Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, 'Chinaberry' (YN-82/AN-61) entry, Naval Historical Center / Naval History and Heritage Command (live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-24; verbatim official text verified via Wayback capture 2004-08-20 of the classic DANFS page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Chinaberry entry, full text; canonical classic URL http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c8/chinaberry.htm; NavSource cross-link points to https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chinaberry.html (live 404)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Chinaberry (AN-61): launched 19 July 1943 by Snow Shipyards, Inc., Rockland, Me., as YN-82; reclassified AN-61 and named Chinaberry 20 January 1944; commissioned 12 March 1944, LCDR K. G. Cady, USNR, in command. Sailed from New York 24 June 1944 in convoy to Belfast, arriving 10 July; operated as net tender in European waters, principally off France, until 12 December, when she cleared Plymouth in convoy for Charleston, S.C., arriving 6 February 1945; after overhaul sailed 26 March for Narragansett Bay for experimental net operations and training pre-commissioning crews for net tenders. Sailed from New York 11 May in convoy for the Canal Zone, continuing independently to San Diego, San Francisco, and Pearl Harbor, arriving 28 June. Tended nets at Eniwetok 19 July-5 November 1945; arrived San Pedro 5 December. Decommissioned 26 March 1946 at Mare Island; sold 27 February 1950. Specs: dp. 1,100; l. 194'7"; b. 37'; dr. 13'6"; s. 12 k.; cpl. 56; a. 1 3"; cl. Ailanthus.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1950
- Population
- Crew (complement 56 per DANFS) 1944-1946; Snow Shipyards construction workforce 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Authoritative ship-specific history. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or survey information. Does not give a keel date, a stricken date, the Charleston overhaul yard, or the 1950 buyer. The 1947-48 Netherlands-transfer hold documented in Navy status-card data (Shipscribe) postdates the DANFS volume's coverage and is absent from the entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Chinaberry (AN-61) ex Chinaberry (YN-82) (volunteer archive transcribing official records incl. spec data, CO roster, awards display, launch-photo captions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chinaberry AN-61 archive page: specifications block, commanding officers table, awards ribbon display, christening/launch photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive page for USS Chinaberry (AN-61) ex-YN-82: laid down as YN-82 at Snow Shipyards, Inc., Rockland, ME; launched 19 July 1943; named Chinaberry 20 January 1944; commissioned USS Chinaberry (AN-61) 12 March 1944, LCDR Kenneth G. Cady USNR in command; served in both Europe-Africa-Middle East and Asiatic-Pacific theaters; decommissioned 25 March 1946 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal; sold 27 February 1950, fate unknown. Specifications: displacement 1,400 t. (lim); 194'6" x 37' x 13'6"; 12.3 kts (trial); complement 4 officers + 52 enlisted; largest boom capacity 12 t.; armament one single 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, four twin 20mm AA mounts; propulsion one Busch-Sulzer 539 diesel-electric engine, two diesel-drive 60 kW 120 V DC ship's service generators, diesel fuel capacity 665 bbls, single propeller 2,500 shp. Photo captions: Mrs. Otis M. Mader (wife of LT Otis M. Mader) christening YN-82 at Snow Shipyards 19 July 1943; YN-82 slipping down the ways. CO roster: LCDR Cady 12 Mar 1944-26 Mar 1945; LT James A. Marston USNR 26 Mar 1945-9 Jan 1946; LT Robert G. Partridge USNR 9 Jan-25 Mar 1946. Ribbon display: American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1950
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained archive transcribing official sources - used for the propulsion/specification detail, CO roster, sponsor caption, and awards display, consistent with but not re-verified against Navy primary documents. Contains no asbestos or materials information. Discrepancies vs. DANFS and Shipscribe (decommissioning 25 Mar vs. 26 Mar; displacement 1,400 lim vs. 1,100/1,175-1,460; propulsion 2,500 shp one engine vs. 1,200 HP class figure) logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-02
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[3]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Ailanthus (AN-38) Class' data page (compiled from Navy contract/status-card records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AN-38 class page: class data block, construction table row for AN-61, disposal table row for AN-61, ship note for AN-61, class notes paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts) Ailanthus-class data page, compiled from Navy BuShips/BuC&R and vessel status-card records: class design 'Navy YN-57/AN-38'; displacement 1,175 light / 1,460 lim. tons; 194.5' oa x 37.0' e x 13.5 lim.; original armament 1-3"/50, 2-20mm; complement 43 (1944); speed 12.1 kts; propulsion diesel electric, 1 screw, 1,200 HP. Construction table: AN-61 CHINABERRY ordered 30 Jul 42, builder Snow SY, keel 24 Sep 42, launched 19 Jul 43, commissioned 12 Mar 44. Disposal table: decommissioned 26 Mar 46; stricken 5 Mar 47; delivered to buyer 27 Feb 50 ('Sold'). Ship note: 'Ex YN-82 20 Jan 44. Withdrawn from MC sale program by Navy 14 Oct 47 and held for possible transfer to the Netherlands, hold released Jul 48. Sold by Navy 24 Jan 50, to buyer 27 Feb 50.' Class notes: wood hulls substituted for steel around 10 Apr 42; procurement of YN 77-96 (later AN 58-77 in different order) for the U.S. included in the 1799 Vessels Program 17 Jan 42; YN 77-90 assigned to three yards in July 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1950
