Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Shipscribe.com, 'USS APL-2 Class' auxiliary data page (transcription of official Navy vessel data), APL-53 construction/disposition rows, class notes (APL 44-58 program), and ship notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row 53; Disposition table row 53; class notes 'APL 44-58'; ship notes entry 53
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe auxiliary-ship construction/disposition tables (transcribed from official Navy records) for APL-53: ordered 26 July 1944; builder Tampa SB; keel 1945-01-01; launched 1945-03-03; in service (commissioned column) 1945-06-11; stricken 1987-08-06; disposal column Dec 74; fate 'Trf.' Ship note: 'In service in reserve by Jan 47. Loaned to Turkey 1974 as BINBASI NETIN SULUS (Y-1205), sold to Turkey 17 Aug 87.' Class notes place APL 44-58 in the 2 May 1944 Auxiliary Vessels Board recommendation - 15 APLs to accompany 15 ARLs (ARL 25-39) for the 1945 landing-craft program; class data: 1,300 t light / 2,600 t full load; 261.2 ft oa x 49.2 ft x 8.5 ft; complement 71 + 583; machinery: none; original armament 4-20mm; standard non-self-propelled 260-ft Navy covered barges with a two-story barracks built on top, designed for long-distance ocean towing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1987
- Limitations
- Respected transcription site of official Navy ships' data, not the primary document itself; its 'Commission' column records the in-service date for non-commissioned craft. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, APL-53 (navsource.net/archives/09/71/7153.htm) [other_primary]
- Locator
- APL-53 page: narrative block, awards display, specifications, contributed photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, APL-53 page: laid down 1945-01-01 at Tampa Ship Building Inc., Tampa FL; launched 1945-03-03; delivered and placed in service, date unknown; placed out of service, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold to Turkey under the Security Assistance Program 1987-08-17; current disposition 'in service in Turkish Navy as TCG Y-39'; transferred to Turkey and redesignated TCG Y39. Specifications: 1,300 t lt / 2,600 t fl; 261'2" x 49'2" x 8'6" lim; total accommodations 5 officers + 583 enlisted; three diesel-drive 100 kW 450V AC ship's-service generators; fuel capacity 1,600 bbls. Awards display: American Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal. Contributed photographs show ex-APL-53 as TCG BNB. Metin SULUS (Y39) moored in Halic (Golden Horn), Istanbul with Kasimpasa Naval Hospital in the background, one dated 2014, alongside ex-APL-47 (TCG YZB. Nasit Ongoren). Page states no DANFS history is available for APL-53.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-present
- Population
- Ship's company (~71 class-level) plus embarked personnel berthed aboard (up to ~583 accommodation capacity); later Turkish Navy accommodated personnel
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained archive transcribing official records and contributed firsthand material; in-service, out-of-service, and strike dates expressly undocumented on this page (Shipscribe supplies them). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-02
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[3]U.S. Department of State, cable STATE 175730 (1974-08-12), 'Ship Loan: LST Westchester County and APL-53' - declassified electronic telegram, mirrored at WikiLeaks Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), canonical ID 1974STATE175730_b [other_primary]
- Locator
- Cable body, paras 1-2 (APL-53 at Norfolk; effective transfer date June 28)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Declassified U.S. Department of State cable STATE 175730 (12 August 1974, originally CONFIDENTIAL, now UNCLASSIFIED), subject 'SHIP LOAN: LST WESTCHESTER COUNTRY AND APL-53', records: transfer procedures handled Navy-to-Navy; 'APL-53 IS CURRENTLY AT NORFOLK'; the Turkish Navy was expected to arrange a tug to tow the barge to Turkey; 'THE EFFECTIVE TRANSFER DATE FOR THE APL-53 WAS JUNE 28' (28 June 1974).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1974
- Limitations
- Primary U.S. government document cited from the PlusD mirror because the NARA/catalog.archives.gov AAD interface did not return a stable public record page for this telegram; the cable text is the declassified State Department original as released to the public archive. Documents the loan transfer only - no asbestos, materials, or condition content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-03
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[4]FleetPhoto (fleetphoto.ru) vessel registry, 'BNB Metin Sulus - APL2 type' (vessel 38434) incl. registry-change history and dated photo entries [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel data table, registry-change history (Y1205 to Y39), photo years 2013/2021/2023
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- FleetPhoto vessel registry entry for 'BNB Metin Sulus' (vessel 38434): class APL2; builder Tampa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, Tampa; yard number 150; launched 03.03.1945; built 11.06.1945; registry history shows US Navy 'APL53' renamed 'BNB Metin Sulus' December 1974, board number initially Y1205 and later changed to Y39; home port Turk Deniz Kuvvetleri (Turkish Navy); current state 'Operating'. Photo galleries place the vessel at the Golden Horn (Halic) shipyard, Istanbul, on May 8 2013, October 23 2021, and April 7 2023. Site note explains BNB abbreviates the Turkish rank Binbasi (Major).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1974-2023
