Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet bl-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-extricate-ars16-pkt-bl-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Extricate' (ARS-16) entry - hazegray.org transcription via Internet Archive capture 2024-04-20; live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-26 (standing NHHC link rot) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full DANFS entry text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: Extricate (ARS-16), Anchor class, launched 12 September 1942 by Snow Shipyards, Inc., Rockland, Maine, sponsored by Mrs. Lewis Corman, commissioned 27 July 1943 under Lt. A. J. Roy. Mediterranean service from August 1943: Naples harbor fire-fighting ship (three-day battle to save SS Iredell); cleared bomb-damaged Bari harbor with British commendation; salvage and towing on Italy's west coast; staged at Calvi for the southern France invasion; cleared Marseille harbor, fought fires at Marseille and Toulon, rescued mined merchantmen; Azores harbor and mooring work; Charleston overhaul from 30 December 1944. Pacific service from February 1945: salvage at Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Okinawa from 29 June. Damaged in the 16 September typhoon (lost power, fouled anchors, underwater obstruction); beached and abandoned in the 9 October typhoon; decommissioned 5 December 1945; destroyed with explosives 4 March 1946; two battle stars for WWII service. Stats block: displacement 1,089; length 183'3"; beam 37'; draft 14'8"; speed 12 k; complement 65; armament 1 x 3".
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Ship's company, complement 65 (1943-1945)
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy history of this hull; contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and does not establish exposure conditions. DANFS does not give a keel-laying or strike date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-01
-
[3]Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas Report, Serial 0395 of 11 February 1946 - 'Typhoon Louise, 9 October 1945, at Okinawa' narrative and Appendix III damage table (World War II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center); transcribed at ussyms425.com via Internet Archive capture 2007-09-29 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Report narrative; Appendix III damage table, entry 'ARS 16 EXTRICATE'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official CinCPac report on Typhoon Louise records storm development, the 9 October 1945 strike on Okinawa (100-knot sustained winds, 120-knot gusts, 30-35 ft seas in Buckner Bay), fleet casualties of 36 dead, 47 missing, ~100 seriously injured, and a ship toll of 12 sunk, 222 grounded, and 32 damaged beyond ships'-company repair. Appendix III (progress reports to 19 November) lists 'ARS 16 - EXTRICATE - Grounded - extent unknown.' ComServDiv 104 under Commodore T. J. Keliher was assigned the salvage work; ComServPac decided only 10 of ~90 damaged ships merited complete salvage given postwar decommissioning rates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-10-04 to 1945-11-19 (report issued 1946-02-11)
- Population
- Buckner Bay fleet units and shore installations, Oct 1945
- Limitations
- Primary official record naming this hull in the storm that destroyed it; describes grounding only at the 'extent unknown' stage - the report's salvage totals do not by themselves fix the hull's final condition, which DANFS supplies (abandoned, destroyed in place). No asbestos or materials content. Transcription of a wartime command report hosted on a private ship site - original is NHC Operational Archives Serial 0395.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-02
-
[4]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Extricate (ARS-16) page - construction/service dates, specification block, commanding officer list, campaign table (via Internet Archive capture 2024-12-12) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Service Ship Photo Archive, hull page 09/37/3716; specifications block; commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records: laid down 18 March 1942 at Snow Shipyards, Inc., Rockland ME; launched 12 September 1942; commissioned 27 July 1943 (LT Amie J. Roy, USNR); EAME campaign - Invasion of southern France 15 August - 25 September 1944; Asiatic-Pacific - Okinawa Gunto 29-30 June 1945; occupation service 2 September - 5 December 1945; sunk 9 October 1945 in Typhoon Louise, Buckner Bay; decommissioned 4 December 1945; struck from the Naval Register 3 January 1946; destroyed with explosives 4 March 1946; two battle stars. Specs: 1,615 t full, 183'3" x 37' x 14'8", 12 kts, complement 6 officers + 59 enlisted, largest boom 10 t, one 3"/50 and four 20 mm mounts, diesel fuel 1,000 bbls; propulsion: four Hoover, Owens, Rentschler Co. 685A diesel-electric engines, three 40 kW 240V DC ship-service generators, single propeller 1,200 shp.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1943-1945
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive transcribing official Navy data - the keel-laying date (18 Mar 1942), strike date (3 Jan 1946), propulsion spec, and CO roster are not stated in DANFS and are carried from this compilation at partial verification; the 4 December 1945 decommission date conflicts with DANFS (5 December) and is logged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-03
-
[5]shipbuildinghistory.com (Colton) - Snow Shipyards yard table, Rockland ME; companion table 'Rescue and Salvage Ships (ARS...)' index [other_primary]
- Locator
- Snow Shipyards vessel table, row Extricate (ARS 16); auxars.htm ARS index row ARS 16
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Colton's yard table lists 'Extricate (ARS 16) - US Navy - Rescue Ship - 1,089d - delivered 27-Jul-43 - beached in typhoon off Okinawa and lost,' corroborating DANFS builder, delivery/commissioning date, and typhoon loss. The Snow yard (founded 1862 by Capt. Israel Snow, Mechanic Street, Rockland) otherwise built small naval craft - AMc minesweepers and SC subchasers - and was sold to General Seafoods after WWII; the western site is now the Sail, Power and Steam Museum and the eastern half remains Rockland Marine.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Limitations
- Independent shipbuilding-industry reference corroborating builder identity and disposition; not a government source and contains no asbestos, materials, or crew information. The table's LOA column shows 213 for this hull, inconsistent with DANFS 183'3" - noted but not carried, as the schema has no dimension fields.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-04
-
