Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]DANFS, 'Aquarius' entry (second ship entry, AK-263), Naval History and Heritage Command (published 2016-07-06; live NHHC URL returns 404 - verbatim text retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture 20241203154118) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Aquarius' page, second entry (AK-263 paragraph below the AKA-16 entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC records, verbatim: 'John D. Widden was acquired from the Army on 12 June 1951 and renamed Aquarius (AK-263). That same day, she was loaned to the Republic of Korea. She operated as a unit of the South Korean Navy until returned to the United States Navy early in 1960. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 February 1960, and she was sold to Hong Kong Rolling Mills, Ltd., on 27 June 1960 for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1951-1960
- Limitations
- Primary Navy historical entry - authoritative for identity, custody chain, and disposal; a five-sentence second-ship entry appended to the AKA-16 entry on the shared 'Aquarius' DANFS page, with no spec block, no commissioning or crew data (the ship was never commissioned), and no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim. DANFS spells the merchant name 'Widden' - the official MARAD status card and wartime USCG/WSA documents say WHIDDEN (see correction row). Live NHHC page 404s (standing link rot, cf. BATCH-01); the Wayback capture is the verbatim NHHC text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-01
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[2]Shipscribe U.S. Navy auxiliary ships data sheets, 'USS Alchiba (AK 261, N3-S-A2) Class' page (Stephen S. Roberts compilation from Navy registers, BuShips/SCB design records, and MARAD files) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AK-261 class page: characteristics block, construction table (AK-263 row), disposition table, class notes (Korean Program / naming / disposal paragraphs), ship notes (AK-263 row)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compilation naming this hull in class tables and ship notes: AQUARIUS acquired 12 Jun 1951; keel 5 Oct 1943; launched 24 Nov 1943 at Walter Butler SB, Duluth; never in U.S. commissioned service ('Svc: --'); struck 1 Feb 1960; ship note - 'Ex merc. JOHN D WHIDDEN, completed 31 May 1944. To Army 21 Jun 1946 at Pusan. Loaned by the Army to ECA Korea 10 Mar 1950. Sold 27 Jun 1960 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills.' Class notes document the program context: eight N3-S-A2s in the Army's Korean Program as of 31 Aug 1948 on MC bareboat charter, title to the Army 23 Feb 1949 under Public Law 766; Army's 5 May 1951 request that COMNAVFE control six of them for ROK civil relief; June 1951 Army-to-Navy transfer with simultaneous ROK loan; CNO naming request for AK 257-266 on 20 Jun 1951; BUPERS slate DENEBOLA/REGULUS/RIGEL/SIRIUS/SPICA/VEGA cancelled 12 Jul 1951 and final names approved 26 Jul 1951; SECNAV disposal approval 1 Dec 1959; MA scrapping-only authorization 8 Jan 1960; return to Navy custody at Sasebo; advertised 23 May 1960; sold 27 Jun 1960 with the five sisters and six ex-Army FS freighters (AKL 37-42). Class data: N3-S-A2 design, 1,276 lt / 4,040 fl tons; 259' oa x 42' x 19'; 11 kts; 1,300 hp Ajax Uniflow 6-cylinder compound reciprocating engine, 2 oil-fired boilers, 1 screw; accommodations 9 officers + 24; unarmed. N3-S-A2 origins: 59 built of 76 proposed; developed after the 1941 British Shipbuilding Mission urged Great Lakes small-yard capacity for coaster tonnage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Walter Butler Duluth construction workforce (1943-44); Lykes Bros./WSA merchant crews (1944-46); U.S. Army Transportation Service / Korean-Program crews (1946-50); ECA Korea / Republic of Korea crews (1950-1960); Hong Kong breaking-yard workers (1960)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary transcription of official Navy register, design, and MARAD records, not the registers themselves; used where consistent with the MARAD status card, DANFS, and shipbuildinghistory. Contains no asbestos information; the detailed custody dates document events, not materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-02
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[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - Aquarius (AK-263), file 09/13/130263 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 130263.htm - specifications block, timeline entries, NH 84175 photo credit
