Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS, 'Redbud' (AKL-398) entry dated 23 September 2005; published 26 August 2015 (live URL returns 404; content verified via Wayback capture 20240525191209) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Redbud entry, full text; Wayback capture http://web.archive.org/web/20240525191209/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/redbud.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS names this hull and records: characteristics (AKL-398; displacement 1,025 full load; length 180'; beam 38'; draft 13'; complement 28; speed 13 knots); 'A Coast Guard name retained'; lighthouse tender WAGL-398 built in 1943 for the U.S. Coast Guard by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Co., Duluth, Minn.; acquired by the Navy 18 March 1949; redesignated AKL-398 on 31 March 1949; converted at Long Beach, Calif.; commissioned 23 July 1949, Lt. Comdr. F. E. Clark in command. After shakedown departed Long Beach 3 August 1949; arrived Boston 18 September; continued to Argentia to join the support force for construction and maintenance of air bases and early-warning installations in the North Atlantic and Arctic; operated along southwestern Greenland and Baffin Bay ports into 1950. Until 28 February 1952 she supported Arctic bases - rehabilitating navigational aids, activating and repairing submarine petroleum lines, delivering bulk petroleum and general cargo - as a commissioned Navy ship; then decommissioned and simultaneously placed in service with MSTS with a civil-service crew, returning to sealift support for the Northeast Command (SUNEC). In 1956 her schedule added winter (November-March) supply runs to the Texas Towers alternating with April-October SUNEC duties; until 1970 she was usually the first MSTS ship to arrive in the far north to open a new resupply season. Returned to the Coast Guard 10 November 1970; struck from the Navy list ten days later; transferred to the Republic of the Philippines 1 March 1972 under a grant-in-aid as Kalinga (AG-89).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1972 (entry scope)
- Population
- USCG crew (1944-49); Navy crew (1949-52, complement 28); MSTS civil-service mariners (1952-70); Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard crews (1972- )
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy ship-history entry; establishes identity, conversion, service narrative, and disposal. Contains no asbestos, materials, insulation, or condition information - supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-22; verbatim text verified via Wayback capture http://web.archive.org/web/20240525191209/. MSTS transfer dating conflicts with shipscribe's register reconstruction (28 Feb 1952 decommission/in-service vs transfer 12 Dec 1951/in-service 20 Feb 1952) - logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-01
-
[2]Historic American Engineering Record (NPS), 'U.S. Coast Guard Cutter REDBUD (WLB 398, WAGL 398),' HAER No. FL-17, Written Historical and Descriptive Data (researcher Marc Porter, 2002; ed. Justine Christianson) - hull-specific federal documentation project under the U.S. Coast Guard Buoy Tenders 180' Class Recording Project [haer]
- Locator
- LOC HAER FL-17 data pages https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/fl/fl0500/fl0510/data/fl0510data.pdf - cover sheet and narrative pp. 4-5; bibliography (Coast Guard Magazine July 1946 and Feb 1957; Coast Guard News 7 Mar 1972; REDBUD Cutter File, USCG Historian's Office)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- HAER FL-17 documents this specific hull: construction begun at Marine Iron and Shipbuilding, Duluth, on 21 July 1943; launched 52 days later; entered U.S. Coast Guard service 2 May 1944; cost $926,926. Assigned to the Seventh District out of Miami conducting aids-to-navigation work with occasional law-enforcement patrols. In 1946 sent to Bikini Atoll to prepare the harbor for Operation Crossroads - marking a safe navigational channel into the lagoon and setting up the mooring area for the naval vessels anchored as atomic-test targets (per Coast Guard Magazine, July 1946). Lent to the Navy in 1949, reclassified a light cargo ship and commissioned USS Redbud; Arctic resupply missions spring-autumn with winter maintenance in New York; transferred to MSTS in 1952 under civilian crew, continuing Arctic service plus laying mooring buoys, building shore-based aids to navigation, and hydrographic surveys. Rescue operations documented: refloated USNS Wacissa (1952); helped refloat a stranded Liberty ship (1953); rescued eight Swiss explorers of the Academic Alpine Club of Bern from a small boat trapped in ice off Greenland (August 1969). MSTS until 1970, when the Coast Guard resumed ownership without reactivating her; transferred to the Philippines 1 March 1972 as RPS Kalinga.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1972; report 2002
- Population
