Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[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-224-ata224-pkt-crew-df-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, USS ATA-224 (09/38/38224), Service Ship Photo Archive [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATA-224 page, chronology bullets and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource's ATA-224 vessel page records: laid down 28 February 1945 by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange, TX; launched 31 March 1945; stricken from the Naval Register 12 April 1946; sold in 1946 to Isleways Division, Honolulu, and named Ahi; resold in 1971 to Luzon Stevedoring Co., Manila, and renamed Wolverine; final disposition 'disposed of in 1989, fate unknown.' Specifications listed: displacement 835 t. light / 1,360 t. full; 143' x 33'10" x 13'2"; 12 kts; one 3"/50 DP mount and two single 20mm AA mounts; 5-ton boom; complement 5 officers and 40 enlisted; two GM 12-278A diesel-electric engines, single Fairbanks-Morse main reduction gear, two 60 kW 120V DC generators, single propeller, 1,200 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1989
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not an official document. Page line 'Canceled by the War Shipping Administration in 1946' is imprecise - shipscribe's Navy-directive compilation and the Levingston yard table show the tug was completed, accepted 13 Feb 1946, then turned over for disposal; the vessel was never commissioned. Displacement (835 lt / 1,360 fl), speed (12 kts), power (1,200 shp), and complement (45) figures differ from shipscribe class data (534 lt / 835 max, 13 kts, 1,500 HP, 43) - discrepancies noted, not resolved. No asbestos or material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-01
-
[3]Shipscribe.com, USS ATA-174 Class (class notes, construction table, disposition table, ship notes; compiled 2011, Stephen S. Roberts) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table ATA-224 row; disposition table ATA-224 row; Class Notes paragraphs 2-3; Ship Notes ATA-224 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe's ATA-174-class compilation (Stephen S. Roberts, drawing on Navy directives and Maritime Commission records) documents: ATA-224 ordered 20 November 1944, built by Levingston SB, Orange; keel 28 February 1945; launched 31 March 1945; never commissioned. Class context: on 18 November 1944 CNO approved 20 additional tugs of this class (ATA 219-238) for Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union; contract awarded two days later; assigned to the USSR by the Munitions Assignment Committee 17 or 24 January 1945; after the Soviet assignment lapsed, CNO directed 31 October 1945 that the remaining 15 tugs be accepted from builders upon completion but, being surplus, not commissioned - placed in caretaker status and turned over to WSA for disposal after removal of equipment. BuShips had contracted the class to General Motors Corp., which supplied diesel engines and subcontracted hull construction. Disposition table: stricken 12 April 1946, delivered to Maritime Commission 24 May 1946. Ship note: 'Accepted and delivered 13 Feb 46. Sold (delivered) by MC to the General Motors Corp., Cleveland, Ohio. Merc. AHI 1946, WOLVERINE 1971, deleted 1990.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1990
- Limitations
- Secondary scholarly compilation transcribing CNO directives and MC disposal records, not an official document. The MC sale to General Motors Corp. (the program's prime contractor) versus NavSource's 'Isleways Division, Honolulu' naming the 1946 buyer is reconcilable (contractor buy-back then resale) but the intermediate transaction is unverified. 'Deleted 1990' is a register-removal record, not a confirmed scrapping location or date. No asbestos or material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-02
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[4]Shipbuilding History (shipbuildinghistory.com), Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange TX yard production table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Levingston yard table, hull 371 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Levingston Shipbuilding yard table (shipbuildinghistory.com, compiled from yard records) lists hull no. 371 as 'ATA 224,' owner US Navy, type Tug, 516 GT, 143 ft, delivered 13-Feb-46, with disposition 'Sold 1946 and completed as Ahi, later Wolverine, scrapped 1990.' U.S. official number 251250 is recorded for the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1990
- Population
- Merchant crews, Ahi (1946-1971) and Wolverine (1971-c.1990) service
- Limitations
- Independent secondary compilation of yard records; corroborates the 13 Feb 1946 delivery and the Ahi/Wolverine merchant trail, and adds yard hull number 371, official number 251250, and 516 GT. 'Scrapped 1990' conflicts slightly with NavSource ('disposed of in 1989, fate unknown') and shipscribe ('deleted 1990') - the exact final disposition is unresolved. No asbestos or material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-03
-
[5]Derived from Shipscribe ATA-174-class machinery data (diesel-electric plant, no steam) combined with era-level asbestos literature: 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
- Shipscribe class header (Machinery: '1 screw, G.M. diesel electric'); AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference for a steel diesel-electric fleet tug completed February 1946: the hull was built to a standard Navy BuShips design during the documented period of Navy-wide asbestos use in new construction. Because the machinery plant is diesel-electric (two GM 12-278A diesels, no boilers, no steam distribution), the boiler and steam-line lagging that dominates the asbestos mass of steam-propelled ships is absent by design; era-typical asbestos applications for this vessel type are instead engine-exhaust and machinery-space thermal insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation and arc barriers around the diesel-electric plant and switchgear, and towing-winch brake linings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1946 construction; merchant service era
- Population
- Construction trades (Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange TX, 1945-1946); merchant crews
- Limitations
- Era/design inference, not a hull record: no document names ATA-224 with an asbestos statement, and no class-specific materials schedule was located. The diesel-electric plant removes the largest steamship asbestos applications by design; remaining applications are inferred from period practice, not proven aboard this hull. Does not establish quantity, locations, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-04
-
[6]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology 28:9-16 (January 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record 21016030 (bibliographic record). A 2026 peer-reviewed critique of the study's epidemiology exists (Kelly RJ, New Solut. 36(2):138-150, PMID 42307414) - it does not dispute that the surveyed pipe-covering work used asbestos.
