Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, USS Breton (CVE-23) entry (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS CVE-23 entry, construction and service paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents: launched 27 June 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. A. H. Rooks, widow of Captain Rooks; commissioned 12 April 1943, Captain E. C. Ewen in command. Breton is a sound in Louisiana. Throughout WWII she operated with the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet, carrying men, materiel, and aircraft to fleet units; she took part in the capture and occupation of Saipan (11 June-10 August 1944), the Battle of the Philippine Sea (19-20 June 1944), the 2nd Bonins raid (24 June 1944), and the assault and occupation of Okinawa (6-7 April 1945). After Far Eastern occupation service she returned to the west coast January 1946, prepared for inactivation at Tacoma, and went out of commission in reserve there 30 August 1946. Reclassified CVHE-23 12 June 1955. Four battle stars per DANFS (NavSource ribbon display shows two - see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1942-1955
- Population
- Crew (~890) plus embarked squadrons and transport passengers
- Limitations
- Documents construction, transport service, and inactivation; omits keel, stricken, and disposal dates (carried from NavSource). Contains no insulation, material, or asbestos information. DANFS does not cover the post-1955 MSTS career.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breton-cve23-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Escort Carrier Photo Archive, USS Breton (ACV-23/CVE-23/CVHE-23/CVU-23/AKV-42) - Operational and Building Data + class specifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource CVE-23 page, Operational and Building Data block, Fate note
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource building data documents: named for a sound in Louisiana between the Mississippi River delta and the mainland; Maritime Commission hull 239, type C3-S-A1; laid down 25 February 1942; launched 27 June 1942; acquired 1 May 1942; AVG-23, ACV-23 (20 August 1942), CVE-23 (15 July 1943), CVHE-23 (12 June 1955), T-CVU-23 (1 July 1958), T-AKV-42 (7 May 1959); commissioned 12 April 1943; decommissioned 30 August 1946; reactivated 14 July 1958 as an aircraft transport under Military Sea Transportation Service control with a civilian crew; out of service circa 1970; stricken 6 August 1971. Disposal: Maritime Administration custody, berthed Olympia, WA, 26 October 1970; sold for non-transportation use to American Ship Dismantlers, Inc., Portland, OR, 29 February 1972 for $68,893.00; withdrawn from MARAD custody 5 April 1972. Class specifications: 7,800 tons standard; 2 boilers (285 psi), 1 steam turbine, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp; 16.5 knots; crew 890.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1942-1972
- Population
- n/a (building data); MSTS civilian crew (1958-~1970)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary source consistent with DANFS on all overlapping facts; keel, reactivation, stricken, and disposal details are NavSource-only (DANFS omits them); the ~1970 out-of-service date is approximate in the source. Ribbon display shows two Asiatic-Pacific stars vs. DANFS's 'four battle stars' - conflict carried in gaps. No insulation/asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breton-cve23-02
-
[3]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
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1960 (manual); describes era-standard specifications
- Population
- Construction trades (Tacoma, 1942-43); crew (1943-46); MSTS civilian crew and reactivation workforce (1958-1970)
- 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 1958 MSTS reactivation is a further material-disturbance event whose insulation scope is undocumented. Retrieved PDF is a scan hosted in the Garlock bankruptcy Daubert-appendix repository; the document itself is the government manual (verified legible 2026-09-18; same document verified in the class-D profile work of 2026-09-16 and batch-54 records).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breton-cve23-03
-
[4]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
- 2026-09-18
- 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-breton-cve23-04
-
[5]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
- 2026-09-18
- 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-breton-cve23-05
-
[6]Batch-66 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NavSource/navypedia ship records; CourtListener-domain searches by exact name and hull number; builder-yard litigation verification [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-breton-cve23-01 through -08
- 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 Breton (CVE-23) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation-index sweeps by exact ship name and hull number returned no qualifying asbestos opinion naming this hull.
- 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 - a 1942-43 Tacoma construction plus a 1958 MSTS reactivation sit inside the era-insulation picture and the negative reflects record availability, not hull condition. Whether the 1958 reactivation removed or retained era insulation is undocumented. CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, daily cap) on 2026-09-18; the domain-restricted index sweep is a degraded but honest substitute, logged in the ledger. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breton-cve23-06