Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 1024-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-colington-yfb43-pkt-1024-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Colington I (YFB-43) - namesake, former merchant name, noncommissioned Fifth Naval District service (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Colington I (YFB-43) entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (live NHHC entry): 'Colington' - 'An island off the coast of North Carolina.' 'The first Colington (YFB-43), formerly Elmer W. Jones, served in a noncommissioned status in the 5th Naval District during World War II.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (entry coverage)
- Population
- District-craft crew, Fifth Naval District (1943-1946)
- Limitations
- Complete DANFS treatment is a two-line stub: establishes namesake (a North Carolina island), the former merchant name, noncommissioned status, and Fifth Naval District assignment; supplies no dates, operating location, dimensions, crew, or material information. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, Colington (YFB-43) - build/merchant/Navy/disposition timeline, specifications, photo captions (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 14/350043.htm - 'Colington (YFB-43)' history bullets, specifications block, awards line, photo captions 1435004301-304
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: built by Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT (yard no. 3); completed for Brockville & Morristown Transportation Co., Ogdensburg, NY, as the ferry Elmer W. Jones (ON 225543), May 1926; ran on the St. Lawrence River between Morristown, NY, and Brockville, Ontario; acquired by the U.S. Navy 13 December 1942; placed in service as Colington (YFB-43) 1943; assigned Fifth Naval District 1943-1946; placed out of service, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 12 March 1946; returned to owners and resumed service under old name 26 July 1946; transferred to Canadian flag and rebuilt at Brockville 1953; registered in Canada to Newfoundland Transportation Co. (C194768), began Bell Island - Portugal Cove run October 1955; registry suspended 10 March 2008; final disposition - abandoned at Port Aux Choix, Newfoundland, 2000s. Specifications: 277 gross / 188 net tons; 117'2" x 37'2" x 9'2"; diesel, 300 hp; speed and complement unknown; no armament. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1926-2008
- Population
- Merchant crew (1926-1942); Navy district-craft crew (1943-1946); merchant/Canadian crews (1946-1960); fish-plant workers at Port au Choix (1960s-2000s)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not an official registry - milestone dates generally track NVR/BuShips records but the out-of-service date is expressly unknown and builder attribution conflicts with other sources (see gaps). Photo captions credit OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons (merchant-era views) and boatnerd/Ron Beaupre (2011 derelict views). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-02
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton), Electric Boat Co., Groton CT hull table, row 3; and U.S. Navy small-ship YFB index, row YFB-43 (live pages verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/electricboat.htm hull table row 3; YFB index row YFB-43 (mirrored at shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/yfb/ and navalmarinearchive.com/sbh/smallships/yfb.html)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Colton's Electric Boat (Groton CT) yard table lists hull no. 3: O.N. 225543, Elmer W. Jones, owner 'Brockville Tptn.', type ferry, 277g, delivered May-26, disposition 'To USN 1943 as Colington (YFB 43), returned 1946, to Canada 1953' - positioned between Peruvian submarines R-2 and R-3 in the yard's numbering. The same compiler's YFB index instead lists the builder as 'New London S & E, Groton CT' (built 1926, to Navy 1942, struck 1946) - an internal builder-attribution conflict within one compiler's tables.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1926
- Population
- Groton construction trades (1926)
- Limitations
- Authoritative secondary compiler for yard production, not an official registry. The two tables conflict on builder of record (Electric Boat Co. vs New London Ship & Engine Co.); the NELSECO Groton facility was absorbed into Electric Boat in 1930, so the tables likely describe the same site lineage - unresolved and carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-03
-
[5]Brian J. Cudahy, Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor (Fordham University Press), p. 265, via Fordham Digital Hudson (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Digital Hudson page 265 scan, Electric Ferries section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Cudahy documents the vessel's design and a contested ownership stage: the Elmer W. Jones was 'Eads Johnson-designed,' 'a mere 117 feet long and 277 gross tons,' 'diesel-powered, but not diesel-electric,' and 'built in Groton, Connecticut in 1926 by the New England Ship and Engine Company.' She 'ran for the Brockville and Morristown Transportation Company on Lake Ontario until 1942 when she joined Electric Ferries,' and 'was sold to the U.S. Government after about a year's service in New York'; after the war she was 'back with the Brockville and Morristown Transportation Company.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1926-1946 (passage coverage)
- Population
- Merchant crew and New York Harbor passengers (Electric Ferries interval, c.1942-1943)
- Limitations
- University-press secondary history (digitized page scan). 'New England Ship and Engine' is Cudahy's rendering of New London Ship & Engine Co.; his Electric Ferries intermediate-ownership stage conflicts with NavSource's direct B&MT-to-Navy acquisition dated 13 December 1942 - unresolved, carried in gaps. 'Lake Ontario' is loose geography for the St. Lawrence River run. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-04
