USS Catskill (LSV-1)

Evidence

15 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-15).

1. [1]research packet 845-packet.md (4 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-catskill-lsv1-pkt-845-packet-md

2. [2]NHHC DANFS, 'Catskill II (AP-106)' entry [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Catskill II (AP-106) DANFS entry - spec block and narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS (Catskill II entry) records: the second Catskill (AP-106) was reclassified to CM-6 on 1 May 1943, to LSV-1 on 21 April 1944, and to MCS-1 on 18 October 1956; she was launched 19 May 1942 by Willamette Iron and Steel Corp., Portland, Oregon, sponsored by Mrs. J. G. McPherson; and commissioned 30 June 1944, Captain R. W. Chambers, USNR, in command. WWII service: departed San Diego 12 August 1944 via Hawaii/Eniwetok for Manus; Leyte assault (anchored off Dulag 20 October 1944, retired 22 October); Morotai loading under near-continuous air raids 5-10 November; convoy air attack 13 November (gunners aided in splashing one Japanese aircraft); Lingayen Gulf landings 9 January 1945; Okinawa assault of 1 April 1945 landing units of the 6th Marines; occupation lift to Wakayama Bay 25 September 1945; three troop-repatriation voyages; arrived San Diego 10 February 1946 and was placed out of commission in reserve 30 August 1946. Three battle stars. Spec block: dp. 5,875; l. 455'5"; b. 60'2"; dr. 20'; s. 20 k.; cpl. 664; a. 2 5"; cl. Terror.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1942-1946

   Population

   Ship's company 1944-46 (cpl. 664 per spec block); embarked troops

   Limitations

   Live-verified via firecrawl 2026-10-03 (direct curl returns 404 - NHHC bot-gates curl; firecrawl fetch is the verification of record). DANFS coverage ends at the 1946 layup - the MCS-1 recommissioning era (1967-70) is not covered by this entry; laid-down date not stated; 'cl. Terror' is the design-lineage class notation, not the commissioned class designation. No asbestos, materials, or exposure content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-01

3. [3]NavSource Naval History, Amphibious Photo Archive - USS Catskill (MCS-1) ex USS Catskill (LSV-1) page 10/17/1701 [other_primary]

   Locator

   Page timeline block, campaign tables, and specifications block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive (10/17/1701) timeline: laid down 12 July 1941 as Catskill AP-106 under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 106) at Willamette Iron and Steel Corp., Portland; launched 19 May 1942; reclassified CM-6 1 May 1943 and LSV-1 21 April 1944; commissioned 30 June 1944, CAPT. Raymond W. Chambers USNR; WWII Asiatic-Pacific campaigns Leyte, Luzon (Lingayen), Okinawa Gunto; decommissioned 30 August 1946 at San Diego, Pacific Reserve Fleet; reclassified MCS-1 18 October 1956; struck from the Naval Register 1 July 1961; reinstated 1 June 1964; converted to Mine Countermeasures Support Ship at Boland Machine Mfg. Co., New Orleans, 25 June 1964 to 8 September 1967; recommissioned 6 October 1967 at Long Beach, CDR Earle L. West USN; forward deployed, homeported NavFac Sasebo; five Vietnam campaign stars (Tet 69/Counteroffensive; Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969; Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase VII); decommissioned and struck 1 December 1970 at Naval Shipyard Long Beach; entered NDRF Suisun Bay for disposal; sold 19 November 1973 to Tia Kien Industry Ltd. for $934,400 after a withdrawn Levin Metals bid; scrapping completed 1974. Specifications: 5,875 t light / 9,040 t full; 455'5" x 60'2" x 20'; 20 kts; 4 Combustion Engineering 2-drum boilers, 2 GE geared turbines, 2 screws, 11,000 shp; LSV armament four single 5"/38 DP mounts, four twin 40 mm, twenty single 20 mm; complement 400+, troop accommodations 868; boats 31 DUKWs plus LCVPs (LSV) / twenty 36' MSLs and 2 helicopters (MCS).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1941-1974

   Population

   Ship's company and embarked troops 1944-46; recommissioned crew 1967-70

   Limitations

   Volunteer-compiled secondary archive - the house-standard secondary source for designation/disposal timelines; navsource.net verified live via firecrawl 2026-10-03 (direct curl blocked, HTTP 406). Three details conflict with primary records and are carried in gaps: NDRF entry printed '7 January 1971' vs MARAD card 7-1-71 (1 July 1971); 'scrapping completed in 1974' vs MARAD-documented withdrawal 21 December 1973; buyer spelled 'Tia Kein' vs MARAD cards 'Tai Kien'/'Tia Kien'. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-02

