Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 513-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: MISMATCH
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-claymore-lsd10-pkt-513-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Highway' (LSD-10), Vol. III (1977) p. 329 - construction, launch as Claymore, sponsor, lend-lease transfer, RN commission, return to U.S. custody, sale (live NHHC page verified 2026-09-30) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Highway' entry, narrative paragraph and spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for this hull (filed under 'Highway', 'A British name retained'; no separate Claymore entry exists): 'LSD-10 was laid down by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., 23 November 1942; launched as Claymore 19 July 1943; sponsored by Mrs. R. M. Challoner, Jr.; transferred to the United Kingdom under lend lease 19 October 1943; and commissioned as HMS Highway the same day. She served in the Royal Navy during the remainder of World War II and was returned to the custody of the U.S. Navy at Norfolk, Va., 23 April 1946. She was sold to Atlas Metals Corp., 17 December 1948.' Spec block: 'LSD-10: dp. 4,490; l. 457'9"; b. 72'7"; dr. 18'; s. 15 k.; cpl. 290; a. 1 3", 12 40mm., 16 20mm.; cl. Ashland.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1948 (entry coverage)
- Population
- NNSD&D construction trades (1942-43); Royal Navy crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Entry ends at the 1948 sale - post-sale merchant career (Antonio Maceo / Abaco Queen) is not covered. DANFS spec block assigns 'cl. Ashland' while secondary sources class her Casa Grande - conflict carried in gaps. Sale date (17 Dec 1948) conflicts with NavSource (19 Mar 1948).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, 'HMS Highway (F-140) ex Claymore (BAPM-2 / LSD-10)' - full milestone timeline, ONI specifications (7 Apr 1944), merchant-service record, and captioned photo record [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/12/1210.htm header block, ONI specifications block, Merchant Service block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: authorized under the Lend-Lease Act as British Mechanized Artillery Transport BAPM-2; reclassified Landing Ship Dock LSD-10 1 July 1942; contract awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. 10 September 1942; laid down 23 November 1942 'as HMS Claymore'; launched 19 July 1943; 'LSD-10 never saw active service in the US Navy'; transferred to the United Kingdom 19 October 1943 under Lend-Lease and commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Highway (F-140); returned to U.S. custody 23 April 1946; struck from the Naval Register 13 December 1946; laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA; sold to Atlas Metal Corp. 19 March 1948 'for operation'. Merchant record: resold to Suwannee Steamship Co., Jacksonville, FL, 4 September 1951, reflagged Honduran; resold by West India Fruit & Steamship Co., renamed SS Antonio Maceo; sold 18 April 1956 to National Container Corp. (subsidiary of Owens-Illinois Glass Corp.) to haul wood pulp Jacksonville-Bahamas; sold 20 November 1956 to TMT Trailer Ferry, renamed SS Abaco Queen; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' Specifications (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence, 7 April 1944): displacement 4,032 light / 7,930 seagoing loaded; length 457'9" o.a.; beam 72'2"; design speed 17 kts; complement 17 officers + 237 enlisted, troop accommodations 22 officers + 218 enlisted; propulsion two Newport News Shipbuilding steam turbines, two Babcock & Wilcox oil-fired D-type boilers (two-drum, single furnace, single uptake, 250 psi), twin propellers 7,400 shp; armament one 3"/50 DP mount + sixteen 20mm (pre-transfer), pom-poms added post-transfer. Photo record documents: Claymore at anchor pre-transfer c. Oct 1943 (All Hands, Dec 1944); HMS Highway at Hampton Roads 3 November 1943 (Library of Virginia / U.S. Army Signal Corps); USN photo no. 87492 released 27 Mar 1944 (censored radar); and SS Antonio Maceo berthing at Port Everglades, FL c. 1953 with stern gate lowered receiving 'fishy-back' freight cars for Havana (State Archives of Florida).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1956+
- Population
