Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]Congressional Record (Bound vol. 135), House proceedings, March 21, 1989 - 'Allowing Obsolete Navy Drydock to be Transferred to the City of Jacksonville, FL' [other_primary]
- Locator
- 135 Cong. Rec. 5040-5041 (Mar. 21, 1989); govinfo granule GPO-CRECB-1989-pt4-5-1 (House of Representatives: March 21, 1989)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- House floor debate on H.R. 666: Rep. Charles E. Bennett (FL) stated the drydock 'was commissioned in 1945 and has seen nearly continuous service since that time in the repair and modernization of the Navy's ships,' that she 'was recently found to be unfit for further service by the Navy,' 'has been decommissioned and is currently located in Jacksonville, FL,' and that the city planned to sink her as an artificial reef. Rep. Spence stated the city agreed to take the dock 'as is, where is,' pay all charges, use her only for an artificial fishing reef, and accept all costs and liabilities; that the Secretary of the Navy notified Congress on February 2, 1989 of intent to transfer; and that the Chief of Naval Operations certified the former drydock had no value to U.S. defense.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1945-1989
- Limitations
- Authoritative for the 1945 commissioning statement, nearly continuous repair service, unfit/decommissioned status, Jacksonville location, transfer terms, and reef plan. Floor statements are not technical surveys: 'commissioned in 1945' gives no exact date, and nothing here addresses construction materials, asbestos, or hull condition. OCR of the bound volume garbles a few words; quoted language verified in extracted text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-01
-
[2]Pub. L. 101-17, 103 Stat. 45 (Apr. 20, 1989); H.R. 666, 101st Cong. [other_primary]
- Locator
- 103 Stat. 45; action chronology via congress.gov/GovTrack record for H.R. 666 (101st)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- H.R. 666 (101st Congress) was enacted as Public Law 101-17, approved April 20, 1989 (103 Stat. 45): 'clauses (2) and (3) of section 7308(c) of title 10, United States Code, shall not apply with respect to the transfer, under section 7308(a) of such title, by the Secretary of the Navy of the obsolete drydock AFDM-9 to the city of Jacksonville, Florida' - i.e., waiving the 60-day congressional review period for the donation of the obsolete drydock to the city. Introduced January 27, 1989 by Rep. Charles E. Bennett (D-FL-3); ordered reported by House Armed Services March 14; passed House March 21 and Senate April 5 by voice vote.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1989
- Limitations
- Establishes the legal mechanism and recipient of the 1989 transfer (City of Jacksonville, under 10 U.S.C. 7308(a), 60-day review waived). Statute contains no condition, material, or asbestos information; 'obsolete' is the statutory characterization.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-02
-
[3]Congressional Record (Bound vol. 135), Senate proceedings, April 5, 1989 - 'Transfer of Obsolete Navy Drydock to City of Jacksonville' [other_primary]
- Locator
- 135 Cong. Rec. 5622 (Apr. 5, 1989; CR Index cites Graham at 5623); govinfo granule GPO-CRECB-1989-pt4-10-2
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Senate passage: Sen. Bob Graham (FL) urged support for H.R. 666, stating the drydock 'was decommissioned when it was found that it was no longer fit for nautical service and lacked military value,' that the Navy fully supported transfer, that Jacksonville agreed to pay all transfer and incidental charges, and that the city planned to sink the drydock as an artificial reef. The bill was read a third time and passed the same day.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1989
- Limitations
- Confirms Senate passage and the Navy/city transfer framing. One extracted line ('agreed not to be responsible for all liabilities') is OCR-garbled and conflicts with the House text (city assumes liabilities) - the House version is treated as controlling for transfer terms. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-03
-
[4]Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil), 'Ships in Non-Active status - N' quickfind listing, captured via Internet Archive Wayback Machine [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR inactive list entry: AFDM 9, disposition 08/02/1989 (2016 Wayback capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Vessel Register inactive-hulls listing: 'NO NAME | AFDM 9 | 08/02/1989 | Disposed of by transfer to other Government Agencies, States. Schools, Sea Scouts, etc.' - the official disposition record for the hull, consistent with donation routed via the State of Florida to the City of Jacksonville (per participant account) under the Pub. L. 101-17 authority.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1989
- Limitations
- Authoritative for the disposal date and disposal category; the 'transfer to other Government Agencies, States...' line is the NVR's standard disposal coding and does not itself name the City of Jacksonville - the recipient is established by Pub. L. 101-17 and the Congressional Record. 'NO NAME' confirms the craft was never named. No asbestos/material data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-04
-
[5]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton compilations): 'US Navy Dry Docks AFDB AFDM AFDL ARDM ARD YFD' table and 'Chicago Bridge & Iron' yard production table [other_primary]
