Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet crew-cx-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity); builder/dates UNVERIFIABLE
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ata-125-ata125-pkt-crew-cx-packet-md
-
[2]Shipscribe.com (Tim Colton), 'USS ATR-41 Class' - construction, disposition, class notes and ship note for ATR-47, compiled from Bureau of Ships data and Maritime Commission sale records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row ATR-47; Disposition table row ATR-47; Class Notes (pooled program, GM contract); Ship Notes row ATR-47
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (ship note): 'Ex AT-125 31 Jul 42, to ATA-125 15 May 44. To have been trf. to UK under Lend Lease as JUSTICE but retained by U.S. Sold (delivered) by MC to Diamond Construction Co., Washington, DC. Merc. JOSEPH H. MORAN II 1947, DRAGON 1949, JOSEPH H. MORAN II 1953, DRAGON 1959, UTRECHT 1960, HIPPOPOTAME (French Navy) 1964, sunk as target in Pacific 4 Apr 86, condemned and designated hulk Q-647 21 Apr 86.' Construction table: ordered 15 Jun 42, keel 21 Dec 42, launched 29 Jan 43, commissioned 12 Aug 43, Levingston SB Orange. Disposition table: decommissioned 31 May 46, stricken 3 Jul 46, Maritime Commission disposal/delivery 24 Dec 46. Class block: design Navy BAT-1; 600 light / 835 max tons; 143.0' oa x 33.8' x 13.2'; armament 1-3"/50, 2-20mm; complement 43; 13 kts; 1,500 hp; 1 screw, GM diesel-electric. Class notes: ATR 44-47 allocated to the U.S. by the Munitions Assignment Board by May 1943; BuShips contracted with General Motors, GM providing diesel engines and subcontractors (Levingston) building hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1986
- Population
- Levingston construction trades (1942-43); crew (1943-46); commercial crews (1946-64); French Navy crew (1964-86)
- Limitations
- Shipscribe is a respected secondary compilation of official records (BuShips data cards, MC sale records), not the underlying registers themselves; milestone dates conflict with NavSource on keel/launch (which carry ATR-46's dates) and sale year (1945 vs 1946). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS ATA-125 ex USS ATR-47 (09/38/38125) - designation timeline, campaign table, specifications, commanding officers, NARA-captioned photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/38/38125.htm header/designation block, campaign table, spec block, commanding-officer table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: planned and approved as Fleet Tug AT-125; reclassified Rescue Tug ATR-47; commissioned USS ATR-47 12 August 1943, LT. Harry L. Lane, USNR; reclassified Auxiliary Fleet Tug ATA-125 15 May 1944. Campaign table: Europe-Africa-Middle East theater - Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944 and Invasion of southern France 15 August-25 September 1944; two battle stars; awards American Campaign Medal, EAME Medal (2), WWII Victory Medal. Spec block: 835 t (fl); 143' x 33'10" x 13'2"; 13 kts; complement 5 officers + 40 enlisted; one 3"/50 DP mount; one GM 12-278A diesel-electric, single Fairbanks Morse main reduction gear, single propeller; 1x60kW + 1x30kW 120V DC diesel-driven generators; fuel 1,300 bbls diesel. Commanding officers: Lane (12 Aug 43-4 Oct 44), Griffith (4 Oct 44-27 Aug 45), Brengle (27 Aug 45-Mar 46), Carey (Mar 46-?). Photo captions: builder's trials off Orange TX (BuShips photo); under way 27 October 1943 (US National Archives RG-19-LCM photo 80-G-87189); inclining experiment at Norfolk Navy Yard 23 February 1945 (NARA RG-19 textual files, Item S-22, NNY photos 9860-45 and 9861-45); Moran-tug and French-navy commercial photos. 'There is no DANFS history available for USS ATR-47 / USS ATA-125.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1986
- Population
- Levingston construction trades (1942-43); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry. Its keel date (27 Nov 1942) and launch date (3 Jan 1943) are the dates shipscribe lists for ATR-46 - treated here as errors (correction row). Its 'sold 24 December 1945, unknown owner' conflicts with shipscribe's MC delivery 24 December 1946 to Diamond Construction Co.; its 'sunk as a target 1985' conflicts with 4 April 1986 (shipscribe + French sources); a photo caption prints the French pendant 'A560' (typo for A-660). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-02
-
[4]U.S. Navy operational narrative, 'Salvage ships Operations in Normandy Invasion,' Commander Byron S. Huie, Jr., USNR (recorded 18 August 1944; COMINCH amphibious-operations report series, verbatim transcription on HyperWar/ibiblio) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar transcription, 'Salvage ships Operations in Normandy Invasion' - storm-reinforcement paragraph ('The ATR 13 reported and also the ATA 125')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A primary U.S. Navy account names this hull at Normandy: Commander Huie commanded the combat salvage and fire-fighting unit off OMAHA Beach (assault Force 'O', Admiral Hall; within Commodore W.W. Sullivan's Task Group 122.3 salvage and fire-fighting group). During the five-day storm that wrecked the anchorages, 'About the second day of the storm, additional salvage and rescue craft began to report to the unit commander. These included two British tugs, the Empire John and the Empire Bascobeal. The ATR 13 reported and also the ATA 125. The Army tug Cayhead reported also. Before the storm had subsided, the old Cormorant and the Algorma had joined the unit.' The storm abated about 25 June 1944 leaving approximately 200 large landing craft aground; the unit then conducted weeks of beach-clearance salvage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1944-06
