Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, 'Gold Star (AK-12)' (NHHC, published 2016-08-10) - live NHHC URL 404s as of 2026-09-20; text verified via Wayback capture 20250202183828 and the verbatim HyperWar transcription [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS > G > 'Gold Star (AK-12)' full entry incl. spec header; HyperWar mirror https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/AG/ag12.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official entry documents: built 1920 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, Del.; taken over by the Navy as Arcturus from the USSB on 8 November 1921; commissioned as Arcturus (AK-12) 1 February 1922 at Philadelphia, Lt. Comdr. J. Katterfield, USNRF, in command; renamed Gold Star (AK-12) 6 February 1922, five days after commissioning; reclassified AG-12, 12 May 1922. Service: departed Philadelphia 18 March 1922, arrived Seattle 1 July via Canal Zone and California ports; two years of West Coast cargo service including three voyages supplying Alaskan radio stations; departed San Francisco 9 October 1924 for duty as station ship at Guam (arrived 3 November); through the 1920s-30s served as flagship at Guam with frequent voyages to Japan, China, and the Philippines, crewed substantially by Chamorros (natives of Guam) before WWII. WWII: coaling at Malangas, P.I., on 7 December 1941; sailed for Manila 8 December; diverted to Balikpapan, Borneo (arrived 14 December), issuing provisions to Asiatic Fleet units; thence via Macassar to Darwin (arrived 28 December); Australian coastal cargo service (Brisbane, Sydney, Fremantle); after 15 August 1943 extended to New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands including Milne Bay; arrived Manus Island 6 January 1945 for repairs and conversion to flagship, Service Squadron 9; supported the advance via Leyte and Morotai (attacked by enemy aircraft at Morotai 28 June, no damage); arrived Manila 26 July 1945; supported occupation forces in Japan; arrived Seattle February 1946; decommissioned 17 April 1946; delivered to the Maritime Commission 30 June 1946; sold for scrap 1 December 1947 to Dulien Steel Products, Inc. Credited one battle star for WWII service. DANFS spec header: dp. 4,860; l. 391'9"; b. 52'2"; dr. 11'10"; s. 12 k.; cpl. 52; a. none.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1920-1948
- Population
- Ship's complement (52 per DANFS spec header; larger wartime figures in secondary sources - unmerged) plus Chamorro crew members, embarked passengers, and troops carried; yard workers during documented availabilities
- Limitations
- Official Navy history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information. NHHC transcription carries typos ('US SB' for USSB; 'Philadephia'). The ship spent her entire career as Gold Star - 'Arcturus' was carried only 1-6 February 1922. Does not establish any exposure condition aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database - GOLD STAR (AG-12), ShipHistory Detail 1976, and linked name-history record ARCTURUS (AK-12), Detail 11849 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 1976 (GOLD STAR AG-12) and Detail 11849 (ARCTURUS AK-12) - vessel particulars, name history, milestones, status cards
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD records: year built 1920; shipyard Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding Division; MARAD type 'USSB 1031'; length 392 ft, beam 52 ft; gross 3,500 tons; displacement 4,860 light / 10,449 summer; fate 'Sold - Scrap'; World War II mission flag. Vessel name history links ARCTURUS (AK-12) and GOLD STAR (AG-12) to the same hull. Milestones: Entry 7/1/1946 (USMC Reserve Fleet); Sold 12/1/1947 'Sold to Dulien Steel Products In.'; Disposition and Withdrawl 12/1/1947. Status-card scans exist as image files (1976_3676AF.jpg, 1976_3676AB.jpg, and a PNG on the AK-12 record) without a text layer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1920-1947
- Limitations
- Milestone/custody and dimensional data only - no materials, insulation, or asbestos fields. Status-card scans are image-only; contents not OCR'd or verified this pass. MARAD's internal type code 'USSB 1031' differs from the EFC Design 1046 label used by Shipscribe/NavSource - a cataloging-scheme discrepancy logged in gaps, not resolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-02
