Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, 'Ailanthus' (YN-57/AN-38) entry, Naval History and Heritage Command (live page returned 404 on 2026-09-24; verbatim official text verified via Wayback captures 2024-05-29 of the current NHHC page and 2012-10-26 of the classic DANFS page - identical text) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Ailanthus entry, full text (published 2022-06-03 per page footer); classic-page capture https://web.archive.org/web/20121026075419/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a4/ailanthus.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Ailanthus (YN-57): laid down 17 November 1942 at Everett, Wash., by the Everett Pacific Co.; launched 20 May 1943; sponsored by Miss Billie Jean McNatt; placed in commission at Seattle, Wash., 2 December 1943, Lt. Donald B. Howard, USNR, in command. Completed fitting out and conducted shakedown training in the second half of December 1943; reported for duty in the 13th Naval District on the last day of 1943; reclassified a net laying ship and redesignated AN-38 on 20 January 1944; arrived Pleasant Island, Alaska, 4 February 1944 and was reassigned the same day to Service Squadron 6, Pacific Fleet, beginning net laying duties. On 26 February 1944 ran hard aground and suffered extensive damage; while still stranded, reassigned to the newly constituted Seventeenth Naval District; declared a total loss and stricken from the Navy Register 9 June 1944. Specs: dp. 1,190 (f.); 194'6.5" x 34'7"; dr. 11'8.5"; s. 17 k.; class Ailanthus.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Crew (complement ~56 per NavSource) for a ~3-month operational career; Everett-Pacific yard construction workforce
- Limitations
- Authoritative ship-specific history. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or survey information. DANFS does not name the grounding location (only 'ran hard aground') and does not mention any cargo or salvage detail - the Marston-Mat/Attu narrative in the Wikipedia body text is not in the official DANFS entry. Live NHHC URL returned 404; content verified via Wayback.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Ailanthus (AN-38) ex USS Ailanthus (YN-57) (volunteer archive transcribing official records incl. spec data, CO roster, awards display) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ailanthus AN-38 archive page: specifications block, commanding officers table, awards ribbon display, photo catalog
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive page for USS Ailanthus (AN-38) ex-YN-57: laid down as Yard Net Tender YN-57 17 November 1942 at Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Everett, WA; launched 20 May 1943; commissioned USS Ailanthus (YN-57) 1 December 1943, LT Donald B. Howard USNR in command; reclassified Net Laying Ship (AN-38) 20 January 1944; ran aground in Alaskan waters 26 February 1944, declared a total loss; struck from the Naval Register 9 June 1944. Specifications: displacement 1,460 t.(fl); 194'6" x 37' x 13'6"; 12.1 kts; complement 4 officers + 52 enlisted; armament one single 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, four twin 20mm AA mounts; boom capacity 12 t.; diesel fuel 760 bbls; two diesel-drive 60 kW 120V DC ship's service generators; propulsion two Busch-Sulzer BS-539 diesel-electric engines, single propeller 1,200 shp. CO roster: LT Howard 1 Dec 1943-28 Feb 1944; LT Ralph Keast Kennedy USNR (acting) 28 Feb-6 Sep 1944. Ribbon display: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained archive transcribing official sources - used for the propulsion/specification detail, CO roster, and awards display, consistent with but not re-verified against Navy primary documents. Contains no asbestos or materials information. Discrepancies vs. DANFS (commissioning 1 Dec vs. 2 Dec; displacement 1,460 vs. 1,190; speed 12.1 vs. 17 k) logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-02
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[3]NavSource Naval History, 'Net Tender Losses-Casualties-Close Calls-Enemy Action Ship Loss' page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Net tender casualties page, Ailanthus paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource-compiled net-tender casualty history records that on 26 February 1944 USS Ailanthus AN-38, 'the first numbered wooden Net Tender,' ran hard aground during a heavy storm in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska; because of extensive damage she was declared a total loss and struck from the Navy list on 9 June 1944, and USS Anaqua (AN-40) took over her Alaskan duties.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Secondary compiled narrative consistent with DANFS on dates and total loss; adds the wooden-hull characterization (consistent with Shipscribe class notes - wood hulls substituted for steel ~10 April 1942) and the Anaqua succession detail. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-03
