Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'USS Cuyama (AO-3)' - HyperWar transcription (NHHC DANFS text) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full entry incl. spec line. No live NHHC page for Cuyama was located on 2026-09-24 (history.navy.mil DANFS section returned 404 for this hull); the HyperWar page is a transcription of the DANFS text, formatted by Patrick Clancey.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Cuyama (AO-3), namesake 'a river in California': launched 17 June 1916 by Mare Island Navy Yard; sponsored by Miss M. Offley; commissioned 2 April 1917, Lt. I. B. Smith, USNRF, in command. DANFS spec line: dp. 4,990; l. 475'7"; b. 56'; dr. 26'2"; s. 14 k.; cpl. 144; a. 4 5"; classed 'Maumee'. Maiden voyage to Pearl Harbor May 1917; loaded petroleum at Port Arthur, Tex., arrived Norfolk 6 July; convoy to England August 1917; fitted for transporting aircraft; three convoy voyages New York-England; transferred to Naval Overseas Transportation Service 9 January 1918; six UK cargo voyages to 17 October 1918. Caribbean fleet supply January-May 1919; arrived San Pedro 7 August 1919; classified AO-3 'on 7 July 1920' (NavSource gives 17 July 1920 - see ev-05 limitations). 1927 and 1934 East Coast fleet maneuvers; thirteen Pearl Harbor transport voyages 1936-1938; five similar voyages in 1941 plus refueling-at-sea practice with Scouting Force cruisers; arrived San Diego 26 November 1941 for overhaul. War service: Pearl Harbor-San Pedro cargo 27 December 1941-1 March 1942; fuel deliveries to Efate, Noumea, Tonga and Samoa 15 March-29 June 1942; Kodiak-based Alaskan fueling from 11 August 1942 through February 1945, with Seattle replenishment and repair periods; February 1945 cargo to Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam; Kerama Retto, Okinawa, from 21 April 1945 fueling ships in the Okinawa operation; splashed a suicide plane 13 May; bombarded a Japanese-occupied cave on Tokashiki Shima 7 July; fueled ships at Leyte 5-30 August for the occupation of Japan; fueled ships at Jinsen, Korea, 12 September-6 November; arrived San Francisco 27 November 1945; decommissioned 12 April 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 1 July 1946; one battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1917-1946
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, commissioning, operating areas, and disposition. DANFS contains no asbestos, insulation, boiler-material, overhaul-scope, or crew-health statement; this row supports no asbestos claim. Complement (144) is an undated spec-line figure and does not establish manning at any particular period. The AO-3 designation date reads '7 July 1920' in the transcription while NavSource gives 17 July 1920, the date the Navy's 1920 hull-classification scheme took effect; unresolved. Read from a transcription mirror because no NHHC page was located; the transcription is of the official DANFS text but is not the .mil site itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-01
-
[2]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Cuyama (AO-3) Class' - auxiliary-ship data compilation built from official U.S. Navy records (Bureau of Construction and Repair / Naval Vessel Register lineage) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class header data, construction and disposition tables, class notes, ship notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe class data for CUYAMA (AO-3) class, 'Design: Navy AO-3': ordered under the FY 1916 program (act of 3 March 1915); keel 15 December 1915 at Mare Island Navy Yard; launched 17 June 1916; commissioned 2 April 1917; decommissioned 12 April 1946; stricken 3 July 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 1 July 1946; Maritime Administration sale 10 September 1947; 'to buyer 6 Oct 47, scrapped by 25 Nov 47.' Class specs: displacement 5,950 light / 14,800 full; 475.6 ft oa x 56.0 ft; complement 145 (1929); speed 14 kts; propulsion vertical triple expansion, 2 screws, 5,200 HP. Class notes: the FY 1917 fuel ship (Brazos, AO-4) was built as a duplicate of Cuyama per a 5 July 1916 General Board approval; the design deleted the coal-carrying requirement and moved the bridge house aft relative to the earlier Kanawha/Maumee fuel ships.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1915-1947
- Limitations
- Compilation of official data, not the underlying register itself; figures were consistent with DANFS and MARAD where sources overlap. Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement; supports no asbestos claim. Strike date (3 July 1946) appears here while NavSource lists it as unknown - carried with attribution, unconfirmed against the NVR itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-02
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CUYAMA (AO-3), Ship History Detail 1163 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Vessel detail page: data fields, milestones, status cards, imagery
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record CUYAMA (AO-3), detail 1163: year built 1917; shipyard Mare Island Naval Shipyard; general type tanker; length 475.58 ft; beam 56.16 ft; displacement (lightweight) 5,723 tons; fate 'Sold - Scrap'; mission World War II. Milestones: Entry 6/30/1946; Acquisition 6/30/1946; Disposition 10/6/1947; Withdrawal 10/6/1947. No historical narrative posted; status cards and ~45 official U.S. Navy photographs posted, including Mare Island Navy Yard views dated 30 June 1941 and San Pedro views dated 23 July 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1946-1947 (record coverage 1917-1947)
- Limitations
- Official disposition record. Acquisition date (6/30/1946) differs by one day from the 1 July 1946 transfer date in DANFS/Shipscribe - unresolved, logged in gaps. MARAD's 'Specific Type' field reads 'LNG Liquefied Natural Gas,' a coding artifact for a 1917 oiler also seen on other records in this dataset; not asserted as fact. Contains no asbestos or insulation statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-03
-
