USS Long Island (CVE-1)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]DANFS, USS Long Island II (CVE-1) entry - Naval History and Heritage Command (live URL 404s on 2026-09-18; 2021-01-17 Wayback capture of the official page; verbatim transcription also at ibiblio/HyperWar cve1.html) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS spec block and narrative (Long Island II entry), construction paragraph and service/fate paragraphs

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS documents: the second Long Island (CVE-1) was laid down 7 July 1939 as Mormacmail, under Maritime Commission contract, by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pa.; launched 11 January 1940, sponsored by Miss Dian B. Holt; acquired by the Navy 6 March 1941; commissioned 2 June 1941 as Long Island (AVG-1), Comdr. Donald B. Duncan in command. Pre-Pearl Harbor she operated out of Norfolk conducting experiments proving the feasibility of aircraft operations from converted cargo ships - the data 'greatly improved the combat readiness of later baby flattops.' After the Japanese attack she escorted a convoy to Newfoundland and qualified carrier pilots at Norfolk; departed for the west coast 10 May 1942; reached San Francisco 5 June and joined Admiral Pye's four battleships providing air cover to reinforce Nimitz' forces after Midway; 'left the formation 17 July' and returned to the west coast. Departed San Diego 8 July 1942, arrived Pearl Harbor 17 July; Palmyra Island training run; loaded two Marine Corps aircraft squadrons and got underway for the South Pacific 2 August; touched Fiji 13 August, launched her aircraft 200 miles southeast of Guadalcanal - the first planes to reach Henderson Field; reclassified ACV-1 on 20 August; arrived Efate 23 August. Returned to the west coast 20 September 1942; trained carrier pilots at San Diego for a year; reclassified CVE-1 on 15 July 1943; transported airplanes and crews from the west coast to Pacific outposts during 1944-45; Magic Carpet repatriation runs after V-J Day. Decommissioned 26 March 1946 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; struck 12 April 1946; sold to Zidell Ship Dismantling Co., Portland, Oreg., 24 April 1947 for scrapping - but acquired 12 March 1948 by the Canada-Europe Line for conversion to merchant service, renamed Nelly (1949, immigrant carrier Europe-Canada), sold 1953 to the University of the Seven Seas and converted to a schoolship, renamed Seven Seas; later sold to the University of Rotterdam as a floating dormitory, still in service into 1969. One battle star for WWII. DANFS spec block: dp. 13,499; cpl. 970; s. 16.5 k.; ac. 21; cl. Long Island; T. C3-S-A1.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1939-1969

   Population

   Crew (~970, wartime figure) plus embarked squadrons and transport passengers

   Limitations

   Authoritative Navy history for milestones and service; contains no insulation, material, or asbestos information. Internal date tension carried verbatim: 'left the formation 17 July' sits alongside 'departed San Diego 8 July ... arrived Pearl Harbor the 17th' - other accounts give 17 June for leaving Pye's formation (see gaps). Post-Navy buyer name reads 'Canada-Europe Line' here while other sources read Europe-Canada Line / Caribbean Land & Shipping Co. Live history.navy.mil URL 404s; citation is the 2021 Wayback capture of the official page.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-01

