Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil), NO NAME (APL 43) detail page, last updated 11/06/2006; retrieved via Internet Archive capture 2016-11-06 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPSDETAIL_APL_43 detail page - milestone dates, status, physical characteristics, custodian fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Vessel Register entry for NO NAME (APL 43), type 'Barracks Craft (N-S-P)', class 'APL 41', UIC 01663: builder Willamette Iron & Steel Corp.; award date 07/19/1944; keel 12/13/1944; launch 02/27/1945; delivery 05/31/1945; commission and decommission fields blank; stricken 12/11/1992; status 'Transferred by the General Services Administration (GSA) under the Property Donation Exchange Program' with status-change date 10/01/1993; custodian PANAMA. Physical characteristics: steel hull, steel superstructure; overall length 261 ft, waterline 260 ft; beam 49 ft; max navigational draft 11 ft; light displacement 1,300 tons, full load 2,580 tons; propulsion type 'none'; accommodations 6 officers + 680 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1993
- Limitations
- Official Navy register record; the live NVR page for this stricken craft is offline and the archived capture (page last updated 2006-11-06) is the retrieved copy. NVR leaves commission/decommission dates blank for this service craft. Establishes identity, milestones, strike date, and disposition mechanism only - no asbestos, material, or exposure information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-01
-
[2]Stephen S. Roberts, 'USS APL-2 Class' construction, disposition, and ship-note tables, ShipScribe U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels (compiled 05 Jun 2011) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row '43 | APL-43'; disposition table row '43 | APL-43'; ship notes row for APL-43; class header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ShipScribe 'USS APL-2 Class' construction and disposition tables record APL-43: ordered 19 Jul 44, built by Willamette Iron & Steel, keel 13 Dec 44, launched 27 Feb 45, commissioned 31 May 45; disposition table: strike 11 Dec 92, disposal 1 Oct 93, fate 'Trf.' (transfer); ship note: 'In service in reserve by Jan 47. Transferred 1993 (to Panama?) by GSA under the Property Donation Exchange Program.' Class header lists the design as non-self-propelled with machinery 'None', complement 71 + 583 troops, displacement 1,300 light / 2,600 full load, 261.2 ft overall.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1993
- Limitations
- ShipScribe is an authoritative secondary compilation drawn from official Navy construction and register records, not itself a government source; its milestone and strike dates independently corroborate the NVR record. The '(to Panama?)' parenthetical flags the recipient's identity as the compiler's inference from the GSA transfer record. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-02
-
[3]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive, USS APL-43 page (last updated 15 August 2014) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APL-43 page - service history block, specification block, awards ribbon display, DANFS-availability note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Online service-ship page for USS APL-43: 'Laid down 13 December 1944 at Willamette Iron and Steel, Portland, OR; launched 27 February 1945; delivered and commissioned USS APL-43, 31 May 1945; decommissioned, date and location unknown; struck from the Naval Register, 11 November 1992; final disposition, sold to Panama in 1993.' Class specifications displayed: displacement 1,300 t light / 2,600 t full; length 261 ft; beam 49 ft 2 in; draft 8 ft 6 in; crew accommodation 5 officers + 66 enlisted; troop capacity 583 enlisted; three diesel-drive 100 kW 450 AC ship's service generators; diesel fuel capacity 1,000 bbls. Page notes 'There is no DANFS history currently available for APL-43' and displays American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal ribbons; no photographs of the craft are archived.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1993
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary archive reproducing official Navy data, not a primary source. Its build/service dates agree with NVR and ShipScribe, but its strike date (11 Nov 1992) conflicts with the NVR record (11 Dec 1992) and its 'sold to Panama' framing differs from NVR's GSA donation-exchange language - see correction row. Ribbon display is a type-standard attribution, not a hull-specific award record. Accommodation/generator figures are class-level specifications. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-03
-
[4]Stephen S. Roberts, 'USS APL-2 Class' class notes and 'Barracks Ships (APL)' type page, ShipScribe [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class notes paragraphs (YF/APL program history); type page https://usnaux.shipscribe.com/APL/APLtype.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The APL barges of WWII were 'pure service craft, being standard non-self-propelled 2,000-ton 260-foot Navy covered barges with a two-story barracks built on top instead of the usual simple warehouse'; the Navy developed the 260-foot type for long-distance ocean towing, fitted with a ship-style raised bow for seakeeping and large skegs aft. They were procured under the Auxiliary Vessels Board program (FY1944 for APL 41-58) to house repair-force personnel near tenders and repair ships; APL 41-46 were built by Willamette Iron & Steel and APL 47-52 by Puget Sound Bridge under orders dated 19-20 Jul 44.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1946 design/program history
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the type, not a hull record - establishes what kind of craft APL-43 was and why it was built, not anything about this hull's material contents, deployment, or condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-04
