Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 791-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-arethusa-ix135-pkt-791-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS (NHHC), 'Arethusa III (IX-135)'. Live NHHC URLs (history.navy.mil/.../danfs/a/arethusa.html and .../arethusa-iii.html) returned 404 on 2026-09-29; verified verbatim via the Wayback capture of history.navy.mil/danfs/a11/arethusa-iii.htm (2014-10-06 capture). [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Arethusa III' entry, full text (Wayback capture of NHHC DANFS page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records the hull (dp. 15,800; l. 438'6"; b. 57'; dr. 26'8"; s. 10.5 k.; cpl. 72; a. 1 4", 1 3", 8 20mm.) as the tanker Gargoyle, built in 1921 at Oakland, Calif., by the Moore Shipbuilding Co.; renamed Arethusa and designated IX-135 on 1943-11-03; acquired from the War Shipping Administration on a bareboat basis 1944-03-23 and placed in commission the same day at Majuro Atoll, Lt. Walter J. Tross in command, for use as a mobile floating storage tanker. Service narrative: Majuro fueling duty through early June; Eniwetok from 1944-06-08; Manus from 1944-08-28; Leyte Gulf from 1944-10-20 supporting the reconquest of the Philippines; Manus early January-5 May 1945; Ulithi from 1945-05-09; Kerama Retto/Okinawa from 1945-06-22 through mid-December; Subic Bay fueling duty through 1946-03-03; Pearl Harbor 1946-03-28; departed 1946-04-05; San Francisco Bay 1946-04-15; decommissioned at San Francisco 1946-05-16 and returned to WSA the same day; stricken 1946-06-05; sold to Kaiser Co., Inc., 1947-12-08 and subsequently scrapped; two battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1921 construction; Navy service 1944-03-23 to 1946-05-16
- Population
- Navy crew, 1944-1946 (complement 72 per DANFS spec line)
- Limitations
- Official Navy history, ship-specific. Establishes the Navy-period mission profile (mobile floating storage / station fueling) and custody dates; contains no asbestos, materials, or refit detail and does not establish exposure for any individual. Decommissioning location is San Francisco per DANFS - NavSource's Subic Bay variant conflicts; carried in correction row ev-09.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-01
-
[3]MARAD Vessel History Database, GARGOYLE detail 1792 and ARETHUSA detail 5675 (same official no. 221070; name history, milestones, scanned status cards, USCG photographs) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD VesselHistory Detail/1792 (milestones, status cards, documents, 18 USCG images) and Detail/5675
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Vessel History Database holds two linked records for this hull: GARGOYLE (IX-135), detail 1792, and ARETHUSA (IX-135), detail 5675 - both recording U.S. Official No. 221070, built 1921 by Moore Shipbuilding Company, tanker type, fate 'Sold - Scrap'. Detail 1792 records 439.0 ft length, 57.0 ft beam, 7,003 gross / 4,303 net tons, 80,440-barrel cargo capacity, World War II mission flag, and milestones 'Disposition 12/8/1947' and 'Withdrawl 12/8/1947'; 18 USCG photographs of Gargoyle (1942-45), scanned status cards, and name-history documents are attached. The ARETHUSA record (detail 5675) cross-links the same official number with specific type 'Crude Oil' and one scanned status card.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1921-1948
- Population
- Merchant crews (Gargoyle periods); Navy crew 1944-46; scrapping trades 1947-48
- Limitations
- Primary federal custody record; ship-specific. Establishes identity chain, dimensions/tonnage, cargo capacity, and the 1947-12-08 sale-for-scrap milestone. Status-card scans and attached document PDFs were not page-verified (image scans; spot OCR of the custody card PDF is largely illegible). Contains no asbestos or materials information. Detail 1792's 'Specific Type: LNG Liquefied Natural Gas' is a database data-entry artifact for a 1921 tanker - flagged, not carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-02
-
