Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS Barracuda' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USS Barracuda' 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-barracuda-ss163-cl-name-opinion
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[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS Barracuda' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USS Barracuda' returned 49 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-barracuda-ss163-cl-name-docket
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[3]CourtListener opinion search: 'SS-163' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'SS-163' returned 2860 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-barracuda-ss163-cl-hull-opinion
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[4]CourtListener docket search: 'SS-163' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'SS-163' returned 37276 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-barracuda-ss163-cl-hull-docket
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[5]DANFS, Barracuda I (SF-4/SS-163), Vol. I p. 99 - construction, commissioning, 1931 renaming/redesignation, service narrative, disposal (verbatim transcription; no live NHHC page located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block (Vol. I, p. 99)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: launched as V-1, 17 July 1924, by Portsmouth Navy Yard (sponsor Mrs. Cornelia Wolcott Snyder); commissioned 1 October 1924, Lt. Cmdr. S. Picking - commissioned for surface running only, to permit early engine trial, returning May 1925 for completion. Submarine Division 20; Atlantic coast and Caribbean operations to November 1927; Squadron 20 to San Diego (arrived 3 December 1927); west coast, Hawaiian Islands, and Caribbean fleet operations December 1927 - May 1932. Renamed Barracuda 9 March 1931; designation changed to SS-163, 1 July 1931. Rotating Reserve, Submarine Division 15, Mare Island, May 1932; Submarine Division 12 from January 1933; Gravimetric Survey Expedition, Caribbean, late 1936; arrived Philadelphia 14 January 1937; out of commission 14 May 1937. Recommissioned at Portsmouth, N.H., 5 September 1940 (SubDiv 9, then 71; Bermuda March-June 1941); sailed New London 17 November 1941 for the Pacific Fleet; Pacific Patrol Area to 15 December 1941, then Atlantic Fleet; Submarine Division 31: six war patrols in the Pacific southwest of Panama, 15 December 1941 - 7 September 1942, without enemy contacts. Voyage repairs at Coco Solo, C.Z.; overhaul at Philadelphia; based at New London (SubDivs 13 and 31) on Block Island Sound training problems to February 1945. Arrived Philadelphia Navy Yard 16 February 1945; decommissioned 3 March 1945; sold 16 November 1945. Spec block: dp. 2,000; l. 341'6"; b. 27'7"; s. 18.7 k.; cpl. 56; 1x5", 6x21" TT; class B.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1921-1945
- Population
- Portsmouth Navy Yard construction trades (1921-25); crew (1924-37, 1940-45); Mare Island rotating-reserve trades (1932); Philadelphia Navy Yard trades (1937, 1942-43, 1945)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Yard-period asbestos disturbance is era inference, not a per-hull record. No live NHHC DANFS page located for this hull: /research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/barracuda-i.html serves the SP-845 motorboat entry (Wayback capture), and barracuda-ii plus /content/history/nhhc/ variants returned 404; verbatim transcription cited. Entry does not state a laid-down date or a stricken date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-01
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[6]NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive, V-1 (SF-4) / Barracuda (SS-163) - designation timeline, laid-down date, specifications, photographic record (secondary compilation; live site unreachable, Wayback capture used) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 08/08163 (Wayback capture 2024-10-10)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records for this hull: laid down 20 October 1921 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Seavey Island, Kittery, Maine; launched 17 July 1924; commissioned USS V-1 (SF-4) 1 October 1924; renamed USS Barracuda 9 March 1931; designation changed to SS-163, 1 July 1931; decommissioned 14 May 1937 at Philadelphia; recommissioned 5 September 1940 at Portsmouth, N.H.; decommissioned 3 March 1945 at Philadelphia Navy Yard; 'Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown)'; sold for scrapping 16 November 1945. Specifications: 2,000 t. surfaced / 2,620 t. submerged; complement 6 officers + 50 enlisted; six 21" torpedo tubes, one 5"/51 deck gun; Busch-Sulzer diesels and Elliott motors, twin propellers. Photo archive includes 'Barracuda (SS-163) in Drydock at Portsmouth Navy Yard' (Vernon Howe Bailey, USNHC, 1941/2) and a 29 October 1943 underway photograph noting the deck-gun change. Framing as 'first fleet boat' is NavSource editorial.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1921-1945
- Population
- Portsmouth Navy Yard construction trades (1921-24); crew; Philadelphia Navy Yard trades
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not an official record - consistent with DANFS on every overlapping date. Laid-down date rests on this and secondary spec tables only; DANFS is silent. NavSource expressly gives no stricken date. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-02
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[7]GlobalSecurity.org, 'SS-163 V-1 Barracuda Class' (secondary defense reference, consistent with Friedman 'U.S. Submarines Through 1945' as cited by secondary literature); DANFS documents this hull's Philadelphia overhaul in the same window [other_primary]
- Locator
- GlobalSecurity SS-163 page; DANFS service narrative (1942-45 sequence)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class-level documentation: all three V-1-class boats (Barracuda, Bass, Bonita) were overhauled at Philadelphia between late 1942 and early 1943 and converted to cargo submarines - both torpedo tubes and the main engines removed, leaving propulsion to the auxiliary diesel generators; the conversion left them under-powered and they never served operationally as cargo carriers, instead going to training duty at New London through early 1945. For this hull, DANFS corroborates the window: returned to Coco Solo 7 September 1942, voyage repairs, then Philadelphia overhaul, then New London-based training to February 1945.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard trades (1942-43 conversion/overhaul)
- Limitations
- Conversion specifics (torpedo-tube and main-engine removal, cargo role) are documented at class level in secondary literature; DANFS verifies this hull's Philadelphia overhaul but does not describe the conversion scope, and no ship-specific conversion work package was located. Class statement applied to this hull by inference within a documented yard period - not a primary-source hull record. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-03