2. [2]NavSource Online, Escort Carrier Photo Archive, USS Long Island (AVG-1, later ACV-1 and CVE-1) - Operational and Building Data, NHHC/NARA-credited photography, fate [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource CVE-1 page, Operational and Building Data block, specifications, and photo captions (NH 96711; NARA 18-AA-129; Mare Island 1945-02-14)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NavSource building data documents: Maritime Commission hull 47, type C3-S-A1, freighter Mormacmail for Moore-McCormack Lines; sponsored by Miss Diane B. Holt; acquired 6 March 1941; converted to an aircraft carrier by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; initially designated APV-1, redesignated and commissioned as AVG-1; reclassified ACV-1 on 20 August 1942 and CVE-1 on 15 July 1943; decommissioned 26 March 1946; stricken 12 April 1946 (Navy Dept. Bulletin 46-845, p. 20). Specifications as converted (1941): 7,886 tons standard / 13,499 full load; 4 Busch-Sulzer diesels (7-cylinder), 1 shaft, 8,500 bhp; 16.5 knots; 1 x 5-inch/51, 2 x 3-inch/50, 4 x .50-cal MG; 21 aircraft; 1 elevator, 1 hydraulic catapult; crew 970 (wartime). Photography documents: conversion underway at Newport News Shipbuilding 1 April 1941 (NHHC photo NH 96711; name received 31 March 1941, neutrality markings still visible); NARA RG 18 aerial views over Newport News 29 October 1941; as built she carried a 362-foot flight deck that proved unsuccessful - BuShips authorized Norfolk Navy Yard on 15 September 1941 to extend it 77 feet forward over the pilot house; hangar-deck and gunnery-training views 1942; a 14 February 1945 Mare Island photograph shows the extended flight deck in aircraft-transport configuration (more powerful catapult, short plated-in hangar, one elevator). Fate chain: sold to Zidell Ship Dismantling Co., Portland, Oreg., 24 April 1947; resold to the Europe-Canada Line 12 March 1948 and converted for merchant service as Nelly by Albina Engineering & Machine Works, Portland, OR; sold to the University of the Seven Seas (1953), renamed Seven Seas (German flag) as a schoolship; hulked at Rotterdam as a floating students hostel (1966), later a local hostel for shipyard workers; scrapped at Ghent, Belgium (May 1977).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1939-1977

   Population

   Crew (~970) plus embarked squadron; Newport News conversion, Norfolk Navy Yard, and Mare Island workforces

   Limitations

   Compiled secondary archive consistent with DANFS on all overlapping facts; the NNS conversion, the Norfolk Navy Yard flight-deck extension, and the Mare Island February 1945 presence are documented as events (photography and dates), not work packages - insulation scope unrecorded. The flight-deck extension yard reads Norfolk Navy Yard (Sept 1941 authorization) here while the Sun yard's own hull-data page reads Mare Island Sept/42 - conflict flagged in gaps. Buyer name 'Europe-Canada Line' vs DANFS 'Canada-Europe Line' vs Caribbean Land & Shipping - flagged. No insulation/asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-02

3. [3]ShipbuildingHistory.com (T. Colton), Sun Shipbuilding yard list - row 185/47 (Mormacmail); corroborated by Sun Ship historical society hull-data listing (sunship.org, hull 185) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Sun yard production table row 185 (USMC 47, Mormacmail); sunship.org/files/hulldata.htm hull 185 entry

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The Sun yard production table lists row '185 - AVG-1 - USMC 47 - Mormacmail - Moore-McCormack Lines - Cargo Ship - C3 - 11,900 GT - keel 1-Aug-39 - launch 11-Jan-40 - delivery 29-May-40 - 163 days on ways, 139 in water, 302 total' with disposition 'Later Long Island (AVG-1) 1941, Nelly 1948, Seven Seas 1953, scrapped 1977.' Corroborates Sun yard hull 185, Maritime Commission hull 47, the C3-S-A1 type, merchant delivery date, and the Nelly/Seven Seas/scrapping chain. The Sun Ship historical society hull-data listing independently gives hull 185 for Mormacmail with the same build dates (laid down 7/7/39, launched 01/11/40) and notes the 1941 Newport News conversion.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1939-1977

   Population

   n/a (yard production data)

   Limitations

   Compiled secondary yard-history tables; corroborate identity and the construction record but contain no insulation, material, or asbestos information. Keel date reads 1-Aug-39 in the production table vs DANFS/sunship.org/navypedia 7-Jul-39 - carried as a flagged variance in gaps, not harmonized. The historical-society listing contains transcription errors elsewhere (e.g., 'VFE' for CVE) - used for identity corroboration only.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-03

4. [4]Navypedia, 'LONG ISLAND escort aircraft carrier (1941)' - member table and technical block [other_primary]

   Locator

   Navypedia Long Island page - member table, technical data, project history, modernizations sections

