Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet mq-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced)
- Evidence ID
- uss-leopard-ix122-pkt-mq-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. IV (Navy Dept., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division, GPO 1969), 'Leopard' entry, p. 91 - verbatim transcription via Internet Archive full text (live NHHC DANFS page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. IV, Leopard entry (archive.org OCR text ~line 19887-19924)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (Vol. IV, 1969) records: Leopard (IX-122) laid down as William B. Bankhead 5 Oct 1943 by Delta Shipbuilding Co., New Orleans, La., under a Maritime Commission contract; renamed Leopard 27 Oct 1943; launched 15 Nov 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William B. Bankhead; acquired by the Navy 24 Dec 1943; commissioned 26 Dec 1943, Lt. G. C. Foltz in command. Type Z-ET1-S-C3; class Armadillo; displacement 15,425 tons; complement 97. Service: departed Key West 18 Jan 1944 for the southwest Pacific; Bora Bora 27 Feb 1944; harbor fueling out of Australia and New Guinea until mid-April, then Admiralty Islands; harbor fueling in the New Guinea vicinity for the rest of the war; departed Seeadler Harbor 30 Aug 1945; Manila Bay 9 Sep 1945; Philippines until 19 Mar 1946; Norfolk 11 May 1946; decommissioned 21 Jun 1946 and delivered to WSA the same day; stricken 3 Jul 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Navy crew (commissioned complement, wartime); Delta Shipbuilding construction trades (1943)
- Limitations
- Authoritative official history of this hull, but contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or construction-materials information; the phrase 'Originally designed to carry dry cargo, Leopard was converted to a tanker' describes design lineage - Shipscribe class notes document that no conversion was authorized or performed on the Armadillo-class acquisitions (CNO instructions 15 Oct 1943). OCR transcription of the printed volume; page-level locator verified against entry text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-01
-
[3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USS Armadillo (IX-111) Class' - compiled from official U.S. Navy auxiliary-vessel records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table row IX-122; Disposition table row IX-122; Ship Notes row IX-122 (MC hull 1926); Class Notes paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe's Armadillo (IX-111) class record documents: class design MC Z-ET1-S-C3; Leopard (IX-122) built by Delta SB, keel 5 Oct 43, launched 15 Nov 43, acquired 24 Dec 43, commissioned 26 Dec 43; decommissioned 21 Jun 46, struck 3 Jul 46, disposed to Maritime Commission 21 Jun 46; Maritime Administration sale 10 May 1948; MC hull 1926. Ship note: 'Ex merc. WILLIAM B. BANKHEAD. Merc. WILLIAM B. BANKHEAD (MC) 1946, YANKEE FIGHTER 1948 and converted to dry cargo ship. Hit object 17 Jul 65 off southern Brazil as ZOE and scrapped at Porto Alegre.' Class notes: Auxiliary Vessels Board (12 Oct 43) recommended acquiring 20 new Liberty tankers 'with no conversion of any kind'; CNO instructions (15 Oct 43) stated no conversion was authorized or necessary; ships were to be armed and furnished with 20 lengths of 4-inch and 6 lengths of 6-inch fuel-transfer hose.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1965
- Population
- Navy crew (wartime station-tanker service); merchant crews (1948-1965)
- Limitations
- Secondary scholarly compilation of official Navy class records - the construction/disposition/ship-note table rows name this hull; the Auxiliary Vessels Board and CNO directive material is class-level program history, not hull-specific. Contains no asbestos or materials information. 'No conversion' finding means no post-acquisition Navy conversion yard period is documented for this class.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Leopard (IX-122) - compilation of official specifications, photo documentation (incl. Australian War Memorial photo 302652), and contributed records [other_primary]
- Locator
- IX-122 page: construction timeline, merchant service list, specifications block, awards block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource hull page for USS Leopard (IX-122) documents machinery and specifications: two Combustion Engineering 220-psi boilers; one three-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine; three reciprocating 20 kW 120V DC ship's service generators; one 4-blade 18'6" propeller; 2,500 shp; displacement 3,665 t. light / 14,500 t. full load; cargo capacity 8,500 DWT / oil 63,000 bbls; complement 105; armament one 5"/38 dual-purpose mount, three twin 40mm AA mounts, eight single 20mm AA mounts. Merchant chain: sold by the Maritime Commission in 1948 to Tramp Shipping & Oil Transportation Corp, renamed SS Yankee Fighter; converted to dry cargo at Staten Island, N.Y., renamed SS Fighter; SS Carreto 1955; SS Zoe 1960, reflagged Greece; struck a submerged object July 1965 off Brazil; sold to Brazilian breakers July 1965. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1965
- Population
- Navy crew (1943-1946); construction trades at Delta Shipbuilding
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained compilation of official records - machinery list is hull-specific but not independently documented to a ship's data sheet here. Complement (105) and armament (3x twin 40mm) differ from DANFS (97; 1x 3-inch, 8x 20mm) - see gaps. Contains no asbestos or insulation-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-03
-
