Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 1016-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-corsair-sp159-pkt-1016-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Corsair I (S. P. 159), Naval History and Heritage Command (live page verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Corsair I (S. P. 159) entry, full text and specification block; commanding officers list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Establishes the WWI identity and career of this hull: steel-hulled twin-screw steam yacht built 1899 at Hoboken, N.J. by W. & A. Fletcher Co. for J. Pierpont Morgan; Navy inspection at Brooklyn 1 March 1917; chartered 15 May 1917 and commissioned at New York the same day (Lt. Cmdr. Theodore A. Kittinger); fitted out at the New York Navy Yard; sailed 14 June 1917 with the first AEF convoy to France; escort and anti-submarine patrol off the French coast through the Armistice (actions against U-60, the Antilles and Finland convoy actions, Californian and Dagfin rescues, Lisbon repairs December 1917-January 1918); flagship duty at Queenstown early 1919; decommissioned at New York 9 June 1919 and returned to owner. Specification block: displacement 1,600; length 304'; beam 33'4"; draft 16'; speed 19 knots; complement 123; armament 4 3-inch guns and 2 Colt machine guns.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1899-1919
- Population
- Crew (~123 complement) during WWI naval service
- Limitations
- Official secondary history (DANFS); establishes identity and service only - contains no asbestos-related content. Published 28 February 2020 (NHHC).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-01
-
[3]DANFS, Oceanographer (AGS-3), Naval History and Heritage Command (live page verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Oceanographer (AGS-3) entry, full text and specification block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Establishes the WWII identity and career of the same hull: acquired by the Navy from the Coast and Geodetic Survey at Norfolk, Va. on 7 April 1942; briefly renamed Natchez (PG-85); renamed Oceanographer (AGS-3); re-rigged and outfitted at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for survey duty; commissioned 15 August 1942 (work completed 28 August, Cmdr. Henry B. Campbell, USCGS, in command); transit to the Pacific via Cristobal and San Pedro; storm repairs at Winslow Marine Railway Co., Bainbridge Island; Kodiak deployment judged unsuitable for Aleutian duty; Matson Navigation Co. repairs; sound-gear installation and alterations at Pearl Harbor (March 1943); sixteen months of South Pacific survey work producing fifteen charts (Havannah Passage, Noumea vicinity, Guadalcanal northern coast, Munda Bar and anchorages); ordered home June 1944; decommissioned 22 September 1944, stricken from the Naval Register 14 October, broken up for scrap in accordance with the agreement with J. P. Morgan, Jr. Specification block (AGS-3): displacement 1,963; length 293'; beam 33'; draft 17'; speed 14.7 kts; complement 146; armament 2 3-inch guns.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Crew (~146 complement) during WWII survey service; Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. conversion workers; Pearl Harbor alteration workers
- Limitations
- Official secondary history (DANFS); establishes identity and service only - contains no asbestos-related content. This entry styles the yacht 'Corsair II'; other authoritative sources say 'Corsair III' (see record gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-02
-
[4]DANFS, Natchez I (Sloop-of-War) - includes the PG-85 notation, Naval History and Heritage Command (live page verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Natchez I entry, closing paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Confirms the short-lived Natchez designation on this hull: 'Originally acquired from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Oceanographer was renamed Natchez and classified (PG-85) 15 April 1942. Upon reconversion to a survey ship, Natchez (PG-85) was renamed Oceanographer (q.v.) and classified (AGS-3) on 28 May 1942.' The gunboat name was cancelled before commissioning; the ship was never in service as USS Natchez. (The DANFS page primarily covers the unrelated 1827 sloop-of-war Natchez; USS Natchez PF-2, a Tacoma-class frigate launched 1943, is also a distinct vessel.)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942
- Limitations
- Official secondary history; documents the designation sequence only. Shipscribe dates the VCNO name/classification assignment to 11 April 1942 vs. the 15 April date here - carried in gaps. No asbestos-related content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-03
-
[5]NHHC, National Museum of the U.S. Navy photography page: USS Corsair (SP-159), later USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) - photo catalog and captions (live page verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Page header text and NH-series photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official museum photo catalog confirming the same-hull identity chain under the heading 'USS Corsair (SP-159), later USS Oceanographer (AGS-3)': 'Corsair III was launched in December 1898. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy in May 1917.' Captions document the hull as steam yacht Corsair III pre-WWI (NH 55390, NH 100882), USS Corsair (SP-159) in WWI fitting-out and French service (NH 85734, NH 106633, NH 106638, NH 55391), and a museum model displayed in the WWI section until 2022.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1898-1944
