Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Kearsarge II (BB-5), Vol. III p. 610 - full service narrative through crane-ship career (verbatim hazegray transcription; identical entry under DANFS AB-1 at ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/AB/ab1.html; live NHHC page returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, full text (hazegray transcription; ibiblio dafs/AB/ab1.html carries the same entry under the AB-1 heading)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official service history documents this hull's construction and milestones: launched 24 Mar 1898 by Newport News Shipbuilding Co.; commissioned 20 Feb 1900 (Capt. W. M. Folger); flagship of North Atlantic Station/Fleet; European Squadron flagship Jun-Jul 1903; Guantanamo possession ceremony Dec 1903; Mediterranean cruise 1904; 13-inch turret powder ignition off Cape Cruz, Cuba, 13 Apr 1906 killed ten officers and men; sailed with the Great White Fleet 16 Dec 1907-22 Feb 1909; decommissioned Philadelphia Navy Yard 4 Sep 1909 for modernization; recommissioned 23 Jun 1915; Vera Cruz detachment 28 Sep 1915-5 Jan 1916; WWI armed guard and engineering training ship (Boston to Pensacola); rescued 26 survivors of Norwegian bark Nordhav 18 Aug 1918; Naval Academy midshipmen cruise summer 1919; decommissioned 10 May 1920 for crane-ship conversion; 'designated AB-1 5 August 1920'; fitted with a revolving crane rated 250 tons plus hull blisters; participated in raising sunken submarine Squalus off the New Hampshire coast; designated Crane Ship No. 1 on 6 Nov 1941, 'giving up her illustrious name which was assigned to a mighty aircraft carrier'; handled guns, turrets, armor and heavy lifts for Indiana and Alabama, cruisers Savannah and Chicago, and guns on Pennsylvania; towed to San Francisco Naval Shipyard 1945, assisted construction of carriers Hornet, Boxer, Saratoga; departed West Coast 1948 for Boston Naval Shipyard; struck 22 Jun 1955; sold for scrapping 9 Aug 1955.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1896-1955
- Population
- Construction trades, Newport News 1896-1900; Philadelphia Navy Yard trades 1909-11 and 1920-23; ship's company ~553 (battleship era); crane-ship-era crew (undocumented); navy-yard riggers and trades alongside at Puget Sound, Norfolk, Hunters Point, Boston
- Limitations
- Service history only - contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or hazmat information; documents yard periods during which era insulation work would have occurred without describing materials. Internal conflicts carried in gaps: '10 May 1920' vs NavSource/USNI '18 May'; 'designated AB-1 5 August 1920' vs NHHC Online Library 'April 1939'; spec block's 11,540 tons vs NHHC/NavSource 11,525. Live history.navy.mil DANFS URL returned 404 on 2026-09-18; verbatim transcriptions cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-01
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[2]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images - USS Kearsarge (Crane Ship # 1, later AB-1) photo page and captions (ibiblio mirror of history.navy.mil content) + companion battleship page (usnsh-k/bb5.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- usnsh-k/ab1.htm narrative + captions NH 52038, NH 60251, NH 102939, NH 69051, NH 61958, NH 52037, NH 43456-43459, NH 83761, NH 43453, NH 45236; usnsh-k/bb5.htm summary
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC photo documentation establishes the conversion scope and service geography: conversion at Philadelphia Navy Yard 'involved stripping away the ship's superstructure and replacing it with a huge crane rated at 250-tons lifting capacity'; hull fitted with side blisters increasing beam ~20 feet; she 'retained her engines and some boilers'; carried on the Navy's register as 'unclassified' with designation 'Crane Ship # 1' and 'had already (in April 1939) been redesignated AB-1' before the November 1941 renaming. Captions document: crane load tests at Philadelphia Navy Yard 27 and 30 Oct 1922 (250-ton and 312-ton lifts while conversion continued); drydock at South Boston 3 Oct 1925 ('her propellers were still fitted at this time'); Panama Canal transits 1926 and later 1930s; regunning USS Idaho (BB-42) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, later 1920s (lowering 14"/50 guns into her turrets); at Puget Sound circa 1936 bearing both 'Kearsarge' and 'U.S. Crane Ship No. 1' on her stern; inter-war base at Puget Sound; WWII employment at East Coast shipyards including construction assist for Indiana (BB-58) and Alabama (BB-60); towed to the Pacific 1945, returned east 1948 for Boston Naval Shipyard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1920-1955
