Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Fergus (APA-82) entry - verbatim transcription via hazegray/losthistory mirror (live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-25); corroborated against NavSource APA-82 page, MARAD Vessel History Database detail 1555, and shipscribe.com Gilliam-class table [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text; NavSource /archives/10/03/03082.htm; MARAD vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/1555; usnaux.shipscribe.com/APA/APA57.html class table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS Fergus (APA-82), Gilliam-class attack transport, named for Fergus County, Montana; built by Consolidated Steel Corp., Wilmington, CA, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1875; type S4-SE2-BD1; yard hull 745; ordered 25 May 1943; keel laid 7 October 1944 per shipscribe class table). Launched 24 December 1944, sponsored by Mrs. F. W. Mihld; acquired by the Navy 19 February 1945; commissioned 20 February 1945, CDR J. C. Snyder, USNR, in command. Specs: 4,247 t (lt) / 7,080 t (fl); 426 x 58 x 16 ft; Westinghouse turbo-electric drive, 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers (450 psi / 750 deg F per NavSource), 2 propellers, 6,000 shp, 16.9-17 kts; complement 320 (DANFS); troop capacity 47 officers + 802 enlisted; armament 1 x 5-in/38 DP, 4 x twin 40 mm, 10 x single 20 mm. Service: sailed San Diego 19 April 1945 for Saipan, where she transferred Marines to another transport bound for Okinawa; at Guam unloaded cargo and embarked hospital patients for San Francisco, returning 24 June; between 1 July and 20 October 1945 devoted to troop redeployment among Pacific bases and occupation duty in Japan (NavSource: Far East occupation service 16-30 September 1945); made two Magic Carpet cruises - one to Guam, Leyte, and Pearl Harbor, one to Pearl Harbor alone - returning servicemen eligible for discharge. Decommissioned 25 June 1946 at Pearl Harbor; struck from the Naval Register 17 July 1947; towed to San Francisco Bay and transferred to the Maritime Commission 4 September 1947 for lay-up in the NDRF, Suisun Bay. Sold for scrapping 16 June 1965 to Zidell Explorations Inc. (MARAD disposal PD-X-696 dated 20 May 1965, $72,113.13); withdrawn from Suisun Bay 26 July 1965 (MARAD milestone 7/26/1965); scrapping completed 14 January 1966.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Limitations
- Identity and service history corroborated across DANFS transcription, NavSource, MARAD vessel history, and shipscribe class table; live NHHC DANFS page 404 (standing NHHC link rot). None of these sources addresses asbestos content of any system. Keel date is shipscribe's; NavSource prints 'circa April 1944' - conflict flagged in gaps. Complement varies by source (DANFS 320; class tables 322-326).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-01
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[2]National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection (Admiral Nimitz Foundation), oral history interview with James Redding (ship's cook, USS Fergus), 17 June 2005, via UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History [museum_official]
- Locator
- Oral history transcript pages 5-6 and abstract (interview metapth1604829, National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Crew oral history documents an in-service casualty and repair event aboard this hull: in May 1945, bound for Okinawa with embarked Marines, Fergus suffered extensive bow damage during an underway refueling procedure (rammed by the vessel refueling her); the troops were transferred to another ship and Fergus proceeded to Guam for repairs - matching DANFS's terse note that she 'transferred Marines to another transport bound for Okinawa' at Saipan before calling at Guam. The interview also documents embarkation of Okinawa casualties for return to the U.S. (Fort Mason, June 1945), a troop lift from Seattle/Fort Lewis to Okinawa, and riding out a typhoon anchored at Okinawa.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Crew and embarked Marines aboard USS Fergus, May-June 1945
- Limitations
- Single crew recollection recorded ~60 years after events (OCR-extracted transcript); the collision mechanism rests on this account alone - DANFS corroborates the Saipan troop transfer and Guam call but does not state a collision. A documented repair event aboard the hull, but the source contains no asbestos information; any insulation disturbance scope is inference, not documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-02
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[3]Negative search result across authoritative repositories (2026-09-25) - see search_ledger [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fergus-apa82-01 through sl-uss-fergus-apa82-06
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation located for USS Fergus (APA-82) in any authoritative source searched (Navy/DANFS, MARAD vessel history, NARA/HAER, museum and archival collections). This is a negative finding, not an absence of exposure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- Negative finding reflects search coverage, not proof of absence. No hull-specific asbestos survey or abatement record located; the hull was scrapped in 1966, so no present-day ACM status question exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-03
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[4]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches, 2026-09-25 (opinion and docket indexes both completed) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4: type=o queries "USS Fergus" (0), "APA-82" (3 collisions), "Fergus asbestos ship" (1 collision); type=r query "USS Fergus" (0)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener authenticated searches completed 2026-09-25 via the fleet helper, both indexes: exact ship name "USS Fergus" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets; hull number "APA-82" returned 3 opinions, all name collisions (Administrative Procedure Act / advance-pricing-agreement references, no vessel); "Fergus asbestos ship" returned 1 opinion (Perez v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., S.D. Ill. 2016), a collision on the law-firm name 'Fergus, O'Connell, Tivin, Miller & Burns' - the asbestos exposure alleged was aboard USS Maryland, not this hull. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in CourtListener opinion or RECAP docket indexes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- No qualifying hit at either opinion or docket level. CourtListener coverage is not exhaustive - state-court and unindexed federal asbestos complaints naming this hull could exist outside its indexes; negative finding reflects index coverage only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-04
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[5]Booklet of General Plans, USS Gilliam (APA-57), Consolidated Steel Co., Wilmington Shipyard, dated 4 May 1945 - digitized set (Internet Archive item apa57ga1945, Foute Man Productions ship-design-drawings collection) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Internet Archive item apa57ga1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A surviving builder's Booklet of General Plans exists for the class lead ship USS Gilliam (APA-57), the same Maritime Commission S4-SE2-BD1 design and same builder as Fergus; the set (file units S4-SE2-BD1 S1-3-1A through S40-0-1) is the class-design primary document most likely to carry arrangement and insulation detail relevant to this hull.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the ~900 MB scan set was identified but not examined for insulation or material specifications; nothing in this record asserts content from it. Class-design document for a sister hull, not a document of this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-05
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[6]U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, asbestos exposure guidance for Navy veterans [other_primary]
- Locator
- VA public guidance on asbestos exposure for Navy veterans
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Era context: the Department of Veterans Affairs states that many WWII-era Navy ships contained asbestos products, with boiler and engine rooms of particular concern because asbestos was widely used as insulation during this period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- Era context only - does not establish asbestos presence aboard this specific hull. Not a finding about this ship.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fergus-apa82-06