Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, APL-20 page (chronology, spec block, photo caption for NHHC photo NH 83849) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APL-20 page - class line, chronology bullets, specifications block, photo caption (09712001.jpg / NH 83849, Stockton CA 20 Aug 1970)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: APL-17-class non-self-propelled barracks ship, ex-YF-631. Built by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, FL (YN 120); ordered as YF-631 9 November 1943; reclassified APL-20 7 January 1944; laid down 20 July 1944; launched 3 September 1944; delivered and placed in service 2 November 1944; struck from the Naval Register 1 June 1973; sold 6 November 1974; placed in service as merchant barge Northern Shell (ON 571572) circa 1974; renamed Northern Alaskan, date unknown; final disposition fate unknown. Spec block: 1,300 t light / 2,660 t full; 260.0 ft wl / 261.2 ft oa; beam 48 ft; draft 10 ft; crew accommodations 6 officers / 66 enlisted; troop accommodations 583 enlisted; three diesel-drive 100 kW 450AC ship's-service generators; diesel fuel 1,000 bbls. Photo caption documents the craft laid up at Stockton, CA, 20 August 1970 (NHHC photo NH 83849). Page footer: 'There is no DANFS history available for APL-20.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1991
- Population
- Craft crew (6 officers / 66 enlisted design accommodations); berthed personnel up to 583 enlisted
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive; consistent with shipscribe, NVR, USCG MVUS, and NHHC photo captioning on the carried facts. Documents chronology, specs, custody, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. No operational deployment chronology between November 1944 service entry and the 1970 Stockton photograph is given.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-01
-
[2]Naval Vessel Register, 'NO NAME (APL 20)' detail page (NAVSEA official register; live nvr.navy.mil is behind Navy SSO login; data read via Wayback capture 2017-01-26) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPSDETAIL_APL_20 page, Wayback capture 2017-01-26; QUICKFIND SHIPSDETAIL_INACTIVE_N listing, Wayback capture 2016-09-27
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR official register record for this craft: register name 'NO NAME (APL 20)' with note '(ex - YF 631)'; type BARRACKS CRAFT (N-S-P); UIC 01640; class 'APL 17'; status 'Disposed of, by Navy Sale' with date status changed 10/01/1974; builder 'Tampa Shipyards Inc.'; propulsion type 'none'; custodian US NAVY. All milestone-date fields (award, keel, launch, delivery, commission, decommission, stricken) are blank on the register record. The NVR inactive-hull QUICKFIND listing independently prints 'NO NAME | APL 20 | 10/01/1974 | Disposed of, by Navy Sale' (Wayback capture 2016-09-27).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Limitations
- Official register data for a pre-1987 disposal - the record is nearly empty (status line, UIC, class, builder, propulsion 'none', custodian only); the 10/01/1974 status-change date precedes the documented 6 November 1974 sale date and is read as the register's disposal status-line update, not a separate event. NVR documents status/type fields, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-02
-
[3]Shipscribe USS APL-2 class file (construction and disposition tables compiled from Auxiliary Vessels Board / BuShips records; class notes; ship note for APL-20) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe APL02.html - construction table row APL-20, disposition table row APL-20, class notes (YF/APL program paragraphs), ship notes row APL-20
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe record for this hull: construction table - APL-20 ordered 9 Nov 43, builder Tampa SB, keel 20 Jul 44, launched 3 Sep 44, delivered/in-service 2 Nov 44; disposition table - stricken 1 Jun 73, disposed 6 Nov 74 'Sold'; ship note - 'Ex YF-631 7 Jan 44. In service in reserve by Jan 47. Merc. NORTHERN SHELL ca. 1974.' Class header: design Navy APL-2, 1,300 light / 2,600 full tons, 261.2 ft oa x 260.0 ft wl x 49.2 ft e x 8.5 ft full, original armament 4-20mm, complement 71 + 583 troops, machinery 'None'. Class notes: the craft were 'pure service craft' - standard non-self-propelled 2,000-ton 260-foot Navy covered barges with a two-story barracks built on top, ordered through the Auxiliary Vessels Board; YF 608-09 and 628-33 were completed as APL 14-15 and 17-22 (APL-20 is the ex-YF-631 member of that group); the 260-foot type was developed for long-distance ocean towing with a ship-style raised bow and skegs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction workforce 1944; craft crew and embarked berthing population 1944-47