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline corroborates the custody chain: laid down as SS John D. Widden [sic], MC type N3-S-A2 (MC hull 1638), 'Walter Butler Shipbuilding Co., Superior, WI' [sic]; launched May 1944 [sic]; delivered to the Maritime Commission May 1944; acquired by the US Army Transportation Service 1949 [sic]; acquired by the US Navy for the US Army 12 Jun 1951, renamed Aquarius (AK-263) and leased to South Korea the same day; returned to US Naval custody January 1960; struck 1 Feb 1960; sold for scrapping 27 Jun 1960 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills, Ltd. Spec block: 1,677 t lt / 5,202 t fl; 269'10" x 42'6" x 20'9"; 10 kts; 'steam turbine, single propeller.' Photo: NH 84175 (NHHC, courtesy D.M. McPherson 1976) shows the ship under way in South Korean naval service, circa June 1951, location unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation - the timeline agrees with DANFS/shipscribe but four spec/timeline details conflict with the official MARAD status card and shipscribe and are assessed as errors (see correction row): 'Widden' (official: WHIDDEN), 'Superior, WI' (official: Duluth, MN), 'launched May 1944' (conflation with the May 1944 completion; shipscribe gives launch 24 Nov 1943), and 'steam turbine' (the type's documented plant is the Ajax Uniflow reciprocating engine). Spec-block displacement/length also differ from shipscribe class data - flagged in gaps. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-03
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[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - JOHN D. WHIDDEN, Detail 8755, including digitized Vessel Status Card (card scan 3JS_01.png) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD ShipHistory Detail 8755 - Vessel Information fields; Status Cards tab, card 3JS_01.png (read 2026-09-21)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official MARAD record and handwritten status card for this hull: name 'JOHN D. WHIDDEN', official no. 245487, type Cargo N3-S-A2, gross 1,870 / net 990 tons, hull no. 1638, 'Built by Walter Butler SB Corp. At Duluth, Minn.', completed 5-31-44; 'Basis to W.S.A. 5-31-44 5-PM CWT @ Duluth, Minn.'; operator rows: 'Lykes Bros. SS Co.' under GAA (General Agency Agreement) delivered Duluth 5-31-44; 'War Dept.' under BB (bareboat) at 'Fusan, Korea 6-21-46 Noon'; 'Transferred to Army (Public Law # 766)' title 2-23-49; 'Transferred to U. S. Navy 6-12-51' at Pusan; annotated 'Renamed "Aquarius (AK _)"'. MARAD's custody narrative ends there - fate field reads 'Transferred - U.S. Govt.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1944-1951
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous custody record - the highest-authority source for build yard, operator chain, and transfer dates, and the source that resolves the Duluth-vs-Superior and WHIDDEN-vs-Widden conflicts. Handwritten; one figure field (DWT) struck through and corrected on the card. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-04
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[5]MARAD ShipHistory digitized documents for JOHN D. WHIDDEN (JohnDWhidden_8755_001 through _009): U.S. Coast Guard Captain-of-the-Port / boarding / intelligence records and a War Shipping Administration memorandum, 1944-1945, declassified under NARA Project NW 63684 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD Detail 8755 Documents tab: _001 (Baltimore collision memo); _002 (USCG Merchant Marine Detail certificate, Baltimore); _003 (WSA memo 12 Aug 1944); _004 (DIO 7ND Miami report + 15 Jul 1944 ship's-committee minutes); _005/_007 (USCG COTP continuous-protection reports, Aug 1944); _006 (Charleston boarding report 4 Aug 1944); _008 (DIO 6ND Charleston intelligence report 9 Aug 1944); _009 (USCG official dispatch 21 Jul 1944, crew-trouble report to COTP Jacksonville)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Nine digitized wartime documents name this hull and detail her first year of service: (a) USCG Charleston, S.C. Merchant Vessel Boarding Report, boarded 4 Aug 1944 - 'JOHN D. WHIDDEN', 34 in crew, unloading usual cargo; (b) USCG Sixth Naval District intelligence report, Charleston, 9 Aug 1944 - the ship's crew had been brought from New York City to Duluth, Minnesota to take her out, and the July-August coastwise itinerary ran New York - Jacksonville - Miami - Charleston; the 'deep sea seamen' aboard wanted to sign off at Jacksonville over coastwise wages; a Navy Armed Guard detachment (petty officer in charge of 'the Navy Gun Crew aboard the WHIDDEN') confirmed the dispute; (c) WSA confidential memorandum, 12 Aug 1944 - 'JOHN D. WHIDDEN ... Crew trouble aboard' on a July 1944 coastwise run; (d) District Intelligence Office, Seventh Naval District (Miami) report enclosing the ship's-committee minutes of 15 Jul 1944 from 'S/S John D. Whidden, New York, N.Y.' - a 23-item crew-conditions complaint list (galley/mess equipment, engine-room water cooler, washing facilities, emergency lighting, 'additional quarters for gun crew to keep hospital clear'); (e) USCG Baltimore records, 24 Jan 1945 - collision between a launch and SS John D. Whidden in Baltimore Harbor, 21 Jan 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Merchant crew of 34 (Aug 1944, incl. several alien nationals cleared by USCG); Navy Armed Guard gun crew detachment
