Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Naval History Division), 'USS Big Horn (AO-45/IX-207)' - HyperWar transcription [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS IX-volume entry, full entry text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for this hull: built 1936 by Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pa., as Gulf Dawn; purchased by the Navy 31 March 1942; converted into a Q-ship by Boston Navy Yard; commissioned 16 April 1942 (CDR J.A. Gainard); operated as a Q-ship in the eastern North Atlantic July 1942-January 1944; transferred to the Coast Guard 17 January 1944 as a weather patrol vessel out of Newfoundland; returned to the Navy 1 February 1945, redesignated IX-207, Service Force Pacific Fleet; shuttle tanker mainly Ulithi-Philippines; station tanker at Nagoya, Japan, 3 October 1945-26 February 1946; decommissioned 6 May 1946 in the 8th Naval District; transferred to the Maritime Commission 22 November 1946. DANFS spec line: dp. 4,150; l. 426'4"; b. 64'2"; dr. 27'9"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 239; a. 2 3".
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1936-1946
- Population
- USN crew 1942-44; USCG crew 1944-46 (Coast Guard-manned through IX-207 service)
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy ship-history entry. Canonical NHHC URL (history.navy.mil .../danfs/b/big-horn.html) returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-24; HyperWar transcription used, consistent with the Batch-01 NHHC link-rot note. Contains no asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-01
-
[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - BIG HORN Detail 525 (status card scan + milestones) and GULF DAWN Detail 8351 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Detail 525 header fields, milestones table, Status Cards tab (525_969AF/969AB card images; 'BIG HORN.pdf' document = the custody card, OCR-checked); Detail 8351 for the merchant-name record
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record and digitized status card for this hull (BIG HORN AO-45/WAO-124/IX-207, linked name-history record GULF DAWN, Detail 8351): year built 1936, official no. 235070, Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock, 441.66 ft, 64 ft beam, 7,096 gross / 4,337 net tons; milestones: entry/acquisition 22 Nov 1946, disposition/withdrawal 15 Jul 1947, fate 'Sold - Foreign Flag Op.' The status card's custody chain reads: Gulf Oil Corp. -> War Shipping Administration 3-31-42 at New York; WSA -> U.S. Navy Department; Navy -> U.S. Maritime Commission 11-22-46 at Beaumont, Tex. (surplus lay-up); MC Reserve Fleet -> Sabine Transportation Co. 7-15-47 at Beaumont (purchase).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Limitations
- Primary government custody/chain-of-title record - authoritative for NDRF entry, sale, and withdrawal events. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-02
-
[3]Shipscribe, 'USS Big Horn (AO-45)' - construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship note (compiled from NARA and official sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AO45.html - Construction table; Disposition table (Decomm 6 May 46, Strike 3 Jul 46, Disposal 22 Nov 46, MA Sale 7 Jul 47); Class Notes and Ship Notes row 45
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe's AO-45 page (compiled from NARA/BuShips records) documents the conversion and program detail: Auxiliary Vessels Board recommendation 23 Mar 42; CNO instructed BuShips 27 Mar 42; accepted at New York 31 Mar 42; 'usual conversion for Navy use' by Bethlehem Steel Co., 56th St., Brooklyn; commissioned 15 Apr 42; Boston Navy Yard Q-ship conversion under Project LQ completed ~22 Jul 42; BuOrd gun cards show one 4"/50 mounted at New York 26 Mar 42 and six more aboard at Boston 25 Apr 42 (two installed, rest cargo), one removed 11 Jun 42; ASW projectors added 10 Jul and 21 Sep 42; ~15,000 empty drums fitted in cargo tanks/wing spaces for post-hit buoyancy; first operational Q-ship cruise 27 Sep 42; last Q-ship voyage concluded by 7 Oct 43; CNO directed USCG transfer 24 Dec 43; physically transferred 17 Jan 44; stricken from the Navy Register 22 Jan 44 (USCG designations PGCG-30 and WAO-124); released from weather duty 2 Dec 44; Insurv inspection 22-23 Dec 44; back on the Navy list as IX-207 effective 1 Feb 45 (Coast Guard-manned); converted by General Ship & Engine Works, Boston, to station tanker; departed for the Caribbean 11 Mar 45, reported to CINCPAC 22 Mar 45; shuttle tanker May-Aug 1945, station tanker Nagoya Oct 1945-Feb 1946; merchant C. B. WATSON 1947; scrapped 1960 as OSWEGO TRADER.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1936-1960
- Population
- Conversion yard workers (Bethlehem 56th St. Brooklyn; Boston Navy Yard; General Ship & Engine Works), 1942 and 1945
