Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet bi-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (minor date discrepancy flagged)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-indra-arl37-pkt-bi-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Indra (ARL-37)' (hazegray.org DANFS transcription; live NHHC page history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/i/indra.html returned 404 on 2026-09-26) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Indra entry, full text (Wayback capture 2022-09-10 of hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/arl37.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry: Indra (ARL-37) was laid down as LST-1147 on 12 February 1945; reclassified while building and launched as ARL-37 by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, Ill., 21 May 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Regina Hlubek; placed in reduced commission and brought to Bethlehem-Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore, for conversion; commissioned 2 October 1945, Lt. Comdr. R. J. Siegelman in command. Shakedown, then Green Cove Springs FL 30 Nov 1945 - 8 May 1946; Panama Canal to San Diego arriving 4 June 1946; departed 7 January 1947 for the Far East, arrived Tsingtao 19 February supporting U.S. Marines; repair and general services at Tsingtao and Shanghai until 30 August 1947; returned to San Diego 25 September 1947; decommissioned 6 October 1947 into the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego group. DANFS data line: displacement 2,125; length 328 ft; beam 50 ft; draft 14 ft; speed 12 kt; complement 253; armament 1 x 3 in, 8 x 40 mm; class Achelous.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Limitations
- Official ship-history entry; this printing ends 'where she remains' in 1947 reserve - it predates the 1967 recommissioning, so Vietnam career and disposition are not covered here. Cited via transcription mirror because the live NHHC page 404s (standing NHHC link-rot issue). No asbestos or materials content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-01
-
[3]Naval Historical Center / NHHC, Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Indra (ARL-37), 1945-1989' (ibiblio.org HyperWar mirror of the NHC page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- USN Ships--USS Indra (ARL-37), 1945-1989 page, narrative paragraph + photo captions (NH 97353; NH 69484-KN; NARA-held 80-G-359360/-361, USN 1045791)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC Online Library ship page: 'a 2125-ton Achelous class landing craft repair ship (ARL), was built at Seneca, Illinois. Originally begun as a landing ship tank (LST), she was converted to an ARL prior to launching.' After two decades in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Indra was recommissioned in December 1967; arrived in the Republic of Vietnam in May 1968 'to serve as a tender and floating base for the Mobile Riverine Force'; decommissioned May 1970 and rejoined the Reserve Fleet; stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 'in 1989' per this page; disposed of by transfer to the State of North Carolina in January 1992.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1992
- Limitations
- Official NHC summary, but its 'stricken ... 1989' conflicts with the NVR detail record's 1977-12-31 stricken date (NVR adopted as controlling - see correction row ev-04). No asbestos or materials content. The 1945-47 photo references held at NARA are an image lead only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-02
-
[4]NavSource Naval History, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Indra (ARL-37) page (navsource.net/archives/10/19/1937.htm; DANFS text reproduced plus volunteer-compiled specifications, CO list, campaign table) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Per-hull page: chronology bullets, Vietnam campaign table, Specifications block, Commanding Officers table, 1986 St. Helena Annex photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource per-hull page: laid down as LST-1147, 12 Feb 1945, Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca IL; converted while building to ARL; launched 21 May 1945; reduced commission for transit to Bethlehem-Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore; full commission 2 Oct 1945 (LCDR R. J. Siegelman); China service 18 Feb - 30 Aug 1947; decommissioned 6 Oct 1947 San Diego, Pacific Reserve Fleet; recommissioned 16 Dec 1967 (LCDR D. D. Boerner); Vietnam campaigns - Counteroffensive Phase IV (7 May - 30 Jun 1968) and Phase V (1 Jul - 17 Oct 1968), two campaign stars; decommissioned May 1970; awards board includes Navy Unit Commendation. Spec block for the post-1967 fit: 21 officers + 232 enlisted; two GM 12-567A diesels, 1,800 combined hp, Falk single reduction gear, twin 7-ft screws; armament 2 x quad 40 mm, 6 x .50 cal, 2 Stinger stations; one 25-ton kingpost crane + one 5-ton gantry crane. CO list: Siegelman (1945-47), Boerner (1967-69), Cobb (1969-70), Blackstock (to 27 May 1970). Photo caption documents the ex-hulk at St. Helena Annex, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, in 1986.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1992
- Limitations
- Secondary volunteer compilation, not an official record - used for campaign dates, post-1967 specifications, CO list, and the 1986 hulk photograph caption; its 'Struck from the Naval Register in 1984' conflicts with NVR 1977-12-31 (see correction row ev-04). Specifications reflect the 1967-70 fit, not the 1945 DANFS armament line. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-03
-
