Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[1]research packet 515-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: PHANTOM
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-pkt-515-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Fort Snelling' entry (covers LSD-23 name assignment and LSD-30 service) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Fort Snelling entry, LSD-23 paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull designation: 'The name Fort Snelling was assigned to LSD-23 on 19 June 1944 but construction was canceled on 12 August 1945.' The same entry then covers USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30), launched 16 July 1954 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Miss., commissioned 24 January 1955 - a different, later hull (Thomaston class) that reused the name.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Limitations
- Ship-specific for the name/designation only: establishes the name assignment and DANFS's cancellation date (12 Aug 1945), which conflicts with the 17 Aug 1945 cancellation date in shipscribe and class secondary literature - both carried in gaps. DANFS gives no builder or construction detail for LSD-23 here (those come from the Taurus II entry and other rows). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-01
-
[3]DANFS, 'Taurus II (T-AK-273)' entry - the authoritative Navy history of this hull's post-cancellation career [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Taurus II entry, narrative paragraphs and spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents the same physical hull's full career: 'laid down as Fort Snelling (LSD-23) on 8 November 1944 at Chickasaw, Ala., by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp.'; contract canceled after WWII; 'the unchristened hull changed hands twice before being completed in 1956 as the roll-on/roll-off ship SS Carib Queen for Trailer Marine Transport, Inc.'; 1957 MSTS charter undermined by propulsion problems; March 1958 - Maritime Administration took over after TMT defaulted on the mortgage; 15 January 1959 assigned to MSTS, renamed Taurus, designated T-AK-273; May 1959 first cargo run New York to St. Nazaire; nine years of Atlantic/Pacific MSTS cargo service; re-designated LSV-8 on 1 January 1963; mid-1960s cargo runs to South Vietnam; 'Never commissioned, Taurus went out of service at Yokosuka, Japan, in September 1968,' transferred to the Maritime Administration 25 June 1969 and sold same day to Union Minerals and Alloy Corp. of New York City; struck from the Navy list 22 June 1971. Spec block: T-AK-273, dp. 9,950 (f.), l. 475', b. 72', dr. 19', s. 16 k., cpl. 69.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction trades (1944-45); Carib Queen merchant crew (1956-58); MSTS civil-service mariners (1959-68)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history of the hull's entire life, but contains no asbestos or material content. DANFS's 'completed in 1956' is compressed: MARAD status cards and NavSource photo documentation show launch as Carib Queen 25 Jul 1946 and RoRo conversion completed 22 Dec 1956 - both carried. DANFS's LSV-8 reclassification date (1 Jan 1963) conflicts with shipscribe's effective date (1 Jun 1963) - in gaps. DANFS does not cover the post-1969 resale, drill-ship career, or 1989 scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-02
-
[4]NHHC photo catalog NH 90564 - USNS Taurus (T-AK-273) at anchor, late 1950s/early 1960s [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC NH 90564 catalog page, Description field
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's official photo caption confirms the hull identity chain: 'This ship was begun as the Dock Landing Ship Fort Snelling (LSD-23). Sold before launching and completed as S.S. Carib Queen, she became USNS Taurus in 1959.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Limitations
- Identity-chain documentation only; 'sold before launching' refers to the LSD launch - she was later launched (25 Jul 1946) as the Carib Queen per Florida State Archives photography. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-03
-
[5]MARAD Vessel History Database, CARIB QUEEN (ON 272941) - U.S. Maritime Commission Vessel Status Card (Form MC-7146a) and NDRF Reserve Fleet Ship Particulars card (Form MA-283), scanned originals [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov Detail/816 and Detail/12494; status-card scans cards/816_BF.jpg, 816_BB.jpg, 816_1452AF.jpg, and TMT-card PNGs 1ec09f2d / ed30865e
