Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet dv-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-cumberland-sound-av17-pkt-dv-packet-md
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Cumberland Sound (AV-17)' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, final paragraph (Wayback capture 2025-12-09)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records the postwar history: after conversion to accommodate troops she departed Seattle 28 December 1945, embarked returning servicemen at Pearl Harbor, and landed them at San Pedro 12 January 1946; assigned to Operation 'Crossroads' on 19 January she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard for conversion to a laboratory ship and 'served during the atomic tests at Eniwetok' until 12 September 1946, then returned to San Diego and was placed out of commission in reserve 27 May 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Limitations
- DANFS's 'atomic tests at Eniwetok' wording conflicts with the tests' documented location at Bikini Atoll - NHHC's Crossroads fact sheet and the DNA 6032F ship entry place AV-17 at Bikini 3 May to 1 August 1946, so the Eniwetok wording is treated as a DANFS transcription error and the Bikini record controls. DANFS ends at reserve status; stricken and sale dates come from other official records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-02
-
[3]NHHC, 'Operation Crossroads: Composition of Joint Task Force One' (archived NHHC page); U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency, 'Operation Crossroads 1946,' DNA 6032F (Nuclear Test Personnel Review series; DTIC accession ADA146562), Appendix B ship entry pp. 312-313 and Program VII description [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC composition page via Wayback capture 2013-11-14 (http://web.archive.org/web/20131114034259/http://www.history.navy.mil:80/faqs/faq76-2.htm); DNA 6032F full text via archive.org DTIC_ADA146562 (cross-checked against PDF layout text); ship entry at report pp. 312-313
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's 'Composition of Joint Task Force One' lists USS Cumberland Sound (AV-17) in Task Unit 1.1.2 (Instrumentation Unit), Task Group 1.1 (Technical Group), for Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll, with Avery Island (AG-76), Burleson (APA-67), Haven (AH-12), Kenneth Whiting (AV-14), and Wharton (AP-7). The Defense Nuclear Agency NTPR report DNA 6032F ship entry records: Bikini arrival 3 May 1946, departure 1 August 1946; crew size 540; positions 19 nmi SE at Shot Able and 13 nmi SE at Shot Baker; function 'to provide laboratory and base facilities throughout the operation.' The report also records Manhattan Engineer District observer parties (27 for Able, 21 for Baker) and Los Alamos Laboratory personnel berthed aboard, Baker gamma-ray measurement signals transmitted from the bomb case to Cumberland Sound, a shipboard fire reported and extinguished on 12 July 1946, and transfer of a recovered 'black box' instrument package from target ship Mugford to Cumberland Sound on 31 July.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1946-05-03 to 1946-08-01 (ship entry); 1946 (operation)
- Population
- Cumberland Sound crew (540 counted) plus berthed MED observer parties and Los Alamos Laboratory staff
- Limitations
- Documents the ship's Crossroads role and movement log from the 1984 DNA reconstruction, not contemporaneous deck logs. Confirms she was a non-target support/laboratory ship - this record concerns radiological-event participation, not asbestos. The two crew figures (DANFS 1,077 complement vs 540 counted aboard at Crossroads) are different bases and are not merged.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-03
-
[4]U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency, 'Operation Crossroads 1946,' DNA 6032F (NTPR; DTIC ADA146562), Table 31 (report p. 231), shipyard dispersal list (pp. 140-141), Appendix B ship entry (pp. 312-313) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Table 31 row 'USS Cumberland Sound (AV-17)'; dispersal list 'LOS ANGELES' column; Appendix B 'USS CUMBERLAND SOUND (AV-17)' entry
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- DNA 6032F Table 31 ('Reconstructed (calculated) dose for support ship crews, CROSSROADS') lists USS Cumberland Sound (AV-17): 540 personnel, Bikini departure 1 August 1946, Bikini reconstructed dose 0.061 rem gamma, clearance date 3 December 1946, total reconstructed dose 0.130 rem gamma. The report's shipyard-dispersal list places Cumberland Sound in the Los Angeles decontamination group, and her ship entry gives decontamination location Los Angeles with operational clearance and final clearance both dated 3 December 1946. As a non-target support ship she was evacuated to sea for each detonation (Able: reentered the lagoon 1421 on 1 July; Baker: underway 0509, reentered 1340 on 25 July).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1946 (Bikini period and December 1946 clearance)
- Population
- Ship's crew, Crossroads period (540 counted); shipyard decontamination workers at Los Angeles
- Limitations
- Doses are reconstructed group-level estimates (rem gamma) for the ship's company, not individual exposure records. This row documents radiological contamination, decontamination, and clearance of the hull - an exposure-relevant documented event - and says nothing about asbestos materials. Column pairing in the scanned report was verified against the PDF layout text (San Diego vs Los Angeles groups are adjacent columns).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-04
-
[5]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database, CUMBERLAND SOUND (AV-17), ShipHistory Detail 5804, including digitized Form MA-20 status card (5804_AF.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 5804 page; status card image at https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/cards/5804_AF.jpg (read directly)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Vessel History record (Detail 5804) and its digitized Form MA-20 'Record of Ship Sales' card document: USS Cumberland Sound (AV-17), 'Former C3-S-A1 hull / Seaplane Tender,' Official No. 529787, contract MA-3054, built August 1944 by 'Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash.'; light displacement 8,510 tons, length 492 ft, beam 70 ft, draft 26 ft; located at San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; advertised under PD-X-617 on 8 March 1962, bids opened 29 March 1962, awarded April 1962 to National Metal & Steel Corp., 1251 New Dock St., Terminal Island, California, for $209,765.63; remarks state the sale was for 'Conversion to commercial use or Scrap Hull.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1962
- Limitations
