Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 1098-packet.md (5 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-heekon-yt141-pkt-1098-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Heekon (YT-141), 1940-1963 (live NHHC page, updated by Robert J. Cressman 22 July 2025; verified live 2026-10-05) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block, live page (Published Wed Jul 23 2025)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'a diesel-powered tug, was launched by the Charleston Navy Yard on 29 November 1939; sponsored by Miss Margaret L. Pence; and placed in service on 22 March 1940.' 'Heekon operated at Washington, D.C., during World War II. She was reclassified as a harbor tug (big) YTB-141, on 15 May 1944 and as a harbor tug, medium, YTM-141, in February 1962. Following the war she continued to serve as a harbor tug in the Potomac River Naval Command until being taken out of service and stricken from the Navy Register in early 1963.' Merchant chain per DANFS: sold to Steers Sand & Gravel Co., New York, renamed Philip Steers; St. Philip Coastal Towing Co. acquired 1994, renamed Yvonne St. Philip; owners became Bay Transportation Co. of Fort Lauderdale, name retained; Hvide Marine, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale) acquired 1998, renamed Clearwater; McAllister Towing & Transportation purchased 2004, renamed Catherine McAllister; Zenith Tugboat Co. of Duluth, MN, rechristened Venture 2008; Caribbean Investors LLC of Port Saint Lucie, FL, renamed Victor Altman 2010; sold to Bolivian interests August 2010, renamed Muheet. Spec block: displacement 325; length 100'0"; beam 25'0"; draft 9'7".
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1939-2010
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1939-40); crew (1940-63); merchant crews (1963-2010+)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS states no laid-down date and no complement. The live NHHC page is the primary source and was verified live on 2026-10-05 - unusually, this DANFS entry was updated 22 July 2025 and covers the merchant chain through 2010.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-01
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[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, Heekon (YTM-141) ex YTB-141 / YT-141 - class, timeline, specifications, awards, merchant service (live navsource.net page verified 2026-10-05; last updated 28 Aug 2015) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 14/08141.htm header block, specifications block, awards block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource page for this hull: 'Woban Class District Harbor Tug'; built by Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC; launched 29 November 1939; 'Placed in service, 20 March 1940 at Washington Navy Yard as Heekon (YT-141)' (conflicts with DANFS 22 March 1940 - see gaps); reclassified District Harbor Tug, Large, YTB-141, 15 May 1944; reclassified District Harbor Tug, Medium, YTM-141, February 1962; placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register early 1963. Merchant chain per NavSource: Steers Sand & Gravel Co. as Phillip Steers (ON 292208) 1963; St. Phillip Coastal Towing Co. as Yvonne St. Philip 1994; Hvide Marine Inc. (Ft. Lauderdale) as Clearwater 1998; McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. as Catherine McAllister 2004; Zenith Tugboat Co. (Duluth, MN) as Venture 2008; Caribbean Investors LLC (Port Saint Lucie, FL) as Victor Altman 2010; reflagged Bolivian as Muheet (IRCS CPA859 / IMO 7619965) August 2010. Specifications: displacement 325 tons (full load); length 100'10"; beam 25'; draft 9'7" (max); speed 13 kts; complement 10; armament two .50 cal machine guns; propulsion diesel, single screw. Awards listed: American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal. Photo record: YTM-141 easing a lighter up to a wharf at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington DC (US Navy photo from All Hands magazine, March 1952); merchant-service photos as Yvonne St. Philip (c. July 1969) and Catherine McAllister.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1939-2010
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1939-40); crew (1940-63); merchant crews (1963-2010+)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates generally track DANFS/NVR but conflict on the in-service date (20 vs 22 March 1940) and specifications (see gaps). NavSource-only figures (complement 10, armament, speed) are not stated in DANFS and are unverified. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-02
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[4]Shipscribe, U.S. Navy Harbor Tugs, Large, 1922-1945 photo gallery - class data table sourced to the Navy's 1949 Ships Data Book and NAVSHIPS 250-641 Ship Contracts Awarded 1 January 1934 - 1 July 1955 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe YT119-p.html 'Class List' table row 'a' and reclassification footnote
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class-level data for this hull's class: 'YT-138 (Woban)' class, first order 7 July 1938; L-oa 100 ft, B-ext 26 ft, D-nav 10 ft; T-std 237 tons / T-full 345 tons; class roster 'YT 138-142, 145-151, 177-182, 188-191, 195'. Class-level reclassification notes corroborating DANFS dates: 'On 15 May 1944 all of the above still in service were reclassified from YT (Harbor Tug) to YTB (Harbor Tug Big)... Most surviving World War II YTB's were downgraded to YTM in February 1962.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1938-1962 (class construction and reclassification window)
- Population
- Class-wide construction and crew populations
- Limitations
- Class-level table covering all hulls in the class, not a hull-specific record. Displacement figures (237 standard / 345 full) conflict with the DANFS spec block '325' and NavSource '325 tons (full load)' - carried in gaps. Shipscribe is a reputable secondary compiler quoting official sources (1949 Ships Data Book, NAVSHIPS 250-641); the underlying documents were not separately fetched this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-03
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[5]NARA-held Bureau of Yards and Docks photograph 71-CA-5223-D, Still Pictures Branch, College Park, MD (identifier and holding transcribed from the live DANFS image caption) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS image caption citing NARA Still Pictures Branch photo 71-CA-5223-D
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A National Archives-held U.S. Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks photograph (identifier 71-CA-5223-D, Still Pictures Branch, College Park) shows this hull at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., on 29 November 1940: 'Heekon (behind the crane) awaits her next assignment while work proceeds on a berth for the proposed museum ship Hartford.' Physical-presence documentation of the tug at her documented duty station.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1940
