Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]DANFS, 'Alhena' entry, appended AKL-38 paragraph (Naval History and Heritage Command); live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-22 - Wayback Machine capture of 9 Dec 2025 used [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Alhena' entry, second paragraph block (FS-257/AKL-38), Wayback capture 2025-12-09
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for this hull (a single 'Alhena' entry covers both name-bearing hulls; this paragraph is appended to the AK-26/AKA-9 narrative): 'FS-257 was acquired from the Army on 12 December 1951, named Alhena, and designated AKL-38. The ship was loaned to the Republic of Korea that same day and served until early in 1960 when she was returned to the Navy. Her name was stricken from the Navy list on 1 February 1960; and she was sold to Hong Kong Rolling Mills, Ltd., in June of 1960 for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-1960
- Limitations
- Official Navy ship history; authoritative for Navy-side identity, acquisition/transfer dates, striking, and sale. Establishes that U.S. Navy custody was nominal - acquired, named, designated, and loaned the same day, never commissioned into the fleet. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC URL 404s (standing NHHC link-rot pattern per BATCH-01); the archived official page is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-01
-
[2]shipscribe.com, 'USNS AKL 34 (T-AKL 34, FS Design 381 Part 3) Class' page - S. S. Roberts compilation from Navy registers and official records (compiled 8 Aug 2021); companion photo page AKL37-p.html [other_primary]
- Locator
- AKL37.html construction/disposition/ship-note/class-note tables (AKL 38 row); AKL37-p.html NH 84180 caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Per-hull construction/disposition rows: ALHENA (AKL-38), ex-FS 257, Design 381; builder 'Wheeler SB, Brooklyn'; contract 24 Apr 1943; completed ca Jun 1944; acquired 12 Dec 1951; struck 1 Feb 1960; fate 'Trf' (transferred). Ship note: '(ex-FS 257, Design 381) In Army service at Okinawa Aug 1949 for intra-theater distribution of supplies. Trf. 1951 to South Korea. Sold 27 Jun 1960 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills.' Program class notes document the transfer mechanism: on 11 Jul 1951 the Secretary of the Army informed SECNAV that six FS vessels (FS 195, 257, 283, 390, 528, 547) in the Far East Command reserve fleet were required by the Republic of Korea 'for civil relief and support of the Korean economy' - inter-island/inter-coastal cargo carriage, an MSTS responsibility; the Navy agreed 9 Aug 1951 (analogous to the 5 May 1951 arrangement for six N3-S-A2 cargo ships, AK 261-266); FS 390 and 528, probably with the other four, were delivered to the Navy at Yokosuka 12 Oct 1951; names and designations AKL 37-42 approved 4 Dec 1951; SECNAV approved disposal 1 Dec 1959; ships returned to Navy custody at Sasebo, advertised for sale 23 May 1960, and sold 27 Jun 1960 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills together with the AK 261-266 group. Design 381 class characteristics: 520 light / 940 full tons; 177 ft oa x 33 ft x 10 ft max nav; no armament; accommodations 7-10 officers plus 13-16 unlicensed; 12 kts; 1,000 hp geared diesel, twin screws. Photo page: NH 84180 is a halftone from the 23 May 1960 sale brochure - 'USS Alhena (AKL 38) in Japan after being returned circa 1959 from South Korean civilian service' (conflicting with NavSource's 'Korean Naval service, circa 1951' caption for the same photo - carried, not resolved).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference assembled from official records (contract tables, SECNAV/Army correspondence summarized in class notes) - not itself a primary document, but the most detailed administrative source located for this hull group. 'Wheeler SB, Brooklyn' is company shorthand; the FS freighters were built at Wheeler's Whitestone yard. No asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-02
