Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Alderamin' (AK-116) entry - hazegray transcription mirror (live NHHC DANFS page returns HTTP 404; standing link-rot issue per BATCH-01 report) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS AK-116 entry, full text; corroborating HyperWar summary card https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/AK/AK-116_Alderamin.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry: Alderamin (a star in Cepheus), AK-116, Crater class, type EC2-S-C1. Laid down as SS J. S. Cullinan under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 1963) 1943-10-05 at Houston, TX by Houston Shipbuilding Co.; launched 1943-11-13; acquired by the Navy and placed in temporary commission 1943-11-25 (Comdr. H. B. Olsen); proceeded to Mobile and decommissioned 1943-11-29 for conversion to naval cargo service; recommissioned at Mobile 1944-04-03 (Comdr. Edward Fluhr). Shakedown Chesapeake Bay; loaded cargo at New York; Guantanamo Bay call; transited Panama Canal and reported to Pacific Fleet 1944-05-28; arrived Espiritu Santo 1944-06-28 and operated with Service Squadron 8 as interisland cargo transport (Suva, Noumea, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tulagi, Green Island, Russell Islands, Treasury Islands, Manus, Wellington NZ, Eniwetok, Iwo Jima, Guam, Ulithi). Moored at Iwo Jima at Japanese capitulation 1945-08-15; returned to San Francisco via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor, arriving 1945-09-22; sailed for Shanghai 1945-10-24, arrived 1945-12-08, embarked military personnel and departed 12-11; arrived San Francisco 1946-02-01. Decommissioned (DANFS prints '10 April 1945' - typo for 1946) and delivered to the War Shipping Administration for disposal; stricken from the Navy list 1946-05-01; later scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Authoritative ship-specific service history via transcription mirror (NHHC live page 404). Contains no asbestos or materials information. The entry prints decommissioning as '10 April 1945' - typographical error; the correct year is 1946 (see correction row). 'Delivered to the War Shipping Administration for disposal' is DANFS's wording; the MARAD status card shows WSA title with Reserve Fleet delivery at Suisun Bay same day - consistent, but NavSource frames the recipient as 'the Maritime Commission.' Does not establish any exposure, quantity, or condition fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-01
-
[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - ALDERAMIN (AK-116) Detail 12554 and J. S. CULLINAN Detail 2352 with digitized status-card scans (2352_4384AF.jpg, 2352_4384AB.jpg, ccafa203-5f75-4029-a82d-07ed7bd96baa.png); NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive AK-116 page (custody/photo corroboration - secondary compilation) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov Details 12554 and 2352; status-card images under /cards/ on same host; NavSource https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/13/130116.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory records and digitized vessel status cards for J. S. CULLINAN / ALDERAMIN (AK-116): Official No. 244677; MARAD type EC2-S-C1; built 1943 by Houston Shipbuilding Corp. ('Houston SB Corp.' on card), Houston, TX; completed 11-25-43. Custody chain per card: basis to W.S.A. 11-25-43 1:30 PM CWT Houston; allocated to Navy Dept. same day under 'B.B.' (bareboat) agreement; Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, CA 4-10-46 12:30 PM PST; withdrawn 2-17-65 11:00 AM PST, delivered to Department of Navy (Permanent Transfer). Card fields: Type 'Trooper' EC2, passenger capacity 1,050; DWT 10,581; 7,244 gross / 4,396 net tons; 14,245 displacement; IHP 2,500; '2 WTB' (two water-tube boilers); termination port of last voyage Seattle. Red annotation: 'Navy requested this ship letter dated Dec. 16, 1964. Marad replied Dec. 30, 1964. (To be used as a target ship - used to destruction).' Database fate field: 'Sold - Scrap.' NavSource independently records withdrawal from NDRF and transfer to US Navy 1965-02-17 (photo: ex-Alderamin moored Naval Station Treasure Island 1965-02-19) and final disposition 'sold for scrapping in 1965.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1965
- Limitations
- Authoritative for ownership/custody milestones and recorded disposal intent. Handwriting/typed annotations partially legible (visual read). The 'target ship - used to destruction' annotation records the Navy's stated request intent (Dec. 1964); the recorded outcome is 'Sold - Scrap' (MARAD) / 'sold for scrapping 1965' (NavSource) - whether the hull was actually expended as a target before scrapping is undocumented. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-02
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Commission, Instruction Manual for Operating and Maintaining 2500 H.P. Triple Expansion Marine Steam Engines, EC2-S-C1 Cargo Vessels (mirrored excerpt) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Mirrored excerpt, engine-cylinder insulation section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission instruction manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant (the design of this vessel's hull and machinery) describes cylinder insulation of magnesia under sheet-iron lagging; insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and period steam-system gaskets, packing, and insulation felts commonly contained asbestos. Liberty-type hulls were built to emergency USMC specifications during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Construction trades (Houston Shipbuilding Corp., 1943); Navy engine-room and maintenance crew; conversion-yard workers (Mobile, 1943-44)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual names the type, not this vessel, and does not itself state 'asbestos' content (magnesia lagging of the era was typically asbestos-fiber-reinforced, but the manual text is silent on fiber). Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. The Mobile Navy conversion (1943-11-29 to 1944-04-03) could have added or substituted materials; no conversion materials schedule located. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-03
