Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]NHHC, DANFS Online, 'Anacostia II (AO-94)' (published 2015-06-16) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Anacostia II (AO-94)'; canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/anacostia-ii.html returned 404 on 2026-09-24 (standing NHHC link-rot issue); cited via Wayback capture 2024-04-20. Older print-edition transcription (cpl. 225) at losthistory.net/hazegray mirror auxil/ao94.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS online entry 'Anacostia II (AO-94)' documents: laid down 16 July 1944 at Sausalito by Marinship Corp. under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1829) as Mission Alamo; renamed Anacostia (AO-94) 24 July 1944; launched 24 September 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Henry F. Bruns; acquired by the Navy and commissioned 25 February 1945, Lt. Comdr. Thomas H. Hoffmann in command. Service: shakedown out of San Diego; Pearl Harbor 3 May 1945; Service Squadron 8, Service Force Pacific Fleet; Ulithi 16 May; TG 50.8 to Okinawa; fueling operations off Okinawa early June 1945; Saipan gasoline shuttle; two further Ulithi-Okinawa round trips Aug-Sep; at Ulithi at capitulation 15 Aug; Okinawa through 25 Oct; station tanker at Army air bases Kanoya (30 Oct) and Kagoshima; Manila early Dec; Philippine waters ~2 months; Okinawa 2 Feb 1946; Pearl Harbor 7 Mar; Panama Canal; New Orleans 29 Mar; Mobile 30 Mar; decommissioned Mobile 16 April 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission same day; struck 8 May 1946; reacquired 28 Feb 1948 by Naval Transport Service; assigned to MSTS 18 July 1950 as USNS Anacostia (T-AO-94), Tankers Co. Inc. operator, civil-service crew; petroleum runs Texas gulf coast, Ras Tanura, Bahrain, Japan, England, Netherlands, Germany; out of service Norfolk December 1957; turned over to MARAD and laid up NDRF James River; struck 17 December 1957; one battle star WWII. Header data: dp. 22,380; 523'6"; b. 68'; dr. 30'10"; 15.1 kts; cpl. 255; cl. Escambia; T2-SE-A2.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1957
- Population
- Commissioned crew Feb 1945-Apr 1946; NTS/MSTS civil-service crews 1948-1957
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction, service history, and custody milestones. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information; supports no asbestos claim. MSTS assignment date here (18 July 1950) conflicts with NavSource (19 July 1950) - see correction row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database - ANACOSTIA (AO-94), Detail 240, incl. digitized status-card set and attached document ANACOSTIA.pdf [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail/240 milestone table; status card images /cards/240_454AF.jpg and four additional card scans; attached document /documents/a4a7e3f2-d7ef-45e3-964c-42db8d788140.pdf (status-card transcription)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record ANACOSTIA (AO-94), Detail 240, and its digitized USMC/MARAD vessel status cards document the government custody chain in primary form: delivered by builders to USMC at Sausalito 2-25-45 2:00PM PWT; delivered from Navy Dept. to Reserve Fleet (WSA ownership card) at Mobile, Ala. 4-16-46 1:00PM CST, fleet Tensaw River/Mobile; withdrawn 10-27-47 and allocated to Tankers Co. under general agency agreement; delivered to U.S. Navy (renamed 'ANACOSTIA') at New Orleans 2-28-48; Reserve Fleet permanent transfer, James River, 12-17-57 2:00PM EST (Form MA-383 card: 'Service prior to lay-up: Navy - Permanent transfer; Title: USMA - Permanent Lay-up; Group 4'); withdrawn 10-9-67 3:25PM EDT 'Exchange ship for the ferryboat BEACON, Penn Navigation Company' (contract no. MA-4356, application 302; title passed 8-10-67); converted to bulk carrier; renamed 'PENN RANGER' 11/5/68 (Official No. 517,273); transferred to Panamanian flag 12/4/73, Omnium Transportation Company; renamed 'OMNIUM RANGER'; 'Scrap 6/1978.' Card header: type T2-SE-A2, builder Marinship Corp., MC hull 1829, DWT 16,433, Gross 10,800, built 1944-45.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1945-1978
- Limitations
- Primary custody record (card handwriting read with OCR aid; legible). Documents ownership/lay-up events and the 1967 exchange-for-ferryboat transaction, the 1968 bulk-carrier conversion, and 1978 scrapping - none of the cards or the attached document mention asbestos, materials, or condition of insulation; a handwritten 'Cond. Report in File' annotation references a condition report not digitized. Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-02
