Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet crew-df-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: PHANTOM — real identity: none — hull was never named
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ata-223-ata223-pkt-crew-df-packet-md
-
[2]Shipscribe.com, 'USS ATA-174 (later Wateree) Class' - construction table, disposition table, and class notes for ATA-223 (compiled from U.S. National Archives / BuShips records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row ATA-223; Disposition table row ATA-223; Class Notes (Lend-Lease batch paragraph)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ATA-223, Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange TX: ordered under contract awarded 20 Nov 1944 - two days after CNO approved 20 additional tugs of the class (ATA 219-238) for Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union, officially assigned to the USSR by the Munitions Assignment Committee in Jan 1945; keel 9 Feb 1945, launched 17 Mar 1945, never commissioned (Commiss. column '--'); stricken 12 Mar 1946; disposal 23 May 1946, MA sale 23 May 1946 to the Maritime Commission for commercial sale. Per the CNO directive of 31 Oct 1945, the surviving hulls of this batch were accepted but not commissioned, placed in caretaker status, and turned over for disposal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Shipscribe is a secondary compilation of NARA/BuShips primary records, not itself an official publication - dates corroborated independently by NavSource and the shipbuildinghistory.com Levingston yard table. Contains no asbestos information; establishes identity and administrative history only. Does not establish exposure, causation, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, ATA-223 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATA-223 page - chronology block, commercial-service list, specifications, photo caption (Terry M)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive page for ATA-223: laid down 9 February 1945 by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange TX; launched 17 March 1945; struck from the Naval Register 12 March 1946; sold 1946 to Isleways Division, Honolulu, renamed Ono; resold 1969 to East Pacific Steam Ship Company, renamed Lucky; resold 1974 to Malayan Towage, Panama, renamed Terry M; resold 1985 to Asiatic Intermodal Seabridge S.A., Manila (name retained); resold 1986 to Transpac Marine S.A. (Malayan Towage & Salvage Co.), Manila (name retained); final disposition listed as 'fate unknown.' Page includes a photo of the tug under way as commercial tug Terry M.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1986
- Limitations
- Volunteer-curated secondary archive; key dates corroborated by Shipscribe's NARA-derived tables and the shipbuildinghistory.com Levingston yard table. Contains no asbestos information. The line 'Canceled by the War Shipping Administration in 1946' on the page is unexplained and inconsistent with the documented MC sale - carried in gaps. Absence of a DANFS entry corroborated by NHHC site search (2026-09-26).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-02
-
[4]ShipbuildingHistory.com (T. Colton), 'Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange TX' - yard history and hull table; 'US Navy Ocean Tugs AT ATA ATF ATR' table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Levingston hull table, row hull 370; http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/auxat.htm row ATA-223; yard-history narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Levingston Shipbuilding yard table (shipbuildinghistory.com): hull 370 = 'ATA 223,' U.S. official no. 252117, owner US Navy, type tug, 516 GT, 143 ft, delivered 31-Jan-46, disposition 'Sold 1946 and completed as Ono, later Lucky, Terry M, foundered in the Philippines 1988.' The yard-table narrative and the companion ocean-tug table describe Levingston as the Navy's leading builder of ocean tugs in WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1988
- Limitations
- Secondary yard-reference compilation; delivery date (31 Jan 1946), official number 252117, and commercial fates corroborate Shipscribe/NavSource. The 'foundered in the Philippines 1988' fate conflicts with NavSource's 'fate unknown' - unresolved, carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos information; the 'leading builder of ocean tugs' statement is yard-level context, not hull evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-03
-
[5]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
- 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 steel-hulled auxiliary tug was built at Levingston, Orange, TX (1945-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- 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, this class, or this yard, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Diesel-electric hull - no steam plant; era-typical applications differ accordingly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-04
-
[6]Batch-2897 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS site search; CourtListener opinion/docket sweep; MARAD/NDRF check; shipyards.json yard check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ata-223-01 through sl-uss-ata-223-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming ATA-223 (or merchant names Ono/Lucky/Terry M) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Additionally, this hull was never commissioned and never carried a Navy crew - there is no Navy shipboard-exposure population for this vessel; the asbestos-relevant populations are construction workers at Levingston (Orange, TX, 1945-46), commercial towage crews (1946-circa 1988), and breakers/salvors, none documented for this hull.
- 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 - wartime construction is consistent with era materials having been installed. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Never-commissioned status is itself documented by Shipscribe/NavSource and limits only the Navy-crew population, not yard or commercial exposures.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-05
-
[7]Record paths identified via Shipscribe class notes (BuShips contract chain) and shipbuildinghistory.com yard table (official no. 252117); NARA RG-19/RG-178 and USCG vessel-documentation files [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe ATA-174 class notes; shipbuildinghistory.com Levingston hull table row 370
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (identified but not retrieved): BuShips contract and acceptance files for the ATA 219-238 Lend-Lease batch (contract awarded 20 Nov 1944) - the documents that would record acceptance/caretaker condition of this hull; U.S. Coast Guard / Maritime Commission merchant vessel documentation for U.S. official no. 252117 (Ono, later Lucky, Terry M), which would hold tonnage-admeasurement and ownership records for the commercial career.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these files were retrieved (not digitized in public sources; no paid reproduction authorized). Whether any such file contains insulation/materials information is unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) - type=o 'ATA-223' (0), type=o 'ATA 223' (0), type=r 'ATA-223' (0), type=r 'ATA 223' (0) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger row sl-uss-ata-223-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-26): exact-phrase opinion and RECAP docket searches for 'ATA-223' and space variant 'ATA 223' returned 0 results on all four queries. No qualifying asbestos litigation or other litigation naming the hull located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a docketed case is not evidence about shipboard conditions; a litigation sweep cannot find or exclude hull-specific asbestos exposure. Merchant names Ono/Lucky/Terry M are high-collision generics and were not independently searched - a coverage limitation logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-223-07