Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 3 (NAVSHIPS 250-012, 1945), auxiliaries - cargo ships, attack (AKA) section, per-hull rows for AURELIA AKA-23 (shipscribe.com scan of the official BuShips publication) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v3 AKA tables pp. 131-136 (dimensions, personnel, machinery, armament/cargo, construction rows); index p. 658 ('Aurelia (ex-M.C. Hull 1884) - AKA 23'); M.C. hull cross-index p. 725
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 3 carries a per-hull row for AURELIA AKA-23 (ex-M.C. Hull 1884): 426'0" overall / 400'0" pp; beam 58'0"; 16' limiting draft; 16.9 knots; 7,080 tons; machinery 2 Westinghouse turbo-electric engines, 6,000 shp, with 2 Wickes boilers at 450 psi / 750 deg F; authorized complement 27 officers + 276 enlisted; armament 1 x 5"/38 cal (D.P.) + 4 twin 40mm; cargo 110,000 cu ft / 980 DWT; builder Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc., Providence, R.I.; commissioned 14 Oct 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Authoritative wartime BuShips publication naming this hull - confirms identity, machinery plant, manning, builder, and commissioning. OCR of the scanned table is columnar and partially garbled; values cross-verified against DANFS and NavSource. Contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-01
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[2]DANFS, 'Aurelia (AKA-23)' entry, Naval History and Heritage Command (Robert J. Cressman, published 2016-06-01; live NHHC URL returns 404 - verbatim text retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture 20251209183939) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry body text + spec block (Wayback capture 20251209183939)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC records: laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1884) on 5 Feb 1944 at Providence, R.I., by Walsh-Kaiser Co.; launched 4 Jul 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Roy P. Mills; acquired and commissioned 14 Oct 1944, Lt. Cmdr. E. G. MacMurdy in command. Shakedown Chesapeake Bay Nov 1944; Norfolk 23 Nov (troops/cargo); sailed 28 Nov via Panama Canal; Pearl Harbor 17 Dec. Jan 1945 troops/cargo to Eniwetok and Guam; Leyte 4 Mar; embarked Okinawa-assault combat troops 6 Mar; Okinawa D-Day transport area 1 Apr, operated there to 14 Apr; Saipan; Pearl Harbor; Alameda 12 May. Second cargo cycle Jun-Aug 1945 (San Diego training, San Pedro loading, Pearl Harbor, Saipan); at Pearl Harbor on V-J Day 15 Aug. Occupation marines to Sasebo Sep; Army troops/equipment Philippines to Sasebo (arrived 21 Oct); Magic Carpet fleet - Marines to San Francisco 13 Nov; final Japan round-trip arriving San Francisco 16 Jan 1946. Sailed 24 Jan 1946 via Panama Canal; New Orleans 7 Feb; decommissioned Orange, Tex., 14 Mar 1946; transferred to Maritime Commission; stricken 19 Jun 1946; 'The Navy recommended in January 1948 that the ship be scrapped.' NDRF Mobile, Ala.; transferred to Waterman Steamship Co. for repairs 10 Sep-30 Nov 1954, returned to reserve fleet; sold for non-transportation use to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. for $61,612.54 on 10 Jan 1972; withdrawn 21 Mar 1972. One battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Limitations
- Primary Navy historical entry - authoritative for service history, custody chain, and disposal. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim. 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-aurelia-aka23-02
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive - USS Aurelia (AKA-23), file 10/02/02023 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 02023.htm - specifications block, campaign table, occupation-service table, commanding-officer table, disposal entries
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline corroborates DANFS and adds detail: TransRon Eleven (COMO D. W. Loomis USN) / TransDiv Thirty-Three (CAPT. S. M. Haight USN); campaign credit - Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation 1-14 Apr 1945; Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 21-28 Oct 1945 and 15-31 Dec 1945; laid up 1 Jul 1946 NDRF Mobile, AL; sold for non-transportation use (scrapping) 10 Jan 1972 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., delivered 21 Mar 1972. Spec block: 4,025 t light / 6,800 t full; 426' x 58' x 16'6"; 16.9 kt trial; complement 27 officers + 276 enlisted; boom capacity 30 t; armament 1x5"/38 DP + 4 twin 40mm + 10x20mm; boats 1 LCP(L) + 12 LCVP + 2 LCM; troop accommodations 267; propulsion twin screws, 2 Westinghouse turbo-electric engines, 2 Wickes 2-drum D-type boilers (44,000 lb/hr each, 450 psi at 750 deg F), 6,000 shp. CO table: MacMurdy 14 Oct 44-28 Jul 45; Sabol 28 Jul 45-4 Apr 46; Clark to decommissioning 14 Mar 46.