- Population
- Crew and Washington Navy Yard workforce, 29 November 1940
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: a photograph establishes presence at the Washington Navy Yard on a single date, not what work was performed aboard or alongside her; it is not a maintenance or overhaul record. The NARA catalog item was not independently fetched this session - identifier and repository are transcribed from the DANFS caption (verified live). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-04
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[6]Era inference built on: DANFS spec block ('diesel-powered tug'); NavSource specifications ('diesel, single screw'); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for charleston-naval-shipyard (magnesia pipe insulation; asbestos cement products; asbestos gaskets in pumps and valves; packing materials for rotating equipment; thermal insulation for steam systems; electrical insulation throughout vessels) and washington-navy-yard (asbestos-laden insulation for pipes, boilers, and furnaces; gaskets; valves; steam systems; metal blocks containing over 65% asbestos) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; NavSource specifications; shipyards.json asbestos_products_documented for charleston-naval-shipyard and washington-navy-yard
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered harbor tug built 1939 at the Charleston Navy Yard sits inside that yard's documented asbestos-use era, and her entire 1940-1963 Navy career at the Washington Navy Yard / Potomac River Naval Command placed her inside a second documented asbestos-use yard for every availability and alongside period. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel harbor tug of this period were engine and exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel-powered craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1939-2010
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1939-40); crew (1940-63); Washington Navy Yard / Potomac River Naval Command trades during availabilities; merchant crews and shipyard trades (1963-2010+)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for YT-141. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. The yard product lists are yard-level documentation; this hull is not named in them. Does not establish individual exposure or present-day condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-05
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[7]GAO, Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 / B-163375 (Oct 18, 1979) - full text retrieved via firecrawl scrape of the PDF asset (product page returns HTTP 403 to direct fetch) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2, cover letter and 'Navy's Policy on Use of Asbestos' section (full text via firecrawl, 2026-10-05)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented Navy-wide shipboard asbestos use spanning this hull's entire era: 'although all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables, most ships delivered in the last several years or now under construction have little or no asbestos as thermal insulation, which was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships.' The Navy's elimination policy issued October 1975 'after specifications had been revised to eliminate asbestos as an acceptable material for thermal insulation' (product specifications changed 1973; some ships delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978). GAO fieldwork covered the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards' asbestos control programs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1979 (review covering practices through the 1970s)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk - neither built nor serviced this hull so far as is documented. Does not establish materials aboard YT-141, individual exposure, quantity, or present-day presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-06
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[8]Batch-9307 search ledger (this record): live DANFS/NHHC page; NavSource 14/08141; Shipscribe/NAVSHIPS class table; NARA photo lead via DANFS caption; GAO HRD-80-2 full text; NVR (no entry); CourtListener (blocked - pacing); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-heekon-yt141-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, donation condition, or verified litigation naming USS Heekon (YT-141/YTB-141/YTM-141) was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener was only partially queried this session - the exact-name opinion query ("USS Heekon", type=o) completed with zero hits, but the three remaining base queries ("USS Heekon" docket, "YT-141" opinion, "YT-141" docket) were refused by the fleet-wide pacing limiter (~58 requests/hour shared across sessions, budget saturated at research time); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as negative results. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos' material located is law-firm marketing content about the Charleston Naval Shipyard generally (excluded by source policy) and a tug-registry page (tugboatinformation.com) carrying secondary data with demonstrable errors (see ev-08).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 2026-10-05
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (pacing-blocked, not run to completion). NARA deck logs (RG 24), Charleston Navy Yard build records, and any merchant-era survey records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-07
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[9]tugboatinformation.com, YT-141 'Heekon' vessel entry (USCG Doc. No. 292208, IMO 7619965, call sign WDB7654, 2,610 hp single-screw diesel) - secondary tug registry, used for error flag only [other_primary]
- Locator
- tugboatinformation.com tug.cfm?id=2596 vessel history narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: the tug-registry secondary source misstates this hull's reclassification sequence, giving 'redesignated ... YTB-141' in February 1942 and 'YTM-141' on 15 May 1944. The documented sequence per DANFS and NavSource - corroborated at class level by the NAVSHIPS-derived Shipscribe table - is YTB-141 on 15 May 1944 and YTM-141 in February 1962. The registry's ownership chain otherwise broadly matches DANFS/NavSource (and adds a Seabulk Towing intermediate owner in 2000 not present in either).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1940-1962 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating secondary-source error, not a material claim. tugboatinformation.com is not an authoritative source and is cited here only to flag the erroneous dates; no fact in this record rests on it. Its horsepower figure (2,610 hp) is unverified. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-heekon-yt141-08