Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet v-packet.md (7 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED. No phantom, no collision. — real identity: USS Okaloosa (APA-219); namesake: Okaloosa County, Florida [secondary; DANFS-derived text cites DANFS 2015] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Okaloosa
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-okaloosa-apa219-pkt-v-packet-md
-
[2]NHHC DANFS entry 'Okaloosa (APA-219)' (published 2015-08-17) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Okaloosa (APA-219) entry, full text; live canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/o/okaloosa.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (NHHC): Okaloosa (APA-219), Haskell-class attack transport, MC type VC2-S-AP5 (MCV hull 567); laid down 1944-08-08 at Richmond, Calif. by Permanente Metals Corp.; launched 1944-10-22; acquired on loan charter and commissioned 1944-11-28 (Capt. R. E. Jasperson). WWII: departed Seattle 1945-01-26; Pearl Harbor operations; Okinawa Gunto assault - arrived 1945-04-26, offloaded troops over four days under frequent enemy air attack; Philippine shuttle ops incl. Manila/Leyte and a July New Guinea voyage; occupation lift Manila Bay-Tokyo Bay departing 1945-09-07; calls at Guam, Tsingtao, Manila, Haiphong (loaded Chinese 52nd Army elements for Gulf of Pohai); Magic Carpet duty from 1945-11-16 via Jinsen, Korea, to Tacoma (arrived 1945-12-17); Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul from 1945-12-21; full Navy ownership 1946-01-14; Norfolk arrival 1946-01-31. Postwar: Norfolk-based reservist cruises (1947-06/07, 1948-06, incl. Bermuda) and Caribbean amphibious exercises. Sailed Norfolk 1949-04-15 for Orange, TX; decommissioned 1949-07-21, Texas Group Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck 1958-10-01. One battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Ship's company (~536) and embarked troops (~1,562) 1944-1949; Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul workers 1945-46; inactivation yard workers 1949
- Limitations
- Service history and ship identity only; DANFS contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or survey statement. Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-25 (standing NHHC link rot since batch-01); content verified via Wayback capture 2025-02-01. DANFS's compressed 'transferred to the Maritime Administration 23 September' after the 1958-10-01 strike sentence is ambiguous on year - NavSource/MARAD resolve it as temporary custody 1955-09-23, permanent 1958-09-26.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-01
-
[3]MARAD Vessel History database, OKALOOSA (APA-219), Detail ID 3675 - status card scans (MC-7146a vessel status card 5DI_01.png; MA-383 reserve-fleet particulars card 3675_6793AB.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Status Cards tab: 5DI_01.png and 3675_6793AB.jpg (card images read directly 2026-09-25)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD/USMC vessel status cards (Forms MC-7146a and MA-383): OKALOOSA (APA-219), type VC2-S-AP5, hull MCV-567, built 1944 by Permanente Metals Corp., 7,750 gross tons / 5,914 DWT / Sp. 17; flag U.S. Navy; 'Reserve Fleet (Permanent Transfer)' delivered Mobile, Ala. 1958-09-26 21:15 CST. MA-383 particulars card: Fleet Mobile, Category 'Mil. Aux. Transport, Attack', title USMA Perm. Layup / Perm. Transfer, reimbursable - 'Navy agrees to bear costs of retention at rate of $118. per ship per month until FY 1960' and to pay MARAD preservation costs for FY 1959 not to exceed $16,000 per ship (Navy letter 1958-06-13; MARAD reply 1958-06-20). Withdrawn 1972-05-30 1000 CDT; reason 'Sold scrap/Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. 10-28-71 PD-X-918.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- NDRF Mobile lay-up maintenance personnel (1958-1972); preservation workers (FY1959)
- Limitations
- Primary custody/lay-up record; contains no asbestos, hazardous-material, or condition statement. The reimbursable-layup terms document that preservation work (incl. any insulation work) in FY1959 was Navy-funded up to $16,000 - scope not itemized. Card-level defect: the MC-7146a card prints builder location as 'Wilmington, Calif' while DANFS, the MA-383, the MA-20, and the Kaiser Permanente No. 2 yard table all give Richmond - transcribed as written, resolved as a clerk error against the other three sources (logged in gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-02
-
[4]MARAD Vessel History database, OKALOOSA (APA-219), Detail ID 3675 - Record of Ship Sales, Form MA-20 (scan 3675_AF.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Status Cards tab: 3675_AF.jpg (MA-20 Record of Ship Sales, read directly 2026-09-25)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Record of Ship Sales (Form MA-20): OKALOOSA (APA-219), VC2-S-AP5, awarded to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. 1971-10-28 under solicitation PD-X-918 (advertised 1971-09-20, opened 1971-10-21), contract MA-6465; purchase price 'Lump sum for 9 $467,100.00'; LOA 455'0", beam 62'0", full load 14,832 t, draft 22'9"; location Mobile, Ala., Reserve Fleet; remarks 'Scrap Hull-US' (domestic breaking). Physical delivery at Mobile 1972-05-30 10:00 CDT per MC-7146a.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1971-1972
- Population
- Domestic shipbreakers (United States, 1972)
- Limitations
