1962-1975)' section; Argentine Navy efemeride (1974-02-19); Polar Record doi:10.1017/S0032247400009189
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-source conflicts resolved: (a) Argentine transfer year - LDEO says '1975,' NavSource says 1974; the documented flag transfer is 1974-02-19 under a five-year lease, with NSF-funded science under the Argentine flag continuing into 1975 (LDEO's framing reflects the program era, not the legal transfer). (b) 'Disposed of by the Argentine Navy in 1979' (NavSource) is imprecise - the ship was returned to U.S. Navy custody at Norfolk on 1979-08-01 at the end of the lease, then berthed at Portsmouth, stricken 1988-04-19, and scrapped only after the 1991 MARAD sale and 1992-03-18 fleet departure. (c) DANFS omits keel/stricken dates; compiled NARA-derived data supply 1956-06-04 and 1988-04-19 respectively.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1974-1992
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies between secondary sources; the 1991-11-22 sale date itself rests on compiled records consistent with the MARAD card and has not been confirmed against the MARAD sale file. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-eltanin-13