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Federal status cards document this hull by official number 272941 with former name 'LSD-23 (owned by Navy Dept)' / 'ex Fort Snelling': built 1945 by Gulf Shipbuilding (builder's hull no. GA-101); '10-45 Gulf Atlantic Transp. purchased vessel and commenced conversion to a pass-car ferry for Key West to Havana run - project abandoned'; '5-55 TMT Trailer Ferry Inc. purchased for conversion to Roll-on Roll-Off' with Title XI construction loan insurance $3,525,000 and mortgage insurance $4,112,500; '1957 made several voyages - sustained boiler trouble and towed to Phila. Financial losses and mechanical difficulties resulted in foreclosure'; auctioned by U.S. Marshal at Jacksonville 3-4-58; 'MA purchased for $3,450,000 & title transferred' 3-6-58; entered Wilmington, N.C. reserve fleet 3-17-58 12:30 EST; MARAD advertised her for operation under PD-X-549 (opened 9-17-58, no responsive bids) and PD-X-553 (opened 11-7-58); fleet accident damage noted 10-19-58; withdrawn 1-15-59 noon to Navy custody 'to be renamed USNS Taurus'; RoRo particulars card: capacity 100 truck trailers + 100 autos + 500 tons bulk cargo, gross 8,050 t, crew 47, speed 14.5 kts. Second card: MSTS custody 1-15-59; renamed TAURUS (TAK-273); 'Returned - Yokosuka, Jap. 6-25-69'; PD-X-830 advertised 5-1-69, opened 5-29-69, 'operation use', awarded 6-4-69 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., 45 Nassau St., New York, for $456,000; subsequent sales to North-East Shipping Corp. and to Reading & Bates Exploration Company (5-24-72) recorded on card.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1972
- Population
- Gulf Atlantic conversion workers (1945-47); TMT/Merrill-Stevens conversion trades (1955-56); Carib Queen merchant crew (1957-58); MARAD/NDRF caretakers (1958-59)
- Limitations
- Strongest hull-specific federal record located: a contemporaneous government custody/ownership card. No asbestos or material content. The card's 'built by Merrill-Stevens D.D. & Repair Co.' line refers to the Jacksonville conversion yard (hull built at Chickasaw by Gulf - the card itself says 'Chickasaw, Ala. & Jacksonville, Fla.'). 'Operation use' notation on the 1969 sale is consistent with the documented resale to Reading & Bates for drill-ship conversion - 'sold for scrapping 1969' in secondary sources is incomplete.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-04
-
[6]NavSource Online Amphibious/Service-Force Photo Archive, 'USNS Taurus (T-LSV-8) ex USNS Taurus (T-AK-273)' page (combines LSD-23 / Carib Queen / Taurus history and photo documentation; page verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/17/1708.htm - timeline block, 'AK Specifications' block, and photo captions (State Archives of Florida, 21 Aug 1945 construction view; 25 Jul 1946 launch views)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 8 November 1944 as Fort Snelling (LSD-23) at Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, AL; 'Contract canceled, date unknown'; uncompleted hull purchased October 1945 by Gulf Atlantic Transportation Co.; sold 22 December 1956 to TMT Trailer Ferry Inc. for conversion to a roll-on/roll-off ferry; completed in 1956 as SS Carib Queen; repossessed by U.S. Government 4 March 1958 at Jacksonville, FL; laid up 17 March 1958 in MARAD NDRF at Wilmington, N.C.; acquired by the Navy and assigned to MSTS 15 January 1959 as USNS Taurus (T-AK-273); reclassified T-LSV-8 1 January 1963; out of service September 1968 at Yokosuka; custody to MARAD 25 June 1969; sold to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. (PD-X-830 dated 1 May 1969) for $456,000, delivered 25 June 1969; struck from the Naval Register 22 June 1971. Photo captions (State Archives of Florida): hull under construction at Gulf Shipbuilding 21 August 1945 (stern view - well deck, wing-wall bulkheads, stern-gate hydraulics, interior planking incomplete); SS Carib Queen ready for launch at Chickasaw 25 July 1946 with enclosed stern doors and modified prow. Spec block (as AK): two Westinghouse steam turbines; two Babcock & Wilcox oil-fired D-type boilers (250 psi); Fairbanks Morse main reduction gears; twin propellers, 7,000 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding trades (1944-46); conversion trades (1946-56); Carib Queen crew; MSTS crew (1959-68)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary source; its milestone dates track DANFS/MARAD where checked, but it lists the cancellation 'date unknown' (DANFS says 12 Aug; shipscribe says 17 Aug) and gives 'sold ... 22 December 1956 to TMT' where the MARAD card shows TMT purchased 5-55 and the RoRo conversion completed 12-22-56 - conflicts carried in gaps. Boiler identity also conflicts (B&W 250 psi here vs Combustion Engineering 435 psi/740 deg in shipscribe). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-05
-
