Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Arkansas III (Battleship No. 33) (builder, dates, Veracruz battalion, WWI Grand Fleet service, 1925-26 Philadelphia modernization, interwar training duty, WWII convoy escort and bombardment record, Crossroads disposal; verbatim transcription via ibiblio HyperWar mirror - live NHHC page returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 25 January 1910 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.; launched 14 January 1911; commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 17 September 1912, Capt. Roy C. Smith. Carried President Taft to the Panama Canal Zone; Veracruz April 1914 - battalion of 17 officers and 313 enlisted landed 22 April, two sailors died of wounds. 6th Battle Squadron, British Grand Fleet, from July 1918; High Seas Fleet internment 21 November 1918; escorted George Washington into Brest. Pacific Fleet July 1919; Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul from 19 September 1919; designated BB-33 17 July 1920; flagship, Commander Battleship Force Atlantic Fleet, 1921. Philadelphia Navy Yard modernization after the 1925 midshipman cruise (during which her sailors helped police earthquake-stricken Santa Barbara) to November 1926: coal-burning boilers replaced with oil-fired, deck armor added, single stack, after cage mast replaced by low tripod. Training Squadron flagship; midshipman cruises; Norfolk Navy Yard overhauls 1936 and 18 March - 24 May 1940; Iceland occupation-force escort summer 1941; Casco Bay during the Atlantic Charter conference, housing Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles and W. Averell Harriman. Norfolk overhaul 6 March - 2 July 1942; Atlantic convoy escort (Greenock, Casablanca) through 1943; midshipman training duty Norfolk. Omaha Beach 6 June 1944 (4,000 yards offshore, opened fire 0552); Cherbourg shore-battery duel 25 June; Southern France 15-17 August; Boston repairs and alterations to 7 November; Pacific from January 1945: Iwo Jima bombardment 16 February - 7 March; Okinawa fire support 25 March onward - 46 days; Magic Carpet troop lifts. Departed Pearl Harbor 20 May 1946 for Bikini as an Operation Crossroads target; sunk in Test Baker 25 July 1946; decommissioned 29 July 1946; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 15 August 1946. Four battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1910-1946
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1910-12; Philadelphia, Norfolk, Boston, New York (Brooklyn), and Puget Sound yard trades across documented availabilities; crew 1912-46; ~800 Magic Carpet troops embarked Sep-Oct 1945
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content. The transcription carries OCR artifacts - 'September 1991' for the 1931 Halifax visit and 'spring of 1996'/'spring of 1994' for 1936/1934 dates - corrected silently here against context. Live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-18; verbatim transcription cited via the ibiblio HyperWar mirror.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-01
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[2]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, USN Ships - USS Arkansas (BB-33), 1912-1946 (official NHHC ship page, verbatim via ibiblio HyperWar mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library ship page, narrative block (via ibiblio HyperWar mirror; live history.navy.mil pattern returned 404)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC ship page corroborates this hull's record: 26,000-ton Wyoming-class battleship built at Camden, New Jersey, commissioned September 1912; Atlantic Fleet; Grand Fleet July-December 1918; Pacific Fleet 1919-21; midshipman cruises; extensive modernization after the 1925 cruise - 'new oil-fired boilers, additional deck armor and a changed appearance, with only one smokestack and basket mast in place of the previous two of each'; training duty through the 1930s; 'operations short of war' and Iceland escort 1941; Atlantic convoy escort; March-June 1942 overhaul replacing the basket foremast with a tripod type; Normandy and Cherbourg June 1944; Southern France August 1944; Pacific November 1944; Iwo Jima and Okinawa fire support February-May 1945; Magic Carpet lifts; Bikini atomic-test target - survived the Able air-burst but anchored close to the 25 July 1946 underwater shot and 'was engulfed in the column of water driven up by the powerful blast and quickly sank. She remains on the bottom of Bikini Atoll to this day.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1912-1946
- Population
- n/a (official ship history)
- Limitations
- Official NHHC summary documentation of service and machinery changes - no asbestos or insulation content. The March-June 1942 overhaul window differs slightly from DANFS's 6 March - 2 July dates; both carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-02
