Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Belle Isle (AG-73)' entry (DANFS Vol. I; transcription mirror at losthistory.net/hazegray) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I 'Belle Isle' entry, full text (single short paragraph + data line)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 1944-11-03 by New England Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland, ME, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Miss Sally Goding; transferred to the Navy and commissioned 1944-11-15 (LCDR J. H. Graves, USNR); ferried to Bethlehem Steel Co., Hoboken, N.J.; decommissioned 1944-11-18 and converted into an electronics repair vessel; recommissioned 1945-07-13. Joined Service Division 104, Service Squadron 10, Pacific Fleet; arrived off Okinawa 1945-10-07 and serviced fleet units; proceeded to Wakayama, Japan, arriving 1945-12-15; remained in Japanese waters until 1946-03-31; returned to San Francisco, then San Diego; placed out of commission in reserve 1946-08-30; reclassified AKS-21 on 1951-08-18. DANFS data line: dp. 5,766; l. 441'6"; b. 56'11"; dr. 24'9"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 891; a. 1 5"; cl. Belle Isle.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked repair personnel, 1945-46
- Limitations
- Official Navy history text via transcription mirror - the canonical NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-20 (same link-rot pattern logged in BATCH-01-REPORT for Hornet/Midway/Missouri); mirror text is the standard DANFS transcription. Contains no asbestos or materials information whatsoever. Ferry-commission dates conflict with NavSource (see correction row). Establishes identity and service timeline only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-01
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[2]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Belle Isle (AG-73) page - specifications, awards, commanding officers, official photograph attributions [other_primary]
- Locator
- Full page: chronology, specifications block, awards block, CO list, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archive page for this hull: laid down 1944-09-19 as MC type EC2-S-C1 hull (MCE 3070) at New England Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland; launched 1944-11-03; placed in reduced commission 1944-11-12 for transit to Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken (LCDR James H. Graves Jr., USNR, Aux Ferry Crew #5); decommissioned 1944-11-15 at Hoboken; commissioned 1945-07-13 at New York Navy Yard (LCDR Edward C. Morck, USNR); decommissioned 1946-08-30 at San Diego; Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group; reclassified AKS-21 (general stores issue ship) 1951-08-18; struck from the Naval Register 1960-04-01; final disposition 'possibly sunk as a target in 1960.' Specifications: 5,371 t. light / 14,350 t. full; 441'6" x 56'11" x 23' lim; 12.5 kts trial; complement 52 officers + 843 enlisted; armament 1x5"/38 DP, 4x40mm, 8x20mm; propulsion one General Machine Corp. vertical triple-expansion engine, two Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers (220 psi, 450F), single screw 2,500 shp; generators 3x350kW diesel AC + 2x60kW turbo DC. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Official photos: NARA RG-19-LCM 19-N-87439 (BuShips photo, commissioning day near NY Navy Yard); NH 98707 (San Francisco Bay, c. April 1946); NH 82191 (off San Diego, 1946). Namesake described as the uninhabited island off Labrador at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked repair personnel, 1945-46
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained compilation, not an official publication - carried as supporting because its entries transcribe official records and its photo attributions cite NARA RG-19-LCM and Naval Historical Center numbers directly. Conflicts with DANFS on ferry-commission dates, light displacement (5,371 vs 5,766), draft (23' vs 24'9"), and complement breakout (895 vs 891) - see correction row. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-02
-
[3]Shipscribe (T. Colton shipbuilding reference), 'USS Belle Isle (AG-73) Class' page - construction table, class notes, ship notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- AG-73 class page: construction table row, class notes, ship notes row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship notes for AG-73: MCE hull 3070; delivered 87.9% complete; ferry commission 15-18 Nov 1944 (agrees with DANFS); converted by Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken, N.J.; in USN reserve 1946-60; to AKS-21 18 Aug 1951. Class notes: the six AG-73-78 hulls were Liberty ships taken incomplete (~88%) but capable of steaming under their own power, converted and fitted out at six different New York-area repair yards; BuShips appointed H. Newton Whittelsey as design agent; the 1944-08-21 conversion specification provided facilities for 25 officers, 81 CPOs, and 702 enlisted repair personnel in addition to ship's company, one 80,000 gal/day distiller, shops/storerooms/tool rooms for repair work aboard other vessels, radio and radar workshops, a radar antenna test platform on the main deck, and a 90-foot 1-ton boom for handling radar antennas. Machinery listed: General Machine Corp. vertical triple expansion, 1 screw, 2,500 HP.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Conversion-yard trades at Bethlehem Hoboken and NY Navy Yard fit-out, 1944-45; embarked repair personnel
