Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts, 'Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy' auxiliary-vessels archival compilation), ATR-1 class page - construction table, disposition table, ship notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row '34 ATR-34'; Disposition table row '34 ATR-34'; Ship Notes row 34
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts) ATR-1 class data page, compiled from National Archives and official Navy vessel records. Construction table, row ATR-34: ordered 1942-06-27; builder 'Northwestern, Bellingham'; keel laid 1942-10-04; launched 1943-09-14; commissioned 1944-05-31. Disposition table, row ATR-34: decommissioned 1946-05-03; struck 1946-10-08; disposal 1948-07-02; fate MC/D (Maritime Commission disposal); MA Sale 1948-05-18. Ship note 34: 'Sold (awarded) by MC to David A. Fall, San Pedro, Cal., delivered 2 Jul 48. Merc. SEA LARK 1949, foundered off Ecuador 3 Mar 55.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1955
- Population
- Northwest Shipbuilding construction workforce (Fairhaven/Bellingham WA, 1942-44); wartime crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Expert secondary compilation transcribing official Navy and Maritime Commission records, not the primary documents themselves; its 31 May 1944 commissioning date conflicts with NavSource's printed '31 March 1944' - discrepancy resolved in favor of the record-table date (corroborated by NavalCoverMuseum, the shipbuildinghistory delivery date, and the NARA deck-log run beginning 5/31/1944), logged in the correction row. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or hazardous-material statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-01
-
[2]NavSource Naval History - Service Ship Photo Archive, USS ATR-34 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATR-34 page: chronology block, awards line, call-sign line, specifications block; last updated 8 July 2016
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive page for USS ATR-34 (compiled from official records): laid down 1942-10-04 at 'Northwest Shipbuilding Co., South Bellingham, WA'; launched 1943-09-14; 'Commissioned USS ATR-34, 31 March 1944, LTjg. A. Zito in command'; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during WWII; assigned to Occupation Service in the Far East 21 September - 28 November 1945; decommissioned date unknown; struck from the Naval Register date unknown; registered 1949 as the 688-ton FV Sea Lark homeported Los Angeles, homeported Seattle 1950, San Diego 1954; 'Final Disposition, foundered 3 March 1955 about 40 miles northeast of Isla El Morro, Colombia.' Awards block prints American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp - no battle stars printed. Radio call sign NGDU. Hull-specific spec block: 852 t lt / 1,315 t fl; 165'6" x 33'4" x 15'6"; 12.2 kts; boom capacity 4 t; 1-3"/50 DP + 2-20mm AA; complement 5 officers/47 enlisted; fuel 1,630 bbls; propulsion 1 Fulton Iron Works vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine, 2 Foster Wheeler 'D'-type boilers 200 psi sat., 2 turbo-drive ship's service generators 60 kW 120 V DC, single propeller 1,600 shp. Page states verbatim: 'There is no DANFS history available for USS ATR-34 at the NavSource.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1955
- Population
- Wartime and occupation-service crew (1944-46); fishing-vessel crews (1948-55)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled transcription of official records, not the primary records. Its printed commissioning date '31 March 1944' conflicts with the shipscribe record table (31 May 1944), NavalCoverMuseum (May 31 1944), the shipbuildinghistory delivery date (31-May-44), and the NARA deck-log run beginning 5/31/1944 - treated as a transcription error and logged in the correction row; adopted date is 31 May 1944. CO name (LTjg. A. Zito), call sign, occupation-service dates, awards, and the Sea Lark homeport sequence rest on NavSource alone and are uncorroborated by any primary source retrieved this pass. '688-ton' and homeport-by-year figures are uncorroborated. Contains no asbestos or hazardous-material statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-02
-
[3]Naval Cover Museum wiki, 'ATR 34' entry - transcribing Merchant Vessels of the United States (1951 ed., U.S. Coast Guard/Treasury annual registry), Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1955, and Lloyd's Casualty Returns 1955 [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/ATR_34 - 'Names and Designations' and 'SEA LARK (Commercial Service)' sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavalCoverMuseum wiki entry for ATR 34 documents the commercial-documentary chain from registry sources: keel laid October 4, 1942 at Northwest Shipbuilding, South Bellingham; launched September 14, 1943; commissioned May 31, 1944; 'Sold July 2 1948' into commercial service as SEA LARK; the 1951 edition of Merchant Vessels of the United States (MVUS) lists owner as 'Global Fishing Co.' of Seattle, WA and U.S. Official Number 257229; Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1955 lists owner as 'National Marine Terminal, Inc.' and home port of San Diego, CA; Lloyd's Casualty Returns for 1955 record verbatim: 'Sprang leak and sank 78 miles N.E. of Esmeraldas, Ecuador' on March 3, 1955.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1948-1955