- Limitations
- Compiled-from-records secondary source (Shipscribe project reproducing Auxiliary Vessels Board/BuShips data). Documents dates and program context, not materials or asbestos content; 'in service in reserve by Jan 47' bounds the active-service window without locating the berthing station(s) served.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-03
-
[4]U.S. Coast Guard, Merchant Vessels of the United States, 1976 edition, vol. 2 - official-number, former-name, and owner index entries for ON 571572 NORTHERN SHELL (Google Books scan of the USCG publication) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MVUS 1976 vol. 2, pp. 1937, 2013, 2276 (books.google.com id -9ouqaIsgmsC)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official U.S. Coast Guard merchant-vessel register documentation for this hull's post-Navy identity: official number 571572, name NORTHERN SHELL, owner Alaska Star Inc., P.O. Box 67, Seward, AK. The official-number/vessel-name index reads '571572 NORTHERN SHELL ... APL 20 U S N' (p. 2013); the former-name index reads '571572 a. APL 20 USN b. YF 631 USN' (p. 1937), formally tying the documented merchant barge to both Navy designations; the owner index lists '571572 NORTHERN SHELL ALASKA STAR INC AK PO Box 67 Seward Ak 99664' (p. 2276).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1974-1976 register coverage
- Population
- Merchant crews aboard ex-hull in Alaska seafood service (context)
- Limitations
- Index-level extracts verified via Google Books search-within-volume snippets against the scanned 1976 USCG register; the main characteristics page for the vessel (tonnage/dimension entry) was not individually retrieved. Documents documented merchant identity and ownership - not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-04
-
[5]U.S. DOL OSHA establishment enforcement records (aggregated by SVEP Navigator from public DOL/OSHA data): Alaska Shell Inc., 'THE BARGE PV NORTHERN SHELL,' Akutan AK, inspection opened 1981-02-03; All Alaskan Seafoods Inc., 'P/B NORTHERN ALASKAN,' Old Harbor AK, inspection opened 1987-12-17 [other_primary]
- Locator
- svepnavigator.com/facility/alaska-shell-inc-akutan-ak.html; svepnavigator.com/facility/all-alaskan-seafoods-inc-old-harbor-ak.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Federal workplace-enforcement documentation that the ex-hull continued commercial operation as an Alaska seafood-industry barge into the early 1990s: (a) 'THE BARGE PV NORTHERN SHELL' at Akutan, AK - OSHA inspection opened 3 Feb 1981 under Alaska Shell Inc., 7 citations / $1,180 proposed (longshoring 1918.12(a)/1918.23(b)/1918.51(c)(3), portable-tool guarding 1910.243(c)(3), respiratory-protection program items 1910.134(e)(3)/(f)(2); all abated by May 1981); (b) 'P/B NORTHERN ALASKAN' at Old Harbor, AK - OSHA inspection opened 17 Dec 1987 under All Alaskan Seafoods Inc., 47 citations / $45,537 proposed (hazard communication 1910.1200, respiratory protection 1910.134, machine guarding 1910.212, longshoring 1918.11/1918.63, walking-working surfaces, posting/recordkeeping; citations issued through January 1991, abatement deadlines to February 1991). No asbestos-specific standard (29 CFR 1910.1001/1915.1001) appears in either aggregated citation list.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1981-1991
- Population
- Alaska seafood-processing workers aboard the ex-hull (1981 Akutan; 1987-91 Old Harbor)
- Limitations
- Establishes the hull's documented post-Navy working life and federal inspection presence aboard - the strongest available bound on 'fate unknown.' Identity chain: MVUS ties ON 571572 NORTHERN SHELL to ex-APL-20/ex-YF-631; NavSource records the rename to Northern Alaskan; the OSHA records document barges of both names in Alaska seafood service in the correct period and region - the Northern Alaskan step rests on NavSource's notation. Inspection data is via an aggregator because osha.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches; citation-level detail as aggregated. Absence of asbestos-standard citations is a documented absence within these records, not a finding that no asbestos condition existed aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-05
-