-
[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
- 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 and emergency program under which this EC2-S-C1 hull was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- 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 or the EC2-S-C1 type and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-04
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[5]DANFS (hazegray mirror); MARAD ShipHistory status card (Details 12554/2352); NavSource AK-116 page; Wikipedia infobox (lead only, not evidence) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS AK-116 text; status-card fields 8/20/22 and red annotation; NavSource timeline and spec block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved/logged: (a) Decommissioning year - DANFS transcription prints '10 April 1945' but the same entry has her arriving San Francisco 1946-02-01 and stricken 1946-05-01; NavSource and the MARAD status card (Reserve Fleet entry 4-10-46 12:30 PM PST) confirm 1946-04-10. (b) Complement - DANFS 198 vs NavSource spec block 16 officers + 190 enlisted (206); both carried unmerged. (c) Disposal recipient - DANFS 'delivered to the War Shipping Administration for disposal' vs NavSource 'delivered to the Maritime Commission' - status card shows WSA title and Reserve Fleet delivery at Suisun Bay, reconciling both (WSA held title; NDRF custody). (d) Builder naming - DANFS/MARAD 'Houston Shipbuilding Co./Corp.' vs Wikipedia 'Todd Houston Shipbuilding Co.' - primary sources used; the Todd-managed variant noted but not asserted. (e) End-state - status-card annotation 'to be used as a target ship - used to destruction' vs recorded fate 'Sold - Scrap'/'sold for scrapping 1965' - actual expenditure vs scrap path undocumented.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1965
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies; the 1946 decommissioning date is adopted as controlling. None of the conflicting sources contains asbestos content. The unresolved end-state question (target expenditure vs scrap) is carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-05
-
[6]Batch-805 search ledger (this record): DANFS entry; MARAD ShipHistory 12554/2352 + status cards; NavSource page; CourtListener API (throttled) + domain-scoped web search; law-firm ship-list pages (excluded) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-alderamin-ak116-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming Alderamin (AK-116) or J. S. Cullinan was found in the public sources searched. The DANFS entry and MARAD records/status cards contain no asbestos or materials information; the hull was scrapped in 1965 leaving no museum/NPS record and no surviving fabric to survey. CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, 125/day cap) at research date; a domain-scoped web search over courtlistener.com for 'Alderamin', 'AK-116', and 'J. S. Cullinan' returned no qualifying opinion - generic asbestos MDL documents only, no hull name match. Law-firm 'Navy asbestos ship list' marketing pages do list AK-116 but are banned sources and were not used.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 EC2-S-C1 hull with standard machinery is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the Mobile conversion and 19-year layup are undocumented disturbance/mothballing candidates. CourtListener coverage is partial (API throttled; web-search check only) - a qualifying opinion could exist that the blocked API search did not surface. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-06
-
[7]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 178 (US Maritime Commission), RG 248 (War Shipping Administration), RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 181 (Naval Districts/Shore Establishments) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/178.html and /248.html; archives.gov/research/military/logbooks; RG 181 district records
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction orders; no spend authorized): NARA RG 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission) - Construction Division records and Gulf Coast/regional construction-director files may hold Houston Shipbuilding contract and outfitting records for MCE hull 1963; RG 248 (War Shipping Administration) holds the WSA title/bareboat-agreement file for this hull; RG 24 holds Navy deck logs and muster rolls for the 1943 ferry commission and 1944-46 commissioned period; RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) holds Mobile-area records that may name the conversion yard and work scope.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1965 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull or its conversion is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alderamin-ak116-07