- Locator
- auxafd.htm AFDM-9/YFD-65 rows; shipyards/emergencylarge/chicagobridge.htm YFD-65 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Construction and identity record: YFD-65 was built by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. at Eureka, CA; a medium floating dry dock of 8,000 tons displacement and 622 ft length; dock tables date her March 1945 and record 'to Los Angeles SB 1945, AFDM 9 1946, sold 1989'; the Chicago Bridge yard production table lists YFD-65/AFDM-9 at 12/1944. Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock (San Pedro) is the apparent early station ('Los Angeles SB').
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1989
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation of builder/NVR data, not itself primary: the December 1944 (yard table) vs March 1945 (dock table) variance is unresolved, and 'sold 1989' is imprecise - the statutory record shows transfer/donation, not a commercial sale (see correction row). 'Los Angeles SB' interpreted as Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock, San Pedro - plausible but not expanded in the source. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-05
-
[6]Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club, 'The Dry Dock - AFDM-9' reef history (first-person account by a project participant) [other_primary]
- Locator
- jaxfish.com reef-histories/dry-dock-afdm-9 narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Participant account of the reefing: the Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club's reef history records that AFDM-9 had been on lease to a local Jacksonville shipyard for twenty years under terms requiring return to the Norfolk shipyards at lease end; that retrofit for the open-sea tow to Norfolk was estimated at ~$2 million; that the dock could only be donated via the State, which accepted it and turned it over to the City of Jacksonville; and that on September 13, 1989 the dock was towed out of the St. Johns River and scuttled roughly 45 miles offshore (northeast of St. Augustine area) in ~120 ft of water, landing flat on her keel line. The club measured the dock at 608 ft long, 124 ft wide, 57 ft keel to top of wing walls; storm swells later collapsed both wing walls, leaving a low-profile reef.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1969-1990
- Limitations
- Organizational first-person memoir - the best located source for the lease history, reefing mechanics, date, depth, and site description, but not an official record: the leasing shipyard is unnamed ('one of the local ship yards'), figures (608 ft, ~$2M) are as remembered, and one storm reference ('hurricane David,' a 1979 storm) is inconsistent with the 1989 timeline - wing-wall collapse is accepted, specific storm attribution is not. No asbestos content; 'prepared to U.S. Coast Guard specifications' is stated without detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-06
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[7]Pub. L. 101-17 (103 Stat. 45); NVR inactive listing (disposal 08/02/1989); vs. Wikipedia 'Auxiliary floating drydock' ('Sold to private users in 1989') and shipbuildinghistory ('sold 1989') [other_primary]
- Locator
- 103 Stat. 45; NVR quickfind capture; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_floating_drydock (AFDM-9 entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Correction: secondary compilations describe AFDM-9's 1989 disposition as 'sold' / 'sold to private users.' The authoritative record establishes a different mechanism: statutory transfer under 10 U.S.C. 7308(a) to the City of Jacksonville (Pub. L. 101-17), with the Naval Vessel Register coding the disposal August 2, 1989 as 'transfer to other Government Agencies, States...' and the participant account describing donation via the State of Florida to the city - a municipal donation for reefing, not a sale to private buyers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1989
- Limitations
- Resolves a secondary-source mischaracterization. Whether any nominal consideration accompanied the transfer is not documented - the statutes and floor debate describe a donation with the city paying transfer costs. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-07
-
[8]Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (1947), ch. 9, via HyperWar/ibiblio transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter 9, floating-drydock classification section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The 1946 nomenclature overhaul under which YFD-65 became AFDM-9: the official Bureau of Yards and Docks wartime history records that floating-drydock classifications 'were modified in 1946' establishing AFDB/AFDM/AFDL/AFDL(C) designations, under which 'the YFD's became AFDM's' - the class-wide mechanism behind this hull's redesignation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1946
- Limitations
- Official Navy history documenting the 1946 reclassification program generally; the source does not name YFD-65/AFDM-9 individually. The ship-specific application (YFD-65 to AFDM-9 in 1946) rests on the shipbuildinghistory dock tables. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-08
-
[9]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
- Era-level documentation that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the program and period under which this dock was built (completed late 1944 / in service 1945) - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard American-built hulls and service craft.