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[3]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories' (FS-vessels compilation), media.defense.gov; retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture of 2026-05-27 (direct fetch returns HTTP 403) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USCG FS-vessels document, FS-257 entry (PDF p. ~21 of 44 in pdftotext order); preamble; FS-406 entry cross-reference (p. ~40)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official USCG historian entry for this hull: 'The Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-257 was commissioned 24 June 1944 at New York, NY with LT G. P. Hammond, USCG, as her first commander. He was succeeded by LTJG S. N. Harstook, USCGR, ahd [sic] he in turn by LTJG William F. Moffatt, USCG, on 9 June 1945. On 26 July 1944 she departed the Third Naval District for the Southwest Pacific area. She operated in the Southwest Pacific, including Leyte.' Preamble: under a Joint Chiefs of Staff agreement signed 14 Mar 1944 the Coast Guard manned 288 Army vessels in five categories; FS-140 through FS-234 were Design 330 and 'the rest' - including FS-257 - were Design 381.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- USCG crew of FS-257 (wartime, Southwest Pacific; COs Hammond, Harstook, Moffatt)
- Limitations
- Official USCG historical compilation; authoritative for the USCG-manned Army period. Direct fetch is blocked to automated access (HTTP 403, media.defense.gov Akamai); the full document text was retrieved via the 2026-05-27 Wayback capture and the FS-257 entry read in full - no additional operational detail beyond the commissioning, CO succession, and SWPA assignment is recorded for this hull (decommissioning not dated). No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-03
-
[4]Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 'The Coast Guard at War, Vol. II - Transports' (1 May 1949), pp. 140-141 (FS-257 entry) and 148 (FS-406 entry); HyperWar/ibiblio full-text transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar USCG V2-Transports, FS-257 entry (p. 140-141) and FS-406 entry (p. 148, 'ASSISTS FS-257 AGROUND')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official 1949 USCG war history corroborates the FS-257 entry nearly verbatim (commissioned 24 Jun 1944 at New York, LT G. P. Hammond USCG; succeeded by LTJG S. N. Harstook USCGR and then LTJG William F. Moffatt USCG on 9 Jun 1945; departed the 3rd Naval District 26 Jul 1944 for the Southwest Pacific incl. Leyte) and adds a hull-specific casualty incident from FS-406's entry ('Assists FS-257 Aground'): on 1 Jul 1945 FS-406 departed the Maripipi Island anchorage bound through Junanbatas Channel; 'the FS-257, ahead of her, ran aground. The 406 stood by and rendered assistance towing her off the beach at 1200 and then proceeding to Tacloban Harbor' - i.e., FS-257 grounded in the Junanbatas Channel off Maripipi Island, P.I., on the morning of ~2 Jul 1945 and was towed free the same day.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- USCG crew of FS-257 at grounding; assisting FS-406 crew
- Limitations
- Official USCG wartime history - a compiled narrative from operational records, not the underlying logbooks. The grounding date is inferred as 2 Jul 1945 from the sequence (departed 1 Jul, anchored overnight, proceeded the next morning); Wikipedia carries 'July 1945' - consistent. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-04
-
[5]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton compilation), Wheeler Shipbuilding (Whitestone) yard table and 'U.S. Army Coastal Freighters (F, FS) Built During WWII' table (navalmarinearchive.com mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- wheelerw.htm yard table row 71 (FS-257); armyfreighters.htm FS-257 row; yard-history narrative paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Construction table row for this hull: Wheeler yard no. 71, FS-257, U.S. Army coastal freighter, 560 tons, 176 ft, 24 Jun 1944 (delivery column, consistent with the commissioning date); disposition note 'USCG-manned, to USN 1950 as USS Alhena (AKL 38), to Korea 1951, scrapped 1960.' Yard essay: Wheeler Yacht Co. was founded in Brooklyn, N.Y.; 'the company built a second yard, which operated as Wheeler Shipbuilding Corp., at Whitestone NY,' which built minesweepers, tugs, and coastal freighters, closing in 1948 - resolving shipscribe's 'Wheeler SB, Brooklyn' to the actual Whitestone construction yard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Wheeler Shipbuilding Whitestone build trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary yard-history table - corroborates builder, yard number, tonnage, and build window; its 'to USN 1950' transfer year conflicts with DANFS/shipscribe/NavSource's 12 Dec 1951 (treated as a table error; 1951 controls). The companion armyfreighters table shows a generic '4/1944-3/1945' window for this hull inconsistent with the documented 24 Jun 1944 commissioning - logged, not adopted. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-05
