Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, Online Library of Selected Images: USS Calamares (ID # 3662, later AF-18), 1918-1919 and 1943-1946 (DANFS-derived entry; live NHHC URL 404 on 2026-09-20, HyperWar/ibiblio transcription used) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library photo-index page, ship-history narrative (canonical https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/calamares.html returns 404 - link rot, mirror cited)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC Online Library entry (DANFS-based): Calamares, a 7,782 gross-ton refrigerated cargo ship built in 1913 at Belfast, Ireland, was chartered by the Army for WWI service, turned over to the Navy April 1918 and commissioned as USS Calamares (ID-3662) - five voyages to France as troop transport, then Naval Overseas Transportation Service refrigerator ship (three provisions voyages), then five voyages returning more than 10,000 troops; decommissioned September 1919 and returned to United Fruit. Reacquired December 1941, converted to a storeship, commissioned April 1943 as AF-18; first WWII trip West Coast to South Pacific and back April-August 1943; U.S.-Hawaii operations; returned to the South Pacific November 1943 and operated there and in the western Pacific for the rest of the war; supported Far East occupation into 1946; decommissioned April 1946 on the U.S. East Coast and turned over to the Maritime Commission; sold for scrapping December 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1913-1947
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked staff, both commissioned periods; Army/Navy passengers carried WWI
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, both commissioned periods, operating theaters, and custody timeline. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information - supports no asbestos claim. Wikipedia's DANFS-derived article adds voyage detail (Noumea 13 May-11 Jun 1943; Funafuti/Noumea Nov 1943; ComServFor 7th Fleet Sydney from 1944-01-01; New Guinea/Philippines logistics to Jun 1945; Norfolk arrival 1946-04-01) consistent with this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-01
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[2]Shipscribe.com (Stephen S. Roberts), USS Pastores (AF-16) class page - class notes and ship notes compiled from official U.S. Navy/Maritime Commission records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class: PASTORES (AF-16) page - class data block, construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship notes for AF-18
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe Pastores (AF-16) class compilation documents the WWII acquisition chain and both Navy conversions: Navy negotiated indefinite time chartering of Pastores, Calamares, Talamanca and Antigua with the Maritime Commission/WSA in December 1941 (hull numbers AF-15 through AF-18 and names assigned 1941-12-27); Calamares was taken over under time charter 1941-12-12 and given a 30-day limited conversion by Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock (Todd), Hoboken, N.J., Dec 1941-Jan 1942, then operated as a 'U.S. Naval Store Ship' under WSA allocation with a United Fruit crew; VCNO directed full acquisition 1943-02-17; bareboat-chartered by the Navy March 1943; second conversion by United Engineering Co., Alameda, Cal., April 1943 added crew berthing and 8-20mm guns; commissioned 1943-04-10. Class data: complement 247 (1944); Workman, Clark vertical quadruple-expansion machinery, 2 screws, 6,500 hp. Disposition: decommissioned 1946-04-25, stricken 1946-05-08, to NDRF 1946-05-06, Maritime Administration sale 1947-09-17, delivered to buyer 1947-12-02, scrapped by 1949-04-27.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1941-1949
- Population
- Conversion yard workers (Hoboken Dec 1941-Jan 1942; Alameda Apr 1943); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation transcribing official records - the most detailed public source for the conversion sequence, but not itself an original document; cited values should be re-verified against NARA BuShips/MSC contract files before any litigation-grade use. Contains no asbestos information; the documented conversion events are history facts, not materials evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-02
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[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CALAMARES (ID-3662/AF-18), Ship History Detail 651, incl. digitized NDRF vessel status card (651_1218AF/AB) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 651 - characteristics block, milestones (Disposition/Withdrawal 12/2/1947), status card scans 651_1218AF.jpg front and 651_1218AB.jpg back
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory database record (Detail 651) and digitized NDRF vessel status card: CALAMARES (ID-3662/AF-18), U.S. Official No. 212654, built 1913 by Workman, Clark and Company Limited; Naval Auxiliary / AF Store Ship; 7,622 gross / 4,025 net tons; entered the James River Reserve Fleet 1946-05-06 with estimated repairs at entry of $65,000 / 12 days; termination port of last voyage Baltimore; ships papers PD-X 379 dated 1947-09-25; scrap award to Patapsco Scrap Corp. 1947-09-17; withdrawn from fleet 1947-12-02, delivered to agent for purchaser. Card reverse notes 'Condition Report in File' and 'See covers re removal of equipment in vessel file.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1946-1949
- Population
- NDRF James River lay-up and inspection personnel (1946-1947); Patapsco Scrap Corp. demolition crews (1947-1949)
