Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Canisteo' (AO-99) entry; hazegray.org transcription (transcribed 1999-03-17), retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture of hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ao99.htm [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text (entire entry); live history.navy.mil page not located (404 on documented URL patterns - see gaps)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry: Canisteo (AO-99), Cimarron-class oiler (dp. 7,295; l. 553'; dr. 32'4"; s. 18 k.; cpl. 304; a. 1x5", 4x3"), launched 6 July 1945 by Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrows Point, Md., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. J. N. Chambers; commissioned 3 December 1945, Lt. Comdr. E. L. Denton, USNR, in command. Service 1946-1960: cleared Norfolk 4 Feb 1946 for Melville R.I., diesel oil to occupation forces (Bremerhaven, Farge), Caribbean training, Iceland/Greenland, returned New York 27 May 1946; Operation Highjump 27 Nov 1946 - 23 Apr 1947 (Scott and Peter Islands); four 6th Fleet support tours 4 Jun 1947 - 23 Oct 1948 carrying oil Bahrain to Mediterranean; 1948-49 fueling duty Norfolk-Caribbean-Argentia-Grondal; Operation Mainbrace 26 Aug - 11 Oct 1952; Canadian operations 16-20 Sep 1956; Norfolk-based fleet/NATO exercises through 1960.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1945-1960
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction milestones, and service through 1960 (entry ends there). Contains no keel-date, no asbestos or insulation-material statement, and no post-1960 history. Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CANISTEO (AO-99), Ship History Detail 674, milestone table and digitized status cards RS10329 (front/back) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 674 milestone table; status card images /cards/674_RS10329AF.jpg, AB.jpg, BF.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record for CANISTEO (AO-99): year built 1945; shipyard Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding Division; MARAD type T3-S2-A1; AO Oiler; length 644 ft, beam 75 ft; displacement 34,700 tons summer / 10,723 lightweight; fate 'Sold - Scrap.' Custody milestones: Entry 11/5/1990 and Acquisition 11/5/1990 (James River NDRF); Interim Movement 10/6/2003 'Scrap services contract to Able UK'; Withdrawal 9/8/2010. Digitized status card (MA-383, James River Reserve Fleet, entered 11-5-90 1510 EST) and a typed summary card for the '3 OILERS (AO): JUMBOISED T3-S2-A1 TYPE' list Canisteo: launched 6 Jul 1945, commissioned 3 Dec 1945; 34,750 tons full load; 644' oa x 75' x 31.5'; 4 Foster Wheeler boilers; geared turbines 13,500 hp, 2 shafts, 18 knots; complement 300 (13 officers, 287 enlisted); 'All built by Bethlehem Steel Co., Sparrows Point... converted during mid-1960s under jumbo programme... cargo capacity approximately 143,000 barrels plus 175 tons of munitions and 100 tons refrigerated stores.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1945-2010
- Limitations
- Authoritative for MARAD custody milestones and the typed particulars card. Contains no asbestos, hazardous-materials, or condition-survey information. A second photocopied card (BF) transposes the Canisteo/Caloosahatchee launch dates (2-6-45 vs 6-7-45) - card AB and DANFS control (6 Jul 1945). Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-02
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[3]Thomas Wildenberg, Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995 (Naval Institute Press / Naval Historical Center), ch. 22 (HyperWar mirror); Shipscribe.com 'USS Ashtabula (AO 51 Jumbo) Class' and 'Ashtabula (AO-51) class' construction/disposition tables [other_primary]
- Locator
- GSBO ch. 22 jumboization passage; shipscribe.com/usnaux2/AO/AO51j.html construction table row 'CANISTEO'; shipscribe.com/usnaux/AO/AO51.html disposition table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Jumboization documented: under the 'AO Jumbo' limited conversion, SCB Project No. 706.65 (MC T3-S2-A1 conversion), Canisteo was one of three Bethlehem Sparrows Point-built Cimarron-class oilers (with Ashtabula AO-51 and Caloosahatchee AO-98) rebuilt with a new midbody - new ~400-ft midsection welded between original bow and stern, new midship house, cargo capacity increased (NHHC-published program history gives class figure 184,524 barrels plus 175 tons munitions and 100 tons refrigerated stores). Shipscribe construction table (compiled from official records incl. BuShips data): conversion contract awarded 7 Apr 1965 to Bethlehem Steel Co., Key Highway, Baltimore; Canisteo midbody started 3 Jan 1966, ship taken in hand Jan 1967, completed 12 Oct 1968. Decommissioned 2 Oct 1989; struck 31 Aug 1992.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1965-1968 conversion; 1989-1992 retirement
