Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Escambia' (AO-80) entry (NHHC; live URL 404s, content verified via Wayback capture 2024-05-26) + NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, USS/USNS Escambia (AO-80/T-AO-80) page [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Escambia' entry (Wayback capture 2024-05-26); NavSource page http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/19/19080.htm (Wayback capture 2025-01-17; direct fetch failed 2026-09-24)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS identifies Escambia (AO-80): dp. 5,782 (light), 523'6" x 68' x 30'10", 15 knots, complement 225, armament 1x5" + 4x3", class Escambia - launched 25 April 1943 by Marinship Corp., Sausalito, Calif., sponsored by Mrs. Joseph Cooper, commissioned 28 October 1943, LCDR J. M. Paulsson, USNR. Pacific service per DANFS: December 1943 Pearl Harbor oil voyage; departed San Francisco 21 January 1944 for Majuro (arrived 9 February); fueled ships at Roi and Majuro during Marshall Islands assaults; 15 March-30 August 1944 out of Espiritu Santo fueling the fast-carrier task force (Palaus raids, Hollandia); Manus 14 September 1944 for Philippines pre-assault strikes; Ulithi from 25 October; departed 11 December for west-coast overhaul; returned to Ulithi 18 April 1945 and fueled carrier task forces supporting Okinawa and strikes on Japan through war's end; left Tokyo 4 November 1945. NavSource lists occupation service in the Far East 2 September-5 November 1945. Decommissioned 20 February 1946; transferred to Maritime Commission June 1946; reacquired January 1948, no further commissioned service; transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service 18 July 1950. Five battle stars for WWII. NavSource adds: MC hull 1259, T2-SE-A2; assigned to Navy 30 June 1943; struck from Naval Register 12 March 1946; NDRF Suisun Bay 30 June 1946; reacquired 26 January 1948; NTS contract operation; USNS Escambia (T-AO-80) from 18 July 1950; NDRF Olympia, WA 3 October 1957; struck 1957; acquired by U.S. Army 26 April 1966 and converted to Mobile Army Emergency Power Plant for Vietnam service; sold for scrapping at Qui Nhon, Vietnam, 8 August 1971 to Chin Tai Steel Enterprise Co. Ltd. NavSource spec block: 22 officers + 245 enlisted; GE turbo-electric engine, 2 Babcock & Wilcox D-type boilers (600 psi, 825 deg F), single propeller, 10,000 shp; cargo 15,300 DWT (120,400 bbl oil; 575,000 gal gasoline).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1971
- Population
- Ship's company - complement 225 per DANFS (NavSource lists 22 officers + 245 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Official and curated-archival history: establishes identity, construction, service, and custody milestones. Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-24 - DANFS text verified via Wayback capture 2024-05-26; NavSource is a curated private photo/history archive (secondary for the spec block). Neither source contains any asbestos, insulation-material, or survey information - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-01
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[2]'History of U.S.S. Escambia (AO-80),' submitted by Lt. Richard Goorgian (commanding officer from 3 June 1944) to the Secretary of the Navy, Public Information Section, 1 October 1945; reproduced with a postwar crew continuation on the USS Escambia veterans' association site [other_primary]
- Locator
- ussescambia.com/history.htm (full page text; launch, conversion, overhaul, decommissioning, and 'Last Chapter' sections)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's 1945 history (an official submission to SecNav Public Information) records: keel laid December 1942 at Marinship, Sausalito; launching 24 April 1943, sponsor Mrs. Joseph Cooper; moved to Matson Navigation Co. piers, San Francisco, for conversion to a Navy fleet oiler; ship's company assembled at Receiving Ship, Treasure Island; commissioned 28 October 1943. Post-shakedown, Pearl Harbor inspectors returned the ship to San Francisco and she was docked at United Engineering Company, Alameda, for a 24-day repair period before deploying. Persistent engineering difficulties led to an overhaul at Todd Shipyards, San Pedro (arrived 27 December 1944, departed 1 March 1945). Decommissioned at Richmond Shipyard 20 February 1946. She was fueling Task Force 38 units a few hundred miles off Tokyo when the surrender was announced 15 August 1945. Ship's tally: 321 days at sea between 13 November 1943 and 17 November 1945; fueled 389 fleet units, 231 at sea. Crew-written postwar continuation records the second career: reacquired and reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register 26 January 1948; NTS, then MSTS 18 July 1950 as USNS Escambia (T-AO-80); to MARAD for layup and strike 1957; acquired by the Army May 1966 and converted to a Mobile Army Emergency Power Plant at Todd Shipyard, Seattle, Vinnell Corporation commercial contractor; deployed to Cam Ranh Bay late 1966, then Qui Nhon to supply power to shore installations; left behind on U.S. withdrawal; Vietnamese use until March 1971, scrapped August 1971.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1971
