Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
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[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS Dolphin' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USS Dolphin' returned 10 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-dolphin-agss555-cl-name-opinion
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[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS Dolphin' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USS Dolphin' returned 274 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-dolphin-agss555-cl-name-docket
-
[3]CourtListener opinion search: 'AGSS-555' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'AGSS-555' returned 0 results (2026-10-07)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- zero-hit search; absence of hits is not proof of no litigation
- Evidence ID
- uss-dolphin-agss555-cl-hull-opinion
-
[4]CourtListener docket search: 'AGSS-555' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'AGSS-555' returned 34 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-dolphin-agss555-cl-hull-docket
-
[5]Maritime Museum of San Diego, USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) exhibit page - identity, records, museum status, ship statistics (via Wayback capture 2025-03-16; live page timed out) [museum_official]
- Locator
- sdmaritime.org USS Dolphin page, narrative + 'Ship Statistics' table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: commissioned 1968; deepest-diving operational submarine, depths over 3,000 ft; deepest torpedo launch 1969; longest-serving diesel-electric submarine in U.S. Navy history; 2002 fire/flooding incident followed by extensive repairs; decommissioned 2007; transferred to the Maritime Museum of San Diego and opened as a museum ship in 2009. Ship stats: LOA 151 ft 11 in; 875 tons full load; 2 x GM V71 12-cylinder diesels 425 hp; 2 x 250 kW generators with 2 x 126-cell main storage batteries; 7.5 knots submerged.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1968-2009
- Population
- Museum visitors and maintenance staff (2009-present)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific identity and museum status only; the page contains no asbestos or material-content statement and does not characterize the hull's current insulation. Does not establish exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-01
-
[6]NavSource Online Submarine Photo Archive, Dolphin (AGSS-555) page and archived SubCommittee Report (June 2020, Tom Dougherty, 'The Triple Nickel - The Last U.S. Diesel Submarine', navsource.net/archives/08/pdf/0855505.pdf) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 08/08555.htm header block + photo captions; SCR June 2020 PDF pp. 33-36
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: designed 1961 under project SCB 207; ordered 10 August 1960 (secondary compilations - no primary source located); laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (NavSource header prints 19 December 1964; SCR prints 'early 1962'; majority of secondary compilations print 9 November 1962 - conflict in gaps); SCR attributes the roughly six-year build to Vietnam-era budget competition for advanced submarine programs; launched 8 June 1968, sponsor Mrs. Maggie Shinobu Inouye; commissioned 17 August 1968, Lt. Cmdr. J. R. McDonnell; HY-80 ring-stiffened hull, single contiguous compartment without watertight doors; diesel-electric plant (2 x GM V71 diesels, 2 x 825-hp motors, single screw); deactivated 22 September 2006; decommissioned and stricken 15 January 2007; transferred to the San Diego Maritime Museum in 2008.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1960-2008
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1962-68); crew and embarked scientists (1968-2006)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-curated photo archive and SCR a veterans'-circle trade publication - cross-check grade, not a government source; the laid-down date conflicts across NavSource's own header (1964) and SCR (1962) and is carried in gaps. No asbestos content. Does not establish exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-02
-
[7]Department of the Navy, 'Notice of Availability for Donation as a Museum/Memorial, Submarine ex-DOLPHIN (AGSS-555)', 72 FR 4493 (2007-01-31), doc. E7-1497 [federal_register]
- Locator
- 72 FR 4493 (2007-01-31); federalregister.gov document E7-1497
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Primary federal record for this hull: ex-DOLPHIN (AGSS-555) was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 January 2007 and offered for donation as a static museum/memorial under 10 U.S.C. 7306, limited to donees providing permanent berthing and public display in San Diego, her historic homeport. Applications required towing, mooring, maintenance, environmental, curatorial, and community-support plans; transfer at no cost to the government.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2007
- Population
- Prospective donee organizations; future museum workers/visitors
- Limitations
- The notice contains no asbestos, hazardous-material, or 'as-is' material-condition statement; the required environmental plan is a donee submission and is not public in this notice. Establishes decommission/stricken/donation facts only - no exposure or material evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-03
-
[8]U.S. Naval Institute, Proceedings Vol. 132/3/1,237 (March 2006), 'The "Nickel Boat" Keeps Going, and Going...'; and Naval History (Feb 2008), 'The Last Diesel Boat' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- usni.org Proceedings 2006-03 and Naval History 2008-02 articles
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: on 21 May 2002, ~100 nautical miles off San Diego while surfaced and recharging batteries, a gasket failed; an estimated 80 tons of seawater flooded in, shorting electrical panels and starting fires. CMM(SS) John D. Wise, Jr. kept the pump room's submersible pump clear for 90+ minutes (Navy and Marine Corps Medal); CO Cmdr. Stephen Kelety ordered abandon ship; all 43 aboard (41 crew, 2 civilian scientists) were recovered by R/V Wm. A. McGaw with minor injuries; MV Kellie Chouest assisted; towed to San Diego. USNI: Navy's oldest operational submarine and its only non-nuclear one; ~3,000-ft operating depth; world depth record Nov 1968; deepest torpedo firing Apr 1969; operated from Point Loma under Submarine Squadron 11 with SPAWAR Systems Center support; diesel-boat era ended with decommissioning 15 January 2007.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1968-2007
- Population
- 43 persons aboard at casualty (41 crew + 2 civilian scientists); repair workers (2002-05)
- Limitations