- Primary disposal document; contains no asbestos or hazardous-material statement - 1971 domestic-scrapping sales did not require the hazmat disclosures later imposed. 'Scrap Hull-US' establishes domestic dismantling; the specific breaking yard is not named on the card (Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. operated U.S. scrapping facilities of the era). NavSource gives solicitation 'PD-X-918 dated 20 July 1971' and withdrawal '20 May 1972' vs the cards' 9-20-71 solicitation and 5-30-72 delivery - MARAD cards control; variants logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 3 (Jan 1945), APA section (shipscribe.com scan) - machinery specification; class context via Haskell-class profile (VC2-S-AP5 type data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v3 APA machinery table (Haskell row - lead-ship values applied to type)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the VC2-S-AP5 (Victory-derived) attack-transport plant - 2 superheated boilers at 465 psi/750F feeding a single Westinghouse geared turbine, 8,500 shp - was built and operated at the peak of naval asbestos use. Era-typical asbestos applications for the type: boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, accommodation insulation; troop-transport fit-out added interior joiner/insulation scope. Her documented lifecycle disturbance phases are original construction (Permanente Richmond Yard 2, 1944), a Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul (1945-12-21 to 1946-01-11), the 1949 inactivation overhaul at Orange, 14 years of Mobile NDRF lay-up (1958-1972), and domestic scrapping (1971-72).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Permanente Metals Richmond Yard 2 construction trades (1944); Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul workers (1945-46); inactivation workers (1949); ship's force and embarked troops (1944-1949); NDRF lay-up and disposal workers (1958-1972)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - BuShips data names the design, not this hull; no material schedule, survey, or work package for APA-219 located. Does not establish that asbestos was installed, in what quantity, or that any individual was exposed. Present-day presence moot (scrapped 1972).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-04
-
[6]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 program and era under which this VC2-S-AP5 attack transport was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard hulls of the period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- 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 installed aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-05
-
[7]DOT OIG, Report on the Program for Scrapping Obsolete Vessels - Maritime Administration, MA-2000-067 (March 10, 2000) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MA-2000-067, summary/'worst condition' inspection passages (PDF text-verified 2026-09-25)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- DOT Office of Inspector General audit of MARAD's obsolete-vessel scrapping program: NDRF disposal vessels 'contain hazardous substances such as asbestos and solid and liquid polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)'; a routine inspection of 11 of the 40 'worst condition' vessels found 'asbestos hanging from pipes below deck'; 'most of these vessels were built over 40 years ago, [and] were constructed with substances now classified as hazardous such as asbestos.' Okaloosa, built 1944, spent 1958-1972 in the same MARAD NDRF disposal system (Mobile Group) whose obsolete-vessel asbestos burden this audit documents - the program pathway through which her disposal passed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2000 (audit; fleet conditions as surveyed)
- Population
- NDRF maintenance and disposal-program workers
- Limitations
- Program-level audit published 2000, twenty-eight years after Okaloosa left the fleet, covering the then-remaining James River/Beaumont/Suisun Bay inventories - the Mobile Group (her fleet) no longer existed at audit date. Documents asbestos presence across NDRF disposal vessels generally, not this hull; cannot be read as a ship-specific finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-06
-
[8]Busby, Guy, 'Baldwin County gives USS Okaloosa bell to Okaloosa County for memorial,' Press-Register/AL.com, 2012-01-05 (article inspected); Barlow, Kari C., 'Bell from USS Okaloosa to come to airport,' Northwest Florida Daily News, 2011-12-22, vol. 65 no. 326, pp. 1-2 (citation record); McLaughlin, Tom, 'Warship's bell headed to Okaloosa County,' The Red 7, 2012-01-13 (citation record) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- AL.com/Press-Register 2012-01-05 article (text inspected: bell at Foley memorial since ~1975; Okaloosa in Mobile 'Ghost Fleet' Tensaw River Delta anchorage from 1958); NWFL Daily News and Red 7 cited at article level
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship's bell provenance confirms domestic dismantling and salvage: when the vessel was dismantled, relics were salvaged and Baldwin County, Alabama requested the bell for its war memorial at the Foley satellite courthouse; Okaloosa County, Florida officials retrieved it 2012-01-04 and dedicated it 2012-04-26 for display at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport; the Navy presented Baldwin County the bell of USS Peterson (DD-969) in exchange.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1972-2012
- Limitations
- Post-disposal artifact reporting; corroborates domestic scrapping with relics salvaged and independently confirms the 1958 Mobile NDRF anchorage (Tensaw River Delta 'Ghost Fleet'). Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-07
-
