Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet crew-cx-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ata-126-ata126-pkt-crew-cx-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - HMRT Mindful (W-135) ex ATR-48 (ATR photo index page 09/40/40048) and the cross-indexed ATA-126 page (09/38/38126) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/40/40048.htm header block, class line, timeline, and specifications block; companion ATA-index page https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/38/38126.htm (same timeline; complement 45; propulsion 'one 2500HP General Motors two stroke single acting 12 cylinder engine, 1800 bhp')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull (filed under ATR-48): planned and approved as Fleet Tug AT-126; reclassified Rescue Tug ATR-48; laid down (date unknown) at Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange, TX; launched 7 February 1943; delivered to the U.S. Navy 31 August 1943; ATR-48 never saw active service in the U.S. Navy; transferred under the Lend-Lease Act to the United Kingdom and commissioned HMRT Mindful (W-135) in 1943; reclassified Auxiliary Fleet Tug (ATA-126) 15 May 1944; returned to U.S. Naval custody (date unknown); struck from the Naval Register (date unknown). Merchant service: sold 1947 to Moran Towing & Transportation, New York (Gay Moran); 1949 Shipowners & Merchants Towboat, San Francisco (Sea Lion); 1955 Gulf Canal Lines, Houston (Harry J. Mosser); 1957 Mobile Towing & Wrecking, Mobile (Margaret Walsh); 1966 Foss Launch & Tug, Seattle (Margaret Foss); sold 8 April 1968 to Cementos California SA, Ensenada, Mexico (C.C. 7, Mexican flag); final disposition unknown. Specifications per page: 835 t (fl); 143' x 33'10" x 13'2"; 13 kts trial; complement 5 officers + 40 enlisted; one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount; one GM 12-278A diesel-electric, single Fairbanks-Morse main reduction gear, 60 kW + 30 kW 120 V DC ship's-service generators, single propeller, 1,300-bbl diesel capacity.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1968
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates were cross-checked against Shipscribe's Navy/contract-record compilation (which supplies the keel, strike, and return dates NavSource lists as unknown) and the Levingston yard list on shipbuildinghistory.com. Contains no asbestos content; 'never saw active service' means the asbestos record, if any, would attach to construction, RN service, or merchant life.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-01
-
[3]Shipscribe, U.S. Navy Auxiliary Ships database - 'USS ATR-41 Class' page (ATR-48 ship note, construction/disposition tables, class notes), compiled from Bureau of Ships and Maritime Commission records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe ATR41.html: Construction table row ATR-48 (Ord. 15 Jun 42; keel 3 Jan 43; launch 7 Feb 43); Disposition table (strike 13 Nov 46; disposal 31 Aug 43 Trf.; MA sale 18 Nov 47); Ship Notes row 48; Class Notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe U.S. Navy auxiliary database (ATR-41 class page, compiled by Stephen S. Roberts from Navy and Maritime Commission records): ATR-48 ordered 15 June 1942 (one of nine rescue tugs under British Lend-Lease Requisition BAD-1001-9; Bureau of Ships contracted with General Motors, which supplied the diesel engines and subcontracted hull construction to Levingston); keel laid 3 January 1943; launched 7 February 1943; completed 30 August 1943; delivered 31 August 1943 and transferred the same day to the UK under Lend-Lease as HMRT MINDFUL; returned to U.S. custody 13 May 1946; struck 13 November 1946; to the Maritime Commission 18 (or 10) November 1947 in Navy records and probably simultaneously sold (delivered) to Moran Towing Co., New York - the MC sale record card is missing; merchant sequence GAY MORAN 1947, SEA LION 1949, HARRY J. MOSSER 1955, MARGARET WALSH 1957, MARGARET FOSS (U.S.) 1966, C.C. 7 (Mexican) 1968, reported still active for Cementos California SA in the limestone industry at Ensenada but not documented. Class data: design Navy BAT-1; displacement 600 light / 835 max tons; 143.0' oa x 33.8' e x 13.2' max; original armament 1-3"/50 + 2-20mm; complement 43; 13 kts; 1,500 HP, 1 screw, GM diesel-electric.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1968 (compiled 2011)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation by a specialist researcher quoting Navy/MC record values - not itself the primary document; the per-ship note itself flags the MC sale record card as missing, so the Moran delivery rests on Navy records rather than a surviving sale card. Supplying dates NavSource leaves blank (keel 3 Jan 43; return 13 May 46; strike 13 Nov 46) is a documented improvement, not an assumption. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-02
-
[4]uboat.net, Allied Warships of WWII - 'HMS Mindful (W 135)' ship page, 'Notable events involving Mindful' section (convoy narratives compiled from published war-at-sea chronologies) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 7415 (archived Wayback capture 2025-08-17; live site unreachable from this network 2026-10-06 - archived copy cited): ship data block and six dated convoy-event entries, 26 Nov 1943 through 24 Jun 1944