- Population
- Shipyard workers, Bethlehem Steel Key Highway, Baltimore, 1966-1968 (conversion)
- Limitations
- Conversion event and dates are ship-specific. Shipscribe is a careful secondary compilation of official data (not itself a primary document); underlying BuShips photographs exist at NARA (see archival-lead row). No asbestos content in any cited passage - supports identity/history only, no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-03
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[4]Basel Action Network v. Maritime Administration, 285 F. Supp. 2d 58 (D.D.C. Oct. 2, 2003) (Collyer, J.), Civ. A. No. 03-2000(RMC); CourtListener opinion 2577191 [court_record]
- Locator
- TRO opinion, opening factual paragraphs naming Canisteo
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Temporary Restraining Order opinion names this hull: plaintiffs Basel Action Network and Sierra Club sought to enjoin MARAD's export of NDRF non-retention ships to Able UK, 'including the Canisteo and the Caloosahatchee,' described in the opinion as 'built in the mid-1940s and presently in dangerously deteriorating condition,' slated to depart Virginia about 3 Oct 2003. The opinion records plaintiffs' notice that 'MARAD has informed officials in the United Kingdom that the 13 ships contain up to 100 tons of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as significant quantities of asbestos and fuel oil.' The court declined to enjoin the first four ships' export (MARAD had submitted a 'functional equivalent' environmental assessment to Congress for those four) while restraining the remaining nine pending further proceedings.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2003
- Population
- Disposal/tow and future shipbreaking workforce; no occupational population aboard during service addressed
- Limitations
- Interim-relief stage, not a merits adjudication: the TRO names the hull and records the asbestos characterization as plaintiffs' account of MARAD's own statements to UK officials - fleet-level (13 ships), not a per-ship inventory or an adjudicated finding of asbestos content aboard Canisteo. Establishes that the ship was one of the asbestos-containing contract vessels per the court record; does not establish quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-04
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[5]Basel Action Network v. Maritime Administration, 370 F. Supp. 2d 57 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2005) (Collyer, J.), Civ. A. No. 03-2000(RMC); CourtListener opinion 2528779 [court_record]
- Locator
- Memorandum opinion on cross-motions for summary judgment
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Merits-stage disposition of the ghost-fleet export suit: on cross-motions for summary judgment the D.C. district court granted defendants' motion and dismissed the complaint. The opinion addresses NEPA (adequacy of MARAD's 2004 Environmental Assessment for the export program), TSCA (plaintiffs' claims failed for want of the mandatory 60-day pre-suit notice; APA review unavailable where the citizen-suit remedy applies), and Article III standing for the remaining ships. The four already-exported ships - including Canisteo - had completed their tows; the remaining nine never sailed under the contract.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2003-2005
- Limitations
- Disposed on jurisdictional/procedural and NEPA-record grounds - no adjudication of the ships' asbestos or toxics content and no exposure question reached. Ship naming is at the group level in this opinion (the 2003 TRO is the document that names Canisteo expressly).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-05
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[6]R (Gregan & Others) v Hartlepool Borough Council & Able UK Ltd [2003] EWHC 3278 (Admin), CO/5755/2003 (Sullivan J, 18 Dec 2003); the related FOE licence challenge is described within the judgment [court_record]
- Locator
- Judgment paragraphs 4-8 and concluding paragraphs; 'four redundant ships' at TERRC
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- UK High Court judicial review of the disposal site permissions covering the four exported NDRF ships (including Canisteo, then moored at Able UK's TERRC basin, Graythorp): Sullivan J held that the 1997 planning permission for 'dismantling/refurbishment of redundant marine structures & equipment' did not authorize dismantling ships ('in ordinary language, a ship is no more a marine structure than a car is a highway structure'), granted judicial review of the council's contrary view, and recorded that he had quashed the Environment Agency's 30 September 2003 waste-management-licence modification in Friends of the Earth's parallel challenge the previous week - noting 'grave concern' that four redundant ships had crossed the Atlantic without shown planning permission, waste licence, or environmental assessment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2003