[4]NavSource Online, 'USS Cuyama (AO-3) ex USS Cuyama (Fuel Ship #15)' - volunteer archive reproducing official data and NHHC cataloged photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship page: data block, awards section, photo captions (NHHC photos NH 55545, NH 77252, NH 77321)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource service-ship page for USS Cuyama (AO-3) ex-Fuel Ship No. 15, labeled 'Maumee Class Fleet Oiler': laid down 15 December 1915 Mare Island Navy Yard; launched 17 June 1916; commissioned 2 April 1917, Lt. Irving D. Smith, USNRF; designated AO-3 17 July 1920; Asiatic-Pacific campaign 'Okinawa Gunto operation, 21 April to 30 June 1945'; occupation duty in the Far East 2 September-7 November 1945; decommissioned 12 April 1946; struck 'date unknown'; transferred to the Maritime Commission 1 July 1946; sold for scrapping 10 September 1947 to Kaiser Steel Corp. (PD-X-377), withdrawn from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet and delivered 6 October 1947; one battle star. Spec block: displacement 5,723 lt / 14,700 fl; 475'7" x 56'2" x 26'8"; 14.3 kts; complement 25 officers + 284 enlisted; propulsion two Mare Island vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, four Ward boilers 'replaced by four Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 730F,' twin propellers 6,080 shp.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1915-1947
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; used for the machinery spec block (Ward-to-B&W reboilering, 6,080 shp, 25+284 complement) which is not confirmed against an official document - the boiler replacement is undated in the source. Class label 'Maumee' differs from Shipscribe's 'Cuyama class'; reconciled in ev-05. No asbestos statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-04
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[5]Cross-source comparison: DANFS spec line (HyperWar transcription); NavSource AO-3 page label; Shipscribe 'USS Cuyama (AO-3) Class' construction table and class notes; archive.org ao3bogp1944 item metadata; HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' fleet oiler listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe class notes (5 July 1916 General Board duplication of Cuyama for Brazos); DANFS spec line 'cl. Maumee'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class-designation reconciliation: the authoritative sources disagree on this hull's class label. DANFS's spec line reads 'cl. Maumee'; NavSource labels the page 'Maumee Class Fleet Oiler' and the archive.org copy of the NARA plans is tagged 'Maumee Class Fleet Oilers'; Shipscribe's official-data compilation treats CUYAMA (AO-3) as its own class of four (AO-3 through AO-6), with the class notes documenting that Brazos (AO-4) was built as a deliberate duplicate of Cuyama and that Neches and Pecos (AO-5, AO-6) followed; a HyperWar compilation uses the hybrid label 'Kanawha/Cuyama class.' The underlying construction history is consistent across sources: Cuyama was a modified near-repeat of the earlier Kanawha/Maumee fuel-ship design (coal capacity deleted, bridge moved aft) and then became the design baseline for AO-4/5/6 - so 'Maumee class' groups her by design lineage and 'Cuyama class' groups the later ships by her as-built baseline. Both labels describe the same verified hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1915-1921 (design period)
- Limitations
- Terminology reconciliation only - resolves the record-vs-NavSource class-label difference without rejecting the hull or either label. Carries no asbestos information. The 'correct' label is a reference-work convention, not a factual dispute; both are reported with attribution rather than silently picking one.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-05
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[6]Franke K, Paustenbach DJ, 'Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970),' Inhalation Toxicology 23(sup3):1-20 (2011), PMID 22200078 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article text, historical-use summary and Navy-specification discussion (1900-1929 and 1930-1959 blocks)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed state-of-the-science review documents that 'beginning in the 1880s and continuing well into the 1950s, amosite and chrysotile fibers, and to a much lesser extent crocidolite, were used extensively as insulating materials on naval ships,' that the military required asbestos in insulation, gaskets, packing and other materials under government specifications, and that WWII destroyers carried 24-30 long tons of thermal insulation per ship. The documented span of Navy asbestos insulation use covers this hull's entire 1917-1946 career.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1900-1970 documented; article 2011
- Population
- U.S. Navy ship crews and yard workers, 1880s-1950s (era context)
- Limitations
- Era- and fleet-level scholarship; does not name this ship or class. It does not show that asbestos was installed on, removed from, or disturbed aboard this hull, and says nothing about quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation. Published by ChemRisk-affiliated authors in a peer-reviewed journal; cited here only for its descriptive historical claim about Navy insulation practice, which is consistent with the wider literature.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-06
-
[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
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding in the 1940s, when wartime expansion drove an unprecedented rise in asbestos utilization aboard ships - the era of this hull's documented wartime service, her undated reboilering to Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, and her 1944 Puget Sound Navy Yard period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship about 1940s shipbuilding generally. It does not name this ship or class. The hull was built in 1915-17, before the era the study describes; the study speaks to wartime yard work and service only. It does not show that asbestos was installed on, removed from, or disturbed aboard this hull, and says nothing about quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-07
-
