Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Adirondack III (AGC-15) (Mary Pat Walker; updated Robert J. Cressman, 2022-01-24) - construction, conversion, flagship service, and disposal narrative; verbatim transcription of the abbreviated earlier entry at hazegray [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Wayback capture 2025-02-02 of the NHHC DANFS entry (full text); hazegray transcription https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/amphib/agc15.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 1944-11-18 at Wilmington NC under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1705) by North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 1945-01-13, sponsored by Mrs. E. L. White; transferred to the Navy 1945-02-04; towed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for conversion; commissioned 1945-09-02 - the day Japan signed surrender aboard Missouri (BB-63) - CAPT Ralph O. Myers in command. Designed as an amphibious force flagship with advanced communications and combat-information spaces. Shakedown Chesapeake Bay 1945-09-25 to 10-12; flagship, Commander Operational Development Force (CTF 69), Norfolk, through August 1949; a planned Antarctic expedition was cancelled and she reported to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation; placed in reserve, in service, 1950-02-01 as flagship of the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned Philadelphia 1951-04-04; moored Naples 1951-08-18 as flagship for CINCSOUTH and CINCNELM (also senior officer present afloat; from 1952-06-14 flagship for Commander, Subordinate Command, Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets, then Commander, Fleet Air, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean); departed Naples 1953-05-29 for overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth VA. Flagship, Commander Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet, from 1953-10-28; COMPHIBGRU FOUR shifted his flag to Adirondack at San Juan 1954-03-23; 1954 exercises included Sentry Box (Vieques), LANTAGLEX-54 and Packard V (Onslow Beach), Operation Keystone (NATO; Dikili, Turkey landing 1954-09-04), Operation NORAMEX (Labrador, cold-weather doctrine), and the Bogue Inlet assault; 1955 umpire duty for ANGEX II and the TRAEX 11-55/III-55 atomic-defense phase off Vieques. Placed out of commission, in reserve, at Norfolk 1955-11-09; stricken from the Navy List 1961-06-01; entered the James River Reserve Fleet 1962-01-04; transferred to permanent MARAD custody 1962-09-01; sold 1972-11-07 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. for non-transportation use and removed 1972-12-11 to be broken up for scrap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked flag staffs, 1945-1955; Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion/inactivation workers (1945; 1949-50)
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, construction, conversion yard, flagship service, and disposal. Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement - supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC page (adirondack-agc-15-iii.html) returned 404 on 2026-09-20; cited via the 2025-02-02 Wayback capture. The abbreviated earlier DANFS entry (hazegray transcription) conflicts on two points - see correction row ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-03.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-01
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[2]MARAD ShipHistory database - ADIRONDACK (AGC-15), Detail 37 (vessel data and milestones; status cards and ADIRONDACK.pdf held as image scans) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD Detail 37 - Milestones table and vessel data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD records the vessel as a 1945 C2-S-AJ1 hull built by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company (459.10 ft, 63.00 ft, 8,258 gross tons, 7,240 tons light displacement). Milestones: entered the James River Reserve Fleet 1962-01-04 while remaining a U.S. Navy asset; MARAD took title from the Navy 1962-09-01; sold 1972-11-07 for non-transportation use to Union Minerals and Alloys Co. for $54,000; withdrawn from the James River Reserve Fleet 1972-12-11 following the sale.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1962-1972
- Limitations
- Disposition record only - contains no materials, asbestos, or abatement information. 'Sold - NTU' (non-transportation use) does not itself state scrapping; DANFS supplies the 'broken up for scrap' outcome. Status-card and document scans on the detail page are image-only (no text layer) and were not OCR-verified. The MARAD 'Mission' tags (WWII/Korea/Vietnam) are generic and do not document theater service - the ship had no Korean or Vietnam combat service.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-02
