Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, 'Abele (AN-58)' - NHHC page via Wayback Machine capture 2024-05-25 (live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-24) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry body, 'Abele (AN-58)' (1944-1946)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records: laid down 8 January 1943 at New Bern, N.C., by Barbour Boat Works; launched 19 August 1943 (sponsor Mrs. G. B. Waters); commissioned at Morehead, N.C., 2 June 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Jesse H. Bloodworth, D-V(G), USNR. Shakedown out of Norfolk and Boston; Pacific transit 11 Aug-27 Sep 1944 via Guantanamo, Panama Canal Zone, Manzanillo, San Diego; reported to Commander Minecraft, Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor for target towing and net defense duty. Iwo Jima 20-28 Feb 1945 with TG 51.5, laying torpedo nets and fleet moorings. Kerama Retto 26 Mar 1945 onward; assisted downing one enemy aircraft 18 Apr; laid five miles of heavy antitorpedo nets at Nagagusuku Wan, Okinawa, from 12 May; credited with one Aichi D3A 'Val' 11 Jun. Ordered to Tinian 5 Aug 1945 to recover the antitorpedo net; reached San Francisco late Nov 1945. Decommissioned 1 Mar 1946; stricken from the Navy Register 28 Mar 1946; transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission for disposal 7 May 1947. Awarded one battle star per DANFS.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Crew of ~46-56 officers and enlisted, 1944-1946 (figures conflict across sources)
- Limitations
- Service-history record only - contains no asbestos, materials, or hazmat content. DANFS's own spec block (displacement 785; length 168'6"; complement 46; 'class Bitterbush') conflicts with class references (1,460 t fl; 194'6"; Ailanthus class), apparently reflecting pre-completion YN design figures; the battle-star count (one) conflicts with NavSource's two. Live NHHC page unreachable; citation relies on a Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Abele (AN-58) photo index page [other_primary]
- Locator
- AN-58 photo index page, chronology, 'Merchant Service' and 'Specifications' sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records: originally Yard Net Tender Abele (YN-77); redesignated Net Laying Ship AN-58 on 20 January 1944; two Asiatic-Pacific campaigns (Iwo Jima 19-28 Feb 1945; Okinawa Gunto 26 Mar-30 Jun 1945) and two battle stars. Merchant chain after Maritime Commission custody: sold 1947 to Great Lakes Lumber and Shipping Ltd., Fort William ON (reflagged Canada); sold 1949 to Charles Storch, Vancouver BC; sold 1953 to Straits Towing Ltd., Vancouver BC, renamed Superior Straits; withdrawn from service and reduced to a barge in the 1960s; sold 1971 to P. & B. Towing Ltd., North Vancouver; sold 1973 to Dubarry Investments Ltd., Vancouver; reported sunk in Vancouver Harbour about 1973 while remaining on the shipping register until 2006. Specs: two Busch-Sulzer BS-539 diesel-electric engines, 1,200 shp, single propeller; two diesel-drive 60 kW ship's-service generators; 1,460 t full load.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-2006 (register listing)
- Population
- Merchant crews and owners, 1947-c.1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary index, not an official record; the merchant-service chain and the c.1973 sinking are unverified against the Canadian registry or MARAD disposal file. 'Two battle stars' conflicts with DANFS's 'one battle star' (carried in gaps). Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-02
-
[3]Shipscribe.com (T. Colton compilation from Bureau of Ships records), USS Ailanthus (AN-38) class page; corroborated by USNI Naval History, 'Historic Fleets' (Dec 1996, Vol. 10 No. 6) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AN-38 class notes ('Construction: ... Wood hulls'); USNI usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1996/december/historic-fleets
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class record: the 1942-program Ailanthus (AN-38-77) net tenders were wooden-hulled ships - 'Wood hulls (substituted for steel around 10 Apr 42)' per the shipscribe/BuShips-derived compilation, and 'the 30 wooden-construction net tenders of the 1942 program Ailanthus (AN-38-77) class' per USNI Naval History (Dec 1996). Propulsion was Busch-Sulzer BS-539 diesel-electric, single screw, ~1,200 hp - no boilers, no steam distribution plant. Asbestos-relevant applications consistent with a 1943-44 diesel-electric auxiliary of this size would be limited to exhaust and engine-space lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical cable and panelboard insulation, joiner bulkhead materials, and friction linings in the net-handling winches - a materially smaller asbestos footprint than a steam-plant steel hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944 (construction/design); 1944-1946 (service)
- Population
- Barbour Boat Works construction workforce (~1,200 wartime payroll); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Class-level design record, not a hull record. It establishes construction type and propulsion plant for the class (AN-58 included in the FY1942 wood-hull group) but does not establish that any specific asbestos product was installed aboard this hull, nor any quantity. Wooden hull plus diesel-electric plant limits - but does not eliminate - era-typical asbestos uses; no ship-specific materials list exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-03
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[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (title, date, program description)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program, including 1975 and 1979 insulation-removal policies applied across the fleet - establishing at program level that asbestos insulation was widespread aboard WWII-built Navy ships and that the Navy managed it as an occupational hazard through the 1970s.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy period); wartime construction era referenced
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews (program-wide context)
- Limitations
- Program-level report; fieldwork centered on naval shipyards (Long Beach, Norfolk), not aboard net tenders. Does not name AN-58 or any auxiliary of this class, and a wooden-hulled diesel-electric tender carried far less insulation than the steam-plant fleet the report principally addresses. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; description relies on the product-page metadata, consistent with Batch-01 handling of the same source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-04
-
[5]U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Public Health, 'Asbestos' exposure page (military exposure occupations and health effects) [other_primary]
- Locator
- publichealth.va.gov/exposures/asbestos - 'How Veterans may have been exposed to asbestos'
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- VA officially recognizes shipyard work, insulation work, and work with products such as pipe insulation, flooring, and friction products (clutch facings, brake linings) as military asbestos-exposure occupations, with latency of 20-50 years for related disease - the benefits-adjudication framework under which a WWII-era auxiliary crewman's exposure claim would be evaluated.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- current guidance (page accessed 2026-09-24)
- Population
- Veterans in recognized exposure occupations (general)
- Limitations
- General veteran-population guidance; names no vessel, class, or shipyard. Establishes the exposure-occupation framework and recognized product categories only - it does not establish that asbestos was present aboard this hull or that any individual was exposed. Relevant to Barbour Boat Works construction workers and ship's crew only as era context.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-05
-
[6]Batch-1806 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404 / Wayback hit); NavSource AN-58 page; shipscribe Ailanthus-class page; USNI Naval History Dec 1996; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches for "USS Abele", "AN-58", "Abele"+asbestos, "Abele"+net/ship/vessel/navy; shipyards.json yard lookup; GAO product page; VA exposure pages [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-abele-an58-01 through sl-uss-abele-an58-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS Abele or AN-58 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). All CourtListener hits for 'Abele' were surname collisions (e.g., Fagnes v. Abele; Alan Abele v. Monsanto; Judge Julian Abele Cook) or incidental string matches for 'AN-58' - none referenced the vessel or asbestos exposure aboard it.
- 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 hull reportedly sank in Vancouver Harbour c.1973 as a stripped barge, so no museum, operator, or post-loss survey disclosure exists to check. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-abele-an58-06