Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet bo-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hoist-ars40-pkt-bo-packet-md
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "Hoist (ARS-40)" [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry body text (archived 2025-12-09, http://web.archive.org/web/20251209144156/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hoist.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Hoist (ARS-40): launched 1945-03-31 by Basalt Rock Corp., Napa, Calif., sponsored by Mrs. William E. Howard; commissioned 1945-07-21, Lt. Comdr. R. M. Brunner in command. Sailed San Francisco 1945-09-06 for Far East salvage operations; Buckner Bay, Okinawa (11 Oct-23 Dec 1945); Wakanoura Wan and Sasebo through 15 Mar 1946; returned San Pedro 1 Jun 1946; Norfolk-based from 1946 with Naval Training Salvage School duty at Bayonne, N.J.; East/Gulf coast salvage 1947-48; Narsak, Greenland (Dec 1948); Azores pipeline repair (Jan-Mar 1949); Norfolk-based operations, Caribbean/Florida deployments, and North Atlantic duty through the 1950s; concentrated on local Norfolk/Florida/Caribbean salvage 1960-64; operated with Trieste II at the USS Thresher loss site (29 May-25 Aug 1964); freed USNS Bluejacket aground 2 Mar 1965 (with Seneca, ATF-92, and Windlass, ARSD-1); raised floating drydock Alamogordo (ARDM-2) with Recovery (ARS-43), Oct-Nov 1965; recovered a lost H-bomb at Palomares, Spain (arrived 16 Feb 1966, mission complete 7 Apr, returned Norfolk 4 May 1966); continued Virginia Capes salvage operations into 1967 (narrative ends there).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1967
- Limitations
- Establishes identity and 1945-1967 operational history only; DANFS's own narrative sentence misstates the hull number once ("Hoist (ARS-10) was launched...") though the entry's title, specifications, and every other reference are ARS-40 - a source transcription defect, not a different hull. DANFS also lists the class as "Diver" where HAER (ev-02) identifies Bolster-class; both are carried, see gaps. DANFS's narrative stops in 1967 and does not cover 1968-1994 service, decommissioning, or disposal. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-01
-
[3]Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No. VA-134, "Hoist (ARS-40)" (Justine Christianson, historian, 2011; David Haas, photographer, 2007), U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service [haer]
- Locator
- Written Historical and Descriptive Data, pp. 1-3; Index to Photographs (HAER VA-134-1 through VA-134-20); full document retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback Machine capture 2025-07-12 (live maritime.dot.gov PDF path returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- National Park Service Historic American Engineering Record HAER No. VA-134, "Hoist (ARS-40)," James River Reserve Fleet, Newport News vicinity, Virginia (photographed by David Haas, 2007; written history by Justine Christianson, HAER, 2011): keel laid 1944-09-13, launched 1945-03-31, commissioned 1945-07-21, built by Basalt Rock Company, Napa, California. As-built specification: length overall 213'-6\"; beam 39'; draft 14'-8\"; displacement 1,497 long tons; maximum continuous shaft horsepower 2,780; service speed 15 knots; diesel-electric propulsion, twin screw. States the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Construction developed the Bolster class (six vessels, all built by Basalt Rock's Steel Division) as a modification of the earlier Diver-class salvage-ship design, with the Bolster class distinguished only by a 5-foot-longer beam - "otherwise the Bolster and Diver classes were identical." Records decommissioning in 1994, transfer of title to the Maritime Administration in 2001, lay-up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, sale for scrapping 2007-07-17, the buyer's (North American Ship Recycling) business failure, contract reassignment to Bay Bridge Enterprises on 2007-11-30, and towing for scrapping the following month.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1944-2007 (construction through scrapping); document dated 2011
- Limitations
- This is the single most detailed ship-specific primary record located and contains no mention whatsoever of asbestos, insulation material composition, or hazardous materials anywhere in its written history or 20-photograph index (including the photographed dual-chamber decompression vessel, engine rooms, and generator spaces) - the silence does not establish absence, only that this survey did not address the topic. Confirms Bolster-class designation, which conflicts with DANFS's "Diver" class label (ev-01); this record explains the two classes were design siblings distinguished only by beam, which may account for the loose labeling but does not resolve which label the Atlas record should carry - both are logged. As-built displacement (1,497 tons) and beam (39') here conflict with figures in the MARAD Vessel History Database (ev-03: 2,056/1,505 tons, 44-ft beam) and DANFS (1,360 tons); unresolved, see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-02
-