- 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 service-craft crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard, survives aboard (now on the reef), or exposed any individual. No quantity, location, or condition data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-09
-
[10]U.S. General Accounting Office, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (Oct. 5, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 summary/findings (shipyard asbestos-control programs; continued asbestos exposure in repair/overhaul work)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO program-level finding contemporaneous with this dock's service life: the Navy's ship repair and overhaul operations continued to involve asbestos-containing thermal insulation, and 'shipyard employees will continue to work with or near asbestos for many years as ships are repaired and overhauled' - describing the repair environment in which AFDM-9 functioned for nearly four decades, including its final ~20 years as a commercial-lease repair asset at a Jacksonville shipyard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1979 (describing practice through the dock's service era)
- Population
- Navy shipyard and ship-repair workers, incl. commercial lessee workforce (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level: GAO surveyed naval shipyards (fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk), not this craft. Documents the repair-work asbestos environment AFDM-9 hosted, but is not evidence that any specific material aboard this hull contained asbestos, nor of any individual exposure. No ship-specific statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-10
-
[11]Batch-616 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS check, NavSource AFDM/YFD indexes, NVR, shipbuildinghistory, JOSFC reef history, govinfo CREC/Statutes, NARA ship-plan index, CourtListener (YFD-65: no result; AFDM-9: blocked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-afdm-9-01 through sl-uss-afdm-9-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed opinion naming AFDM-9 or YFD-65 was found in public sources searched. NHHC/DANFS carries no entry for this unnamed service craft (NavSource's AFDM index lists AFDM-9 with no vessel page; the YFD index lists YFD-65 likewise without a page). CourtListener opinion search: 'YFD-65' returned zero results; the 'AFDM-9' query was blocked by API rate limiting (429, 125/day shared cap) and not retried - an unexamined channel, not a negative result. Whether any asbestos-containing material was stripped before the 1989 scuttling is undocumented in located sources.
- 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 WWII-built steel service craft scuttled in 1989 is era-consistent with retained asbestos-containing materials, and 1989 reef-prep predates modern federal reefing BMP guidance. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. The throttled CourtListener name search leaves litigation coverage incomplete.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-11
-
[12]National Archives, Ship Plan Index (archives.gov/research/cartographic/ship-index) - AFDM-9 microfilm entry 63531026 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Plan Index, AFDM-9 row (roll 385, item 63531026)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead (not retrieved): the National Archives Ship Plan Index lists an AFDM-9 entry on microfilm (item 63531026, microfilm roll 385), i.e., hull plans/drawings exist in NARA custody; Navy service-craft maintenance, lease, and survey files for the Jacksonville period would follow RG 181 (naval districts/shipyards, incl. Norfolk as parent activity) and 6th Naval District/Jacksonville-area records. No box-level retrieval performed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1989 records
- Limitations
- Index-level confirmation that plans exist - no retrieval performed; whether drawings or maintenance files contain material (asbestos) specifications is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-afdm-9-12