- Limitations
- Official museum catalog; corroborates construction date ('launched December 1898') and the 'Corsair III' naming against the 'Corsair II' styling in DANFS-Oceanographer. Contains no asbestos-related content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-04
-
[6]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) class data page - compiled from official ship registers and Bureau of Ships/OpNav correspondence (verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class data table (construction/disposition), Class Notes, and Ship Notes sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Adds official-correspondence-level detail to the WWII conversion and disposal: Commerce Department agreement of 21 February 1942 to transfer Oceanographer and Hydrographer to the Navy; Executive Order No. 9113 of 28 March 1942 directing the transfer; arrival at Norfolk Navy Yard 7 April 1942; VCNO name/classification assignment (Natchez, PG-85) of 11 April 1942; CominCh recommendation of 25 May 1942 and SecNav approval of 28 May 1942 to complete her as a surveying vessel retaining the name Oceanographer (AGS-3); conversion by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; 12 July 1944 inspection board finding her beyond economical repair and CinCPac concurrence of 18 July; decommissioned at the U.S. Naval Drydocks, Terminal Island, San Pedro; cut up there and the scrap sold per J. P. Morgan's stipulation. Construction data: keel June 1898 at T. S. Marvel, Newburgh, N.Y.; launched 12 December 1898; towed to Fletcher's Hoboken yard for fitting out; vertical triple-expansion machinery, 4,554 hp; 'old Scotch fire-tube boilers' described as 'patched up affairs' in 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1898-1944
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard and Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. workers (1942 conversion); U.S. Naval Drydocks Terminal Island workers (1944 disposal)
- Limitations
- Private compilation of official records (Shipscribe class data by Stephen S. Roberts, 2008) - not itself a government page. Overlapping dates corroborate DANFS; details unique to this source (EO 9113, 11 April VCNO action, July 1944 board dates, Terminal Island drydocks) rest on Roberts's transcription of official files and are not independently digitized here. The ship-notes block styles the yacht 'Corsair II' (naming conflict carried in gaps). No asbestos-related content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-05
-
[7]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive: USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) ex USS Natchez (PG-85) / USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS-26) / USS Corsair (SP-159) (live page verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl; navsource.net domain - navsource.org is dead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page timeline, specifications block, and photo caption table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Confirms the full designation timeline and the AGS-3-era specification block: built 1899 as yacht Corsair III by W. & A. Fletcher Co., Hoboken, for J. Pierpont Morgan; acquired 15 May 1917 and commissioned USS Corsair (SP-159) the same day; returned to owner 9 June 1919; acquired by the Coast and Geodetic Survey 2 January 1930 as USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS-26); reacquired by the Navy 7 April 1942; renamed USS Natchez (PG-85) 15 April 1942; rerigged and outfitted at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; commissioned USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) 15 August 1942; decommissioned 22 September 1944 at San Pedro; struck 14 October 1944; broken up for scrap. Specifications: displacement 1,136 t. (gross); length 304' oa; beam 33.5'; draft 16'; speed 19 kts; complement 146; armament two 3"/50 dual-purpose mounts; propulsion two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, two shafts. Photo documentation includes NARA RG 19-LCM photo 19-N-41108 of AGS-3 at Norfolk circa August 1942 after conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1899-1944
- Population
- Crew (~146) WWII; photographic record across all identities
- Limitations
- Private photo-archive compilation (NavSource); corroborates official dates and provides the machinery specification. Displacement figure (1,136 t gross) is a yacht-era tonnage basis differing from DANFS figures (carried in gaps). Contains no asbestos-related content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-06
-
[8]NOAA Heritage, 'Friday Find: The USC&GS Steamer Oceanographer as painted by a crew member' (31 May 2024) - official NOAA page (verified 2026-10-04 via Firecrawl) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article body text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NOAA heritage documentation of the 1930-1942 Coast and Geodetic Survey career: 'J.P. Morgan's $3 million yacht Corsair III'; sold to the Department of Commerce for $1.00 in 1930 with the stipulation that she be used as a survey ship; commissioned as USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS-26); conducted offshore surveys discovering many of the canyons incising the continental slope between the Georges Bank area and Cape Hatteras; supported Maurice Ewing's first seismic reflection profiling experiments in 1935; handled all U.S. Navy radio traffic during the worst of the August 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac hurricane.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1930-1942