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[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, 'USNS Anacostia (T-AO-94) ex Anacostia (AO-94)' page 19094 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AO-94 page - class block, campaign/occupation tables, specifications block, merchant-service block (navsource.net mirror retrieved; navsource.org canonical)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive entry for USNS Anacostia (T-AO-94)/USS Anacostia (AO-94) corroborates the DANFS timeline and adds: campaign table - Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 21 May to 4 June 1945 (one battle star); Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 2 Sep-25 Oct 1945 and 5-24 Feb 1946; reinstatement to Naval Register 28 Feb 1948 assigned to Navy Transportation Service; MSTS reassignment 19 July 1950; merchant service - transferred to Penn Navigation Co. 10 Aug 1967 through MARAD Exchange Program, converted to bulk carrier as SS Penn Ranger, sold 4 Dec 1973 to Omnium Transportation Co. (Panamanian flag) as SS Omnium Ranger, sold for scrapping June 1978. Specifications: one GE turbo-electric engine, two Babcock & Wilcox D-type boilers 600 psi/825 deg F, single propeller 10,000 shp; armament 1x5"/38, 4x3"/50, 4x twin 40mm, 4x twin 20mm.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1978
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled naval photo archive - a reputable specialized secondary source corroborating primary records; campaign dates and merchant-service chain agree with MARAD status cards. Complement figure (20 officers + 278 enlisted) conflicts with DANFS (255 online / 225 print) - see gaps. No asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-03
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[4]Historic American Engineering Record (NPS) HAER No. CA-337, 'Mission Santa Ynez (AO-134),' written historical and descriptive data, p. 5 and n.8 (quoting Walter W. Jaffee, The Last Mission Tanker, Scope Publishing, 1990); historian Brian Clayton, 2006 [haer]
- Locator
- HAER CA-337 data pages p.5 (Flexitallic gasket passage; source quoted in Jaffee 1990 oral account) and p.2 (type/design data); data PDF retrieved via Library of Congress tile storage (ca3445data.pdf)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- HAER CA-337 (NPS written historical and descriptive data for USNS Mission Santa Ynez, AO-134 - the last surviving of 31 Marinship-built Mission tankers and a T2-SE-A2 of the same MC design type as this hull) quotes an engineer's account of the type's higher-pressure plant: 'The big problem with those Mission ships though, more than the standard T-2 with the 6000 horsepower plant, was you had a higher pressure and higher temperature on those boilers. Those darn handheld plugs on the economizer element had what they called a flexitallic gasket that was part metal and part asbestos.' The report documents the type's two Babcock & Wilcox boilers at 600 psi / 825 deg F feeding a GE turbo-generator - the same plant data NavSource lists for this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1945 construction; operating life of the type
- Population
- Engine-room crews of T2-SE-A2 tankers (class context); Marinship construction trades
- Limitations
- Documents an asbestos-containing gasket aboard a SISTER vessel of the same MC type built at the same yard - it does not document this hull. Presence of Flexitallic gaskets aboard AO-94 is type-level inference, not ship-proven; does not establish quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation. Second-hand quotation chain (engineer oral account -> Jaffee 1990 -> HAER 2006).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-04
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[5]Polakoff, P.L., 'Bay Area Asbestos Surveillance Project (BAASP),' draft final report, Western Institute for Occupational/Environmental Sciences, Berkeley CA, 1980 (NIOSH contract 210-78-0113; NIOSHTIC 00163534; NTIS PB87-105466) [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks record and report PDF (cdc_185002_DS1.pdf), abstract and introduction
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- NIOSH-funded Bay Area Asbestos Surveillance Project (BAASP) draft final report documents asbestos exposure among San Francisco Bay Area shipyard workers of the WWII era - the regional workforce of which this hull's Marinship builders were part: of 2,244 shipyard workers examined by x-ray, 46% showed potentially serious abnormality and 30% questionable abnormality; of 186 women (WWII shipyard workers), 26% potentially serious and 35% questionable; an estimated 400,000 men and women had worked in Bay Area shipbuilding and ship repair during WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- screening 1978-1980; exposure era pre-1963
- Population
- WWII San Francisco Bay Area shipyard workers (incl. Marinship workforce context)
- Limitations
- Regional shipyard-population surveillance, not a hull or yard-specific finding - the report does not isolate Marinship workers in its extractable text (screened volunteers self-identified as exposed; pilot cohort drawn from Mare Island and Hunters Point naval yards). Establishes era/regional exposure context for the builder workforce, not asbestos aboard this hull and no individual exposure or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-05