[9]Fireman's Fund Indemnity Co. v. United States, 110 F. Supp. 937 (N.D. Fla. 1953), Devane, C.J. - CourtListener opinion 8734122 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text (full text verified via hallapproved.com mirror 2026-09-25; CourtListener opinion page + API cluster 8734122)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Fireman's Fund Indemnity Co. v. United States, 110 F. Supp. 937 (N.D. Fla. 1953) - ship-specific litigation, NOT asbestos: three consolidated in personam admiralty libels by the LHWCA insurer of L.P. Schambeau Stevedoring Co./Rosasco Bros. against the United States over one stevedore killed and two injured when a No. 4 hold hatch cover fell aboard USS Okaloosa while docked at Pensacola 1948-09-01 (unloading military cargo for Joint Armed Force operation 'Combine III'). Merits adjudication: the court found the vessel seaworthy (missing toggle pins did not render her unseaworthy since securing bolts were aboard), but held the United States negligent for failing to make the bolts available to civilian stevedores, held the stevedoring third-party respondents also negligent, and - on Halcyon Lines no-contribution grounds plus the stevedoring contract's indemnity clause - denied the insurer any recovery. Decree for respondent on the recovery question.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1948-1953
- Population
- Civilian stevedores (L.P. Schambeau Stevedoring Co./Rosasco Bros.) aboard hull, Pensacola 1948-09
- Limitations
- Ship-specific merits adjudication but NOT an asbestos or exposure case - classified 'other litigation' per batch discipline; establishes only that civilian stevedores worked aboard this hull at Pensacola in 1948 (a population fact) and that the vessel was under Navy operation with contracted civilian unloading. Exposure-relevant only as proof civilians worked the cargo holds; no asbestos issue raised or found.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-08
-
[10]Batch-2292 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; MARAD vessel-history file 3675 (3 status cards transcribed); ShipbuildingHistory Kaiser Permanente No. 2 table; NavSource APA-219 (secondary lead); press sweep; class profile haskell-class.class.json; CourtListener opinion + RECAP docket sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-okaloosa-apa219-01 through sl-uss-okaloosa-apa219-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, shipyard work package, MARAD hazmat condition report, or asbestos case naming USS Okaloosa / APA-219 / MCV 567 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener returned one ship-specific non-asbestos case (Fireman's Fund, stevedore injury - see ev-08) and otherwise only Okaloosa County name collisions; the only asbestos hits located were law-firm marketing pages listing the ship generically - excluded per source-authority rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 steam VC2-S-AP5 hull is era-consistent with asbestos insulation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. One residual: the 'APA-219' RECAP docket sweep remained fleet-paced at session end (see ev-11 / ledger sl-08).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-09
-
[11]National Archives - RG 24 deck logs; RG 38 war diaries; RG 178/235 maritime records (collection-level, not item-verified for this hull) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov - collection-level; item-level retrieval outstanding (catalog SPA blocked programmatic verification)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (unretrieved): NARA holds USS Okaloosa (APA-219) deck logs for 1944-1949 within RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1983' (digitized via Fold3 partnership); RG 38 WWII war diaries include APA war diaries; Maritime Commission construction/acceptance records for MCV hull 567 sit in RG 178/RG 235; her 1949 inactivation availability (Orange, TX area) and 1958 lay-up preservation file ($16,000 Navy-funded cap per the MA-383 card) are the most promising specific targets for any ship-level material statement.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1972 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Collection-level lead only; no item-level pull performed (no spend authorized). Deck logs rarely record insulation materials; the inactivation work package and lay-up preservation records are the more promising but unverified targets.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 opinion + RECAP docket searches (see search_ledger sl-05 through sl-08) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-okaloosa-apa219-05..08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-25): no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. 'Okaloosa' + asbestos opinions: 11 hits, all Okaloosa County, Florida name collisions (venue/party-geography references incl. Mims v. Wilson sheriff-employment case, Winn-Dixie bankruptcy, Fla. rules amendments, Deepwater Horizon) - none mention the vessel. 'USS Okaloosa' opinions: 1 hit - Fireman's Fund (see ev-08), ship-specific but non-asbestos. 'APA-219' opinions: 0 hits. 'USS Okaloosa' RECAP dockets: 0 hits. 'APA-219' RECAP dockets: not completed (fleet pacing limit at session end) - residual logged in gaps.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- RECAP-indexed text only; asbestos complaints naming the vessel only in unscanned exhibits would not surface. 'Okaloosa' is a low-collision name (Florida county) - the collision set was fully enumerated and none was the ship. The single incomplete leg ('APA-219' dockets) is the lowest-yield surface - hull-number strings rarely appear in docket metadata - but is honestly logged pending.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-okaloosa-apa219-11