4. [4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CATSKILL (MCS-1/LSV-1/CM-6), Ship History Detail 845, with digitized status cards (MA-383, MA-20) and status-card PDF [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 845 milestone table; card images /cards/845_AF.jpg, /cards/845_AB.jpg, /cards/845_1515AF.jpg, /cards/845_1515BF.jpg (image inspection + pdftotext OCR)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory Detail 845 (CATSKILL (MCS-1/LSV-1/CM-6)) plus digitized status cards (MA-383 Reserve Fleet Ship Particulars x2; MA-20 Record of Ship Sales) document custody and disposal: entered Suisun Bay fleet 24 August 1960 at 1200 PDST under temporary Navy-reimbursable custody; MARAD title 1 October 1962; Navy letter 23 October 1963 (MARAD reply 29 October 1963) proposed conversion 'to ship suitable for control, repair and support of mine warfare type ships and boats'; permanently transferred to U.S. Navy 11 May 1964 at 1030 PDST; re-entered Suisun fleet 1 July 1971 at 1220 PDT; sold for scrap under PD-X-934 on 19 May 1972 to Levin Metals Corp. for $203,586 - bid withdrawn, sale cancelled 6 December 1972 under Comptroller General Ruling B-176111 of 7 November 1972; advertised under PD-X-960, bid rejected 26 June 1973; sold for scrap under PD-X-965 on 19 November 1973 to Tia Kien Industry Co., Ltd. for $934,400 under 'Dismantle Hull Foreign' condition; withdrawn 21 December 1973 at 1300 PST. Cards describe the type as 'combination cargo and roll/on, roll/off ship' and the acquisition note reads 'Built by Willamett Iron and Steel Co., Portland, Oregon' (card spelling).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1960-1973

   Limitations

   Authoritative for government custody milestones and sale terms; handwritten/typed card entries partially legible (read from card images directly). Cards disagree among themselves: year built 1942 (MA-20) vs 1944 (MA-383 cards and detail page); light displacement 5,180 t (first MA-383) vs 'Light Load-5978' (MA-20) vs 5,875 t (DANFS/NavSource). 'Willamett' and 'Tai/Tia Kien' spellings are the cards' own. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information - supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-03

5. [5]NHHC photographic catalog - NH 92273; USN 1139831; NH 64822-KN [other_primary]

   Locator

   NH 92273 catalog page; https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/USN-1139000/USN-1139831.html ; https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-64000/NH-64822-KN.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC photography documents both service eras: NH 92273 'USS CATSKILL (LSV-1),' photographed 1944 or 1945; USN 1139831 'USS CATSKILL (MCS-1),' underway in the Gulf of Tonkin 29 June 1969 with minesweeping launches MSL-22, -23, -27, -28 and -29 aboard; NH 64822-KN records a ship insignia 'adopted in 1967, when the CATSKILL was recommissioned as MCS-1.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1944-1969

   Limitations

   Photographic/catalog documentation only - establishes appearance, dates, and embarked craft; the three catalog pages were live-verified via firecrawl 2026-10-03 (curl bot-gated). No asbestos or materials content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-04

6. [6]Naval Aviation News, June 1967 (U.S. Navy periodical, NHHC-hosted PDF), magazine p. 12 / PDF p. 14 [other_primary]

   Locator

   June 1967 issue, hauldown-system article, magazine p. 12 (PDF page 14 of 44)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Naval Aviation News (June 1967 issue, NHHC-hosted PDF) records that 'the U.S. Navy has purchased one system to be installed on board the USS Catskill (MCS-1), now being completed in New Orleans' - a helicopter hauldown system whose traverse portion was not planned for Catskill - with a Navy evaluation planned 'when the ship is ready for sea later this year.' Official Navy-periodical corroboration of the 1964-67 New Orleans conversion (Boland Machine Mfg. Co. per NavSource).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1967

   Limitations

   Corroborates conversion timing/location only; the hauldown-system detail is incidental to this record. PDF is a 44-page image scan with no text layer - passage recovered by page-level OCR (tesseract); surrounding page layout not fully verified. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-05

7. [7]NHHC DANFS, 'Widgeon II (MSC-208)' and 'Warbler II (MSC-208)' entries [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Warbler II and Widgeon II DANFS entries - 1969/1970 return-transit passages