[8]NARA RG 19 file unit 'Plans for the Oiler USS Cuyama (AO-3),' Alphabetical Series of Ship Engineering Drawings - digitized as Internet Archive item 'USA - AO-3 USS Cuyama Booklet of General Plans (1944)' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Item description and five JPEG sheet files; NARA file-unit link in item description
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-specific primary document located but not fully exploited: NARA file unit 'Plans for the Oiler USS Cuyama (AO-3)' in the Alphabetical Series of Ship Engineering Drawings, Record Group 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), survives as a five-sheet Booklet of General Plans dated 12 June 1944 prepared at Navy Yard, Puget Sound - documenting a mid-war yard period at Puget Sound consistent with DANFS's Seattle repair periods and NavSource's undated boiler replacement. Sheets: cover photo; outboard profile and decks; inboard profile and decks; cross section and type bulkhead; general cross section with piping plans. Digitized copy (162 MB) at Internet Archive item ao3bogp1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard trades, 1944 availability (potential)
- Limitations
- The booklet's existence and date are verified; its sheets were not reviewed for insulation, lagging, or material callouts, so nothing in this row is an asbestos finding. Piping and section sheets on a vessel of this era often carry insulation notes; a sheet-by-sheet read is the next step if hull-level material evidence is ever required.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-08
-
[9]CourtListener (Free Law Project) API v4 via the authenticated helper script - opinion and RECAP docket searches (see search_ledger) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cuyama-ao3-07 through sl-uss-cuyama-ao3-12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located for this hull. CourtListener opinion searches for 'USS Cuyama' and '"AO-3" AND Cuyama' returned zero; 'Cuyama AND asbestos' returned zero; 'Cuyama AND (ship OR vessel OR oiler OR navy OR "AO-3")' returned zero. The bare query 'Cuyama' returned 37 opinions; the reviewed results are all name collisions with the California place name (Cuyama Valley / Cuyama River water, mining, land-use, school-district and agricultural cases) - the page-2 fetch timed out once under fleet pacing and was not exhaustively re-fetched, but the hit pattern is uniform. RECAP dockets matching 'Cuyama' number 77; the reviewed first page is all collisions (real-property forfeitures on Cuyama street addresses, hospital/water-district cases, unrelated entities). The five RECAP dockets matching 'Cuyama AND (asbestos OR mesothelioma)' are all collisions: the Motors Liquidation (09-50026), PG&E (19-30088) and J & M Sales (18-12109) bankruptcies where 'Cuyama' is an address or entity name, an EPA rule challenge, and a California pipeline dispute.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- A negative search result, not a merits ruling. CourtListener does not hold most state-court asbestos dockets, bankruptcy-trust claim files, or unpublished trial-level filings, and a complaint could name 'Cuyama' in a way the full-text index did not capture. The ship decommissioned and was scrapped in 1946-47, before the asbestos-litigation era, which makes a docketed ship-name hit unlikely in any case. This row does not establish that no one was exposed aboard, and it neither establishes nor defeats any claim or eligibility question.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-09
-
[10]Batch-1877 search ledger (this record): DANFS via HyperWar; Shipscribe AO-3 class data; MARAD ShipHistory 1163; NavSource AO-3; NARA RG 19 plans item; CourtListener opinion/RECAP searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cuyama-ao3-01 through sl-uss-cuyama-ao3-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, yard work order naming insulation materials, or docketed case naming this hull was found in the sources searched. DANFS, the MARAD ShipHistory record, Shipscribe class data, and the NavSource cross-check contain no asbestos or insulation-material statement. The ship was sold for scrapping in 1947 and broken up by late November 1947, before OSHA-era documentation; no hull survives to survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Not finding a public record does not prove the ship carried no asbestos. A 1915-17 navy-yard-built steam tanker in naval service through 1945 is the kind of ship where asbestos-containing insulation and packing were common, but that is an era inference, not a ship-proven fact. This row establishes neither presence nor absence, and it neither establishes nor defeats any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-10
-
[11]NARA Guide to Federal Records: Record Group 24 (ship logs and muster rolls), Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships general records), Record Group 181 (naval shipyard records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 24 ship-logs series; RG 19 general records; NARA deck-log guidance https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved; needs research-room work or a paid reproduction order, and no spend is authorized): NARA RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) holds ship deck logs and muster rolls; Cuyama's 1917-1946 logs and WWII-era muster rolls would sit in these series. NARA RG 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships) holds general correspondence and the Bureau's photographic file; correspondence for the documented 1941 San Diego overhaul, the Seattle repair periods, and the 1944 Puget Sound availability - and the undated Ward-to-B&W reboilering - would be looked for there, as would any surviving Mare Island construction-period material under RG 181 (naval shipyards).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1915-1946 records
- Limitations
- Maps record groups only; no box-level search was done. Whether these series hold any Cuyama-specific asbestos, insulation, or yard-work documents is unknown until someone surveys them. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cuyama-ao3-11