- Population
- Fishing-vessel crews (1948-1955)
- Limitations
- Secondary transcription of official registry publications (MVUS, Lloyd's Register, Lloyd's Casualty Returns) - the underlying editions were not directly retrieved this pass (MVUS digitized serial holdings do not cover 1949-55 accessibly; see search_ledger sl-16). Owner names and dates corroborate the shipscribe MC-sale record (David A. Fall purchase; delivered 2 Jul 1948) and NavSource's Sea Lark sequence, and Lloyd's 'Esmeraldas, Ecuador' and NavSource's 'Isla El Morro, Colombia' describe the same coastal area. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-03
-
[4]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List 44 - Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (ship-number index, archives.gov PDF); NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' page [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 ship-number list, ATR block, line 'ATR-34 5/31/1944 6/30/1945' (verified by direct PDF text extraction); digitized-log list at archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online (no ATR hull listed)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 (Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, arranged by ship number) indexes one deck-log run for this hull: 'ATR-34 5/31/1944 6/30/1945' - the log series opens on the commissioning date itself, corroborating the record-table commissioning of 31 May 1944 over NavSource's printed 31 March. The logs are in the Bureau of Naval Personnel logbook collection (Record Group 24 lineage) at the National Archives. This hull does not appear on NARA's published list of fully digitized Navy deck logs in the National Archives Catalog (no ATR-prefixed hull appears on that list), so the run is retrievable only via Archives II textual reference; contents were not retrieved. Coverage limitation: nothing is indexed for July 1945 onward - the indexed run ends 6/30/1945, short of the documented occupation-service window (21 Sep - 28 Nov 1945) and the 3 May 1946 decommissioning.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-05-31 to 1945-06-30 (coverage dates)
- Limitations
- Verifies that NARA indexes one ship-specific log run and its date coverage - not the logs' content, which is unsurveyed (College Park research-room pull required; no spend authorized). Whether a second run exists for July 1945 - May 1946 but is unindexed is unknown. Deck logs are operational records - no asbestos content is expected or established by this finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-04
-
[5]Shipscribe ATR-1 class notes (archival compilation, incl. BuShips 1941-09-12 letter and CNO 1942-01-19 directive); Port of Bellingham, 'Northwest Shipbuilding Company' history page; 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' (wartime publication, HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class Notes paragraphs (design rationale, program direction dates); https://www.portofbellingham.com/949/Northwest-Shipbuilding-Company; https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-at.html ATR section 'ATR-34 | 1943-45' row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class-level construction documentation for the type this hull belongs to: shipscribe's class notes state the Navy 'decided to have the vessels built of wood and equipped with relatively simple triple expansion steam machinery' so small shipbuilders and local machine shops could produce them outside the main Navy pipeline; the design is attributed by one source to the John G. Alden firm; CNO directed construction of ATR 1-40 on 1942-01-19 under the Maximum War Effort (1799-Vessel) Program, and ATR 50-89 on 1942-08-05 (VCNO). ATR-34 was ordered 1942-06-27 within the first 40-hull group and built at the yard Northwest Shipbuilding leased from Pacific American Fisheries on Harris Avenue, Fairhaven (Port of Bellingham history page: the firm formed in response to WWII for US Army and Navy construction, 1942-1944). The wartime Navy publication transcribed at HyperWar ('Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' tugs section) describes the class as 'Wooden-hulled Rescue Tugs, built to patrol convoy lanes' and lists this hull 'ATR-34 | 1943-45'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (program); class construction 1942-1945
- Limitations
