Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]Historic American Engineering Record, Taluga (AO-62), HAER No. CA-336, Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia vicinity, Solano County, CA (historian Brian Clayton, spring 2006); Library of Congress item ca3444 [haer]
- Locator
- Data pages ca3444data.pdf pp. 1-8 (Location/spec block; Description; Operational History); Appendix B member table (Bethlehem hull 4408 / MC 728); photo captions ca3444cap.pdf; MARAD mirror https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4756 (documents tab)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- HAER CA-336 is the dedicated NPS engineering record for this hull, produced 2006 as Section 106 mitigation before disposal: 40 photographs, 6 measured drawings, 17 data pages documenting the ship in her final configuration at Suisun Bay. It records: MC hull 728, Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point; keel 23 Dec 1943, launch 10 Jul 1944, commissioning 25 Aug 1944; 553 ft oa, 75 ft beam, 32'-4" draft, 23,235 LT, 11,335 GRT, 18,300 dwt; four Bethlehem steam turbines, four Foster and Wheeler boilers (450 psi at 750 F), Todd oil burners, Hagen controls, two Falk double helical reduction gears, Hyde steering gear, two Westinghouse 400-kW 230-V generators; nine corrugated cargo tanks (123,700 bbls oil + 788,000 gal gasoline); Ingersoll-Rand, Pacific, and Worthington steam pumps in three pump rooms; armament 1x 5"/38, 4x twin 40mm, 4x twin 3"/50; and the operational history including the 16 April 1945 kamikaze hit (12 injured, none fatal), the 1972 MSC civilian-crew conversion ('Taluga Tigers', Operation Charger Log II, 105 civil-service mariners), and the 1976 overhaul (new kingposts, hose outriggers, ram tensioners, electric-hydraulic winches replacing steam winches).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1983 service; survey 2006
- Population
- Crew and shipyard/maintenance personnel, 1944-1983 (documented hull occupants)
- Limitations
- Hull-specific record of construction, machinery, configuration, and history - but the survey contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or hazardous-materials statement whatsoever. It establishes what machinery was aboard, not what materials insulated it; it does not establish presence or absence of asbestos, quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-01
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. VII (Naval Historical Center, 1991), Taluga entry pp. 25-27 (per HAER bibliography); text verified via verbatim mirrors navysite.de/ao/ao62.htm and historycentral.com; corroborating DANFS entries Thorn (DD-647) and Vigilance (AM-324) for the 16 Apr 1945 kamikaze attack [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- navysite.de AO-62 history section (DANFS mirror); hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd647txt.htm; hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am324.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (Vol. VII) entry for Taluga: laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 728) 23 Dec 1943 at Sparrows Point, Md., by Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched 10 Jul 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Harvey Klemmer; delivered to the Navy at Norfolk and commissioned 25 Aug 1944, Comdr. Hans M. Mikkelsen. Pacific transit Oct-Dec 1944 (Aruba, Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok); Ulithi-based from 10 Dec 1944; 11 months fueling the Fast Carrier Task Force (Luzon, Okinawa, Formosa, final 3d Fleet sweeps); kamikaze hit at Kerama Retto 16 Apr 1945 - plane strafed deck, caromed off bridge, exploded through forward well deck adjacent to tanks with 300,000 gallons aviation fuel, 12 injured none fatal; station oiler at Tokyo Bay/Yokosuka; Tsingtao and Jinsen runs; San Pedro yard period Feb-Jun 1946; Bahrain/Ras Tanura shuttle 1946-49; Puget Sound naval shipyard overhaul Jan-Apr 1948; MSTS assignment 1949; Korea (Sasebo, Wonsan/Songjin blockade) 1951-53; Tachen Islands evacuation winter 1954-55 and Operation Passage to Freedom off Henriette Passe Jan 1955; six Vietnam-era WestPac deployments 1965-71 incl. Market Time support and LONGEX-70; final commissioned deployment ended Long Beach 13 Nov 1971; decommissioned 4 May 1972 and turned over same day to MSC as USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) for Operation Charger Log II (105 civilians + 16 military, ~875 underway replenishments in 3.5 years); Oakland overhaul completed Oct 1976; 3d Fleet service into Oct 1979; credited 4 WWII, 4 Korea, and 12 Vietnam battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1979
- Population
- Commissioned crew (~313) and MSC civil-service mariners (105 + 16 military)
- Limitations
- Canonical NHHC DANFS page returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-24 (standing NHHC link rot also seen in Batch 01); verbatim DANFS text confirmed through two independent mirrors. DANFS contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement; the 12-Vietnam-battle-star figure conflicts with NavSource's six listed campaign periods (see gaps). Establishes service history only - no exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-02