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[8]Era inference built on: DANFS-documented construction and yard periods for this hull; shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (thermal insulation, pipe covering, millboard, gaskets, seals, packing, block insulation, asbestos cloth, friction materials, Kaylo), Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Kaylo, Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Careytemp, pipe/thermal insulation, gaskets, packing), and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (Eagle-Picher Super 60, Thermasil pipe covering and block, Unibestos, Kaylo, Garlock sheet gaskets and packing, J-M pipe insulation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS dates and yard periods; shipyards.json product lists for portsmouth-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard, philadelphia-naval-shipyard
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A composite diesel-electric submarine built 1921-25 at Portsmouth Navy Yard and overhauled at Navy yards through 1945 sits inside the documented asbestos-use era for all three associated yards; era-standard submarine applications aboard a boat of this type and period were thermal insulation, machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in the confined hull volume. As a diesel boat she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, but the submarine confined-space exposure dynamic applies. Documented disturbance windows: original build/completion (1921-25), Mare Island rotating reserve (1932), Philadelphia decommissioning (1937), Portsmouth recommissioning refit (1940), Philadelphia overhaul/cargo conversion (1942-43), Philadelphia inactivation (1945).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1921-1946
- Population
- Portsmouth NY construction trades (1921-25); Mare Island trades (1932); Philadelphia NY trades (1937, 1942-43, 1945); crew (1924-37, 1940-45); 1945-46 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- CLASS/ERA INFERENCE ONLY - no ship-specific material schedule, insulation survey, or work package was located for this hull. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The hull was scrapped in 1945-46, before the Navy's documented substitution era - nothing aboard was ever subject to late-era abatement documentation. Never infer ship-specific findings from this row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-04
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[9]NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA 85-021-1654, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire (insulation shop, Building 2; survey April 1985) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HETA 85-021-1654, summary and environmental sections
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- NIOSH evaluated asbestos/fiber exposure in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard insulation shop in April 1985; the report documents that although 'asbestos is not currently used as an insulating material in the shop,' the same shop 'previously was used for preparation and storage of asbestos insulation material' and abatement had been attempted. Builder-yard documentation that asbestos insulation was historically handled at the yard that built this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1985 (survey); historical shop practice
- Population
- PNSY insulation-shop workers (historical practice; survey population 1985)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record - the 1985 survey describes a mid-1980s shop condition and historical shop practice, not any vessel. Establishes asbestos handling in PNSY's insulation shop historically; does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, nor quantity. Postdates this hull's yard periods by four to six decades.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-05
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[10]Bierbaum PJ, Hornung RW, Landrigan PJ, et al., 'Case-control study of lung cancer in civilian employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine' (1988) - NIOSH/CDC Stacks [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks record cdc/185453 (abstract and methods)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- A case-control study of lung-cancer deaths among white-male civilian employees who had worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard any time January 1952 - August 1977 evaluated asbestos and welding exposures as confounders of the radiation association, finding a progressive increase in odds ratios with increasing duration of asbestos exposure - peer-level documentation that asbestos exposure was a measured occupational factor in this yard's workforce.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1952-1977 (study window); published 1988
- Population
- PNSY civilian workforce (1952-1977 cohort)
- Limitations
- Yard-level epidemiology, not a hull record - the 1952-1977 study window postdates every documented availability of this hull at PNSY (1921-25 build/completion; 1940 recommissioning). Documents asbestos exposure as a yard-workforce factor, not materials aboard this vessel. Does not establish individual exposure for any person.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-06
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[11]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- 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 - covering the whole of this hull's construction (1921-25) and every documented yard availability (1932, 1937, 1940, 1942-43, 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- 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. Fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk - none of this hull's yards. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-07
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[12]Batch-355 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource/Wayback; GlobalSecurity class documentation; shipyards.json yard product lists; NIOSH HETA and Bierbaum yard studies; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-barracuda-ss163-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS Barracuda (SS-163) / V-1 (SF-4) was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - API returned HTTP 429 (125/day quota exhausted, ~13 h to reset) and the HTML/feed interfaces returned CloudFront 403; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content (mesothelioma.net, asbestos-ships.com, mesolawcenter.com, mesotheliomasymptoms.com) asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy - and several of those pages conflate this hull with the later USS Barracuda (SSK-1/SS-550). Any future CourtListener 'Barracuda' hit must be discriminated by hull number before attribution.
- 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 - and the litigation-repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). Deck logs, Portsmouth/Philadelphia work packages for the 1942-43 conversion, and scrapping-contract records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barracuda-ss163-08