- Limitations
- Standard shipbuilding-reference compilation (Colton) drawing on official records - secondary in form, not a primary document. Class-note detail is class-level (AG-73-78 program), not a hull-specific material record. No asbestos content anywhere on the page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-03
-
[4]Shipscribe AG-73 disposition table and ship notes; NavSource AG-73 chronology; secondary compilations carrying a USS Morton (DD-948) eyewitness comment [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AG-73 disposition table + ship notes; NavSource chronology; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Belle_Isle (DesRon 13 sentence); shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-large/ag/ AG-73 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- End-state record: stricken from the Naval Register 1960-04-01 (NavSource; DANFS does not carry the strike date); disposal approved 1960-08-03 and 'apparently expended as target late 1960' (shipscribe ship notes); NavSource: 'Final Disposition, possibly sunk as a target in 1960.' Secondary compilations (Wikipedia, ship.spottingworld) state that in November 1960 Destroyer Squadron 13 ships sank Belle Isle off San Diego, sourced to an eyewitness comment from a USS Morton (DD-948) crewman. ShipbuildingHistory's auxiliary table independently lists 'sunk as target 1960.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1960
- Population
- Pacific Reserve Fleet caretaker crews, 1946-60; DesRon 13 firing-ship crews, 1960 (if confirmed)
- Limitations
- No primary disposal, transfer, or sinking document located - both standard references hedge ('possibly'/'apparently') and the DesRon 13/November detail rests on an eyewitness comment carried by secondary sites. Verification_status 'partial' reflects consistent-but-unverified reporting. Relevant to asbestos assessment only negatively: the hull does not survive and no abatement-era record exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-04
-
[5]U.S. Maritime Commission, Instruction Manual for Operating and Maintaining 2500 H.P. Triple Expansion Marine Steam Engines, EC2-S-C1 Cargo Vessels (mirrored excerpt) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Mirrored excerpt, engine-cylinder insulation section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The USMC operating manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant - the design of this hull - describes cylinder insulation of magnesia under sheet-iron lagging; insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and period steam-system gaskets, packing, and insulation felts commonly contained asbestos. Liberty ships were built to emergency USMC specifications during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding. Belle Isle's plant (two B&W header-type boilers, General Machine Corp. vertical triple-expansion engine, 2,500 shp) is the standard EC2-S-C1 machinery fit with per-yard vendor variation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Construction trades (South Portland, 1944); conversion-yard trades (Hoboken/NY Navy Yard, 1944-45); ship's engineering crew and embarked repair personnel
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual does not name this vessel and does not itself state 'asbestos' content; asbestos presence aboard this hull is era/design inference, not ship-proven. The Navy's electronics-repair conversion altered accommodation, shops, and topside fit but retained the Liberty propulsion plant; no conversion material schedule for MCE 3070 was located. Does not establish quantity, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-05
-
[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) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and emergency program under which this EC2-S-C1 hull was built (1944) and converted (1944-45) - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls and Navy auxiliaries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- 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 and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-06
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[7]DANFS 'Belle Isle (AG-73)' entry (arrival date and service statement); Salecker, Gene Eric, 'Typhoon Louise vs. the United States Navy: Catastrophe at Okinawa, October 9-10, 1945' (storm date and damage scope, published secondary account) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- DANFS entry (service paragraph); Salecker book via Google Books; corroborating storm date in standard references
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS places Belle Isle off Okinawa from 1945-10-07, servicing fleet units of ServRon 10. Typhoon Louise struck the Okinawa anchorages on 1945-10-09, sinking or grounding hundreds of vessels in Buckner Bay and severely damaging dozens more - the operating environment in which this electronics-repair ship began her first and only forward assignment. She remained on Okinawa service until shifting to Wakayama in December 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1945-10 to 1945-12