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database - TALUGA (AO-62/T-AO-62), ShipHistory Detail 4756 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 4756 - property block and milestone table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record (Detail 4756): TALUGA (AO-62/T-AO-62), year built 1944, Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, MARAD type T3-S2-A1, 553 ft. Custody milestones: entered Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet 11/22/1983 as a US Navy asset; MARAD accepted title from US Navy 5/1/1999; historic review 7/28/2005 'Potentially eligible for the National Register'; departed Suisun Bay 7/1/2010 under a scrap services contract; dismantlement complete 3/24/2011. Fate: Sold - Scrap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1983-2011 custody
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones and disposal. MARAD's database fields carry quirks: 'Specific Type: LNG Liquefied Natural Gas' is a data-entry artifact - Taluga was a petroleum oiler, never LNG; and MARAD/HAER record the MC type as T3-S2-A1 while NavSource and the NHHC-published Gray Steel and Black Oil record T3-S2-A3 (see correction row). No asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-03
-
[4]USDOT/MARAD and California SHPO, Memorandum of Agreement regarding disposition of obsolete vessels Mission Santa Ynez, Taluga, General Edwin D. Patrick, and General John Pope (2009-11-02); NHPA Section 106 / 36 CFR 800 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Taluga_Memorandum_of_Agreement.pdf (10 pp., OCR from scanned copy), recitals and Stipulation I
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Memorandum of Agreement between USDOT/MARAD and the California State Historic Preservation Officer (executed 2009-11-02) regarding disposition of the obsolete vessels Mission Santa Ynez, Taluga, General Edwin D. Patrick, and General John Pope: all four determined eligible for NRHP listing; listed for donation since June 2005 with no qualifying request; scrapping contractor to dismantle; adverse-effect mitigation = HAER recordation to Interagency Agreement standards (Attachment L) before disposal, documentation to SHPO within 12 months and to SHPO + Library of Congress within 18 months.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2005-2010
- Limitations
- Historic-preservation agreement only - it documents the NRHP-eligibility determination and the HAER mitigation requirement. It contains no asbestos, hazardous-materials, or abatement provisions or findings; disposal-related hazmat handling is outside this instrument's scope as written.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-04
-
[5]Arc Ecology v. United States Maritime Administration, No. 2:07-cv-02320 (E.D. Cal.) - Consent Decree Exhibit A vessel list naming TALUGA (stipulation/order, Dkt. 137; RECAP gov.uscourts.caed.169233.137.0); California RWQCB SF Bay Region Suisun Bay enforcement fact sheet and board-item staff reports (Apr 2010, Sep 2017); tow/cleaning itinerary per NavSource photo documentation and MARAD milestones [court_record]
- Locator
- E.D. Cal. 2:07-cv-02320 Dkt. 137 Exhibit A (vessel list, item 8 TALUGA); waterboards.ca.gov Suisun Bay facts PDF and 2010/2017 staff reports; NavSource archive 09/19/19062 photo captions (BAE Pier 70 drydock Jun 2010; Scorpius tow 26 Jul 2010; Miraflores 21 Aug 2010; ESCO Marine 2 Sep 2010); MARAD Detail 4756 milestones
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Taluga's tow-out and dismantling occurred under the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet Consent Judgment in Arc Ecology v. United States Maritime Administration, E.D. Cal. No. 2:07-cv-02320 (Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr.; consent judgment approved April 2010; litigation begun 2007 by SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Arc Ecology, San Francisco Baykeeper, and NRDC against MARAD/USDOT). TALUGA appears by name on the consent decree's vessel list - Exhibit A as modified by the parties' stipulation and order (Docket no. 137) - confirming the decree covered this hull. The decree required MARAD to remove deck paint debris within 120 days, clean flaking paint from all non-retention vessel exteriors within 2 years, drydock-clean hulls before tow-out, and remove all ~57 non-retention vessels by 30 Sep 2017. Consistent with that regime, ex-Taluga was drydocked at BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair (Pier 70) in June 2010, towed out by the tug Scorpius 26 July 2010, transited the Panama Canal 21 Aug 2010, and moored at ESCO Marine, Brownsville, TX, 2 Sep 2010 for dismantling (completed 24 Mar 2011 per MARAD).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2007-2011
- Population
- Shipbreaking workforce at ESCO Marine, Brownsville (disposal context only)
- Limitations
- Documents the environmental regime governing this hull's disposal and places TALUGA by name on the decree's vessel list, but the decree and board materials address exterior flaking paint, heavy-metal discharge, and hull biofouling - not asbestos. No asbestos survey or interior-ACM handling requirement for this hull appears in the cited materials; the consent decree is not evidence of asbestos aboard. ESCO Marine/Brownsville identification is from NavSource contributor photo captions and a secondary tanker reference, consistent with MARAD's 'scrap services contract' milestone.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-05