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Royal Navy service record (uboat.net Allied Warships entry for HMS Mindful (W 135), Favourite-class rescue tug): commissioned 31 August 1943; documented as rescue tug on six convoys - combined convoy OS 60/KMS 34 (joined off Gibraltar 9 December 1943; detached to Bone 13 December 1943), convoy OS 61/KMS 35 (departed Gibraltar with the eastbound convoy), convoy MKS 35 (joined 22 December 1943; detached to Bone 25 December 1943), convoy UGS 36 (Mindful joined; during the air attack on the convoy the American merchant ship Jared Ingersoll was torpedoed, USS Mills picked up the crew and 'together with HRMT Mindful then effected the salvage of the ship', which reached Algiers the same day - 1 April 1944), convoy MKS 48 (joined from Bone ~7 May 1944; parted company to Gibraltar 10 May 1944), and convoy GUS 44 (rescue tugs HMRT Mindful and HMRT Aspirant joined ~1 July 1944; Mindful detached to Algiers ~2 July 1944).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1943-08-31 to 1944-07
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (uboat.net event narratives derive from Rohwer/Hummelchen-style convoy chronologies); establishes that Mindful performed convoy-rescue-tug duty on Gibraltar-North Africa routes Nov 1943 - Jul 1944, including participation in the salvage of the torpedoed merchant ship Jared Ingersoll with USS Mills during the UGS-36 air attack. Page does not give her base of operations between convoys or crew figures; not cross-checked against the primary RN logs (UK TNA ADM 53 - see archival-lead row). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-03
-
[5]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Tim Colton), 'Levingston Shipbuilding' yard construction list, Orange TX [other_primary]
- Locator
- Levingston yard list, hull rows 284 and 285 (ATR 48 / ATR 49)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Levingston Shipbuilding yard list (shipbuildinghistory.com): yard hull 284, U.S. official number 254850, ATR 48 for the U.S. Navy, tug, 498 gross tons, 143 ft, delivered 31 August 1943; 'To Britain as Mindful (W 135), sold 1946 as Gay Moran, later Sea Lion, Harry J. Mosser, Margaret Walsh, Margaret Foss, now C.C. 7'. The same yard list confirms hull 285 was ATR-49 (to Britain as Vagrant, W 136).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1943-1968
- Limitations
- Compiled yard list (secondary), but the yard-number assignment (hull 284, official no. 254850) is corroborated by the digitized merchant-registry record (International Maritime Library ON 254850). Its 'sold 1946 as Gay Moran' conflicts with the better-documented MC disposal in November 1947 (Shipscribe) and NavSource's 1947 sale year - 1947 carried; see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-04
-
[6]International Maritime Library - combined vessel record for official no. 254850 (digitized Merchant Vessels of the United States registry data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- IML combined-name record page for ON 254850 - registry fields: tonnage, registered dimensions, call letters WC2880, 1960 owner/homeport
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Merchant-registry record (International Maritime Library digitized entry, tracing official no. 254850 through names HARRY J. MOSSER > MINDFUL W-135 > ATR-48 > GAY MORAN > SEA LION > MARGARET WALSH): U.S. official number (MVUS) 254850; radio call letters WC2880; oil screw; ABS classed; 498 gross / 201 net tons; registered length 135.5 ft, beam 33.1 ft, depth 14.6 ft; built 1943 at Orange, TX; service 'Towing' with owner Mobile Towing & Wrecking Co. (AL) and homeport Mobile in the 1960 listing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1947-1968 registry era (1960 entry shown)
- Limitations
- Registry particulars establish merchant identity and dimensions of the ex-tug in U.S. documentation; the page aggregates MVUS annual entries and does not provide a complete sale-by-sale chain (name sequence shown differs in places from the NavSource/Shipscribe merchant chronology - Gay Moran shown first in its combined header though Mosser leads the page title). No asbestos, materials, or condition information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-05
-
[7]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), PMID 3555021, DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record 3555021, abstract (verified via NCBI efetch, 2026-10-06); DOI target is Wiley-blocked to automated fetch (HTTP 403) - abstract cited, not full text
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- 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 steel tug was built at Levingston, Orange TX - and that wartime industrial expansion drove an unprecedented rise in the amount of asbestos utilized; asbestos diseases subsequently manifested in shipyard workers exposed in the 1940s and postwar.
