Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, 'Chikaskia' entry (NHHC; live page returned 404 on fetch 2026-09-24 - Wayback capture 2025-12-09 used) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Chikaskia' entry, full text (Wayback capture 2025-12-09 of live NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official ship history: launched 2 Oct 1942 by Bethlehem-Sparrows Point under Maritime Commission contract; acquired 10 Jan 1943; commissioned 10 Nov 1943. WWII Pacific service with the fast-carrier logistics force (Marshalls, Palaus - simultaneous fueling of Iowa and New Jersey 23 Sep 1944, Leyte/Luzon typhoon 18 Dec 1944, Iwo Jima, Okinawa), San Pedro overhaul May 1945, Tokyo Bay Sep 1945, Sasebo station tanker to Mar 1946, Operation Crossroads at Bikini. NTS 1947; MSTS 1949; Service Force Pacific Feb 1953; Korean War fueling May-Jul 1953. Reserve 1955; recommissioned 1956 and 1960. Six battle stars WWII, one Korea.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1960
- Population
- Crew complement ~298 (DANFS spec block); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Establishes identity and service history only - DANFS contains no asbestos, insulation, or material content. Entry ends at the 1960 recommissioning; the 1969 decommissioning is not in this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-01
-
[2]MARAD Vessel History: CHIKASKIA (AO-54) - Form MA-199 Vessel Status Card; Forms MA-383 Reserve Fleet Ship Particulars (Beaumont 1957, James River 1970); Form MA-20 Record of Ship Sales (Contract MA-10882) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/946 - Status Cards tab (947_1717AF.jpg, 947_1717BF.jpg, 946_AF.jpg, e79c8fbe PNG); Documents tab CHIKASKIA.pdf
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Primary custody record: delivered to Navy Dept. at Sparrows Point 11-10-43 (purchase; MC hull 720, builder hull 4400, gross 11,316, DWT 18,354). To Reserve Fleet Beaumont TX 12-9-57 (custody); MARAD title 12-10-58; returned to Navy 8-12-60. Navy to MARAD custody, James River NDRF, 9-4-70; title 7-1-72; withdrawn by Navy 1-29-81 'to be stripped.' Sold under Trade-In Exchange Contract MA-10882 dated 5-26-82 to Keystone Shipping Co. (with 5 other vessels, against Chancellorsville); immediately resold to C.W. Enterprises & Investment Inc. (California) with resale rights to shipbreakers in Brownsville TX, Spain, or Taiwan for scrapping within 24 months; delivered to Eastern Overseas Inc. 6-4-82; 'ship scrapped as of 1/31/83'; bond released 2/15/84.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1984
- Population
- NDRF caretakers (Beaumont 1957-60; James River 1970-81); Navy stripping crew 1981; shipbreaking workers 1982-83
- Limitations
- Documents custody and disposal chain only - the cards record no asbestos, hazmat, or survey content. 'To be stripped' (1-29-81) describes pre-disposal equipment removal, not an abatement event. Scrapped location not specified. MA-20 'year built June 1944' conflicts with the MA-199 (built/delivered 1943) and all other records - a card clerical error. MARAD web milestone table shows 'Disposition/Withdrawal 1-29-1976'; the underlying card reads 1-29-81 - the card controls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-02
-
[3]MARAD Vessel History photo series (U.S. Navy photos): antenna-configuration sets dated Mare Island Naval Shipyard 4 Nov 1952; New York Navy Yard 21 Jan 1955; Mare Island Naval Shipyard 12 Dec 1956 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/946 - Ship Imagery tab (Chikaskia_946_001 through _011)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Navy photographs in the MARAD vessel file document the hull physically present at Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Nov 1952 and Dec 1956 - the latter matching her 12 Dec 1956 recommissioning) and at New York Navy Yard (Jan 1955), corroborating documented yard availabilities/periods.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1952-1956
- Population
- Yard workers, Mare Island (1952, 1956) and New York Navy Yard (1955)
- Limitations
- Photographs establish presence at the yards on the dates shown; they do not describe the scope of work performed, and they contain no asbestos or material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-03
-
