Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet ds-packet.md (6 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-atr-8-atr8-pkt-ds-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS ATR-8 page (specification block transcribed from official ship data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATR-8 specifications block (displacement, armament, complement, propulsion)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- USS ATR-8's documented propulsion plant - two Babcock & Wilcox 'D'-type boilers (200 psi, saturated) feeding a Fulton Iron Works vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine of 1,600 shp with two turbo-drive 60 kW ship's-service generators - is a complete WWII-era steam installation carried in a wooden hull. Insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber; typical applications for a steam-powered auxiliary of this type included boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, insulation in accommodation spaces, and winch/windlass brake linings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Construction trades (Frank L. Sample Shipyard, Boothbay Harbor, 1942-1944); engine-room crew (black gang) during commission
- Limitations
- The machinery specification is ship-specific documentation; the asbestos content is era inference only - no construction specification, manifest, survey, or hull record names asbestos aboard this vessel. Does not establish quantity, location, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-01
-
[3]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 scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and emergency construction program (Maximum War Effort 1799-Vessel Program; ATR 1-40 directed by CNO 1942-01-19) under which this ATR-1-class wooden rescue tug was built.
- 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 or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-02
-
[4]ShipScribe (T. Colton), USS ATR-1 class page - construction and disposition tables transcribing official BuShips/Naval Vessel Register and Maritime Commission records, plus class notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row ATR-8; Disposition table row ATR-8 (decomm 28 Feb 47; strike 14 Mar 47; disposal 12 Aug 47; MC/D; MA sale 11 Aug 47); ship note 8 ('Sold (delivered) by MC to Palestine Purchasing Service, Inc., New York. Removed from Navy custody 12 Aug 47'); class notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ATR-8, an ATR-1-class wooden-hulled rescue tug, was ordered 1942-06-12, laid down 1942-09-07 at Frank L. Sample Shipyard, Boothbay, ME; launched 1944-01-25; commissioned 1944-05-25; decommissioned 1947-02-28; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1947-03-14; and delivered out of Navy custody 1947-08-12 under Maritime Commission disposal - sold by MC (sale dated 1947-08-11) to Palestine Purchasing Service, Inc., New York. Class data: design Navy ATR-1 attributed by one source to the John G. Alden firm; 852 t light / 1,315 t max; 165.4 ft oa; one screw, vertical triple expansion, 1,600 HP; the Navy deliberately specified wooden hulls and simple steam machinery so small yards and machine shops outside the main war-shipbuilding effort could build the class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Limitations
- ShipScribe is a private compilation transcribing official BuShips/NVR and Maritime Commission records - the standard authoritative reference for auxiliary hulls that lack DANFS entries. It documents the sale and buyer but not the vessel's post-sale identity or ultimate fate. Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-03
-
[5]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS ATR-8 page and USS YNg-27 page (veteran-maintained archive compiling official ship records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATR-8 page (specs, awards, 'no DANFS' note); YNg-27 page (https://www.navsource.net/archives/14/3227.htm) 1945-08-06 and 1945-08-08 tow entries
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archive entry for USS ATR-8 confirms the builder (Frank L. Sample Shipyard, Boothbay, ME) and publishes the ship's specification block: 852 t (light) / 1,315 t (full); 165'6" x 33'4" x 15'6"; 12.2 kts; complement 5 officers and 47 enlisted; one 3"/50 dual-purpose gun mount and two single 20 mm AA mounts; Fulton Iron Works vertical triple-expansion engine, two Babcock & Wilcox 'D'-type boilers (200 psi, sat), two 60 kW turbo-drive generators, single 1,600-shp propeller; call sign NFXA; ribbon display limited to the American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal (consistent with continental/Atlantic-station service; no battle stars). NavSource notes no DANFS history exists. A sister NavSource page (YNg-27) documents that USS ATR-8 towed gate craft YNg-27 on 1945-08-06 to Naval Net Depot, Melville, R.I., and on 1945-08-08 towed YNg-27 together with YNg-25 and YNg-26 via Long Island Sound to the New York area - the only located ship-specific operational detail.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Crew (52 officers and enlisted per spec block)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; the ATR-8 page's own dates ('laid down in 1943', 'struck 1946', 'fate unknown') are superseded by NVR-derived figures - see correction row ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-05. Tow detail is documented on the towed craft's page rather than from the tug's own logs. No asbestos or material statement on either page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-04
-
[6]ShipScribe USS ATR-1 class page (NVR/MC-derived dates); NavalCoverMuseum ATR-8 catalog entry; NARA Special List #44 deck-log index [other_primary]
- Locator
