Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS ARD-2 (file 09/67/67102) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page header timeline, specifications block, awards line, commanding-officer roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archive page for USS ARD-2 (file 09/67/67102) records: ARD-2 class Auxiliary Repair Dock; laid down date unknown at Pacific Bridge, Alameda, CA; launched date unknown; delivered to the Navy April 1942; commissioned USS ARD-2 9 April 1942, CAPT. Eliot F. Robinson in command; decommissioned 20 March 1946; transferred to Mexico in 1963; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; current disposition 'active Mexican navy.' Specifications: 4,200 tons (light); 482'7" length; 71' beam; 5' draft; armament 2 single 20mm mounts; complement 6 officers, 125 enlisted. Awards displayed: American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. Commanding officers: Robinson 9 Apr 1942-8 Aug 1943; LT Charles P. Washburn Jr. USNR 8-13 Aug 1943; CDR Ross C. Parker 13 Aug 1943-May 1944; CDR Ralph R. Hayes May 1944-20 Mar 1946. Page notes no history available for USS ARD-2 (i.e., no DANFS entry exists) and no photographs held.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1963
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary archive transcribing official data, not a primary source - milestone dates unverified against original documents; the 482'7" length conflicts with the official BuShips table's 485'8" overall (see correction row); the awards display omits the Asiatic-Pacific ribbon expected for the documented Noumea station and is treated as incomplete. No asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information on the page - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-01
-
[2]Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (Washington: GPO, 1947), Chapter IX 'Floating Drydocks' - official agency history (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter IX, pp. 209-210 (ARD-2 contract/completion) and pp. 215-216 (Auxiliary Repair Dock type description)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Bureau of Yards and Docks wartime history records: 'plans were prepared for the ARD-2, an improved and enlarged model of the ARD-1. It was not until November 1940, however, that funds were obtained for its construction, and the project placed under contract. The ARD-2, and an additional dock, the ARD-5, were completed in the spring of 1942.' Design details for the type (from which ARD-2 was built with slight modifications): 485 feet 8 inches long and 71 feet wide overall, usable length 413 feet, clear width 49 feet 4 inches, depth over the blocks 21 feet, nominal lifting capacity 3,500 tons (could lift heavier ships if weight distribution favorable); integral unit hull; bottom pontoon divided into eight ballast tanks, each wing wall into five, plus two bow tanks; two pumping plants of two vertical-shaft pumps rated 15,000 gpm each - submerging to minimum freeboard in 50 minutes, raising and dewatering in 100 minutes; two machinery decks in the wing walls carrying pump/valve motors, welding equipment, storage (lower) and main diesel generators, crew quarters and messing (upper); four railway-type diesel engines direct-connected to electric generators; provision for low-power electric-drive propulsion was designed but 'none of the docks was actually equipped with propulsion'; bottom-hinged stern gate initially operated by electric sprocket and roller chain, later replaced with hydraulic gear; each dock provided a covered wooden carpenter-shop barge alongside.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Limitations
- Official agency history naming the hull; documents contract date, completion, and the design's machinery/outfitting. Contains no asbestos or materials statement - 'welding equipment,' 'repair shops,' and 'crew's accommodations' are functions listed, not material specifications; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-02
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 3 (NAVSHIPS 250-012, 1945), 'Floating Dry Dock Characteristics' table, ARD group rows (shipscribe.com scan of the official BuShips publication) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v3 p. 606, 'Floating Dry Dock Characteristics' - ARD-1/ARD-2/ARD-5 row group
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Bureau of Ships' official Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 3 (1945) 'Floating Dry Dock Characteristics' table carries a per-dock row for ARD-2: one-piece steel dock; nominal lifted capacity 3,500 tons; suitable in general for docking DD and SS (destroyers and submarines); length overall 485'8"; length on pontoon blocks 413'6"; width overall 71'0"; clear width 49'4"; draft over blocks 21'9"; maximum draft when submerged 32'6"; light draft about 4'10"-5'1" (columnar OCR); construction start 1941, finish 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Authoritative wartime BuShips publication with a per-hull row - confirms identity, dimensions, lift capacity, docking class suitability, and construction years. OCR of the scanned columnar table is partially garbled; values cross-verified against the BuDocks official-history dimensions where overlapping. The table's per-dock 'Location' column did not survive OCR cleanly enough to attribute a 1945 station to ARD-2. Contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-03
-
[4]Carter, RADM Worrall Reed, USN (Ret.), 'Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil: The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat in the Pacific During World War II' (Department of the Navy, 1952), Chapter VI 'Building Up in the South Pacific' + Appendix 'Floating Drydocks' command list (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter VI (Noumea ship-repair paragraph); Appendix floating-drydock CO table (https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/BBBO/BBBO-A.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy's official fleet-logistics history records: 'By late fall of 1942 we had installed a ship-repair unit and a floating drydock, ARD-2, at Noumea. The floating docks of this type were 485 feet long and had a lifting capacity of 3,500 tons, which made them able to accommodate destroyers, submarines, and "landing ships, tank" (LST's).' Its appendix list of floating-drydock commanding officers records for ARD-2: Comdr. R.C. Parker and Comdr. R.R. Hayes - corroborating the wartime portion of the NavSource CO roster.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Limitations
