USS AKL-16

Evidence

7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).

1. [1]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Mark (AKL 12) and USNS AKL 15 (FS Design 427/330) Class' (compiled by Stephen S. Roberts from official records incl. SECNAV/CNO correspondence; page compiled 8 Aug 2021) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Class data block; Construction table row '16 T-AKL 16'; Disposition table row; Class Notes (21 Feb 1950 / 7 Jun 1950 approval paragraphs); Ship Notes row 16

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts, USN auxiliary compiler) class page 'USS Mark (AKL 12) and USNS AKL 15 (FS Design 427/330) Class': T-AKL 16 built by Higgins, New Orleans, under Army contract dated 11 Jan 1943, completed ca Mar 1945; acquired and in service 1 Mar 1950; inactivated Aug 1953; stricken 1 Apr 1959; disposal 6 May 1960 by Navy sale. Ship note: '(ex-FS 233, Design 330DC, compl. 1945). In USN reserve 1953-59. On Navy sale list Apr 1959. Merc. MARTHA ANNE 1959, later KING TOWER. BU 25 Mar 1985 at Singapore.' Class note: AKL 15-16 were among Army ships operating out of continental U.S. ports to be acquired 1 Mar 1950, for which names, classification, and hull numbers were approved 21 Feb 1950 - a different cohort from AKL 18-32, Far East-based hulls transferred about 1 Jul 1950 (names approved 7 Jun 1950).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-1985

   Population

   MSTS civilian crew, 1950-1953 (accommodations 7-10 officers, 12-15 unlicensed per class data)

   Limitations

   Strongest located source for this hull but still a secondary compilation - Roberts works from official records yet the underlying documents are not reproduced. No DANFS entry exists to control against. The 1 Mar 1950 acquisition is internally supported by the 21 Feb 1950 approval note and the CONUS-vs-Far-East cohort distinction; NavSource's conflicting 1 Jul 1950 date is logged in ev-07. No asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, 'USNS T-AKL-16 ex USAV FS-233' (page 09/14/1416, last updated 5 Dec 2025) [other_primary]

   Locator

   T-AKL-16 page: timeline block, specifications block, photo captions, DANFS-availability statement

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Online service-ship archive page for USNS T-AKL-16 (ex-USAV FS-233): laid down date unknown for the U.S. Army as small freighter FS-233 ('design 330D') at Higgins Industries, New Orleans; delivered to the Army circa 1944-45; operated in the Southwest Pacific area during WWII; acquired by the Navy and transferred from USAT to MSTS 1 Jul 1950 as USNS T-AKL-16; struck from the Naval Register 1959; sold 1959 to Cia de Nav. Fruco S.A. (Panama), renamed Martha Anne; sold c. 1983-84 to King Line S.A. of Panama, renamed KingTower; fate 'unknown.' Page states 'There is no DANFS history available for T-AKL-16.' Specs listed: 550 t, 177', 33', 10', 12 kts, complement 42, two 500-hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A diesels, twin screws. Photo record: FS-233 in postwar Army colors (master James C. Matheu, chief engineer William E. Gorman named in caption); USNS T-AKL-16 underway (U.S. Navy photo via Navy Memorial collection).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1985

   Population

   Army/USCG wartime crew; MSTS civilian crew

   Limitations

   Volunteer-maintained secondary compilation - the only published per-hull timeline and photo archive for this unnamed USNS vessel. Acquisition/transfer date of 1 Jul 1950 conflicts with Shipscribe's 1 Mar 1950 (ev-01, ev-07); specs '177 ft / 550 t / cpl 42' match the Design 381 Camano-class generic figures rather than Shipscribe's Design 330 class data (180 ft oa; 460 light/811 full t) - treated as generic-block values, not adopted. Merchant trail (Fruco/Martha Anne, King Tower) corroborates Shipscribe. No asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-02

3. [3]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories' (uscg.mil FS_Vessels page, Wayback capture 30 Apr 2017; live media.defense.gov PDF returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - same edge-denial condition logged in batch-628) [other_primary]

   Locator

   FS-233 entry (one line) + document introduction (JCS agreement of 14 Mar 1944; Design 330 classification of FS-140 through FS-234)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office compilation 'World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories' lists FS-233 among the Coast Guard-manned Army vessels; its full entry reads: 'The Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-233 was assigned to and operated in the Pacific Ocean area.' The document's introduction records the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreement of 14 Mar 1944 under which the Coast Guard manned 288 Army vessels, and states FS-140 through FS-234 were 'Design 330' hulls - placing FS-233 inside the Coast Guard-manned Design 330 block.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1946

   Population

   USCG-manned Army crew (unnamed in source)

   Limitations

   Official USCG historian compilation naming the hull, but the FS-233 entry is a single line - no commissioning date, commanding officers, ports, or decommissioning for the Coast Guard-manned period. Confirms manning arrangement and Pacific theater only. No asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-03

4. [4]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, article-level documentation of WWII shipbuilding asbestos use

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Peer-reviewed historical scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as an insulating and fireproofing material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the program and era under which this 1945 steel Army Design 330DC hull was built at Higgins. For a diesel coastal supply vessel of this type, era-typical asbestos-containing applications would center on machinery and exhaust insulation/lagging, gaskets, packing, and insulation materials in accommodation and electrical spaces rather than boiler and steam-line lagging (the design carries no steam propulsion plant).