[7]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USNS Taurus (T-LSV 8/AKR 8, ex LSD) Class' data page - compiled from Navy/MARAD records incl. Ships' Characteristics Board and Cochrane Collection material [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/usnaux2/LSV/LSV08.html - Class Notes and Ship Notes paragraphs; companion photo page LSV08-p.html (April 1945 Gulf Shipbuilding aerial showing LSD-22 and LSD-23 on the side launch ways)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe documents the hull's order history and full post-Navy disposition: LSD-23 was ordered from the New York Navy Yard 21 September 1943; that order was canceled 15 November 1943, reinstated 15 January 1944, and construction reassigned to Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, on 15 May 1944. 'Her Westinghouse turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers were installed in 1945.' The contract for the unfinished ship was canceled 17 August 1945; the incomplete LSD was sold to Gulf Atlantic Transportation Co. and launched at Chickasaw 25 July 1946 as Carib Queen of Jacksonville, FL; she arrived at Jacksonville May 1947 for conversion to a Key West-Havana passenger/auto ferry ($3,250,000, 900 passengers / 230 autos / 20 trucks); the plan was abandoned 27 December 1950; TMT Trailer Ferry bought her and Merrill Stevens (Jacksonville) completed the RoRo conversion 22 December 1956 - 'the first privately-owned ro-ro to go into service,' maiden voyage under MSTS charter arriving St. Nazaire 4 February 1957; propulsion trouble and bankruptcy followed; repossessed February 1958; MARAD bought her at public auction; Wilmington reserve fleet 17 March 1958; MSTS custody as T-AK-273 15 January 1959 (renaming in MSTS use from 19 November 1958); machinery repairs completed May 1959 by Savannah Machine and Foundry Co.; transatlantic trailer-van service with USNS Comet; NASA Saturn-stage transport proposed 1962 and conversion released May 1966 (conversion likely canceled - no photos found); Vietnam support late 1960s; MSTS crew departed Yokosuka 11 September 1968; reclassified T-LSV-8 effective 1 June 1963 (order 26 April 1963) and T-AKR-8 effective 1 January 1969 (order 25 September 1968); to MARAD and sold to Union Minerals & Alloys 25 June 1969 at Yokosuka; 'resold by them for further operation. Purchased by Reading & Bates Exploration Co. 24 May 1972. Converted to drilling ship DOUGLAS CARVER 1974-75 at the former John Brown yard at Clydebank. Renamed INCO 109 in 1988, arrived at Alang 31 Jan 1989 to BU.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1989
- Population
- New York Navy Yard (order only - no work); Gulf Shipbuilding trades (1944-46); Gulf Atlantic/Merrill-Stevens conversion trades; Savannah Machine & Foundry repair workers (1959); MSTS mariners (1959-68); John Brown Clydebank conversion workers (1974-75); Alang shipbreakers (1989)
- Limitations
- Expert secondary compilation (Roberts) working from primary Navy/MARAD documentation - the fullest single source for this hull, and the only located source covering the post-1969 drill-ship career and 1989 Alang disposal. Its cancellation date (17 Aug 1945) conflicts with DANFS (12 Aug); its LSV-8 effective date (1 Jun 1963) conflicts with DANFS (1 Jan 1963); its boiler identification (Combustion Engineering, 435 psi/740 deg F) conflicts with NavSource (Babcock & Wilcox, 250 psi) - all carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-06
-
[8]Historic American Engineering Record, USNS Comet (HAER No. CA-348), MARAD/NPS documentation - RoRo program history section [haer]
- Locator
- HAER CA-348, pp. 6-7 and note 13 (MARAD-hosted PDF)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The HAER history of the RoRo program names this hull in its merchant identity: 'USNS Taurus, a wartime dock landing ship (LSD) completed under a federal mortgage guarantee as the trailership Carib Queen in 1957. Its original owner, TMT Trailer Ferry, Inc., of Miami, was not able to make the ship pay commercially, and it defaulted on the ship's mortgage. MARAD repossessed the ship in 1958 and transferred it to MSTS in 1959, where it became a running mate for the Comet in transatlantic shuttle service.' Footnote: 'Carib Queen made the first transatlantic crossing by a commercial roll-on, roll-off ship in 1957. The first westbound cargo comprised 110 foreign-made automobiles and twelve Swiss and German trailers...' (citing New York Times, Feb. 26, 1957).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1957-1959
- Population
- Carib Queen merchant crew (1957); MSTS mariners (1959-68)
- Limitations