- Official Navy history naming the hull - establishes installation at Noumea by late fall 1942 and the destroyer/submarine/LST docking role; corroborates two of four commanding officers. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-04
-
[5]DANFS, 'Prometheus III (AR-3)' entry, Naval History and Heritage Command (live NHHC URL returns 404 - standing NHHC link rot per BATCH-01; verbatim DANFS text verified via independent mirrors incl. usshelena.org reproduction and Wikipedia transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Prometheus (AR-3) entry body text - WWII section (verbatim mirror text)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (USS Prometheus, AR-3 entry): 'Prometheus recommissioned on 15 May 1942 at the Bremerton Navy Yard and following shakedown, she sailed from San Francisco, California on 9 August for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where she took in tow the drydock ARD-2 and proceeded to Noumea, New Caledonia.' Prometheus then rendered repair services at Noumea - 'from the largest warship, the USS South Dakota (BB-57), to the smallest amphibious craft.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942
- Limitations
- Primary Navy historical entry documenting the towing event for this hull - authoritative for the SF-Pearl Harbor-Noumea transit (departed San Francisco 9 Aug 1942). Establishes arrival no earlier than late 1942; combined with the official logistics history's 'late fall of 1942' installation, dates the Noumea station from late 1942 (a secondary compilation's '1943' is superseded - see correction row). Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-05
-
[6]Bureau of Yards and Docks, 'Building the Navy's Bases in World War II' (Washington: GPO, 1947), Vol. II, Chapter XXIV 'Bases in the South Pacific' - Noumea section (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter XXIV, pp. 224-225 - Noumea/Ile Nou ship-repair-base paragraph listing ARD-2 and AFD-9
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Bureau of Yards and Docks history records the Noumea repair facility: 'At the repair base, facilities were provided for the repair and servicing of vessels as large as destroyers, and the base was also equipped to go into the stream and make repairs and alterations to vessels of the transport type. Sixteen 40-by-10-foot steel-arch buildings, 40 quonset huts, five frame storage buildings, and five stone buildings for shops, were erected, together with camp facilities for personnel. A 300-by-70-foot pontoon pier and a 30-by-141-foot small-boat pontoon pier were provided, as well as ARD-2 and AFD-9.' The facilities were at Ile Nou, Noumea harbor, built out during the first half of 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- ARD-2 crew; Ile Nou repair-base workforce; crews of docked vessels
- Limitations
- Official agency history naming the hull in its operational context - confirms the dock was the repair base's docking equipment alongside AFD-9, and characterizes the base's work scope (destroyer-size drydocking; in-stream repairs to transports). Contains no asbestos or materials statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-06
-
[7]Cross-check of shipbuildinghistory.com ARD table, NavSource spec/award blocks, and Wikipedia 'Auxiliary floating drydock' class text against BuShips SDB 1945 v3 p.606, DANFS Prometheus, and BBBO ch. VI [other_primary]
- Locator
- auxafd.htm ARD-2 row ('Modified ARD 1 design, to Noumea 1943, to Mexico 1963, active') vs official records
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Secondary-source discrepancies resolved against authoritative records: (a) Noumea arrival year - shipbuildinghistory.com's ARD table reads 'to Noumea 1943'; DANFS (Prometheus AR-3) documents the tow departing San Francisco 9 August 1942 via Pearl Harbor, and the Navy's official logistics history states ARD-2 was installed at Noumea 'by late fall of 1942' - late 1942 is controlling. (b) Overall length - NavSource spec block gives 482'7"; the official BuShips 1945 characteristics table gives 485'8" overall - the official figure is carried (basis/measurement difference unresolved). (c) Campaign awards - NavSource's ribbon display shows only the American Campaign Medal and WWII Victory Medal for a hull documented at a South Pacific forward base 1942-46; the display is treated as incomplete and no award list is asserted. (d) Secondary Wikipedia-derived class text garbles ARD-2-class clear width and usable length ('410 feet long, 49 feet 4 inches wide'); the BuShips table's 413'6" on blocks / 49'4" clear is controlling.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1963
- Limitations
- Corrects secondary-source date and dimension defects; the correction itself rests on official/primary sources. The shipbuildinghistory table's Mexico-1963 and 'active' entries are retained as corroboration of the NavSource disposition line. No asbestos content in any source - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-07
-
[8]Corn, J.K. & Starr, J., 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' Am. J. Ind. Med. 11(3):359-373 (1987), DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311; Fleischer, W.E., et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28:9-16 (1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Corn & Starr abstract/article; Fleischer 1946 abstract (USMC-sponsored Navy-yards pipe-covering survey)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference only. This dock (constructed 1941-42, BuShips table) carried a diesel-electric power plant, two ballast pumping plants, repair shops, welding equipment, storerooms, and crew accommodations in the bow and wing walls (per BuDocks official history). Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding of the era (Corn & Starr 1987); the USMC-commissioned 1944-45 industrial-hygiene survey found amosite 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels' (Fleischer et al. 1946). Typical applications for a craft of this type and era: machinery and exhaust lagging, pipe and valve insulation in service systems, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, interior board/deck materials in berthing and shop spaces, and brake linings on the dock's cranes. The dock's documented wartime work - drydocking and repairing ships at Noumea whose own systems carried era-typical asbestos insulation - is an additional documented activity context (repair-occupation exposure pathways in WWII naval service are the subject of the same literature).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1963+