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[4]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Ailanthus (AN-38) Class' data page (compiled from Navy BuShips/BuC&R records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AN-38 class page: class data block, construction table row for AN-38, class notes paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts) Ailanthus-class data page: design 'Navy YN-57/AN-38'; displacement 1,175 light / 1,460 lim. tons; 194.5' oa x 37.0' e x 13.5 lim.; original armament 1-3"/50, 2-20mm; complement 43 (1944); speed 12.1 kts; propulsion diesel electric, 1 screw, 1,200 HP. Construction table: AN-38 AILANTHUS ordered 12 May 42, builder Everett Pacific SB, keel 17 Nov 42, launched 20 May 43, commissioned 2 Dec 43. Class notes: built with Maintenance Bureau of Ships / FY1942 funds; wood hulls substituted for steel around 10 Apr 42; YN 57-66 awarded to Everett-Pacific in May 1942 replacing cancelled PCE contracts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- High-quality secondary compilation of official contract/design data; confirms wooden hull construction and the 2 Dec 1943 commissioning (against NavSource's 1 Dec). Complement figure of 43 conflicts with NavSource's 56 - logged in gaps. No asbestos or materials content; the wood-hull and diesel-electric facts shape (narrow) the era-inference profile.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-04
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[5]NavSource AN-38 photo caption; USGS GNIS 'Lash Bay' entry (bay, S coast of Tanaga I.); BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011) via alaskashipwreck.com entry 'AILANTHUS (1944)'; kgbudge.com Pacific War Online Encyclopedia Ailanthus-class page; Wikipedia USS Ailanthus [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 18038.htm photo caption; geo.mytopo.com/feature/alaska/aleutians-west/bay/1418835/lash-bay (GNIS transcription); alaskashipwreck.com A-list AILANTHUS entry citing BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List 2011; kgbudge.com/pwencycl/A/i/Ailanthus_class.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Grounding-location discrepancy documented across sources, not resolved: (a) NavSource's photo caption describes 'USS Ailanthus rescue by Naval Construction Battalion 45 on Tanaga Island in the Aleutians' - NCB 45 was the Seabee unit building the Tanaga airstrip (the same battalion salvaged USS LST-451 after she beached at Lash Bay, Tanaga, in the same February 1944 storm period). (b) Wikipedia/Wikidata coordinates 51.669 N, 178.047 W correspond to Lash Bay, a named bay on the south coast of Tanaga Island (USGS GNIS). (c) The federal BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011), via the Alaska Shipwrecks compilation, records Ailanthus 'driven ashore in a storm while at anchor February 26, 1944 at Attu' at 52 56 25 N 173 15 E. (d) A secondary encyclopedia (kgbudge Pacific War Online) says Pleasant Island - almost certainly conflating her documented 4 February arrival there with the 26 February loss. (e) The Wikipedia body narrative (Marston Mat cargo delivered to a Seabee contingent building an airfield 'on the westernmost island of Attu'; 'slipped her anchorage') does not appear in the official DANFS entry and is unverified.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944; wreck documentation to 2026
- Population
- Crew evacuation assisted by Naval Construction Battalion 45 (per NavSource caption)
- Limitations
- Documents a publication-level conflict: the Tanaga/Lash Bay attribution rests on the NCB 45 rescue photo caption, published coordinates, and Tanaga wreck archaeology; the Attu attribution rests on the BOEM-compiled federal wreck list (which may record reported position rather than final wreck position); Pleasant Island is a probable error. DANFS itself names no location. No source reviewed names asbestos or describes hull materials at the wreck.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-05
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[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 era under which this 1942-43 wooden net tender was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization across naval and merchant construction, including gaskets, packing, insulation, and fireproofing on diesel-driven as well as steam-driven 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 is aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Diesel-electric plant and wood hull remove the boiler/steam-lagging pathway typical of steam auxiliaries; remaining era-typical applications (exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, friction linings) are inference, not ship-proven.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-06