- Population
- ATA-125 crew during Normandy salvage operations (June-July 1944)
- Limitations
- Establishes ship-specific presence and salvage-unit assignment during the Normandy storm (~19-25 June 1944) - an operational record only. It does not detail ATA-125's individual tasks within the unit, establishes no material content, and contains no asbestos information. Transcription host (HyperWar) reproduces the report verbatim; the underlying document is the COMINCH invasion-of-Northern-France report series.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-03
-
[5]thamestugs.co.uk, 'Mulberry Tugs [US][1]' - tug-assignment compilation citing British port movement logs for US tugs allocated to Mulberry towing [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATA-125 entry, 'Mulberry Tugs [US][1]' page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-specific Mulberry assignment detail: 'US Navy Tug. Allocated to SNO Selsey to tow Phoenix and Whale units.' Movement log entries: '16-6-1944 22.45 Arrived Mulberry A towing Phoenix unit 70/A2. 17-6-1944 06.00 Released.' This documents ATA-125's concrete D-Day build-up role - towing a Phoenix concrete caisson (Mulberry artificial-harbor breakwater unit) from the Selsey assembly area to Mulberry A off the Normandy coast on 16-17 June 1944, consistent with the salvage-unit assignment recorded in the Huie narrative days later.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1944-06-16/17
- Population
- ATA-125 crew (June 1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (British tug enthusiast site) citing Senior Naval Officer Selsey port movement logs - the underlying log extracts are not independently displayed for verification; consistent with but not confirmed by the primary Huie narrative (which first names ATA-125 ~20 June). Yard number 'YN281' printed here conflicts with tugboatinformation's 'hull #283' - neither verified; carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-04
-
[6]U.S. National Archives photographs captioned via NavSource 09/38/38125.htm and shipscribe ATR-41 class photo page: RG-19-LCM photo 80-G-87189 (ATR-47 under way 27 October 1943); RG-19 textual files Item S-22, Norfolk Navy Yard photos 9860-45 and 9861-45 (ATA-125 inclining experiment, 23 February 1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA photo 80-G-87189 (RG-19-LCM); NNY photos 9860-45/9861-45 (RG-19, Item S-22); captions via NavSource 09/38/38125.htm and shipscribe ATR41-p.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-held photographs document this hull: (1) Bureau of Ships-series photo 80-G-87189, USS ATR-47 under way on 27 October 1943 (RG-19-LCM; caption notes she 'was to have been transferred to Britain as HMRT Justice but was instead allocated to the U.S.'); (2) Norfolk Navy Yard photos 9860-45 and 9861-45 showing USS ATA-125 during an inclining experiment at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 23 February 1945, with floating derrick YD-71 working an adjacent destroyer and USS Pegasus (AK-48) in the distance - placing her back in U.S. waters and in a Navy-yard availability context post-Dragoon.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Crew (Oct 1943); crew and yard trades during Norfolk Navy Yard inclining availability (Feb 1945)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: photographs establish presence, not work performed - the inclining-experiment photo is not an overhaul or repair record and says nothing about materials. NARA catalog is JS-rendered; photo numbers and series metadata transcribed via NavSource/shipscribe captions - direct NARA verification open (search_ledger). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-05
-
[7]French service record assembled from: netmarine.net 'La Marine à Mururoa' dossier (A660 Hippopotame 'accueilli au royaume de Neptune le 4 avril 1986') - ARCHIVED COPY: live page unreachable from this network, cited via Wayback capture 2025-02-21; ImagesDéfense/ECPAD (official French Ministry of Defense photo archive, imagesdefense.gouv.fr - live) June-July 1966 Moruroa photograph captioned with 'le remorqueur de haute-mer Hippopotame (A660)' in the lagoon force; postenavalemilitaire.com ship file (live - mis en service Marine nationale 5 March 1964; désarmé 21 April 1986; 640 t) [other_primary]
- Locator
- imagesdefense.gouv.fr ECPAD record (Moruroa, 1966, Robert Antoine); netmarine.net/g/dossiers/mururoa/index.htm; postenavalemilitaire.com/t427 Hippopotame file