-
[5]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 steel-hulled Navy barracks craft was built (keel December 1944), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- 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 vessel, this class, or this builder and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Non-self-propelled barracks craft lacked the boiler/steam systems where the largest shipboard asbestos quantities typically resided.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 search, type=o and type=r, queries "APL-43" / "APL 43" / "USS APL-43", run via fleet authenticated helper 2026-09-26 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-apl-43-05 through sl-uss-apl-43-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (API v4, authenticated, 2026-09-26): opinion searches "APL-43", "APL 43", and "USS APL-43" each returned zero results; docket search "APL-43" returned 7 hits, all name collisions unrelated to the vessel - Smartflash LLC v. Apple Inc (patent, E.D. Tex.), Myles v. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (employment, D. Md.), Welch v. Bio-Reference Laboratories (employment, N.D.N.Y.), Glendenning v. Cleveland Animal Protective League (civil rights, N.D. Ohio), United States v. Ali (E.D. Mo.), Timothy Armstrong v. American Pallet Leasing Inc (securities, N.D. Iowa), Barraza v. U.S. Bank (RICO, D. Nev.). No docketed case or opinion naming this hull was located; no qualifying asbestos litigation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage is limited to digitized U.S. dockets/opinions in its corpus; a negative result does not prove no suit was ever filed (state filings, unindexed federal dockets, and MDL-875 individual pleadings may be absent). All 7 docket hits are string collisions on 'APL'/'43' (corporate and laboratory abbreviations), not the hull. No asbestos claim attribution is made or defeated by this row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-06
-
[7]NVR SHIPSDETAIL_APL_43 (stricken 12/11/1992; GSA donation-exchange 10/01/1993) vs. NavSource APL-43 page (struck 11 November 1992; sold to Panama 1993); ShipScribe disposition table (strike 11 Dec 92); USNI Proceedings Vol. 119/9/1,087 'Changes in Ship Status' (Sep 1993) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR stricken/status fields; NavSource service-history block; ShipScribe disposition row; USNI Proceedings 1992 status-change list (OCR text confirms APL-43 presence under 1992, date column illegible in scan)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved: (a) Strike date - NavSource states '11 November 1992' while the Naval Vessel Register records stricken date 12/11/1992 and ShipScribe's disposition table records '11 Dec 92'; the NVR date 1992-12-11 is adopted as controlling. The USNI Proceedings September 1993 'Ship's Status Changes' compilation (covering 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1992, compiled by Fred W. Cassady Jr.) lists APL-43 among 1992 status changes, corroborating the strike year. (b) Disposition framing - NavSource says 'sold to Panama in 1993' while NVR records 'Transferred by the General Services Administration (GSA) under the Property Donation Exchange Program' effective 10/01/1993 with custodian PANAMA; the NVR donation-transfer framing is adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1992-1993
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies between a secondary archive and the official register; does not affect identity or custody materially. Proceedings' OCR text does not yield the specific strike date - only the 1992 listing. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-07
-
[8]Batch-2498 search ledger (this record): NVR detail page; NavSource APL-43 page; ShipScribe APL-02-class tables/notes; NHHC DANFS path check; MARAD ShipHistory query; CourtListener name/hull searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-apl-43-01 through sl-uss-apl-43-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material identification list, or docketed case naming APL-43 was found in the public sources searched - there is no DANFS entry for this hull (NHHC page does not exist; NavSource confirms none available); the NVR record contains no material-content fields beyond 'steel hull, steel superstructure'; ShipScribe and NavSource pages contain no insulation or hazmat statements; CourtListener returned no hull-specific case (see litigation_sweep row).
- 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 1944-45 steel Navy accommodation craft is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation and materials. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-08
-
[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel - ship/station logbooks), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 24 logbook series description; RG 19 contract records; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/181.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) holds WWII-era deck logs including auxiliary/service craft in 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1983' - an APL-43 logbook series (1945 onward) would record assignments, towing movements, and berth locations not documented in published sources. RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds construction/contract records for the FY1944 Willamette Iron & Steel program including outfitting specifications; RG 181 naval-district records would document reserve-fleet layup custody.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1993 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of hull-specific construction or material documents for APL-43 is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-43-09