[5]Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil) ship detail page for INDRA (ARL 37), Wayback capture 2012-03-12 of page last updated 2001-12-28 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR detail table: UIC, Status/Date status changed, Custodian, Stricken Date fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Vessel Register detail record (archived): INDRA (ARL 37) ex-LST 1147, type 'Repair Ship, Small,' class ARL 1, UIC 58147. Status: 'Disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration,' date status changed 07/02/1990; custodian Maritime Administration (National Defense Reserve Fleet). Stricken Date: 12/31/1977. Resolves the stricken-date conflict in secondary sources (NavSource 1984; NHHC Online Library 1989) - the register's own entry, 31 December 1977, is adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1977-1990
- Limitations
- The register is the controlling record for strike/disposal events, but the archived page leaves most spec fields blank and does not explain the 1970-1990 interlude (berthing-hulk use inferred only from MARAD's 'ex barracks' note and the 1986 photo). Why secondary sources carry 1984/1989 is unresolved - possibly a later administrative re-dating. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-04
-
[6]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - INDRA (ARL-37), Detail 2298 (incl. digitized status cards) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 2298 - Milestones table, vessel spec block, Shipwreck Information section, status-card images 2298_4280AF.jpg / 2298_4280AB.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record for INDRA (ARL-37): Specific Type 'ARL Repair Ship Small'; shipyard Chicago Bridge and Iron Company; length 328 ft, beam 50 ft, displacement 4,024 t (summer) / 2,256 t (lightweight). Milestones: custody Entry/Acquisition 12 Apr 1990 annotated 'ex LST 1147, ex barracks'; Interim Movement 2 Jul 1990; Disposition/Withdrawal 10 Jan 1992 coded 'CUST 1990 FISH REEF-S.C.'; shipwreck record: incident 4 Aug 1992, 'Sunk as a Reef,' location 'Off North Carolina,' direct government operation. Mission tags: World War II, Vietnam War.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1992
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones and disposal coding. 'ex barracks' is the only official trace of the post-strike berthing-hulk employment - dates, location(s), and any hull-letter designation for that use are not in the record. 'Year Built 1944' conflicts with the documented 1945 laying/launch (contract-year artifact; logged in gaps). The 'S.C.' in the disposition code is unexplained - reef siting is documented as North Carolina by MARAD's own wreck entry and NC DEQ. No asbestos or materials statement anywhere in the record or status cards.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-05
-
[7]NC Dept. of Environmental Quality, Division of Marine Fisheries - 'Sunken Vessel History' page (AR-330 entry) and DMF Artificial Reef Guide download [other_primary]
- Locator
- Sunken Vessel History page, AR-330 accordion entry; DMF Reef Guide AR-330 Howard Chapin Reef table
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries artificial-reef records: AR-330 (Howard Chapin Reef) contains the '320 ft. Landing Craft Repair Ship Indra,' deployment date listed 5 Aug 1992, position approximately 34 deg 33.706'N / 76 deg 51.115'W (~8-12 nm from Beaufort Inlet, ~60 ft average depth); reef-guide table confirms the vessel on AR-330 among the reef's material deployments.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1992
- Limitations
- Official state reef-program record - authoritative for reef identity, deployment, and position; its 5 Aug 1992 deployment date is one day after the 4 Aug 1992 sinking date in secondary sources (deploy-vs-scuttle bookkeeping; logged in gaps). The DEQ position differs ~7 nm from the secondary-source coordinates (34 deg 33'55''N 76 deg 58'30''W) - DEQ adopted as controlling for the reef location. Contains no hazmat, abatement, or materials statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-06
-
[8]Mobile Riverine Force Association, 'History of The U.S.S. Indra (ARL-37)' (information supplied by crew member Jay Eichhorn, dated 4 Oct 1999) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MRFA Indra history page, full narrative (Vietnam employment detail, deactivation, reef-prep and scuttling paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Veteran-supplied ship history (Mobile Riverine Force Association, supplied by crew member Jay Eichhorn): towed from San Diego 25 Apr 1967 by USS Cahokia (ATA-186) to San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard (Mare Island); drydock 1 Jun 1967 for extensive overhaul; recommissioned 16 Dec 1967. Deployed to RVN 1 Apr 1968, arrived Vung Tau 8 May, moored off NSA Detachment Cat Lo; mission was activation of river assault craft for River Assault Squadrons 13 and 15; Nha Be detachment Jun 1968; departed Cat Lo 15 Oct 1968, San Diego 4 Dec 1968. Departed San Diego 29 Aug 1969 with USS Caroline County (LST-525) and USS Sumner County (LST-1148) for NISMF Orange, Texas; decommissioned 27 May 1970. Orange facility closed mid-1970s; hull towed to James River NISMF; 1991 turned over to NC DMF; towed to a Wilmington NC shipyard for 'extensive environmental cleanup' with much of the superstructure removed; scuttled 4 Aug 1992 ~6 mi off Atlantic Beach by USMC EOD (Cherry Point) using six 40-lb C-4 charges, sinking in ~5 minutes in ~60 ft.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1967-1992
- Limitations
