Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]Shipscribe.com, USS ATR-1 class page - transcription of official Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels / Register of Ships construction and disposition tables, with class notes from BuShips correspondence; ShipbuildingHistory (njscuba mirror), Bellingham yard table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row 72; Disposition table row 72 (Decomm. 2 May 46 / Strike 5 Jun 46 / Disposal 13 May 48 / Fate MC-D / MA Sale 9 Mar 48); Ship Notes row 72; https://shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-small/bellingham/ yard table row 'ATR-72'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy register data for ATR-72: ordered 1942-11-27; built at Bellingham, WA (builder column 'Bellingham Marine'); keel laid 1943-10-23; launched 1944-04-10; commissioned 1944-11-25; decommissioned 1946-05-02; struck from the Naval Register 1946-06-05; transferred to Maritime Commission disposal 1948-05-13; MC sale awarded 1948-03-09. Ship note: 'Sold (awarded) by MC to A. W. Riswold, Flagstaff, Ariz.' - the same named buyer as sister ATR-63. ShipbuildingHistory's Bellingham yard table independently records ATR-72 as an 850-ton, 165-ft tug delivered Nov 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Limitations
- Shipscribe is a transcription project of official Navy register/Ships' Data publications, not the register scan itself; dates corroborated by NARA deck-log coverage beginning 1944-11-25 (ev-04) and by NavalCoverMuseum (ev-03). Decommissioning location and post-sale fate are not given. Builder name in the register transcription is the yard's postwar name - see correction row ev-03. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, USS ATR-72 page (Service Ship Photo Archive, Rescue Tug index 40072) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 09/40/40072 - chronology block, awards/ribbon list with occupation and China service dates, specification block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource service record for USS ATR-72: laid down 1943-10-23 at Bellingham Iron Works Inc., Bellingham, WA; launched 1944-04-10; commissioned 1944-11-25 with LTjg. C. B. Hiner in command; during WWII assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; postwar Navy Occupation Service Medal period 1945-09-03 to 1945-10-21 and China Service Medal (extended) period 1945-10-22 to 1945-12-16 in the Far East; decommissioned and struck 'date unknown'; 'disposed of in 1946, fate unknown.' International radio call sign NKII. Specification block: 852 t light / 1,315 t full; 165'6" x 33'4" x 15'6"; 12.2 kts; one Prescott Co. vertical triple-expansion engine; two Foster Wheeler 'D'-type boilers, 200 psi saturated; two 60 kW turbo-driven ship's service generators; single propeller 1,600 shp; largest boom capacity 4 t; armament 1x3"/50 DP, 2x20mm; complement 5 officers + 47 enlisted; fuel 1,620 bbls NSFO. Displayed awards: China Service (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Limitations
- NavSource is a vetted secondary archive, not an official register; its theater assignment, commanding officer, call sign, medal-period dates, and machinery/equipment spec block are single-source here (not corroborated by an official record for this hull). Its construction dates agree with the register (ev-01); its 'decommissioned/struck date unknown, disposed of in 1946' is superseded by register dates - see correction row ev-03. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-02
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[3]Register data per Shipscribe (disposition row 72); NavSource ATR-72 page; ShipbuildingHistory Bellingham yard history narrative; NavalCoverMuseum ATR 72 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe disposition table row 72 + ship note 72; NavSource 09/40/40072 chronology/spec block; https://shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-small/bellingham/ yard-history paragraph; NavalCoverMuseum designation history
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Source reconciliations for ATR-72. (a) Disposal year: NavSource summarizes 'disposed of in 1946, fate unknown' - the register records the hull struck 1946-06-05 but still in federal custody until transfer to Maritime Commission disposal 1948-05-13, with sale awarded 1948-03-09; 'out of the Navy 1946' and 'disposed of federally 1948' are both true at different custody stages. (b) Builder name: the register transcription gives 'Bellingham Marine', NavSource gives 'Bellingham Iron Works Inc.' - ShipbuildingHistory's yard history documents that the wartime operating entity was Bellingham Shipyards, formed 1941 by merger of Bellingham Marine Railway and Boatbuilding Co. with Bellingham Iron Works, and renamed Bellingham Marine only after the war. (c) NavalCoverMuseum independently lists commissioning 1944-11-25 and records the 1948-05-13 transfer as 'to War Shipping Administration' - the WSA had been abolished September 1946, so the receiving agency was the Maritime Commission; the date itself agrees with the register.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Limitations
- Reconciles three loose secondary-source statements against the register: NavSource's 'disposed of 1946' reads the strike year as the disposal year; 'Bellingham Marine' (register transcription) and 'Bellingham Iron Works' (NavSource) are respectively the postwar and pre-merger names of the same yard - contemporaneous name Bellingham Shipyards; NavalCoverMuseum's 'War Shipping Administration' label is anachronistic for a 1948 transfer (WSA abolished 1946) though the date is correct. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-03
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[4]National Archives, 'Special List #44, by Ship Numbers' - inventory of U.S. Navy deck logs in NARA custody [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF p.11, 'ATR-72 11/25/1944 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List #44 (deck-log inventory by ship number) lists USS ATR-72 deck logs covering 1944-11-25 through 1945-06-30 - the period from commissioning through nearly the end of WWII. Logs are paper custody, not digitized; no coverage for 1945-07-01 through 1946-05-02 (decommissioning) appears in the list.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-11-25 to 1945-06-30 (coverage window)