- Limitations
- Specialist archival compilation (not itself an official record); agrees with DANFS/MARAD on the spine. Its ship note dates the General Ship & Engine Works conversion '(19 Jan to 4 Mar 44)' - a typo for 1945 given the Coast Guard custody timeline; flagged in the correction row. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-03
-
[4]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'The Long Blue Line: USS Big Horn - the Coast Guard's Q-Ship' (W. Thiesen, 14 Feb 2022) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article body (live site blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403; text captured via Wayback 2025-01-21 18:30:03 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Coast Guard Historian's Office 'Long Blue Line' article (Atlantic Area Historian William Thiesen) documents the USCG period: conversion to Q-ship began March 1942 at the Bethlehem Shipyard, Brooklyn, and continued at Boston Navy Yard through July 1942; crew ~240; armament one 5-inch gun, four hidden 4-inch guns, Hedgehog; first cruise on the Trinidad bauxite route; May 1943 periscope sighting and four-hour depth-charge attack; mid-1943 flagship of a small task group north of the Azores to Brazil/West Africa - her last Q-ship patrol; Coast Guard crew boarded 7 Jan 1944; North Atlantic weather patrols, homeported Boston, through January 1945; March 1945 Aruba oil load, Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Marshalls; supplied the Philippines and Okinawa battlefronts; stationed in Japan after the war; decommissioned 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- USCG crew (WAO-124 and Coast Guard-manned IX-207), Jan 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Official USCG historical-office article - authoritative for the Coast Guard period narrative; its 'On Jan. 1, 1944' phrasing for the reassignment is looser than the 17 Jan 1944 physical-transfer date in DANFS/Shipscribe. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-04
-
[5]Thomas Wildenberg, Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995 (Naval Institute Press, 1996), ch. 15 and Appendix D (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- GSBO-15.html 'Big Horn (AO-45) and Victoria (AO-46)' section; GSBO-D.html Appendix D AO-45 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Wildenberg's Navy tanker history (ch. 15, 'Wartime Requisition and Conversion of Merchant Tankers') documents the acquisition pathway: WSA allocated SS Gulf Dawn to fill the Auxiliary Vessels Board's 23 Mar 1942 requirement; taken into the Navy 31 Mar 1942; commissioned 16 Apr at Bethlehem Steel's Shipbuilding Division Pier #4, Brooklyn; departed New York 22 Apr for the Boston Navy Yard for Project LQ conversion; first operational Q-ship deployment 27 Sep 1942 masquerading as Gulf Dawn, convoy GAT-11 to Trinidad; twelve months on Caribbean/East Coast trade routes without engaging the enemy; transferred to USCG Jan 1944 as weather ship WAO-124. Appendix D row: 'AO-45 Big Horn ex- Gulf Dawn, Sun SB&DD, 1936, comm. 16-Apr-42'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Published secondary history (Naval Institute Press, from primary Navy records) - corroborates the acquisition and Q-ship deployment record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-05
-
[6]NavSource Naval History, 'USS Big Horn (IX-207) ex USCGC Big Horn (WAO-124) ex USS Big Horn (AO-45)', archive 09/19/19045 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Specifications block (IX-207), awards, commanding officers table, service-history bullet list (direct navsource.org fetch fails; Wayback 2024-05-24 capture used)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive page for this hull provides the IX-207 specification block (two Westinghouse 2-cylinder direct-drive turbines; two Foster-Wheeler A-type watertube boilers, 450 psi/750 deg F; double Westinghouse main reduction gears; single propeller 3,080 shp; complement 15 officers + 224 enlisted; cargo 84,000 bbls), the commanding-officer list (CDR J.A. Gainard to 24 Jun 43; CDR L.C. Farley to 17 Jan 44; LCDR/Cdr. Chester L. Jordan USCG to 6 May 46), and the merchant tail: sold 27 Jun 1947 to Sabine Transportation Co. (MARAD Sale PD-X-356, $304,000), removed by buyer 17 Jul 1947, renamed C. B. Watson; sold foreign Aug 1955, reflagged Liberian; scrapped 1960. It also gives decommissioning at Orange, TX and MC transfer 24 Nov 1946 - two dated details that conflict with DANFS/MARAD and are logged in the correction row.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1936-1960
- Population
- IX-207 crew (15 officers + 224 enlisted per this source), 1945-46