- USCG crew Miami era and Bikini detail (1944-49); Navy crew (1949-52); MSTS civilian crew (1952-70)
- Limitations
- Hull-specific federal documentation; establishes construction, USCG/Navy/MSTS service narrative, Crossroads site-preparation role, and transfer. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-materials statement - supports no asbestos claim and establishes neither presence nor absence. The HAER narrative states the Crossroads assignment was harbor preparation (channel marking, moorings); it does not document presence at the tests themselves - see the DNA dose-reconstruction negative finding (ev-08).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-02
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[3]shipscribe.com (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USNS Redbud (AKL 398, USCG 180' Tender) Class' - construction table, disposition table, class notes, and ship note compiled from Naval Vessel Register / CNO records (compiled 9 Aug 2021) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AKL398.html - construction table row 398, disposition table row 398, class-notes paragraphs 2-3, ship note for AKL 398 (REDBUD), class header data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Register reconstruction names this hull and documents the transfer mechanics: SECNAV asked the Secretary of the Treasury for indefinite loan of WAGL-398 on 3 February 1949, with the Coast Guard retaining the option to recover the vessel; Treasury agreed 18 February 1949; the commander of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard accepted custody for the Navy on 28 March 1949; ship note records 'ex-AG 398 31 Mar 1949' (a brief miscellaneous-auxiliary designation preceding AKL-398). Navy commissioned her for Greenland resupply and converted her at Long Beach; worked from Argentia supporting Arctic bases. Reported in November 1951 as no longer required by the Atlantic Fleet; Coast Guard had no objection to MSTS transfer; decommissioned and transferred to MSTS 12 December 1951; placed in service as USNS Redbud (T-AKL 398) 20 February 1952. Reduced to ready reserve at Staten Island 2 January 1958, then placed back in service 28 March 1958 to replace T-AKL 17 as support ship for the Texas Towers while continuing Arctic resupply. On 29 September 1970 the Coast Guard Commandant wrote CNO exercising the recall option; on 6 November 1970 CNO confirmed availability at Bayonne, N.J. about 15 November; transferred 20 November 1970 to the Coast Guard at Curtis Bay and struck; inactive 1970-72; transferred 1 March 1972 to the Philippines as Kalinga (recorded 'AK 89' here). Class data: displacement 680 light / 1,070 full tons; 180' oa x 37' e x 13' max; diesel-electric, 1 screw, 1,200 hp, 13 kts; accommodations 11 officers + 17 unlicensed; no armament.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- PSNSY custody party (Mar 1949); Long Beach conversion workers (1949); Navy and MSTS crews as in ev-01
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official register sources (NVR data, CNO correspondence) - authoritative for identity and milestones but not itself a primary document; no asbestos or materials information. Date and designation variances vs DANFS logged in gaps: MSTS transfer 12 Dec 1951 / in-service 20 Feb 1952 (vs DANFS 28 Feb 1952 simultaneous decommission/in-service); Philippine designation 'AK 89' (vs DANFS/NavSource 'AG-89').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-03
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[4]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USNS Redbud (T-AKL-398) page (09/14/14398): hull chain (USCGC WLB-398 1944-49; USS AKL-398 1949-52; USNS T-AKL-398), spec block, National Defense Service Medal award, commanding-officer list, NARA photo citations, BRP Kalinga photo documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/09/14/14398.htm - header timeline, spec block, awards line, photo captions (incl. NAID 6932268 and 091439821 Manila South Harbor 26 Jan 2020), CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource corroborates the identity chain and adds documentation: propulsion spec 'one electric motor, two Westinghouse generators driven by two Cooper-Bessemer GND8 diesel engines, 1200 Shaft Horsepower, single screw'; award National Defense Service Medal; commanding officers LCDR Francis E. Clark (23 Jul 1949 - Apr 1950) and LCDR Robert F. Menge (Apr 1950 - 28 Feb 1952); NARA-cited Bureau of Ships photo NAID 6932268 showing USS Redbud (AKL-398) off Point Loma, Calif., 4 August 1949; photos of the ship in the Arctic ice pack January 1952, at Hopedale, Labrador 1954, at Groennedal, Greenland c.1949-50, and refueling at Sondrestrom Fjord with USNS Chatahoochee (T-AOG-82); and a 26 January 2020 photo of ex-USNS Redbud in Philippine Coast Guard service as BRP Kalinga (AG-89) moored in Manila South Harbor - extending documented survival of the hull to 2020.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-2020
