USS RANGER (CV-61)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]Los Angeles Times staff reports quoting court documents, NIS and U.S. Attorney statements: 'Probe Faults Asbestos Cleanup of S.D. Ship' (Aug. 15, 1990); 'Guilty Pleas End Ship Asbestos Case' (Aug. 18, 1990); 'Asbestos Violator Gets 3-Year Probation' (Dec. 12, 1990) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   Aug. 18 article (guilty-plea recital, contract scope, material description, Sept. 1989-March 1990 work period at North Island NAS); Dec. 12 article (two misdemeanor counts each, magistrate's additional findings, sentence and fine); Aug. 15 article (NIS investigation, 30-50% amosite test result, removal locations)

   Finding type

   abatement_record

   Finding

   Adjudicated federal criminal case documenting asbestos removal aboard this hull: between September 1989 and March 1990, while USS Ranger lay docked at North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, California Marine Commercial Insulation Inc. (CMCI) - subcontracted by Pacific Ship Repair & Fabrication - was contracted to remove and replace 1,100 feet of asbestos-covered pipe; about 260 of those feet carried dried, friable asbestos, and tests showed the material ran 30 to 50 percent amosite. After an eight-month Naval Investigative Service investigation prompted by the workers themselves, federal charges were filed 13 Aug 1990; CMCI and company president Frank Chavez pleaded guilty 17 Aug 1990 (CMCI to violating EPA asbestos work-practice standards; Chavez to accessory after the fact). At the 10 Dec 1990 sentencing, U.S. Magistrate Irma E. Gonzalez found additional work-practice violations (failure to label, wet down, and seal the removed asbestos); Chavez was sentenced to three years supervised probation including six months at a rehabilitation center plus 100 hours of community service, and CMCI was fined $25,000. Per the U.S. Attorney, it was only the seventh successful federal prosecution under the asbestos-removal laws at that date.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1989-09 to 1990-03 (abatement work); 1990-08-17 (pleas); 1990-12-10 (sentencing)

   Population

   CMCI removal crew; ~2,800 sailors aboard during the docked work period (prosecutors' estimate of the population potentially exposed); ship's company

   Limitations

   An adjudicated conviction - the strongest litigation-stage posture short of appellate affirmance - documenting installed amosite pipe insulation aboard this hull, its locations, condition, and removal quantity. It is a removal-scope record, not a hull-wide inventory: it does not itemize insulation elsewhere aboard, does not establish any individual sailor's dose or disease causation, and the ~2,800 figure is the prosecutors' estimate of the aboard population that may have been exposed, not a confirmed-exposure count. Federal magistrate-level misdemeanor case (S.D. Cal.); no court opinion text located - record carried via contemporaneous LA Times reporting of court documents and prosecutor/Navy statements.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-01

2. [2]Los Angeles Times staff reports: 'Navy Team Boards Ranger to Investigate Asbestos Contamination' (Aug. 24, 1990); 'Asbestos Violator Gets 3-Year Probation' (Dec. 12, 1990, reciting Robinson's September statement) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   Aug. 24 article (team composition, air-sampling plan, Fetterman and Robinson statements, ventilation-system detail); Dec. 12 article (30-sailor identification; APCD sweep results; two Navy command units cited)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   The Navy's exposure-assessment response to the CMCI event: on 23 Aug 1990 a Navy investigative team - Pacific Fleet Naval Air Force safety officer Capt. Charlie Robinson, an industrial hygienist, medical personnel, a naval occupational health-and-safety specialist, and a representative of the Norfolk-based Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit - boarded Ranger at San Diego to sample air in the removal areas and reconstruct what occurred during the work, under direction of Vice Adm. John H. Fetterman Jr., Commander Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet. Robinson later reported the team identified 30 sailors who might have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers. The ship's ventilation system had not been sealed during the removal, so prosecutors said all ~2,800 sailors aboard during the period may have been exposed. The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District's follow-on inspection sweep found 34 violations across 13 vessels and eight private contractors (all failure-to-notify-EPA violations), and two Navy command units were cited for failing to supervise working procedures aboard the ships.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1990-08 to 1990-12

   Population

   Navy investigative team; ~2,800 sailors aboard (potentially exposed population); 30 sailors identified for follow-up

   Limitations

   Documents that the Navy opened a formal exposure investigation and identified 30 sailors for follow-up - an official response record, not the investigation's findings. The final Navy exposure report is not public and was not located; the '2,800' figure is the prosecutorial estimate of the aboard population, and the 30-sailor figure is preliminary identification, not confirmed exposure or illness.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-02

3. [3]Little v. Hardie-Tynes Co., Inc., No. 86318-5-I (Wash. Ct. App. Div. I, Aug. 25, 2025) (published); CourtListener cluster 10660123 [court_record]