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[3]NPS Cultural Resources Assessment No. 37, The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb (Delgado, Lenihan, Murphy), Chapter 3, USS Arkansas (BB-33) ship's history and characteristics (npshistory.com mirror of the official NPS Submerged Cultural Resources Unit report) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS SCRC-37 ch. 3, USS Arkansas (BB-33) section (characteristics + history), pp. 52-55
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documented this hull's characteristics and machinery: riveted steel, 562 ft overall, beam widened to 106 ft by the 1925-27 additions; originally 23,066 tons standard, 26,100 tons after the added deck armor and torpedo blisters; crew 1,448 as a flagship; double bottom, triple bottom in machinery spaces; twelve 12-inch/50 guns in six turrets, sixteen 5-inch/51 in casemates (partially relocated to the main deck 1925-27; ten 5-inch guns removed in 1942, leaving three per beam in the 'air castles'); nine quad 40mm Bofors and 28 single 20mm Oerlikons by 1945; airplane catapult atop Turret No. 3 from the 1925-27 refit. Machinery: Parsons turbines and four White-Forster boilers developing 28,000 shp at 20.5 knots; the coal-burning boilers installed in 1912 were replaced with oil-burners in the 1925-27 reboilering, two stacks trunked into one; bunkers carried 5,425 tons of fuel oil; cage mast replaced by a low tripod; tripod foremast and reconstructed bridge in 1942. History detail: oldest and smallest U.S. capital ship in the Pacific and the last American battleship mounting 12-inch guns; 1,262 rounds of 12-inch at Iwo Jima, 2,564 at Okinawa, war totals 5,255 rounds 12-inch and 134,141 miles steamed; Boston Navy Yard modernization September-November 1944; Crossroads preparation at Terminal Island, California; moored off Nevada's port beam within a half-mile of the Able zeropoint - a pool of water aboard registered the test's maximum measured contamination (8 roentgens/8 hr); within 500 feet of the Baker detonation - closest target but the bomb-suspending LSM-60; sank within 19 seconds per the Navy technical inspection report.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1910-1946
- Population
- Construction trades 1910-12 (New York Shipbuilding); Philadelphia modernization trades 1925-26; Boston Navy Yard trades 1944; crew 1912-46
- Limitations
- Official NPS monograph documentation - machinery makes and modernization detail are the survey authors' research, presented at ship level; no asbestos or insulation content. Boiler attribution conflicts with class-level secondary references only in sequencing (resolved: 12 B&W coal-fired as built, replaced by 4 White-Forster oil-fired units 1925-27). Complement 1,448 reflects wartime flagship configuration vs DANFS's 1,036 design figure - both carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-03
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[4]NPS Cultural Resources Assessment No. 37, The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb, Chapter 4 USS Arkansas site description + Appendix IV archeological site record form (National Maritime Initiative Shipwreck/Hulk Database INIT #10595) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS SCRC-37 ch. 4, USS Arkansas section, pp. 93-100; app. IV site record form INIT #10595
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documented the wreck of this hull in two 1989-90 field seasons (supplementing Navy dives of 1946-47 and a 1989 Navy ROV survey): the seriously damaged Arkansas lies inverted on the bottom of Bikini Lagoon in 180 feet of water, bow east, slight starboard list - apparently capsized by uplifting water and smashed straight down by the collapsing water column per the 1946 Navy reports. Port side largely intact, starboard side crushed onto the lagoon floor; bow twisted down and to starboard; stern shafts torn away (forward port shaft and three-bladed screw intact but bent); rudder and stern missing. The port casemate 'air castle' of 6-inch armor plate survives with three 5-inch/51 Mk13 guns, ready-rack rounds, rangefinders, sights, and an unbroken caged battle light; teak deck consumed. Crossroads pre-test alterations documented: blast gauge towers, test equipment, and test ordnance aboard (a howitzer and a 90mm AA gun secured on deck). Appendix IV site record INIT #10595: USS ARKANSAS (BB-33), battleship, 180 ft depth, 76-100% present, intact; owner/manager Republic of the Marshall Islands; surveyed by Daniel J. Lenihan 1990.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1946-1990 (wreck documentation)
- Population
- n/a (wreck archaeology)
- Limitations
- Archaeological-condition documentation only - the survey characterizes wreck structure, armament, and interior spaces; it contains no insulation, asbestos, or other material-composition reference (full-text sweep of the Arkansas sections returned zero hits for asbestos/insulation). Does not establish the presence or absence of asbestos aboard the wreck.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-04