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- French service: acquired by the Marine nationale in 1964 as RFS Hippopotame (A-660); in French service from 5 March 1964 per French secondary listings. After a short Toulon assignment she was based in Polynesia for roughly twenty years supporting the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique nuclear-test program; an official ECPAD photograph places A-660 in the lagoon force at Moruroa in June-July 1966. Netmarine's Mururoa dossier records the veteran tug 'fut accueilli au royaume de Neptune le 4 avril 1986' (sunk as target); shipscribe records her condemned and designated hulk Q-647 on 21 April 1986, matching the 'désarmé 21 avril 1986' of French secondary listings.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1964-1986
- Population
- French Navy crew (1964-86); CEP test-program personnel supported
- Limitations
- ECPAD/ImagesDéfense is the official archive for the photograph's presence/caption only; the 1964 in-service and April-1986 sinking/condemnation dates rest on respected French secondary sources (netmarine, postenavalemilitaire) corroborated by shipscribe's MC-derived ship note - no official French registry page was located. Conflict: NavSource '1985' sinking year. No asbestos content; French-era material condition undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource/shipscribe specifications (GM 12-278A diesel-electric, single screw, steel hull, built Orange TX 1942-43); WWII U.S. shipbuilding asbestos era documentation (ev-08, Corn & Starr 1987); builder-yard context (ev-09 EPA Superfund profile; ev-10 Pelaez litigation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; shipscribe class block; era documentation in ev-08 through ev-10
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel diesel-electric tug built 1942-43 at Levingston Shipbuilding sits inside the documented WWII U.S. shipbuilding asbestos era; era-standard applications aboard a tug of this type and period were thermal insulation, machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in a compact machinery space. As a diesel-electric vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, but engine-room confined-space exposure dynamics apply. Her four decades of post-Navy commercial and French service (1946-1986) fall inside the era when such insulation systems were typically retained until overhaul or disposal.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1986
- Population
- Levingston construction trades (1942-43); USN crew (1943-46); Norfolk Navy Yard trades (Feb 1945 availability); mercantile crews (1946-64); French Navy crew (1964-86)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or crew exposure record located for ATR-47/ATA-125. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Post-1946 mercantile/French material condition entirely undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-07
-
[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
- historical_record
- 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 1943 tug was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in ship construction, with federal asbestos supply reserved for shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- 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 or its builder 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-ata-125-08
-
[10]U.S. EPA Superfund Site Information profile, LEVINGSTON SHIPBUILDING CO., 96 Front Street, Orange, TX 77630; EPA ID TXD008065302 [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA SEMS site profile page for TXD008065302
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- EPA's Superfund Enterprise Management System carries a site profile for the hull's builder: LEVINGSTON SHIPBUILDING CO., 96 Front Street, Orange, TX, EPA ID TXD008065302 - NPL status 'Not on the NPL,' Non-NPL status 'NFRAP - Site does not qualify for the NPL based on existing information' (No Further Remedial Action Planned). Establishes that the builder's yard was evaluated under the federal site-assessment program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- assessment-era record (accessed 2026-10-06)
- Population
- Levingston Shipbuilding workforce (site context)
- Limitations
- Yard-level environmental record only - the SEMS profile does not identify contaminants (no asbestos statement on the profile page) and the NFRAP determination means the site was assessed as not qualifying for the NPL; it neither documents nor excludes asbestos at the yard during 1942-43 construction. Says nothing about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-09
-
[11]Levingston Ship Building Co. v. Pelaez, No. 07-60616, 2009 WL 577736, 312 F. App'x 711 (5th Cir. Mar. 6, 2009) (unreported) - petition for review of Benefits Review Board order DENIED; summarized in U.S. DOL OALJ Law Library, Recent Significant Black Lung and Longshore Decisions #208 (March 2009) [court_record]
- Locator
- DOL OALJ Law Library BLNW032009, Levingston Ship Building Co. v. Pelaez entry