-
[6]Gail Hussey-Weir, 'Elmer W. Jones - Bell Island-Portugal Cove Service: 1955-1960,' Historic Wabana, citing OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons and St. John's Daily News items (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- historic-wabana.com/elmer-w-jones.html - narrative paragraphs and OhioLINK photo caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Post-war career documented for this hull: Newfoundland Transportation Co. began Bell Island - Portugal Cove service 31 October 1955, licensed for 100 passengers and about 20 vehicles; a 1955 public renaming to 'Frederick Carter' was announced but never applied; last run on the Tickle 18 October 1960 when she developed a leak and was towed to St. John's; hull advertised for sale in a 16 June 1962 Daily News item; rebuilt as a floating fish plant later in the 1960s and towed to Port au Choix; derelict there through the 2010s (Saltwire Telegram account, 30 September 2017); newfoundnews.ca reported 14 August 2021 that the town received Abandoned Boats Program funding to dismantle and remove her. The OhioLINK-derived caption gives: built New London, CT, 1926 by 'the New London Connecticut Shipbuilding and Engineering Company'; 277 gross tons; flagship of the Brockville-Morristown Ferry Company in 1927 and 'the only diesel-powered American vessel on the St. Lawrence River'; 'in service for a 2-year period with the U.S. Navy at Norfolk, Virginia, where she was renamed the Codington' [sic]; returned to Brockville-Morristown 26 July 1946; rebuilt at Kingston, Ontario, in 1953.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1926-2021 (page coverage)
- Population
- Bell Island commuters and crew (1955-1960); fish-plant workers, Port au Choix (1960s-2000s)
- Limitations
- Local-history heritage page quoting newspaper items and photo captions - secondary, not an official record; 'Codington' is a caption transcription error for Colington and is not propagated; the lede's 'built in 1927' conflicts with its own 1926 caption and with NavSource/Colton (May 1926); the 'rebuilt at Kingston' detail conflicts with NavSource's 'rebuilt at Brockville' (carried in gaps); the '2-year' Navy window is approximate against the December 1942 - July 1946 registry window. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-05
-
[7]DANFS, Colington II - the second Colington: LST-1085 / AG-148 / AKS-29 (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Colington II entry, full text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- DISAMBIGUATION - a different hull bears the primary 'Colington' name record: DANFS Colington II was launched 13 January 1945 by American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA; commissioned 21 February 1945 as LST-1085; served with occupation forces in Asia; reclassified AG-148 on 27 January 1949 and named Colington 1 February 1949; reclassified AKS-29 18 August 1951; stricken from the Navy List 1 April 1960. Litigation, registry, and press material naming 'USS Colington' without a hull qualifier - and any asbestos-era litigation tied to an Ambridge-built LST - refers to that vessel, not to YFB-43.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-1960 (sibling-hull coverage)
- Limitations
- Names a different hull; carried to prevent cross-attribution between the ferry boat and the LST. Neither DANFS entry establishes any asbestos fact for either vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-06
-
[8]Batch-8753 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS Colington I and II; NavSource 14/350043; shipbuildinghistory.com Groton and YFB tables; Cudahy p. 265 via Fordham Digital Hudson; historic-wabana; tilife.org; NARA asbestos research guide; NARA Catalog; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-colington-yfb43-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, product list, or verified litigation naming Colington (YFB-43) or Elmer W. Jones was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and - unusually - no law-firm marketing listicle asserting asbestos aboard this hull. CourtListener's four required base queries could not be executed: the authenticated fleet helper reported the shared request budget spent on every attempt this session - logged as blocked in the ledger, not as a no-result finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos - the 1943 Navy conversion/service period, the 1953 rebuild, and the fish-plant conversion are all undocumented for materials. The litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (fleet-throttled, never executed). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-07
-
[9]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (guided-topic research guide; live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA asbestos guided-topic page - RG 19 discussion; Cartographic Branch / Ship Engineering Drawings section (19-Hull series; S39/S48 categories)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA identifies the archival path for a hull of this era: Bureau of Ships (RG 19) general, confidential, and secret correspondence 1940-1961 arranged by Navy Filing Manual hull-designation codes (a district craft files under its YFB-43 designation), plus Cartographic Branch ship engineering drawings arranged by hull number, with insulation and lagging (S39) and piping (S48) identified as potentially relevant drawing categories. A targeted YFB-43 search or pull was not completed - the NARA Catalog is JS-rendered and its API endpoints did not resolve from this session.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1940-1961 record guidance
- Limitations
- Research roadmap, not a YFB-43 document: does not establish that responsive correspondence or drawings survive, that they describe insulation or asbestos, or that any material was aboard this vessel. RG 19 correspondence and the drawing series are undigitized; verification requires an on-site pull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-colington-yfb43-08