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[3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USS Gold Star (AG-12)' - compiled U.S. Navy auxiliary ship data sheet, EFC 1046 class notes and ship notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/usnaux/AG/AG12.html - class notes, construction/disposition tables, ship notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled construction and disposition record: EFC Design 1046, EFC hull 1142; keel laid 15 January 1920 as BENWOOD by Bethlehem Steel, Wilmington, Del.; renamed GOLD STAR by the U.S. Shipping Board on 6 April 1920 to honor Gold Star Mothers (families of war dead); launched 5 June 1920; completed July 1920 (merchant Id. No. 4421); inoperative at Hog Island, Pa., when Executive Order 3570 (29 October 1921) authorized Shipping Board-to-Navy transfers; acquired 8 November 1921 and named ARCTURUS under the Navy's star-names-for-cargo-ships policy; commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 1 February 1922; the renaming provoked a public-relations controversy and the Navy restored GOLD STAR on 6 February 1922; reclassified AG-12, 12 May 1922; replaced Pensacola (AK-7) as Guam station ship 3 November 1924; home yard at Cavite, Philippines, between the wars; did not return to the continental United States between November 1924 and late 1945; overhaul at Melbourne, Australia, 12 June to 24 October 1942, where she received her first proper armament (one British 12-pdr AA, four 3"/50, eight 20mm); converted at Manus in January 1945 as flagship of Commander Service Squadron Nine; decommissioned Seattle 17 April 1946; struck 1 May 1946; delivered to the Maritime Commission 1 July 1946; sold to Dulien Steel Products; to buyer 1 December 1947; scrapping completed by 26 August 1948.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1920-1948
- Population
- Ship's complement and passengers; Philadelphia Navy Yard workers (1921-22 fit-out); Cavite yard workers (1924-41 upkeep); Melbourne yard workers (1942 overhaul); Manus base workers (1945 conversion); Dulien Steel scrapping workers (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation of official records (Roberts's shipbuilding data sheets), not itself an official source; consistent with DANFS and MARAD on all overlapping points. No asbestos or materials content. '1 May 1946' strike date conflicts with Wikipedia's 30 June 1946 - logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-03
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[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
- Journal article DOI landing page
- 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 covering this hull's documented wartime availabilities (Melbourne overhaul June-October 1942; Manus repairs and flagship conversion January 1945) and the Navy-yard system in which she was fitted out (Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1921-22).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers and ship crews (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level scholarship; does not name this hull, EFC Design 1046, Bethlehem Wilmington, Cavite, Melbourne, or Manus. The article's policy window is WWII - this hull's original construction (1919-20 USSB/EFC program) predates it, so it does not support any claim about materials installed at build. Establishes nothing about quantities, locations, or present-day material.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-04
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[5]GAO, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (1979-10-18) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program and its insulation-removal policies with fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - program-level context for Navy-yard asbestos practice. This hull's service ended in 1946, decades before the report's 1970s policy window, so it bears only on era practice, not on this ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1979 (report); covers policies 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level report postdating the ship's Navy career by three decades; fieldwork yards never serviced this hull. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches - product-page description used; full text not retrieved. Establishes nothing about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-05
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[6]DANFS, 'USS Arcturus IV (AK-18/AKA-1)' (HyperWar transcription of the Naval History Division text) plus the NHHC/MARAD name-history records for both hulls [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar DANFS mirror aka1.html; NHHC DANFS 'Gold Star (AK-12)'; MARAD Details 1976/11849 vs 298; Wikipedia USS Arcturus set-index (cross-check only)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Hull-quarantine record. Five U.S. Navy ships have carried the name Arcturus: SP-182 (patrol yacht, 1917-18); SP-593 (ex-Artemis, renamed Arcturus 20 February 1918); AK-12 (THIS hull - commissioned 1 February 1922, renamed Gold Star 6 February 1922); AK-18, reclassified AKA-1 (the Arcturus-class namesake: Sun Shipbuilding, Chester, MC hull 19, ex-Mormachawk, commissioned 26 October 1940); and AF-52 (ex-Golden Eagle, commissioned 18 November 1961). The famous WWII attack cargo ship 'USS Arcturus' is AK-18/AKA-1, a different hull - AK-12 was occupied by this ship until 1946 and was never reused. The batch hull lists confirm the distinction: the primary list carries 'USS Arcturus AK-12' and 'USS Arcturus AKA-1' as separate entries, and the verification list names this hull 'USS Gold Star (AK-12)'. The verification list's 'Arcturus' class label for the AK-12 hull is a list artifact - this hull is EFC Design 1046, not Arcturus class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1917-1973 (lineage span)