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Navypedia documents: yard no. 185, Sun SB Chester // Newport News; laid down 7.7.1939, launched 11.1.1940, commissioned 2.6.1941; designations AVG-1, ACV-1 (8.1942), CVE-1 (7.1943); 'aircraft ferry 2.1944, stricken 4.1946.' Technical block: displacement 11,300 t standard / 14,050 t full; 4 Bush-Sulzer diesels, 1 shaft, 8,500 hp, 16.5 kts, diesel oil 1,365 t; complement 408; 16 aircraft; flight deck 109.7 x 21.3 m, hangar 29.9 x 16.5 x 5.3 m, one centerline elevator, one catapult. Project history: 'First USN escort aircraft carrier, converted from C-3 type cargo m/s Mormacmail before the USA joined the Second world war. Works on the conversion have begun 6.3.1941 and have been fulfilled for 88 days'; 1,650 t of lead ballast laid into the hold for stability; primitive underwater protection (25 mm longitudinal bulkhead). Modernizations: 9.1941 added four 20 mm guns; 1942 flight deck lengthened to 127.4 m, 5-inch gun replaced by a 127 mm/38, sixteen 20 mm, SC radar; 2/1944 converted to aviation ferry - catapult replaced by a more powerful unit, flight deck lightened.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1939-1946

   Population

   n/a (technical compilation)

   Limitations

   Compiled secondary technical source; consistent with DANFS/NavSource on milestones and machinery (diesel plant independently corroborated) but prints complement 408 vs the 970 wartime figure in DANFS/NavSource - carried as a conflict in gaps. Displacement figures (11,300/14,050 t) differ from NavSource (7,886/13,499 t) - flagged. Modernization dates are grouped by year without facility attribution; contains no insulation, material, or asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-04

5. [5]U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships Technical Manual, NAVSHIPS 250-000, Chapter 39 'Thermal Insulation' (1960, page date 15 April 1959) - specification-level document for Navy shipboard insulation materials [other_primary]

   Locator

   BuShips TM ch.39, sections 39-11 through 39-13 (materials)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   The 1960 BuShips Technical Manual's insulation chapter enumerates the asbestos material suite standard to Navy ships of this hull's construction era: MIL-I-2781 pipe covering including 85% magnesia 'formed from a combination of 85 percent magnesium carbonate with about 15 percent asbestos fiber' and a class 'formed from a uniform mixture of amosite asbestos fibers'; roll asbestos felt MIL-I-15091; asbestos cloth/tape SS-C-466 (80-95% chrysotile) as lagging; asbestos millboard HH-M-351; asbestos finishing cement; molded asbestos block for high-temperature service. This hull's four Busch-Sulzer diesel engines, exhaust uptakes, ship's-service piping, and the accommodation/hangar spaces built into the merchant hull are the equipment and compartment classes these specifications address; her keel-to-commissioning window (1939-41 merchant, 1941 conversion) sits inside the asbestos-specification era.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1960 (manual); describes era-standard specifications

   Population

   Sun Ship construction trades (Chester, 1939-40); Newport News conversion workforce (1941); crew (1941-46); Albina and European conversion workforces (1948-53)

   Limitations

   Specification-level documentation of materials the Navy specified, not a ship-specific installation record - establishes the era insulation suite, not what was installed on this hull. Note the machinery difference: unlike the steam-turbine Bogue-class CVEs, this hull is diesel-powered, so the boiler/turbine-lagging applications emphasized in steam-plant treatments apply here only to the extent the same materials covered piping, exhaust, and compartment insulation. The 1941 NNS conversion, the 1941-42 flight-deck extension, the Feb 1944 aviation-ferry conversion, the 1948-49 Albina passenger conversion, and the 1953 schoolship rebuild are material-disturbance events whose insulation scope is undocumented. Retrieved PDF is a scan hosted in the Garlock bankruptcy Daubert-appendix repository; the document itself is the government manual (verified legible in prior batch work).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-05

6. [6]John Crane, Inc. v. Jones, 274 Va. 581, 650 S.E.2d 851 (2007), Record No. 062164 [court_record]

   Locator

   Opinion, 274 Va. 581 (Record No. 062164, decided 2007-09-14)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Virginia Supreme Court opinion documenting that Garland F. Jones Jr. worked as an outside machinist at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. from 1963 to 1967, was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in January 2005, and sued manufacturers of asbestos-containing products sold to his employer; the estate won at trial. The court held general maritime law applied (location on navigable waters plus connection to maritime activity satisfied) and affirmed the judgment for the estate. Documents that occupational asbestos-exposure claims were litigated - here to a plaintiff-favorable affirmed verdict - at the yard that converted this hull in 1941.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1963-2007