- Limitations
- Primary Coast Guard / WSA port-file documents - authoritative for the documented port calls, the 34-man crew figure, the Armed Guard presence, and the July 1944 labor dispute; they do not document the ship's routing between Jan 1945 and the June 1946 Army delivery at Pusan, and contain no asbestos, insulation, or materials information - supports no asbestos claim. OCR was poor in places; names of individual crew members were read but are not carried (personnel detail, not vessel data).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-05
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[6]Cross-source discrepancy resolution: MARAD Vessel Status Card (official) vs NavSource 130263, USMC outboard-profiles compilation (drawings.usmaritimecommission.de), and shipscribe/shipbuildinghistory tables [other_primary]
- Locator
- MARAD Detail 8755 status card; NavSource 130263.htm; https://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux2/AK/AK261.html ; shipbuildinghistory.com Butler-Duluth yard table (hull 24 row); drawings.usmaritimecommission.de N3-S-A2 builder list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Three documented source discrepancies resolved against the official record: (a) Merchant name - the MARAD status card, MARAD ShipHistory title, shipscribe, shipbuildinghistory, and the wartime USCG/WSA documents all read 'JOHN D. WHIDDEN', matching the namesake clipper-ship master Capt. John D. Whidden (author, Ocean Life in Old Sailing-Ship Days, 1908); DANFS, NavSource, and derivative sources spell 'Widden' - WHIDDEN carried. (b) Build yard - the MARAD status card states 'Built by Walter Butler SB Corp. At Duluth, Minn.' and shipscribe and shipbuildinghistory's Butler-Duluth yard table (yard hull 24) agree; NavSource and the USMC drawings compilation (which assigns MC 1636-1641 to Superior, WI) disagree - Duluth, MN carried per the official contemporaneous record, conflict logged in gaps. (c) Launch date - shipscribe gives keel 5 Oct 1943 / launch 24 Nov 1943; NavSource's 'launched May 1944' conflates the documented 31 May 1944 completion - shipscribe dates carried. Separate disambiguation: this hull (AK-263, ex-John D. Whidden) is the second Aquarius; the first is USS Aquarius (AK-65/AKA-16), Andromeda class, a different hull - the two share one DANFS page and are conflated on law-firm ship lists.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies in secondary compilations using the official MARAD status card as controlling; the Superior-WI claim is reported as a located conflict, not silently overridden - residual uncertainty logged in gaps. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-06
-
[7]Consolidated era/design inference - documented N3-S-A2 machinery plant (shipscribe AK-261 class data) applied to this hull's construction era [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe AK-261 class page: characteristics block and class machinery notes (Ajax Uniflow 6-cylinder compound, 2 boilers, oil-fired A2 variant)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull carried a single-screw oil-fired steam plant - two boilers feeding a 1,300-hp Ajax Uniflow six-cylinder compound reciprocating engine - built Oct 1943-May 1944 at a Maritime Commission contract yard, the machinery configuration for which boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and accommodation joiner insulation of the period were commonly asbestos-containing. The hull's documented disturbance phases are distinct from a commissioned Navy auxiliary's: 1943-44 construction at Walter Butler Duluth; WSA/Lykes Bros. coastwise merchant operation 1944-46 with a Navy Armed Guard detachment aboard; Army Korean-Program operation 1946-50; ECA Korea then Republic of Korea operation 1950-1960 with undocumented maintenance; and 1960 breaking in Hong Kong under a scrapping-only MA authorization.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Walter Butler Duluth construction trades (1943-44); Lykes Bros./WSA merchant crews + Armed Guard (1944-46); Army Korean-Program crews (1946-50); ECA Korea / ROK crews (1950-1960); Hong Kong breaking-yard workers (1960) - no U.S. Navy complement ever served aboard
- Limitations