[4]Shipscribe, 'USS Antona (IX-133) Class' ship notes/class data and 'USS Ex-Italian Tankers (IX-132 etc.)' class notes (Stephen S. Roberts compilation from Navy acquisition, Auxiliary Vessels Board, VCNO, and registry records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- IX-135 ARETHUSA ship note + class table, IX133.html; program directive text on IX132.html (shipscribe.com/usnaux/IX2/)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Shipscribe IX-133 class page groups ARETHUSA (IX-135) with ANTONA (IX-133) and DAWN (IX-186) as Moore-built EFC Design 1041-type 438-ft tankers: 4,876 t light / 15,381 t full load; 438.4' oa x 57.0' x 27.5' full load; complement 70 (1944); 10.5 kts; 3,200 hp, 1 screw, vertical triple expansion; armament 1-4"/50, 1-3"/50, 8-20mm. Ship note: 'Ex merc. GARGOYLE (ID-4689, delivered 14 Feb 21). Acquired at Majuro. Merc. GARGOYLE (MC) 1946. To buyer 8 Dec 47, scrapped by 2 Feb 48'; decommissioned 16 May 46, struck 5 Jun 46, disposal 16 May 46 (MC/D), MA sale 30 Oct 47. The IX-132 class page records the program context: on 12 Oct 43 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended acquiring 15 old tankers (IX-131 to IX-145) for floating oil storage at advanced Pacific bases - 'only minimum repairs for service should be made and no conversion features be undertaken'; the VCNO request (14 Oct 43) and arming directive (19 Oct 43, standard merchant Area 1-A practice: 1-4" or 5" aft, 1-3"/50 forward, 8-20mm, plus fuel-transfer hose) are transcribed; 'the others were American ships dating from 1921 or before.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1921-1948
- Population
- Navy crew 1944-46; Oakland scrapping trades 1947-48
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of primary Navy/WSA records rather than the primary documents themselves - treated as an archival lead and cross-check. Custody dates and the scrapping disposition corroborated by MARAD milestones; the AVB/VCNO program directives are transcriptions. The 'minimum repairs/no conversion' program directive is asbestos-relevant context (no large wartime insulation installation expected aboard at takeover) but does not document hull materials. 'MA Sale 30 Oct 47' appears to be the Maritime Administration sale approval, preceding the 8 Dec 47 buyer delivery per the same page's ship note.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-03
-
[5]NavSource Online, USS Arethusa (IX-135) photo archive page (G.P. Priolo); ShipbuildingHistory.com Moore yard construction list (T. Colton); Auke Visser Socony/Mobil tanker register entry for Gargoyle [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/09/46/46135.htm; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/moore.htm (hull 164 row); aukevisser.nl/mobil/id1175.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled secondary registers corroborate and add detail: NavSource's IX-135 page records the 1921 construction as an 'Emergency Fleet Corp. hull design 1041 tanker,' registry ID-4689, the WSA charter sequence (Socony-Vacuum Oil Corp. 1942-04-20; War Emergency Tankers Inc. 1943-10-16), renaming 1943-11-03, commissioning at Majuro with Lt. Walter J. Tross, the campaign table (Leyte operation - Leyte landings 3, 12, 24 and 27 November 1944; Okinawa Gunto operation 22-30 June 1945) matching the two DANFS battle stars, a spec block listing three Scotch marine boilers (125 psi) and a Hoover-Owens-Rensler 3,300 ihp 78-rpm triple-expansion double-acting engine on a 16-ft propeller, and the awards list. ShipbuildingHistory.com's Moore yard list gives yard no. 164, official no. 221070, owner Socony-Vacuum Oil, delivered 14 Feb 1921; Auke Visser's Socony/Mobil tanker register records Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., New York, from 1935 and breaking at Oakland in Q4 1947 by Kaiser Co.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1921-1948
- Population
- Navy crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary registers - corroboration leads, not primary documents. Campaign attributions and the machinery spec block are consistent with DANFS and Shipscribe class data; yard no. 164 and the 1935 Socony-Vacuum listing rest on these compilations. NavSource's 'decommissioned at Subic Bay, P.I., May 1946' conflicts with DANFS (San Francisco 1946-05-16) - carried in correction row ev-09. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-04
-