- NNSD&D construction trades (1942-43); RN crew (1943-46); NDRF James River caretakers (1946-48); merchant crews (1951-56+); train-ferry conversion workers (dates undocumented)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry. Its pennant 'F-140' conflicts with F141 in uboat.net and the Wikipedia class table (F140 attaches to sister Eastway) - carried in gaps. Its Atlas Metals sale date (19 Mar 1948, 'for operation') conflicts with DANFS (17 Dec 1948); the documented merchant career supports 'operation' over scrapping - see correction row. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships, HMS Highway (F 141) - Casa Grande class dock landing ship page: milestones, commanding-officer list, convoy record, with ADM-series source citations [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/11140.html - warship data block, commands table, 'Notable events' (4 Mar / 9 Mar 1944), sources note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Royal Navy service record for this hull: commissioned 19 October 1943; wartime commanding officers T/Lt. William Andrew Haley, RNR (Oct 1943 - 5 Nov 1943), T/A/Lt.Cdr. Robert Archibald Vallings, DSC, RNR (5 Nov 1943 - 11 Apr 1945), A/Cdr. Clifford Edgecombe, RD, RNR (11 Apr 1945 - 26 Dec 1945); end of service 23 April 1946. Documented movement: convoy BM 87B departed Bombay 4 March 1944 (transport Llanstephan Castle; escorts HrMs Van Galen, HMS Redoubt); the page's own convoy narrative dates arrival at Trincomalee 9 April 1944 while its event log records Highway arriving Trincomalee 9 March and detaching into Madras 10 March - a month-level internal conflict in the source (see gaps). Eastern Fleet service in the Indian Ocean. Page sources cite ADM 199/1388 plus a Dutch archives file (ADM = records at The National Archives, Kew). Page also states 'Sold to be broken up for scrap on 17 December 1948' - contradicted by the documented merchant record; see correction row ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-11.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Royal Navy crew (1943-46), incl. named commanding officers
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not an official record; its 'broken up for scrap 1948' line is refuted by the ship's documented merchant operation through at least 1956-59 (photo and court records). ADM file references are genuine archival leads but were not pulled - Royal Navy wartime detail beyond the convoy note is unverified at primary level. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-03
-
[5]Tri-Continental Financial Corp. v. Tropical Marine Enterprises, Inc., 164 F. Supp. 1 (S.D. Fla. 1958) - district-court opinion; reporter citation confirmed by the appellate court's own footnote ('[164 F. Supp. 2.]') at 265 F.2d 619 [court_record]
- Locator
- 164 F. Supp. 1-2 (S.D. Fla. 1958); quoted and cited in 265 F.2d 619 n.1 and n.2
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- OTHER LITIGATION - NOT asbestos: federal mortgage-foreclosure proceeding on this hull in her merchant guise as SS Abaco Queen, begun 6 July 1957 in the S.D. Florida. The district court held the restrictive covenant in West India Fruit & Steamship's bill of sale to National Container Corp. (vessel barred for 10 years from U.S. southeast-Cuba ferry trades, $1,250,000 liquidated-damages clause) valid and binding as an equitable servitude on the mortgagee (Tri-Continental) and on any purchaser at foreclosure sale; the Gibbs Corp. wharfage lien was subordinated because the vessel was a 'dead ship' (withdrawn from navigation) at accrual. The pleadings map the hull's documented ownership chain: West India Fruit & Steamship Co. -> National Container Corp./Owens-Illinois Glass Co. (sale alleged January 1956 in district findings; the appellate record uses 18 April 1956) -> Tropical Marine Enterprises, Inc. (T.M.T. Trailer Ferry Co. parent/guarantor), 20 November 1956.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1956-1958
- Population
- Merchant crew and wharfage/terminal personnel during T.M.E./TMT operation (1956-57); parties to the foreclosure
- Limitations
- Classified 'other litigation' under batch litigation-stage discipline: an admiralty foreclosure/contract case with zero asbestos or exposure content - it is vessel-history documentation, not exposure evidence. No free reporter URL verified for the district opinion (Justia does not carry 164 F. Supp. 1; CourtListener check pending in search_ledger); text was reviewed via a legal-aggregator mirror and its existence/cite confirmed by the appellate opinion's footnote. The 'January 1956' vs '18 April 1956' sale-date variance between district findings and the appellate record is noted in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-04
-
[6]Tri-Continental Financial Corp. v. Tropical Marine Enterprises, Inc., 265 F.2d 619 (5th Cir. 1959), also 1959 A.M.C. 1408; docket no. 17543; decided 8 April 1959; Hutcheson, C.J., for the court; Tuttle, J., dissenting in part [court_record]
- Locator
