Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Cachalot I (SS-170), interim update by Robert J. Cressman 16 May 2024 - construction, prewar service, Pearl Harbor overhaul during the 7 December 1941 attack, three 1942 war patrols, New London training duty, disposal (NHHC page via 2024-12-13 Wayback capture; live page returned HTTP 404 to this session's fetch). Verbatim 1977 print transcription corroborates: https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/submar/ss170.txt [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block (updated 2024); hazegray verbatim transcription ss170.txt
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: originally projected as V-8 (SC-4); laid down 21 October 1931 at Portsmouth, N.H., by Portsmouth Navy Yard; launched 19 October 1933 (sponsor Miss Katherine Duer Kempff, daughter of yard commandant Rear Adm. Clarence S. Kempff); commissioned 1 December 1933, Lt. Cmdr. Merrill Comstock. West-coast operations from San Diego from 17 October 1934 (fleet problems, torpedo practice, ASW/tactical/sound exercises; Hawaiian and Canal Zone cruises). Departed San Diego 15 June 1937 for New London experimental torpedo firing (Newport Torpedo Station) and Submarine School sound training; lengthy New York Navy Yard overhaul from 26 October 1937; reported at Pearl Harbor 16 June 1939 for Submarine Force/Scouting Force duty. In Pearl Harbor Navy Yard overhaul during the 7 December 1941 attack - S2c Charles Meyer wounded by metal fragment (first Submarine Force casualty of WWII), submarine undamaged. Three war patrols: departed 12 January 1942, reconnaissance of Wake, Eniwetok, Ponape, Truk, Namonuito, Hall Islands, returned 18 March; departed Midway 9 June off Japanese home islands, damaged a tanker, returned 26 July; departed 23 September into the Bering Sea supporting Aleutians operations. 'Overage for strenuous war patrols,' served as Submarine School training ship at New London until 30 June 1945; decommissioned at Philadelphia 17 October 1945; stricken 3 July 1946; sold 26 January 1947. Three battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1931-1947
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1931-33); NYNY and Pearl Harbor Navy Yard trades (1937-38, 1941-42); crew (1933-1945); Submarine School students/instructors rotated through (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Yard-period asbestos disturbance is era inference, not a per-hull record. Live NHHC fetch returned 404; 2024-12-13 Wayback capture and verbatim 1977-print transcription used. Minor variants vs. the 1977 print (15 vs 16 June 1937 San Diego departure; 'Meyer' vs action-report 'Meyers') in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-01
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[2]USS Cachalot commanding officer's action report, SS170/A16 Serial C-050, Pearl Harbor, 10 December 1941, 'Raid of December Seventh - Report of,' signed W.N. Christensen (verbatim HyperWar transcription of the official report) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar USN ships/logs/SS ss170-Pearl transcription
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous primary documentation that this vessel was 'moored at Berth 1, Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, T.H. undergoing scheduled Navy Yard overhaul' during the 7 December 1941 raid. Crew opened fire with .30- and .50-caliber machine guns; no material damage received; nearest bomb twenty feet off starboard quarter (did not explode); nearest torpedo 100 yards astern. 'MEYERS, C.A., S2c, USN received bullet wound in right lung during strafing attack' - treated at Navy Hospital, reported not serious.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1941-12-07 to 1941-12-10
- Population
- Cachalot crew aboard during the raid; Pearl Harbor Navy Yard workforce around Berth 1
- Limitations
- Documents vessel status, crew action, and one casualty during a yard overhaul - it establishes the hull was in-yard with machinery spaces opened up for work, but says nothing about materials present. Verbatim transcription of the official report, not the scanned original. 'Meyers' spelling differs from DANFS 'Meyer' (gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-02
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[3]NavSource Online Submarine Photo Archive, USS Cachalot (SS-170) page - spec block (propulsion, stricken date variant, battle stars) with embedded Norman Friedman 'U.S. Submarines Through 1945' (Naval Institute Press) caption text; globalsecurity.org SS-170 secondary compilation tracking Friedman/Alden for class design detail [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/08/08170.htm spec block and captions; globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ss-170.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Secondary-literature construction and design detail for this hull: class designed under London Naval Treaty of 1930 tonnage limits; class histories record the V-8 to Cachalot name assignment in February 1931 and the SS-170 designation 1 July 1931 (parallel to sister Cuttlefish's DANFS-documented 19 February/1 July 1931 changes). Portsmouth-built Cachalot retained riveted inner and outer hulls with welding confined to non-critical areas (superstructure, piping brackets, support framing, interior tankage) while Electric Boat expanded welding on sister Cuttlefish. Propulsion per NavSource spec block: diesel-electric, MAN-designed diesels built at New York Navy Yard (3,100 hp total), Electro Dynamic electric motors (1,600 hp), 240 battery cells, twin propellers; the troublesome MAN mains were replaced with GM-Winton diesels in 1937-38, consistent with the DANFS-documented year-long New York Navy Yard overhaul. Both boats served as first test beds for the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1931-1938 (design/construction events); secondary compilations later