[6]NavSource APL-20 page DANFS line; NHHC DANFS URL probe; HyperWar ship-page probe; NARA Special List 44 named-vessel logbook inventory; NARA digitized deck-log index [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APL-20 page footer; history.navy.mil DANFS probe (404); ibiblio.org HyperWar probe (404); archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/special-list-44-named and /navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No DANFS ship-history entry exists for APL-20 (NavSource prints 'There is no DANFS history available for APL-20'; live NHHC URL history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/apl-20.html returns 404). No HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' page exists (ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/APL/APL-20.html returns 404). NARA Special List 44 named-vessel logbook inventory contains no APL-designated entry (the string 'APL' does not appear; verified 2026-09-26), and the NARA digitized deck-log index contains no APL-20 coverage (the only APL-adjacent entry is Mercer (APB/APL-39/IX-502), a named self-propelled barracks ship).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of DANFS coverage is expected for an un-named noncommissioned service craft and does not indicate missing research; the logbook finding aids cover named vessels, so their silence does not prove no craft records exist - district or yard administrative files (e.g., Tampa Shipbuilding contract records, Pacific Reserve Fleet Stockton records) may hold hull-level documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-06
-
[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 1987;11(3):359-373 (PMID 3555021) + shipscribe APL class notes + NVR propulsion field + GlobalSecurity APL type page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Corn & Starr AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987), PubMed PMID 3555021; shipscribe APL02.html class notes; NVR propulsion 'none'; globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/apl.htm
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull type: peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in WWII U.S. shipbuilding during the wartime expansion of asbestos utilization, with shipyard-worker asbestos diseases emerging from the 1960s onward. APL-20 was built in 1944 at Tampa Shipbuilding, a commercial wartime yard - squarely inside the documented use window. The APL-17-class design had no propulsion plant and no main steam system: non-self-propelled covered barges whose only machinery was diesel-driven ship's-service generators (three 100 kW 450AC units) plus habitability systems (service boilers for heating/hot water, refrigeration, sewage, air-conditioning per the GlobalSecurity class description). Candidate era-consistent ACM systems aboard this craft type are confined to construction/habitability materials: bulkhead and fireproofing panels, thermal insulation on heating and hot-water piping, deck and floor coverings, generator exhaust lagging, gaskets and packing on hotel-service machinery.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940s wartime shipbuilding; 1944 construction
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; craft crew and berthed population 1944-47
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific asbestos record supports 'documented aboard this hull' wording; establishes no quantities, no locations, and no individual exposure. The inference set is deliberately narrowed to a non-powered berthing craft's plant and accommodations; GlobalSecurity's 'boilers' item refers to hotel-service boilers and is unverified against class plans (NAVSEA Booklet of General Plans dwg 1113310, not retrieved). Extending the inference to propulsion boilers or main-steam lagging would be unsupportable for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-07
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyard-exposure-map/client/src/data/shipyards.json): tampa-bay-shipbuilding yard-level record [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json yard_id tampa-bay-shipbuilding
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Yard-level context for the builder: Tampa Bay Shipbuilding Company (Atlas yard_id tampa-bay-shipbuilding; aliases cover TASCO / Tampa Shipbuilding Company / Tampa Shipbuilding & Engineering Company) is tier 3 in the Atlas dataset with a documented yard-level product list (asbestos insulation on steam systems; asbestos-wrapped turbines and pipes; gaskets; valve packing; brake linings; fireproof panels; pipe insulation), WWII peak employment 16,000, and EPA site identifier FLN000410642. The yard built APL-17 through APL-22 and APL-27 through APL-29 of this class on the same Tampa program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944 construction