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS escort-ship entries corroborate the MCS-1 era's end: Widgeon (MSC-208) 'sailed for the United States on 17 August 1969, in company with Catskill (MCS-1), Vireo (MSC-205), and Warbler (MSC-206),' arriving Long Beach one month later (Widgeon decommissioned 1 October 1969); Warbler departed Sasebo 17 August and 'reached the west coast of the United States on 17 September in company with Catskill (MCS-1), Vireo (MSC-205), and Widgeon (MSC-208),' Warbler decommissioning 1 October 1970. The entries are internally consistent in each escort's own timeline but describe Catskill in a Sasebo-to-Long-Beach convoy in both years - either two transits (1969 and 1970) or a DANFS year conflict.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1969-1970

   Limitations

   Ambiguity inside DANFS itself: the entries may record two separate Catskill transits (1969 and 1970) or one transit with a year error. The 1970 transit is consistent with Catskill's documented Vietnam campaigns through 1 July 1970 and her 1 December 1970 decommissioning; a 1969 transit would require an unrecorded return to WestPac. Carried in gaps, not resolved upward. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-06

8. [8]Office of the Illinois Attorney General / Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Benefits for Illinois Veterans manual (VA brown-water ships list section) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Navy/Coast Guard ships associated with service in Vietnam - inland waterways list; Catskill line in the LSD/MSC section

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The Illinois Attorney General Military & Veterans Rights Bureau / Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs 'Benefits for Illinois Veterans' manual (published August 2026; originally December 2003) reproduces the VA list of ships qualifying for herbicide (Agent Orange) presumption and records: 'USS Catskill (MCS/MSC-1) [Minesweeper-Coastal] entered Saigon River on March 18, 1970' - a ship-specific Vietnam inland-waterway service entry.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1970 (entry date); list reproduced 2026

   Population

   Recommissioned crew 1967-70 (Vietnam service)

   Limitations

   Documents inland-waterway service for HERBICIDE (Agent Orange) presumption, not asbestos - this record makes no asbestos claim from it. The list's 'MCS/MSC-1 [Minesweeper-Coastal]' labeling conflates the MCS designation with coastal-minesweeper nomenclature. State manual republishes a federal VA list; the individual entry was not re-verified against VA's current live list.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-07

9. [9]Hurst v. Boland Machine & Manufacturing Co., No. 98-C-0489 (La. App. 4 Cir. 6/3/98) [court_record]

   Locator

   FindLaw caselaw text of the 1998 Fourth Circuit writ decision

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Hurst v. Boland Machine & Manufacturing Co., No. 98-C-0489 (La. App. 4th Cir., June 3, 1998): an asbestosis damages action by Joseph Hurst, employed as 'laborer/refractory man/boilermaker' at Boland Machine & Manufacturing Co. 1950-1971 (continuing at successor Boland Marine to 1980) - employment spanning this hull's 25 June 1964 to 8 September 1967 conversion at that yard. The Fourth Circuit granted a supervisory writ and AFFIRMED the trial court's denial of summary judgment for executive officer Ruppel and Travelers, holding Hurst could elect a Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act remedy; the decision addresses remedy election and forum, not exposure merits.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1950-1980 employment; suit 1994; opinion 1998

   Population

   Boland Machine/Boland Marine yard employees (ship repair/conversion trades)

   Limitations

   Yard-level litigation only - the opinion does not name Catskill or any vessel and contains no finding about asbestos conditions aboard this hull; classified at procedural stage (summary-judgment writ affirmed for plaintiff on a remedy-election issue), never an exposure determination. The court expressly notes 'no medical evidence as to when Hurst contracted the disease.' Text verified via FindLaw live fetch 2026-10-03 (curl bot-gated); CourtListener cross-check pending (quota-blocked this session).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-08

10. [10]Lineaweaver v. Plant Insulation Co., 31 Cal. App. 4th 1409, 37 Cal. Rptr. 2d 902 (1995) [court_record]

    Locator

    Opinion text - King/Willamette 'fill-in' passages (31 Cal. App. 4th 1414)

    Finding type

    litigation_product_id

    Finding

    Lineaweaver v. Plant Insulation Co., 31 Cal. App. 4th 1409 (1995): published California opinion in an asbestos-supplier personal-injury action recording that Pabco (Fibreboard) insulation products were used as incidental 'fill-in' aboard ships at Willamette Shipyard in the 1960s and 1970s (appellant King worked at 'Willamette Shipyard' 1966-1968) - shipyard-level asbestos product documentation for the yard that built this hull in 1941-44.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    Study period

    1966-1971 fill-in period; opinion 1995

    Population

    Willamette Shipyard workers (1960s-70s repair era)

    Limitations

    Yard-level product identification for a period AFTER this hull's construction (1960s-70s fill-in use vs 1941-44 build) - does not document WWII-era Willamette practice and names no vessel. The opinion affirms judgment AGAINST appellants King and Ward on insufficient-exposure grounds (a merits-level negative for those plaintiffs) and is carried strictly as yard/product context. Verified via Justia live fetch 2026-10-03 (curl bot-gated); an identical finding is already carried in shipyards.json (willamette-iron-steel, ev-willamette-01).