[6]U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 285 (1906), 'Lime and Magnesia' chapter (magnesia alba employed 'with varying amounts of asbestos (15 to 50 per cent of the whole) for pipe coverings and boiler lagging' - quote verified against the report PDF 2026-09-29); corroborating USGS 1908 magnesite-deposits report ('85 per cent of light carbonate to 15 per cent of asbestos is a common proportion' for pipe covering and boiler lagging); Corn & Starr, '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 [other_primary]
- Locator
- USGS Bulletin 285-J 'Lime and Magnesia' report text (magnesite uses section, pp. 385-386); USGS 'The magnesite deposits of California' (1908); AJIM 11(3):359-373 abstract
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The hull's as-built 1921 steam plant (three Scotch marine boilers feeding a vertical triple-expansion engine) dates from the era when marine pipe covering and boiler lagging of magnesia was commonly compounded with asbestos fiber - the contemporaneous federal geological literature documents 15-50% asbestos content for these products in 1906 and an 85:15 magnesia-to-asbestos proportion as common in 1908, within a decade of this ship's construction, and the insulation formulations persisted through the interwar period. Her 1942-44 WSA operation and any Navy-period repair fall inside the WWII era when asbestos use in U.S. shipbuilding and repair is program-documented (Corn & Starr). The IX acquisition program's 'minimum repairs, no conversion' directive means no large wartime insulation installation is expected aboard at the 1944 Navy takeover; a 23-year-old hull at acquisition suggests substantial as-built lagging fabric remained in service.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1906-1908 era documentation; vessel 1921-1948
- Population
- Moore Shipbuilding construction trades (1920-21); wartime repair trades; Navy crew 1944-46; Oakland scrapping trades 1947-48
- Limitations
- Era/design inference only - no source states 'asbestos' aboard this hull in any period. The 1906-1908 USGS documents establish what the era's standard insulation product contained, not what was installed on this vessel; the asbestos condition of the hull at the 1944 takeover, and any wartime insulation work, is undocumented. Does not establish presence, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweeps 2026-09-29: "Arethusa" type=o (16 hits, all non-qualifying - 19th-century admiralty/common-law references to earlier Arethusa-named vessels, mythological name usage, surname/text collisions; none naming this hull and none asbestos); "Arethusa" type=r (61 hits, all name collisions - Arethusa Off-Shore Co./Arethusa Zapata, a Gulf of Mexico offshore-drilling concern sued by offshore workers in the 1990s; not this vessel); "IX-135" type=o (5 hits, all text collisions - citation/exhibit strings, no vessel); "Gargoyle" + asbestos/tanker queries returned no qualifying case; "IX-135" type=r pacing-deferred - see search_ledger [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-arethusa-ix135-07 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located naming USS Arethusa (IX-135) or this hull under either of its names. Opinion hits are name or text collisions; no published opinion names the vessel in an asbestos context.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's opinion and docket indexes as of 2026-09-29; the 'IX-135' docket-index sweep was pacing-deferred - see ledger for status. Absence of a docketed asbestos case does not prove no claim was ever filed - a WWII-era hull scrapped in 1947-48 predates mesothelioma litigation, and state-court/pre-RECAP filings are under-indexed. Does not establish or defeat exposure or eligibility for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-06
-
[8]Batch-4705 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback mirror (live NHHC 404); Shipscribe IX-133 class page; MARAD VesselHistory details 1792/5675; NavSource hull page; CourtListener name/hull sweeps; NARA Special List 44; Lloyd's Register Foundation HEC catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-arethusa-ix135-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, insulation specification, or docketed asbestos case naming this hull under either name (Gargoyle, Arethusa) was found in the public sources searched - DANFS contains no materials statement; the MARAD records, status cards, and name-history documents carry none; the Shipscribe/NavSource compilations carry none; no abatement-era record exists (hull scrapped 1947-48, before asbestos-abatement regimes).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1921 steam tanker retaining original insulation fabric is era-consistent with asbestos-containing lagging and gasketing. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-07