- Population
- Turkish Navy personnel berthed aboard (accommodation-barge use)
- Limitations
- Volunteer ship-spotter registry carrying an explicit disclaimer that data derives from public sources and user observation and may be outdated; dates and pendant numbers corroborate Shipscribe/NavSource where they overlap and supply the Y-1205-to-Y39 renumbering. 'Operating' status is observer-reported, not an official Turkish Navy confirmation. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-04
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[5]M. C. Boat Co. v. Jack Neilson, Inc., 213 So. 2d 908 (La. Ct. App. 1968), CourtListener opinion cluster 7505683 / opinion 7428830 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text: facts section (Port Arthur mothball fleet; Boland yard conversion; air conditioning; atomic submarine crews) and holding on the $1,231 offset item
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published appellate opinion naming the Navy craft: M. C. Boat Co. v. Jack Neilson, Inc., 213 So. 2d 908 (La. Ct. App. 1968) (Johnson, J.; panel Hall, Johnson, Samuel). The opinion recites that the U.S. Navy had maintained a fleet of vessels 'in moth balls' at Port Arthur, Texas for the preceding two or three years (ca. 1960-1963), that 'one of those vessels is designated as APL-53, a barge-type houseboat formerly used for housing sailors,' and that 'the Navy desired to modernize that barge by installing air conditioning and generally up-dating it to make it suitable for housing men for atomic submarine crews.' The general conversion contract was placed at Boland Machine & Manufacturing Co.'s shipyard on the Industrial Canal at New Orleans; defendant Jack Neilson, Inc. subcontracted the tow to plaintiff's tug John Thomas; Navy inspectors reported damage after delivery to Boland's dock (letter of 21 May 1963). Disposition: the trial court (24th Judicial District) awarded plaintiff $4,131.50 and dismissed defendant's offset claims including the $1,231 APL-53 repair item; the Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of that item, holding fault could not be found without convincing proof the vessel was in plaintiff's possession when the damage occurred.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1960-1968
- Population
- Boland Machine & Manufacturing shipyard workers (New Orleans, 1963); Navy inspectors; crews of the tug John Thomas
- Limitations
- Classification: OTHER LITIGATION - a commercial towing/contract dispute, not asbestos litigation; no asbestos, insulation, or materials issue appears anywhere in the opinion. Its value here is documentary: it establishes the Port Arthur reserve berthing (ca. 1960-63), the 1963 Boland yard modernization (air conditioning, accommodation update for submarine crews), and the custody chain - a documented yard-disturbance event on a 1945 hull. The material scope of the 1963 work is not stated; asbestos content neither asserted nor excluded.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-05
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[6]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 1945-built Navy accommodation craft was constructed - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant-type hulls.
- 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 and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. A non-propelled barracks barge had a smaller technical plant than a steam warship - the inference rests on its diesel generators, hotel systems, accommodation outfit, and the documented 1963 modernization work.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-06
-
[7]Cross-source reconciliation: Shipscribe ship note/disposition row; NavSource APL-53 page and photo captions; FleetPhoto registry history; State Dept cable 1974STATE175730; shipyards.json alias list [other_primary]
- Locator
- FleetPhoto registry-change table (board number Y1205, later Y39); Shipscribe ship note 53; cable para 2
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Source discrepancies reconciled: (a) Turkish pendant number - Shipscribe ship note and navalmarinearchive give 'Y-1205' while NavSource photo captions give 'Y39'; the FleetPhoto registry-change history resolves this as a renumbering (Y1205 at 1974 acquisition, later changed to Y39), consistent with sister craft APL-47 (Y1204, later Y38). (b) Turkish name - Shipscribe's 'BINBASI NETIN SULUS' is a typographical rendering of Binbasi Metin Sulus ('BNB' = the rank Binbasi, Major); NavSource and FleetPhoto give 'Metin Sulus'. (c) Transfer date - the State Department cable gives the loan's effective transfer date as 28 June 1974 while Shipscribe's disposal column and FleetPhoto's rename date are December 1974; reconciled as loan-effective date vs physical custody/handover (the cable itself notes the tow to Turkey had not yet been scheduled in August 1974). (d) Builder name variants ('Tampa Ship Building Inc.' NavSource; 'Tampa SB' Shipscribe; 'Tampa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd' FleetPhoto) all refer to the Tampa Shipbuilding yard at Tampa, FL - the Atlas shipyards.json entry 'tampa-bay-shipbuilding' lists 'Tampa Shipbuilding Company' among its aliases.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1974-1987
