Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, 'Tarawa I (CV-40)' - NHHC ship histories (migrated entry) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS migrated HTML entry, spec block and 1944-1954 narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry documents construction and career: the first Tarawa (CV-40) was laid down 1 March 1944 at the Norfolk Navy Yard; launched 12 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Julian C. Smith, wife of Lt. Gen. Julian C. Smith, USMC, who commanded the Second Marine Division at Tarawa; commissioned 8 December 1945, Capt. Alvin I. Malstrom in command. Spec block: displacement 27,100; length 888'0"; beam 93'0"; extreme width 147'6"; draft 28'7"; speed 32.7 knots (trial); complement 3,448; armament 12 5-inch, 72 40mm; class Ticonderoga. Post-shakedown overhaul at Norfolk; Western Pacific deployment 1946-47; world cruise 1948-49; decommissioned 30 June 1949. Recommissioned 3 February 1951 at Newport, R.I., for Korea-era fleet replacement (she never saw combat in that conflict); reclassified attack carrier CVA-40 1 October 1952; reached the Asiatic war zone spring 1954 after the armistice.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1954
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy history for milestones; contains no asbestos or insulation-material content. Spec block lists class as 'Ticonderoga' - the long-hull Essex variant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-01
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[2]DANFS, 'Tarawa I (CV-40)' (migrated entry) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS paragraphs covering the Dec 1954 Boston Naval Shipyard ASW conversion and 1955-60 Atlantic service
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Later career and yard periods per DANFS: entered Boston Naval Shipyard in December 1954 for overhaul and conversion to an antisubmarine warfare support carrier, recommissioning into that role as CVS-40 effective 10 January 1955; served the Atlantic Fleet on barrier patrols and pilot training out of Quonset Point and Norfolk, with Caribbean exercises. Decommissioned in May 1960 and placed in reserve at Philadelphia, where she remained until the late 1960s; redesignated AVT-12 (auxiliary aircraft transport) in May 1961.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1954-1961
- Limitations
- Documents one major conversion period (Boston NSY Dec 1954) and routine operations; no insulation or asbestos materials described - yard periods are exposure-relevant context, not material findings. Notably, the granted BVA claim (ev-03) places the same veteran in a South Boston Naval Shipyard drydock doing asbestos pipe work during 1953-57, corroborating that such work occurred at this yard in this era - without tying it to this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-02
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[3]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 9910484 (decided 1999; appeal from VA RO; reopened claim) [court_record]
- Locator
- Findings of Fact nos. 3-5; Factual Background (DD 214 service dates, pipe-fitter testimony, South Boston drydock account); Legal Analysis (new-and-material and grant)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Official VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decision GRANTING service connection for asbestosis documents in-service asbestos exposure including duty aboard this hull. The veteran's DD 214 showed Navy service as a pipe-fitter apprentice: aboard USS Antietam August 1954-April 1957 and USS Tarawa April 1957-October 1957. He testified to working on 'all kinds of pipes, pumps, valves, drain lines and all of the ship's plumbing,' all 'covered with asbestos' which he had to remove and replace; his heaviest exposure occurred during a drydock availability at South Boston Naval Shipyard (asbestos blowing 'like snow'), and after transfer to USS Tarawa 'he continued to be exposed to daily asbestos while working on pipes.' A Plumbers and Pipefitters union representative corroborated substantial asbestos exposure during his Navy pipefitter years 1953-57; a VA examiner recorded 'significant exposure to asbestos materials.' Findings of fact: 'the veteran was a pipe fitter in a shipyard and aboard U.S. Navy ships, and was exposed to asbestos in service' and 'the veteran has asbestosis as a result of his exposure to asbestos during his period of service.' Conclusion: 'Service connection for asbestosis is warranted' - claim GRANTED on reopened review.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- Service 1953-1957 (aboard Tarawa Apr-Oct 1957); decision 1999
- Population
- Navy pipe-fitter apprentice aboard CV-40 April-October 1957 (after USS Antietam 1954-57); asbestosis; service connection granted
- Limitations
- Stage discipline: a granted VA benefits claim - the Board credited in-service exposure under the benefit-of-the-doubt standard, without apportioning between Antietam (2.7 yrs), Tarawa (6 months), and the South Boston drydock work he described as his heaviest exposure. It establishes that shipboard pipe-system work with asbestos materials occurred aboard CV-40 per a credited account; it is not a hull survey, does not establish exposure for other crew, and addresses no tort liability.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-03
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[4]DANFS, 'Tarawa I (CV-40)' (migrated entry), final paragraph [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS final paragraph (AVT-12 designation, striking, sale)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposal chain per DANFS: name stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 June 1967; sold 3 October 1968 to the Boston Metals Corp., Baltimore, Md., for scrapping.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1961-1968
- Limitations
- Fully DANFS-verified disposal chain; no hazardous-material survey or removal is described, and 1960s commercial scrapping predates hazmat disclosure practices.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-04
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[5]Batch-57 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API throttle + alternative opinion sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-tarawa-cv40-04 and sl-uss-tarawa-cv40-05
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CourtListener could not be swept for this hull (API HTTP 429 daily-rate-limit throttle; abandoned per batch instructions). Alternative opinion searches surfaced NO qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Tarawa (CV-40): 'USS Tarawa' hits were name collisions with the later amphibious assault ship LHA-1 (an Owens-Illinois ship-list exhibit in a California asbestos case listing 'USS Tarawa (LHA-1)' among Ingalls-built ships; a D. Del. report and recommendation reciting work on 'the USS Tarawa' at Ingalls Shipyard - almost certainly LHA-1, built at Ingalls); and 'Tarawa Terrace' Camp Lejeune water-contamination matters. BVA Citation 1609394 (USS Tarawa in Persian Gulf mine-threat duty) likewise describes LHA-1, not CV-40.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Incomplete sweep by external constraint. The LHA-1 collisions are documented so the later ship's litigation is not misattributed to CV-40; the only qualifying ship-specific record remains the 1999 BVA grant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-05
-
[6]Essex-class profile (class-a/essex-class.class.json) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class profile era-application list and unmodernized-hull notation
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era context only: Tarawa is a long-hull (Ticonderoga-group) Essex-class carrier built 1944-45 with the class's eight-boiler/four-turbine steam plant, and - unlike most sisters - was never reconstructed under SCB-27/125; her only major conversion was the December 1954 Boston Naval Shipyard ASW overhaul (CVS-40). Peak-era Navy insulation specifications applied at construction; no hull-specific inventory for CV-40 was located and none is asserted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1960 (commissioned era)
- Limitations
- Context only - no ship-specific asbestos inference is drawn from class, era, boilers, or steam propulsion. Ship-specific content rests solely on the BVA grant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tarawa-cv40-06