- Limitations
- Authoritative custody document for the NDRF period. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey content; the noted condition report exists in the vessel file but is not digitized (see archival-lead row). Handwritten card partially legible.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-03
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[4]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS Calamares (AF-18) ex USS Calamares (ID-3662), page 0618 (compiled from official photo and specification sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 09/06/0618 - chronology, specification block, commanding-officer table, Mare Island photo captions (Navy Yard Mare Island #s 2517-43, 2518-43, 2520-43, 7710-43, 7785-43, 7786-43, 7789-43)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource service-ship archive page documents: Pastores-class stores ship; radio call sign NEVX; awards (WWI Victory Medal with Armed Guard and Transport clasps; American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, WWII Victory medals; Navy Occupation Service Medal per DANFS-derived listing); specifications - displacement 13,750 t. (fl), 486'6" x 55' x 27'4", 14 kts trial, complement 22 officers / 225 enlisted, cargo 3,660 DWT incl. 172,108 cu ft refrigerated, armament 1x5"/38 DP + 4x3"/50 DP + 8x20mm, NSFO 11,300 bbls, two Workman & Clark 3,250-ihp vertical quadruple-expansion engines with four Scotch boilers (3 single-ended + 1 double-ended, 215 psi sat.), twin screws 6,500 shp; Mare Island Navy Yard photo documentation of the ship at Alameda and off San Francisco in April and November 1943; commanding officers LCDR D. R. Phoebus (1943-04-10), LCDR L. F. Kengle (1944-08-18), LCDR A. R. Myers (1944-11-18).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive quoting official photo numbers and specifications - authoritative for the items it documents but a compilation, not an original record. Its 'sold for scrapping 2 December 1946' line is a year-error corrected against the MARAD status card (see correction row). No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-04
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[5]MARAD NDRF status card (award 1947-09-17; withdrawal 1947-12-02) vs NavSource page text (1946) vs shipscribe disposition table vs NHHC narrative (Dec 1947) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Status card front fields 20-22; NavSource chronology block; shipscribe AF-16 page disposition table and ship notes; NHHC Online Library narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved: (a) Scrapping date - NavSource states 'sold for scrapping, 2 December 1946,' but the MARAD NDRF status card records scrap award to Patapsco Scrap Corp. 1947-09-17 and withdrawal from fleet 1947-12-02 (delivery to purchaser's agent), matching shipscribe's MA-sale 1947-09-17 / to-buyer 1947-12-02 / scrapped by 1949-04-27 and NHHC's 'December 1947.' The NavSource year is a transcription slip; December 1947 delivery adopted. (b) Launch date - shipscribe gives 1913-09-13; Wikipedia's infobox gives 1913-09-02; shipscribe adopted pending primary confirmation. (c) 'Reacquired 12 December 1941' (NavSource, echoed by DANFS-derived text) refers to the WSA time charter takeover; Navy bareboat acquisition followed in March 1943 - charter-vs-acquisition sequence preserved, not merged.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1946-1949
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level date conflicts in favor of the primary custody document (status card) and the specialist compilation; the launch-date variant remains an open minor discrepancy. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-05
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[6]Documented conversion events per shipscribe AF-16 class page; era asbestos practice per Corn & Starr, AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe class notes (conversion paragraphs); Corn & Starr abstract/article
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: this hull is a 1913 steam auxiliary (four Scotch boilers feeding vertical quadruple-expansion engines) that underwent two documented wartime Navy conversions - Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock, Hoboken, Dec 1941-Jan 1942 and United Engineering Co., Alameda, Apr 1943 - during the documented peak of asbestos use in U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair. Steam machinery and piping of her vintage were era-typical carriers of asbestos-containing boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and insulation felts, and conversion work characteristically disturbed and added such materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Conversion-yard trades (Hoboken 1941-42; Alameda 1943); engine-room and deck crew 1941-1946
- Limitations
- Era- and event-level inference, not a hull record: no surveyed materials list, work package, or insulation specification for this ship was located. The 1913 original construction predates the heaviest asbestos era, but her 1941-43 yard periods fall squarely within it. Does not establish quantity, locations, present-day status (hull scrapped by 1949), individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-06
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[7]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 program and era under which this hull's two Navy conversions and her 1943-1946 commissioned service occurred - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant-type hulls.