- 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 documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this yard, or tugs specifically, 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-126-06
-
[8]Levingston Ship Building Co. v. Pelaez, 312 F. App'x 711 (5th Cir. 2009) (unpublished) - LHWCA death-benefits review, BRB No. 06-0821 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion pp. 1-3 (Justia-hosted PDF of the filed opinion): statement of facts describing Pelaez's 1960s-early-1970s ship-fitter asbestos exposure at Levingston; procedural posture (ALJ prima facie finding; BRB unpublished affirmance; petition denied)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-yard asbestos litigation (not this hull): Levingston Ship Building Co. v. Pelaez, 312 F. App'x 711 (5th Cir. 2009, unpublished per 5th Cir. R. 47.5; No. 07-60616, filed 2009-03-06; BRB No. 06-0821). Paul Pelaez 'worked for Levingston as a ship fitter in the 1960s and early 1970s, where he was exposed to asbestos'; he died in 2002 and his widow claimed LHWCA death benefits. An ALJ found a prima facie showing of compensability on the record without formal hearing; the Benefits Review Board affirmed in an unpublished opinion; the Fifth Circuit denied the petition for review - the issues before it were last-responsible-employer designation, penalties/fees, and jurisdiction, the parties having agreed the prima facie case was established.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1960s-2009 litigation record
- Population
- Levingston Shipbuilding trades workforce, 1960s-1970s (yard context)
- Limitations
- Yard-level evidence, not hull evidence: the documented exposure dates to the 1960s-early 1970s, two decades after this hull's 1943 construction, and the opinion names the yard, not this vessel. It corroborates asbestos presence/exposure at the builder yard in the asbestos era. Litigation-stage note: the exposure finding was made at ALJ level (prima facie showing, no formal hearing), affirmed by the BRB in an unpublished opinion, and the Fifth Circuit decided only insurer-liability/jurisdiction questions - reported at the ALJ-affirmed stage, not upgraded; opinion is unpublished and non-precedential (5th Cir. R. 47.5). URL is a case-law database (Justia) hosting the filed slip PDF - verified live 2026-10-06. Does not establish any exposure aboard ATA-126.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-07
-
[9]U.S. EPA, Superfund Enterprise Management System (CUMULIS) site profile, TXD008065302 [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA CUMULIS csitinfo page for TXD008065302 - site identity and NPL/NFRAP status block
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- EPA Superfund (CERCLA) site profile for the builder yard: LEVINGSTON SHIPBUILDING CO., 96 Front Street, Orange, TX 77630, EPA ID TXD008065302; NPL status 'Not on the NPL'; non-NPL status 'NFRAP - Site does not qualify for the NPL based on existing information'; EPA Region 06.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- CERCLA assessment era (undated on profile page)
- Limitations
- Yard-site environmental record only - the profile page lists no contaminants in the scraped view and does not mention asbestos; it does not name this hull and establishes nothing about the vessel. Included because the builder yard is absent from the project yard dataset (shipyards.json).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-08
-
[10]Batch-2843 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (404), NavSource ATR/ATA pages, Shipscribe ATR-41 compilation, Levingston yard list, uboat.net Mindful page (archived), International Maritime Library ON 254850, EPA CUMULIS, PubMed 3555021, CourtListener base queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ata-126-01 through sl-uss-ata-126-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: NHHC hosts no DANFS entry (direct fetch of the canonical DANFS URL for ATA-126 returns HTTP 404, consistent with NavSource's 'There is no DANFS history available' note); no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or condition report naming ATR-48/ATA-126/Mindful was found in the sources