   Locator

   Slip op. factual-background section (Brodkin attribution; Navy supply records; pre-1960 manufacture inference); procedural-history section (default judgment, vacatur, bench trial, reversal and remand)

   Finding type

   litigation_product_id

   Finding

   Published Washington Court of Appeals opinion in a mesothelioma case: plaintiffs' expert Dr. Carl Brodkin 'identified forced draft blowers on the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Ranger, as well as "pumps" on the USS Constellation, as causes of Little's asbestos exposure. Navy records showed that forced draft blowers for the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Ranger and "boiler feed pumps" for the USS Constellation had been supplied to the Navy by Hardie-Tynes Manufacturing Company (Old H-T). The available evidence implied that those components were manufactured before 1960.' Clifton Little served in the Navy 1970-74 and worked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 1974-79. Procedural posture: a 2021 default judgment for plaintiffs of $5,500,892.12 was vacated as to liability but not as to causation or damages; after a bench trial on successor liability only, judgment for plaintiffs; the Court of Appeals affirmed the corporate-shell finding but REVERSED on successor liability (no evidence the successor sold asbestos-containing products) and remanded for entry of a defense judgment.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1970-1979 alleged exposure; opinion 2025

   Population

   Clifton Little - Navy service 1970-74; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 1974-79

   Limitations

   Navy supply records establishing that Hardie-Tynes forced-draft blowers were supplied for this hull, recited in a published opinion - ship-specific product-supply documentation. The asbestos causation rests on expert opinion and a causation/damages finding entered by default (not contested adjudication), and the case ends as a defense judgment on successor-liability grounds. The opinion does not itself adjudicate that the blowers contained asbestos or that any individual's exposure occurred aboard this hull; Little's shipboard vs. shipyard exposure path is not specified in the opinion.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-03

4. [4]Shelly v. Asbestos Corp. Ltd., No. 2:11-67799-ER (E.D. Pa. Sept. 26, 2014) (order, Robreno, J.; MDL-875, transferred from N.D. Cal. No. 11-05597) [court_record]

   Locator

   Order at 1 (case caption and ship list), 7-9 (Ranger exposure analysis), 10 (summary judgment granted)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   E.D. Pa. order in asbestos multidistrict litigation (MDL-875): plaintiff Dale Shelly alleged asbestos exposure while serving in the Navy 1964-73, including aboard 'USS Ranger (CV-41)' [sic - the order's own parenthetical; CV-41 is USS Midway] during approximately one year of 'major work on the ship.' Judge Robreno granted defendant Huntington Ingalls' summary-judgment motion: the exposure testimony (plaintiff's and declarant Charles Ay's) was temporally vague, could not establish the men were aboard at the same time, and could not show the insulation Ay observed was the same material to which plaintiff was exposed (~20% being replacement insulation); 'the evidence does not establish that Plaintiff was exposed to respirable asbestos insulation aboard the ship.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1964-1973 alleged exposure; order 2014

   Population

   Plaintiff Dale Shelly, Navy service 1964-73, alleging ~1 year aboard/around USS Ranger during 'major work'

   Limitations

   A defense summary-judgment win - a merits-level negative for this plaintiff, NOT exposure evidence for the ship: the court held the proffered evidence insufficient to place respirable asbestos exposure aboard. The order's '(CV-41)' parenthetical is an internal error (CV-41 is USS Midway); the vessel named in text is USS Ranger. Does not address any other claimant, defendant, or material aboard.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-04

5. [5]U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (NPS Form 10-900), 'USS Ranger CV-61' (2014) [nps]

   Locator

   NPS Form 10-900 narrative sections (integrity/no-SLEP discussion; engineering description; West Coast yard-period list); Section 3 certification block (unsigned)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NPS National Register nomination (Form 10-900, 'USS Ranger CV-61, Kitsap County, WA', prepared by Rachel Shelton, private citizen, 14 May 2014; filed with Washington DAHP) documents that Ranger 'was the only one of the four Forrestal-class carriers that did not require a SLEP (Service Life Extension Program) overhaul during the 1980s' and that she 'retains nearly all of the original as-constructed attributes,' making her the most intact representative of the Forrestal design; nominated under Criteria A and C at national significance. The nomination describes a 1,200-psi high-pressure steam plant with eight boilers and four engines developing 280,000 horsepower, 180 miles of piping and 290 miles of electrical cable, accommodations for 5,028 enlisted and 545 officers, and post-deployment refurbishments at San Francisco (1963-1964, 1965) and Bremerton (1966-1967, 1968, 1977-1978, 1984-1985).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1956-2014

   Population

   n/a (vessel history/material condition documentation)

