Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]MARAD Sword Knot vessel entry and vessel status cards [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Year Built, Shipyard, MARAD Type; cards/9dc4e5c1-aa64-48d7-ba57-8cb3b48716e5.png, header and first delivery row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Sword Knot was built in 1945 by Consolidated Steel Corporation, type C1-M-AV1, Maritime Commission hull 2466. The vessel status card records completion and WSA delivery on May 30, 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Builder location differs between cards: Long Beach on the vessel status card, Consolidated-Wilmington on the reserve card. No location normalized pending reconciliation. Completion/delivery is not a Navy commissioning date; no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-01
-
[2]MARAD reserve-fleet particulars and sale cards [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- cards/4733_8719AF.jpg: Name, Type, Category, Service prior to lay-up; cards/4733_AF.jpg: Name
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The 1971 reserve-fleet card identifies USNS Sword Knot, AGM-13, as an instrumentation range ship, with MSTS service prior to lay-up. The sale card gives T-AGM-13. These support USNS prefix and instrumentation ship metadata rather than the generic cargo classification on the MARAD landing page.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Corrects operational identity only. Cargo classification is historical design metadata. Cards do not date the July 1964 transition specified in the assignment and do not document asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-02
-
[3]MARAD pre-Navy particulars and status cards [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- cards/4733_8719BF.jpg: Type and withdrawal; cards/9dc4e5c1-aa64-48d7-ba57-8cb3b48716e5.png: American President Lines (MSTS Operation)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A MARAD particulars card labels the C1-M-AV1 vessel Diesel and records permanent transfer to the Air Force on March 14, 1957. Earlier MSTS-related general-agency operation appears on the preceding vessel status card.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Pre-1964 history is background, not the qualifying instrumentation-service basis. Diesel label does not establish engine model, horsepower, boilers, insulation, asbestos, or crew exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-03
-
[4]Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, Volume XXIV, document 632 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Paragraphs 1-3 and footnotes 2-3
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The State Department February 12, 1967 telegram and notes identify Sword Knot as an MSTS ship awaiting clearance off Durban and record instructions to proceed to Mombasa.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous operational corroboration of MSTS service, not a material inventory; no asbestos or exposure finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-04
-
[5]JPL Technical Report 32-1177, Surveyor III Mission Report, Part I [other_primary]
- Locator
- Printed p. 118 (PDF p. 130), Figure V-5 and section 3, Surveyor Telemetry (S-band)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- JPL documents range instrumentation ship Sword Knot providing VHF and S-band telemetry coverage for Surveyor III.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Mission telemetry record establishes space-tracking work, not shipboard construction materials, exposure, or machinery products. Relevant page visually checked; report not an asbestos survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-05
-
[6]MARAD reserve-fleet particulars, sale and continuation cards [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- cards/4733_8719AF.jpg: Entered/Withdrawn; cards/4733_AF.jpg: award and remarks; cards/85e01256-b7cb-443f-a228-4cb7afd1b873.png: final rows
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Sword Knot entered the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on April 7, 1971. MARAD awarded the scrap sale to Nicolai Joffe Corporation on May 15, 1973; physical delivery and reserve-fleet withdrawal occurred June 22, 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Sale for scrap is documented; actual dismantling date, disposal location and asbestos handling are not. April 7 is reserve entry, not asserted as formal decommissioning or striking.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-06
-
[7]OSHA, Occupational Exposure to Asbestos, August 10, 1994 final-rule discussion [federal_register]
- Locator
- Shipbuilding and repairing discussion, paragraph beginning Asbestos products were used extensively on American ships
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- OSHA describes extensive use of asbestos products on American ships from the early 1940s through the late 1970s, including insulation and bulkhead materials. This provides era-level research context for a vessel built in 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Verified against the official-domain indexed passage; full-page fetch failed (HTTP 403 locally). Broad industry-era discussion is not a Sword Knot survey or proof of any product aboard this hull, any worker exposure, or causation. Tier 2 reflects era context only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-07
-
[8]Codex batch-9598 research and search ledger [other_primary]
- Citation URL
- research/batch-9598/RESEARCH.md
- Locator
- Search ledger L01-L11; cl-name-opinion.log
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos document was located in the official materials and indexed searches reviewed for this batch. Ship-specific asbestos documentation remains unknown; the CourtListener sweep was blocked by fleet pacing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Research-process negative, not proof of absence. CourtListener returned no results payload; hull and docket searches remain unexecuted. Not a judicial finding or a comprehensive archival search. No asbestos-free conclusion is supported.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-sword-knot-08