Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, 'AFDL-37 ex ARDC-4 (1944-1946)' [other_primary]
- Locator
- History block and specifications panel, NavSource archive page 09/28/7337
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Consolidated service record for this craft: built in 1944 by Tidewater Construction Corp., Norfolk, VA; placed in service as ARDC-4 in August 1944; redesignated AFDL-37 on 1 August 1946; placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register on unknown dates; final disposition scrapped in 1981. Page also displays an ARDC-4 builders plate photograph and campaign ribbons (American, Asiatic-Pacific, WWII Victory).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1981
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary source, not an official record. Core milestones corroborated independently: in-service Aug-1944 and ex-ARDC-4 identity by the shipbuildinghistory builder table, and the 1946 redesignation program by the official BuDocks history. Out-of-service and stricken dates are 'unknown' in the source itself. Ribbon display implies Asiatic-Pacific service but is unattributed and unverified. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-01
-
[2]Naval Vessel Register (NAVSEA, on behalf of CNO), 'US Navy Hulls in a Non Active status' list, AFDL 37 row - via Internet Archive Wayback Machine capture of nvr.navy.mil, 2016-09-27 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Non Active Vessels alphabetical list, 'NO NAME / AFDL 37' row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Vessel Register record for this craft: 'NO NAME | AFDL 37 | 12/01/1981 | Disposed of, by Navy Sale' - establishing the disposal date and method. The live NVR does not backfill pre-1987 disposals, so the archived capture of the NVR 'Non Active' hull list is the citable copy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1981
- Limitations
- Authoritative official inventory entry; gives disposal date and method only - does not record stricken date, buyer, scrapping location, or any materials/hazmat information. 'Disposed of, by Navy Sale' does not itself establish scrapping; 'scrapped 1981' derives from secondary compilations.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-02
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[3]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton), 'Floating Docks (AFDB, AFDM, AFDL, ARD, ARDM, YFD)' table; same row on the njscuba.net mirror's 'WWII Construction by Other Boatbuilders on the Atlantic Coast' table naming ARDC-4 explicitly [other_primary]
- Locator
- AFDL table, 'Auxiliary Floating Docks, Light (AFDL) (formerly Auxiliary Repair Docks, Concrete (ARDC))' section, AFDL 37 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder table entry: AFDL-37 - built by Tidewater Construction at Wilmington NC; 8,300 tons; 389 ft; delivered Aug-44; ex-ARDC 4; scrapped 1981. Confirms the ARDC-4 -> AFDL-37 consolidation (one dock only) and the Wilmington NC construction site.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Specialized secondary reference compiled from builder records - not an official Navy source. Self-described as 'far from complete' for floating-dock construction records. Corroborates NavSource milestones and the BuDocks-documented Wilmington NC build site for the eight East Coast ARDCs. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-03
-
[4]Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (1947), Chapter IX 'Floating Drydocks' - HyperWar/ibiblio transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter IX, 'Auxiliary Repair Docks, Concrete' section and type-definition list (pp. 209-218 of the printed volume)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Bureau of Yards and Docks wartime history documents the ARDC class this craft belongs to: thirteen 2,800-ton reinforced-concrete docks designed and built starting 1943 in response to steel-plate shortage; monolithic open-trough structures 389 ft long, 84 ft wide, 40 ft deep overall; six militarized/self-contained docks carried three diesel engines with 200-kW AC generators, air compressors, refrigerating/heating/ventilating equipment, and water evaporators, with crews of five officers and 84 men; seven required shore power; each wing wall carried a 5-ton traveling crane (42-ft reach); eight docks built at Wilmington NC and five at San Pedro CA in excavated dry basins; five of the self-contained docks were towed to Pacific advance bases or Pearl Harbor; the 1946 nomenclature revision redesignated the ARDCs as AFDL(C) - Auxiliary Floating Drydock, Little (Concrete).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- ARDC-class crews (5 officers + 84 enlisted on self-contained units); construction workers at Wilmington NC and San Pedro CA basins
- Limitations
- Official class-level design/construction/service history - describes the ARDC class, not this hull individually. Does not name ARDC-4 or give per-hull configuration (self-contained vs shore-powered) or station. Contains no asbestos or insulation-materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-04
-
[5]U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Cartographic Ship Plan Index, AFDL-37 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Plan Index table, AFDL-37 row: RG 385, Microfilm series, NAID 63531026