[5]MARAD Vessel History Database, vessel detail 5188 (U.S. DOT Maritime Administration, vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Detail 5188 characteristics block; Milestones tab (Entry 6/21/1946, Acquisition 6/21/1946); Status Cards (5188_9565AF.jpg, 5188_9565AB.jpg, 7G8_01.png)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Vessel History Database record for WILLIAM B. BANKHEAD (1943) documents: U.S. Official No. 244758; builder Delta Ship Building Company; MARAD type listed as EC2-S-C1 (general cargo / break bulk); 7,218 gross tons, 4,409 net tons; Entry and Acquisition milestones 6/21/1946 (Maritime Commission custody upon Navy return); fate 'Sold - No Further Info'; three status-card scans on file.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1946-1948 (custody record); card entries to disposal
- Population
- Merchant crews (1946-1965)
- Limitations
- Official government custody record - confirms the hull's return to Maritime Commission custody 1946-06-21 (same day as Navy decommission). MARAD type field reads 'EC2-S-C1' while Navy records give design Z-ET1-S-C3 - administrative coding of a Liberty-family hull, not a conflicting design claim; noted in gaps. Status-card images exist but were not transcribed; the database's fate field ('Sold - No Further Info') is less complete than Shipscribe/NavSource merchant-chain detail. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-04
-
[6]U.S. Maritime Commission, Instruction Manual for Operating and Maintaining 2500 H.P. Triple Expansion Marine Steam Engines, EC2-S-C1 Cargo Vessels (mirrored excerpt) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Mirrored excerpt, engine-cylinder insulation section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission instruction manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant - the Liberty-ship machinery family to which this hull's documented plant (three-cylinder triple-expansion engine, 2,500 shp, two boilers) belongs - describes cylinder insulation of magnesia under sheet-iron lagging; insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and period steam-system gaskets, packing, and insulation felts commonly contained asbestos. Liberty-type hulls were built to emergency USMC specifications during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Construction trades (Delta Shipbuilding, New Orleans, 1943); Navy engine-room crew (1943-1946); merchant engine crews (1948-1965)
- Limitations
- Design-family documentation, not a hull record - the manual covers the EC2-S-C1 cargo plant and does not name this vessel (a Z-ET1-S-C3 tanker variant of the Liberty design) and does not itself state 'asbestos' content. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era/design inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, location, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-05
-
[7]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 WWII - the era and emergency-construction program under which this Liberty-family hull was mass-produced in 1943 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-06
-
[8]NARA record-group guides (RG 24 Navy deck logs) + MARAD Vessel History Database status-card holdings for this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-leopard-ix122-05, -06
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads not retrieved: NARA RG 24 deck logs for IX-122 (Dec 1943-Jun 1946) and BuShips/Ship's History files; MARAD status-card images (three scans) on the Detail 5188 record; Delta Shipbuilding wartime construction records (not located in digitized public sources). No paid reproduction or archival retrieval was authorized for this batch.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1965 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Pointers only - the referenced files were not retrieved or read; their contents are unknown and may or may not contain materials/insulation information. Logged so the search path is reproducible.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated), queries: "IX-122", "USS Leopard", "William B. Bankhead" ship-name variants [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-leopard-ix122-02, -03, -04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion searches (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-29): '"USS Leopard"' returned 0 results; '"IX-122"' returned 14 hits, all name collisions or token noise (bankruptcy, labor, criminal matters); '"William B. Bankhead" ship OR vessel' returned 5 hits, all person-name collisions (the name is an Alabama attorney/family appearing as counsel or parties, e.g., Wright v. Kansas City M. & B. R. R., 150 Ala. 316 (1907)). No opinion concerning USS Leopard (IX-122), the hull under any of its merchant names, or asbestos exposure aboard it was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep covers opinions indexed by CourtListener only - it does not reach unindexed dockets, state-court filings, settled claims, or administrative claims (incl. VA or Navy-era claims), and absence of an indexed opinion is not proof no litigation ever involved the hull. Fleet pacing limited query volume; queries run are those logged.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-08
-
[10]Batch-4691 search ledger (this record): DANFS Vol IV; MARAD vessel detail 5188; NavSource IX-122; Shipscribe IX-111 class; CourtListener opinion/docket searches; web search for surveys/abatement [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-leopard-ix122-01 through -07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Leopard (IX-122), William B. Bankhead, Yankee Fighter, Fighter, Carreto, or Zoe was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). A marketing-page claim that the ship 'was built using parts containing asbestos' (asbestos-ships.com) is a law-firm/lead-generation source - excluded, not evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 Liberty-family steam plant is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation. Hull scrapped in Brazil 1965, pre-dating asbestos-regulatory documentation; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leopard-ix122-09