Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Barbel II (SS-580) - construction, alterations, deployments, Vietnam service (NHHC DANFS entry; live page 404 on 2026-09-18, text via Wayback capture 2024-09-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block and service narrative; archived text: web.archive.org/web/20240902040510/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/barbel-ii.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (DANFS): laid down 18 May 1956 at Portsmouth (N.H.) Naval Shipyard; launched 19 July 1958, sponsor Mrs. Bernard L. Austin; commissioned 17 January 1959, Lt. Comdr. Ord J. Kimzey, Jr. Spec block: 2,145 t surfaced / 2,895 submerged; 219' x 29' x 28'; 15/25 kt; six 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Barbel; no complement printed. Service: Atlantic Fleet from 1960; 1961 Portsmouth availability moved bow planes to sail; home ports San Diego (Nov 1961), Pearl Harbor (Jul 1962, SubDiv 13), forward-deployed Sasebo (Oct 1985, Submarine Group Seven). Repeated 7th Fleet/WestPac deployments; Vietnam war-zone operations from March 1966; four battle stars for Vietnam service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1956-1990
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1956-58); crew (1959-1989); overhaul-yard trades
- Limitations
- Ship-specific operational history only; contains no asbestos or material-content statement. Live NHHC URL returned 404; dated Wayback capture supplied the text. DANFS spec block for this hull omits complement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-01
-
[2]Naval Vessel Register, BARBEL (SS 580) ship detail page (nvr.navy.mil; live detail endpoint retired in NVR redesign - data via Wayback capture 2024-08-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel Status / Milestone Dates / Physical Characteristics tables; archived text: web.archive.org/web/20240809075956/https://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_SS_580.HTML
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR record for this hull (UIC 05603): award 24 August 1955; keel 18 May 1956; launch 19 July 1958; commission 17 January 1959; delivery 4 June 1959; decommission 4 December 1989; stricken 17 January 1990; status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise' effective 30 January 2001. Builder 'Naval Shipyard Portsmouth'; propulsion 'Diesel Electric'; steel hull, 1 propeller; accommodations 10 officers + 69 enlisted; 219 ft overall, 29 ft beam, 28 ft max draft; light displacement 1,744 t / full 2,146 t.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1955-2001
- Limitations
- Registry milestones and characteristics only; no asbestos or material-content fields. Live NVR site (redesigned 2026) serves a JS shell; ship data retrieved from dated Wayback capture. Complement-equivalent accommodations total 79.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-02
-
[3]DANFS, Barbel II (SS-580) - 1 May 1989 overboard casualty, decommissioning, striking, target sinking [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative, final paragraphs; archived text: web.archive.org/web/20240902040510/
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Final years and disposal (DANFS): on the early morning of 1 May 1989 (day after departing 30 April), a huge wave swamped the surfaced submarine off Japan, swept three crewmen overboard and drove the boat underwater; one sailor was rescued, two were never found; inflow threatened the battery compartment. After the Navy judged the boat not worth full refit, she departed Japan 18 September 1989, decommissioned at Pearl Harbor 4 December 1989, stricken 17 January 1990, and was sunk as a target off southern California 30 January 2001.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1989-2001
- Population
- crew (1989); scrapping and target-prep workers (1990-2001)
- Limitations
- Casualty/disposal history only; no material-content statement. 'Not worth a full refit' is DANFS's phrasing - the incident's damage scope is not detailed in this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-03
-
[4]Gordon Dillow, 'A Deep Affection: Groups Seek to Save Submarine From Cutters' Torches,' Los Angeles Times, 11 July 1993 (Long Beach edition; same story run 11 June 1993 as 'Deep-Down Attachment') [reputable_press]
- Locator
- LA Times article body (Southwest Recycling purchase, Terminal Island berth, $70,000 appraisal)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposal chain documented for this hull: the Navy stripped Barbel's equipment and offered the hull at an appraised $70,000; Southwest Recycling of Terminal Island, Los Angeles - then dismantling ex-carrier Bon Homme Richard - bought Barbel and towed her to Terminal Island in 1992; preservation groups sought to save her; her periscopes and electronics were gone ('gutted'). The article corroborates the 1989 overboard incident ('three Barbel crew members were washed overboard off Japan; only one was rescued').