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation - detailed but non-official; consistent with NHHC. Two data defects logged in gaps: (a) displacement block (4,025 lt / 6,800 fl) conflicts with DANFS/SDB (7,080 limiting) and shipscribe (4,087 lt / 7,080 lim); (b) the CO table lists Clark's tenure as '4 April 1946 - 14 March 1946' - a start date after the end date and after decommissioning, almost certainly a typo (not carried). Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-03
-
[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - AURELIA (AKA-23), Ship History Detail 380, incl. scanned vessel status card (AURELIA.pdf) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 380 registry block, milestone table, documents tab (AURELIA.pdf status-card scan, 2 pp.)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory registry record for this hull: Year Built 1944; Shipyard 'Walsh-Kaiser Company'; General Type Naval Auxiliary; Specific Type 'AKA Attack Cargo Ship'; MARAD Type S4-SE2-BE1; length 426.00 ft; beam 58.00 ft; fate 'Sold -NTU'; milestones - Disposition 3/21/1972 'Sold f/scrap 1/10/72', Withdrawal 3/21/1972. The attached scanned status card (AURELIA.pdf, partially legible) records the custody chain: Navy Department delivery, War Shipping Administration, Reserve Fleet lay-up Mobile, Ala. 7-1-46, and the Waterman Steamship Corp. repair custody ending 11/30/54 - consistent with the DANFS 1954 repair-transfer narrative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Limitations
- Authoritative MARAD registry plus a handwritten status-card scan whose OCR/palaeography is only partially legible (handwritten entries; 'Waterman SS Corp.' and the 11/30/54 return read with moderate confidence). Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-04
-
[5]Shipscribe U.S. Navy auxiliary ships data sheets, 'USS Artemis (AKA-21) Class' page (Stephen S. Roberts compilation from Navy registers, BuShips/SCB design records, and MARAD files) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AKA-21 class page: characteristics block, construction table, disposition table, class notes (SCB 138 / Emergency Ship Repair Program), ship notes (AKA-23 row)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-design compilation naming this hull in the class tables: AURELIA ordered 15 May 1943; keel 5 Feb 1944; launched 4 Jul 1944; commissioned 14 Oct 1944; disposition row - decommissioned 14 Mar 46, struck 19 Jun 46, to NDRF 1 Jul 46, sold 10 Jan 72; ship note - 'To NDRF 1946. Repaired while inactive 10 Sep - 30 Nov 54. To buyer 21 Mar 72.' Class-level context: MC design S4-SE2-BE1; 4,087 t light / 7,080 t limiting; complement 326 (1944); 16.9 kts; 6,000 hp Westinghouse turbo-electric, 2 screws; class note records that 'many ships in this class were repaired while in reserve during the mid-1950s under the Maritime Administration's Emergency Ship Repair Program' - the program framing the 1954 Waterman repair activation. SCB Project 138 promulgated characteristics for converting S4BE hulls to cable ships (ARC) - Aurelia was never converted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Walsh-Kaiser construction workforce (1944); Waterman Steamship repair workforce (1954); NDRF Mobile caretakers (1946-1972); 1972 breaking-yard workers
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary transcription of official Navy register, design, and MARAD records, not the registers themselves; figures used where consistent with NHHC/SDB/MARAD. Its class-level complement (326, 1944) conflicts with the SDB personnel row and DANFS spec block (303) - discrepancy logged in gaps. Contains no asbestos information; the 1954 repair note documents a custody/work event, not materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-05
-
[6]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 v3 machinery row for this hull + S4-SE2-BE1 type data (shipscribe AKA-21 class page) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v3 machinery table, AKA section (AURELIA row); https://shipscribe.com/usnaux/AKA/AKA21.html class data