- Limitations
- Inventory entry only - logs were not retrieved or read; their content (movements, operations, conditions) is unexamined. Custody start date independently corroborates the 1944-11-25 commissioning (ev-01, ev-02). Post-June-1945 logs are not in this list - location unknown. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-04
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[5]Shipscribe ATR-1 class notes (quoting BuShips-CNO correspondence of 1941-1943); NHHC DANFS, Narraguagas (AOG-32) - TU 30.9.23 composition [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class Notes paragraphs (BuShips letter, program directives, wooden-hull rationale, Alden attribution, steel redirection); https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/narraguagas.html June 1945 passage
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ATR-1 class design/procurement context: BuShips' 1941-09-12 letter to CNO argued the need for rescue tugs to tow disabled vessels; CNO directed ATR 1-40 construction 1942-01-19 under the Maximum War Effort (1799-Vessel) Program and VCNO directed ATR 50-89 on 1942-08-05. To avoid competing with steel combatant construction the Navy built the type with wooden hulls and simple triple-expansion steam machinery, letting small shipyards and local machine shops do the work; one source attributes the design to the John G. Alden firm. ATR 101-140 were redirected to steel construction in 1943 partly over Pacific shipworm concerns. Class service pattern: NHHC's DANFS entry for Narraguagas (AOG-32) places sister rescue tugs ATR-38 and ATR-62 in towing unit TU 30.9.23 in the Okinawa operation, June 1945 - the employment context for ATR-72's documented Asiatic-Pacific assignment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- ATR-1 class crews; shipyard trades at small wooden-ship builders (class context)
- Limitations
- Class/program-level documentation - establishes design intent and sister-ship employment, not this hull's operations. The Alden design attribution is hedged by the source itself ('one source indicates'). The Okinawa citation names ATR-38 and ATR-62, not ATR-72. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-05
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[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); applied to the NavSource-documented plant configuration [other_primary]
- Locator
- AJIM 11(3):359-373, WWII shipbuilding asbestos-use documentation; NavSource spec block for plant configuration
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era-level documentation: asbestos was used extensively as insulating and fireproofing material in U.S. WWII shipbuilding. Applied to this hull only as inference: a 1944-vintage steam plant (two Foster Wheeler 'D'-type boilers, Prescott vertical triple-expansion engine, single screw) is consistent with period asbestos applications - boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, flange/valve gaskets, machinery packing, brake linings on towing and anchor machinery, and accommodation-space insulation. The class's wooden hull removes the structural-steel fireproofing a steel ship would carry.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Bellingham Shipyards construction trades (Bellingham, 1943-44); engine-room and deck crew, 1944-46
- Limitations
- Program/era scholarship applied to a class-typical plant - no source names this hull or its actual outfit; no survey, drawing, or contract for ATR-72 was located. Does not establish that asbestos was aboard, its quantity, location, condition, or any individual exposure; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-06
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[7]CourtListener API v4 searches, 2026-09-26: type=o "ATR-72" (6 hits, all aircraft name collisions), type=r "ATR-72" (37 dockets, all aviation), type=o "ATR 72" asbestos OR Navy OR tug OR vessel (6 hits, same aircraft cases) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-72-atr72-07, -08, -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweeps returned no qualifying result for this hull, and every hit is a name collision with the ATR-72 turboprop aircraft (Avions de Transport Regional): 'ATR-72' in the opinion index - 6 hits, all aviation matters (Roselawn air-crash MDL 1070 opinions; Private Jet Services Group v. Tauck charter dispute); 'ATR-72' in the RECAP docket index - 37 dockets, all aviation-related (American/AMR bankruptcy, Pinnacle Airlines, Silver Airways, Hawaii Island Air, Ethiopian Airlines 302, aviation product liability and contract cases); 'ATR 72' qualified with asbestos OR Navy OR tug OR vessel in opinions - 6 hits, the same aircraft cases. No asbestos litigation, no other litigation naming the vessel, no collision that concerns the ship was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes do not cover all federal/state dockets or unreported matters; located hits are all collisions with the ATR-72 aircraft type (a high-collision string for this hull number) - zero hits for the vessel means no located case, not proof that no claim was ever filed. PACER was not searched (no spend authorized). A hull-specific absence is consistent with a small, short-lived, unnamed auxiliary disposed in 1948.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-07
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[8]Batch-3001 search ledger (this record): Shipscribe register data; NavSource; NARA Special List #44; NHHC DANFS (no entry); NVR (pre-1987 disposals excluded); NavalCoverMuseum; ShipbuildingHistory Bellingham table; CourtListener opinion/docket sweeps; MARAD Vessel History Database (no entry) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-72-atr72-01 through sl-uss-atr-72-atr72-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement or removal contract, hazmat disclosure, museum documentation, or government report naming ATR-72 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull left federal custody in 1948 and carries no NRHP/NHL/museum status that would generate modern condition documentation; no post-sale identity is documented.
- 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 tug is era-consistent with ACM in the machinery spaces. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-72-atr72-08