Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]NavSource Online Submarine Photo Archive (SSN-721) + navysite.de ship page (secondary compilations); COMSUBPAC official 'About USS Chicago' page (csp.navy.mil/chicago/About) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/08/08721.htm; navysite.de/ssn/ssn721.htm; csp.navy.mil/chicago/About
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (compilations + official COMSUBPAC name page): ordered 13 August 1981; contract to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; keel laid 5 January 1983 (Wikipedia + navysite; NavSource index gives 1 May 1983 with keel-cachet photo - conflict carried in gaps); launched 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, wife of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Melvyn R. Paisley; commissioned 27 September 1986 at Norfolk (Wikipedia + navysite + NavSource CO table CDR Robert Butner Avery first date in commission 27.09.1986; NavSource index's 27 October is the outlier) - the fourth USN ship named for Chicago, the Navy's 34th Los Angeles-class unit per the official COMSUBPAC page. Pacific Fleet service; early extended deployment from 24 March 1989; during Operation Desert Storm transited toward the Middle East entering the Red Sea 3 February 1991 armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles to support coalition operations (navysite); post-war SRA 1991; 1995 Persian Gulf deployment with the USS Independence (CV-62) battle group; homeported Pearl Harbor, later forward-deployed Guam (Submarine Squadron 15); May 2014 Subic Bay fleet maintenance availability alongside USS Emory S. Land (AS-39); arrived Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 17 January 2023 for inactivation.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1981-2023
- Limitations
- Mostly secondary compilations (navysite, NavSource, uscarriers, Wikipedia) plus one official squadron page (COMSUBPAC About page confirms name ordinal, class number, sponsor) - no live NHHC DANFS page or transcription exists for this hull. Keel-date and commissioning-date conflicts carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chicago-ssn721-01
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[2]navysite disposition table (inactivated 2023-01-24; decommissioned 2024-12-20; ceremony 21 July 2023 Keyport); Wikipedia compilation (decommissioned 21 July 2023); NAVSEA PSNSY inactivation-evaluation document located in search results (navsea.navy.mil - site blocks automated fetch) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- navysite.de/ssn/ssn721.htm disposition block; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Chicago_(SSN-721); navsea.navy.mil (blocked)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposition for this hull: arrived Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 17 January 2023 for inactivation; inactivated 24 January 2023; decommissioning ceremony held at the Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, on 21 July 2023; officially decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list 20 December 2024 per navysite - consistent with the nuclear-submarine pattern of ceremony preceding administrative decommission/strike after defueling. A NAVSEA inactivation-evaluation document naming this hull appears in search results but the navsea.navy.mil host blocks automated retrieval - logged, not cited as verified content.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2023-2024
- Population
- Crew; PSNSY inactivation trades
- Limitations
- Disposition dates rest on navysite's table plus Wikipedia compilation - no NVR detail reachable (generic shell; Wayback unavailable during session). Wikipedia's 'decommissioned 21 July 2023' conflates the ceremony with the administrative act; navysite's 2024-12-20 is adopted as the official decommission/strike date with the conflict logged. NAVSEA document located but not retrievable (host blocks fetch). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chicago-ssn721-02
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[3]Era inference built on: NavSource/navysite spec blocks (S6G plant, steam turbines, single shaft ~35,000 shp); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for newport-news-shipbuilding, pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard, and puget-sound-naval-shipyard (thermal insulation, submarine steam/propulsion lagging, gaskets, packing, block insulation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource/navysite spec blocks; shipyards.json product lists for newport-news-shipbuilding, pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard, puget-sound-naval-shipyard
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A first-flight Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine built 1983-1986 at Newport News Shipbuilding and maintained through Navy-yard availabilities (PHNSY homeport maintenance; PSNSY inactivation 2023-24) sits at the tail of the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications on the secondary steam plant and auxiliary systems included thermal/pipe insulation, gaskets, packing, and machinery insulation. The building and maintenance yards' asbestos product use in this period is independently documented at the yard level.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1983-2024
- Population
- Newport News Shipbuilding construction trades (1983-86); PHNSY/Guam maintenance trades; crew (1986-2023); SRP workers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey or material list located for SSN-721. Names era-standard applications on non-nuclear secondary/auxiliary systems, not confirmed installed materials; the reactor plant establishes nothing. Hull construction postdates the early-1970s start of Navy insulation substitution; residual-era ACM and maintenance-era disturbance remain inference. No quantity; SRP-era material disposition undocumented per-hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chicago-ssn721-03
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[4]Kase v. Metalclad Insulation Corp., Cal. Ct. App. (4th Dist.) 2021 (CourtListener opinions 4324658, 4332654) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion, specification-history discussion (SUBSAFE/MIL-I-24244)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A docketed asbestos personal-injury opinion recounts that after USS Thresher's 1963 loss the Navy created the SUBSAFE program, which issued procurement specification MIL-I-24244 covering asbestos-containing insulation for submarines - court-documented evidence that asbestos-containing insulation was specified in the submarine-construction regime in force when this hull was built (keel 1983).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2021 (opinion); regime described 1963-forward
- Population
- Navy submarine construction/maintenance trades, SUBSAFE era
- Limitations
- Documents the era procurement-spec regime, not this hull's installed materials; the case concerns a different claimant aboard different vessels. Does not establish exposure, causation, quantity, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chicago-ssn721-04
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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 this hull's construction period (1983-1986) within the transition era and most service-era insulation events.
- 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-chicago-ssn721-05
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[6]Batch-46 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror sweep; navysite + NavSource compilations; COMSUBPAC official page; NVR; NAVSEA (blocked); verified RECAP exhibit PDFs (Cooks, Halseth, Cronin, Guthrie, Davis) grepped for name AND hull number; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows on this record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated exposure case naming this hull was found. This hull does not appear in any of the five verified RECAP complaint-exhibit work histories checked (Cooks, Halseth, Cronin, Guthrie, Davis) - 'Chicago' hits are street/city collisions only. CourtListener direct searches (exact name + hull number, opinions and RECAP) could not be run this session - API returned HTTP 429 '125/day' and site search CloudFront 403 - logged as blocked, not 'no result'.
- 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. Hull in the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program; per-hull hazmat handling records, if any exist, are not public. 'Chicago' is a high-collision name (city, street addresses, earlier cruisers CA-14/CA-29/CG-11) - hits were checked for hull-number corroboration. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chicago-ssn721-06