- Limitations
- Compiled volunteer archive, not a primary source; corroborates DANFS/shipscribe milestones and supplies photo-documented details. Spec block is class-level data; 'WLB-398' in the header is retrospective (the WLB designation postdates her 1949 departure from Coast Guard service - HAER and DANFS carry WAGL-398). Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-04
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[5]Historic American Engineering Record (NPS), 'U.S. Coast Guard Buoy Tenders, 180' Class,' HAER No. DC-57 (class report incl. Appendix D comparison table and Appendix E renovation-program comparison) and 'U.S. Coast Guard Buoy Tenders, 180' Iris Class,' HAER No. DC-60 [haer]
- Locator
- LOC HAER DC-57 data pages https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0900/dc0999/data/dc0999data.pdf (class history; App. D table p. ~43; App. E renovations) and DC-60 https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc1000/dc1002/data/dc1002data.pdf (Iris-class hull list naming REDBUD 398)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class-level federal documentation: thirty-nine 180-foot seagoing buoy tenders were built in three subclasses (Cactus, Mesquite, Iris) 1941-44; the Iris ('C') class comprised twenty cutters built 21 March 1943 - 22 September 1944 by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding and Zenith Dredge, both of Duluth - Redbud is hull 398 in DC-60's Iris-class list, cross-referenced to its own FL-17 report. DC-57 Appendix D class data for the Iris class: diesel-electric powerplant, one propeller, 1,200 hp, 13 knots, 17,000-mile range, crew 80 (1945). All-steel welded construction to mid-twentieth-century methods. The class reports document the type's design lineage to a U.S. Lighthouse Service preliminary design before its 1939 amalgamation into the Coast Guard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-2002 (class scope)
- Population
- Duluth construction workforce (1943-44); class operating crews (context)
- Limitations
- Class-level documentation naming the class, builders, and machinery type - not a hull record; cannot be read as a ship-specific finding. Neither DC-57 nor DC-60 contains any asbestos, insulation-material, or hazardous-materials statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-05
-
[6]shipscribe.com AKL-398 class header (machinery: diesel electric, 1 screw, 1,200 hp); corroborated by NavSource spec block (Cooper-Bessemer GND8 diesels, Westinghouse generators, single electric motor) and HAER DC-57 class table [other_primary]
- Locator
- AKL398.html class header machinery line; NavSource 14398 spec block; HAER DC-57 App. D powerplant row ('Diesel Electric', 1,200 hp, 1 propeller)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Design-level framing for asbestos inference: this hull is a diesel-electric vessel - two Cooper-Bessemer diesel engines driving Westinghouse generators feeding a single electric propulsion motor - with no boilers and no steam distribution plant. The dominant WWII-era shipboard asbestos application (thermal insulation and lagging on boilers, steam drums, and steam piping) is therefore absent by design on this hull type. Residual era-plausible applications for a 1943 all-steel government vessel are engine and exhaust gaskets and packing, diesel-exhaust/muffler lagging, electrical insulation, interior fireproofing and joiner materials, deck covering, and winch/windlass brake linings. None of these are documented aboard this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1944 design/build era
- Population
- Duluth construction trades (1943-44); operating crews (inference only)
- Limitations
- Design-document inference only - identifies which application categories are and are not plausible for the type; establishes neither presence nor absence of asbestos aboard this hull, nor quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation. The diesel-electric machinery is documented for the class and this hull's spec block; no document describes the actual insulation materials installed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-06
-
[7]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 World War II - the era and federal construction program under which this 1943-44 government-built cutter was produced at Marine Iron & Shipbuilding, Duluth.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel or the 180' tender type and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Notably, this hull's diesel-electric plant removes the largest documented asbestos-application category (steam-plant lagging).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-07
-
[8]Defense Nuclear Agency / Science Applications Inc., 'Analysis of radiation exposure for naval units of Operation CROSSROADS, Volume III (Appendix B) Support Ships,' technical report DNA-TR-82-05V3, 3 March 1982 (OSTI 6354991) [other_primary]