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive - useful for specs, photos, and CO list; the '24 Nov 1946' MC-transfer and Orange-TX decommissioning details conflict with the MARAD card/DANFS and are treated as NavSource errors (see correction row). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-06
-
[7]shipbuildinghistory.com, 'Sun Shipbuilding, Chester PA' yard hull list - hulls 153-154 rows [other_primary]
- Locator
- Sun list table, hull 153 (Gulfbelle) and hull 154 (Gulfdawn) rows
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The shipbuildinghistory.com Sun yard list fixes the construction record and the complete merchant name trail: hull 154, official no. 235070, owner Gulf Refining, 7,096 GT / 11,402 DWT tanker, keel 30 Nov 1935, launched 2 May 1936, delivered 25 Jul 1936; disposition line reads 'Big Horn (AO-45/WAO-124/IX-207) 1942, C. B. Watson 1948, R. A. Hummell 1955, Trinity Trader 1958, Oswego Trader 1959, scrapped 1960'. Sister hull 153 (Gulfbelle, O.N. 234903): keel 15 Nov 35, launched 4 Apr 36, delivered 20 May 36 - confirming the pair described by Shipscribe.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1935-1960
- Population
- Sun Shipbuilding construction trades, Nov 1935-Jul 1936
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation of yard/registry data - consistent with MARAD header fields (7,096 GT, O.N. 235070) and with Shipscribe's pair description. 'C. B. Watson 1948' vs NavSource 'renamed after 17 Jul 1947 removal' is a registration-vs-renaming seam, not a conflict. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-07
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - NavSource IX-207 machinery specs; Shipscribe construction/conversion record; Atlas shipyards.json entries sun-shipbuilding-chester (litigation product IDs) and boston-naval-shipyard (litigation product ID); Corn & Starr, AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987) for the WWII shipbuilding asbestos context [other_primary]
- Locator
- Machinery/construction records cited in rows 03/06/07; yard-dataset asbestos rows ev-sun-shipbuilding-chester-* and ev-boston-naval-shipyard-*
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this was a 1936 steam tanker (two Foster-Wheeler watertube boilers, two Westinghouse direct-drive turbines) built at Sun Shipbuilding, Chester - a yard with documented asbestos-product use - and she then passed through three wartime yard periods: Bethlehem Steel 56th St., Brooklyn (Navy conversion, Apr 1942), Boston Navy Yard (Project LQ Q-ship conversion, Apr-Jul 1942), and Boston-area reconversion to station tanker (Feb-Mar 1945, Boston Navy Yard / General Ship & Engine Works). Marine insulation practice of the 1930s-40s used asbestos-containing boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets, packing, and accommodation insulation; wartime conversion work of this scope (false bulkheads, gun masks, lengthened forecastle, tank modifications) is era-consistent with installation and disturbance of such materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1935-1960
- Population
- Sun Shipbuilding construction trades (1935-36); Bethlehem 56th St. and Boston Navy Yard conversion workers (1942, 1945); USN/USCG engine-room crews (1942-46); merchant crews (1936-42, 1947-60); shipbreakers (1960)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific source documents asbestos aboard this vessel. The Sun Ship product-identification testimony on record (Lilley) covers 1959-1976, after this hull's 1936 construction, and the Boston Naval Shipyard record is a gasket product ID, not a hull record; neither names this ship. Establishes no quantity, no individual exposure, no causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-08
-
[9]Batch-1891 search ledger (this record): DANFS/HyperWar; MARAD ShipHistory + status cards; Shipscribe; USCG Historian; Wildenberg GSBO; NavSource; shipbuildinghistory; CourtListener name/hull/merchant-name sweeps (opinion + docket); NHHC; NVR [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-big-horn-ao45-01 through sl-uss-big-horn-ao45-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or asbestos claim naming this hull was found in the sources searched. CourtListener results classify as: 'USS Big Horn' + asbestos - 0 hits; 'Big Horn' + asbestos (opinions) - 10 hits, all name collisions (Big Horn County MT/WY matters, energy/coal defendants, unrelated asbestos cases with incidental 'Big Horn' references); 'AO-45' - 2 hits, both collisions ('AO' = Administrative Office; a Texas AG opinion); 'IX-207' - 0; 'WAO-124'/'PGCG-30' - 0; 'Gulf Dawn' - 0; 'Oswego Trader'/'Trinity Trader'/'R. A. Hummell' - 0; 'Big Horn' + ship/tanker/vessel (opinions) - 20 top-ranked hits reviewed, all collisions; 'Big Horn' + asbestos (dockets) - 102 hits reviewed by case name, all collisions or incidental mentions (Big Horn County entities, MDL-875 text matches, bankruptcies). No NHHC ship page exists for AO-45 (canonical URL 404s).
