Evidence
17 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-17).
-
[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS AFDM-3' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USS AFDM-3' returned 2 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-afdm-3-afdm3-cl-name-opinion
-
[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS AFDM-3' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USS AFDM-3' returned 6 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-afdm-3-afdm3-cl-name-docket
-
[3]CourtListener opinion search: 'AFDM-3' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'AFDM-3' returned 3 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-afdm-3-afdm3-cl-hull-opinion
-
[4]CourtListener docket search: 'AFDM-3' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'AFDM-3' returned 43 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-afdm-3-afdm3-cl-hull-docket
-
[5]Naval Vessel Register, ship detail page - NO NAME (AFDM 3), ex-YFD 6 (live NVR page still serves this stricken hull) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail table (vessel status, milestone dates, program characteristics)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Vessel Register record: Medium Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock (N-S-P); class AFDM 3; UIC 13806; builder Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.; keel date 01/01/1943; delivery date 12/01/1943; stricken date 11/15/2000; status 'disposed of by legislative navy sale' effective 04/01/2002; custodian 'Schools, Organizations and Private Enterprises'; page last updated 06/06/2002.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1943-2002
- Limitations
- NVR documents milestones, status, and builder only - no yard location, materials, or asbestos content. Commission and decommission dates are blank in the NVR record (delivery 12/01/1943 and keel 01/01/1943 shown; commission 12/09/1943 rests on NavSource).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-01
-
[6]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, AFDM-3 ex-USS YFD-6 (09/28/2803) - compiled record incl. NARA photo identifications and officers-in-charge listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AFDM-3 page: class data block, awards, photo captions, officers-in-charge table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled service record for this hull: built by Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. as Yard Floating Dock YFD-6; laid down January 1943; delivered and commissioned 09 December 1943; referred to as USS 'Repairer' in contemporary documents, name unofficial; assigned NOB Trinidad December 1943 - December 1944; assigned Panama January 1945 to unknown date; redesignated Auxiliary Floating Dock Medium AFDM-3 August 1946; decommissioned and inactivated, date unknown; laid up in the Mobile AL area; leased to Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company, Inc. in 1999; struck from the Naval Register 15 November 2000; disposed of by Navy sale 1 April 2002. Specifications: displacement 6,800 t (lt) / 8,000 t (fl); length 622 ft; beam 124 ft; draft 7-15 ft; complement 4 officers, 146 enlisted; callsign NAHY; awards American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal. Officers in charge: LCDR Joseph J. Moura USNR (09 Dec 1943 -), LT/LCDR Edwin J. Schruers USNR (March 1944 - September 1945). NARA photos 80-G-271497/80-G-271520 show YFD-6 on her delivery voyage to Trinidad 21 December 1943, photographed by a blimp of ZP-22 based at Houma, LA.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1943-2002
- Population
- YFD-6/AFDM-3 crew (4 officers, 146 enlisted wartime spec)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive drawing on official photo/record identifications - no DANFS entry exists for this hull, so NavSource is the most complete single service record, but its dates are unverified against a ship-level official history. Complement figure is class spec, not a verified crew count. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-02
-
[7]DANFS, Larch (YN-16/AN-21), NHHC ship-history page (Wayback capture 2024-06-04; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-18) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Larch entry, 1944 service narrative (Wayback NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS entry for USS Larch names this dock in service: during 1944 at the Tenth Naval District, Larch's routine was 'punctuated only by her towing a disabled motor launch from Port of Spain to the Net Depot at Trinidad on 16 June, the removal of her .50-caliber machine gun battery (22 June), a drydocking in YFD-6 at the Escort Repair Base (24-29 June), and an accidental ramming by YNT-1 (28 August)' - a fleet net-laying ship drydocked aboard YFD-6 at the Trinidad Escort Repair Base, 24-29 June 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-06
