Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories' (media.defense.gov PDF; retrieved via Wayback capture 20250225064151) [other_primary]
- Locator
- FS-174 entry (p. ~14 of 44) and introductory paragraphs (JCS agreement 14 Mar 1944; 288 vessels; FS-140 through FS-234 = Design 330)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office history of Coast Guard-manned Army FS vessels: 'The Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-174 was commissioned on 18 May 1944. She had as commanding officer LT E. R. Sneeringer. She was turned over to Captain J. J. Feenan, U.S. Army, representing the Army's Transportation Corps on 29 November 1945, after having been assigned to the Southwest Pacific area and operated at Manila, Tacloban, Biak, etc.' The document's framing records the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreement of 14 March 1944 under which the Coast Guard manned 288 Army vessels, and identifies FS-140 through FS-234 as 'Design 330.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- USCG crew of FS-174 (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Official service history for the Army/USCG-manned period only. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information; establishes commissioning date, first commanding officer, operating area, and the 29 Nov 1945 turnover to the Army Transportation Corps. Does not cover the Navy/MSTS period.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-01
-
[2]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts register compilation from Naval Vessel Register/official data), 'USS Mark (AKL 12) and USNS AKL 15 (FS Design 427/330) Class' - construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship note for T-AKL 18 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table (AKL 18 row), Disposition table (AKL 18 row), class notes (7 Jun 1950 approval), ship notes (AKL 18)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Register-based compilation: T-AKL 18 - ex-FS 174, Design 330DA; built by Higgins, New Orleans under contract of 11 Jan 1943; completed 17 May 1944; acquired by the Navy and in MSTS service 1 Jul 1950; inactivated Jul 1954; struck 1 Apr 1959; disposed May 1960 by Navy sale. Ship note: 'In Army service in Japan Aug 1949 for intra-theater distribution of supplies. In USN reserve 1954-59. On Navy sale list Apr 1959. Later merc. ARIES (Mexican). Converted to trawler in 1960s, in use as COASTAL HARVESTER 1990.' Class notes: AKL 18-20 were among the Army ships then operating under commands in the Far East whose transfer to the Navy about 1 July 1950 was approved (names, classification, hull numbers) on 7 Jun 1950.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1990
- Population
- MSTS civilian crew of T-AKL-18 (1950-54)
- Limitations
- Scholarly secondary compilation from official register data - not itself an official record. Contains no asbestos or materials information; establishes the construction, transfer, reserve, strike, sale, and commercial-afterlife timeline. The precise 'Design 330DA' and Enterprise-diesel attribution conflict with NavSource's generic spec block (see correction row ev-08).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-02
-
[3]NavSource Naval History (volunteer-compiled archive of official data), 'USNS T-AKL-18 ex USAV FS-174 (1945-1950)' page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chronology bullets, specifications block, ribbon display, DANFS-absence statement
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource vessel page for USNS T-AKL-18 (ex USAV FS-174): corroborates the timeline - laid down (date unknown) at Higgins Industries, New Orleans; delivered to the Army April-May 1944; commissioned 18 May 1944 with LT E.R. Sneeringer, USCG, in command; Southwest Pacific service at Manila, Tacloban, Biak; turnover to CAPT J.J. Feenan, U.S. Army, 29 Nov 1945; transferred to MSTS 1 July 1950 as USNS T-AKL-18; struck 1959. Spec block: 573 t., 180' x 33' x 14', 12 kts, complement 42, 'two 300hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 diesel engines, twin screws.' Displays American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal ribbons. Page states explicitly: 'There is no DANFS history available for T-AKL-18.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Limitations
- Private archival compilation, not an official record - used to corroborate the official USCG history and shipscribe register data, and for the explicit 'no DANFS history' statement. Its propulsion and complement figures conflict with shipscribe's design-level data (see correction row ev-08); 'Camano Class' label is looser than shipscribe's register grouping. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-03
-
[4]American Merchant Marine at War (usmm.org), 'Ships transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service from Naval Transportation Service and Army Transportation Service 1949-1950' - 1 July 1950 list [other_primary]
- Locator
- July 1, 1950 (33 ships) list, T-AKL 18 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The vessel appears as 'USNS T-AKL 18' on the compiled list of ships transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service from the Army Transportation Service on 1 July 1950 - the 33-ship tranche of that date (the third and largest Army-to-MSTS group; companion tranches ran 1 March 1950 (72 ships) and 1 November 1950 (10 ships)). Confirms the transfer mechanism and date independently of the register compilation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1950
- Limitations
- Compiled transfer roster, not a primary document - corroborates the shipscribe/NavSource transfer date. Contains no asbestos information; establishes only that this hull was in the 1 Jul 1950 Army-to-MSTS transfer group and carried the USNS T-AKL designation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-04
-
[5]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 era in which this 1944 hull was built at a wartime commercial yard - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard government and merchant-type hulls.
