Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, Fulton III (AS-1) (Naval History and Heritage Command; verbatim via Wayback capture 2023-11-06 - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Fulton III entry, full text (published 2015-07-09); canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/fulton-iii.html (404 on 2026-09-18)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Fulton III (AS-1): launched 6 June 1914 by New London Ship and Engine Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. A. T. Sutcliffe, great granddaughter of Robert Fulton; commissioned 7 December 1914, Lt. J. D. Wilson in command. Tended submarines at Norfolk, Charleston, New York, and Newport; after overhaul arrived New London 2 November 1915, her principal base through 1922 for submarine operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean from Cape Cod to Cuba; station ship at New London; summer 1922 flagship of Commander, Atlantic Submarine Flotillas. Tender for Submarine Base Coco Solo, Canal Zone, from 4 April 1923 (exercises on both sides of the Canal Zone; survey of Almirante Bay, Panama); returned to Philadelphia 14 July 1925, decommissioned and placed in reserve 5 October 1925. Recommissioned 2 September 1930 for duty as a surveying ship in the Canal Zone; reclassified PG-49 on 29 September. Surveys in the Canal Zone (overhaul voyage north winter 1931-32); arrived San Diego 13 August 1932 for Asiatic Fleet duty; assigned station Hong Kong from 3 November, patrolling the south China coast to Canton with infrequent voyages to Cavite Navy Yard. On 14 March 1934 fire broke out amidships when exhaust lines from two cylinders of a diesel engine carried away and ignited oil on the engine; crew taken off by HMS Wishart and SS Tsinan (three minor injuries); hulk towed to Junk Bay then Hong Kong for emergency repairs, then towed to Cavite, where she was decommissioned 12 May 1934.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1914-1934
- Population
- Crew (~135); submarine crews tended alongside
- Limitations
- Official ship-history narrative; contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information - establishes the service timeline and the 1934 loss only. Does not establish anything about asbestos aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-01
-
[2]Shipscribe, USS Fulton (AS-1) class page - S.S. Roberts compilation from U.S. Navy Ships' Data/NavData records and Bureau of Construction & Repair correspondence (General Board characteristics 1910-1912) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AS-1 class table (construction/disposition) + class notes (1910-1912 design and contract history, 1921 re-engining, 1930 reactivation, 1934 fire and disposal) + ship notes (buyer bid for coastwise trade; 'may have been scrapped instead')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe AS-1 compilation: FY1912 program (Act of 4 March 1911); General Board characteristics (25 June 1910) called for a single-screw, minimum-draft tender for five submarines with living spaces, storerooms, machine shop, blacksmith shop, foundry, torpedo workshop, and electrical workshop; sole bid from New London Ship & Engine Co. opened 30 April 1912; contract signed 19 June 1912 - NELSECO provided the diesel engine, the hull built under subcontract by Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass. Initially named NIAGARA (30 April 1912), renamed FULTON by General Order #12 of 10 February 1913; keel 2 October 1913, launched 6 June 1914, commissioned 7 December 1914; trials 1 November 1914 at 12.34 knots; final acceptance 25 September 1916. Diesel, single screw, ~1,000 hp; original diesel replaced with an ex-German type engine at Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1921. As built: no guns; a twin torpedo tube mount (removed by 1917, replaced by 2-3"/50 AA guns). Reclassified gunboat PG-49 and reactivated 1930 as a Canal Zone surveying vessel; two 3"/50 AA fitted at Philadelphia Navy Yard in September 1930 (stored ashore during survey duty). Burned at sea 14 March 1934 after a crankcase explosion in the ex-German main engine ignited diesel fuel in the engine room; burned-out hulk towed to Junk Bay near Hong Kong, then by USS Pecos (AO-6) from Hong Kong to Cavite on 6 April 1934; decommissioned 12 May 1934; stricken 18 May 1935; sold 6 June 1935 to Lanaviera Filipina Inc. of Cavite, whose bid stated use in Philippine coastwise trade - the shipscribe ship note records that she may have been scrapped instead.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1910-1935
- Population
- Contractor/yard trades (NELSECO Groton, Fore River Quincy, 1913-14); Philadelphia Navy Yard workers (1921 re-engining, 1930 reactivation); crew
- Limitations
- Compilation of official Ships' Data and bureau correspondence; documents design, machinery, and yard events - no insulation-material or asbestos content. The workshop fit is documented at the design-characteristics level and the contractor's design reduced shop spaces; exactly which shops were fitted as built is not itemized. Establishes the diesel plant and the yard/disposal timeline only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-02
-
[3]Franke, Kara, and Dennis J. Paustenbach, 'Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970),' Inhalation Toxicology 23(sup3):1-20 (2011), PMID 22200078 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Review, historical-use section (mirrored full text: inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Health-Hazards-of-Asbestos-Government-and-Navy-knowledge-Franke-2011.pdf)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed state-of-the-science review documents that beginning in the 1880s and continuing well into the 1950s, amosite and chrysotile asbestos fibers (and to a lesser extent crocidolite) were used extensively as insulating materials on U.S. naval ships because of their incombustibility, low thermal conductivity, light weight, and strength - covering the whole of this hull's 1914-1934 service life.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1900-1970 review; hull era 1914-1934
- Population
- U.S. naval personnel and shipyard workers, 1880s-1950s (era context)
- Limitations
- Navy-wide era review, not a hull record - does not name this vessel. Establishes that asbestos insulation was standard naval practice in this hull's era, not that it was installed aboard this hull. This vessel's diesel plant (no boilers or steam mains) plausibly carried a materially smaller insulation load than steam auxiliaries of the era; quantity, location, and presence aboard are unestablished.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-03
-