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull carried a twin-screw turbo-electric steam plant (two Westinghouse turbo-electric engines, two Wickes boilers at 450 psi / 750 deg F) built at the peak of WWII asbestos usage at a Maritime Commission emergency yard - the machinery configuration for which boiler and fireroom insulation, main and auxiliary steam-line lagging, turbo-generator lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and accommodation joiner insulation of the period were commonly asbestos-containing. Troop-space outfitting (capacity 267) added interior insulation scope. Post-Navy custody (NDRF Mobile lay-up 1946-1972, incl. the 1954 Emergency Ship Repair Program activation at Waterman Steamship) and the 1972 breaking are the disturbance-phase pathways for this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Construction trades at Walsh-Kaiser, Providence (1944); wartime crew and embarked troops; 1954 Waterman repair workforce; NDRF lay-up and 1972 breaking-yard workers
- Limitations
- Inference from the documented machinery plant and construction era - NOT a hull record. No survey, specification, or material schedule naming AKA-23 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-06
-
[7]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 S4-SE2-BE1 attack cargo ship was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- 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 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-aurelia-aka23-07
-
[8]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 construction of exactly this hull's era and type.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- 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 yard (whether Walsh-Kaiser Providence 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-aurelia-aka23-08
-
[9]Batch-1000 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback; NavSource 02023; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 380 + AURELIA.pdf status card; BuShips SDB 1945 v3; shipscribe AKA-21 class page; CourtListener (partially blocked); indexed-web litigation checks; VA BVA index; NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-aurelia-aka23-01 through sl-uss-aurelia-aka23-10
- 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 Aurelia / AKA-23 / MC hull 1884 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener hits for 'Aurelia' are name collisions - Aurelia Shipping SA v. Kossidas (S.D.N.Y. 1:23-cv-02687, a company name) and unrelated plaintiffs named Aurelia in MDL dockets - not this hull. Law-firm marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com dedicated hull page; simmonsfirm.com navy ship list) assert era-typical asbestos content for this hull without primary support - excluded as a source per the no-law-firm-sources rule and logged in the batch report.
- 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 1944 turbo-electric steam auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and her ~26 years in NDRF custody, the undocumented 1954 repair activation, and the 1972 breaking are undocumented disturbance phases. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. Systematic CourtListener name/hull sweeps were partially run (exact-phrase 'USS Aurelia' returned zero opinions; broader 'Aurelia asbestos' and 'AKA-23' queries were HTTP 429 rate-limit blocked) - negative litigation coverage rests on indexed-web checking plus the one clean API result.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-aurelia-aka23-09
-
[10]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel - Navy deck logs), RG 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), RG 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 357 (Records of the Maritime Administration); MARAD ShipHistory documents section for this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; /groups/019.html ; /groups/178.html ; /groups/357.html ; https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/380 (status-card scans)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): Navy deck logs for USS Aurelia 1944-1946 (RG 24, NARA College Park); BuShips records incl. S4-SE2-BE1 contract plans and the Booklet of General Plans for this design (RG 19); USMC construction-contract records for MC hull 1884 at Walsh-Kaiser (RG 178); MARAD/NDRF custody files covering the 1946-1972 Mobile lay-up, the 1954 Emergency Ship Repair Program activation (Waterman Steamship), and the 1972 Union Minerals & Alloys sale (RG 357) - the sale file is the most promising disposal-era hazmat lead; the remaining MARAD status-card scans on Detail 380 (five card images listed) may carry additional custody entries.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1972 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-aurelia-aka23-10