Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
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[1]research packet aw-packet.md (6 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ard-14-ard14-pkt-aw-packet-md
-
[2]Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (GPO 1947), Chapter IX 'Floating Drydocks' - official U.S. Navy history (verbatim HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Building the Navy's Bases, vol. II, ch. IX, 'Floating Drydocks' - ARD section, pp. 215-216, incl. photo captions 'ARD-13' and 'ARD-14 ... launching ... November 6, 1943'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Bureau of Yards and Docks history carries a photograph captioned 'ARD-14 - Photograph taken during the launching of the dock, November 6, 1943', fixing this craft's launch date; the surrounding text establishes that after the first eight docks (ARD-2/ARD-5 group, 49 ft 4 in clear width) 'all subsequent docks of this class were built to revised designs providing a clear width of 59 feet between the wing walls' to accommodate LSTs - the revised group containing ARD-14. Design data for the type: steel unit dock, ship-form hull, 485 ft 8 in x 71 ft overall for the original group with 413 ft usable length and 21 ft depth over blocks, nominal 3,500-ton lift; bottom pontoon subdivided into eight ballast tanks plus five per wing wall; two pumping plants of two 15,000 gpm pumps each; four railway-type diesel engines directly connected to electric generators (no propulsion fitted on any dock); machinery decks (C deck: pump/valve motors, welding equipment, storage; B deck: main diesel generators, crew quarters and messing); hull repair shop in the bow; bottom-hinged stern gate; two 10-ton jib cranes (per the ARD-13 caption in the same section); each dock paired with a covered wooden carpenter-shop barge for keel-block and shoring fabrication.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943; volume published 1947
- Population
- Pacific Bridge Co. construction workforce (Alameda, 1943); dock operating crews (type context)
- Limitations
- Authoritative official construction history naming this hull for the launch date; the design-description text covers the ARD class as built generally (NavSource/shipbuilding-history place ARD-14 in the revised 59-ft group; revised-group overall dimensions differ from the figures quoted for the original group). Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-01
-
[3]Carter, RADM Worrall R., 'Beans, Bullets and Black Oil: The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat in the Pacific During World War II' (GPO 1953), Chapter VI - official U.S. Navy logistics history (verbatim HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BBBO ch. VI, 'Building Up in the South Pacific' - Espiritu Santo ship-repair passage and Purvis Bay March 1944 service tally
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official logistics history names this craft twice: Espiritu Santo's ship-repair complex 'were soon to have two smaller ones, ARD-14 and AFD-14, with respective lifting capacities of 3,500 tons and 1,000 tons' alongside YFD-21 and ABSD-1; and, of March 1944 at Purvis Bay, Florida Island (Solomons), 'the floating drydocks ARD-14 (now in Purvis Bay) and AFD-13, with 2 pontoon drydocks, made repairs to 110 vessels, including 5 destroyers and 41 landing craft, infantry (LCI's)' during the area's peak repair month (261 vessels repaired overall by all facilities).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- ARD-14 crew and fleet repair personnel; crews of docked vessels (110 vessels in March 1944, aggregate)
- Limitations
- Primary official source naming this hull and its station; the March 1944 repair tally aggregates ARD-14 with AFD-13 and two pontoon drydocks - per-dock output is not separable. Contains no asbestos or materials information; documents a repair workload, not materials disturbed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-02
-
[4]Carter, RADM Worrall R., 'Beans, Bullets and Black Oil' (GPO 1953), Chapter XVI 'STALEMATE II: The Western Carolines Operation' - official U.S. Navy logistics history (verbatim HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BBBO ch. XVI, Tulagi-Purvis Bay logistics passage (pp. 177-178 area)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- For the August-September 1944 STALEMATE II staging period the official history places this craft at Purvis Bay: 'In the Tulagi-Purvis Bay region as many as 255 ships were present at once, with ship movements averaging 122 daily during the last week of August. Here were the 3,500-ton floating drydock ARD-14, the 1,000-ton dock AFD-13, and the floating workshop YR-46, augmented later by the destroyer tender Dixie and the battle-damage repair ship Oceanus.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-08 to 1944-09
- Population
- ARD-14 crew; staged fleet personnel (255 ships in region)
- Limitations
- Primary official source naming this hull at Purvis Bay Aug-Sep 1944. Does not state when the craft left the Solomons or where it moved next; the only later located stationing datum is NavSource's 'Occupation service in the Far East 15 Sep 1945 - Jan 1946'. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-03
-