- 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 1936 steam tanker with three wartime yard periods is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull was scrapped in 1960, before any ACM documentation regime existed. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-09
-
[10]Comparison across DANFS, MARAD status card/Detail 525+8351, Shipscribe AO-45, NavSource 09/19/19045, shipbuildinghistory Sun list, USCG Historian article, Wikipedia [other_primary]
- Locator
- MARAD milestones/status card; Shipscribe construction & disposition tables + ship note; NavSource service-history block; shipbuildinghistory hull-154 disposition text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved/logged: (a) Commissioning - DANFS, Wildenberg, and NavSource give 16 Apr 1942; Shipscribe's construction table gives 15 Apr 1942 with initial conversion completed the next day; 16 April adopted (majority + DANFS). (b) MC transfer - DANFS and the MARAD status card give 22 Nov 1946; NavSource prints 24 Nov 1946; MARAD card adopted. (c) Decommissioning place - NavSource says Orange, TX; Wikipedia narrative says decommissioned at New Orleans then berthed at Orange; DANFS says only '8th Naval District' - both carried, unresolved. (d) Complement - DANFS 'cpl. 239' = NavSource's 15+224; USCG historian '~240' consistent for the Q-ship era; Wikipedia's '13 officers and 157 men' uncorroborated - not adopted. (e) Q-ship armament described variously (Shipscribe table '5-4"/50'; USCG one 5" + four hidden 4" + Hedgehog; BuOrd gun cards via Shipscribe track seven 4"/50 across Apr-Jun 1942; NavSource one 5"/50 stern + four 4" masked) - variation carried, no single figure asserted. (f) Shipscribe ship-note dates the General Ship & Engine Works station-tanker conversion '(19 Jan to 4 Mar 44)' - must be 1945 (ship was Coast Guard-held until 1 Feb 1945); flagged as typo. (g) Merchant sale seam - NavSource 'sold 27 Jun 1947 / removed 17 Jul 1947'; MARAD card '7-15-47'; Shipscribe 'MA sale 7 Jul 47'; shipbuildinghistory 'C. B. Watson 1948' - sale-approval vs withdrawal vs registration events, consistent within source roles. (h) uboat.net 'sold into mercantile service in 1948' - outlier vs the MARAD card; not adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1936-1960
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies in secondary framings; none affects identity or the custody spine. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-big-horn-ao45-10
-
[11]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (BuShips), RG 24 (deck logs), RG 26 (USCG), RG 181 (naval districts/shore establishments), RG 178 (US Maritime Commission) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) - the Project LQ conversion files and BuOrd gun cards Shipscribe cites (the likeliest source of any hull-specific materials detail for the 1942 and 1945 yard periods); RG 24 - deck logs for AO-45 (1942-44) and IX-207 (1945-46); RG 26 - USCG records for WAO-124/PGCG-30 incl. logbooks and the 1941-49 military muster rolls; RG 181 - 1st Naval District / Boston Navy Yard conversion records; RG 178 - Maritime Commission vessel file for official no. 235070 incl. the PD-X-356 sale docket to Sabine Transportation.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1935-1960 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only; 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-big-horn-ao45-11