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[6]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, 'Alhena (AKL-38) ex USAV FS-257' page + AKL index (14idx.htm) + U.S. Army Freight and Supply Vessel index (30/07/07idx.htm) - volunteer-compiled; cross-checked against DANFS, USCG historian, shipscribe, shipbuildinghistory [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/09/14/1438.htm (full page incl. photo table); 14idx.htm AKL-38 row (Design 381); 07idx.htm FS-257 row ('to US Navy as Alhena (AKL-38)')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource supplies the spec block (550 t; 177 ft x 33 ft x 10 ft; 12 kts; complement 42; two 500-hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl diesels, twin screws), an award-ribbon display (American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Philippines Liberation Medal), and two located photographs: USAV FS-257 pierside at Manila 21 Aug 1946 (NARA 111-SCA-Album-2726-062, U.S. Army Signal Corps photo SC255473) and the NHHC photo NH 84180 captioned 'Alhena (AKL-38) while in Korean Naval service, moored, circa 1951' - conflicting with shipscribe's caption of the same NH number as the 23 May 1960 Sasebo sale-brochure halftone, ship in Japan after 'South Korean civilian service.' Internal inconsistencies flagged: the page header reads 'ex USAV FS-257 (1945 - 1951)' while its own text and the USCG record commission her 24 Jun 1944; 'Launched, circa 1944-45' cannot precede a June-1944 commissioning; 'Decommissioned, date unknown' is honestly left open for the Army/USCG period end. Unlike AKL-37 (where 'Camano Class' was a mislabel), the 'Camano Class' label is design-consistent here - AKL-38 is genuinely Design 381, the Camano-class type.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- USCG-manned Army crew (1944-46); Korean-period operators (1951-60)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary source - used for the spec block, photo citations, and CO detail, all cross-checked against the USCG historian document, Coast Guard at War, DANFS, and shipscribe; discrepancies logged rather than adopted. Complement 42 is a generic figure appearing on every NavSource AKL page - unverified. Award ribbons are displayed without a citation - not corroborated. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-06
-
[7]Documented propulsion/class data (shipscribe Design 381 class row: geared diesel, ~1,000 hp, twin screws, no steam plant; NavSource: two 500-hp GM Cleveland 6-278A diesels) + era shipbuilding practice per Corn & Starr 1987 and Fleischer et al. 1946 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AKL37.html class spec row; NavSource spec block; Corn & Starr AJIM 11(3):359-373; Fleischer PMID 21016030
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Asbestos inference for this hull rests on era/design only: a 1944 steel Army diesel freighter built to wartime specifications would carry the era-typical asbestos applications for the type - diesel exhaust and muffler lagging, machinery-space and piping gaskets and packing, electrical cable insulation, joiner/accommodation insulation, galley equipment insulation, and winch/windlass brake linings. The documented geared-diesel twin-screw plant (no boilers, no steam lines) narrows the asbestos-relevant machinery scope relative to steam combatants.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Wheeler Whitestone build trades (1943-44); USCG-manned Army crew (SWPA 1944-45); postwar Army crews (Okinawa, Far East Command reserve); Korean operators 1951-60; scrapping workforce 1960
- Limitations
- Inferred from the documented propulsion plant plus era shipbuilding practice - no hull-specific insulation survey, specification, or materials list located for FS-257/AKL-38. Does not establish that asbestos was aboard, quantities, locations, present-day condition, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-07
-
[8]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 construction program under which this Design 381 Army freighter was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.