- Population
- Ship's company 1943-1946; Army/contractor crews 1966-1971
- Limitations
- Primary document reproduced on an unofficial veterans' reunion site - the 1945 Goorgian text is an authenticating SecNav submission but the transcription is unverified against the original filing, and the postwar 'last chapter' is a later crew continuation, not part of the official document. Launch date here (24 April) conflicts with DANFS/NavSource (25 April) - see correction row. Todd-Seattle conversion-yard attribution conflicts with a secondary report (Bender Shipbuilding, Mobile) - unresolved. No asbestos or materials content anywhere in the document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-02
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[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - ESCAMBIA (AO-80), Detail 1472, including digitized vessel status cards (Reserve Fleet Division vessel-data card; MARAD Form MA-383 reserve-fleet particulars card; vessel status card with full custody table) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 1472 - milestones table and status-card scans 1472_2716AF.jpg, 1472_2716AB.jpg, 1472_2716BF.jpg, 559771e9-1692-4509-877f-e5691fbd4ce1.png
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory and its digitized status cards document: ESCAMBIA (AO-80), type T2-SE-A2 tanker, MC hull 1259, Marinship Corp. hull no. 13 at Sausalito, completed 30 June 1943 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration 6-30-43 4:00 PM PWT at Sausalito (same-day allocation to Navy Dept. by purchase). Custody chain on the cards: NDRF Suisun Bay 6-30-46 (from Navy Dept. - surplus); to American Pacific Steamship Co. under GAA 10-21-47 at Suisun Bay; title transferred to U.S. Navy at Los Angeles 1-26-48; permanent transfer to reserve fleet at Olympia, Wash. 10-3-57 (per MSTS letter 14 June 1957, MarAd letter 27 June 1957); permanent transfer to Dept. of the Army at Olympia 4-26-66 - reason annotated 'Army Material Command (P.T.)' power plant; Maritime Administration custody at Qui Nhon, Vietnam 8-30-71; sold to Chin Tai Steel Enterprise Co., Ltd. (scrap) 8-30-71, per annotation 'SOLD IN VIETNAM UNDER PP-X-912, 8/4/71 ... FOR SCRAPPING. $285,150.00.' A fleet warning stamp on the card directs that on removal for reactivation the operator and General Electric (Marine Dept.) be notified so GE can inspect/overhaul the main generator turbine control and throttle valve stems before the turbine is started (per GE letter 17 January 1947). Milestones: entry/acquisition 6-30-46; disposition/withdrawal 4-26-66; fate 'Sold - Scrap.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Limitations
- Authoritative primary record for government custody and disposal milestones; handwritten annotations are partially legible (OCR-aided) - the card's 'PP-X-912' and '$285,150.00' supersede NavSource's 'PD-X-912' and '$255,150.00' (see correction row). The cards contain no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-03
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[4]Thomas Wildenberg, 'Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995' (Naval Institute Press, 1996), chapter 15 and Appendix D (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- GSBO chapter 15 'Escambia Class AO-80 through AO-86' section; Appendix D table row AO-80
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Wildenberg documents the design origin and Navy acquisition of the Escambia class: Marinship's Sausalito yard was shifted from Liberty-ship to tanker construction in summer 1942 (contract for 22 T2 tankers issued 26 October 1942); because the 6,600-hp T2-SE-A1 turboelectric plants were at capacity, the 10,000-hp General Electric units developed for the P2-SE2-R1 transports were incorporated, creating the T2-SE-A2 design with major plant changes (bent-tube fore-and-aft boilers with economizers replacing header-type boilers with air heaters; turbine-driven forced-draft fans; crowded machinery arrangement from an added Frame-19 bulkhead). The Navy decided in late 1942 to acquire Marinship's first nine T2-SE-A2s. 'The Escambia was the first of these. Launched on 24 April 1943, she was delivered to the maritime commission on 30 June and immediately transferred to the navy on the same day. Plans for converting the Escambia and eight other Marinship tankers still to be delivered were drawn under separate contract by the Matson Company in San Francisco ... the Escambia (AO-80) was not commissioned until 28 October.' Appendix D lists AO-80 Escambia, Marinship, 1943, Escambia/T2-SE-A2, first commissioned 28-Oct-43; class block AO-80 through AO-88 plus second group AO-91 through AO-96 (AO-91/92 redesignated AW-3/AW-4 distilling ships).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Limitations