- Class-level design and procurement documentation; establishes wooden hull and machinery type for the class and the hull's program context but not materials fitted aboard this specific hull. No asbestos statement in any of these sources - the fiber content of this hull's boiler/steam-line insulation is not established by any located record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-05
-
[6]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
- Era-level inference only: peer-reviewed scholarship 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 wooden-hulled steam rescue tug was built. The class carried a 200-psi steam plant (two 'D'-type boilers, vertical triple-expansion engine, steam-driven DC ship's-service generators), the machinery configuration for which period U.S. Navy and commercial practice routinely specified asbestos-containing boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, and machinery packing. On a wooden-hulled auxiliary the plausible material scope is confined to that machinery space and limited accommodation fittings - materially narrower than a steel-hulled steam combatant - and every element of it is inference, not hull documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1955
- Population
- Northwest Shipbuilding construction workforce (1942-44); wartime engine-room crew (1944-46); fishing-conversion and fishing crews (1948-55)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship only - does not name this vessel, this builder, or the ATR-1 class and does not establish that asbestos was or is aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. No class- or design-specific material specification for the ATR-1 type was located; the machinery-fitting applications named are general era practice, not documented aboard this class.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-06
-
[7]Washington State Dept. of Ecology, cleanup site 193 'Harris Avenue Shipyard' (site page, Cleanup Action Plan, consent-decree materials); Port of Bellingham, 'Northwest Shipbuilding Company' history page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ecology site 193 page and CAP text; https://www.portofbellingham.com/949/Northwest-Shipbuilding-Company
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The construction yard is a documented contamination cleanup site: Washington State Department of Ecology cleanup site 193 ('Harris Avenue Shipyard,' 201 Harris Avenue, Bellingham - the Pacific American Fisheries parcel that the Port of Bellingham's official history records was leased to Northwest Shipbuilding Company for military construction 1942-1944, the yard that built this hull) is under active Model Toxics Control Act cleanup, with the Port of Bellingham as the potentially liable person implementing a Cleanup Action Plan covering upland soil/groundwater and in-water sediment. The CAP's named contaminant groups are metals, total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls; asbestos is not among the contaminant groups named in the plan text reviewed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1993-2025 (cleanup record); yard operation 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Land-side environmental record for the construction yard, not a hull record; it documents site contamination from ~a century of industrial use (the yard site hosted shipbuilding before and long after 1942-44) and does not establish or negate asbestos aboard ATR-34, nor yard-worker exposure during this hull's construction. Ecology pages return HTTP 403 to automated fetch; contents confirmed via indexed site-report/CAP text (same handling as sibling records ATR-31/32/33).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-07
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search endpoint (types o and r), queries "ATR-34", "USS ATR-34" OR "Atr-34", and "Sea Lark" AND (vessel OR foundered OR sank OR admiralty), executed via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-34-atr34-09 through sl-uss-atr-34-atr34-12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweeps executed via the required authenticated fleet helper (2026-09-26): (a) opinion index, exact string "ATR-34": 0 results; (b) docket index, "ATR-34": 4 docket hits, all name collisions - the string appears inside attached exhibits/documents in unrelated matters (an insurance-removal dispute, a Social Security appeal, EPIC v. TSA, NextEra v. Kingdom of Spain arbitration), none involving any vessel; (c) opinion index, "USS ATR-34" OR "Atr-34": 0 results; (d) opinion index, "Sea Lark" AND (vessel OR foundered OR sank OR admiralty): 38 results, all name collisions - hits reference other vessels named Sea Lark (e.g., The Sea Lark, 14 F.2d 201 (1926); Hudgins v. The Sea Lark (1888)) or a corporate 'Tug Sea Lark, Inc.'; no opinion concerns the ex-ATR-34 fishing vessel Sea Lark (Official No. 257229, sank 3 Mar 1955 off Ecuador). No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull or its merchant identity was found.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Coverage is federal-search-index only: zero hits on CourtListener does not exclude state-court filings, unindexed or non-RECAP dockets, MDL-875 pleading-stage vessel lists, or maritime claims predating or outside the index (a 1955 sinking could have generated proceedings never digitized or indexed). The 4 docket hits and 38 opinion hits are judged name collisions on review of case names, courts, dates, and snippet text; 'ATR-34' also collides with non-vessel uses such as instrument model numbers.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-08