-
[6]Castagna v. Interlake Steamship Company, No. 3:07-cv-04526-EMC (N.D. Cal.) - complaint Exhibit A exposure chart (Dkt. 1-2, pp. 5-6 of 38) and docket (RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.195479) [court_record]
- Locator
- RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.195479.1.1.pdf (complaint Exhibit A, 'TALUGA (AO-62)' employer block); docket metadata via CourtListener API v4 dockets/4168874
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Docketed asbestos action naming the hull: Castagna v. Interlake Steamship Company, N.D. Cal. No. 3:07-cv-04526-EMC (diversity personal-injury asbestos action, Judge Edward M. Chen; complaint filed 2007-08-31, action terminated 2007-10-17). Complaint Exhibit A (plaintiff's exposure chart, RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.195479.1.1) lists 'TALUGA (AO-62)' as a location of exposure, employer 'Commander Military Sealift Com. Pac.' / 'Military Sealift Com. Pac. Code N84' (San Diego), job title 'Oiler,' exposure dates 1972-1973 - the ship's civilian-crewed USNS era. The exhibit's job-duties text for that employer block alleges the plaintiff 'checked gauges and cleaned filters for water intakes and FOSTER WHEELER boilers,' 'cleaned heat exchangers, generators, and DELAVAL steam turbines,' 'chipped and scraped asbestos insulated pipes,' 'repaired insulation on pipes using EAGLE-PICHER insulation cement and pipecovering, JOHNS-MANVILLE pipecovering, and PABCO insulation cement,' mixed insulation cement by hand, used 'ANCHOR PACKING packing for valves, ANCHOR gasket materials, GARLOCK gaskets (cut and fitted), and asbestos welding blankets,' 'fueled other ships,' and 'lived on board while repairs were being done at Triple A' (Triple A Machine Shop, Pier 64, San Francisco). Plaintiff was diagnosed with asbestosis and asbestos-related pleural disease ~Oct 2004 per the complaint.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- Alleged exposure 1972-1973; complaint filed 2007
- Population
- MSC civil-service mariner (oiler rating), 1972-1973; other 1972-83 civil-service crew as contextual population
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation, classified at the less-final stage per batch discipline: a complaint's vessel list is an allegation, not a finding. The action terminated 2007-10-17, about six weeks after filing - the exposure claim was never adjudicated, no evidence was tested, and no product was proved to have been aboard this hull. The exhibit's job-duties paragraph runs the TALUGA assignment and the Triple A Machine Shop (Pier 64) repair work together under one MSC employer block, so ship-vs-yard attribution of specific tasks is the plaintiff's own undifferentiated account. The alleged Foster Wheeler boilers are corroborated as this hull's boiler maker by HAER CA-336 (Foster and Wheeler supplied the four boilers); the exhibit's 'DELAVAL steam turbines' differs from HAER's attribution of the main turbines to Bethlehem (auxiliary turbine-driven machinery may differ - not reconciled). Does not establish asbestos presence aboard, individual exposure as proved fact, quantity, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-06
-
[7]Lockwood v. Crane Co., No. 2:12-cv-01473-JHN-CW (C.D. Cal.) - Order Remanding Matter to Los Angeles County Superior Court, Dkt. 58 (Nguyen, J., 2012-04-25; RECAP gov.uscourts.cacd.524943.58.0) and docket [court_record]
- Locator
- RECAP gov.uscourts.cacd.524943.58.0.pdf (remand order, quoting removal notice at Dkt. 1 paras 6-8); docket metadata via CourtListener API v4 dockets/5843154
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Docketed asbestos action with the hull named in a procedural ruling: Lockwood v. Crane Co. et al., C.D. Cal. No. 2:12-cv-01473-JHN-CW (asbestos personal-injury action removed from Los Angeles County Superior Court under 28 U.S.C. 1441). Foster Wheeler LLC removed on federal-officer grounds (28 U.S.C. 1442(a)(1)), asserting that in manufacturing 'marine steam generators, including boilers and economizers, on the USS Taluga,' which plaintiff allegedly worked on, it acted under a federal officer. Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen granted remand 2012-04-25: plaintiff's express waiver of 'any claims against defendant Foster Wheeler LLC relating to or arising out of plaintiff's asbestos exposure at military and federal government jobsites or from U.S. military or other government vessels' defeated the federal-officer basis, so the case returned to state court.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- Alleged exposure undated in the cited order; removal/remand 2012
- Population
- Ship's force / yard personnel who allegedly worked on boilers and economizers aboard USS Taluga (alleged, unadjudicated)
- Limitations
- Jurisdictional/procedural-stage record, classified at the less-final stage: the order documents that a ship-specific exposure allegation was pleaded, but the plaintiff then expressly waived all claims arising from U.S. military/government vessels - so the Taluga-related claim against Foster Wheeler was abandoned as a jurisdictional maneuver and was never adjudicated on exposure merits. No court found asbestos conditions aboard this hull. Foster Wheeler is corroborated as this hull's boiler manufacturer by HAER CA-336, which makes the allegation plausible in detail, but plausibility is not adjudication.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-07