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding trades 1944
- Limitations
- Yard-level record only - documents conditions and materials at the builder facility, not aboard this hull. No element of this row is evidence of asbestos aboard APL-20.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) - program-level context [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 (Oct 1979), product description
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy's standing asbestos-removal policy dates from 1975 (remove asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). This hull was struck 1 June 1973 and sold out of Navy custody 6 November 1974 - before any standing Navy asbestos-control program and before disposal-phase hazmat documentation practices - so no Navy-custody abatement or pre-sale environmental record is expected to exist for the hull; its subsequent commercial phase falls outside Navy record channels.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1975-1979 policy era vs. 1944-1974 Navy custody of this hull
- Limitations
- Program-level context only - GAO HRD-80-2 does not name this hull or class; it bounds what Navy-custody documentation could exist, it does not establish that asbestos was or was not aboard. gao.gov returns 403 to automated fetches; product-page description relied on per BATCH-01 standing note.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-09
-
[10]NavSource APL-20 entry ('Delivered and placed in service' phrasing; 'renamed Northern Alaskan'; 'fate unknown') vs secondary-compilation conventions (Wikipedia class table 'Commissioned' column; shipbuildinghistory/navalmarinearchive 'Northern Alaska' and 'scrapped 1974') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APL-20 chronology block; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL-17-class_barracks_ship class table; shipbuildinghistory.com smallships/yf2.htm YF-631 row; navalmarinearchive.com auxapl table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Status and disposition corrections for this hull: (a) secondary sources print 'commissioned 2 November 1944' (Wikipedia class-table convention; shipscribe 'Commiss.' column header); NavSource's entry - reflecting service-craft practice - reads 'Delivered and placed in service, 02 November 1944,' and APLs were noncommissioned craft manned by an officer-in-charge, so 'in service' is carried in this record. (b) Secondary compilations print 'scrapped 1974' and the rename 'Northern Alaska'; the documented record is sold 6 November 1974 into merchant service as Northern Shell ON 571572 (USCG MVUS 1976, ex-name index tying ON 571572 to APL 20 USN / YF 631 USN), and OSHA establishment inspections document the barge operating as Northern Shell at Akutan in 1981 and as Northern Alaskan at Old Harbor 1987-1991 - operation a decade-plus past the purported 1974 scrapping. The 'scrapped 1974' claim is rejected as a secondary-source error; NavSource's 'fate unknown' stands as the accurate disposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1991
- Limitations
- Terminology/disposition corrections - the 2 November 1944 service-entry date itself is uncontested across all sources. The 'scrapped 1974' rejection rests on the MVUS/OSHA documentation chain described in ev-...-04/-05; does not fix the hull's ultimate fate, which remains undocumented after the 1987-91 Old Harbor inspection period.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-10
-
[11]NARA Navy deck-log online list (no APL-20 coverage) + Special List 44 (no APL coverage); GlobalSecurity APL page NAVSEA drawing table; NARA RG 19 / RG 24 record-group guidance [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov deck-log list (no APL-20); special-list-44-named (no APL); globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/apl.htm drawing table (dwg 1113310 = APL 2 / APL 17)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 deck logs 1944-46 for APL-20 - not on the digitized deck-log list, textual reference at Archives II College Park; (b) NARA RG-19-LCM Bureau of Ships photographs - the series produced NHHC photo NH 83849 (APL-20 laid up at Stockton, 20 Aug 1970) and may hold construction/outfitting views for the Tampa hulls; (c) NAVSEA Booklet of General Plans drawing 1113310 (assigned by the GlobalSecurity drawing table to APL 2 and APL 17 classes) - the plans booklet is the document most likely to carry materials/insulation callouts for the type; (d) BuShips contract records for the Tampa Shipbuilding 9 Nov 1943 contract group (YF 628-633 completed as APL 17-22) - RG 19; (e) Pacific Reserve Fleet Stockton (Rough and Ready Island) administrative records for the reserve lay-up period.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1991 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and drawing-number mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-11