- 265 F.2d 619, 621-627 (5th Cir. 1959); Justia page verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- OTHER LITIGATION - NOT asbestos: the Fifth Circuit AFFIRMED the district court 2-1, holding that the restrictive covenant on the Abaco Queen was 'reasonable in time, territory and extent,' did not violate Sections 1-2 of the Sherman Act, and bound the mortgagee (which financed the purchase with full knowledge) and any purchaser at the foreclosure sale as an equitable servitude; Tuttle, J., dissented from the part of the holding subjecting the mortgage to the covenant. The opinion confirms the ownership chain and dates: Owens-Illinois purchased the vessel from West India 18 April 1956 and resold to Tropical Marine Enterprises 20 November 1956, each time subject to the covenant - matching the NavSource merchant timeline.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1957-1959
- Population
- Merchant crew during T.M.E./TMT operation; litigants in foreclosure
- Limitations
- Classified 'other litigation': an admiralty/contract precedent (often cited for covenants running with chattels) - it contains no asbestos or exposure content and documents the hull's merchant-era ownership, not exposure. Verified at final disposition stage (affirmed appellate judgment). Publication did not address the hull's earlier Navy or later fate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: ONI characteristics via NavSource (two B&W oil-fired D-type boilers 250 psi + two NNS steam turbines, twin screws 7,400 shp); DANFS spec block; shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json documented asbestos product list for newport-news-shipbuilding (Kaylo, Unibestos, Johns-Manville, raw asbestos mud); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-era context (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource ONI specifications block (propulsion plant); shipyards.json product list for newport-news-shipbuilding
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steam-powered dock landing ship built November 1942 - October 1943 at Newport News sits inside that yard's and the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a steam vessel of her type and period were boiler and turbine lagging, steam-pipe insulation, machinery insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. She was completed for Royal Navy service with additional outfitting post-transfer (pom-pom armament per ONI note), but no RN-era material record was located either.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1956+
- Population
- NNSD&D construction trades (1942-43); RN crew (1943-46); NDRF caretakers (1946-48); merchant crews and ferry-conversion trades (1948/1951-56+); breakup yard unknown
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or completion report located for LSD-10. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Build-to-RN-account details (whether lend-lease ships received U.S.-standard insulation outfit) undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-06
-
[8]Shipyard dataset (shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json, newport-news-shipbuilding): documented products 'Kaylo insulation; Unibestos; Johns-Manville products; raw asbestos mud'; plus Tidewater VA cohort documentation - Tagnon et al. 1980 (PMID 7471040): ~4-fold mesothelioma excess among white males coastal Tidewater VA 1972-78, three-fourths with shipbuilding employment; Blot et al. 1980 (PMID 6931936): smoking-adjusted lung-cancer RR 1.7 for pre-1950 shipyard employment; yard litigation incl. Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Minton (Va. 2013) and multi-defendant NNS worker suits [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json rows ev-newport-news-01..03 and ev-newport-news-white-* ; PubMed PMIDs 7471040, 6931936
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Builder-yard documentation: Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. - this hull's builder - is a yard with documented asbestos product use (Kaylo insulation, Unibestos, Johns-Manville products, raw asbestos mud) and documented worker litigation covering pre-1981 employment; epidemiology documents a WWII-era asbestos-driven mesothelioma/lung-cancer excess among Tidewater, Virginia shipyard workers (Tagnon 1980; Blot 1980), the population that built this hull in 1942-43.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1980 (yard era and cohort windows)
- Population
- Newport News Shipbuilding trades (WWII era); Tidewater VA shipyard workers (cohort)
- Limitations
- Yard-level and regional-cohort documentation, not a hull record: LSD-10 is not named in any of it, the cohort studies cover multiple Tidewater yards without isolating Newport News, and the yard litigation postdates this hull's construction era. Establishes that the yard used asbestos products during the WWII period - does not establish materials installed aboard this specific hull, individual exposure, or quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-07
-
[9]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 - spanning this hull's entire construction era (1942-43).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-08
-