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[3]Decommissioning-date conflict: abbreviated DANFS entry (hazegray transcription) and NavSource milestone/CO table give '9 February 1955'; full NHHC DANFS entry gives '9 November 1955' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- hazegray transcription final paragraph; NavSource milestone block + CO table; Wayback NHHC entry penultimate paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The abbreviated DANFS entry for Adirondack (AGC-15) states she was 'placed out of commission in reserve at Norfolk 9 February 1955,' and NavSource repeats 1955-02-09 in its milestone block and commanding-officer table. The full NHHC DANFS entry instead documents the ship still operating in February-April 1955 (umpire for ANGEX II off Vieques/Culebra in February; TRAEX 11-55 in early March; in port Norfolk 9 March - 11 April; TRAEX III-55 off Vieques) and states she 'returned to Norfolk for inactivation; and was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 9 November 1955.' The full entry is internally consistent and is adopted: 1955-11-09.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1955
- Limitations
- Correction resolved by internal consistency - a ship cannot decommission on February 9 and still conduct April exercises. The February variant's provenance was not traced (likely a transcription error propagated into NavSource); NavSource's CO table end-date for LCDR Moore (1955-02-09) appears to repeat the same variant. Wikipedia's infobox independently gives 9 November 1955.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-03
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[4]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
- AJIM 11(3):359-373; NavSource spec block https://www.navsource.net/archives/10/01/0115.htm (cross-check only)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII, the program under which this hull was built (1944-45 Maritime Commission C2-S-AJ1) and converted (1945 Navy AGC conversion at the Philadelphia Navy Yard). The documented steam plant (two 450-psi header-type boilers, geared turbine) is of the type that era practice insulated with asbestos-containing materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1945 construction/conversion era; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel. The propulsion spec itself rests on the NavSource spec block (secondary compilation of ship's data), not a located primary spec sheet. Establishes era likelihood only - not that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, exposure, or causation for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-04
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[5]NARA Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships), File Unit 153713491 'Plans for the Amphibious Force Command Ship USS Adirondack (AGC-15)' - partially digitized Booklet of General Plans (mirrored on archive.org as agc15ga1945); NARA RG-19-LCM photo 19-N-137822 via NavSource caption [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org item agc15ga1945 (metadata cites catalog.archives.gov/id/153713491, series 'Ship Engineering Drawings 1874-1976', RG 19); NavSource photo captions https://www.navsource.net/archives/10/01/0115.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A ship-specific NARA plans file unit exists for this hull (RG 19, catalog id 153713491); the digitized portion is an incomplete three-sheet set drawn at Navy Yard, Philadelphia (cover photo, undated; inboard profile 1945-01-22; second platform 1944-12-20) - consistent with the documented Philadelphia conversion. A NARA photo (RG-19-LCM 19-N-137822, cited in NavSource captions) documents the ship off Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 1951-07-28 during her recommissioning period; a second captioned photo places her in the James River Reserve Fleet on 1962-05-27. RG 24 deck logs and BuShips conversion work packages are unreviewed - the remaining hull-level archival path.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1962
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (Philadelphia Navy Yard 1945); Philadelphia NSY workers (1949-50 inactivation; 1951 recommissioning period)
- Limitations
- The digitized set contains no insulation schedule and no materials statement; the full RG 19 file unit, Philadelphia conversion work packages, and RG 24 deck logs (if retained) are unreviewed. None of this establishes asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-05
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[6]Batch-706 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (live 404 + Wayback capture + verbatim transcription); MARAD ShipHistory 37; NARA RG 19 plans unit; CourtListener API v4 and web index; web-index checks for ship-name and hull-number litigation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-adirondack-agc15-01 through sl-uss-adirondack-agc15-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Adirondack or AGC-15 was found in the public sources searched. Web-index litigation checks returned only name collisions (Adirondack Insurance Exchange; Adirondack Airport District coverage litigation; Adirondack Environmental Services testimony; the 19th-century Brooks v. Steamer Adirondack admiralty cite - a different vessel). Asbestos-marketing pages listing this hull exist (e.g., navyshipexposure.com class page; law-firm ship lists) but are excluded under source rules and document nothing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45 wartime build/conversion is era-consistent with extensive asbestos insulation. The hull was disposed in 1972, pre-dating modern disclosure regimes. CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, 125/day) during the check; classification relied on the web index and is stated at that confidence. RECAP docket-level review not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adirondack-agc15-06