- The card is the primary federal record of the 1962 sale; it documents sale for 'commercial use or scrap hull' but not which occurred. Post-sale fate is undocumented here - NavSource reports a June 1964 cargo-barge conversion and shipbuildinghistory lists 'sold 1971, scrapped'; neither is official. The live detail page's generic 'Fate: Still in Govt. Service' field is stale relative to the card's sale record and is not relied on.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-05
-
[6]MARAD MA-20 card and ShipHistory Detail 5804 (official) vs DANFS (official); rename context from HistoryLink file 8734 and Colton's shipbuildinghistory.com Todd-Tacoma yard list (secondary, context only) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HistoryLink 8734; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net Todd-Tacoma yard table (hull 53); MARAD card 'ACQUISITION' line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-name reconciliation: DANFS names the builder 'Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash.' while the MARAD MA-20 sale card and ShipHistory record name 'Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash.' Yard histories document that Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation was the Todd-Kaiser subsidiary's name and that it was renamed Todd-Pacific Shipyards during the construction period - sources differ on the exact rename date (shipbuildinghistory.com ties it to Todd's 1942 buyout of Kaiser; HistoryLink and Wikipedia give June 1944, after the February 1944 launch but before the August 1944 commissioning). Both official sources refer to the same Commencement Bay, Tacoma yard.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Both official records are internally consistent once the corporate rename is accounted for; the rename date itself is secondary-source only (1942 vs June-1944 conflict unresolved) and the underlying MC contract MA-3054 documents were not retrieved. This row reconciles two official sources; it does not change hull identity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-06
-
[7]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
- A peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II - the era and Maritime Commission wartime program under which this C3-S-A1-derived tender was built at Tacoma in 1943-1944 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos use aboard naval and merchant hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context); construction trades at Todd Tacoma 1943-1944
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard AV-17, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. Included to bound the construction-era context for a wartime steam auxiliary.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-07
-
[8]National Archives and Records Administration, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (guided research topic) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Beginning Research; Bureau of Ships correspondence; General Information Books; engineering drawings S39/S48 sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's guide 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' directs hull-specific asbestos research to Bureau of Ships RG 19 correspondence filed by hull designation (AV-17), auxiliary-vessel General Information Books, and engineering drawings including S39 (insulation and lagging) and S48 (piping) series, and cautions that deck logs and muster rolls do not directly establish asbestos content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1962 records groups
- Limitations
- Records-path guidance only. AV-17's RG 19 hull correspondence, GIB, S39/S48 drawings, Long Beach Naval Shipyard laboratory-ship conversion file (January 1946), and Los Angeles radiological-decontamination/clearance file (December 1946) were not retrieved and their contents are unknown. Deck logs and muster rolls cannot establish asbestos content per NARA's own caveat.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-08
-
[9]Batch-3039 search ledger: NHHC DANFS and photo catalog; NHHC Crossroads JTF-1 composition; DNA 6032F; MARAD ShipHistory and MA-20 card; NARA asbestos guide; NavSource and cumberlandsound.org used as leads only [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-01 through sl-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No retrieved hull-specific primary source in this sweep identifies an asbestos product, survey, abatement project, or individual asbestos exposure aboard Cumberland Sound (AV-17). The strongest ship-specific hazmat record located (DNA 6032F) documents radiological contamination and decontamination of the hull after Operation Crossroads, not asbestos; NHHC, MARAD, NARA-guidance, and veterans' materials consulted contain no asbestos statement naming this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Bounded search result, not proof the vessel lacked asbestos - era construction practice aboard a 1943-44 steam auxiliary makes asbestos presence plausible but unproven for this hull. Does not cover unretrieved RG 19 hull files, the ship's GIB or S39/S48 drawings, the Long Beach conversion work package, or unindexed sources. CourtListener sweep is logged separately and does not change this materials finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-09
-
[10]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Cumberland Sound (AV-17)' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, paragraphs 1-2 (canonical URL returned HTTP 404 on direct fetch; verified via Wayback Machine capture dated 2025-12-09, http://web.archive.org/web/20251209100433/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cumberland-sound-av-17.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS identifies Cumberland Sound (AV-17) as a Kenneth Whiting-class seaplane tender (dp. 8,000; l. 492'; b. 69'6"; dr. 23'9"; s. 19 k.; cpl. 1,077; a. 2 5"), launched 23 February 1944 by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash., sponsored by Mrs. O. A. Tucker, commissioned 21 August 1944 with Captain E. Grant in command. WWII service: departed for Pearl Harbor 28 October 1944 carrying six planes, passengers, and cargo; trained at Eniwetok 13 December 1944 to 1 January 1945; loaded spare parts at Guam and arrived Ulithi 12 January; operated search patrols from Ulithi until 24 June; tended Patrol Bomber Squadron 22 seaplanes at Eniwetok until 7 August; rendezvoused with 3d Fleet elements at Okinawa 18 August; entered Tokyo Bay 28 August to set up a seadrome; remained on occupation duty conducting search operations and special flights until 24 November 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, construction, and WWII service chronology and the listed 1,077 complement (a design/history figure, not a dated muster). Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement. NHHC link rot is a standing batch issue; content verified against the archived NHHC page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-sound-av17-01