- 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 or class 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-alhena-akl38-08
-
[9]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 21016030; article pp. 9-16 (pipe covering material section)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at Navy and Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime U.S. naval-vessel construction of this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- survey ~1944-45; published 1946
- Population
- WWII pipe coverers and insulators at Navy and contract yards (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder (Wheeler Whitestone was an Army contract yard, not necessarily among the surveyed yards) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. The study's 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has been heavily criticized.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-09
-
[10]Batch-1104 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback capture; NavSource AKL-38 page + AKL/FS indexes; shipscribe AKL-37 class page + photo page; USCG Historian FS-vessels compilation via Wayback; The Coast Guard at War Vol. II via HyperWar; shipbuildinghistory Wheeler + armyfreighters tables; MARAD ShipHistory public search; CourtListener API v4 authenticated name/hull/RECAP searches; NVR; VA BVA index; indexed-web asbestos/abatement checks; NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-alhena-akl38-01 through sl-uss-alhena-akl38-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Alhena (AKL-38), FS-257, or the Wheeler-71 hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated searches: 'Alhena' type=o returned 3 hits, all name collisions (Deck House, Inc. v. Link, Ark. App. 2007 - party 'Alhena Link'; Chappell v. SCA Services, C.D. Ill. 1982 - party 'Alhena Bruckert'; In re Hill, 11th Cir. 2013 - indexed metadata match); 'AKL-38' type=o count 0, type=r 1 hit (Ironworks Patents LLC v. Apple Inc., D. Del. 2010, 35:271 patent case - incidental alphanumeric match, not the ship); 'FS-257' type=o count 0, type=r 1 hit (State of Texas v. DHS, S.D. Tex. 2023 - 'FS-257' is the State Department consular form number, not the ship); 'Alhena' type=r 25 hits, all person/entity name collisions (Alhena LLC, Alhena Jong, Alhena Hernandez, etc.). MARAD ShipHistory confirmed no record for FS-257/AKL-38 (Count 0; 'alhena' returns only Detail 155, the AK-26/AKA-9 hull - this hull was Army-contracted, never Maritime Commission or MARAD custody). NVR carries no record (pre-1987 disposal). VA BVA index: no decision naming the ship. Law-firm marketing lists name the hull (mesohotline.com 'Navy Auxiliary Ships' registry - the sole citation for Wikipedia's asbestos sentence; simmonsfirm.com lists 'USS Alhena' undifferentiated; freeasbestostesting.com enumerated both Alhena hulls per the batch-912/1073 findings) - excluded source class, no primary support.
- 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 steel diesel freighter is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The hull's service was overwhelmingly outside U.S. Navy control (Army/USCG 1944-51, ROK 1951-60, scrapping 1960), so U.S.-side litigation and survey coverage is structurally thin; Korean-era records were not searched in Korean-language or ROK repositories. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-alhena-akl38-10
-
[11]NARA record-group mapping (not retrieved - no spend authorized): RG 336 (Office of the Chief of Transportation / Army Transportation Corps vessel files - the likeliest repository for FS-257 construction, assignment, and the 1951 SecArmy-SECNAV transfer correspondence that shipscribe summarizes); RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard - USCG-manned FS-vessel logs and personnel records for the 1944-46 period); RG 111 (Signal Corps - photo SC255473, 'USAV FS-257 pierside at Manila 21 August 1946,' a located artifact); ROK Navy / Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries for 1951-60 Korean service; NHHC Ships Histories photo NH 84180 (the 23 May 1960 Sasebo sale-brochure halftone - a second located artifact) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov Guide to Federal Records (RG 336, RG 26, RG 111); NavSource/shipscribe photo credits (SC255473, NH 84180)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead: hull-specific records likely sit in U.S. Army Transportation Corps files (RG 336) for FS-257 construction/assignment/transfer - including the underlying 11 Jul 1951 SecArmy letter and 9 Aug 1951 Navy agreement summarized in the shipscribe class notes - and in USCG records (RG 26) for the 1944-46 USCG-manned period. The Korean-period identity (ROK name, operator, crewing, whether naval or civilian) is undocumented in U.S. sources searched - ROK repositories are the lead. Two official photographic artifacts are already located: NARA Signal Corps SC255473 (Manila, 21 Aug 1946) and NHHC NH 84180 (the Sasebo sale brochure, May 1960).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960 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-alhena-akl38-11