- Limitations
- Correction row: records the name/hull collision so downstream readers do not attach AKA-1's history (Torch, Sicily, Salerno, Southern France, Okinawa) or AF-52's record (batch-548) to this hull, or vice versa. Does not adjudicate which hull a given upstream list compiler 'meant' beyond the cited hull number - both AK-12 and AKA-1 appear as separate entries on the primary list. Bears on identity only - no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-06
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[7]Batch-809 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live check + Wayback capture; HyperWar DANFS mirror; MARAD ShipHistory Details 1976/11849 + status-card scans; Shipscribe AG-12; CourtListener API/web (blocked); general web litigation-index searches; DOJ ENRD Duwamish PRP filing; NavSource (lead only); NARA Catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-arcturus-ak12-01 through sl-uss-arcturus-ak12-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Arcturus (AK-12), USS Gold Star (AK-12/AG-12), or SS Benwood/Gold Star was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). General web litigation-index searches surfaced only name collisions (SS Arcturus, an Interlake Steamship lake freighter in a 1964 LHWCA case; SEC v. Arcturus Corp.; generic Navy asbestos suits) - none naming this hull.
- 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 - WWI-program construction plus WWII-era availabilities are consistent with era-typical materials, but nothing ship-specific was located. CourtListener coverage is INCOMPLETE: the API returned HTTP 429 (125/day cap exhausted, ~5-hour retry window) and the web UI returned HTTP 403 on 2026-09-20; opinion- and docket-level searches for 'Gold Star'/'Arcturus'/'AK-12'/'AG-12' should be re-run when quota resets. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-07
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[8]U.S. Dept. of Justice ENRD filing, Appendix F - 'Final Duwamish All PRP Spreadsheet Attachment 3' in U.S. et al v. The Boeing Co. et al. (Duwamish River Site), CERCLA RD/RA 106/107 [court_record]
- Locator
- justice.gov ENRD document 1429791 (Appendix F, Duwamish PRP spreadsheet attachment)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The DOJ's potentially-responsible-party list for the Duwamish River CERCLA site includes 'Dulien Steel' - the same Dulien Steel Products, Inc. of Seattle that purchased this hull for scrap on 1 December 1947 (DANFS; MARAD sale milestone) and completed scrapping by 26 August 1948 (Shipscribe).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- CERCLA filing (2024 capture); underlying scrapping 1947-48
- Population
- Dulien Steel Products scrapping workers (site-level, 1947-48)
- Limitations
- Site-level environmental context only: the PRP list names the scrapping facility, not this vessel, and does not identify contaminants, media, or asbestos. It does not establish that any material from this hull contributed to site contamination, nor does it bear on the hull's in-service materials. The scrapping facility is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-08
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[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 32 (U.S. Shipping Board records incl. EFC), RG 181 (naval districts and shore establishments) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov record-group guide pages (024, 032, 181)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 deck logs for USS Arcturus (AK-12)/USS Gold Star (AK-12/AG-12) covering 1922-1946; RG 32 U.S. Shipping Board/EFC records that may hold EFC hull 1142 (Benwood/Gold Star) construction and outfitting papers; RG 181 records for the Philadelphia Navy Yard (1921-22 fit-out) and any surviving Cavite yard files (home yard 1924-41); MARAD status-card scans for this hull exist as image-only files pending OCR.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - not evidence about this hull. NARA Catalog did not return machine-readable results this pass; digitization status of the deck logs and EFC files is unverified; no box-level retrieval performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-arcturus-ak12-09