- Population
- YFD-6 docking crew and USS Larch crew, June 1944
- Limitations
- Documents one docking event aboard this hull at Trinidad - direct evidence of wartime service, not of materials or asbestos content. Wikipedia gives the docking as 24-26 June; DANFS's 24-29 June is carried (conflict in gaps). Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-03
-
[8]DANFS, Arikara (AT-98), NHHC ship-history page (Wayback capture 2025-04-27; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-18) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Arikara entry, December 1944 - January 1945 narrative (Wayback NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS entry for fleet tug USS Arikara documents the dock's December 1944 - January 1945 ocean tow: 'Late in that month [December 1944], she voyaged to Trinidad where she took YFD-6 in tow before continuing on to the Panama Canal. Arikara reached the Canal Zone on 3 January 1945, transited the canal, and delivered her tow at Cristobal on the 5th.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-12 - 1945-01
- Limitations
- Documents the Trinidad-to-Canal-Zone tow and Cristobal delivery only - no materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-04
-
[9]NHHC photograph records NH 98829 and NH 98828, 'Floating drydock YFD-6 (center section)' + NHHC photo 80-G-60348 (Wayback capture 2024-06-04; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-18) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC NH 98829 catalog caption; NH 98828; photo 80-G-60348 caption (via NavSource transcription and Wayback NHHC page)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC photo captions document the dock's Panama Canal transit on its side: 'Under tow in the Culebra Cut, Panama Canal, circa 1945. To permit passage through the canal locks, Navy SeaBees turned YFD-6's center section on its side. A thousand Navy pontoons were installed atop the wing wall to allow the drydock to float on its side during the canal transit. Harbor tug Alarka (YTB-229) is in the center. Tug at left appears to be USS ATA-209. The photograph was released for publication on 25 June 1945.' NHHC photo 80-G-60348 shows ex-USS Favorite (IX-45) towing the center section into the Pedro Miguel Locks en route to the Pacific - the 124-ft-wide dock careened to pass the 110-ft locks.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1945 (circa May-June)
- Population
- SeaBee pontoon/careening crews; towing tugs' crews, 1945
- Limitations
- Documents the transit event and the SeaBee pontoon modification only - no materials or asbestos content. 'Circa 1945' dating; photo released 25 June 1945. Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-05
-
[10]DANFS, Gauger (YO-55), NHHC ship-history page (Wayback capture 2024-06-04; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-18) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Gauger entry, 1946 narrative (Wayback NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS entry for gasoline tanker USS Gauger documents the dock's Pacific tow: Gauger 'departed Balboa, C.Z., for Pearl Harbor' on 7 September 1946, 'Towing YFD-6 and steaming in company with Bluebird (ASR-19), Cahuilla (ATF-152), and Tawakoni (ATF-119), she reached Pearl Harbor 12 October' 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1946-09 - 1946-10
- Limitations
- Documents the Balboa-to-Pearl-Harbor tow only - no materials or asbestos content. DANFS still calls the dock 'YFD-6' in Sept-Oct 1946, two months after NavSource's August 1946 redesignation to AFDM-3 (minor source inconsistency, in gaps). Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-06
-
[11]Pub. L. 106-246 (13 July 2000), SEC. 119, 'Requirement for Sale of Navy Drydock No. 9,' 114 Stat. 533 (United States Statutes at Large, govinfo - text verified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- 114 Stat. 533, SEC. 119 (Statutes at Large PDF, govinfo)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Federal statute directing this dock's sale: 'Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Navy shall sell Navy Drydock No. 9 (AFDM-3), located in Mobile, Alabama, to the Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company, Inc., which is the current lessee of the drydock from the Navy,' for 'an amount equal to the fair market value of the drydock at the time of the sale, as determined by the Secretary.' Consistent with NVR status 'disposed of by legislative navy sale' effective 04/01/2002.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2000-07-13 (enactment); sale effective 2002-04-01