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion trades 1920-23; Puget Sound Navy Yard riggers/trades (inter-war); East Coast yard trades WWII; Boston Naval Shipyard 1948-55
- Limitations
- Official photo-caption-level documentation - contains no asbestos or insulation-material information. Conflicts with USNI Proceedings on machinery retention ('retained her engines and some boilers' vs USNI 'stripped'); conflicts with DANFS on AB-1 designation date (Apr 1939 vs 5 Aug 1920) - both flagged in gaps rather than resolved. Captions document presence and events, not material conditions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-02
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[3]NavSource BB-5 archive - spec block and dated photo captions citing USN/NHHC (NH-series), National Archives (80-G, RG 181), and NPS Boston National Historical Park (BOSTS catalog) photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/01/05a.htm - spec block + crane-ship-era captions (Jan 1921 conversion press, Oct 1922 tests, Oct 1925 South Boston drydock, 1942 Norfolk/Alabama, May 1944 at sea, Apr 1945 Pennsylvania regunning, Feb 1946 Berth 51, Aug 1948 Pier 8, Nov 1948 120-ton lift, Sep 1952 Lynn, Aug 1955 YD-196)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Caption-level documentation of the crane ship's WWII-era and postwar employment: photographed at Brooklyn Navy Yard Jan 1940 (background, NARA RG 181 berth-improvement photo); moored alongside fitting-out USS Alabama (BB-60) at Norfolk Navy Yard circa Feb-Aug 1942 'for lifting the 16" gun barrels into place'; at sea May 1944 (80-G-420193); installing a set of three 14" guns aboard Pennsylvania (BB-38) at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard April 1945; alongside Intrepid (CV-11) at San Francisco Naval Shipyard 24 May 1945 with Pennsylvania at the pier; Berth 51, Hunters Point, 13 Feb 1946 (80-G-365743); Pier 8, Boston Naval Shipyard, Aug 1948 (NPS BOSTS-11624 series); lifting a 120-ton crane from South Boston Nov 1948; raising sunken fishing trawler Lynn in Massachusetts Bay 4-5 Sep 1952 (NPS BOSTS-11628 series); new floating crane YD-196 alongside Aug 1955 prior to disposal. NavSource spec block: 11,525 tons, 375'4" x 72'3", 2 vertical triple-expansion engines/2 screws, 10,000 ihp, 16 knots, crew 553; dates carried: recommissioned 17 Jun 1912, decommissioned 18 May 1920.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1920-1955
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard trades 1942; Hunters Point trades 1945-46; Boston Naval Shipyard trades and riggers 1948-55; crane-ship crew
- Limitations
- Volunteer-edited archive hosting official photographs - caption-level documentation; contains no asbestos or material information. NavSource's dates conflict with DANFS (17 Jun 1912 vs 23 Jun 1915 recommissioning; 18 vs 10 May 1920 decommissioning) - flagged in gaps. The Nov 1948 caption 'heaviest lift ever made in the Charleston Shipyard' and DANFS's 'transporting it to Charleston' leave Charlestown (Boston) vs Charleston (S.C.) unresolved - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-03
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[4]U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Jan 1960 - 'A Page from the Old Navy: USS Kearsarge - Fifty-Six Years and Three Careers' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Proceedings vol. 86 (Jan 1960), 'A Page from the Old Navy' feature
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous professional-journal retrospective documents the disposal chain and describes the conversion scope differently from NHHC: 'As AB-1 Kearsarge was stripped of the 10,000-horsepower triple expansion engines that had driven her at a top speed of 16.82 knots for twenty years, as well as all her superstructure, guns, and other reminders of her proud life as a battleship'; dates the battleship's end 'On 18 May 1920 ... with her decommissioning at the Philadelphia Navy Yard'; records that 'the Bethlehem Steel Company's Patapsco Scrap Corporation reduced Crane Ship No. 1 to scrap in December 1956' - 'the career of the oldest active ship in the U. S. Navy came to an end.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1896-1956
- Population
- None directly - career retrospective
- Limitations