   Population

   NNS outside machinist (mesothelioma)

   Limitations

   Yard-level litigation context only: Jones's NNS tenure (1963-1967) postdates this hull's 88-day conversion (Mar-Jun 1941) by more than two decades, and the opinion does not name this hull or address construction-era (1941) conditions at the yard. The affirmed verdict is a finding for that plaintiff about his exposures, not evidence about this vessel.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-06

7. [7]Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Minton, 285 Va. 115, 737 S.E.2d 16 (2013) [court_record]

   Locator

   Opinion, 285 Va. 115 (decided 2013-01-10)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Virginia Supreme Court opinion documenting that Rubert E. Minton worked at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. from 1956 to 1993 (shipfitter, then repair supervisor), was 'regularly exposed to asbestos from asbestos-containing materials as well as from asbestos dust from a dusty worksite' during new-ship construction and repair, and developed mesothelioma. A jury returned a verdict against Exxon on a maritime-duty theory tied to work aboard Exxon vessels; the Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding the evidence insufficient on control/knowledge. Documents the era asbestos worksite conditions at the yard that converted this hull - described through a merits-level negative for that plaintiff.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1956-2013

   Population

   NNS shipfitter/supervisor (mesothelioma)

   Limitations

   Yard-level litigation context only: Minton's tenure (1956-1993) postdates this hull's 1941 conversion, the opinion does not name this hull, and the appellate disposition is a reversal for the plaintiff - a merits-level negative, not affirmative exposure evidence for any vessel. Construction-era (1941) conditions at the yard are not addressed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-07

8. [8]Braaten v. Saberhagen Holdings, Inc., 165 Wn.2d 373, 198 P.3d 493 (Wash. 2008) (URL substituted 2026-09-29; reporter page corrected from 1010) [court_record]

   Locator

   Opinion, 165 Wn.2d 373 (No. 80251-3; substituted 2026-09-29 for the dead 80146-4 URL)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Washington Supreme Court opinion documenting the shipboard asbestos-maintenance regime at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard through the career of pipefitter William Braaten (1967-2002), who developed mesothelioma; the court held manufacturers had no duty to warn of asbestos in other makers' products applied to their equipment - a defense win on duty grounds. Documents the era asbestos environment at the naval shipyard where this hull decommissioned on 26 March 1946.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-18

   Study period

   1967-2008

   Population

   PSNS pipefitter (mesothelioma)

   Limitations

   Yard-level litigation context only: Braaten's PSNS tenure (1967-2002) postdates this hull's March 1946 decommissioning at the yard by 21 years, and the opinion does not name this hull or adjudicate exposure aboard any vessel. The decision is a merits-level negative for those plaintiffs, not exposure evidence.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-08

9. [9]Batch-107 search ledger (this record): DANFS/Wayback/NavSource/shipbuildinghistory/sunship.org/navypedia ship records; CourtListener-domain searches by exact name, hull number, and merchant name; conversion- and decommission-yard litigation verification; NVR check [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-long-island-cve1-01 through -11

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation specification, abatement contract, museum/operator hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Long Island (AVG-1/ACV-1/CVE-1) or Mormacmail was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation-index sweeps by exact ship name and hull number returned generic Navy-asbestos dockets naming other vessels; 'Long Island' strings in indexed dockets resolve overwhelmingly to Long Island, N.Y. geographic/corporate matters (a high-collision name), and the single 'Mormacmail' docket hit (UNRRA v. the Mormacmail, 99 F. Supp. 552, E.D.N.Y. 1951) is a non-asbestos admiralty matter naming a different, later Moore-McCormack hull - a name collision, not this ship.

   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 - a 1939-41 merchant construction plus 1941 Navy conversion sits inside the asbestos-specification era, and the negative reflects record availability, not hull condition. CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, 125/day cap, ~5.4 h reset) on 2026-09-18; the domain-restricted index sweep is a degraded but honest substitute, logged in the ledger. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-long-island-cve1-09