   Limitations

   Documents material condition and integrity on this hull - relevant to exposure history because never-SLEP means original-era material was less disturbed but also never systematically removed or surveyed. The nomination contains NO asbestos or hazmat statement, was prepared by a private citizen, and was never certified (unsigned certification block; the ship had already been redesignated for disposal in 2012). The corroborating NAVSEA Final DoI (Ranger_CV-61_Final_DoI.pdf, 30 Nov 2010) exists but blocks automated fetch (403) - see search ledger.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-05

6. [6]DANFS, 'Ranger X (CVA-61)' - Naval Historical Center entry [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS spec block and narrative (construction milestones; 1965 machinery-room fire; yard-period chronology; battle stars)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS entry documents construction and career: laid down 2 Aug 1954 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 29 Sep 1956 (sponsor Mrs. Arthur Radford); commissioned at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 10 Aug 1957; spec block complement 3,826; arrived Alameda 20 Aug 1958 via Cape Horn to join the Pacific Fleet; on 13 Apr 1965 a fuel-line break ignited and engulfed her No. 1 main machinery room in flames (one fatality); overhauls at San Francisco Naval Shipyard 7 Aug 1963-10 Feb 1964 and 13 May-30 Sep 1965; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 30 Sep 1966-30 May 1967 and a shipyard availability ending 29 Jul 1968; regular overhaul 1971-mid-1972; 13 battle stars for Vietnam service; narrative ends January 1974.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1954-1974

   Population

   Ship's company ~3,826 plus embarked air wing; yard workers across listed availabilities

   Limitations

   Authoritative Navy history for milestones and yard periods; contains no asbestos or insulation-material content. The 1965 No. 1 machinery-room fire and subsequent five-month overhaul are recorded as events - the asbestos scope of that repair is inference only. Live history.navy.mil DANFS URL 404s; citation is the 2011 Wayback capture of the Naval Historical Center page.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-06

7. [7]Naval Vessel Register (nvr.navy.mil), SHIPSDETAIL CV-61, via Wayback capture 2017-02-01 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NVR ship detail block (status, custodian, milestone dates, physical characteristics, accommodations, comment field)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Naval Vessel Register detail page for CV-61 (Feb. 1, 2017 Wayback capture): 'RANGER (CV 61) (ex - CVA 61), MULTI-PURPOSE AIRCRAFT CARRIER,' UIC 03361, Class CV 59; status 'Stricken, to be disposed of'; date status changed 26 Sep 2012; custodian Inactive Ships Office (SEA 21I); builder Newport News Shipbuilding; milestones - award 2/1/1954, keel 8/2/1954, launch 9/29/1956, delivery 8/1/1957, commission 8/10/1957, decommission 7/10/1993, stricken 3/8/2004; accommodations officers 545, enlisted 5,028; overall length 1,067 ft; full displacement 81,003 tons; steel hull; 4 propellers; steam turbines; comment 'INTERNATIONAL SHIPBREAKING LIMITED LLC IN BROWNSVILLE, TX'; page last updated 17 Sep 2015.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1954-2015

   Population

   n/a (registry record); accommodations 545 officers + 5,028 enlisted

   Limitations

   Official registry milestones and status data; accommodations figures are design capacity, not muster rolls. Live NVR detail page redirects to a JS shell for non-browser agents (identical behavior to the CV-63 page) - data carried via the 2017 Wayback capture.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-07

8. [8]Historic American Engineering Record, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Dry Dock No. 4, HAER No. CA-181-A (Library of Congress) [haer]

   Locator

   HAER CA-181-A data pages, narrative list of Navy aircraft carriers docked in Dry Dock No. 4 (p. 12 of the data pages)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Historic American Engineering Record documentation for Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Dry Dock No. 4 (HAER No. CA-181-A) lists 'the USS RANGER (CV61)' among the Navy aircraft carriers docked in Dry Dock No. 4 - independent federal documentation of this hull's Hunters Point drydock periods.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   yard-period era (dockings undated in source)

   Population

   Hunters Point/Triple A drydock workforce during Ranger dockings

   Limitations

   Names this hull among carriers docked in the facility but does not date the dockings, describe the work performed, or mention materials - corroborates the DANFS/nomination yard history and the related_shipyards link only.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-08

9. [9]NAVSEA contract announcement via USNI News (Dec. 22, 2014); Navy Times (Mar. 5, 2015); Military Times (Jul. 13, 2015); NavSource CV-61 donation-hold/status captions [reputable_press]