[4]Thomas Wildenberg, Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995 (Naval Institute Press, 1996), ch. 15 and Appendix D (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- GSBO ch. 15 'The Ashtabula Class AO-51 through AO-64'; Appendix D fleet-oiler table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documents the construction program: on 22 March 1942 the Maritime Commission awarded Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point yard a contract for fourteen Cimarron-type tankers (the Ashtabula class, AO-51 through AO-64, funded under the Maximum War Effort Building Program); BuShips arranged for the ships to be converted to fleet oilers while under construction, with fitting out at Norfolk Navy Yard. Appendix D lists AO-54 Chikaskia, Bethlehem Sparrows Point, 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Bethlehem Sparrows Point construction trades, 1942-43
- Limitations
- Establishes design provenance and construction context for the class; contains no insulation or asbestos material schedule. Appendix D shows commissioning '7-Nov-43' - conflicts with DANFS/MARAD 10 Nov 1943 (DANFS controls).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-04
-
[5]Era/design inference consolidated from: NavSource AO-54 spec block (4 Foster-Wheeler K-type boilers 450psi/730F; 2 Bethlehem geared turbines; Falk double-reduction gears - page unreachable 2026-09-24, content via search index) + MARAD type data (T3-S2-A1) + HyperWar (T3-S2-A3) + GSBO class construction context [other_primary]
- Locator
- consolidated era inference - see search_ledger sl-uss-chikaskia-ao54-04, -11, -12
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference only: a steam-turbine Maritime Commission tanker built 1942-43, converted to Navy fleet-oiler fit while under construction. Steam plants of this era and type commonly carried asbestos in boiler and steam-line lagging, turbine insulation, valve/flange gaskets, and machinery packing; wartime merchant-design construction used asbestos in accommodation and fireproofing applications as well. No hull-specific material schedule or survey was located.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1983
- Population
- Engine-room and machinery crew (era inference); construction trades
- Limitations
- Class/era inference, not a hull record - no source located names Chikaskia's insulation or states asbestos content. The steam plant spec is sourced to NavSource via search-index snippet (direct fetch blocked). Does not establish quantity, location, present-day relevance (ship scrapped 1983), or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-05
-
[6]Logbook of the U.S.S. Chikaskia (AO-54), reunion compilation (1985), Dean Mawdsley WWII Collection, J. Porter Shaw Library, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park - contains the Division of Naval History, Ships' Histories Section official history and crew accounts [museum_official]
- Locator
- archive.org item LogbookUSSChikaskia (safr_LogbookUSSChikaskia_119650_access_djvu.txt full text searched for 'asbestos'/'insulat' - zero hits)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum-archive volume includes the official DNH history (construction at Bethlehem Sparrows Point 1943; 86,050 wartime miles; ~480 ships fueled at sea; Crossroads substitution for Cacapon; sold June 1982 to Eastern Overseas per Ship's Historical Branch, Naval Historical Center) and first-person crew accounts of the Bikini fuel-preparation work. The full text contains no mention of asbestos or insulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1985
- Population
- WWII crew (memoir content)
- Limitations
- Reunion compilation reproducing official and crew material; absence of asbestos references in a memoir/history volume is not evidence about shipboard materials - it simply documents that no asbestos content was recorded here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-06
-
[7]Batch-1901 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; MARAD vesselhistory (cards + sales record + photos); SF Maritime NHP reunion logbook; CourtListener opinion and docket sweeps (vessel name and hull number); VA BVA decision index; NVR; NARA catalog; NavSource (blocked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-chikaskia-ao54-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, insulation specification, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming Chikaskia was found. CourtListener: 'Chikaskia' opinions returned 10 hits - all name collisions on the Chikaskia River (Kansas/Oklahoma municipal and state cases); 'Chikaskia' dockets returned 1 hit (Chikaskia, Inc. Nevada bankruptcy 2001 - unrelated corporation); 'AO-54' opinions returned 2 unrelated hits. VA BVA index search produced no decision naming the vessel.
- 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 - a 1942-43 steam tanker scrapped in 1982-83 predates routine public hazmat documentation. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chikaskia-ao54-07