- Federal heritage documentation written for another vessel (Comet); treats this hull only in its Carib Queen/Taurus merchant-naval identity. Its 'completed ... in 1957' aligns with the MARAD card's 22 Dec 1956 conversion completion rather than the 1946 launch - consistent with the launch-then-protracted-conversion history. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource AK spec block (two Westinghouse steam turbines; two oil-fired D-type boilers; twin screws, 7,000 shp); shipscribe machinery note ('Westinghouse turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers ... installed in 1945'); Casa Grande-class design parameters (geared turbines, two boilers, ~7,000-9,000 shp); shipbuildinghistory.com Chickasaw yard table (Gulf Shipbuilding wartime production list incl. LSD-23) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/17/1708 'AK Specifications'; shipscribe LSV08 class notes; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/chickasaw.htm (Gulf build list, LSD 23 row)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- This hull was built 1944-45 at a wartime U.S. shipyard and fitted with a geared-steam-turbine plant (two oil-fired boilers) installed in 1945 - the machinery arrangement whose era-typical insulation suite was asbestos-carrying: boiler and steam-line lagging, turbine insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and electrical insulation. The hull then had a long service life in three more configurations (merchant RoRo 1956-58; MSTS cargo 1959-68; drill ship after 1974-75 Clydebank conversion) - each conversion/refit window is a plausible disturbance point for original insulation and a plausible installation point for period materials, but none is ship-documented for asbestos.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1989
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction and machinery-installation trades (1944-46); conversion trades Chickasaw/Jacksonville (1946-56); Carib Queen engine crew (1957-58); MSTS engine crew (1959-68); Clydebank conversion workers (1974-75); Alang breakers (1989)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, survey, work package, or material list located for LSD-23/Carib Queen/Taurus. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for asbestos materials on this hull. Boiler maker itself is source-conflicted (B&W vs Combustion Engineering) - the steam-plant pathway applies either way but details are unverified. Does not establish quantity, exposure of any individual, or present-day condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-08
-
[10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's 1944-45 construction, its 1956-57 RoRo completion, and the whole 1959-68 MSTS service window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-09
-
[11]Walker v. Blackmer Pump Co., 367 F. Supp. 3d 360 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 14, 2019) (MDL-875, Civil Action No. 16-5349), CourtListener opinion 7334842; Hurley v. Anchor Packing Company, No. 1:12-cv-00462 (D. Md., P.I.: Asbestos, terminated 2014-09-04), CourtListener docket 5014302 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text at *366-*368 (Synopsis of Machinery and Hull Data discussion); CourtListener cluster 7334842
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- NAME-COLLISION FINDING: qualifying asbestos litigation does exist referencing 'Fort Snelling,' but in every located instance the ship is USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30), a different hull of a different class (Thomaston class), never this hull. In Walker, the decedent served 1969-71 aboard USS Plymouth Rock (LSD-29); plaintiff's product-identification proof relied on the 'Synopsis of Machinery and Hull Data for the U.S.S. Fort Snelling' covering the LSD-28 class (LSD-28 through LSD-31). The opinion treats the class synopsis as evidence of which manufacturers' pumps (Ingersoll-Rand fire pump; Warren Pumps feed/circulating/stripping pumps; Blackmer transfer pump) and which asbestos components (85% magnesia insulation spec, asbestos insulation rings, asbestos sheet gaskets, braided asbestos packing) were aboard the Thomaston-class ships - a trial-stage evidentiary record for that class, not this hull. In Hurley (D. Md., asbestos P.I.), plaintiffs identified Navy vessels including USS Fort Snelling in discovery as exposure context - Hurley's documented exposure was at the Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore, and aboard Navy vessels in the 1950s-60s; the only commissioned USS Fort Snelling in that window was LSD-30, while LSD-23 had ceased to carry the name at cancellation in August 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2014-2019 (litigation); exposure window 1969-71
- Population
- LSD-28-class crews (Plymouth Rock LSD-29 crew, 1969-71) - NOT this hull's population
- Limitations
- Classified as name collisions for LSD-23: the Fort Snelling in both Walker and Hurley is LSD-30, commissioned 1955 - this hull (LSD-23) was never commissioned and had already left Navy hands twice over by the relevant service windows. The asbestos-product findings are for the Thomaston (LSD-28) class, not the Casa Grande class - they cannot be read onto this hull. Included to prevent the common secondary-source conflation of the two Fort Snellings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-10
