Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, 'Exploit' (second of name), AM-440 entry - transcription mirrored at Haze Gray & Underway (live hazegray.org unreachable 2026-09-22; Wayback capture 2021-06-22); canonical history.navy.mil page not located [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS mine-warfare volume, Exploit (AM-440) entry (hazegray /danfs/mine/am440.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records: second Exploit (AM-440) launched 10 April 1953 by Higgins Corp., New Orleans, La.; sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Kennon, wife of the Governor of Louisiana; commissioned 31 March 1954, Lt. Cmdr. E. M. Akin in command; reclassified MSO-440 on 7 February 1955. Homeport Charleston, S.C. (arrived 13 March 1955); 6th Fleet Mediterranean service in 1954, 1957, 1958, and from 28 October 1960 through end of that year; experimental mine-warfare development work in Florida waters through June 1960. Class heading: dp. 620; 172' length; 36' beam; 10' draft; 16 knots; complement 74; one 40mm gun; class 'Agile'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-1960
- Population
- Crew and builders, 1951-1960 coverage window
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history but contains no asbestos information whatsoever. DANFS coverage ends at 1960 (publication era); post-1960 career not covered. First CO's name transcribed 'Akin' in the hazegray DANFS mirror vs 'Eakin' in the HistoryCentral mirror of the same text - treated as a transcription variance. The 'cl. Agile' class heading conflicts with the common 'Aggressive class' label and with NVR's 'MSO 422' class field - naming inconsistency noted, not resolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-01
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[2]Naval Vessel Register (NAVSEA/NAVSHIPSO), EXPLOIT (MSO 440) ex-AM 440 ship-detail page - live NVR page no longer serves stricken/disposed hulls; Wayback capture 2017-01-09, page last updated 2014-04-08 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship-detail page, EXPLOIT (MSO 440), status and physical-characteristics tables
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR records for EXPLOIT (MSO 440, ex-AM 440), UIC 07970, class 'MSO 422': keel 12/28/1951, launch 04/10/1953, commission 03/31/1954, decommission 12/16/1993, stricken 03/28/1994; status 'Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling' with status-change date 05/17/2002. Physical characteristics: overall length 173 ft; light displacement 737 tons; hull material 'Wood hull, (except engines and equipment)'; propulsion type Diesel; 2 propellers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-2002
- Population
- n/a - registry record
- Limitations
- Official inventory record confirming milestones, construction material, propulsion type, and scrapping disposition. Contains no asbestos or hazmat fields - NVR does not record material content. Confirms diesel (not steam) propulsion and wood hull, which materially limits the applicable asbestos-application profile for any era inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-02
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[3]U.S. EPA press releases: 'Maryland Company and President Convicted' (1997-06-06, R-89) and 'Maryland Company and Owner Sentenced for Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act Violations' (1998-02-20, R-22) [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA Newsroom archive, releases R-89 (1997-06-06) and R-22 (1998-02-20); companion sentencing release at https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/b95598b8f6251e70852565b100712b1f.html
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- EPA records that Seawitch Salvage Inc. of Baltimore and owner Kerry L. Ellis, Sr. were convicted (D. Md., jury verdict 1997-05-30) and sentenced (1998-02-13: Ellis 30 months imprisonment plus 3 years supervised release and $50,000 fine; company 5 years probation and $50,000 fine) for felony violations committed while executing a U.S. Navy contract to demolish and scrap USS Illusive - a minesweeper and Agile/MSO-422-class sistership of Exploit (MSO-448) - and USS Coral Sea (CV-43). The contract required asbestos and other hazardous materials to be properly removed before dismantling; between May 1993 and September 1995 unlicensed Seawitch employees removed material containing asbestos and workers were exposed without protective equipment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1993-1998
- Population
- Seawitch Salvage dismantling workers, Baltimore Harbor, 1993-1995
- Limitations
- Documents asbestos aboard sistership USS Illusive (MSO-448) and the Navy disposal contract's asbestos-removal requirement - class/era evidence only; it does not name Exploit and does not establish asbestos conditions aboard AM-440. Criminal-enforcement record at trial/affirmed-conviction stage. EPA release is a government enforcement announcement, not the opinion text itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-03
-
[4]United States v. Ellis, 172 F.3d 864 (4th Cir. 1999) (Table) (per curiam), affirming D. Md. convictions; see also N.R. Acquisition Corp. v. United States, 52 Fed. Cl. 490 (2002) (No. 97-338 C) reciting the same proceedings [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text, factual-background section; CFC cross-reference at 52 Fed. Cl. 490, 494-96
- Finding type
- litigation_product_id
- Finding
- The Fourth Circuit's affirmance recites the trial record: through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) surplus-sales process Ellis purchased two decommissioned Navy minesweepers, USS Inflict (MSO-456) and USS Fearless (MSO-442) - both Agile/MSO-422-class sisterships of Exploit, Fearless built by the same yard (Higgins Corp., New Orleans) - and subcontracted breaking of sistership USS Illusive (MSO-448) plus USS Coral Sea. The DRMS invitations for bids 'clearly indicated that several compartments on each of the four decommissioned ships contained asbestos,' and before sale 'the Navy marked each asbestos-containing compartment with a large warning sign.' Certified abatement by Asbestos Environmental Services of Maryland on Inflict and Fearless removed approximately 1,200 linear meters of pipe insulation and 800 square meters of stack insulation from the ships.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1993-1999
- Population
- DRMS surplus-vessel purchasers and shipbreaking workers, Baltimore, 1993-1995
- Limitations