- Crew-supplied association history - not an official record; uniquely detailed on the Vietnam employment, the Orange/James River layups, the Wilmington environmental cleanup, and the scuttling method. 'Extensive environmental cleanup' is asserted but the materials removed are NOT identified - it does not establish asbestos abatement or asbestos presence. Internal date typo ('19 September 1968' for the 1969 Orange arrival) noted; turnover stated as 1991 vs MARAD's 10 Jan 1992 disposition (MARAD controlling). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-07
-
[9]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST/ARL design data (shipscribe.com scan) - via ships-worktrees class-f lst-1-class profile; Corn & Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' Am. J. Ind. Med. 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design table (shipscribe.com/styles/usnaux/sdb/SDB1945v2.pdf); class-f lst-1-class.class.json propulsion_summary/class_notes; Corn & Starr 1987 abstract
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era context: ARLs were LST-hull conversions - the class file (LST-1/491/542 design series, BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 2) documents a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A, ~1,700-1,800 shp, Falk reduction gears, ~11.6 kt) with NO boilers, narrowing the steam-lagging pathway; era-typical asbestos-relevant applications for the type concentrate in engine-room/exhaust lagging, gaskets, deck coverings, and accommodation insulation, and ARL conversions added extensive interior rework (tank deck converted to repair shops - machinery/engine, hull, electronics, carpentry divisions). Peer-reviewed scholarship documents extensive asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding programs generally, the era and program under which this 1945 hull was built and reworked.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1992 era documented
- Population
- Construction and conversion-yard trades (Chicago Bridge & Iron Seneca; Bethlehem-Key Highway Baltimore, 1945); crew; shipyard workers during 1967 Mare Island reactivation; reef-prep workers at Wilmington NC (1991-92)
- Limitations
- Class/design and program-level documentation only - names the type's machinery and the era's shipbuilding insulation practices, NOT this hull. Does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. A 1992 sinking means no present-day fabric survives above water; any original-era materials went down with the hull or were removed in the documented pre-scuttling cleanup (materials unitemized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 opinion + docket search, authenticated via fleet rate-limited helper (cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-indra-arl37-08 and -08b
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep returned no qualifying asbestos litigation naming the hull. Opinion search 'USS Indra': 0 results. Opinion search 'ARL-37': 2 hits, both name collisions - Dennis Steele v. State (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, criminal) and Hernandez v. Johnson (5th Cir. 2001, habeas) - neither involves the vessel. Opinion search 'LST-1147': 0 results. Docket search '"USS Indra" OR "Indra ARL"': 1 hit, United States v. QTC Medical Services (C.D. Cal. 2:14-cv-08961, False Claims Act) - 'Indra' appears as a person's name; name collision, non-qualifying.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- No qualifying asbestos case located in the CourtListener corpus for this hull. Absence of a located case does not prove no litigation ever occurred - bankruptcy-trust claims, settled or undocketed matters, and non-digitized state dockets are outside the corpus. The three returned hits are unrelated name collisions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-09
-
[11]Batch-2629 search ledger (this record): DANFS (hazegray mirror), NHHC Online Library, NavSource 10/19/1937, NVR detail (archived), MARAD ShipHistory 2298, NC DEQ reef pages/guide, MRFA history [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-indra-arl37-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, condition survey, or docketed case naming the hull was found in the public sources searched - DANFS, NHHC Online Library, NavSource, NVR, MARAD ShipHistory + status cards, and NC DEQ reef pages contain no asbestos or insulation-material statement; the MRFA account's 'extensive environmental cleanup' before scuttling does not identify materials.
- 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 1945 hull retaining original fabric through a 1967-68 reactivation overhaul is era-consistent with installed asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. The hull now lies on the seabed, so no present-day survey is possible.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-10
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel deck logs); NC DMF artificial reef program records [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG 19 / RG 24 guides; NC DMF artificial reefs program
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) for the LST-1147->ARL-37 conversion specifications and Bethlehem-Key Highway conversion work package; RG 24 deck logs for 1945-47 and 1967-70 commissions; Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility records for the Orange TX and James River layups and the undocumented post-strike berthing-hulk ('ex barracks') employment, probably at Norfolk; NC State Archives / NC Division of Marine Fisheries artificial-reef program contract files for the 1991-92 Wilmington shipyard preparation scope, which may itemize hazardous materials removed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1945-1992 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-indra-arl37-11