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-09

11. [11]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 government shipbuilding program under which this Maritime Commission-contracted hull (MC hull 106) was built at a commercial yard in 1941-44 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard hulls.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    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 or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. DOI resolves (publisher bot-gates curl, HTTP 403); abstract-level verification.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-10

12. [12]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, confirmed 2026-10-03)

    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 - spanning this hull's construction (1941-44), WWII service, the 1964-67 MCS conversion at Boland Machine, and her 1967-70 recommissioned service.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    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; same standing defect as BATCH-01/BATCH-98.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-11

13. [13]Batch-7543 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS and photo catalog; NavSource; MARAD ShipHistory 845 + status cards; Naval Aviation News Jun 1967; Illinois AG/VA list; FindLaw and Justia yard cases; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-catskill-lsv1-01 through sl-uss-catskill-lsv1-17

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum/government ACM statement, or verified litigation naming USS Catskill (AP-106/CM-6/LSV-1/MCS-1) was found in the public sources searched - DANFS, NHHC photo catalog, MARAD ShipHistory and status cards, Navy periodicals, state/federal veterans' ship lists, and general web sweeps (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated API returned a daily-quota throttle (server-directed wait ~21,694 seconds, ~6 h); logged as blocked in the search ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing listicles (Simmons, Sokolove, ELSM, mesotheliomahelp, freeasbestostesting) asserting asbestos aboard without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    Study period

    2026-10-03

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1941-44 steam auxiliary with a 1964-67 major conversion is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-12

14. [14]NARA record-group mapping (RG 19, RG 24, RG 178) + MARAD disposal-file leads, keyed to photo numbers and contract numbers on the NavSource page and MARAD status cards [other_primary]

    Locator

    NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 19 (Bureau of Ships); RG 24 deck logs; RG 178 USMC; photo numbers transcribed from NavSource captions

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds the construction/fitting-out photographs NavSource reproduces (19-N-61180, 19-N-69091/-69092/-69095, 80-G-K-6446); RG 24 deck logs for WWII (1944-46) and the Vietnam deployment era (1967-70) are held at NARA College Park; RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) may hold the MC hull 106 contract and outfitting specifications; the 1964-67 Boland Machine conversion work packages would sit in BuShips/NAVSEA records; MARAD Suisun Bay disposal files for PD-X-934/-960/-965 document sale terms.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    Study period

    1941-1974 records

    Limitations

    Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-13

15. [15]NHHC DANFS 'Catskill I (Monitor)' entry; NavSource Battleship Photo Index 'USS CATSKILL - Passaic Class Monitor' (archives/01/catskill.htm); MARAD status cards (ev-03); Naval Marine Archive Willamette yard list [other_primary]

    Locator

    DANFS Catskill I entry; https://www.navsource.net/archives/01/catskill.htm ; https://navalmarinearchive.com/sbh/shipyards/small/willamette.html

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Identity/class corrections: (a) This hull is the SECOND USS Catskill - the first was a monitor launched 16 December 1862 by Continental Iron Works, Greenpoint, N.Y., and commissioned 24 February 1863 (DANFS Catskill I; NavSource index labels her 'Passaic Class Monitor'). Passaic-class metadata belongs to the 1862 monitor, not this 1942 Catskill-class LSV - the PRIMARY CM-6 record consolidated by this file is the same physical hull as LSV-1/MCS-1, not an additional hull. (b) Some secondary sources (e.g., Wikipedia) reverse the reclassification direction, claiming she was 'originally designed as a cruiser-minelayer (CM-6)' and 'reclassified to a troop transport AP-106 on 1 May 1943' - DANFS and NavSource both record the opposite: laid down/ordered as AP-106, reclassified TO CM-6 on 1 May 1943 and to LSV-1 on 21 April 1944. (c) The Naval Marine Archive yard list prints 'scrapped 1971' - MARAD status cards control: sale 19 November 1973, withdrawal 21 December 1973.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    Study period

    1862-2026

    Limitations

    Corrects registry-metadata and secondary-source errors against controlling primary sources; Wikipedia and the Naval Marine Archive are flagged as the sources of the errors, not cited as authority for them. No asbestos content.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-catskill-lsv1-14