- Unpublished per curiam (Table) disposition - cited for its factual recital of the trial record, not as precedent; opinion text consulted via public case-law aggregator because CourtListener API was rate-limited at research time (see search_ledger sl-uss-exploit-am440-03). Documents asbestos-containing compartments and quantified insulation abatement aboard sisterships, plus the Navy/DRMS practice of disclosing and marking ACM compartments on surplus hulls of this class. Does not name Exploit; whether AM-440's own 2000 sale carried the same marked-compartment disclosures is unverified (archival lead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-04
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[5]U.S. Navy flag-officer biography, Rear Admiral Robin M. Watters (navy.mil Article 2379225) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navy.mil Leadership/Flag-Officer-Biographies, RADM Robin M. Watters entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy biography records that Watters served aboard Exploit as SELRES (Selected Reserve) coordinator, and that 'while serving aboard Exploit, Watters was recalled to active duty in December 1990, for six months to serve as executive officer for Exploit crew's deployment (aboard USS Adroit (MSO 509)) to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm.' The hull itself did not deploy; Exploit's Naval Reserve Force crew cross-decked to sistership Adroit for the Gulf deployment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1990-1991
- Population
- Exploit SELRES crew, 1990-1991
- Limitations
- Corrects secondary-source entries (e.g., hullnumber.com) that list 'Exploit - Desert Shield, Jan-Jun 1991' as though the ship deployed; the Navy bio shows the crew deployed aboard a different hull. navy.mil returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-09-22; text verified via search-index excerpt of the official page. Also documents Exploit's late-career Naval Reserve Force/SELRES status, which DANFS (ending 1960) does not cover.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-05
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[6]Maryland Dept. of the Environment, 'Facts About: Sparrows Point Shipyard' (Voluntary Cleanup Program brownfields fact sheet); sale-to-scrappers detail per NavSource Online Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, MSO-440 Exploit page (secondary compilation); scrapping disposition per NVR [other_primary]
- Locator
- MDE VCP fact sheet (site history paragraph); NavSource MSO-440 page; NVR Wayback capture 2017-01-09
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- After decommissioning (1993-12-16) Exploit lay in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at NISMF Portsmouth, VA; stricken 1994-03-28; sold for scrap 4 December 2000 to Baltimore Marine Industries of Baltimore, MD (NavSource). MDE's site fact sheet records that Baltimore Marine Industries, Inc. owned and operated the Sparrows Point shipyard - the former Bethlehem Steel BethShip yard - from 1997 to 2003, a site whose historic operations included ship demolition. NVR records the hull 'Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling' effective 2002-05-17.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1993-2002
- Population
- Shipbreaking workforce at Sparrows Point, 2000-2002
- Limitations
- Disposal pathway documentation only. The buyer and sale date rest on a secondary compilation (NavSource) consistent with the NVR disposition status; the Navy sale instrument (NAVSEA/DRMS/DSMO mechanism and any asbestos disclosures attached to it) is not located - the single most promising asbestos-relevant record for this hull. Establishes where the hull was dismantled, not what materials were aboard. Sparrows Point's own asbestos-litigation history is yard-level context and is not claimed as hull evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-06
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[7]NARA deck-log and ship-records holdings (RG 24/RG 19); NARA Special List 44 index checked (covers earlier-era logs; AM-95 Exploit listed, AM-440 not in that WWII-era index); Navy inactive-ship disposal files for this hull not located in public sources [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov military logbooks research page; NARA Special List 44 (ship-number index PDF)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Leads for ship-specific asbestos documentation that exist but were not retrievable this session: (1) MSO-440 deck logs and command histories (1954-1993), the bulk of which sit in NARA RG 24/Navy custody rather than digitized catalogs; (2) Bureau of Ships ship-characteristics/equipment records for AM-440 (RG 19) - a related project page asserts an 8-entry BUSHIPS equipment manifest for MSO-440 exists, unverified here; (3) the Navy's 2000 sale file for this hull - if the DRMS/DSMO practice documented in United States v. Ellis applied, the bid documents would disclose asbestos compartments aboard Exploit itself.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1954-2000 (record coverage); 2026-09-22 (search date)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - no hull-specific holdings confirmed in digitized indexes. The asserted BUSHIPS manifest is reported by a related private project page and could not be traced to a NARA record this session; treat as unverified pointer, not evidence. The Ellis practice inference for the 2000 sale is plausible but unproven for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-07
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[8]Batch-1355 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (via hazegray Wayback mirror), NVR (Wayback), EPA newsroom archive, Fourth Circuit/CFC opinions via public case-law indexes, VA BVA decisions index (va.gov vetapp), NARA finding aids, general web litigation sweep for 'USS Exploit' / 'MSO-440' / 'AM-440'; CourtListener API v4 sweep rate-limited (2,800/day quota exhausted) - flagged incomplete [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-exploit-am440-01 through sl-uss-exploit-am440-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for AM-440/MSO-440: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or ship-specific litigation naming the hull was found in the sources searched. Litigation-specific result is bounded: the CourtListener opinion/docket index sweep could not be completed (API rate-limited at research date; see sl-uss-exploit-am440-03), and the VA BVA index and general web sweep returned only name collisions and marketing-list entries, no case.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - sistership disposal records show this class carried marked asbestos compartments. The litigation negative finding is expressly incomplete: CourtListener index was not searched (rate-limited), and settled/unindexed matters are invisible to name searches. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-exploit-am440-08