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies among secondary/transcription sources using the declassified cable and the registry-change history; controlling primary records (the 1974 delivery document, the 1987 SAP sale instrument) were not retrieved. None of the discrepancies affects identity or the asbestos assessment.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-07
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[8]Batch-2507 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches; VA ship-list mirror (tf116.org); NavSource; Shipscribe; FleetPhoto; general web asbestos/litigation sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-apl-53-apl53-01 through sl-uss-apl-53-apl53-13
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos record located. CourtListener opinion search on exact token "APL-53" returned 1 hit - M. C. Boat Co. v. Jack Neilson, Inc., 213 So. 2d 908 (La. App. 1968) - classified OTHER LITIGATION: it names the Navy craft but is a commercial towing-damage contract dispute with no asbestos content (see ev-05). CourtListener docket search on "APL-53" returned 3 hits, all NAME COLLISIONS: Smartflash LLC v. Apple Inc. (E.D. Tex., patent case); Timothy Armstrong v. American Pallet Leasing Inc. (N.D. Iowa); Cantu v. Cameron County Texas (S.D. Tex.) - none names the vessel. Web-level searches for APL-53 with asbestos/mesothelioma/BVA returned no asbestos proceeding naming the hull; APL-53 does not appear on the VA 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' ship list (consistent with its documented record - no Vietnam service); no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or government report naming APL-53 was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger).
- 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 1945-built auxiliary carrying diesel generators and air conditioning (added 1963) is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull remains extant in Turkish service with no public material-condition record. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. CourtListener searches covered the hull token 'APL-53'; the craft has no other U.S.-service name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-08
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[9]NARA Atlanta finding aid, 'RG 181 - Naval Districts and Shore Establishments, General Correspondence - Seventh Naval District at Jacksonville, Florida' (archives.gov) [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 181 7ND finding aid, series A4-1 'Status of vessels and aircrafts', Boxes 11-12 entries for APLs 53-56 (April-May 1945)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (finding aids located; contents not retrieved - no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 181 (Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments), Seventh Naval District at Jacksonville - General Correspondence finding aid lists 'Tampa designated to accept and place in service APL's 53-56' (Box 11, A4-1, May 1945) and 'APL's 53-56 acceptance, placing in service, fitting out, and reporting' (Box 12, A4-1, April 1945) - contemporaneous acceptance/fitting-out files for this hull exist in NARA custody and could contain outfitting details. (b) BuShips construction and outfitting specifications for the APL-2 design group and Tampa Shipbuilding contract records could contain material schedules. (c) Turkish Navy custody, maintenance, and any abatement records for BNB Metin Sulus (Y39) are not in U.S. public sources.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945 records
- Limitations
- Finding-aid-level verification only - the acceptance and fitting-out files exist in NARA custody but were not examined; whether they contain materials or insulation specifications is unknown. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-09
-
[10]NARA Special List 44 (archives.gov, sl-44-ship-number.pdf); NHHC/DANFS index; Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil) SHIPSDETAIL_APL_53 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 ship-number listing (APL run, entries APL-8 through APL-42 - APL-53 absent); NavSource APL-53 DANFS note; NVR site disclaimer
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Records-coverage negative findings: (a) NARA Special List 44 (list of WWII-era U.S. Navy logbooks in NARA custody) lists logbooks for ten other APL hulls (APL-8, -9, -10, -12, -14, -15, -17, -19, -21, -29, -30, -42) but has NO entry for APL-53 - no 1945-47 deck-log coverage is indexed for this hull. (b) No DANFS entry exists for APL-53 - NavSource expressly states 'There is no DANFS history available for APL-53' and NHHC site search under the current site structure returned no entry. (c) The Naval Vessel Register detail page returns only the generic inventory shell - NVR states craft disposed prior to 1987 are not yet included, and APL-53's 1987 strike sits at that boundary.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Documents where primary records do NOT exist for this hull. Absence of digitized logbooks/DANFS coverage limits the verifiable service narrative to register-level sources, the 1968 court record, the 1974 cable, and photographic evidence. Says nothing about asbestos presence or absence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-apl-53-apl53-10