- Limitations
- Establishes the Congressionally directed sale to the lessee at fair market value - it locates the dock at Mobile, Alabama as of July 2000 and names the buyer; it contains no condition, materials, or hazmat terms. 'Fair market value' here is the unadjusted sale price (the 'less scrapping cost' variant reported by GlobalSecurity's summary is not the statutory text).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-07
-
[12]GlobalSecurity AFDM page reproducing the January 1995 NAVSEA lease-solicitation text for AFDM-3; shipbuildinghistory.com, Bender Shipbuilding yard page (Colton, updated 2020-10-08); Workboat, 'Austal USA completes purchase of Alabama shipyard assets' [other_primary]
- Locator
- globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/afdm.htm (AFDM-3 section); shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bender.htm; workboat.com Austal/World Marine report
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Divestiture and post-sale chain: January 1995 NAVSEA solicitation offered Floating Dock AFDM-3 for lease 'as is, where is' - the dock located in the Mobile AL area, lessee responsible for all transportation costs and insurance (solicitation text reproduced by GlobalSecurity); designed lifting capacity 18,000 tons. Leased to Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company in 1999; sold to Bender per Pub. L. 106-246 effective 2002-04-01 (ev-07, ev-01). Bender folded in 2010; most assets acquired by Signal International (renamed Signal Ship Repair), sold 2018 to World Marine of Alabama (shipbuildinghistory). The former Bender yard and its surviving Panamax-class floating dock 'Pete B' (a different, 1983-built dock) were subsequently purchased by Austal USA (Workboat).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1995-2018+
- Population
- Bender Shipbuilding workforce 1999-2010 (if dock operated); Signal Ship Repair / World Marine workforces 2010-present
- Limitations
- Solicitation text is a secondary reproduction of a government notice - treated as reliable but not independently confirmed against the Commerce Business Daily original. Critically, post-2002 disposition of AFDM-3 itself is NOT established: ownership passed through the Bender-to-Signal-to-World Marine asset chain, but whether this dock still operates at Mobile, was resold/exported, or was scrapped is undocumented - the 'Pete B'/'DD-1' at the yard is a different floating dock. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-08
-
[13]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton), 'Floating Docks (AFDB, AFDM, AFDL, ARD, ARDM, YFD)' builder table, updated 2019-06-11 - vs. Wikipedia infobox 'Chicago, Illinois' [other_primary]
- Locator
- auxafd.htm table rows 'AFDM 3' and 'YFD 6'; NavSource photo captions (80-G-271497/271520, ZP-22 Houma LA)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-location conflict resolved: the compiled floating-dock builder table records YFD-6/AFDM-3 as built by 'Chicago Bridge' at 'Morgan City LA' (delivery Dec-43) - one of CB&I's three floating-dock yards (Morgan City LA, Eureka CA, Newburgh NY) - and Wikipedia's 'Chicago Bridge and Iron Shipyard, in Chicago, Illinois' is treated as an error. Corroboration: NARA photos 80-G-271497/80-G-271520 show YFD-6's delivery voyage to Trinidad on 21 December 1943 photographed by a blimp of ZP-22 based at Houma, LA - consistent with a Gulf Coast (Morgan City) departure, not a Chicago build towed downriver.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Chicago Bridge & Iron construction trades, Morgan City LA, 1943
- Limitations
- The Morgan City attribution rests on a compiled secondary table, not a located contract or DANFS entry (none exists) - carried as best-supported rather than official; the Houma-blimp departure is consistent, not conclusive. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-09
-
[14]Annual Report of the Governor of the Panama Canal, FY ended June 30, 1949 (USGPO 1949), p. 30; 'The Port of Mobile, Alabama' (Corps, 1986), p. 93 - both via Google Books, page text not rendered in fetch [other_primary]
- Locator
- Google Books nzIiypWUX-UC p. PA30; Google Books 7vwvAQAAMAAJ p. PA93
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Two published primary/official passages bearing on this dock's undocumented middle decades, cited via Wikipedia's bibliography but not text-verified in this session: (1) the FY1949 Governor of the Panama Canal annual report reportedly records AFDM-3 and AFDM-7 arriving at the Balboa yard in 1948 to be prepared for a Panama Canal transit 'similarly to AFDM-1' - i.e., a return from Pearl Harbor toward the Atlantic; (2) 'The Port of Mobile, Alabama' (1986) reportedly records AFDM-3, ARD-10, and ARD-16 laid up at Mobile in 1986 - consistent with the NAVSEA lease notice locating the dock 'in the Mobile AL area.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1948; 1986