-
[12]Kapczynski v. T.M.T. Trailer Ferry, Inc. (E.D. Pa., July 1, 1959), CourtListener opinion 8745978; companion hull-litigation: Ocean Machinery Corp. v. United States (S.D.N.Y., Jan. 28, 1959, opinion 8745805); United States v. C. Gordon Anderson, Trustee, 334 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1964, opinion 264926); Protective Committee for Independent Stockholders of TMT Trailer Ferry, Inc. v. Anderson, 390 U.S. 414 (1968, opinion 107642) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener opinions 8745978, 8745805, 264926, 107642
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- NON-ASBESTOS LITIGATION naming this hull in its merchant identity: Kapczynski is a seaman's libel in rem against the T.M.T. Carib Queen and in personam against TMT Trailer Ferry for shipboard injuries ($10,000; unseaworthiness/negligence; maintenance and cure) - direct evidence the hull carried merchant crew who litigated working conditions, but the claim is traumatic injury, not asbestos. Ocean Machinery Corp. v. United States is an admiralty suit over $10,000 for a rotary pump sold to the TMT Carib Queen after the government's foreclosure purchase. The two Anderson opinions (5th Cir. 1964; Supreme Court 1968) are Chapter X bankruptcy-reorganization proceedings of operator TMT Trailer Ferry - corporate context for the foreclosure that put the hull into MARAD hands.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1956-1968
- Population
- Carib Queen merchant crew (1956-58, incl. libellant Leon Kapczynski); TMT corporate litigation parties
- Limitations
- Ship-specific litigation (the cases name this hull as Carib Queen), but none involves asbestos or occupational disease - classified 'other litigation,' not qualifying exposure evidence. Kapczynski documents crew presence aboard the merchant hull circa 1957-58 only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-11
-
[13]Batch-5812 search ledger (this record): DANFS Fort Snelling + Taurus II entries; NHHC NH-90564; MARAD Vessel History Database cards (ON 272941); NavSource 10/17/1708; shipscribe LSV08; HAER CA-348; shipbuildinghistory Chickasaw; GAO HRD-80-2; NVR; CourtListener opinion + docket searches (Fort Snelling, LSD-23, Carib Queen, USNS Taurus, T-AK-273/T-LSV-8/Douglas Carver, Fort Snelling+asbestos dockets); NARA catalog; secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-01 through -17
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or asbestos litigation naming this hull under any of its identities (Fort Snelling LSD-23, Carib Queen/TMT Carib Queen ON 272941, USNS Taurus T-AK-273/T-LSV-8/T-AKR-8, Douglas Carver, INCO 109) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The two asbestos-litigation name hits (Walker, E.D. Pa. 2019; Hurley, D. Md. 2012 docket) concern LSD-30, a different hull. Secondary sweeps surfaced only law-firm listicles asserting asbestos aboard 'USS Fort Snelling' and 'USNS Taurus' without primary sourcing (asbestos-ships.com, mesotheliomaveterans.org, sokolovelaw.com, elslaw.com and similar) - excluded by source policy; those pages do not distinguish LSD-23 from LSD-30.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45 steam-powered hull with a documented 1945 machinery installation is era-consistent with asbestos insulation, but this record makes no ship-proven claim. Deck logs, BuShips contract plans, Gulf Shipbuilding work records, conversion specifications (Merrill-Stevens 1956; John Brown Clydebank 1974-75), and scrapping records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-12
-
[14]NARA leads (not digitized): RG 24 deck logs for USNS Taurus (T-AK-273) 1959-68; BuShips contract records for LSD-23 (order history per shipscribe); MARAD conversion files for ON 272941 [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov (JS-rendered; unfetchable from this session); RG 24 / RG 19 / MARAD series as leads
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Undigitized archival leads for this hull: NARA catalog (catalog.archives.gov) is JS-rendered and could not be searched programmatically this session; deck logs for the USNS Taurus period and any BuShips construction records for LSD-23 (built at a contract yard, so Navy inspector files may exist) remain the primary unsearched repositories. The MARAD vessel-history card set already consulted is the digitized portion of the federal custody record.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1959-1968 (deck-log window)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - no record contents were reviewed. NARA catalog search failure is an access limitation (JS-rendered), not a finding that records do not exist.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fort-snelling-lsd23-13