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed U.S. Public Health Service wartime fieldwork documents asbestos pipe-covering and insulation operations in the construction of U.S. Navy vessels during WWII - the construction program and era under which this hull was built (1945-46, BuShips contract).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1946 fieldwork; article 1946
- Population
- WWII naval-vessel construction workers (program context)
- Limitations
- Era/program-level documentation of asbestos use in naval-vessel construction; the survey covered pipe covering at yards building larger combatants and does not name this hull, this class, or the Levingston yard. Does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard ATA-224, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-05
-
[7]National Archives, Ship Plan Index (Cartographic Branch), ATA-224 entry, NAID 175665678 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Plan Index table, 'NA / ATA-224 / RG 19 / Microfilm / 175665678' row; catalog link https://catalog.archives.gov/id/175665678
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Ship Plan Index lists a Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships) microfilm entry for hull ATA-224 under National Archives Identifier 175665678 - engineering drawings for this hull survive in NARA custody even though the vessel never commissioned.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1946 drawings
- Limitations
- Index-level finding only - the microfilm's drawing list and contents were not retrieved; whether it includes insulation/lagging (S39) or piping (S48) drawings is unknown until surveyed. The catalog detail page is JS-rendered and returned no readable metadata to automated access. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-06
-
[8]Batch-2898 official-source search ledger (this record): NavSource; Shipscribe ATA-174 class page; shipbuildinghistory Levingston yard table; NHHC DANFS (live + Wayback); NARA Special List 44, ship-plan index, and asbestos research guide; NARA catalog; NVR; NAVSEA reading room; MARAD Vessel History Database [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ata-224-ata224-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos material specification, insulation drawing, survey, abatement document, hazmat disclosure, or exposure finding for ATA-224 was located in the official sources reviewed in this batch's search ledger. Corroborating absences: no DANFS entry exists (live NHHC URL 404, no Wayback capture - consistent with a never-commissioned, never-named hull); NARA Special List 44 indexes no ATA-224 deck logs (index coverage runs ATA-174 through ATA-217; the never-commissioned hull generated no deck logs); the Naval Vessel Register carries no entry (pre-1987 disposal); the NAVSEA asbestos FOIA reading room returned HTTP 403 to automated access and could not be searched; the MARAD Vessel History Database holds no record under the merchant names searched.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- A negative result in searched public sources is not proof that the vessel had no asbestos - a 1945-46 Navy-contract hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull's RG 19 microfilm plans (NAID 175665678) plus undigitized RG 19 construction/outfitting records remain unreviewed. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-07
-
[9]CourtListener authenticated v4 opinion search, 2026-09-26 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ata-224-ata224-12 through -13
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener v4 opinion search for the exact string "ATA-224" returned zero results on 2026-09-26. The vessel carried no commissioned name - ATA-224 is the only Navy identifier - so no alternate-name search applies. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this vessel was located in the opinion index.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- A search-index result is not an exhaustive survey of all filed cases; opinions or filings naming the vessel only in body text, under a merchant name, or under alternate hull formatting may not surface, and RECAP docket coverage was limited by fleet pacing at research time (see ledger). No allegation, discovery finding, trial finding, or judgment about this hull was identified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-08
-
[10]National Archives, Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Beginning Research; Bureau of Ships correspondence and Cartographic Branch sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA describes asbestos use in U.S. Navy materiel from 1941 through 1961 as a frequently requested topic requiring ship-by-ship archival research in Bureau of Ships RG 19 records (general/confidential correspondence 1940-1946 arranged by Navy Filing Manual; hull-designation files; shipyard 'QM' contractor files; S39 insulation-and-lagging and S48 piping drawings in the Cartographic Branch). ATA-224 was built 1945-46 within that era, but the guide identifies no material aboard this hull. For this vessel the applicable filing paths are the ATA-224 hull file, the ATA-174 class file, and the QM/Levingston Shipbuilding yard file; the hull's microfilmed plans (NAID 175665678) are a concrete starting point.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1961 (guide era)
- Limitations
- Era-level research guidance, not a hull record - establishes that asbestos research for this hull would proceed through RG 19 hull/class/yard files, not that any asbestos product was installed, encountered, or remains. No ATA-224 document was located in indexed public material beyond the plan-index microfilm entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ata-224-ata224-09