- Authoritative published secondary history (USNI Press) transcribed at HyperWar - not a primary record. Launch date given as 24 April 1943, conflicting with DANFS/NavSource 25 April (see correction row). Design detail is class-level even where the vessel is named; no asbestos or insulation-material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-04
-
[5]Historic American Engineering Record CA-337, 'Mission Santa Ynez' (AO-134) - written historical and descriptive data (NPS Heritage Documentation Programs; historian Brian Clayton, 2006), data-pages PDF p. 5, quoting Capt. Ted Anderson in Walter W. Jaffee, 'The Last Mission Tanker' (1990) [haer]
- Locator
- HAER CA-337 data pages, Description/Construction sections (ca3445data.pdf, ~p. 5-7)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The HAER report for Mission Santa Ynez (AO-134) - a T2-SE-A2 tanker built at the same yard (Marinship, Sausalito) in the same period (keel 9 September 1943) as this hull - documents a specific asbestos component in the shared propulsion-plant design. Quoting Chief Engineer Capt. Ted Anderson on the Mission ships' 10,000-shp plant: 'the higher pressure and higher temperature on those boilers ... those darn handheld plugs on the economizer element had what they called a flexitallic gasket that was part metal and part asbestos. They'd wind up leaking and steam would come out and cut a groove in the steel or the seat of the gasket.' The report also confirms the shared T2-SE-A2 plant fitted to Escambia-class oilers: two Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplying the main turbine, auxiliaries, and pumps at 600 psi / 825 deg F; GE turbo-generator; the type's 523'6" x 68' hull and nine-tank cargo arrangement.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1945 construction; operating experience recounted
- Population
- Engineering crews of T2-SE-A2 tankers (class context)
- Limitations
- Type/design-level documentation from a sister hull's official NPS report - it documents that the T2-SE-A2 propulsion design used part-asbestos flexitallic gaskets on the economizer plugs, but does not name this hull, does not prove identical components were installed aboard AO-80, and establishes no quantity, location, condition, or individual exposure. Boiler/steam-line insulation materials are not itemized in the report.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-05
-
[6]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 during WWII - the era and emergency Maritime Commission program under which this T2-SE-A2 hull was mass-produced in 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or its type and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-06
-
[7]Atlas shipyard record marinship-sausalito (shipyards.json): U.S. Maritime Commission industrial-hygiene survey series, Pacific Coast shipyards 1942-1944 (originals NARA RG 178; referenced via Fite 2004 compilation and W.A. Simons Trust CA site list) + EPA Superfund site profile MARINSHIP, EPA ID CAD982400715 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json, yard_id marinship-sausalito; EPA CERCLIS profile https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/CurSites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0903540
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard documentation: the Atlas yard record for Marinship (Sausalito) - the yard that built this hull in 1943 - catalogs wartime asbestos products at the yard (amosite pipe covering/felt, asbestos boiler block insulation, asbestos gaskets, asbestos millboard) and references the USMC industrial-hygiene survey series at Pacific Coast yards (1942-44), which recorded dust counts during cutting and fitting of amosite pipe covering and boiler block in confined engine rooms and boiler spaces; Marinship was among the yards surveyed. EPA's Superfund profile lists the Marinship site (Spring St & Gate 5 Rd, Sausalito; EPA ID CAD982400715) under CERCLA with status NFRAP (does not qualify for the NPL on existing information).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Marinship construction workforce ~20,000 (1943-44); insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation of the construction environment - it does not name this hull, does not establish which products were installed aboard AO-80, and says nothing about crew exposure aboard. The USMC survey series is known through a secondary compilation (Fite 2004); Marinship-specific dust-count data has not been separately published; originals at NARA RG 178 unsurveyed. NFRAP status is a site-contamination finding, not a worker-exposure finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-07
