Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet zcn-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-flambeau-ix192-pkt-zcn-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Flambeau' (IX-192) entry, U.S. Naval Historical Center; hazegray transcription mirror [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS IX-192 entry; NHHC canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/flambeau-iii.html returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-29
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: the third Flambeau, a tanker built in 1919 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, PA, as S. B. Hunt; acquired by the Navy 1945-01-08 and commissioned the same day at Pearl Harbor, Lt. R. S. Green, USNR, in command. Converted at Pearl Harbor for use as an oil storage ship; served in that capacity at Saipan until July 1945 and then at Iwo Jima. Sailed from Pearl Harbor 1945-12-30 for Norfolk, VA; decommissioned 1946-04-06 and returned to the War Shipping Administration. DANFS specifications: displacement 15,800 t. (f.); length 445 ft; beam 59 ft; draft 26 ft 6 in; speed 10 kts; complement 83; armament one 5-inch and one 3-inch gun; class Flambeau.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1919-1946
- Population
- Crew of 83 (DANFS, Navy period, 1945-1946)
- Limitations
- Transcription mirror of official DANFS text; canonical NHHC page returned 404 (standing NHHC link-rot issue first logged in Batch 01). Contains no asbestos, insulation, material, or exposure statement - supports identity and service history only. Does not give a stricken date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-01
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, Ship History Database, S. B. HUNT - Ship History Detail 4250 (milestones; vessel status card scans 4250_AF.jpg, 66H_01.png, 4250_7831AF.jpg, 4250_7831AB.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 4250, milestone table and status-card image gallery; cards at /cards/4250_AF.jpg, /cards/66H_01.png, /cards/4250_7831AF.jpg, /cards/4250_7831AB.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record and four vessel status cards for S. B. HUNT (ex-FLAMBEAU, IX-192), Official No. 218630: built 1919 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock, Chester, PA; 430 ft x 59 ft x 33 ft 3 in, draft 26 ft 8 in; 6,840 gross / 4,268 net / 11,205 DWT / 15,487 displacement; speed 10.6 knots; 'IHP 3000 / 3 SEB'; annotated 'BATTLE DAMAGED' and 'USED BY NAVY AS FLOATING STORAGE'; 'CONDITION REPORT IN FILE'. Custody chain recorded: basis to WSA 1942-04-26 10:50 AM from Standard Oil Co. of N.J. at a Venezuelan port (card shows a corrected La Guaira/Guiria entry) under a TCA-form agreement with Standard Oil as operator; USMC purchase/trade-in under Commission approval dated 1944-02-25 (trade-in dated 3/1/44 on the acquisition card) covering this ship with 14 other obsolete vessels against 8 new T2-SE-A1 tankers for a $735,340 allowance; RTC delivery to USMC 1944-03-21 10:20 AM EWT at Bayonne, NJ, operator switched to War Emergency Tankers, Inc. under general agency agreement; bareboat to Navy Dept. at Pearl Harbor 1945-01-08 11:07 AM; Reserve Fleet entry at Lee Hall, VA 1946-04-05 3:30 PM EST (termination port of last voyage: Norfolk); scrap award PD-X-237 dated 1946-12-02; sold to Patapsco Scrap Corp. for $22,943 and withdrawn/delivered 1946-12-27 11 AM EST.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1919-1946
- Limitations
- Authoritative primary custody record. Sequencing nuance: MARAD custody entry (Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall) is dated 1946-04-05 while DANFS gives Navy decommissioning 1946-04-06 - the one-day inversion is presented exactly as each source records it, not harmonized. Handwritten entries partially legible; '3 SEB' read as three boilers is an interpretation. Contains no asbestos, materials, insulation, or exposure information; the referenced 'condition report in file' is not digitized. Does not establish asbestos presence or any exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-02
-
[4]U.S. Coast Guard, 'Report on U.S. Merchant Tanker War Action Casualty - S. B. Hunt,' 7 July 1943 incident; declassified under NARA Project NW 63684; MARAD documents SBHunt_4250_001.pdf and SBHunt_4250_002.pdf [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- SBHunt_4250_001.pdf (2-page handwritten casualty form) and SBHunt_4250_002.pdf (typed casualty summary), linked from ShipHistory Detail 4250
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Declassified official casualty file (NARA Project NW 63684, hosted on the MARAD record): 'Report on U.S. Merchant Tanker War Action Casualty' to the Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, records S. B. Hunt (owner Standard Oil Co. of N.J., steam propulsion, 6,840 gross tons, ~81,070 bbl capacity) torpedoed on 1943-07-07 while in ballast (water ballast, ~8,000 bbls) on the Recife, Brazil - Trinidad run, position approximately 03 deg 51 min S, 36 deg 22 min W; one hit nearly amidships with a brief flash fire; the ship was armed and her guns were manned; she was not abandoned, kept convoy station, was reboarded and brought in; 48 aboard, all saved; vessel salvaged; approximate damage figure handwritten (partially legible). A typed summary in the same file adds that another tanker, Boyce Thompson, was lost in the same attack.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-07-07
