USS Baffins (CVE-35)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS Baffins' [court_record]

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener opinion search 'USS Baffins' returned 0 results (2026-10-07)

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Limitations

   zero-hit search; absence of hits is not proof of no litigation

   Evidence ID

   uss-baffins-cve35-cl-name-opinion

2. [2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS Baffins' [court_record]

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener docket search 'USS Baffins' returned 20 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Limitations

   hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels

   Evidence ID

   uss-baffins-cve35-cl-name-docket

3. [3]CourtListener opinion search: 'CVE-35' [court_record]

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener opinion search 'CVE-35' returned 193 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Limitations

   hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed

   Evidence ID

   uss-baffins-cve35-cl-hull-opinion

4. [4]CourtListener docket search: 'CVE-35' [court_record]

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener docket search 'CVE-35' returned 5163 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Limitations

   hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed

   Evidence ID

   uss-baffins-cve35-cl-hull-docket

5. [5]DANFS, Baffins (CVE-35) entry - live NHHC page returns HTTP 404 (2026-09-19, same link rot observed in batches 01/66); verbatim hazegray DANFS transcription cited. HyperWar/ibiblio's CVE transcription series ends at CVE-31, so no ibiblio mirror exists for this hull [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   hazegray DANFS transcription, CVE-35 Baffins entry (NHHC canonical URL 404)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS documents: Baffins (ACV-35) launched 18 October 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. Laurance Bennett, wife of Commander Bennett; commissioned 28 June 1943, Captain W. L. Rees in command. She remained at Puget Sound Navy Yard until 18 July 1943; classification changed to CVE-35 on 15 July 1943; on the 18th she proceeded to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she was decommissioned the following day and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Operated by the British during WWII as HMS Ameer; returned 17 January 1946; sold by the Navy 17 September 1946. DANFS data line: dp. 8,333; l. 495'8"; b. 111'6"; dr. 26'; s. 17 k.; cpl. 890; a. 2 5-inch; cl. Prince William.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1942-1946

   Population

   U.S. Navy commissioning crew (22 days, June-July 1943)

   Limitations

   Documents construction, the 22-day U.S. Navy commission, transfer, return, and disposal; contains no insulation, material, or asbestos information. U.S. Navy service was 22 days - the hull's operational history is almost entirely Royal Navy service, which the DANFS entry covers in one sentence. Decommission-date conflict (19 July 'the following day' here vs 20 July in NavSource/Wikipedia) carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-baffins-cve35-01

6. [6]NavSource Online, Escort Carrier Photo Archive, USS Baffins (ACV-35) / HMS Ameer (D01) - RN service photography and postwar career [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource CVE-35 page (navsource.net mirror; navsource.org returned fetch errors), Baffins/Ameer photo captions, fate block, and battle honours

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NavSource documents: ACV-35 named Baffins for Baffin Bay on the southern Texas coast; decommissioned 20 July 1943 and turned over to the Royal Navy as HMS Ameer (D01), a transliteration of amir, the title given an Afghan ruler. Battle honours displayed: Burma 1944-45, Malaya 1945. Photo documentation: probable Burrard's Dry Dock, North Vancouver modification period (second half 1943); Durban, South Africa drydock March 1945; East Indies Fleet anchorage at Trincomalee, Ceylon, on VJ-Day with No.896 Squadron Hellcats embarked (Fleet Air Arm Museum credit). Fate: stricken 20 March 1946 (Navy Dept. Bulletin 46-629, p.16); sold for commercial service 1946; converted to cargo ship 1948, renamed Robin Kirk (US flag); scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, October 1969.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1942-1969

   Population

   Royal Navy crew (~646) plus embarked FAA squadrons; postwar merchant passengers/crew

   Limitations

   Compiled secondary source consistent with DANFS on overlapping facts; prints decommissioned 20 July vs DANFS's 'the following day' (= 19 July) - variance flagged in gaps. Battle-honour labels differ from RNRA's (Burma 1944-45/Malaya 1945 vs East Indies 1945/Burma 1945) - flagged in gaps. No insulation/asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-baffins-cve35-02

7. [7]Royal Navy Research Archive, 'A History of HMS AMEER' + Seattle-Tacoma built-ships table (non-profit virtual museum / research archive) [other_primary]