-
[8]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
- 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 Maritime Commission emergency program under which this T3-type fleet oiler was built at Bethlehem Sparrows Point in 1943-44 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- 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 or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-08
-
[9]Batch-1910 search ledger (this record): LOC HAER CA-336; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 4756 + MOA + status card; DANFS mirrors; NavSource; NVR; CA RWQCB Suisun Bay file; CourtListener opinion/docket searches and RECAP pulls [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-taluga-ao62-01 through sl-uss-taluga-ao62-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No adjudicated ship-specific asbestos record located: aside from the unadjudicated Castagna complaint exhibit (ev-06) and the waived Lockwood allegation (ev-07), no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, condition report, or adjudicated finding naming USS/USNS Taluga or AO-62/T-AO-62 was found in the public sources searched. The HAER CA-336 engineering survey and the MARAD/SHPO disposal MOA - the two most detailed hull-level public documents - contain no asbestos statement; the consent-decree vessel listing (ev-05) concerns paint/heavy-metal pollution, not ACM.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of an adjudicated public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 steam-plant fleet oiler is era-consistent with ACM insulation, gaskets, and packing, and the unadjudicated Castagna allegation is consistent with that inference but proves nothing. Breakers-yard ACM handling at ESCO Marine (2010-11) is governed by OSHA/TSCA rules but no hull-specific record is public. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-09
-
[10]NARA Record Groups 19 (BuShips - Booklet of General Plans AO-62, cited in HAER CA-336 bibliography), 24 (deck logs), 80 (photo negatives), 178 (Maritime Commission) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HAER CA-336 data pages, Bibliography p. 16 and Appendix A photo credits (RG 80 negatives, College Park)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required; no spend authorized): the HAER CA-336 bibliography cites the Booklet of General Plans (AO-62) in NARA Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships) at College Park - a confirmed-existing hull-specific plans set that would show insulation specifications; NARA RG 24 Navy deck logs cover the commissioned period (1944-1972); RG 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission) Construction Division files may hold the MC hull 728 contract and outfitting specifications for Bethlehem-Sparrows Point builder's hull 4408; NARA RG 80 photo negatives cited in HAER Appendix A document the ship 1944-1980.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1980 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and catalog-level mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed. The Booklet of General Plans is confirmed to exist in RG 19 by the HAER bibliography; whether it or the other files contain asbestos-specific material data for MC hull 728 / AO-62 is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-10
-
[11]Cross-source discrepancy check: HAER CA-336 and MARAD ShipHistory vs. NavSource 09/19/19062 vs. Wildenberg, Gray Steel and Black Oil (NHHC, Appendix D, T3-S2-A3 listing) vs. DANFS Vol. VII [other_primary]
- Locator
- GSBO Appendix D table (AO-62: Bethlehem Sparrows Pt / 1944 / Ashtabula / T3-S2-A3 / 25-Aug-44); HAER CA-336 spec block; MARAD Detail 4756; NavSource spec block and campaign tables
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies logged: (a) design type - HAER CA-336 and MARAD ShipHistory give T3-S2-A1; NavSource and the NHHC-published Gray Steel and Black Oil (Appendix D) give T3-S2-A3 - both variants carried, not silently reconciled. (b) Class name - 'Cimarron class' (NavSource header, Wikipedia) vs. 'Ashtabula class' (HAER, ibiblio/HyperWar spec block, hullnumber.com); the eighteen Bethlehem 1943-46 second-production ships are the Ashtabula group in HAER Appendix B. (c) Vietnam battle stars - DANFS credits 12; NavSource lists the Vietnam Service Medal with six campaign stars plus the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - both reported. (d) MSC out-of-service - DANFS 'into October 1979,' HAER 'until October 1982,' NavSource 'date unknown'; NDRF entry 1983-11-22 is the firm milestone. (e) Complement - NavSource 22+291 (~313), ibiblio 314, HAER merchant-design accommodation 44; commissioned ~313 carried. (f) Operation name - DANFS 'Charger Log II'; HAER prints 'Charter Log II'/'Operation Charger'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-2011
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies between official and secondary sources; none materially affects identity, construction dates, or the disposal chain. None of the underlying sources contains asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-taluga-ao62-11