- Population
- Hartlepool residents and future dismantling workforce (context)
- Limitations
- Planning/licensing judicial review - the judgment governs the site permissions for the four ships including Canisteo (group membership verified by Environment Agency/press records naming her at Graythorp). It adjudicates procedure, not asbestos content or exposure; no asbestos quantity is adjudicated for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-06
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[7]Hansard, HL Deb 7 October 2003 vol 653 cc145-8 ('Ship Breaking'); HC Deb 3 November 2003 vol 412 cc535-42 ('Decommissioning (American Ships)') [other_primary]
- Locator
- Lords col. 146 (Whitty asbestos statement); Commons cols. 535-536 (Morley statement)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- UK government statements to Parliament on the contract ships (the group including Canisteo): Lord Whitty told the Lords on 7 Oct 2003 that 'the ships contain some toxic waste in relation to asbestos and other materials, although less than 1.5 per cent of their total bulk could be so described,' and that 'imports of asbestos are normally banned, but the HSE grants exemptions, and it did so in this case.' Environment Minister Elliot Morley told the Commons on 3 Nov 2003 that the Environment Agency had consented to the shipment 22 July 2003, that the ships had sailed 6 October, and that 'the vessels... contain only relatively small quantities of hazardous substances, which are common to all ships of that age.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2003
- Population
- Disposal workforce (prospective)
- Limitations
- Official government statements establishing asbestos aboard the contract ships as a group - Canisteo is within the group (one of the four then en route/moored, documented by EA/press records). Statements give no per-ship quantity, location, or material breakdown; the '<1.5% of total bulk' figure is a ministerial characterization, not a hull survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-07
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[8]Northern Echo, 'Testing times as rusting US warships await their fate' (Nov 2004) and 'Ghost ships firm fined £22,000 for breaches' (Nov 2007); MarineLink/Environment Agency statement, 'Dismantling Ban Applies To Second Two MARAD Vessels' (17 Nov 2003); BBC News, 'Toxic fine for ghost ships firm' (13 Nov 2007) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Northern Echo Nov 2004 article (names Canisteo at Graythorp; EA asbestos testing); BBC 13 Nov 2007 (Able UK asbestos fine); MarineLink 17 Nov 2003 (EA storage conditions naming Caloosahatchee and Canisteo)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- UK press records name Canisteo among the four ships held at Able UK's Graythorp dock under Environment Agency storage-only licence conditions - 'no dismantling, cutting or breaking of (the) ships in any way or form' - with EA-required testing/monitoring for mercury, oil, lead, and asbestos to show the ships had not polluted dock and estuary waters; Canisteo described as 'an 11,000-tonne refuelling tanker.' After years of licensing delay, Able UK obtained the necessary permissions in 2008, the Graythorp basin was sealed and drained in 2009, and the four ships were dismantled in place (Canisteo 2010). Separately, in November 2007 Able UK was fined £22,000 at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court after admitting failing to cover or dampen asbestos waste at its Seaton Meadows landfill (two offences under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000) - a site-level asbestos-handling violation during the period the ships awaited dismantling.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2003-2010
- Population
- Disposal workforce; Hartlepool community (context)
- Limitations
- Press reporting of official Environment Agency actions - names the hull and documents the asbestos-monitoring regime around it. The 2007 fine concerned landfill operations at the disposal site, not the ship's contents - included here only as disposal-environment context; it is not evidence about asbestos aboard Canisteo. No per-ship asbestos quantity reported.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-08
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[9]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
- AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and Maritime Commission program under which this 1945 T3-S2-A1 hull was built. Era-typical applications for a twin-screw steam tanker: boiler and steam-line insulation, pipe lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Era/program-level documentation only - does not name this vessel and establishes nothing about what was installed aboard, what survived the 1966-68 midbody replacement, individual exposure, or causation. The ship-specific asbestos documentation for this hull is the disposal-era record (rows 04-08), not this inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-09
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[10]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr 1638102, Docket No. 15 30-911 (remand order, 28 Sep 2016; appeal from Newark NJ RO) [court_record]
- Locator
- BVA remand decision text, Citation Nr 1638102
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Docketed veterans' claim naming the hull: a U.S. Navy veteran who served aboard USS Canisteo (AO-99) April 1972 - April 1973 sought service connection for a respiratory disorder asserted as due to asbestos and herbicide exposure aboard; the decision records his report of daily exposure - 'the pipes above his top-bunk bed were wrapped in asbestos' - and his August 2015 assertion that 'the USS Canisteo was decommissioned due to unacceptable amounts of toxic substances.' The Board of Veterans' Appeals remanded (28 Sep 2016) for due-process development, including a formal finding on toxic substances stored aboard Canisteo; it noted his boatswain's mate specialty carried a 'minimal probability of asbestos exposure' under VA's M21-1 manual while his reported exposure, if verified, would be conceded.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1972-1973 (alleged exposure); 2013-2016 (claim)
- Population
- One boatswain's mate, USS Canisteo, 1972-1973 (alleged exposure)
- Limitations
- Pleading/allegation stage only: the decision verifies that a claim naming this hull was docketed and remanded; the asbestos exposure is the veteran's unadjudicated assertion. The 'decommissioned due to toxic substances' assertion is uncorroborated and inconsistent with the documented record (routine 1989 decommissioning; 2003 disposal-phase contamination issues). No merits finding on exposure was located - remand outcome not found.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-10
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[11]Batch-1947 search ledger (this record): DANFS, MARAD ShipHistory 674 + status cards, Shipscribe class tables, CourtListener API v4 opinion searches, BAILII EWHC 3278, Hansard HL/HC Oct-Nov 2003, UK press [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-canisteo-ao99-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement contract, industrial-hygiene record, or occupational-exposure verdict naming AO-99 was located in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion search for 'Canisteo' (238 hits) returned the ghost-fleet disposal litigation and name collisions only (Village of Canisteo NY, Canisteo Mining Co., an 1891 steam-barge 'The Canisteo' - a different vessel); no asbestos-exposure case naming the ship. CourtListener search for 'Basel Action Network' located both MARAD opinions. Law-firm list pages (levylaw.com, mesobook.com) list Canisteo among Navy ships - excluded as non-authoritative marketing sources.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the disposal-era record (rows 04-08) documents asbestos aboard the contract-ship group including this named hull. What is absent is operational-era documentation (surveys, abatement, exposure adjudications). Does not establish or defeat any individual exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-11
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[12]NARA identifier citations via Shipscribe photo captions (BuShips photo nos. 175959, 178648; RG-19-NN negatives); NARA RG 24 deck-log guidance; MARAD milestone record for contract file reference [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe AO-51 Jumbo photographs page (NAID citations); MARAD ShipHistory 674
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19-N BuShips photographs of the jumboization - NAID 7573831 (Canisteo floating in the new midsection, 8 Jun 1968, Bethlehem Steel Baltimore yards), NAID 7573893 (builder's trials 1968), NAIDs 7573805/7573887 (Chesapeake Bay post-conversion); RG 24 deck logs for Canisteo; the MARAD/Able UK contract file and OECD transfrontier-shipment (TFS) notification for the 2003 export, which likely contain a per-vessel hazardous-materials inventory; UK Environment Agency TERRC site files (monitoring data for the four ships, 2003-2010).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-2010 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and identifier mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed. Existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull (conversion specs, disposal hazmat inventory, monitoring data) is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-canisteo-ao99-12