Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive, USS ATR-33 page (specifications block, compiled from official registry data); shipscribe.com USS ATR-1 class page, construction table (Bellingham hulls) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource ATR-33 'Specifications' block; shipscribe ATR-1 class header data
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The ATR-1-class rescue tug carried a steam propulsion plant - two Foster Wheeler 'D'-type boilers (200 psi) feeding one Fulton Iron Works vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine of 1,600 shp on a single screw, plus two 60 kW turbo-drive ship's service generators. Steam auxiliaries of the WWII construction era were fitted with asbestos boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, and machinery packing as standard-period materials. The official Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-45 listing records the class as wooden-hulled.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1948 (construction through disposal)
- Population
- Crew of ~52 (engine-room and machinery-space ratings most relevant); Northwest Shipbuilding construction workforce (~1,000 peak, Port of Bellingham history)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation displayed on the vessel's archive page - the spec block is the class specification applied to this hull, not a hull-specific survey. No source states 'asbestos' aboard ATR-33; asbestos presence aboard this hull is era/design inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence (vessel disposed 1948), individual exposure, or causation. Wooden-hulled construction bounds the pathway but machinery spaces remain relevant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-01
-
[2]NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive, USS ATR-33; shipscribe.com USS ATR-1 class construction table; Port of Bellingham official history of the Northwest Shipbuilding Company yard [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource ATR-33 header block; shipscribe ATR-1 table row 33; https://www.portofbellingham.com/949/Northwest-Shipbuilding-Company
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS ATR-33 was contracted 27 June 1942, laid down 7 September 1942 at Northwest Shipbuilding Co., South Bellingham, WA, launched 19 August 1943, and commissioned 28 March 1944 (LTjg. E. R. Weaver in command). The vessel was never named and carried only its hull designation; international radio call sign NGAL. The Port of Bellingham documents Northwest Shipbuilding as a wartime yard (1942-1944, ~1,000 peak employees, 11 shipways) that built wooden military vessels on the Pacific American Fisheries lease in Fairhaven.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Construction trades at Northwest Shipbuilding, South Bellingham, 1942-1943
- Limitations
- NavSource and shipscribe agree on all dates; a philatelic site (navalcovermuseum.org) lists a 10 Aug 1943 launch and 17 Aug 1944 commissioning that conflict with both - rejected. Shipscribe abbreviates the builder 'Northwestern'; the Port of Bellingham confirms 'Northwest Shipbuilding Company.' No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-02
-
[3]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 (HyperWar transcription of official Navy listing), AT--Tugs section; NavSource ATR-33 specifications block [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar ships-at.html, 'ATR -- Rescue Tugs' table, row ATR-33
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ATR class is listed in the official Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-45 compilation as 'Wooden-hulled Rescue Tugs, built to patrol convoy lanes' - displacement 852 tons, length 165'6", beam 33'4", draft 15'6", speed 12 knots, armament 1 x 3-inch, triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, single screw, 1,600 hp. ATR-33 appears in the class roster with service years 1943-45. NavSource's vessel page gives the fuller fit: 1,315 tons full load, 12.2 kts, one 3"/50 dual-purpose plus two 20mm AA mounts, complement 5 officers and 47 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Limitations
- Class-level listing, not a hull record - the compilation describes the type; ATR-33's individual entry contains no distinguishing remarks. Complement conflicts across compilations (35 here vs 52 at NavSource vs 51 at shipscribe) carried in gaps, not resolved. No asbestos or materials content in the source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-03
-
[4]shipscribe.com USS ATR-1 class notes (S. S. Roberts, reproducing Bureau of Ships program records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe ATR01.html, 'Class Notes' section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The class was procured under the Bureau of Ships rescue-tug program: on 12 September 1941 the BuShips chief wrote the CNO urging 'rescue tugs to tow in disabled vessels' - ships with good seaworthiness, 1,500+ HP for towing large vessels at sea, proper towing arrangements (towing engine or equivalent), long radius of action, firefighting equipment, and a basic supply of salvage materials and pumps; design was informed by British rescue-tug experience. FY1942 covered ATR-1 through ATR-40, of which ATR-33 is a member.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Limitations
- Program/design-level documentation of the class to which this hull belongs; establishes procurement context, not conditions aboard this vessel. No asbestos or materials content in the source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-04
-
[5]NavSource ATR-33 page (theater assignment, awards); NavSource Army Ship Photo Archive, BCL-3051 page (U.S. Army war-diary entries transcribed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource BCL-3051 chronology (war-diary entries); NavSource ATR-33 awards block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ATR-33 served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; awards per NavSource are the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and WWII Victory Medal (no battle stars). Army war diaries document the tug taking non-self-propelled covered barge BCL-3051 in tow from Guadalcanal to Renard Sound, Banika Island, 26 October 1944 (within a recurring shuttle shared with USS ATA-123), and taking the barge in tow 29 May 1945 bound for Eniwetok (handed off to USS ATA-217 there 13 July 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew of ~52 during towing/salvage operations