[5]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS ARD-14, file 09/67/6714 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/67/6714 - chronology block, specifications block, commanding-officer table, awards strip
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 1943 at Pacific Bridge Co., Alameda CA; commissioned USS ARD-14, 15 Dec 1943, LCDR Percy E. Troup in command; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during WWII; Navy Occupation service in the Far East 15 Sep 1945 - Jan 1946; decommissioned 2 Jul 1946; laid up in reserve; struck from the Naval Register 1 Dec 1977; transferred/sold 1 Feb 1980 under the Security Assistance Program to Brazil; final disposition 'fate unknown'. Specifications: 5,200 t displacement; 492 ft length; 81 ft beam; 6 ft draft; armament unknown; propulsion none. Commanding officers: LCDR Percy E. Troup (15 Dec 1943 - Dec 1945); LCDR Robert Weston Epps (Dec 1945 - 2 Jul 1946). Call sign NGHA. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Page notes 'There is no DANFS History currently available for USS ARD-14.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1980
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation (Hechler/Reeves data), non-official, but consistent with the official BuDocks history, the official logistics history, and the NVR inactive-hull listing for the points they overlap. No crew/complement figure is given. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-04
-
[6]Naval Vessel Register, 'US Navy Hulls in a Non Active status - N' (inactive-hull quickfind listing; 2016-09-27 Wayback capture of nvr.navy.mil) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPSDETAIL_INACTIVE_N page, ARD 14 row (Wayback capture 20160927035925)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The official Naval Vessel Register inactive-hull listing carries 'NO NAME | ARD 14 | 02/01/1980 | Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale case number assigned' - confirming the 1 Feb 1980 disposal of this hull as a cash sale through FMS/SAP channels.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1980
- Limitations
- Official register line confirming disposal method and date only; does not name the recipient nation (Brazil comes from NavSource and the Shipbuilding History drydock table), does not give stricken date or reserve location, and contains no asbestos information. Live nvr.navy.mil quickfind is no longer reachable - Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-05
-
[7]Consolidated era/design inference - Bureau of Yards and Docks official ARD design description (1947) applied to this 1943-built craft [other_primary]
- Locator
- Building the Navy's Bases ch. IX ARD design description (wing-wall machinery decks, quarters/messing, repair shop); BBBO ch. VI repair tally for functional context
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this craft was a self-contained 1943 steel repair facility carrying crew quarters and messing (B deck), diesel-driven generating plant, two ballast pumping plants, welding equipment, machine and hull-repair shops, a galley, laundry and infirmary-type accommodations per the type's described fit - construction of exactly the era and Navy-contract type in which pipe and machinery insulation, diesel-exhaust lagging, valve and flange gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, deck coverings, and joiner/accommodation insulation were commonly asbestos-containing. Functional-pathway context: the documented wartime role (drydocking and hull repair of combat vessels at a forward base, 110 vessels in March 1944 alone across the Purvis Bay floating-dock group) placed dock crews and ship crews together in a repair environment where era insulation aboard docked hulls was routinely cut, stripped, and replaced.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Pacific Bridge construction trades (1943); dock operating/repair crew (1943-1946); crews of vessels docked
- Limitations
- Inference from the documented class design and the era - NOT a hull record. No materials schedule, insulation spec, or survey naming ARD-14 was located; the BuDocks text describes equipment and spaces, not their material content. Establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation aboard this craft.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-06
-
[8]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 21016030; article pp. 9-16
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at two Navy yards and two Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval construction of exactly this craft's era and build type (Navy-contracted 1943 construction at a commercial yard).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- survey ~1944-45; published 1946
- Population
- WWII pipe coverers and insulators at Navy and contract yards (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this craft, class, or builder (whether Pacific Bridge Alameda was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-07
-
[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
- Peer-reviewed historical study documenting that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and Navy-contract construction program under which this auxiliary repair dock was built at Pacific Bridge Co., Alameda.