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'APL-20' / 'USS APL-20' / 'YF-631' / 'Northern Alaskan' (authenticated, cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py sweeps 2026-09-26; search_ledger rows sl-uss-apl-20-apl20-10a through sl-uss-apl-20-apl20-10f
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweeps for this hull (authenticated, fleet-paced): 'APL-20' unquoted type=o returned 1,088 opinion hits - all identifier collisions on top-20 inspection (tribal-insurance appeals incl. Choctaw Nation v. Lexington Ins., criminal, family-law, contract matters where 'APL-20' appears as an exhibit/policy/document string; none maritime or asbestos); '"APL-20"' quoted type=o returned 7 hits, all name collisions - six predate the vessel (1891-1931 contract/railroad/immigration matters incl. Creighton v. Gregory Cal. 1904, In re Tang Tun 9th Cir. 1909) and one is a 2021 Virgin Islands employment dispute (Massac v. Government of the Virgin Islands); '"APL-20"' quoted type=r returned 55 dockets, all identifier collisions (D. Nev. bankruptcy dockets, Apple securities/patent/antitrust litigation, American President Lines marine-contract cases, APL Logistics employment, Johns Hopkins APL employment, Chinese-Manufactured Drywall MDL - zero asbestos/mesothelioma/navy/ship/barracks keyword hits in the returned set); '"USS APL-20"' returned zero hits on both opinion and docket indexes; '"Northern Alaskan"' type=o returned 3 hits (Trustees for Alaska v. Hodel 9th Cir. 1986; United States v. Atlantic Richfield S.D.N.Y. 1969 - predating the merchant career; United States v. Washington W.D. Wash. 2015 treaty-fishing case) - other litigation/name collisions, none asbestos or naming the ex-hull; '"YF-631"' sweep logged in search_ledger. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- sweep 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Zero/collision-only results bound the indexed public record; docket-level asbestos references can exist without indexed opinions, and state-court asbestos dockets are incompletely indexed on CourtListener. The unquoted 1,088-hit mass was classified from top-20 case names, courts, and dates - none is plausibly maritime or asbestos; deeper pages of a collision-only result set were not exhaustively inspected. The 55-docket quoted sweep was classified from returned case names, courts, and suitNature codes.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-12
-
[13]Batch-2474 search ledger (this record): NavSource APL-20 page, shipscribe APL-2 class file, Naval Vessel Register APL-20 page + inactive listing via Wayback, USCG MVUS 1976, DOL/OSHA establishment records (aggregator), NARA deck-log list + Special List 44, NHHC DANFS probe, HyperWar probe, MARAD ShipHistory probe, GlobalSecurity APL page, CourtListener sweeps, marketing-list sweep, Atlas shipyards.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-apl-20-apl20-01 through sl-uss-apl-20-apl20-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for APL-20 under any designation: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, disposal hazmat disclosure, museum documentation, or docketed asbestos case naming the craft was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull left Navy custody by sale in 1974 - before the Navy's documented asbestos-control program era (GAO HRD-80-2: standing removal policy dates from 1975) and before disposal hazmat documentation practices - so no Navy-custody abatement record is expected to exist; the documented OSHA inspections of the post-Navy barge (1981, 1987-91) contain no asbestos-standard citations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 yard-built accommodation craft is consistent with retained era materials through both Navy and merchant service, and the hull's survival into commercial use means its materials history continued outside Navy documentation. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-20-apl20-13