- Casualty and career narrative only - no asbestos or material characterization of the flooded spaces or the subsequent three-year repair. The repair's performing yard and cost vary across sources ($40-60M; yard unidentified) - carried in gaps. Does not establish exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-04
-
[9]NavSource photo captions for Dolphin (AGSS-555): Mare Island Naval Shipyard postmark 21 October 1971; departing Mare Island after 'short availability' 25 April 1980; Golden Gate outbound for sea trials after Mare Island work 1983-84; drydock overhaul ~1993; hemi-head exam January 1995; 'first exercises following shipyard availability' 14 July 2006 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 08/08555.htm caption rows (Baker/Vallejo Museum contributions; navy.news.mil captions N-4281P-146 etc.)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documents at least three Mare Island Naval Shipyard availabilities for this hull (1971, 1980, 1983-84) plus a 1993 drydock overhaul and a shipyard availability ending by mid-2006 - the documented yard events at a yard with documented asbestos product use at yard level.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1971-2006
- Population
- Mare Island NSY yard trades (1971, 1980, 1983-84); drydock workers (1993); 2006 availability workers
- Limitations
- Caption-grade documentation (photo descriptions on a volunteer archive); dates and scope are approximate ('short availability'; '1983 or 1984'). Establishes hull presence at the yard, not the work performed or materials disturbed. No asbestos content; does not establish exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-05
-
[10]Kase v. Metalclad Insulation Corp., Cal. Ct. App. (4th Dist.) 2021 (CourtListener opinions 4324658, 4332654) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion, specification-history discussion
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Court-documented era regime: the Navy's submarine insulation procurement specifications (SUBSAFE's MIL-I-24244 post-1963; predecessor BuShips practice before) covered asbestos-containing insulation for submarine construction and overhaul - the regime applicable to Dolphin's 1962-68 build at Portsmouth and her service-era availabilities at Mare Island.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2021 (opinion); regime described 1950s-forward
- Population
- Navy submarine construction/maintenance trades
- Limitations
- Dolphin is not named in the opinion; documents the era spec regime only. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, exposure, causation, quantity, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-06
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[11]Era inference built on: museum/NavSource spec blocks (diesel-electric plant, no steam or nuclear); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Mare Island Naval Shipyard (thermal insulation, pipe covering, lagging, gaskets, packing, wire insulation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- spec blocks (ev-01/-02); shipyards.json product lists for portsmouth-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-electric submarine built 1962-68 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and maintained through documented availabilities at Mare Island Naval Shipyard sits inside the Navy's peak asbestos-use era; era-standard applications on a boat of her type included diesel exhaust/muffler lagging, gaskets, packing, hull thermal/acoustic and anti-sweat insulation, electrical/wire insulation, and deck coverings. Both yards' asbestos product use in this period is independently documented at the yard level.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1962-2006
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1962-68); MINSY yard trades (1971, 1980, 1983-84); crew and embarked scientists (1968-2006); 2002-05 repair workers; museum staff
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey or material list located for AGSS-555. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity. Present material condition of the museum hull undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-07
-
[12]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 - covering Dolphin's entire 1962-68 construction and her early Mare Island availabilities; later availabilities (1980, 1983-84, 1993, ~2006) postdate the substitution start but predate full material turnover aboard in-service hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- 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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-08
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[13]Batch-125 disambiguation: NavSource Dolphin (AGSS-555) page vs. NavSource Dolphin (SS-169) page (08/08169.htm) and batch-99 record uss-dolphin-ss169.atlas.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 08/08555.htm vs 08/08169.htm; uss-dolphin-ss169.atlas.json (batch-99)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: USS Dolphin (AGSS-555), the 1968-2007 deep-diving research submarine now at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, is a different hull from USS Dolphin (SS-169), the 1932-1945 V-boat (V-7) that shares the name. Both carry a single-ship 'Dolphin class' label, which invites conflation: 'Dolphin class submarine' returns either hull depending on the source. Class assignment for this record is the AGSS-555 single-ship class (SCB 207), not the V-boat series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Identity correction only - no asbestos content. Asbestos-marketing list pages mix the two hulls; all are excluded sources and appear only in the search ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-09
-
[14]Batch-125 search ledger (this record): Maritime Museum of San Diego; Federal Register E7-1497; USNI Proceedings/Naval History; NavSource page + SCR PDF; CourtListener API and web UI (blocked); GAO product page; LOC/HAER; NVR [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-dolphin-agss555-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was found. The CourtListener vessel-name and hull-number scan could not be executed - v4 API HTTP 429 (125/day exhausted; ~23,000s to reset) and public web UI HTTP 202 empty challenge on 2026-09-18; the litigation scan is an unresolved lead, not a ruled-out result. No DANFS entry exists for this hull (NHHC ordinal URL patterns returned 404; the ship postdates DANFS coverage). Indirect web searching surfaced only law-firm marketing list pages naming the hull - excluded per source rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. The museum hull's interior material condition is not publicly characterized; museum maintenance/donation records, if any exist, are not public. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dolphin-agss555-10