- Limitations
- War-diary entries as transcribed by NavSource - secondary rendering of primary records; covers two documented tows only, not the ship's full operational history. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-05
-
[6]Oral History Interview with Sidney Lanier, March 21, 2013 - National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection, OH03900 (UNT Portal to Texas History) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Interview track 1, approx. 45:00-55:00 (ATR-33 portion); WebVTT captions at .../metapth1610187/m1/1/captions-eng.vtt; transcript ark:/67531/metapth1606533
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Crewmember Sidney Lanier recounts being ordered aboard ATR-33 at Peleliu in late 1944 ('a giant sea-going tug... designed and used to go rescue people under attack or under duress'), locating the ship at Noumea, New Caledonia, and serving on salvage and rescue work around Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal - pulling disabled and beached vessels off reefs and towing them clear. The ship was sent south (New Caledonia/New Zealand) near war's end for refit ahead of anticipated Japan operations; Lanier was discharged 21 January 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (events); 2013 (recording)
- Population
- USS ATR-33 crew (late 1944 - January 1946)
- Limitations
- First-person recollection recorded ~68 years after events (automated-transcript renderings carry minor garbling, e.g., 'Attack Rescue' for the ATR designation); corroborates the vessel's operating pattern, not machinery materials. No asbestos content whatsoever - does not establish or negate any exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-06
-
[7]shipscribe.com USS ATR-1 class disposition table and hull footnotes (Naval Vessel Register / Maritime Commission-derived); NavSource ATR-33 final-disposition line [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe ATR01.html Disposition table row 33 (Decomm./Strike/Disposal/Fate/MA Sale) and hull footnote 33
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ATR-33 decommissioned 24 July 1946 and was struck from the Naval Register 29 October 1946. She was sold (award) by the Maritime Commission to Hugo Neu Corp., New York, and delivered at Los Angeles 30 June 1948; the Maritime Administration sale record is dated 18 May 1948. Hugo Neu Corp. was a scrap-metal firm; demolition is the probable fate but no scrapping record is documented. NavSource's own summary states only 'disposed of in 1946, fate unknown.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1946-1948
- Population
- Disposal-yard workforce at buyer's facility (Los Angeles delivery point), 1948
- Limitations
- Disposal dates derive from shipscribe's NVR/MC-compiled table (more detailed than NavSource's 'fate unknown' - discrepancy logged). Final fate after sale unconfirmed: buyer's business indicates demolition was probable but no breaking, resale, or loss record was located. No asbestos content; demolition-era ACM disturbance is not documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-07
-
[8]Batch-2967 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS canonical URL and NavSource statement; Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil); CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches; NARA catalog; NavSource/shipscribe/hyperwar/NMPW sources above [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-33-atr33-01 through sl-uss-atr-33-atr33-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or museum/owner statement names this hull; no DANFS entry exists (NavSource states none available; canonical NHHC URL 404s); the vessel predates NVR online coverage (post-1987 disposals). CourtListener opinion search for exact phrase "ATR-33" returned 0 results; docket search returned 5 hits, all OCR/token false positives in unrelated litigation (Johnson v. TDCJ, Hicks v. Astrue, In re Sears Holdings, Leuthauser v. United States, In re PRM Family Holding) - no qualifying asbestos case naming the vessel.
- 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 - a wooden-hulled steam tug of 1943 construction is era-consistent with asbestos machinery insulation. Vessel was sold to a scrap dealer in 1948, foreclosing modern survey/abatement documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program and insulation-removal policies for the fleet, including legacy vessels of WWII-era construction - program-level confirmation that asbestos-containing materials were installed in Navy ships of this hull's construction era and later required control and removal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; supports era context only - the vessel had been disposed 31 years before the report. Does not establish what was installed aboard ATR-33 or quantities. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-09
-
[10]NARA RG 24, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (WWII-era holdings); Bureau of Ships ATR-1 design specifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog; RG 24 logbook series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- WWII deck logs for ATR-33 (commissioning March 1944 through decommissioning July 1946) are held in NARA RG 24 but are not digitized at file-unit level in the public catalog; BuShips ATR-1-class design specifications and the vessel's commissioning booklet, if extant, are the primary documents that would settle machinery-material specifics. Army war diaries naming the vessel are partially transcribed in the NavSource archive (see ev-05).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (records); unretrieved
- Limitations
- Lead only - records not retrieved or examined; existence of WWII deck-log coverage for this hull is inferred from the RG 24 series scope (1941 onward), not from a located file unit. Nothing here establishes asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-33-atr33-10