- 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 scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this yard, or this design and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. This hull is a diesel motorship (no boilers/steam plant) - inference weight differs from steam-plant hulls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-05
-
[6]Oddo v. Asbestos Corp., 173 So. 3d 1192 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2015) - CourtListener opinion 5009561 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion, allocation-of-fault analysis and Higgins discussion; reporter cite 173 So. 3d 1192
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Affirmed appellate finding on the builder yard: in Oddo v. Asbestos Corp., the Louisiana Court of Appeal (4th Cir.) upheld liability findings that William Oddo's work at the Higgins Industries shipyard (machine metal shop on the Industrial Canal, 1947-1954) exposed him to asbestos and was a substantial contributing cause of his mesothelioma; on de novo review the court allocated fault 65% Ford Motor Company, 25% Union Carbide, 10% Higgins Industries, and stated 'It can be reasonably inferred from the evidence in the record that Higgins was a manufacturer/professional vendor of asbestos-containing ships.' FS-174 was built at this yard in 1943-44 under the 11 Jan 1943 Higgins contract.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1947-1954 exposure period; opinion 2015
- Population
- Higgins Industries New Orleans shipyard workers (1940s-50s era documented)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard-level adjudicated finding, not a hull record - the opinion does not name FS-174 or any specific vessel, and Oddo's Higgins exposure period (1947-1954) postdates this hull's 1944 completion. The 'asbestos-containing ships' inference is the court's era-level characterization of the yard's output, not a finding about this vessel. Establishes that the construction site is a judicially documented asbestos-exposure site in the era - relevant to construction-period shipyard workers, not proof of this hull's material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-06
-
[7]Batch-1087 search ledger (this record): USCG Historian FS-vessel history; shipscribe AKL12 class page; NavSource T-AKL-18 page; usmm.org MSTS transfer list; CourtListener API v4 hull/name sweeps; MARAD ShipHistory search; NVR coverage statement [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-akl-18-akl18-01 through sl-uss-akl-18-akl18-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no DANFS entry exists for the vessel (never named; NavSource states none available); no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case names this hull under any designation. CourtListener sweeps returned zero qualifying opinions - 'AKL-18' none; 'T-AKL-18' and 'T-AKL' none; 'FS-174'/'FS 174' one hit (Conservation Congress v. U.S. Forest Service, E.D. Cal. 2017) in which 'FS-174' is a Forest Service road/document reference - a name collision, classified non-qualifying. MARAD ShipHistory search returned no record under FS-174/AKL/Coastal Harvester (the Navy sale of May 1960 never put the hull in MARAD custody); the public Naval Vessel Register does not cover pre-1987 disposals.
- 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 1944 diesel freighter built at a yard judicially documented as an asbestos-exposure site is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. 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-18-akl18-07
-
[8]NavSource T-AKL-18 page vs shipscribe AKL12 class data vs USCG Historian FS-vessel history - reconciliation of designation, class, propulsion, and complement statements [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AKL12 class table/notes; NavSource spec block; USCG Historian doc intro (Design 330 range)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies reconciled: (a) Designation - the vessel was USNS T-AKL-18, never USS and never named; the batch-supplied 'USS' styling is incorrect and corrected here (Army 'commissioned' 18 May 1944 was USAV FS-174 commissioning under Coast Guard manning, not Navy commissioning). (b) Class - NavSource labels the hull 'Camano Class'; shipscribe's register-level grouping places AKL 18-20 in the AKL 12/AKL 15 (FS Design 427/330) class, and the USCG historian's compilation identifies FS-140 through FS-234 as Design 330, with shipscribe's ship note giving the precise sub-design 330DA for FS-174. (c) Propulsion - NavSource prints 'two 300hp GM Cleveland 6-278A diesels' (the Design 330DC fit); shipscribe class data attribute Design 330DA (FS 162-179 block, which includes FS-174) with Enterprise diesels and gives 800 hp for AKL 18-19 specifically. (d) Complement - NavSource prints 42; shipscribe class accommodations list 7-10 officers + 12-15 unlicensed for the MSTS-era hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies across compiled sources; shipscribe's design-block precision (330DA, Enterprise diesels) is adopted as the better-supported reading since FS-174 falls in the documented FS 162-179 Design 330DA block - but neither source is a primary document for this hull's machinery. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-08
-
[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard), RG 336 (Army Transportation Corps); Navy/MSTS records groups; shipbuilder contract records [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov record-group guides (RG 26, RG 336); NARA merchant/military vessel logbook guidance
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard) holds records of the USCG-manned Army FS vessels, including deck logs and the files underlying the Historian's FS-174 entry; Army Transportation Corps vessel files (RG 336) may cover FS-174's postwar Japan intra-theater service; MSTS Far East operating records may document T-AKL-18's 1950-54 employment; the Navy's April 1959 sale-list and May 1960 disposal file would document the sale buyer and terms; Higgins Industries contract/outfitting records for the FS 162-179 (Design 330DA) block would carry material specifications if extant.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1960 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akl-18-akl18-09