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked repair personnel at Okinawa, Oct-Dec 1945
- Limitations
- Presence juxtaposition only - DANFS dates her arrival 10-07 and states she 'serviced fleet units there'; the storm date comes from published secondary accounts. No source located documents storm damage to Belle Isle herself, her movements during the storm, or a storm-specific repair workload; continuous presence between 10-07 and her December departure is inferred from the DANFS narrative sequence, not stated. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-07
-
[8]Batch-684 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror; NavSource; shipscribe; NVR; MARAD ShipHistory; CourtListener API + web-indexed sweep; NARA catalog; law-firm/aggregator pages (excluded) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-belle-isle-ag73-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Belle Isle / AG-73 / AKS-21 / MCE hull 3070 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener API v4 was rate-limited at its daily cap during research (HTTP 429); a web-indexed sweep of courtlistener.com returned only name collisions - the Detroit, Belle Isle & Windsor Ferry Co. (1908), Detroit/Fort Wayne & Belle Isle Railway cases, and Detroit's Belle Isle park in bankruptcy filings - none involving the vessel. MARAD ShipHistory returned application errors on all search attempts; NVR holds no record (stricken 1960, predates NVR coverage); the canonical NHHC DANFS page 404'd and the transcription mirror was cited instead. Law-firm marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com, freeasbestostesting.com) list the hull but were excluded per source rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 Liberty-hull conversion is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and her electronics-repair role added interior shop and accommodation spaces. The CourtListener API-level sweep remains incomplete (daily cap; retry pending) - the negative finding is a web-indexed sweep plus unavailable primary indexes, not an exhaustive docket search. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-08
-
[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 19-LCM (Bureau of Ships photo series), RG 181 (naval district/yard records); NARA photo 19-N-87439 is a cataloged BuShips image of this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/178.html and /024.html; NARA photo 19-N-87439 attribution via NavSource
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction orders; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 deck logs cover her commissioned periods (Nov 1944 ferry; Jul 1945 - Aug 1946 incl. Okinawa and Wakayama); RG 178 holds Maritime Commission contract/construction records for MCE hull 3070; RG 19-LCM holds the BuShips photo set (19-N-87439, commissioning day at NY Navy Yard, already identified via NavSource/shipscribe attribution); Bethlehem Hoboken conversion-contract records and New York Navy Yard fit-out records would fall under BuShips/RG-181-era contract and yard files.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1960 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; the NARA catalog API returned non-JSON responses to automated queries during research (logged in search_ledger). Existence of asbestos-specific documents in these series is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-09
-
[10]DANFS 'Belle Isle' entry vs NavSource AG-73 page vs shipscribe AG-73 class page - internal discrepancies recorded verbatim [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS entry data line; NavSource specifications block and namesake caption; shipscribe class header/notes
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies carried, not silently resolved: (a) Namesake - DANFS opens 'Belle Isle is an island in Michigan'; NavSource describes the namesake as the uninhabited island ~15 miles off Labrador / ~20 miles north of Newfoundland at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle (named by Cartier); the class's other five namesakes (Coasters Harbor, Cuttyhunk Island, Avery Island, Indian Island, Kent Island) are U.S. coastal islands - both identifications are on record, unresolved. (b) Ferry commission - DANFS and shipscribe: transferred/commissioned 1944-11-15, decommissioned 1944-11-18; NavSource: reduced commission 1944-11-12, decommissioned at Hoboken 1944-11-15. (c) Light displacement - 5,766 t. (DANFS, shipscribe) vs 5,371 t. (NavSource, Wikipedia). (d) Complement - 891 (DANFS) vs 895 = 52 officers + 843 enlisted (NavSource, Wikipedia). (e) 20mm armament - 8 mounts (NavSource) vs 12 (shipscribe). (f) Draft - 24'9" (DANFS) vs 23' lim (NavSource, shipscribe). (g) Class name - DANFS data line 'cl. Belle Isle' and shipscribe 'Class: BELLE ISLE (AG-73)' vs NavSource/Wikipedia 'Basilan class' (shipscribe limits Basilan to AG-68-71).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Limitations
- Documents publication-level discrepancies among the standard references; none is resolved here because no primary document was retrieved. None affects the asbestos posture (no asbestos content in any source). Field values in this record carry both figures where they conflict rather than picking silently.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belle-isle-ag73-10