- Population
- ARD-2 crew (complement ~131 per class figure); ships' crews of docked vessels (Noumea, 1942-46); construction trades at builder yard (1941-42); Mexican navy dock crews (1963- )
- Limitations
- Era/design inference, not a hull record - neither scholarly source names this craft or class. ARD-2 had no steam propulsion plant, so the boiler/steam-line inference applicable to combatant hulls is weaker here; inference covers outfitting, machinery-space materials, and the documented wartime repair activity aboard docked vessels (a context, not a finding about the dock's own fabric). Does not establish presence, quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-08
-
[9]Batch-2558 search ledger (this record): NavSource 09/67/67102; BuDocks official history ch. IX & XXIV; BBBO ch. VI + appendix; DANFS Prometheus (via mirror); BuShips SDB 1945 v3 p.606; shipbuildinghistory auxafd table; MARAD ShipHistory (error); CourtListener API v4 (paced); indexed-web litigation check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ard-2-ard2-01 through sl-uss-ard-2-ard2-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, specification, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS ARD-2 or ARD-2 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS entry exists for this hull (NavSource states no history available). MARAD ShipHistory public search could not be completed (form endpoint returned an error page); the dock was a Navy unit transferred directly to Mexico under military assistance in 1963 with no NDRF/MARAD custody indicated, so a MARAD record is unlikely but unverified. Law-firm marketing pages (freeasbestostesting.com auxiliaries list) enumerate USS ARD-2 among asbestos-exposure ships without primary support - excluded as a source per the no-law-firm-sources rule and logged in the batch report.
- 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 1941-42-built military repair dock that spent four wartime years docking and repairing vessels at a forward base is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials in its own outfitting and in the work it performed; decades of post-1963 Mexican navy service are undocumented for 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-ard-2-ard2-09
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 search endpoint, opinion index: '"USS ARD-2"' count=0; '"ARD-2" asbestos' count=1 (In re Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 348 B.R. 111, D. Del. 2006 - name collision, opinion /opinion/2019547/); '"ARD-2"' bare - paced, not completed [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ard-2-ard2-07 through sl-uss-ard-2-ard2-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener API v4 (authenticated via fleet pacing helper): opinion-index sweep '"USS ARD-2"' returned 0 hits (2026-09-26); '"ARD-2" asbestos' returned 1 hit - In re Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 348 B.R. 111 (D. Del. 2006), a Chapter 11 plan-confirmation opinion for a building-materials asbestos debtor; the 'ARD-2' token is not the vessel (name collision - the token does not appear in any opinion text field; the index match is consistent with an exhibit/claims-internal code). Bare '"ARD-2"' opinion sweep was attempted but blocked by fleet-wide pacing before completion. Residual litigation coverage rests on indexed-web checking, which located no qualifying docketed case naming the hull (see search_ledger sl-08). A law-firm marketing list (freeasbestostesting.com) names the hull without support - excluded source class.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Two of three planned opinion queries completed; the bare '"ARD-2"' sweep and any docket-type sweep were blocked by the fleet-wide shared pacing budget - coverage is partial. The single hit is a debtor-bankruptcy opinion with no relationship to the vessel; classified as a name collision, not qualifying asbestos litigation. Indexed-web checking does not foreclose unindexed complaints, unreported dispositions, or cases naming the craft under other forms (e.g., 'auxiliary repair dock,' 'floating drydock,' 'Noumea drydock').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-10
-
[11]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (deck logs), RG 38 (CNO war diaries), RG 71 (Bureau of Yards and Docks), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 181 (shore establishments); Library of Congress HAER MD-191 (USS Oak Ridge ARDM-1, Curtis Bay) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA record-group guides (online); https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md2197/ (HAER MD-191)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel) deck logs for USS ARD-2, 1942-1946, and WWII war diaries (RG 38) - the likeliest sources for station movements, docking logs, and any materials notes; RG 71 (Bureau of Yards and Docks) ARD-2 contract/construction file (contracted November 1940; Pacific Bridge Co.) and Noumea/Ile Nou repair-base records - the likeliest source for outfitting/materials specifications; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) ARD-class design and plans files; RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) 12th Naval District records for the Alameda build/commissioning period. HAER MD-191 documents sister dock USS Oak Ridge (ARD-19, later ARDM-1) with 63 photos, 9 measured drawings, and 39 data pages - a class-level materials-characterization lead. Mexican navy records of the 1963 transfer and subsequent service are unlocated.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940-1963 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. The HAER survey covers ARD-19 (ARD-12 class), a later and larger sister - not this hull - and is a materials lead only. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ard-2-ard2-11