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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 under which this emergency-built T2-SE-A2 hull was constructed at Marinship in 1944-45 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant-type 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 (era 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-anacostia-ao94-06
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[7]Batch-1942 search ledger (this record): DANFS (NHHC Wayback + hazegray mirror); MARAD ShipHistory 240 + status cards; NavSource; NVR; LOC HAER CA-337; CDC Stacks BAASP; NARA Special List 44; OAC/SF Maritime NHP finding aid; CourtListener API v4 name/hull/alias sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-anacostia-ao94-01 through sl-uss-anacostia-ao94-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, condition report, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Anacostia (AO-94), Mission Alamo, Penn Ranger, or Omnium Ranger was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener sweeps on 'Anacostia' + asbestos, 'AO-94,' 'USS Anacostia,' 'Mission Alamo,' 'Penn Ranger,' and 'Omnium Ranger' returned zero hits naming this hull; the three 'Anacostia' + asbestos opinion hits are name collisions (see search_ledger).
- 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 1944-45 emergency-built steam tanker is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the sister-type HAER documents asbestos gaskets on the design. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-07
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[8]Cross-source reconciliation: aukevisser.nl t2tanker id477 vs shipbuildinghistory.com Marinship/AO tables vs DANFS vs NavSource vs MARAD status cards [other_primary]
- Locator
- aukevisser id477.htm header line vs embedded Marinship program excerpt; shipbuildinghistory marinship.htm row 53 / ao.htm table; NavSource 19094 merchant block and photo caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies documented: (a) keel date - aukevisser T2 reference header gives 'Keel laid 26-06-1944' while its own embedded Marinship program excerpt, shipbuildinghistory's Marinship and AO tables, NavSource, and DANFS all give 16 July 1944; 16 July adopted. (b) MSTS assignment - DANFS 'assigned to MSTS on 18 July 1950' vs NavSource 'Reassigned to MSTS 19 July 1950' (one-day difference, both carried). (c) Complement - DANFS online 255, DANFS print ed. 225, NavSource 20 officers + 278 enlisted; unresolved. (d) Scrapping - aukevisser text line 'Scrapped 10/10/68' is inconsistent with documented Penn Ranger operation through 1973; 10 Oct 1968 is the date of a known Penn Ranger photograph at Santander (NavSource image credit) - treated as a conflated annotation; MARAD card 'Scrap 6/1978' adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1978
- Limitations
- Resolves secondary-source discrepancies in favor of primary records (MARAD cards) and majority-source agreement; does not affect the custody chain. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-08
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[9]NARA Special List 44 (named-vessel logbooks); NARA RG 178 guide; OAC finding aid 'Marinship Corporation records, 1942-1945' (SAFR 14318, HDC 90) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 entry 'Anacostia (AO-94) 2/25/1945-6/30/1945'; https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8sb46zn/; MARAD card annotation
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no research-room visit or reproduction order authorized): (a) NARA Special List 44 lists USS Anacostia (AO-94) deck logs covering 2/25/1945-6/30/1945 - the commissioned period including Okinawa operations; digitized availability not confirmed. (b) NARA RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) construction Division records may hold MC hull 1829 outfitting/material specifications. (c) San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park holds the Marinship Corporation records collection 1942-1945 (SAFR 14318, HDC 90; OAC finding aid) - work ledgers, correspondence, memoranda, reports; a vessel-name index exists in the additional finding aid. (d) The MARAD status card's 'Cond. Report in File' annotation points to a fleet condition report not among the digitized attachments.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1957 records
- Limitations
- Listing existence verified (Special List 44 row; OAC collection-level finding aid); contents not retrieved or surveyed - existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until examined. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-anacostia-ao94-09