- Inference from the documented machinery plant and construction era - NOT a hull record. No survey, specification, or material schedule naming AK-263 / MC hull 1638 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-07
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[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 Maritime Commission emergency construction program under which this N3-S-A2 freighter was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- 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-aquarius-ak263-08
-
[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 two Navy yards and two 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 naval-vessel and Commission construction of exactly this hull's era and type.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- 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 and Commission construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether Walter Butler Duluth was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized - see the 2026 critique at DOI 10.1177/10482911261446696.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-09
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[10]Batch-915 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback; NavSource 130263; shipscribe AK-261 class page; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 8755 (record, status card, nine digitized USCG/WSA documents); shipbuildinghistory Butler-Duluth/N-type tables; CourtListener (blocked); indexed-web litigation checks; VA BVA index; NVR; NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-aquarius-ak263-01 through sl-uss-aquarius-ak263-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, disposal-condition document, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Aquarius, AK-263, John D. Whidden/Widden, or MC hull 1638 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Indexed-web and CourtListener-site checks returned only name collisions - M/V Ville D'Aquarius (a 2008 S.D.N.Y. admiralty contract docket on a different vessel) and Aquarius Aqua USA, Inc. v. M/Y Vogue/Jimbo (a 2020 S.D. Fla. yacht quiet-title action) - plus law-firm marketing lists naming 'USS Aquarius (AK-263)' (freeasbestostesting.com, mesotheliomaasbestoshelpcenter.com) and the first Aquarius AKA-16 (asbestos-ships.com et al.); marketing assertions of era-typical asbestos content carry no primary support and are an excluded source class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 oil-fired steam freighter is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and 16 years of Army/ECA/ROK operation with undocumented maintenance plus the 1960 Hong Kong breaking are undocumented disturbance phases. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. CourtListener systematic name/hull sweeps were not run - the authenticated API quota (2,800/day) was already exhausted by prior batch work on this machine (HTTP 429 on two probes, expected available ~16,400 s) - backed off per batch instruction; negative litigation coverage rests on indexed-web checking only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aquarius-ak263-10
-
[11]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 336 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation - Army Transport Service), RG 357 (Records of the Maritime Administration), RG 313 (Records of Naval Operating Forces - COMNAVFE), RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard merchant-vessel records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/178.html ; /groups/336.html ; /groups/357.html ; /groups/313.html ; /groups/26.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): USMC construction-contract records for MC hull 1638 at Walter Butler Duluth (RG 178); Army Transportation Corps / USATS service records covering this hull's Korean-Program operation 1946-1950 and her transit to the western Pacific (RG 336); Maritime Administration files covering the PL 766 title transfer of 23 Feb 1949, the ECA Korea loan of 10 Mar 1950, and the 1960 scrapping-only sale at Sasebo - the sale file is the most promising disposal-era hazmat lead (RG 357); COMNAVFE records for the 1951 Army-to-Navy transfer and the January 1960 custody return (RG 313). RG 26 is partially fulfilled already - the nine digitized USCG/WSA documents in the MARAD ShipHistory record (declassified under NARA Project NW 63684) are Coast Guard port-file material for this hull. Republic of Korea Navy records for the 1951-1960 loan service are not in U.S. custody. No Navy deck logs exist for a vessel never commissioned in U.S. service.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- 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-aquarius-ak263-11