[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database, "HOIST (ARS-40)," Ship History Detail 2226 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail record, vessel characteristics and disposition-timeline fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Vessel History Database record for HOIST (ARS-40): vessel entered MARAD custody 2001-06-19 (transfer from reimbursable custody); a donation hold placed for The Last Patrol organization (Toledo, OH) expired 2005-11-24; vessel departed under scrap-sale contract 2007-08-28; that sales contract (to North American Ship Recycling) was rescinded 2007-11-30, title returned to MARAD, and the dismantlement contract was reassigned to Bay Bridge Enterprises; a vessel withdrawal date of 2008-04-21 is recorded. Database vessel-characteristics fields list: 214 ft length, 44-ft beam, displacement 2,056 tons (summer)/1,505 tons (lightweight), gross tonnage 1,505 tons, draft 14 ft (summer)/15 ft (lightweight).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2001-2008
- Limitations
- The database page attaches no status card, ship image, hazardous-materials survey, or asbestos-related document to this record - the only attached document is the HAER report (ev-02). Dimension fields here (2,056/1,505 tons, 44-ft beam) conflict with HAER's as-built figures (1,497 tons, 39-ft beam, ev-02) and with DANFS (1,360 tons, ev-01); unresolved, logged in gaps rather than reconciled by guess. Does not establish whether the donation attempt or the rescinded 2007 contract involved any hazmat/asbestos condition finding - no such document was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-03
-
[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 a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II, the era and program under which this vessel was built (keel laid September 1944, commissioned July 1945), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization fleet-wide, including aboard naval auxiliary and small-combatant hulls built at emergency and converted-industrial yards such as Basalt Rock Company.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and Navy crews (class/era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this builder, or this ship type specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Basalt Rock Company itself does not appear in the article.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-04
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[6]U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-05-264, "Maritime Administration: Improved Program Management Needed to Address Timely Disposal of Obsolete Ships" (2005) [gao]
- Locator
- Report body, sections on ship condition and hazardous-materials remediation in the disposal/dismantling process
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- GAO report on MARAD's National Defense Reserve Fleet disposal program states that many NDRF ships "contain hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and residual oils and fuels that are typically found on older ships," and that "remediation of hazardous materials, such as asbestos, PCBs, lead, mercury, and cadmium, takes place before, as well as during, the dismantling process" under MARAD disposal contracts. This vessel was a James River Reserve Fleet hull in MARAD custody 2001-2007, the fleet group and disposal-contract regime the report describes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2001-2005 (report); James River custody period 2001-2007
- Population
- NDRF reserve-fleet hulls under MARAD disposal contracts (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level GAO finding about NDRF ships and MARAD dismantling contracts generally; contains no ship-specific tonnage, survey, or finding for Hoist and does not state whether this hull in particular required or received asbestos abatement. Does not establish quantity, location, or condition of any ACM aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-05
-
[7]Batch-2675 search ledger (this record): DANFS; HAER No. VA-134; MARAD Vessel History Database Detail 2226; catalog.archives.gov description search; GAO-05-264; OSHA/EPA general program materials; CourtListener helper script (blocked, fleet quota) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hoist-ars40-01 through sl-uss-hoist-ars40-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, abatement contract, museum/HAER hazmat disclosure, MARAD status-card hazmat finding, or docketed case naming Hoist (by name or hull number ARS-40) was found in the public official sources searched (DANFS, HAER No. VA-134, MARAD Vessel History Database, NARA catalog description search, GAO/OSHA/EPA program materials). CourtListener litigation search for this hull was not completed this session - the fleet-shared CourtListener request budget was exhausted for the duration of research and did not clear despite repeated spaced re-checks; see gaps and search_ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45-built diesel-electric hull scrapped in 2007-08 under a MARAD contract that (per GAO, ev-05) requires hazmat remediation is consistent with retained era materials having existed at some point in her service life. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present, was or was not removed prior to scrapping, or establish/defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener search is an open gap, not a completed negative finding for litigation specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoist-ars40-06