Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, Irex (SS-482) - online DANFS entry plus Bauer & Roberts register addendum, verbatim losthistory.net/hazegray transcription (live NHHC page returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 2 October 1944 (bracketed addendum) at Portsmouth Navy Yard; launched 26 January 1945 (sponsor Mrs. Allen J. Ellender); commissioned 14 May 1945, Comdr. J. D. Crowley. In the Canal Zone when the war ended; Key West SubRon 4. December 1946 ordered to Portsmouth for installation and test of the new telescopic snorkel; evaluated July 1947-February 1948 and joined SubRon 8 as the U.S. Navy's first operational snorkel submarine. North Atlantic patrol duty May 1951; Mediterranean Oct 1953-Feb 1954; second Med deployment 1956 during the Suez crisis (Red Sea patrols); Philadelphia Naval Shipyard July 1957 for the new-type plastic sail; Med Sep-Dec 1958; Med Aug-Nov 1961; Philadelphia overhaul 1963; Med Oct 1963-Jan 1965 including Suez transit for CENTO exercises in the Red and Arabian Seas; local duties into 1967. Bauer & Roberts addendum: stricken 17 November 1969; sold 13 September 1971.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1944-45); PNSY trades (1946-47 snorkel install); Philadelphia NSY trades (1957, 1963); crew (1945-69)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Yard-period asbestos disturbance is era inference, not a per-hull record. Live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-18; sale detail rests on the transcription's Bauer & Roberts addendum plus NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-01
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, USS Irex (SS-482) page - register/disposition block (Wayback capture; live navsource.org unreachable by direct fetch) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource register/disposition block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource disposition detail: laid down 2 October 1944 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME; December 1946 ordered to Portsmouth for installation of the first completely functional snorkel (work ended February 1947; sea trials July 1947-February 1948); reclassified Auxiliary Submarine 30 June 1969; decommissioned and simultaneously struck 17 November 1969; sold 13 September 1971 to North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, DE for $80,676; scrapped by American Marine Salvage Co., Bordentown, NJ.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- Register/disposal clerks; scrapyard trades
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (NavSource, Bauer & Roberts Register-derived data); used for disposition/register details DANFS omits or truncates. Cross-check class source per batch convention; not an official record itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-02
-
[3]Era inference built on: DANFS spec block (diesel-electric drive); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (thermal insulation, asbestos cement, pipe covering, millboard, gaskets, packing, block insulation, Kaylo) and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (Eagle-Picher Super 60, Unibestos, Kaylo, Garlock gaskets, Thermasil pipe covering) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json product lists
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A Tench-class diesel-electric fleet boat built at Portsmouth in 1944-45 and yarded through 1969 (1946-47 Portsmouth snorkel installation; 1957 and 1963 Philadelphia availabilities) sits inside the Navy's peak asbestos-use era; era-standard applications on diesel-electric boats (no boilers/steam plant) included diesel exhaust lagging, engine gaskets and packing, acoustic/thermal hull insulation, and galley/refrigeration equipment insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- PNSY construction trades (1944-45, 1946-47); Philadelphia NSY trades (1957, 1963); crew (1945-69)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey or material list located for this hull. Names era-standard applications on diesel-electric aux/hull systems, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity; current material condition undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-03
-
[4]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 - covering all of this hull's service-era insulation events (1944-45 build; 1946-47, 1957, and 1963 availabilities).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- 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) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-04
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[5]Kase v. Metalclad Insulation Corp., Cal. Ct. App. (4th Dist.) 2021 (CourtListener opinions 4324658, 4332654) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion, specification-history discussion
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Court-documented era regime: the Navy's submarine insulation procurement specifications (SUBSAFE's MIL-I-24244 post-1963; predecessor BuShips practice before) covered asbestos-containing insulation for submarine construction and overhaul - the regime applicable to this hull's 1944-45 build and service-era availabilities.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2021 (opinion); regime 1950s-forward
- Population
- Navy submarine construction/maintenance trades
- Limitations
- This hull is not named in the opinion; documents the era spec regime only. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, exposure, causation, quantity, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-05
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[6]Robbins v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Second Amended Complaint, ECF 37, M.D. Fla. 8:23-cv-01723 (2023) [court_record]
- Locator
- Robbins v. Air & Liquid Systems, M.D. Fla. 8:23-cv-01723, ECF 37
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Fleet-boat design-family context: the Second Amended Complaint in Robbins v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (M.D. Fla. 8:23-cv-01723, 2023) alleges a Navy engineman aboard USS Clamagore (SS-343) in 1960-63 was exposed while removing/replacing asbestos-containing products (gasket, refractory, castable, pipe-covering, insulating-cement, packing, spray materials per the complaint's general recital). Clamagore is a Balao-class sister design; the Tench class is a near-copy Balao derivative per the NPS Torsk NHL nomination.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1960-1963 alleged; 2023 filing
- Population
- Navy engineman (alleged), fleet-boat design family
- Limitations
- An unadjudicated pleading allegation about a different hull in the same design family - not evidence about this vessel. Names era-typical product categories only; establishes nothing ship-specific.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-06
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[7]Batch-48 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (verbatim transcription or Wayback capture of canonical page); NavSource-Wayback disposition data; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number searches; GAO product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows this record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos case naming USS Irex (SS-482) was found in the sources searched. Litigation coverage caveat: direct CourtListener API/RECAP was unreachable (HTTP 429 daily-quota throttle; AWS WAF challenge on the public UI), so the case check ran through an engine-indexed site:courtlistener.com search for the exact name and hull number - a partial index, not a complete docket search; results were name collisions only (Brand Energy v. Irex Contracting Group, E.D. Pa. 5:16-cv-02499 - trade-secret suit against an industrial scaffolding/insulation contractor unrelated to the vessel).
- Verification
- partial
- 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. Scrapped hull - no residual-material survey possible. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Litigation coverage is partial: the CourtListener API and web UI were blocked at research time; the negative litigation finding rests on a secondary search index only and unindexed or unindexed-RECAP dockets may exist.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-irex-ss482-07