Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]Naval Vessel Register, L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) detail page (Internet Archive Wayback capture); navysite.de compilation for sponsors/inactivation ceremony [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPSDETAIL SSN-686 milestone table + navysite SSN-686 history
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (archived NVR + Navy secondary sources; NO live DANFS page located): contract awarded 1 July 1969 to Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va.; keel laid 26 June 1971; launched 2 June 1973 (sponsors Margaret Rivers Eastman and Marion Rivers, the senator's daughters, per secondary compilation); delivered 1 December 1974; commissioned 1 February 1975 (NVR). Named for Rep. L. Mendel Rivers of South Carolina, longtime chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Second-to-last Sturgeon-class boat commissioned and the last of the class inactivated: inactivation ceremony 28 July 2000 at Norfolk's Pier 22; decommissioned and stricken 10 May 2001.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1969-2002
- Population
- NNS construction trades (1971-74); crew (1975-2001)
- Limitations
- No live NHHC DANFS page exists for this hull (negative source result, see search ledger) - construction and milestones rest on the archived NVR record; sponsors, ceremony details, and deployment counts rest on secondary compilation. Commission-date variant: NVR 1 February 1975 vs secondary 21 December 1974 - NVR used, variant carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-01
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[2]Naval Vessel Register, L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) detail page (Internet Archive Wayback capture) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPSDETAIL SSN-686 milestone table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Naval Vessel Register detail record (archived capture): award 1 July 1969; keel 26 June 1971; launch 2 June 1973; delivery 1 December 1974; commission 1 February 1975; decommissioned and stricken 10 May 2001; status changed 19 July 2002 ('Disposed of by submarine recycling'); builder Newport News Shipbuilding; custodian Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; complement 14 officers + 112 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1969-2002
- Population
- None
- Limitations
- Register milestone data only; no material characterization. Live NVR requires Navy SSO; figures read from archived capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-02
-
[3]Date variant between archived NVR (1 February 1975) and secondary compilations (21 December 1974) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR milestone table vs navysite/secondary commissioning date
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- CORRECTION/VARIANT: secondary compilations (navysite, NavSource-derived) report a commissioning date of 21 December 1974, while the Naval Vessel Register records the commission date as 1 February 1975. The NVR figure is used in this record; the 21 December 1974 variant is carried in gaps and may reflect a delivery/placing-in-service event.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1974-1975
- Population
- None
- Limitations
- Corrects a milestone variant, not a material claim. No asbestos content. Primary-source verification beyond NVR was not located (no DANFS page exists for this hull).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-03
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[4]Halseth v. General Electric Co., No. 3:07-cv-02543-EMC (N.D. Cal.), complaint Exhibit A work-history, ECF No. 1-2 (filed 2007-05-14) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF 1-2, Exhibit A, PSNS pipefitter (1975-2004) vessel list + job-duties block (the separate Mare Island Building 866 'ship sightings' list does not contain this hull)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos complaint exhibit (plaintiff Michael Halseth's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard work-history section, Bremerton - Pipefitter, 1975-2004) lists vessels the plaintiff claimed exposure around, expressly including 'L. MENDELL RIVERS (SSN-686) [sic - 'MENDELL' as printed in exhibit]' among dozens of hulls. The section's job duties describe repairing, replacing, and modifying piping systems on nuclear and non-nuclear ships in engine rooms, fire rooms, and reactor rooms; changing gaskets in steam traps; and working around laggers, machinists, electricians, and painters 'regularly blowing around asbestos dust' near ships 'insulated with JOHNS-MANVILLE insulation.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1975-2004
- Population
- Puget Sound Naval Shipyard trades (plaintiff's claimed window)
- Limitations
- Complaint-exhibit vessel list; unadjudicated pleading-stage allegation - not a finding that asbestos was aboard any listed hull. The exhibit's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard window (1975-2004) is NOT corroborated for in-service contact: L. Mendel Rivers was an Atlantic Fleet boat with no documented Pacific or PSNS availability in located sources. Coincidence noted: the hull was recycled AT PSNS (SRP completed 2002), inside the plaintiff's window - whether the plaintiff's claimed contact occurred during her recycling-queue presence cannot be resolved and would post-date her service life. Establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull, exposure of any individual, quantity, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NHHC DANFS/NVR record (S5W2 plant, single shaft); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product lists for the associated yards; no hull-specific material record located [other_primary]
- Locator
- class/era synthesis (no ship-specific document)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a Sturgeon-class nuclear attack submarine built 1971-74 at Newport News Shipbuilding sits inside the Navy's peak asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications on the secondary steam plant (steam generators feeding geared turbines) and auxiliary systems included thermal/pipe insulation, gaskets, packing, and machinery insulation. Documented asbestos product lines at the associated yards (Newport News Shipbuilding) are recorded in the shipyard-exposure-map dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1971-2002
- Population
- Shipyard construction trades (1971-74); yard availability trades; crew (1975-2001)
- Limitations
- CLASS/ERA INFERENCE ONLY - no ship-specific material schedule, insulation survey, or abatement record was located for this hull. Names era-standard applications on non-nuclear auxiliary systems; the S5W2 reactor plant itself establishes nothing. Does not establish asbestos aboard this hull, any exposure, or any quantity. Never infer ship-specific findings from this row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-05
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[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- 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 this hull's construction and the bulk of her service-era insulation events.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1971-2002
- Population
- Navy ship and shipyard population (program-level)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-06
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[7]Batch-40 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS, archived Naval Vessel Register detail pages, CourtListener docket records via RECAP archive, GAO program documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- synthesis of the ship's search-ledger rows
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686): no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated exposure finding naming this hull was found. The Halseth exhibit naming this hull is a pleading-stage allegation with an uncorroborated Mare Island window. No other qualifying litigation naming this hull was located in the retrieved RECAP corpus.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Population
- Shipyard construction trades; overhaul trades; crew
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard or absence of exposure. Recycling-era hazmat/abatement records for the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program are not public. CourtListener live search was rate-limited/auth-walled during this batch (logged in the search ledger); coverage rests on the retrieved RECAP document corpus and prior-batch sweeps, which is not exhaustive. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-l-mendel-rivers-ssn686-07