-
[9]NavSource ATR-34 spec block and chronology vs shipscribe ATR-1 record tables vs NavalCoverMuseum 'ATR 34' (MVUS/Lloyd's transcriptions) vs shipbuildinghistory Northwestern yard table vs NARA SL-44 log-coverage index vs HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy' ATR table vs kgbudge.com Pacific War encyclopedia ATR page (complement 32) vs alaskashipwreck.com MVUS-1952-derived entries ('oil screw Sea Lark', skiff losses 13 Jul 1951) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Same citations as ev-01 through ev-05; alaskashipwreck.com vessel-loss entries citing MVUS 1952
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Source discrepancies documented, not reconciled: (a) commissioning - NavSource prints '31 March 1944'; shipscribe's record-derived table, NavalCoverMuseum, and the shipbuildinghistory delivery date give 31 May 1944, and NARA's indexed deck-log run begins 5/31/1944 - adopted: 31 May 1944 (NavSource's '31 March' treated as a transcription error). (b) Boiler manufacturer - NavSource's hull-specific spec block prints Foster Wheeler 'D'-type boilers while NavSource's class-level pages (e.g., ATR-1) and the class article print Babcock & Wilcox 'D'-type; adopted in propulsion_summary as 'D'-type with maker variance noted. (c) Complement - NavSource prints 5 officers + 47 enlisted (52); shipscribe's class table prints 51 (1944); a wartime recognition compilation prints 32; none is DANFS-verified because no DANFS entry exists. (d) Builder name - 'Northwest Shipbuilding Co.' (NavSource, Port of Bellingham history) vs 'Northwestern Shipbuilding' (shipscribe, shipbuildinghistory yard tables) - the firm's own wartime name per Port of Bellingham is Northwest Shipbuilding Company; variant carried. (e) Casualty position - 'about 40 miles northeast of Isla El Morro, Colombia' (NavSource) vs 'sprang leak and sank 78 miles N.E. of Esmeraldas, Ecuador' (Lloyd's Casualty Returns via NavalCoverMuseum) - consistent descriptions of the same Ecuador-Colombia coastal area; no official position located. (f) Fuel capacity - 1,630 bbls on this hull's NavSource block vs 1,620 bbls on class-level blocks. (g) Merchant propulsion - a secondary shipwreck compilation quoting MVUS 1952 'Vessels Reported Lost' describes Sea Lark as an 'oil screw' (motor vessel) while the naval machinery was steam; whether the tug was re-engined on fishing conversion is undocumented.
- Verification
- disputed
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1955
- Limitations
- Documents genuine multi-source conflicts so a future pass does not silently pick one figure; adopted values are marked in this record's fields and each variance is retained here. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-09
-
[10]Batch-2968 search ledger (this record): shipscribe ATR-1 page; NavSource ATR-34; NavalCoverMuseum; shipbuildinghistory Northwestern yard page; Port of Bellingham; WA Ecology site 193; NARA SL-44 + digitized-log list; HyperWar tug tables; CourtListener API via fleet helper; MARAD ShipHistory; NVR; master-hull-list.json (both indexes) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-34-atr34-01 through sl-uss-atr-34-atr34-17
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum/NPS documentation, court finding, or docketed case naming USS ATR-34, ATR-34, or the fishing vessel Sea Lark was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). There is no DANFS entry for this hull (NavSource confirms none exists; NHHC live-site search returns no page); NARA indexes one deck-log run but contents are unretrieved; no MARAD ShipHistory record was located (the Maritime Commission sale went directly to private buyer David A. Fall; the ShipHistory search endpoint errored to GET requests this pass); the Naval Vessel Register does not cover a hull struck in 1946.
- 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 1944 steam auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing machinery insulation, the hull's sale into fishing service and 1955 sinking leave no modern survey window, and any materials removed during the undocumented fishing conversion are unknowable from public sources. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present or absent; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-34-atr34-10