   Locator

   RNRA ESCORT/AMEER.htm (history sections, spec block) and ESCORT_2/Seattle-Tacoma_Ships.htm (row ST 30 / MC 246)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   RNRA documents: keel laid 18 July 1942 at Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, as MC C3-S-A1 freighter hull 246, Seattle-Tacoma hull 30 (corroborated by shipbuildinghistory's Todd Tacoma table, row 30/246); hull towed to Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton for completion; commissioned USS Baffins 28 June 1943; decommissioned in preparation for transfer and officially transferred to the RN at Burrard Dry Dock's Lapointe Pier, North Vancouver, 20 July 1943, commissioning as HMS Ameer (D01) the same day under Capt. Gerald D. Yates - the third MC hull earmarked 'Ameer' (ACV-55 and ACV-56 were retained by the USN). Burrard modification program July-October 1943 (89 days, completed 18 October, 11 days behind the revised 45-day schedule): aviation-fuel stowage and oiling-at-sea changes, gunnery/communications/W-T-R-T sets, darken-ship arrangements; LP turbine rotor removed early September and sent to Allis-Chalmers, Milwaukee, for partial re-blading; Asdic and additional sea valves fitted in floating dry dock 21-28 September. Ammunitioned at Bremerton; ferry voyage via San Diego, Panama Canal, and Norfolk (embarking 55 Lend-Lease airframes) to New York; convoy UT.6 with HMS Atheling 29 December 1943, Greenock 9 January 1944; further UK commercial-yard modification as an assault carrier (operations-room changes, post-Dasher petrol-system modifications); convoy KMF.31 from the Clyde 5 May 1944, Trincomalee 27 June. Trade protection with 845 Squadron (Avengers) July-October 1944; East Indies Fleet pennant R302 issued November 1944; 804 Squadron Hellcat operations: LIGHTNING (Akyab), MATADOR (Ramree Island), SANKEY (Cheduba) January 1945; STACEY February-March 1945; Durban boiler clean and defect rectification March-April 1945; BALSAM June and COLLIE July 1945 with 896/888 Squadrons; ZIPPER reoccupation landings September 1945 - among ~90 Allied ships in Singapore Roads for the 12 September surrender. Sailed for the UK 30 October 1945 with 804 Squadron personnel; destored and de-equipped on the Clyde and at Plymouth; embarked 476 U.S. troops at Southampton; paid off at Norfolk Navy Yard 3 January 1946. Returned to U.S. Naval custody 17 January 1946; struck from the NVR 20 March 1946; purchased 17 September 1946 by the Robin Line (Seas Shipping Co., Inc., New York); converted to a passenger freighter as SS Robin Kirk; scrapped in Taiwan 1969. RNRA spec block: 2 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 1 Allis-Chalmers geared turbine, 1 shaft, 16 knots, complement 646.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1942-1969

   Population

   RN crew (~646), Burrard/UK-yard/Durban yard workforces, FAA squadron personnel, 476 embarked U.S. troops (1945-46)

   Limitations

   RNRA is a non-profit virtual museum/research archive - a compiled secondary source (its own sources listed as Admiralty War Diaries, Norfolk/New York Navy Yard War Diaries, naval-history.net, Fold3 documents), not a primary record; its work-package detail is documented as events without insulation or material content. Dates corroborate DANFS where they overlap. No asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-baffins-cve35-03

8. [8]U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships Technical Manual, NAVSHIPS 250-000, Chapter 39 'Thermal Insulation' (1960, page date 15 April 1959) - specification-level document for Navy shipboard insulation materials [other_primary]

   Locator

   BuShips TM ch.39, sections 39-11 through 39-13 (materials)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   The 1960 BuShips Technical Manual's insulation chapter enumerates the asbestos material suite standard to Navy steam plants of this hull's construction era: MIL-I-2781 pipe covering including 85% magnesia 'formed from a combination of 85 percent magnesium carbonate with about 15 percent asbestos fiber' and a class 'formed from a uniform mixture of amosite asbestos fibers'; roll asbestos felt MIL-I-15091; asbestos cloth/tape SS-C-466 (80-95% chrysotile) as lagging; asbestos millboard HH-M-351; asbestos finishing cement; molded asbestos block for high-temperature service. This hull's two Foster-Wheeler boilers, single Allis-Chalmers geared turbine set, and associated steam piping are the equipment classes these specifications cover.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1960 (manual); describes era-standard specifications

   Population

   Construction trades (Tacoma, 1942-43; Bremerton completion, 1943); RN crew and RN/Canadian/UK/South African yard workforces (1943-45); merchant conversion crews (1947-48)

   Limitations

   Specification-level documentation of materials the Navy specified, not a ship-specific installation record - establishes the era insulation suite, not what was installed on this hull. Keel-to-commissioning window (1942-43) is inside the asbestos-spec period; the 1943 Burrard Vancouver modifications (89 days incl. LP turbine-rotor removal), the early-1944 UK assault-carrier modifications, the March 1945 Durban boiler clean/defect rectification, the late-1945 UK destoring, and the 1947-48 Robin Kirk passenger-freighter conversion are further material-disturbance events whose insulation scope - and whether they removed or retained era insulation - is undocumented. Retrieved PDF is a scan hosted in the Garlock bankruptcy Daubert-appendix repository; the document itself is the government manual (verified legible in batch-54 and batch-66 work).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-baffins-cve35-04

9. [9]Port of Tacoma v. Todd Shipyards Corp. et al., No. 3:08-cv-05132-BHS (W.D. Wash.), Order approving TSC settlement (Doc. 139, 2010-09-09); allegations recited from Port's CERCLA contribution complaint (Doc. 58) [court_record]

   Locator

   Order Doc. 139 at 1-3; complaint summary Doc. 58 (Shipbuilding Site, 1916-1946)