[10]NARA Atlanta finding aid, 'RG 26, 36, 41 - Vessel Documentation Case Files - Miami, Florida' (vessel documentation and ownership case files incl. bills of sale, mortgages, certificates) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Atlanta finding aid page, 'Abaco Queen' row (RG 36, official no. 240670, 1951)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NARA Atlanta finding aid lists an 'Abaco Queen' entry (RG 36, 'Gas Screw', official no. 240670, year 1951). Merchant-vessel documentation case files contain correspondence, bills of sale, mortgage endorsements, and ownership records - a plausible repository for this hull's merchant-era documentation IF the entry is her; the official-number date (1951) coincides with the Suwannee Steamship purchase year.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1951 (file year)
- Limitations
- Unresolved lead, probably a same-name different vessel: the entry is typed 'Gas Screw' (small gasoline-engine craft), while the ex-LSD-10 Abaco Queen was a 457-ft steam-turbine ship, and NavSource records her 1951 reflagging to Honduras - a foreign-flag vessel would not hold a U.S. official number. The file was not pulled; match unconfirmed. Other open archival leads: UK National Archives ADM 199/1388 (Highway wartime movements, cited by uboat.net); RG 24-era RN/USN records; MARAD vessel status cards (catalog.archives.gov API unreachable this session).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-09
-
[11]Batch-5800 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource; uboat.net; 5th Circuit opinion (Justia); district-court opinion (aggregator mirror, reporter cite confirmed); NARA Atlanta finding aid; GAO product page; NVR; CourtListener; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-claymore-lsd10-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or asbestos litigation naming this hull under Claymore / LSD-10 / Highway / Antonio Maceo / Abaco Queen was found in the public sources searched. The only litigation located is non-asbestos maritime litigation (Tri-Continental, above). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying asbestos case; generic law-firm 'list your ship' pages naming LSD-10 or Claymore assert asbestos without primary sourcing and are excluded by source policy. CourtListener coverage is partial: 'USS Claymore' opinions returned count 0; remaining hull-name queries were blocked by the fleet-wide pacing budget (see sl-05) - an open gap, not a negative result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - this hull was built at a documented asbestos yard in the Navy's documented asbestos era. Deck logs (RN logs at Kew; no USN deck logs exist since she was never USN-commissioned), NNS build records, and ferry-conversion work papers are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-10
-
[12]Disposition cross-check: DANFS (sold to Atlas Metals Corp. 17 Dec 1948 - says 'sold', not 'scrapped'); NavSource (sold 19 Mar 1948 'for operation' + documented merchant resale chain + State Archives of Florida photos of SS Antonio Maceo at Port Everglades c. 1953); federal court record (vessel operating/litigated as Abaco Queen 1956-59); uboat.net ('Sold to be broken up for scrap on 17 December 1948'); Wikipedia class table ('Sold for scrap, 17 December 1948'); shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net ('scrapped 1948'); warsailors.com forum ('broken up in 1960', unverified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS Highway entry; NavSource 10/12/1210 merchant block + photo captions; 265 F.2d 619; uboat.net history line; Wikipedia Casa Grande-class table; shipbuildinghistory amphibs table; warsailors.com forum thread
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: multiple secondary sources state or imply the hull was sold for scrap/broken up in 1948 - but the documentary record shows she was sold for operation and worked as a merchant vessel for at least another decade: SS Antonio Maceo (Honduran flag) on the Port Everglades-Havana train-ferry run, photographed circa 1953 (State Archives of Florida via NavSource), then SS Abaco Queen, whose 1956-57 sales generated the published federal litigation above (265 F.2d 619). The 'scrapped 1948' reading apparently collapses the Atlas Metals purchase into a scrapping sale; DANFS itself says only 'sold'. Actual final disposition is undocumented - NavSource records 'fate unknown'; a forum claim of 'broken up in 1960' is unverified.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1948-1960
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating disposition error, not a material/asbestos claim. The 1960 breakup date rests on a single forum post; no scrapping yard, date, or contract located. Sale-date conflict (17 Dec 1948 DANFS vs 19 Mar 1948 NavSource) unresolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-claymore-lsd10-11