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation-stage: affirmed administrative finding (ALJ/BRB level, Fifth Circuit review denied). The DOL OALJ digest records that the claimant 'sought death benefits under the LHWCA based on her husband's death due to industrial asbestos exposure' and 'established her prima facie case against Levingston' - the decedent's asbestos exposure as a Levingston employee was uncontested, with the appeal decided only on last-responsible-employer and insurer-carrier grounds. Per the unreported opinion text, Paul Pelaez 'worked for Levingston as a ship fitter in the 1960s and early 1970s, where he was exposed to asbestos' and died of that exposure in 2002 (opinion text seen via transcription, not a free reporter - see limitations). Documents adjudicated asbestos exposure at the builder's yard (Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange TX) - in the 1960s-70s, after this hull's 1942-43 construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 2003-2009 (litigation); exposure 1960s-early 1970s
- Population
- Levingston Shipbuilding yard workers (1960s-70s exposure window)
- Limitations
- Yard-level litigation record, not hull evidence: the worker's exposure was at the Levingston yard two decades after ATA-125's construction and is not tied to any vessel. Establishes that the builder's Orange TX yard was an asbestos-exposure worksite in litigation-adjudicated terms; says nothing about materials aboard this hull or any exposure aboard it. The cited URL (official DOL OALJ law-library summary, live-verified) supports the case posture and exposure finding; the ship-fitter/1960s-70s detail comes from the opinion text, which was only retrievable this session via a blocklisted aggregator (hallapproved.com) - that detail is therefore carried at opinion-text face value pending a free-reporter pull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-10
-
[12]Batch-2842 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS check; NavSource; shipscribe ATR-41 class; HyperWar COMINCH salvage narrative; thamestugs; NavalCoverMuseum; French ECPAD/netmarine/postenavalemilitaire; EPA SEMS; DOL OALJ; secondary web litigation sweep; shipyards.json lookup; NARA catalog; CourtListener (fleet-paced) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ata-125-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum report, or verified litigation naming USS ATR-47 / USS ATA-125 was found in the public sources searched. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos' material touching this hull is law-firm marketing content of the standard ship-list kind (excluded by source policy). CourtListener status: the 4 required base queries ('ATA-125' opinion + docket, 'ATR-47' opinion + docket) could not complete this session - the fleet-wide request budget was paced on every attempt; logged as blocked/pending in search_ledger, NOT as a negative result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 2026-10-06
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). NARA deck logs (RG 24), BuShips work packages, the 1946 Maritime Commission sale file, and any French Navy material records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-11
-
[13]Designation/date cross-check: shipscribe ATR-41 construction & disposition tables (official-record-derived) vs NavSource 09/38/38125.htm and downstream compilations (tugboatinformation, shipbuildinghistory, thamestugs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe ATR41.html construction/disposition tables and ATR-47 ship note; NavSource 38125.htm; netmarine Mururoa dossier; postenavalemilitaire Hippopotame file
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS carried: (1) NavSource's keel/launch dates for ATR-47 (27 Nov 1942 / 3 Jan 1943) are the dates shipscribe lists for ATR-46 - shipscribe's ATR-47 dates (21 Dec 1942 / 29 Jan 1943) are carried here. (2) NavSource 'sold 24 December 1945, unknown owner' conflicts with shipscribe's Maritime Commission delivery 24 December 1946 to Diamond Construction Co., Washington DC - the 1946 MC-delivery date is carried (the ship remained in commission into 1946; a December-1945 sale while still commissioned is implausible). (3) NavSource 'sunk as a target 1985' conflicts with 4 April 1986 (shipscribe ship note; netmarine Mururoa dossier) followed by condemnation as hulk Q-647 on 21 April 1986 (shipscribe; French 'désarmé 21 avril 1986') - the April-1986 sequence is carried. (4) NavSource omits the 1959 DRAGON reversion between the two Joseph H. Moran II periods. (5) NavSource photo caption prints French pendant 'A560' - typo for A-660. (6) tugboatinformation.com's 1965 Wijsmuller / 1968 French-Navy dates conflict with the 1960/1964 dates common to shipscribe, NavSource, and French sources.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1986 (milestone window)
- Limitations
- Corrects circulating milestone errors, not material claims; the shipscribe dates are themselves a secondary compilation of official records, carried because they are internally consistent and corroborated by French-side sources on the 1986 sinking. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-125-12