- Population
- n/a (design and construction detail)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations, not primary BuShips documents - carried as context flagged 'partial,' never as a basis for a ship-specific material claim. Re-engining is corroborated indirectly by the DANFS overhaul entry but is not in the DANFS text; replacement engine model varies across sources (GM-Winton 16-258 vs 16-278 - see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-03
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[4]Era inference built on: DANFS-documented yard periods (Portsmouth Navy Yard construction 1931-33; New York Navy Yard overhaul 1937-38; Pearl Harbor Navy Yard overhaul in progress December 1941; Philadelphia inactivation 1945); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for portsmouth-naval-shipyard (thermal insulation, pipe covering, millboard, gaskets, packing, block insulation, asbestos cloth, Kaylo), brooklyn-navy-yard (Kaylo pipe insulation 1930s-1966, per In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litigation, 971 F.2d 831), pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard (Pabco/Kaylo pipe insulation, asbestos mud, cloth, gaskets, WWII-era documented), and philadelphia-naval-shipyard (Eagle-Picher, Thermasil, Garlock, Johns-Manville insulation products); Gato-class profile conclusion that diesel-electric boats' exposure relevance concentrates on engine/exhaust lagging, gaskets, and hull insulation [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS yard-period narrative; shipyards.json product lists for portsmouth-naval-shipyard, brooklyn-navy-yard, pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard, philadelphia-naval-shipyard; gato-class.class.json (class-f worktree)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-electric submarine built 1931-33 at Portsmouth Navy Yard and refitted through documented Navy-yard availabilities across 1937-45 sits inside the Navy's asbestos era; era-standard applications on a diesel-electric (non-steam) boat concentrate on engine and exhaust lagging, machinery and hull insulation, gaskets, valve and pump packing, and electrical insulation. All four yards' asbestos product use in the relevant period is independently documented at the yard level.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1931-1945
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1931-33); NYNY/PHNSY/Philadelphia yard trades; crew incl. Submarine School trainees cycling through 1942-45
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or abatement record located for SS-170. Names era-standard applications on non-steam systems, not confirmed installed materials; diesel-electric drive means no boiler-insulation pathway. No quantity; hull scrapped 1947 so no present condition exists to characterize.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-04
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[5]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 Cachalot's 1931-33 construction and every service-era yard availability (1937-45).
- 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. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-05
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[6]Batch-86 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback capture + verbatim 1977-print transcription; CO action report transcription; NavSource spec block; CourtListener opinion and RECAP searches by name and hull number; GAO product page; va.gov/BVA name check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cachalot-ss170-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos case naming USS Cachalot (SS-170) was found. CourtListener 'USS Cachalot' returned zero opinion hits; 'Cachalot' produced only The Cachalot III (D.C. Fla. 1945, 60 F. Supp. 527 - a British-registered motor vessel, name collision) and U.S. v. Morachis citing it; RECAP 'Cachalot' hits trace to Camp Cachalot, a Boy Scout camp in the BSA bankruptcy and related insurance dockets (name collisions); 'SS-170' hits are string collisions (treatise 'SS 170' citations, account/document numbers). No BVA decision naming this hull located.
- 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 - for a 1931-33 hull inside the Navy asbestos era, era inference stands on its own. The hull was scrapped 1947, foreclosing any present-condition documentation. CourtListener RECAP results are feed-capped at the 20 most recent entries; deeper docket-text searching was not run (API throttled, shared-IP daily quota) - an open lead, not a finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cachalot-ss170-06