- Limitations
- Page text not rendered in this session (Google Books page view did not load content) - both passages are carried as pointers for follow-up, NOT as verified claims. A separate Wikipedia claim of a 1950 Navy 'heavy workload' on AFDM-3/7/9 cites a FY1935 Governor's report - an impossible citation, excluded entirely.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-10
-
[15]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 program under which this 1943 steel Navy floating drydock was built at Chicago Bridge & Iron, Morgan City LA - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard Navy and merchant-type construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and service-craft crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel 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-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-11
-
[16]Type/construction-era inference: non-self-propelled steel floating drydock (1943, Chicago Bridge & Iron, Morgan City LA) - self-contained power station, ballast-pump plant, repair/machine shops, wing-wall cranes, crew accommodations (4 officers, 146 enlisted wartime spec) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Type description and class specifications (NavSource ev-02; GlobalSecurity/NAVSEA lease text ev-08); Corn & Starr era context (ev-11)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull type: with no propulsion plant, the asbestos-relevant spaces aboard a 1943 Navy floating dock are the dock's own machinery and habitability spaces - thermal insulation and lagging in the power station and ballast-pump spaces; gaskets and packing in ballast, bilge, and service piping; fireproofing; insulation in berthing, mess, and galley spaces; brake linings on wing-wall cranes and deck machinery. Disturbance contexts include wartime operation at Trinidad and Panama, the 1945 SeaBee pontoon/careening modification for the canal transit, decades of inactive lay-up, and any refits under Navy, Bender, Signal, or successor ownership.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1943-present
- Population
- CB&I Morgan City construction trades 1943; dock crew 1943-inactivation; SeaBee modification crews 1945; lessee/purchaser workforces 1999-present
- Limitations
- Type- and era-level inference only - no ship-specific asbestos record exists for this hull (see negative finding ev-13); this row must not be read as an independent ship-specific finding. A floating dock's machinery plant is far smaller than a powered ship's; inference weight is correspondingly narrower. Does not establish that asbestos products were or remain aboard, nor quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-12
-
[17]Batch-121 search ledger (this record): NVR; NavSource; NHHC DANFS consort entries + photo records via Wayback; Statutes at Large 114:533; GlobalSecurity/shipbuildinghistory; Google Books pointers; CourtListener API + UI (blocked); web-index litigation and marketing sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-01 through sl-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, insulation schedule, abatement contract, hazmat or donation-condition disclosure, museum record, or qualifying asbestos-litigation opinion was found for this dock in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No qualifying litigation of any kind naming 'AFDM-3' or 'YFD-6' was located - the name is low-collision; the closest floating-dock opinion located, San Francisco Drydock, Inc. v. Dalton, 131 F.3d 776 (9th Cir. 1997), concerns a different dock (Hunters Point Drydock No. 4) and is classified other litigation. CourtListener API v4 was throttled (HTTP 429, 125/day) and the site UI returned 403 throughout the session - the litigation sweep was web-index only and the blocked API queries are recorded gaps, not a clean negative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - 1943 construction is era-consistent with retained asbestos materials, and the dock's post-2002 whereabouts and condition are themselves undocumented. A throttled CourtListener API means the litigation sweep may be incomplete. Asbestos-marketing coverage of purchaser Bender Shipbuilding (a Mobile jobsite) is yard-level, names no docket involving this dock, and is excluded per batch rules. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-3-afdm3-13