Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
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[1]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - TIMBER HITCH, Ship History Detail 4878 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail record 4878, milestone table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory database record for TIMBER HITCH: U.S. Official No. 246815; MARAD Type C1-M-AV1; builder Consolidated Steel Corporation; year built 1945; hull dimensions 321.30 ft length x 50.00 ft beam; entered National Defense Reserve Fleet custody 1949-09-12; final disposition/withdrawal recorded 1977-10-21, fate "Sold - Scrap."
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1945-1977
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, builder, hull type, construction year, reserve-fleet custody, and final scrap disposition. The record itself states it holds no historical narrative and does not itemize launch/delivery dates, the 1957 Air Force transfer, or the 1964 Navy transfer - those milestones are not present in this primary source and are carried instead from secondary compilations (see ev-02, gaps). Establishes nothing about asbestos content, quantity, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-timber-hitch-01
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[2]U.S. Merchant Marine (usmm.org), "Ships of the Special Mission Force, MSTS/MSC 1958-2000" [other_primary]
- Locator
- T-AGM roster table, "USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM 17) 1964-68" entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Roster of Military Sea Transportation Service/Military Sealift Command "Special Mission Force" ships lists "USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM 17)" with an operating window of 1964-68, grouped among missile range instrumentation ships including USNS Sword Knot (T-AGM 13), USNS Rose Knot (T-AGM 14), USNS Coastal Sentry (T-AGM 15), USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM 16), and USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM 18).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1964-1968
- Limitations
- A privately compiled merchant-marine historical roster, not a government primary record; corroborates the T-AGM-17 hull number, the missile-range-instrumentation role, and the 1964-1968 Navy MSTS operating window, but gives no day-level dates, no builder/conversion detail, and no asbestos information. Used only for the class/mission/date-range it states; not used for any date precision beyond the year range shown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-timber-hitch-02
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[3]The USAF Timber Hitch v. United States, 323 F.2d 873 (5th Cir. 1963) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener opinion cluster 262123 / 7024418; per curiam opinion text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The USAF TIMBER HITCH, her engines, boilers, tackle, appurtenances, etc., and Robert B. Franks v. United States, 323 F.2d 873 (5th Cir. 1963) - an in rem admiralty appeal naming the vessel (while operating as the Air Force's USAFS Timber Hitch, pre-Navy-transfer) and a co-appellant, arising from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The court of appeals held per curiam that "the controversy from which this appeal arose has become moot" and dismissed the appeal without reaching the merits.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1963
- Limitations
- The only case located naming this vessel in CourtListener (searched by exact name and by hull number T-AGM-17). This is an in rem admiralty appeal (caption naming "her engines, boilers, tackle, appurtenances" plus a named individual appellant) dismissed as moot on procedural grounds before any merits ruling; nothing in the case name, docket caption, or per curiam disposition mentions asbestos, occupational disease, or any injury mechanism, and the underlying claim's nature could not be further characterized without the unavailable full record. Predates the Navy's 1964 acquisition of the ship. Classified as other litigation (non-asbestos), not a qualifying asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-timber-hitch-03
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[4]Batch-9600 search ledger (this record): MARAD ShipHistory; Naval History and Heritage Command (history.navy.mil) DANFS index; National Archives (archives.gov) record-group search; CourtListener API v4 (name and hull-number queries) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-usns-timber-hitch-01 through sl-usns-timber-hitch-06
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no DANFS/NHHC ship-history page exists for this vessel (expected, as a non-commissioned civilian-crewed USNS/MSTS hull); no NARA finding aid, MARAD survey, or abatement/hazmat disclosure was located; the sole CourtListener hit for this ship's exact name is the non-asbestos admiralty case at ev-03, and a hull-number search ("T-AGM-17") returned no genuine matches (see search_ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard the ship during its service life or during scrapping - it reflects the limits of the public sources searched. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present, does not establish quantity, and does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-timber-hitch-04
-
[5]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, "Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding," American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during and after World War II, the program and era under which this Maritime Commission C1-M-AV1 hull was built (delivered 1945), and that wartime and postwar demand drove widespread asbestos utilization aboard U.S. merchant-type and government hulls generally.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII-era U.S. shipyard workers and merchant/government ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII-era U.S. shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, its hull type, or its diesel machinery plant, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-timber-hitch-05