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   A W.D. Wash. order recites the Port of Tacoma's CERCLA/MTCA contribution allegations that Todd Shipyards Corporation owned and operated parcels near the mouth of the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma - 'the Shipbuilding Site' - from 1916 through 1946, and that Todd's shipbuilding operations disposed of contaminated material and hazardous substances into the waterway. The Shipbuilding Site is the Commencement Bay yard where this hull was built; a settlement releasing TSC (Todd) was approved.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1916-1946 site era; litigation 2005-2010

   Population

   Todd Tacoma yard workforce (allegation-level)

   Limitations

   Establishes the builder's site identity and operating era (1916-1946) at the location of construction. The litigated contaminants were listed hazardous substances (metals, PAHs, PCBs) - asbestos is not among the recited substances; the order recites allegations for settlement approval, not findings of contamination or exposure. No individual or hull-level exposure is established.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-baffins-cve35-05

10. [10]Herring v. Texaco, Inc., 161 Wn.2d 189, 165 P.3d 4 (Wash. 2007) [court_record]

    Locator

    Opinion, 161 Wn.2d 189 (No. 78774-3)

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    Washington Supreme Court opinion documents that Roger Herring worked for subcontractors at Todd Shipyards sites in the 1960s-early 1970s, developed pleural thickening (1986), asbestosis (~1989), and fatal mesothelioma (2002), and that his suit against Todd was barred because his asbestos claims were discharged in Todd's 1987 Chapter 11 bankruptcy (published-notice sufficiency was the litigated issue). Documents that occupational asbestos-exposure claims were litigated against this hull's builder corporate family in the postwar era.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    1960s-2007

    Population

    Todd Shipyards subcontractor worker (mesothelioma)

    Limitations

    Yard/corporate-level litigation at Todd's Puget Sound operations post-dating this hull's construction era; does not name this hull, does not adjudicate exposure aboard any specific vessel, and Herring's claim was barred on bankruptcy-discharge grounds - a merits-level negative for that plaintiff, not affirmative exposure evidence. Construction-era (1942-43) conditions at the Tacoma yard are not addressed.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-baffins-cve35-06

11. [11]Braaten v. Saberhagen Holdings, Inc., 165 Wn.2d 373, 198 P.3d 1010 (Wash. 2008) [court_record]

    Locator

    Opinion, 165 Wn.2d 373 (No. 80146-4)

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    Washington Supreme Court opinion documenting the shipboard asbestos-maintenance regime at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard through the career of pipefitter William Braaten (1967-2002), who developed mesothelioma; the court held manufacturers had no duty to warn of asbestos in other makers' products applied to their equipment - a defense win on duty grounds. Documents the era asbestos environment at the naval shipyard where this hull was completed and fitted out in 1943 (and where she ammunitioned in late 1943 as HMS Ameer).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    1967-2008

    Population

    PSNS pipefitter (mesothelioma)

    Limitations

    Yard-level litigation context only: Braaten's PSNS tenure (1967-2002) postdates this hull's 1943 completion by 24 years and the opinion does not name this hull or adjudicate exposure aboard any vessel. Carried because the completion yard is documented (RNRA spec block 'Completed by: Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington'; shipbuildinghistory Todd Tacoma table 'Completed by Puget Sound NSY'; DANFS 'remained at Puget Sound Navy Yard'); the decision is a merits-level negative for those plaintiffs, not exposure evidence.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-baffins-cve35-07

12. [12]Batch-247 search ledger (this record): DANFS(hazegray mirror)/NavSource/RNRA/navypedia/shipbuildinghistory ship records; CourtListener API + courtlistener.com-domain sweeps by exact name, hull number, RN name, and merchant name; builder-yard litigation verification [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-baffins-cve35-01 through -12

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation specification, abatement contract, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Baffins (CVE-35), HMS Ameer, or SS Robin Kirk was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). 'USS Baffins' and 'CVE-35' + asbestos API queries returned zero before the daily cap engaged; domain-index sweeps returned 'Baffin' strings resolving to corporate/criminal matters (Baffin Limited LLC forfeiture, Baffin Investments, United States v. Baffin) and 'Robin Kirk' to an unrelated employment plaintiff - name collisions, not this hull. A parallel sweep for Royal Navy mesothelioma claims naming HMS Ameer returned ship-history pages only - no qualifying result. HMS Ameer does appear on a law-firm marketing ship list (mesotheliomahelp.org); a marketing list is not a claim and the source is excluded per batch rules.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    2026-09-19

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1942-43 Tacoma construction plus Bremerton completion sits inside the Navy's asbestos-specification era, and the negative reflects record availability, not hull condition; whether RN-era modifications and the merchant conversion removed or retained U.S.-era insulation is undocumented. CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, 125/day cap) on 2026-09-19 after two successful queries; the domain-restricted index sweep is a degraded but honest substitute, logged in the ledger. UK veteran claims would not appear in U.S. court repositories regardless. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-baffins-cve35-08