[4]Bowles, Oliver, 'Asbestos,' U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 403, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1937 (mirrored scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Bulletin 403, heat-insulation history section (pp. ~69-75 of the bulletin scan)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 403 documents that asbestos heat-insulation products were established decades before this hull's 1914 construction: asbestos-cement boiler covering was first tried about 1870; canvas-covered sectional magnesia pipe covering appeared in 1885; asbestos paper was used from about 1878 to protect hair-felt insulation from the heat of steam pipes. Asbestos gaskets, packing, and insulating felts were likewise standard industrial and marine products of the period.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1870s-1937 (product history); hull 1914-1935
- Population
- Early-20th-century shipbuilders and engine-room crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Product-history documentation, not a hull record - does not name this vessel or describe shipboard installation; asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. The boiler-covering products cited apply to steam plant this diesel vessel did not carry; the diesel-relevant products are exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, and felts. Does not establish quantity, location, presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-04
-
[5]DANFS Fulton III (builder, diesel plant); shipscribe AS-1 class notes + ship notes (contract history, Fore River subcontract, ex-German engine, stricken/sold dates, buyer bid); shipscribe AS-11 class table (distinct 1941 tender); NavSource AS-1 page (complement, buyer-name variant, erroneous 'steam engine' spec line, CO list); Wikipedia AS-1 infobox ('Fore River', 'scrapped 1934') [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AS-1 construction/disposition tables + class notes; shipscribe AS-11 construction table; NavSource 09/36/3601 spec block + CO list; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fulton_(AS-1) infobox
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies and name-collision notes: (a) Builder attribution - DANFS says launched by New London Ship and Engine Co., Groton; NavSource and Wikipedia infoboxes say 'Fore River'; shipscribe's contract history resolves both - the contract was with NELSECO (Groton), which supplied the diesel engine, while the hull was built under subcontract at Fore River, Quincy, Mass. (b) Propulsion - NavSource's spec line 'one New England Ship and Engine Co. steam engine' is erroneous; the ship was diesel-powered from design (the 1912 contract listed internal-combustion machinery) and DANFS confirms diesel exhaust lines caused the 1934 fire. (c) Complement - DANFS gives 135; shipscribe gives 109 (1929 Ships' Data); the DANFS figure is adopted, variance flagged in gaps. (d) Disposal - Wikipedia infobox says 'scrapped 1934' and NavSource says 'sold for scrapping'; official-data tables record stricken 18 May 1935 and sold 6 June 1935, and the shipscribe ship note records the buyer as Lanaviera Filipina Inc. of Cavite (NavSource renders 'Lavoniera Filipino') whose bid stated coastwise-trade use - whether she was actually scrapped is unconfirmed in the official-data compilation. (e) Name collision - all asbestos-content 'USS Fulton' hits located in web-indexed sources concern USS Fulton (AS-11), a different vessel (Mare Island Navy Yard, commissioned 12 September 1941, per shipscribe AS-11 class table) - seven years after AS-1 burned; no located asbestos or litigation content names this hull. (f) DANFS spells the first CO 'Wilson'; NavSource's CO list gives 'Willson, James David (USNA 1903)'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1913-1935
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies and preempts the AS-1/AS-11 collision; no asbestos content in any of these sources. The original-vs-1921-ex-German engine distinction matters for machinery-material dating but is unresolvable to materials level from public sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-05
-
[6]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (archives.gov guided topic, RG 19 series index); NARA RG 24 deck logs; shipscribe photo credit citing NARA RG 19-E imagery [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA guided-topic page, RG 19 correspondence series list; shipscribe AS-1 photo page (RG 19-E credit)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (existence confirmed at collection level, not retrieved): (a) NARA's official research guide 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' describes hull-level asbestos research via RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) specification files and correspondence - but its indexed correspondence series begin in 1940, after this hull's 1935 disposal, so this ship's records lie in earlier RG 19 / Bureau of Construction & Repair series (1911-1914 contract and specification files, 1921 re-engining and 1930 reactivation correspondence) not covered by the guide's indexed series; (b) deck logs (RG 24) for 1914-1934, including the 14 March 1934 fire entries; (c) the expected 1934 board-of-inquiry record for the engine-room fire - the likeliest contemporaneous machinery-condition document - was not located in digitized sources; (d) NARA RG 19-E imagery (shipscribe credits a September 1930 Philadelphia Navy Yard reactivation photograph to it).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1911-1935 records
- Limitations
- Collection-level existence only; no box-level retrieval performed and no asbestos-specific documents identified - nothing in this row is an asbestos finding. Whether the pre-1940 RG 19 series or the fire-inquiry file contain insulation-material information is unknown until surveyed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-06
-
[7]Batch-157 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS canonical URL (404) + Wayback capture; shipscribe AS-1 and AS-11 pages; NavSource; CourtListener API/UI (blocked); web-indexed court records; NARA asbestos research guide; era product-history literature [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fulton-as1-01 through sl-uss-fulton-as1-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, specification itemization, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Fulton (AS-1), Submarine Tender No. 1, or PG-49 was found in the public sources searched; the hull burned out in 1934 and was sold out of service at Cavite in 1935, predating any asbestos-survey regime, so no present-day hull documentation can exist. CourtListener access was rate-limited/blocked during this pass (API 125/day throttle, retry ~3.3h; web UI 403) - the dedicated name/hull litigation search is incomplete; web-indexed court-record searches returned only name collisions with USS Fulton (AS-11).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1914 naval auxiliary insulated to era practice is era-consistent with asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and lagging. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. Litigation search incomplete pending a CourtListener pass.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fulton-as1-07