- Secondary professional source (USNI Proceedings), not an official record - no asbestos or material information. Its 'stripped of engines' account conflicts with NHHC's 'retained her engines and some boilers' (propellers fitted Oct 1925) - unresolved in gaps. Decommissioning 18 May 1920 conflicts with DANFS's 10 May. Patapsco scrapping location not stated beyond the corporate name (Baltimore, MD area, unverified).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-04
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[5]DANFS spec block + NavSource machinery line + NHHC conversion narrative (basis for era-level insulation inference) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block (boilers No. 5, NN VTE engines, 10,000 ihp); NHHC ab1.htm conversion narrative; NavSource machinery line
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- As built (1896-1900), Kearsarge carried an insulated coal-fired steam plant - five boilers feeding two vertical triple-expansion engines on twin screws (10,000 ihp) plus extensive steam piping. Thermal insulation, gaskets, and packing in 1890s-era naval steam plants were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber. Documented insulation-disturbance events on this hull: construction 1896-1900; modernization at Philadelphia Navy Yard following the Sep 1909 decommissioning (new cage masts and other improvements); the 1920-22/23 conversion at Philadelphia Navy Yard that stripped the superstructure, turrets and armor and installed the 250-ton crane; and industrial maintenance across a 35-year crane-ship career ending in 1955 - all before the Navy's early-1970s substitution era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1896-1955
- Population
- Construction and yard insulation trades (Newport News 1896-1900; Philadelphia 1909-11, 1920-23); engine-room and boiler-room crew; crane-ship crew and yard riggers through 1955
- Limitations
- Era-level inference only - no design manual, construction record, survey, or litigation document names the insulation materials aboard this hull; asbestos presence is consistent-but-unproven. Whether original-era insulation survived the conversion strip-out is undocumented, and machinery-retention accounts conflict (NHHC vs USNI). Does not establish quantity, product identity, exposure of any individual, or presence at scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-05
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[6]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 - meaning every insulation installation and disturbance on this hull (1896-1900 construction, 1909-era modernization, 1920-23 conversion, maintenance through the 1955 scrapping) predates the substitution era.
- 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; GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. Supports era context for insulation practice at build, modernization, conversion, and maintenance - not any fact specific to this hull; full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - description via product page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-06
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[7]Batch-164 search ledger (this record): DANFS/hazegray + ibiblio; NHHC Online Library; NavSource incl. NARA 80-G/RG 181 and NPS BOSTS photo captions; HyperWar Ships 1940-45; USNI Proceedings; CourtListener API v4 (throttled); general web-index litigation sweeps; VA BVA index; NVR [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kearsarge-bb5-01 through sl-uss-kearsarge-bb5-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation material list, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming this hull under any identity (Kearsarge, BB-5, IX-16, AB-1, Crane Ship No. 1) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Every litigation/administrative hit located for 'USS Kearsarge' is a name collision with the Essex-class carrier CV/CVS-33 (in service 1946-1970): e.g., Evans v. CBS Corp., No. 15-681 (D. Del.; 230 F. Supp. 3d 397) - alleged boiler/gasket exposure aboard 'USS Kearsarge' 1957-1961, post-dating this hull's scrapping; and VA BVA decisions identifying CVS-33. The hull was scrapped 1955-56, before the asbestos-litigation era matured.
- 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 - era-typical insulated steam plant likely carried asbestos-containing materials. The litigation negative finding is qualified: CourtListener API v4 was throttled at the 125/day cap on 2026-09-18 (HTTP 429, ~3.4h retry) and never searched directly; web-index substitutes surfaced only CV-33 collisions and non-authoritative marketing pages, but absence from the web index is not absence from the docket database. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearsarge-bb5-07