- ShipScribe construction/disposition rows for ATR-8; https://www.navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/ATR_8 ; archives.gov SL-44 PDF, ATR-8 row (5/25/1944-6/30/1945)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Widely-copied secondary listings for ATR-8 (NavSource ATR-8 page and derivatives) state 'laid down in 1943,' 'struck from the Naval Register in 1946,' and 'final disposition, fate unknown.' NVR/MC-derived data supersede all three: keel laid 1942-09-07, decommissioned 1947-02-28, struck 1947-03-14, and disposal documented as MC sale to Palestine Purchasing Service, Inc., delivered 1947-08-12. The NavalCoverMuseum catalog independently corroborates keel 1942-09-07, launch 1944-01-25, and commissioning 1944-05-25; NARA's deck-log index independently corroborates the 1944-05-25 commissioning (log coverage begins that date).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Limitations
- Corrects the less-precise secondary record, which remains in circulation (the NavSource page itself was last updated 2016 and carries the vaguer figures). Where secondary and NVR-derived sources conflict, the NVR-derived figures are carried in this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-05
-
[7]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List #44: Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (archives.gov finding aid PDF) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 ship-number listing, row 'ATR-8: 5/25/1944 - 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA Special List #44 (logbooks of U.S. Navy ships, by hull number) indexes deck logs for ATR-8 covering 1944-05-25 through 1945-06-30 - coverage beginning the day of her commissioning, independently corroborating that date. These are the ship's own contemporaneous operational records.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (coverage indexed); 1945-1947 logs not indexed here
- Population
- Ship's officers and crew, 1944-1945 (logs would document stations, tows, and port calls)
- Limitations
- Finding aid confirms existence and coverage only; log contents were not examined and no expenditure was authorized to retrieve them. Post-1945-06-30 logs (through decommissioning 1947-02-28) are not in this special list and would sit in RG 24 holdings - retrieval is a follow-on lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-06
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[8]Boothbay Region Historical Society, 'Shipyard Collection #3: Sample's' - collection catalog PDF [museum_official]
- Locator
- Catalog page 2, 'USS ATR 8' entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Boothbay Region Historical Society's Frank L. Sample shipyard collection (Shipyard Collection #3) contains a dedicated USS ATR-8 file: a ship's history dated 1946-01-05 prepared by Lt. (j.g.) M.W. Fishwick, a commissioning invitation, clippings (including a 1943 note of her commissioning), and a 2017 inquiry from a crew member's son whose father served aboard her at Philadelphia.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1947 (document dates); catalog 2022
- Population
- Builder yard workforce; commissioning-era crew
- Limitations
- Catalog-level confirmation that a CO-submitted ship history and primary ephemera exist; contents unexamined. The catalog abstract says ATR-8 was 'put into commission Mar. 1944' - inconsistent with the NVR-derived 1944-05-25 commissioning (possibly an in-service vs. commissioning distinction or a catalog misreading); the discrepancy is logged rather than resolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 search: q="ATR-8" type=o (0 results); q="USS ATR-8" type=o (0 results); q="ATR-8" type=r (38 results, all name collisions), 2026-09-26 [court_record]
- Locator
- Search API results, type=o (count=0) and type=r (count=38, reviewed - none naming the vessel)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener API v4 searches by hull number and exact name returned zero qualifying results: opinion search for the phrase "ATR-8" returned 0 opinions; opinion search for the exact-name phrase "USS ATR-8" returned 0 opinions; docket search for "ATR-8" returned 38 hits, all name collisions - e.g., ATR-Kim Eng Financial Corp. v. Bonilla (bankruptcy appeal, N.D. Cal.) and unrelated criminal, insurance, patent, and civil-rights dockets where 'ATR-8' appears as a form code or exhibit artifact. No asbestos litigation, maritime action, or other proceeding naming USS ATR-8 was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26 (search date); coverage of indexed opinions/dockets
- Limitations
- Both name variants were queried on the opinion index and both returned zero; docket hits were individually reviewed and are all collisions on the 'ATR-8' string, not the vessel. Absence of a docketed opinion does not establish absence of claims - many asbestos matters resolve before opinion or sit within MDL-875 dockets not indexed by vessel name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-08
-
[10]Batch-3009 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS, Naval Vessel Register, NARA SL-44, NavSource, ShipScribe, NavalCoverMuseum, Boothbay Region Historical Society catalog, CourtListener API v4, MARAD Vessel History Database [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-atr-8-atr8-01 through sl-uss-atr-8-atr8-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, construction specification naming asbestos, or docketed case naming USS ATR-8 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The vessel left Navy custody in August 1947 - decades before asbestos surveys became routine - and her post-sale identity is untraced, so no modern-period hull record can exist unless the hull survives unrecognized under a later name.
- 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 during service - a complete WWII-era steam plant of this type would be expected to carry asbestos-containing insulation, and no survey was ever likely performed on a hull sold in 1947. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-atr-8-atr8-09