-
[9]NARA Special List 44, 'Logs and Journals of Vessels' named-vessel list ('Arethusa (IX-135), 3/23/1944 - 6/30/1945'); Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage & Education Centre catalog entries LRF-PUN-W1031-0139-R and LRF-PUN-W1031-0158-L; MARAD VesselHistory documents/status-cards sections [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/special-list-44-named (Arethusa IX-135 row); hec.lrfoundation.org.uk document catalog (refs W1031-0139-R, W1031-0158-L); vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov Detail/1792 + /5675
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no reproduction spend authorized): (a) NARA Special List 44 lists deck logs for 'Arethusa (IX-135), 3/23/1944 - 6/30/1945' - the commissioned period through mid-1945; the primary remaining path to ship-specific maintenance and material detail. (b) Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage & Education Centre holds 'Report on Machinery for Gargoyle,' 24 February 1921 (ref. LRF-PUN-W1031-0139-R, San Francisco survey office) - the as-built machinery survey, which could itemize boiler/engine lagging materials - plus Vacuum Oil Co. correspondence on dimensions and freeboard marks (LRF-PUN-W1031-0158-L, Nov-Dec 1921). (c) MARAD VesselHistory carries scanned status cards and name-history document PDFs under both names (details 1792 and 5675), not page-verified for this record.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1921 (machinery report); 1944-03-23 to 1945-06-30 (logged period)
- Population
- Navy crew 1944-45; Moore Shipbuilding and Vacuum Oil personnel 1921
- Limitations
- Catalog-level identification only - deck-log pages and the Lloyd's machinery report were not retrieved or OCR-verified for this record; deck-log coverage ends 1945-06-30 while the ship served to 1946-05-16 (later logs may exist under other accession groups). Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-08
-
[10]Cross-source reconciliation: DANFS 'Arethusa III' vs NavSource IX-135 page vs MARAD milestones (details 1792/5675) vs Shipscribe IX-133 class page [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource IX-135 page (decommissioned/laid-up lines); MARAD Detail/1792 milestones; Shipscribe IX133.html disposition table; DANFS narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Cross-source reconciliation: (a) Decommissioning - NavSource reports 'decommissioned at Subic Bay, P.I., May 1946' and separately notes '(DANFS has the ship decommissioned at San Francisco, 16 May 1946)'; DANFS's narrative (Subic departure 3 March 1946, Pearl Harbor repair, San Francisco arrival 15 April, decommissioning 16 May 1946) is internally coherent and is carried as controlling. (b) Layup - NavSource gives 'laid up 16 May 1947 in the NDRF, Suisun Bay,' one year after the documented 1946-05-16 WSA return; whether 1947 is a genuine layup date or a one-year transcription slip is unresolved - the NDRF layup is carried with the year flagged. (c) Sale - Shipscribe 'MA Sale 30 Oct 47' vs 'to buyer 8 Dec 47': the earlier date reads as the Maritime Administration sale approval, the later as buyer delivery; DANFS and MARAD milestones carry 8 Dec 1947. (d) Complement - DANFS/NavSource 72 vs Shipscribe class table 70 (1944); DANFS carried, variant flagged. (e) MARAD detail 1792 'Specific Type: LNG Liquefied Natural Gas' is a data-entry artifact for a 1921 tanker - not carried. (f) Suisun Bay spelling 'Benecia' on NavSource is Benicia.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1946-1948
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies in secondary framings; DANFS (the controlling official history) is adopted where sources conflict, and the NDRF layup year is left as a flagged gap rather than resolved by inference. No asbestos content in any reconciled source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arethusa-ix135-09