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[5]DANFS specifications block + NHHC class-page modernization summary + documented yard periods (Philadelphia 1925-26 modernization; Norfolk 1936, 1940, 1942; Boston 1944; New York Navy Yard repair periods; Puget Sound 1919-20) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block + service narrative; NHHC class page modernization summary; NPS SCRC-37 ch. 3
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: Wyoming-class construction (coal-fired boilers, Parsons direct-drive turbines, 4 shafts, 28,000 shp) in 1910-12 falls inside the period when Navy steam plants were lagged and gasketed with era-standard materials; the documented 1925-26 Philadelphia modernization (twelve coal-fired boilers replaced by oil-fired units, deck armor and blisters added per DANFS/NPS), the Norfolk Navy Yard overhauls of 1936, 1940, and March-July 1942, the September-November 1944 Boston Navy Yard modernization, and repeated New York Navy Yard repair periods are documented events in which era insulation was disturbed and renewed.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1910-1946
- Population
- Construction trades 1910-12 (New York Shipbuilding); Philadelphia modernization trades 1925-26; Norfolk Navy Yard trades 1936-42; Boston Navy Yard trades 1944; crew 1912-46
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-period inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey or material list was located for this hull. This row must not be read as an independent ship-specific finding; it does not establish that asbestos products were aboard at any date, nor what the sunken wreck retains.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-05
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[6]GAO, Navy's Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) - full 26-page text verified via firecrawl this session [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 full text (gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf via firecrawl); product page https://www.gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that thermal insulation was the Navy's major asbestos use aboard ships and that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables'; asbestos-free insulation specifications were phased in only 1971-73 and ships were still delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978; the October 1975 policy removed/replaced only damaged insulation or insulation removed for necessary repairs (modified January 1979 to add selective replacement in high-maintenance areas); a one-time removal program was declined at ~$2 billion estimated cost, with 30-50 percent of shipboard asbestos insulation never touched during a ship's useful life. The report's fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - Norfolk being a documented yard for this hull (overhauls 1936, March-May 1940, March-July 1942). The report's insulation-tonnage table covers only post-1970s new-construction classes (DD, CGN, SSN, AOR, AGOR, YTB, YON) - no battleship figure exists in the report.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1979 (report); 1971-1978 (substitution-era policy)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only - not hull-specific. The Norfolk fieldwork association is yard-level, decades after this hull's availabilities; it does not document conditions aboard this hull in any period. All insulation-era work aboard this hull (1910-12 construction through the 1946 expenditure) predates the substitution era the report describes.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-06
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[7]Batch-94 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription + NHHC page probes; CourtListener API/UI and Justia (all blocked); web-indexed litigation sweeps; NPS SCRC-37 wreck survey; NVR probe; NavSource/hazegray probes; GAO HRD-80-2 full text [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-arkansas-bb33-01 through sl-uss-arkansas-bb33-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos-litigation opinion naming this hull, no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, disposal hazmat record, NVR entry (hull expended 1946, before live-register coverage), museum record, wreck material characterization, or docketed case was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener API v4 returned HTTP 429 at sweep time (125/day fleet cap exhausted, ~10.4 h to reset); web UI and Justia are bot-walled - opinion coverage is the weaker web-indexed fallback, which surfaced no qualifying hits; law-firm and lead-generation pages asserting generic asbestos presence aboard BB-33 are excluded as non-qualifying source classes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard; the hull was expended as an atomic-test target in 1946, before asbestos-aware disposal documentation existed, the 1989-90 NPS wreck survey published no material characterization, and the CourtListener cap leaves the opinion sweep incomplete - classified here at the weaker fallback level, pending an API re-run.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arkansas-bb33-07