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Archives Ship Plan Index lists original drawings for AFDL-37 in Record Group 385 (Naval Facilities Engineering Command / Bureau of Yards and Docks records), microfilm series, file unit NAID 63531026. Hull-specific construction plans for this dock exist in the federal archive.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944 (plans)
- Limitations
- Index entry only - confirms plans exist; the drawings themselves are not digitized and their contents (including any materials schedules that might document insulation or asbestos-cement products) have not been examined. No asbestos content is established by the index entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-05
-
[6]Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (1947), Chapter IX (equipment list for the ARDC class) - HyperWar/ibiblio transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter IX, ARDC equipment paragraph (printed p. 218)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/design inference for asbestos-relevant equipment aboard the ARDC class: the six self-contained docks carried diesel engines driving 200-kW generators, air compressors, refrigerating/heating/ventilating equipment, water evaporators, ballast pumps, machine and repair shops, and traveling cranes - machinery of the WWII era commonly fitted with asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, thermal insulation, and brake linings. The concrete hull itself carried no boilers or steam plant.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1981
- Population
- ARDC crews (machinery spaces, workshops); repair personnel
- Limitations
- Era/design inference only - the cited official history lists the equipment but says nothing about asbestos content of any component; asbestos presence aboard this dock is unproven. Whether ARDC-4 was a self-contained unit carrying this machinery is itself undocumented. Does not establish quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-06
-
[7]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 WWII - the era and federal construction program under which this Navy concrete auxiliary dock was designed and built (Bureau of Yards and Docks, 1943-1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this craft, does not address floating drydocks specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this concrete dock, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-07
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[8]NavSource AFDL-37 page (displayed specs) vs. BuDocks 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' ch. IX (official class dimensions) and shipbuildinghistory builder table (389 ft, 8,300 t) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications panel vs. BuDocks ch. IX ARDC section and shipbuildinghistory AFDL table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancy corrected: the NavSource page for this craft displays a generic steel-AFDL specification block (displacement 1,200 t; length 288 ft; beam 64 ft; lifting capacity 1,900 t) that does not match the ARDC concrete class this hull belongs to. The correct class figures from the official BuDocks history and the builder table are: 389 ft length, 84 ft width, 40 ft depth overall, 2,800-ton lifting capacity, approximately 8,300 tons displacement. NavSource's own page title labels the craft 'ARDC-1 Class Small Auxiliary Floating Repair Dock (Concrete)' - the spec block appears to be a reused steel-dock template.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944 design; discrepancy observed 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- The discrepancy affects published secondary-source specifications for this craft. This record carries the official class dimensions. Displacement figure (8,300 t) comes from the builder table only - BuDocks gives dimensions and lift capacity but not displacement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-08
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[9]Batch-594 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NHHC/DANFS; Naval Vessel Register (live + Wayback); NARA ship plan index; BuDocks official history (HyperWar); shipbuildinghistory; BBBO Pacific logistics history; CourtListener (blocked); web-index litigation search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-01 through sl-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for ARDC-4/AFDL-37: no asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, condition report, or litigation naming this dock was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). The CourtListener opinion index was unreachable due to rate limiting and is logged as blocked rather than as a clean negative.
- 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 - era machinery aboard self-contained ARDCs is plausibly consistent with period asbestos-containing components, and the dock's NARA-held plans (NAID 63531026) may carry a materials schedule not yet examined. The litigation sweep is incomplete (CourtListener throttled). This finding does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdl-37-afdl37-09