searched; CourtListener base queries 'ATA-126' (opinion 524 raw hits; docket 12,125 raw hits) and 'ATR-48' (opinion 298; docket 7,587) returned name-collision noise only - top-20 hits classified, none maritime, none asbestos, none naming the hull - and the asbestos-qualified subset queries '"ATA-126" asbestos' and '"ATR-48" asbestos' returned zero results in both opinion and docket indexes; secondary asbestos web claims about Navy tugs are law-firm marketing listicles without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- 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 - a 1943 steel tug is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and her long merchant career (through 1968+) included the peak asbestos-use decades in U.S. shipyards. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-09
-
[11]Shipscribe ATR-41 class notes (YAMANA discussion); shipbuildinghistory.com Levingston yard list rows 284-285 and smallships/auxat.htm AT-126 row; NavSource ATA-199/Undaunted lineage (ATR-126 > ATA-199) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe ATR41.html Class Notes (YAMANA paragraph); shipbuildinghistory Levingston yard list rows 284/285; NavSource USS Undaunted (ATA-199) page designation line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS - three identity errors circulate for this hull: (a) Argentine Navy tug YAMANA is recorded in some sources as 'ex ATA-126'; Shipscribe's class notes state the designation AT-126 was long out of use by the time Argentina acquired YAMANA in 1948, that YAMANA was one of the 18 Army 143-ft sisters built at Levingston, and that this hull (as ATR-48) is 'well documented as having become' the Moran tug - the ATA-126 attribution to YAMANA is wrong. (b) A separate hull carried ATR-126: Gulfport Boiler & Welding hull 244, delivered as ATR-126 and reclassified ATA-199 (later USS Undaunted) - searches for 'ATR-126' or 'ATA-126' in secondary material can surface that different ship. (c) tugboatinformation.com entries give Levingston 'hull #285' for this vessel; the Levingston yard list assigns ATR-48 to hull 284 (hull 285 was ATR-49/Vagrant) - hull 284 adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1943-2011 source era
- Limitations
- Corrects published misattributions affecting record linkage; none of the corrected items is an asbestos claim. The ATR-126/ATA-126 collision matters for litigation searches - any 'ATA-126' hit must be checked against this hull's identity (Levingston 284 / ON 254850) versus the Gulfport-built ATA-199 hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-10
-
[12]NARA record-group guides (RG 19 BuShips; RG 178 Maritime Commission); UK National Archives ADM 53 ship's logs; USCG vessel documentation for ON 254850 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 178 page; TNA ADM 53 discovery series; USCG NVDC vessel documentation path (ON 254850)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no reproduction spend authorized): (a) UK National Archives ADM 53 series ship's logs for HMS Mindful (W-135), the only deck-log record of her 1943-46 service since no U.S. commissioning occurred; (b) NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) contract and trial records for the ATR-41-class program - Bureau of Ships contracted with General Motors for ATR 41-49 and 91-100 with GM-supplied diesel engines and subcontracted hulls, so outfitting/material specs may sit in the GM contract files; (c) NARA RG 178 Maritime Commission disposal records - Shipscribe notes this hull's MC sale record card is missing, making the surviving MC file for the sister-hull sales (ATR-42, -49 sold to Moran the same week) the best proxy; (d) U.S. Coast Guard merchant-vessel documentation files for official no. 254850 (successive enrollments under Gay Moran, Sea Lion, Harry J. Mosser, Margaret Walsh, Margaret Foss) would document flag-era surveys/inspections; (e) Mexican registry/Ensenada records for C.C. 7 after 1968.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
- Study period
- 1942-1968 record era
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents in any of these files is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-126-11