- 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 craft crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation; does not name this vessel, class, or yard, 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-ard-14-08
-
[10]Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images - Japanese Navy Ships: DD Kikuzuki (1926-1942), official U.S. Navy photo captions (incl. 80-G-89212, 80-G-K-6103/06/07/08) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC photo-archive captions for Kikuzuki; corroborating secondary accounts at archaehistoria.org (Bill Davis photograph collection) and combinedfleet.com/kikuzu_t.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC photo captions document that the U.S. Navy salvaged the Japanese destroyer Kikuzuki (sunk 4 May 1942 off Tulagi) for intelligence exploitation in 1943 and moved the wreck into Purvis Bay - the harbor where BBBO places ARD-14 as the stationed 3,500-ton floating drydock through September 1944. Secondary accounts (archaehistoria.org photo essay citing U.S. Naval Intelligence photographs of the wreck 'in the floating dry dock in Purvis Bay'; combinedfleet TROM; derivative summaries) report the hulk was drydocked in ARD-14 on 1 Jul 1944 with yard tug YT-312 and USS Pawnee (AT-74) assisting - the hull-specific identification and date come only from secondary sources, which conflict on sequencing (the TROM also records the hulk bottomed in a Ghovana Inlet cove on 11 Jun 1944).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- ARD-14 crew (if docking confirmed); USN salvage and intelligence personnel
- Limitations
- The NHHC captions do not name ARD-14 or any drydock; the docking claim is secondary-sourced and internally inconsistent on dates. Verification path: COMSOPAC and USS Prometheus (AR-3) war diaries/reports and the U.S. Navy salvage/intelligence report on Kikuzuki at NARA - not retrieved (no spend authorized). Not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-09
-
[11]Batch-2554 search ledger (this record): NavSource 09/67/6714; Bureau of Yards and Docks 'Building the Navy's Bases' ch. IX; Carter BBBO ch. VI and ch. XVI; NVR inactive-hull listing (Wayback); NHHC DANFS attempts (404); NHHC photo archive; CourtListener authenticated sweeps; indexed-web litigation check; NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ard-14-01 through sl-uss-ard-14-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS ARD-14 / ARD-14 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). There is no DANFS history for this hull (NavSource statement plus live NHHC 404s). CourtListener opinion searches '"ARD-14" asbestos' and '"ARD-14"' each returned zero results; the RECAP docket sweep returned 68 hits, all surname/'Ard' token collisions - none naming this hull or asbestos. Name-collision screen: Brazil's Dique Flutuante Ceara/Afonso Pena (G-25) was ex-AFDL-14 (ex-AFD-14) - a different hull that served beside ARD-14 at Espiritu Santo and also went to Brazil; sources conflating the two are excluded.
- 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 1943 Navy-contract steel repair dock is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the undocumented reserve years (1946-1980) and the Brazilian disposal are uncovered disturbance/custody phases. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-10
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel - Navy deck logs), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 181 (naval districts/shore establishments incl. forward-base records), RG 313 (naval operating forces - COMSOPAC/ServRon war diaries); NHHC ships-history source files; Brazilian Navy transfer records [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; /groups/019.html ; /groups/181.html ; /groups/313.html ; DANFS index PDF listing 'ARD-14 1943-45'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): deck logs and war diaries for ARD-14 1943-1946 (RG 24/RG 313, NARA College Park) - the source that would fix commissioning-to-decommissioning movements, the reserve-fleet lay-up location, and the Kikuzuki docking; BuDocks/BuShips contract construction records for the Pacific Bridge ARD program (RG 19/RG 181) - the source that would carry a materials schedule if any exists; COMSOPAC and USS Prometheus (AR-3) records re the Kikuzuki salvage/drydocking; the NHHC ships-history source file implied by the printed DANFS index line 'ARD-14 1943-45' (index seen at civilwardigital.com/danfs_samples.pdf); Brazilian Navy disposal file for the 1980 SAP cash sale.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1980 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this craft is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-11
-
[13]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches, 2026-09-26: q='"ARD-14" asbestos' type=o (count 0); q='"ARD-14"' type=o (count 0); q='"ARD-14"' type=r dockets (count 68, all name collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener v4 search endpoint; helper cl-auth-search.py with fleet pacing
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener sweeps for this hull returned no qualifying litigation: '"ARD-14" asbestos' in opinions: 0 results; '"ARD-14"' alone in opinions: 0 results - no opinion names this hull at all. The RECAP docket sweep (type=r) returned 68 hits, every one a token collision - surname 'Ard' cases (United States v. Ard, Jacqueline Elizabeth Ard bankruptcies) and unrelated criminal, antitrust, and products-liability dockets; none names a naval vessel or asbestos. No law-firm or marketing page asserting hull asbestos content was used as a source (banned source class).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Coverage as of 2026-09-26. Zero opinion hits plus an all-collisions docket sweep give strong negative coverage, but do not prove no litigation ever named the hull - settled/non-docketed matters, unreported state cases, and any RECAP gaps are outside this sweep.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-14-12