   Locator

   USNI News article (NAVSEA $0.01 contract text); Navy Times/Military Times (tow departure and Brownsville arrival); NavSource archives/02/61.htm captions (donation hold 2004-2012; disposal status 2017-12-05)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Disposal chain: ex-Ranger was available for donation as a museum/memorial from March 2004 but no organization met the Navy's minimum donation requirements; on 26 Sep 2012 she was removed from donation hold and redesignated for dismantling (matching the NVR status-change date). NAVSEA announced 22 Dec 2014 a $0.01 procurement contract - not a sale - to International Shipbreaking Ltd. for towing and dismantling; the hull departed the Bremerton Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility under tow 5 Mar 2015, was towed around South America (too large for the Panama Canal), and arrived at the Port of Brownsville 12 Jul 2015. NavSource records 'Disposed of by recycling (scrapping/recycling), 5 December 2017'.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   2004-2017

   Population

   ISL dismantlement workforce, 2015-2017; Brownsville tow and port workers

   Limitations

   Contract terms and tow dates verified via Navy statements carried in reputable press plus NavSource captions (a volunteer archive; live site unreachable at session time, cited via search index and Oct. 2023 Wayback capture). No per-hull hazardous-material accounting or waste manifest for the 2015-17 ISL dismantlement was located - the dismantlement asbestos scope for this hull is undocumented.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-ranger-cv61-09

10. [10]NHHC ship command-operation reports collection (USS Ranger CVA-61 Command History for 1969, OPNAV Report 5750-1); NAVSEA Ranger CV-61 Final DoI (30 Nov 2010), text via search-index excerpt [other_primary]

    Locator

    1969 command history PDF (digitized; verified downloaded, OCR text layer); DoI methodology paragraph (per search-index text - direct fetch blocked 403)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival lead: NHHC holds Ranger's annual command histories/command-operation reports (OPNAV 5750-1), but only the 1969 report is digitized online. NAVSEA's Final Determination of Eligibility states that because the DANFS narrative ends in 1974, for the ship's last nineteen years of service 'it was necessary to review her unpublished Command Operations Reports in the collections of the Naval Historical Center' - i.e., the contemporaneous ship records covering the 1989-90 North Island abatement period, the Bremerton availabilities, Desert Storm, and the decommissioning are archival, not online.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    1957-1993

    Population

    n/a (records availability)

    Limitations

    Lead only - the post-1974 command reports were not reviewed (undigitized; NHHC reading room). Their hazmat/maintenance content is unknown; the 1989-90 report would likely document the North Island period from the ship's own records.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-ranger-cv61-10

11. [11]Forrestal-class profile (class-b/forrestal-class.class.json ev-forrestal-class-01); Navy/DOE EIS-0524 Section 3.2.2.1.1 era statement; DANFS/NavSource class construction data [other_primary]

    Locator

    Class profile ev-forrestal-class-01; EIS-0524 Section 3.2.2.1.1

    Finding type

    asbestos_application

    Finding

    Class/era context: Ranger was built 1954-57 as the third Forrestal-class supercarrier with an eight-boiler, four-turbine 1,200-psi steam plant in the peak years of Navy asbestos use. The Navy's own disposal EIS states asbestos-containing material 'is found throughout Navy ships in insulating materials on piping systems, in electrical cables, and on ship structures.' Era-standard applications included boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe lagging, turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets and packing, deck tile, bulkhead fireproofing, and cable insulation; the Navy did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    1954-1993

    Population

    Construction trades 1954-1957; crews and yard workers through 1993

    Limitations

    Era-standard application list and the Navy's generic statement - prioritizes research only; it is NOT a ship-specific finding and does not confirm installed materials on this hull beyond the documented pipe insulation (ev-01) and blower supply (ev-03). Ex-Forrestal's ~2-ton dismantlement asbestos-waste figure in the same EIS is sister-ship data and MUST NOT be transferred to this hull.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-ranger-cv61-11

12. [12]This record's search_ledger (sl-uss-ranger-cv61-03, -04, -07, -12) [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-ranger-cv61-01 through -14

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Negative finding on documentation state: no hull-wide insulation survey, no installed-material inventory, and no abatement contract other than the CMCI job (ev-01/02) was located for this hull in public sources. NAVSEA's Ranger_CV-61_Final_DoI.pdf (30 Nov 2010) exists and was partially excerpted via search index but returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; the live NVR detail page redirects to a JS shell; post-1974 NHHC command histories are undigitized; and CourtListener's unfiltered 'USS Ranger' opinion query was throttled at the documented 125/day cap.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-19

    Study period

    2026-09-19

    Population

    n/a

    Limitations

    Absence of a located record does not prove absence - the 1989-90 Navy exposure-investigation report, the 2015-17 ISL dismantlement hazmat files (NAVSEA SEA21/DRMS contract records), and the undigitized post-1974 command histories are the archival leads.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-ranger-cv61-12