   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 vessel crews (class context)

   Limitations

   Program/era-level documentation only; the article does not name this vessel, and no ship-specific record establishes asbestos aboard this hull. The diesel-plant narrowing of typical applications is design-level inference, not a hull finding. Does not establish presence, quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Hull scrapped 1985 - no present-day material question.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-04

5. [5]Batch-1085 search ledger (this record): Shipscribe class page; NavSource T-AKL-16 page; USCG historian FS compilation (Wayback); NVR (coverage boundary); MARAD ShipHistory (no indexed record under any name); CourtListener API v4 authenticated opinion + RECAP passes; NHHC/DANFS (no entry); Wikipedia (no article) [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-akl-16-01 through sl-uss-akl-16-10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, preservation record (the hull is not preserved - scrapped 1985), or docketed case naming T-AKL-16, AKL-16, FS-233, Martha Anne, or King Tower was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) returned 0 opinion hits for exact phrases "AKL-16", "T-AKL-16", "FS-233", "FS 233", and "Martha Anne"+asbestos; unquoted 'AKL 16' returned 127 hits that are all person-name collisions (Akl, Akles); RECAP docket search 'AKL-16' returned 9 collisions (e.g., Air Kiribati Ltd. v. CAAMS) and 'FS-233' returned 156 hits that are premises-liability docket-number collisions. MARAD ShipHistory returned 'No results' for AKL-16, FS-233, Martha Anne, and King Tower. No DANFS entry exists (NavSource statement corroborated by hazegray mirror index carrying no akl16.htm). NVR carries no entry - pre-1987 disposal outside its coverage.

   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 1945 steel hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The hull's 1985 scrapping at Singapore forecloses any present-day survey pathway. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-05

6. [6]NARA Guide to Federal Records record-group mappings: RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard), RG 336 (Army Transportation Corps); MSTS/MSC and Navy ship-disposal records series [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA Guide to Federal Records record-group entries

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): RG 26 Coast Guard records for the USCG-manned FS-233 period (the historian's one-line entry implies log/record series exist at NARA); RG 336 Army Transportation Corps records for FS-233 construction (Higgins contract of 11 Jan 1943) and operation files; Navy MSTS-era records and the 21 Feb 1950 SECNAV approval correspondence underlying the Shipscribe acquisition date (would resolve the 1 Mar vs 1 Jul 1950 discrepancy); reserve-fleet custody records for the 1953-59 lay-up; Navy sale file for the 1959-60 disposal to Panamanian buyers.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1960 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-06

7. [7]Shipscribe AKL 12/15 class page and ship note vs NavSource T-AKL-16 page vs shipbuildinghistory Higgins yard table and Army-coastal-freighter table - discrepancy reconciliation record [other_primary]

   Locator

   Shipscribe construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship note 16; NavSource 09/14/1416 timeline and specs block; shipbuildinghistory Higgins yard row FS-233 (575 t, 180 ft, Jan-Mar 1945, 'USCG-manned, to USN 1950 as AKL-16, struck 1959')

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Source discrepancies resolved or logged: (a) Navy acquisition/in-service date - Shipscribe 1 Mar 1950 (with 21 Feb 1950 SECNAV approval of names/classification/hull numbers for the CONUS-port cohort AKL 15-16) adopted as better-supported; NavSource 1 Jul 1950 matches the separate Far East cohort transfer date (AKL 18-32, approved 7 Jun 1950) and appears to be a cohort conflation - unresolved at official-source level, logged. (b) Design label - NavSource 'design 330D'; Shipscribe contract block assigns FS 222-234 to Design 330DC (Cleveland diesels), consistent with NavSource's own Cleveland-engine spec - 330DC adopted. (c) Dimensions - NavSource 177 ft vs Shipscribe class data 180 ft oa and shipbuildinghistory 180 ft; NavSource's 177-ft figure matches the Design 381 Camano-type generic block - Shipscribe/shipbuildinghistory adopted. (d) Complement - NavSource 42 vs Shipscribe class accommodations 7-10 officers + 12-15 unlicensed; different crewing eras (wartime USCG vs civilian MSTS) - kept separate. (e) Completion - Shipscribe 'ca Mar 1945' and shipbuildinghistory 'Jan to Mar-45' agree; NavSource 'circa 1944-45' is broader - Mar 1945 adopted. (f) Disposal - struck 1 Apr 1959 (Shipscribe; NavSource '1959'); NavSource 'sold 1959' vs Shipscribe disposal 6 May 1960 with Navy sale list Apr 1959 - reconciled as sale-listed 1959, merchant Martha Anne 1959, formal disposal May 1960. (g) Prefix - never USS; the hull served the Navy only as uncommissioned USNS T-AKL-16 under MSTS - the 'USS AKL-16' form is incorrect.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-1985

   Limitations

   Reconciles publication-level discrepancies among secondary compilations, adopting the more granular/officially-derived values and flagging the rest. The 1950 acquisition date remains unresolved at primary-source level pending the SECNAV approval correspondence (archival lead, ev-06). No asbestos content in any of these sources.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-akl-16-07