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[7]Alaska History 2026 article metadata + AKAA 2025 annual-meeting program; Alaska DEC Contaminated Sites Program site report 2637 (Tanaga Island FUDS); USACE Alaska District FUDS program; NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' index [other_primary]
- Locator
- academia.edu record (abstract and references visible; full text blocked HTTP 403); alaskaanthropology.org 2025-AKAA program PDF p. session listing; dec.alaska.gov/Applications/SPAR/PublicMVC/CSP/SiteReport/2637 (summary via search index; direct fetch blocked by JS captcha); archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online (Ailanthus not listed)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (record existence confirmed; contents unretrieved): (a) Smith, Gerad (University of Alaska Anchorage), and Jason Rogers (National Park Service), 'A Story of Three Boats: World War II Shipwrecks and Vessel Remains on Tanaga Island, Central Aleutian Chain, Alaska,' Alaska History (2026) - presented at the 52nd Alaska Anthropological Association annual meeting (March 2025 program, Session: Maritime Archaeology) - documents WWII-era shipwreck/vessel remains on Tanaga Island and cites the NHHC DANFS Ailanthus entry in its references, consistent with surviving Ailanthus remains at the wreck site. (b) Tanaga Island is a USACE Formerly Used Defense Site (F10AK022801, ADEC Hazard ID 2637) under remedial investigation/cleanup since the mid-1980s; the island was developed by U.S. Navy Seabees as an emergency/staging airfield for Adak Naval Operating Base. ADEC's site summary lists contaminants of concern as PCBs, petroleum, chlorinated solvents, metals, and munitions constituents - asbestos is not named in the located summaries. USACE Alaska District archaeological reports (Rogers & Gordaoff 2017 FUDS Phase II monitoring; Smith & Gaines 2024 MMRP Phase III monitoring) are the likeliest repositories of wreck-remains documentation. (c) WWII-era deck logs for YN-57/AN-38 (Dec 1943-Sep 1944) are not in NARA's digitized Navy deck-log index; if extant they are held at Archives II (RG 24) and would contain the grounding report and salvage-period entries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944; 1980s-2026 cleanup/archaeology
- Population
- Salvage/wreck personnel 1944 (acting-CO detail to Sep 1944); contemporary FUDS cleanup and archaeology workers
- Limitations
- Record-existence finding only. The Alaska History paper's text was not retrieved - its attribution of specific remains to Ailanthus is inferred from the abstract scope plus its DANFS citation, not confirmed. FUDS documents reviewed at summary level name no asbestos and no wreck-material survey; whether any wreck survey covers asbestos-containing material is unknown. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-07
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[8]Batch-1785 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (two Wayback captures); NavSource AN-38 page and AN-casualty narrative; Shipscribe AN-38 class data; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP docket searches (authenticated); NARA digitized deck-log index; ADEC contaminated-sites record; AMNWR shipwreck list; BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011); Alaska History 2026 article [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ailanthus-an38-01 through sl-uss-ailanthus-an38-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Ailanthus / AN-38 / YN-57 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener ship-name and hull-number searches returned only name collisions: 8 opinion hits for 'Ailanthus' (the tree species, Ailanthus street addresses, an Ailanthus-named property entity in U.S. v. Peters E.D. Mo.); 26 docket hits for 'Ailanthus' of the same collision types (incl. tree-of-heaven references in environmental dockets and Roundup MDL vegetation records); 154 opinion and 983 docket hits for 'AN-38' (all exhibit/form/paragraph-number strings); 0 opinion hits for 'YN-57' and 6 docket hits (all non-vessel document/page references). Builder-level litigation is non-qualifying for the hull: the two 'Everett-Pacific' opinion hits (a 1940s admiralty case and Purinton v. Department of Labor & Industries, 26 Wn.2d 363, 170 P.2d 656 (1947), a yard workman's industrial-insurance claim) concern the shipyard, not the ship, and contain no asbestos content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1942-43 naval auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing gaskets, exhaust lagging, electrical insulation, and friction products. The hull's ~3-month service life and total-loss disposition narrow the exposure window but do not eliminate construction-era or salvage-era pathways. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ailanthus-an38-08