[6]Rear Adm. Worrall Reed Carter, USN (Ret.), 'Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil: The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat in the Pacific During World War II' (Department of the Navy, 1953) - Appendix (Service Force Pacific salvage/rescue vessels) and Chapter XXX (Buckner Bay base; typhoons), HyperWar transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- BBBO Appendix, salvage/rescue vessel list; Chapter XXX 'Buckner Bay' typhoon section (~p.397-398)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Navy logistics history's appendix lists 'ARS-16 Extricate - Lt J.H. Ferguson' among Service Force Pacific rescue/salvage vessels. Chapter XXX documents that typhoons struck Okinawa 16 and 28 September and 9 October 1945 at the 'typhoon crossroads' of Buckner Bay, that the 9 October storm was 'very damaging to both floating and shore equipment,' and that several ships were lost, including ServRon 10 flagship Ocelot.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Service Force Pacific salvage vessels
- Limitations
- Official Navy history; the appendix naming ARS-16 establishes the hull's Service Force Pacific assignment, and the chapter documents the storm environment - but the narrative text does not name Extricate in the typhoon account itself (DANFS and CinCPac Serial 0395 supply the ship-specific loss). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-05
-
[7]NavSource photo caption 09371603 (period USN photography, George Hanse collection, contributed by Eric Hansen and John Chiquoine); corroborated by DANFS USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) entry, HyperWar transcription ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/BB/bb38.html [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource image 09371603 caption; DANFS Pennsylvania (BB-38) entry, August 1945 passage
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Period photograph shows USS Extricate (ARS-16) astern of USS Menominee (ATF-73), alongside the port quarter of USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) conducting pump-and-salvage work on the morning of 13 August 1945; Pennsylvania had been torpedoed at 2045 on 12 August in Buckner Bay. Pennsylvania's DANFS entry corroborates the event: after the 12 August torpedo hit, 'the flooding was brought under control by efforts of Pennsylvania's repair parties and the prompt assistance of two salvage tugs,' and the next day she was towed to shallow water for continued salvage.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-08-12 to 1945-08-13
- Population
- Salvage crews working a torpedoed battleship, Aug 1945
- Limitations
- The official DANFS Pennsylvania entry documents two salvage tugs but does not name them; the identification of Extricate rests on the photo caption from a private collection hosted by NavSource - hence partial verification. No asbestos content; documents wartime salvage operations only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-06
-
[8]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
- AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987), abstract and article
- 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 construction program under which this 1942-built naval auxiliary was produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard wartime 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)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel or the Anchor class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Diesel-electric auxiliaries lacked the boiler/steam-plant insulation load of steam ships; any ship-specific asbestos applications aboard this hull are undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-07
-
[9]Batch-2652 search ledger (this record): DANFS/hazegray mirror; NavSource archive page; shipbuildinghistory.com; HyperWar BBBO; CinCPac Serial 0395 transcription; CourtListener name and hull sweeps; NHHC live DANFS (404); NARA catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-extricate-ars16-01 through sl-uss-extricate-ars16-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, disposal hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Extricate (ARS-16) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull's destruction in place at Buckner Bay in March 1946 forecloses the museum/drydock/abatement records that document asbestos on surviving WWII auxiliaries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard; a 1942-built auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the wreck's destruction in place leaves remaining-material status undocumented. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-08
-
[10]Archival leads, unretrieved: NARA RG 24 deck logs for USS Extricate (ARS-16), 1943-1945; WWII Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center (holds CinCPac Serial 0395 original); any Board of Inspection and Survey / hull-survey file for the stricken vessel (RG 19 family); period USN photographs in the 80-G series including the Pennsylvania salvage views [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 (deck logs); NHC WWII Command File Serial 0395; NARA still-picture 80-G series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary records bearing on this hull's construction, damage, and disposal - deck logs, war diaries, damage reports, and the CinCPac Serial 0395 original - exist in federal archival custody per the cited report's own provenance (Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center) and standard NARA deck-log accession patterns, but were not individually verified or retrieved in this batch.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1946 holdings
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - holdings presumed from record-group accession patterns and the report's own source note, not a verified catalog hit (NARA catalog API not queryable without a key from this environment). These records are the likeliest source of any ship-specific materials detail, including insulation, but no asbestos content is asserted for them.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (fleet-paced helper cl-auth-search.py): opinion index queries '"USS Extricate"' and '"ARS-16"'; docket index queries '"USS Extricate"' and '"ARS-16"' [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-extricate-ars16-06 through sl-uss-extricate-ars16-08 and sl-uss-extricate-ars16-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Extricate or ARS-16 was located in CourtListener. '"USS Extricate"' returned zero results in both the opinion and RECAP docket indexes. '"ARS-16"' in the opinion index returned two hits, both name collisions: Michael Morford D/B/A Nemaha Water Services v. Esposito Securities, LLC (Tex. App.-Dallas, 2015, docket 05-14-01223-CV) and Appalachian Railcar Services, Inc. v. Boatright Enterprises, Inc., 602 F. Supp. 2d 829 (W.D. Mich. 2008) - 'ARS' strings unrelated to the naval hull. '"ARS-16"' in the RECAP docket index returned 93 dockets, all tokenized name collisions (debt-collection firms 'ARS National Services'/'Accounts Receivable Services' and '16-cv' docket-year strings); none names the vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes cover opinions and RECAP dockets, not state trial filings, bankruptcy trust claims, or VA claims - the likeliest venues for a small WWII auxiliary's exposure claims. 'Extricate' is a common English verb and 'ARS-16' collides with railcar-industry abbreviations, so absence of indexed hits does not prove no claim was ever filed; it establishes that no indexed opinion names this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-extricate-ars16-10