- Locator
- OSTI 6354991 full text - B-1.1 introduction (121 support ships; 33 small units note); table of contents (USCG BRAMBLE WAGL-392 at p. 111; no REDBUD/WAGL-398 entry); full-text search for 'Redbud' and '398' returns no vessel entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- WAGL-398 does not appear among the 121 non-target support ships dose-reconstructed in the official DNA report - although sister ship USCG Bramble (WAGL-392) is included (survey unit; arrived Bikini 6 July 1946). The report notes 33 additional small naval units identified only by hull number for which no dose reconstruction was possible; those units are not enumerated in the volume's text. HAER FL-17 documents Redbud's role as harbor preparation only - marking the channel into Bikini lagoon and setting the target-fleet mooring area. Presence at Bikini during the tests themselves (ABLE 1 July 1946; BAKER 25 July 1946) is undocumented in the located official record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1946
- Limitations
- Absence from the 121-ship dose reconstruction does not prove non-participation - the report acknowledges 33 small units without reconstructable records, and a pre-test site-preparation departure is consistent with the HAER account. This row bounds the documented Crossroads role; it contains no asbestos information and supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-08
-
[9]Batch-1105 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS Redbud (via Wayback); NPS HAER FL-17 hull report + DC-57/DC-60 class reports; shipscribe AKL-398 register reconstruction; NavSource 14398; DNA/OSTI Crossroads Vol. III; NVR; MARAD ShipHistory; CourtListener opinion and RECAP searches (authenticated); indexed-web check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-usns-redbud-akl398-01 through sl-usns-redbud-akl398-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, specification naming this hull, or docketed case naming Redbud, AKL-398, T-AKL-398, WAGL-398, or Kalinga was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion searches returned zero hits for 'USS Redbud', 'USNS Redbud', 'AKL-398', 'T-AKL-398', and 'Kalinga'+asbestos; the two 'Redbud'+asbestos opinion hits are cited-case name collisions (American Steamship Owners v. Alcoa, 232 F.R.D. 191 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), citing Burrows v. Redbud Community Hospital District; Sterling v. Velsicol, 855 F.2d 1188 (6th Cir. 1988), citing Redbud Cooperative Corp. v. Clayton); 239 unfiltered 'Redbud' opinion hits and 909 'Redbud' RECAP dockets are hospital-district, land-trust, coal/mining, and realty-entity collisions. NVR carries no record (hull disposed 1970-72, outside current NVR coverage). MARAD ShipHistory holds no record (direct Navy-to-Coast Guard-to-Philippines transfer, never MARAD custody). Indexed-web check surfaced only law-firm marketing ship lists - excluded source class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 government-built vessel of this era is consistent with era-typical asbestos-containing materials in the residual applications listed in ev-06. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-09
-
[10]Archival leads: REDBUD Cutter File (Ship's History), U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, Washington, D.C. - cited in HAER FL-17 bibliography; USCG Military Muster Rolls 1941-49 (RG 26, NARA) - the Historian's Office folder-level finding aid lists 'Redbud 1944,' 'Redbud 1945,' 'Redbud 1946,' 'Redbud 1947'; RG 24 Navy deck logs for USS Redbud (AKL-398) commissioned period 1949-52 at NARA College Park; MSTS/MSC operational records for the 1952-70 civilian-crewed period; NARA still-picture NAID 6932268 (Bureau of Ships photo of AKL-398, cited by NavSource) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HAER FL-17 bibliography line 'REDBUD- Ship's History, REDBUD Cutter File, in U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, Washington, D.C.'; history.uscg.mil muster-roll finding aid (Redbud folder entries 1944-47); NARA RG 24/RG 26 record-group guides
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room work or reproduction order; no spend authorized): the USCG Historian's Office REDBUD Cutter File underlies the Coast Guard-side service record and is the likeliest source for conversion/maintenance detail; Coast Guard muster rolls for Redbud exist 1944-47 at NARA (RG 26); Navy deck logs (RG 24) cover the 1949-52 commissioned period and would document maintenance events and port calls; MSTS/MSC records cover 1952-70; Philippine transfer documentation (1972 grant-in-aid) may exist in security-assistance records.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1972 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and file-level mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for WAGL-398/AKL-398 is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-redbud-akl398-10