-
[8]Batch-1928 source reconciliation: DANFS (NHHC/Wayback), NavSource, MARAD status cards, Wildenberg GSBO ch.15/App. D, ship's 1945 history (Goorgian), Wikipedia/aukevisser secondary compilations [other_primary]
- Locator
- Rows ev-01 through ev-04; NavSource spec/disposition block; MARAD card PP-X-912 annotation; aukevisser.nl T-2 list entry for Escambia
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved or logged: (a) Class identity - supplied metadata differed from NavSource; DANFS, NavSource, and GSBO App. D all identify the 'Escambia' class (MC type T2-SE-A2): AO-80 through AO-88 (nine Marinship hulls), with the FY44 group AO-91 through AO-96 (AO-91/92 redesignated AW-3/AW-4) - sometimes accounted a subclass of the Suamico class. The record adopts Escambia class / T2-SE-A2. (b) Launch date - 25 April 1943 (DANFS, NavSource, Marinship launch invitation) vs 24 April 1943 (ship's 1945 history, Wildenberg); 25 April adopted as the majority/official-document date, conflict logged in gaps. (c) Scrap sale - MARAD status card: PP-X-912 dated 8/4/71 to Chin Tai Steel Enterprise Co., Ltd. for $285,150.00; NavSource prints 'PD-X-912' and $255,150.00 - the card controls. (d) Complement - DANFS 225 vs NavSource 22 officers + 245 enlisted (267); both carried, not merged. (e) 1966 conversion yard - Todd Shipyard, Seattle per the crew history vs Bender Shipbuilding, Mobile per aukevisser - unresolved, logged in gaps.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies across official, primary, and secondary sources; none of the conflicting sources contains asbestos information, and no resolution bears on asbestos documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-08
-
[9]Batch-1928 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback), NavSource (Wayback), MARAD ShipHistory 1472 + status cards, ship's 1945 history (ussescambia.com), Wildenberg GSBO (HyperWar), HAER CA-337 (LOC), EPA CERCLIS Marinship, CourtListener opinion searches, ECU Joyner finding aid 0677-038 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-escambia-ao80-01 through sl-uss-escambia-ao80-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming the Escambia (AO-80) hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search '"Escambia" asbestos' returned 25 hits, all name collisions (Escambia County FL/AL, Escambia Chemical Corp., unrelated parties); '"USS Escambia"' returned zero hits; '"AO-80"' returned 3 hits, all form/docket-code collisions in unrelated criminal matters (no hull reference). The 'Escambia' docket-level (type=r) search was blocked by the shared CourtListener pacing limiter at session end and is logged as a gap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was built at a documented asbestos-era yard to a design with a documented part-asbestos component, and was scrapped in 1971 before modern survey regimes existed. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-09
-
[10]NARA RG 24 deck logs (photocopies declassified by NARA, held in the Virgil Duane Grier Papers, U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation Collection 0677-038, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University) + NARA RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission construction records, MC hull 1259) + U.S. Army Materiel Command records for the 1966 power-plant conversion; Finnie, 'Marinship: The History of a Wartime Shipyard' (1947 official yard history) [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0677-038/ (Box 2 deck-log folders); https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/178.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (1) ECU Joyner Library finding aid 0677-038 catalogs NARA-declassified photocopies of USS Escambia deck logs spanning Oct 1943-mid-1945 (RG 24) plus the ship's plan of the day and scrapbook - the closest accessible hull-specific record set; (2) NARA RG 178 Construction Division files may hold MC hull 1259 construction/outfitting specifications incl. insulation schedules; (3) Army Materiel Command/Vinnell conversion files for the 1966 Mobile Army Emergency Power Plant work may hold materials/removal records; (4) Finnie's official 1947 Marinship yard history (cited in HAER CA-337) documents yard practice.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1971 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and collection-level mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether any asbestos-specific document exists for hull 1259 is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-escambia-ao80-10