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1992-1993
- Population
- Southwest Recycling ship-breaking workers (1992+)
- Limitations
- Names this hull and its scrapper but contains NO asbestos or material statement - establishes the disposal chain only. Preservation plans never completed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-04
-
[5]UPI, 'Recycling firm fined $81,000 over asbestos,' 23 December 1992 (San Francisco) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- UPI brief, full text
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Asbestos documented in this hull's disposal chain, contractor level: OSHA cited Southwest Recycling of Terminal Island in December 1992 for 42 federal asbestos-standard violations, fining the firm $81,000 for exposing 19 workers to more than double the permissible asbestos level 'during removal of the material from the Navy ships'; workers wore paper masks instead of required respirators. Southwest bought and was holding Barbel at Terminal Island in this period (ev-04).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1992
- Population
- Southwest Recycling asbestos-removal workers (19 named in citation)
- Limitations
- The UPI report says 'the Navy ships' without naming hulls; Southwest was simultaneously dismantling Bon Homme Richard and holding Barbel. Documents asbestos removal at the facility holding this hull - does NOT establish that asbestos was removed from, or present aboard, Barbel. The underlying OSHA inspection case file (opened 22 July 1992, Terminal Island) may name specific vessels - unresolved archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-05
-
[6]Siegfried v. Owens-Illinois removal papers, C.D. Cal. 2:18-cv-01575 (CourtListener recap gov.uscourts.cacd.702384, docs 50/52); Kase v. Metalclad Insulation Corp., Cal. Ct. App. (4th Dist.) 2021 (CourtListener opinion 4324658) [court_record]
- Locator
- Specification-history recitals in removal brief/declaration; Kase opinion, spec-regime discussion
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Court-documented era regime applicable to this hull's construction period: Navy thermal-insulation specifications (32-I-3/MIL-I-2819 block insulation; 32-P-8/MIL-I-2781 pipe insulation) accepted asbestos-containing insulation products such as Owens-Illinois Kaylo on Navy Qualified Products Lists, and asbestos-content warnings were not required until after the 1950s; submarine-insulation specification MIL-I-24244 continued the regime into the SUBSAFE era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1940s-1970s regime; opinions 2018/2021
- Population
- Navy ship/submarine construction and maintenance trades
- Limitations
- Era/procurement regime only - Barbel is not named in these documents. Does not establish materials installed aboard this hull, exposure, causation, quantity, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-06
-
[7]Era inference built on: DANFS/NVR construction and overhaul chronology; shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json documented asbestos product lists for portsmouth-naval-shipyard, puget-sound-naval-shipyard, pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS yard-period chronology; shipyards.json product lists
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: built 1956-58 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and maintained through Navy-yard availabilities at Portsmouth (1961 alterations), Puget Sound (1964-65 overhaul), Pearl Harbor (1968, 1971-72, 1982-83 overhauls), and Mare Island (1975-76 overhaul) - all inside the Navy's peak asbestos-use era, before insulation substitution began in the early 1970s. All four yards carry documented asbestos product lists in the companion shipyard dataset (thermal insulation, pipe covering, gaskets, packing, block insulation, Kaylo, Unibestos, Marinite, amosite blankets, and similar).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1956-1989
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1956-58); PSNSY/PHNSY/Mare Island overhaul trades; crew (1959-1989)
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for SS-580. Diesel-electric propulsion means no steam-plant piping runs; era applications would concentrate on engine exhaust lagging, machinery insulation, piping, gaskets, and packing. No quantity. Hull expended as target 2001 - no surviving fabric to survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-07
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403; product-page description used)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning Barbel's entire construction and service life (1956-1989).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - standing limitation carried from batch-01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-08
-
[9]Batch-79 search ledger (this record): DANFS (archived), NVR (archived), LA Times disposal coverage, UPI OSHA citation, CourtListener (API+HTML blocked; indexed documents = name collisions only), BVA index, GAO product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-barbel-ss580-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos case naming USS Barbel (SS-580) was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). The widely repeated claim that scrapping halted because the interior was 'filled with painted-over asbestos insulation' traces to IMDb user-submitted Crimson Tide (1995) trivia - not an authoritative source; the claim remains unverified and is carried as an unresolved lead, not a finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and the contractor-level OSHA citation in the disposal chain (ev-05) points the other way as an unresolved lead. CourtListener coverage was throttle-limited; the sweep is partial, not exhaustive. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barbel-ss580-09