- Limitations
- High-quality secondary compilation of official contract/design/status-card data; supplies the keel date (24 Sep 42), stricken date (5 Mar 47), and the 1947-48 Netherlands-transfer hold absent from DANFS/NavSource, and confirms the 26 Mar 46 decommissioning against NavSource's 25 Mar. Complement figure of 43 conflicts with DANFS/NavSource's 56 - logged in gaps. No asbestos or materials content; the wood-hull and diesel-electric facts shape (narrow) the era-inference profile.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-03
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[4]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 era under which this 1942-44 wooden net tender was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization across naval and merchant construction, including gaskets, packing, insulation, and fireproofing on diesel-driven as well as steam-driven hulls. The study also documents the 1943 Navy-Maritime Commission 'Minimum Requirements for Safety and Industrial Health in Contract Shipyards' standards (dust segregation, ventilation, respirators, medical exams) applicable to private yards holding Navy contracts such as Snow Shipyards.
- 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 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 is aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Diesel-electric plant and wood hull remove the boiler/steam-lagging pathway typical of steam auxiliaries; remaining era-typical applications (exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, friction linings) are inference, not ship-proven.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-04
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[5]National Archives and Records Administration, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' guided topic; NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' index [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov asbestos guided topic (RG 19 series list; Navy Filing Manual hull-designation codes); archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online index - Chinaberry/AN-61 not listed
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (record-pathway confirmed; contents unretrieved): (a) NARA's official guided topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' documents that ship-specific asbestos research runs through Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships) correspondence, 1940-1961, filed by hull designation - for this hull, file code AN61, with class correspondence under the namesake's code (AN38 class) and builder correspondence under QM/Snow Shipyards. These series are the likeliest repositories of any ship-specific insulation/materials documentation. (b) WWII-era deck logs for YN-82/AN-61 (Mar 1944-Mar 1946) are not in NARA's digitized Navy deck-log index; if extant they are held at Archives II (RG 24, Entry 118) and would contain yard-period, overhaul, and disposal entries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1950 records; guide current
- Limitations
- Record-existence/pathway finding only. The guide documents where asbestos records would be filed (RG 19 by hull code) - it is not itself evidence that asbestos was aboard this hull. Deck-log non-appearance in the digitized index means unavailability online, not non-existence; physical records were not surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-05
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[6]Batch-1810 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback capture); NavSource AN-61 page; Shipscribe AN-38 class data; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP docket searches (authenticated); NARA digitized deck-log index; NARA asbestos-research guided topic [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-chinaberry-an61-01 through sl-uss-chinaberry-an61-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Chinaberry / AN-61 / YN-82 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener ship-name and hull-number searches returned only name collisions: 39 opinion hits for 'Chinaberry' (the tree species Melia azedarach, Chinaberry street addresses, Chinaberry-named property entities) and 130 docket hits of the same collision classes; 0 opinion hits for 'USS Chinaberry' and for 'Chinaberry asbestos'; 110 opinion and 377 docket hits for 'AN-61' (all exhibit/form/paragraph-number strings); 0 opinion hits for 'YN-82' and 7 docket hits (all non-vessel document/page references). Builder-level litigation is non-qualifying for the hull: the single 'Snow Shipyards' opinion hit (Vesanen v. Pohjola, 140 Me. 216, 36 A.2d 575 (Me. 1944)) is a wartime Maine shipyard matter, not the ship, with no asbestos content indicated.
- 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 1942-44 naval auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing gaskets, exhaust lagging, electrical insulation, and friction products. The hull's ~25-month commissioned life and diesel-electric/wooden-hull design narrow the exposure window but do not eliminate construction-era, overhaul-era (Charleston, 1945), or disposal-era pathways. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-chinaberry-an61-06