- 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 WWII shipbuilding asbestos use generally; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was installed, disturbed, or removed aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-07
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[8]CourtListener API v4 searches, 2026-09-20: opinions q="USS Calamares" (0); q="Calamares" (5, all collisions); q="AF-18" (9, all collisions); dockets q="Calamares" (4, all non-ship) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-calamares-af18-05 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this vessel was located. CourtListener opinion search '"USS Calamares"' returned 0 hits; '"Calamares"' returned 5 opinions, all name collisions - 'calamares' is Spanish for squid and every hit concerns seafood trade/consumer matters or unrelated parties (e.g., Pacific Mutual Sales Co. v. United States, Cust. Ct. 1956, a squid-import customs case; Puerto Rico Supreme Court matters); '"AF-18"' returned 9 opinions, all collisions on form/exhibit/item numbers (e.g., Matthew v. Commissioner, T.C. 1962); RECAP docket search 'Calamares' returned 4 dockets, none involving the ship (criminal, cruise-line, bankruptcy, and contract matters).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Negative result within the repositories searched: absence of a located docket does not prove no claim was ever filed - older district-court and state filings are incompletely digitized, and merchant-era claims would run under operator (United Fruit / WSA) names. The ship was scrapped by 1949, decades before the asbestos-litigation era; no successor or premises posture is suggested by this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-08
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[9]Batch-517 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (via HyperWar mirror); NavSource 09/06/0618; shipscribe AF-16 class page; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 651 + status cards; CourtListener opinion/RECAP searches; general web search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-calamares-af18-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, materials specification, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming this hull was found in the public sources searched - the NHHC/DANFS record, NavSource archive, shipscribe class compilation, MARAD ShipHistory entry and digitized NDRF status card, and general web search for 'USS Calamares' + asbestos all contain no asbestos or insulation-material statement for this vessel (see search_ledger).
- 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 - two documented wartime conversions and a 1913 steam plant are era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The hull was scrapped by 1949, so no present-day condition question exists. This finding does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-09
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[10]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (deck logs), RG 19 (BuShips), RG 248 (WSA); MARAD status-card annotation 'Condition Report in File' [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 24/19/248 record-group guidance; status card back (651_1218AB.jpg)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) MARAD vessel file for Calamares - the status card notes 'Condition Report in File' and equipment-removal correspondence 'in vessel file,' i.e., a real lay-up condition report exists but is not among the digitized scans; (b) NARA RG 24 deck logs for AF-18's commissioned period (1943-1946) and ID-3662's WWI period; (c) NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 248 (War Shipping Administration) contract/conversion records for the Tietjen & Lang (Dec 1941-Jan 1942) and United Engineering Co. (Apr 1943) conversions - the likeliest repositories of any materials/work-package detail; (d) United Fruit Co. interwar refit records (incl. the documented 1937 superstructure cut-down) are not in federal custody and would require corporate-archive research.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1913-1949 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and file-location mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calamares-af18-10