- Population
- Merchant tanker crew of 48 (all survived); ship's gun crew per report
- Limitations
- Primary official casualty record; handwriting partially legible (OCR-aided) - convoy designation not legible in the form (secondary compilations identify convoy BT-18; not relied on here). Documents damage and survival, not the repair: repair yard, scope, and dates are undocumented in located sources. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information; does not establish asbestos presence or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-03
-
[5]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 fireproofing and insulation in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII and that wartime demand drove unprecedented utilization aboard merchant-type hulls. This hull has documented wartime events inside that window - the July 1943 torpedo casualty and ensuing repair period (repair undocumented) and the January 1945 Navy conversion to an oil storage ship at Pearl Harbor - but no source identifies any insulation, lagging, gasket, packing, or other material actually installed or retained aboard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard and repair-yard workers; ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel. Frames only why the 1943-1945 repair and conversion events are asbestos-relevant periods; it does not establish that asbestos was aboard, the quantity or location, any individual exposure, or causation. The hull's original 1919 construction predates the documented wartime peak this study describes.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-04
-
[6]Batch 4751 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 4250 incl. status cards and declassified documents; NARA archival leads; CourtListener searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-flambeau-ix192-01 through sl-uss-flambeau-ix192-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: DANFS, the MARAD ShipHistory record, four status cards, two declassified document scans, and the searches logged in the search_ledger contain no asbestos survey, abatement contract, insulation specification, hazmat disclosure, or court record naming S. B. Hunt / USS Flambeau (IX-192).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Bounded negative result, not proof asbestos was absent - a 1919 steam tanker very plausibly carried asbestos insulation, and her wartime repair/conversion occurred in the documented peak-use era; absence of a located record is exactly that. Does not establish or defeat any exposure or legal claim. CourtListener coverage is bounded by the pacing status logged in the ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-05
-
[7]MARAD status card 'CONDITION REPORT IN FILE' annotation (4250_7831AB.jpg); NARA Guide to Federal Records, Record Group 19 and Record Group 24 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Card annotation on the MARAD reserve-fleet entry card; NARA RG 19 guide (specifications, plans, maintenance series); RG 24 deck-log series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material records: the MARAD reserve-fleet entry card annotates 'CONDITION REPORT IN FILE' - a fleet-entry condition report on this hull exists in MARAD files but is not digitized. NARA Record Group 24 (Bureau of Navigation / Bureau of Naval Personnel deck logs) should hold IX-192 deck logs for January 1945 - April 1946, and Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships and predecessors) holds vessel specification and repair series; no IX-192 deck log scan was located in digitized public sources.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946 records
- Limitations
- Leads, not retrieved records: the condition report, deck logs, and any repair-work files were not pulled. Whether any of them document insulation materials or asbestos aboard this hull is unknown. Establishes no material fact aboard the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search, authenticated helper script (opinion and docket index), 2026-09-29 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-flambeau-ix192-08 through sl-uss-flambeau-ix192-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep, partially completed: an authenticated opinion search for the exact phrase 'USS Flambeau' returned zero hits (HTTP 200, count 0). The remaining planned queries - bare 'Flambeau', 'IX-192', 'S. B. Hunt', and docket searches - were blocked by the shared fleet pacing limiter at every attempt during this session (no HTTP request made on those attempts). No qualifying asbestos litigation, other litigation, or name-collision hits were identified; the unfinished portion is a coverage gap, not a negative finding.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Bounded sweep: exact-Navy-name opinion search completed with zero hits; hull-number, bare-name, merchant-name, and docket searches remain unresolved while the shared fleet budget is exhausted - a blocked query proves nothing. Collision note for retry: 'Flambeau' litigation is dominated by unrelated Wisconsin corporate defendants (Flambeau Plastics/Corp., Flambeau Paper, Flambeau Mining); a bare-name hit is a collision unless it names the vessel, IX-192, or S. B. Hunt. No pleading, docket, or opinion stage is claimed; an allegation, if later found, is not an exposure finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-flambeau-ix192-07