- Population
- USC&GS crew (1930-1942)
- Limitations
- Official agency heritage feature; documents the C&GS era only. The '$1.00 sale' framing differs in wording from DANFS's 'donated' - same transaction. Contains no asbestos-related content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (published 18 October 1979) - product page retrieved via Firecrawl (direct fetch returns HTTP 403) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed 'the use of asbestos in Navy ships, the cost of removing asbestos from Navy ships, and compensation programs for asbestos-related disabilities,' documenting that Navy ships carried asbestos insulation and that the Navy's 1975 policy removed and replaced only damaged insulation (expanded in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas), with fieldwork at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. Establishes the government-documented context that Navy steam vessels of this hull's service eras were built and maintained with asbestos insulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era context for 1917-1944 service
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews (program-level)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; post-dates this vessel (scrapped 1944). Supports era context for steam-ship asbestos insulation only - does not establish asbestos content, quantity, or condition aboard this hull. Full 26-page PDF exists at gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf; automated direct fetch of gao.gov returns HTTP 403 - highlights text used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource/Shipscribe/DANFS documentation of this hull's machinery (coal-fired Scotch fire-tube boilers; two vertical triple-expansion steam engines; two shafts) + GAO HRD-80-2 documentation of Navy shipboard asbestos-insulation use in the era [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; Shipscribe class notes (Scotch boilers); DANFS coaling record (362 tons, June 1917)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The hull carried a coal-fired Scotch fire-tube boiler plant feeding two vertical triple-expansion steam engines - documented ship-specific machinery. Steam plants of this type and era were insulated with asbestos-containing boiler lagging, steam-line lagging, gaskets, and packing; asbestos insulation was standard on Navy steam vessels and was the material the Navy later systematically removed per GAO HRD-80-2. Asbestos applications aboard this hull are inferred on era and plant-type grounds: boiler lagging, steam-line insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1899-1944
- Population
- Construction and fitting-out trades (1898-99); WWI crew (~123); C&GS crew (1930-42); Norfolk SB&DD conversion workers (1942); repair-yard workers at Winslow Marine Railway and Matson Navigation (1942-43); Pearl Harbor alteration workers (1943); WWII crew (~146); Terminal Island disposal workers (1944)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference, not a hull record: no document located names or describes asbestos aboard this vessel. The 1899 yacht build and the 1917, 1930, and 1942 conversions/repairs all predate surviving public insulation documentation; neither original nor later insulation composition is established. Does not establish quantity, condition, individual exposure, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-09
-
[11]Batch-8699 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (three live entries); NHHC museum photo catalog; NavSource 09/10/1003; Shipscribe AGS-3; NOAA heritage; GAO HRD-80-2; CourtListener authenticated API v4 name/hull queries; NVR; secondary-web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-corsair-sp159-01 through sl-uss-corsair-sp159-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying case naming this hull under any of its identities (yacht Corsair III; USS Corsair SP-159; USC&GS Oceanographer OSS-26; USS Natchez PG-85; USS Oceanographer AGS-3) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener: the exact-name queries across all three USS aliases returned zero in both the opinion and docket indexes; the hull-designation opinion query's 81 hits and the hull-designation docket query's 3,001 hits were name collisions (statute/page/form-fragment matches, none vessel-related), and the asbestos-qualified opinion variant returned two further collisions; the asbestos-qualified docket variant is recorded with its final status in the ledger. The vessel was scrapped in October 1944 - a pre-regulatory era in which no abatement documentation would be expected.
- 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 aboard - the documented steam plant is consistent with era-standard asbestos insulation. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present, does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility, and does not quantify material. The 1944 scrapping leaves no present-day material question.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-corsair-sp159-10