Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]DANFS, 'Capella (AK-13)' (NHHC) + NHHC Online Library of Selected Images ship page (photo captions NH 55049, NH 58160, NH 98063 noting armament timeline) - live NHHC URL 404s as of 2026-09-20; text verified via Wayback capture 20250201224712, the verbatim hazegray DANFS transcription, and the HyperWar mirror of the Online Library page [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS > C > 'Capella (AK-13)' full entry incl. spec header; Wayback capture 20250201224712; hazegray mirror https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/auxil/ak13.htm ; Online Library photo page https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/ak13.htm (captions: ship 'unarmed until she received two 5"/51 and four 3"/50 guns at the end of 1940'; later 8-20mm + one 5"/38)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official entry documents: built 1920 as Comerant by American International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, Pa., under a Shipping Board contract; acquired by the Navy 20 November 1921; commissioned 8 December 1921, Lt. Comdr. S. W. Hickey, USNRF, in command. Service: arrived San Diego 19 March 1922 and carried cargo along the west coast until July, then east coast duty for four months; sailed to Japan October 1923 carrying food, medical supplies, and water for earthquake relief at Yokohama; decommissioned and placed in reserve at Norfolk 1 September 1924; recommissioned 10 November 1938, resuming supply runs on east and west coasts with occasional Alaskan voyages; recalled to the east coast late September 1940 and supported bases from the Canal Zone to Newfoundland until 1944; in June 1944 made the first of four transatlantic convoy crossings to Scotland and North and West Africa; returned to Caribbean cargo duty June 1945; decommissioned at Norfolk 30 November 1945; transferred to the War Shipping Administration July 1946. DANFS spec header: dp. 4,037; l. 401'; b. 54'1"; dr. 24'5"; s. 11 k.; cpl. 271; a. 2 x 5", 4 x 3".
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1919-1946
- Population
- Ship's complement (271 per DANFS spec header; conflicting figures in secondary sources - unmerged); embarked Marines during Fleet Landing Exercise No. 5 (1938-39); yard workers during documented availabilities
- Limitations
- Official Navy history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information. Does not establish any exposure condition aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-01
-
[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, Vessel History Database - CAPELLA (AK-13), ShipHistory Detail 808, linked name-history record COMERANT (Detail 7453), and digitized status-card scans (808_AF.jpg, 808_BB.jpg, 808_1435AF.jpg, 808_1435AB.jpg, COMERANT card) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 808 (CAPELLA AK-13) and Detail 7453 (COMERANT) - vessel particulars, name history, milestones; status cards 808_AF.jpg/808_BB.jpg/808_1435AF.jpg/808_1435AB.jpg and COMERANT card
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD records: year built 1920; shipyard American International Shipbuilding Co.; MARAD type 'USSB 1022'; U.S. Official No. 219838; length 401 ft, beam 54 ft; 5,078 gross tons; displacement 11,500 summer / 4,037 light; fate 'Sold - Scrap'. Status-card scan (front, 'Navy TO BE DISPOSED' card): single-screw cargo; dimensions 401 x 54 x 32; DWT 7,430; LWT 4,070; 'Built by US Shipping Board for account Navy,' construction cost $2,001,378.93; 'Sold to H. H. Buncher Co. Sept. 3, 1947 for complete scrapping under PDX-377 for the sum of $57,777.77 (Approx. $14.31 per LWT)'; 'Bid Opened Nov. 10, 1936' noted while in reserve (no sale consummated - recommissioned 1938); transfer to W.S.A. 7-17-46; James River Fleet location. Card back: laid up James River 7-17-46; October 1947 recommendation to substitute Boston Metals Co. performance bond for H.H. Buncher Co. bond, approved by the Commission 1947-11-06. COMERANT card: 'Hull No 1508,' completed 4-1920 at Hog Island; basis to W.S.A. 7-17-46 3:15 PM EDT at Lee Hall, Va. from Navy Dept. (Surplus); delivered to H.H. Buncher (scrap purchaser) at Lee Hall 10-2-47 10:00 AM EST. Milestones: entered James River Reserve Fleet 7/17/1946; withdrawal 10/2/1947 ('Departed fleet. Sold for scrap.').
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1920-1948
- Population
- Shipbreaking workers, H.H. Buncher Co. / Boston Metals Co., Baltimore (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Milestone/custody and dimensional data plus contemporaneous card entries - no materials, insulation, or asbestos fields. Cards are image scans read visually this pass (not OCR-pipeline); card 1435AB is a partially legible handwritten strip (post-sale transfer note) - unverified portions logged in gaps. A digitized wire-service clipping in the MARAD file is a separate row (ev-05).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-02
-
[3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USS Capella (AK-13)' - compiled U.S. Navy auxiliary ship data sheet, CAPELLA-class notes, construction/disposition tables, ship notes; EFC Design 1022 class notes at shipscribe.com/mckellar/pix/1022.html [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/usnaux/AK/AK13.html - class notes, construction/disposition tables, ship notes; shipscribe.com/mckellar/pix/1022.html - EFC 1022 design notes and specifications
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled construction/disposition record: EFC Design 1022 (Hog Island Type A); keel laid 1 July 1919, launched 3 March 1920, completed 17 April 1920 as merchant COMERANT (ID-4253W), previously allocated the names SEA GIRT, COLFAX, and LIBERTY BELL; acquired 20 November 1921 and commissioned 8 December 1921 - one of four Design 1022 freighters (with SIRIUS AK-15, SPICA AK-16, VEGA AK-17) renamed under SecNav action of 2 November 1921 after Executive Order 3570 (29 October 1921) authorized Shipping Board-to-Navy transfers; CAPELLA replaced GULFPORT (AK-5). Embarked two Army Model 1919 16-inch guns 26 September 1922, delivered Pearl Harbor 28 December 1922; tasked April 1923 to lift four 14"/50 guns to Puget Sound Navy Yard for battleship re-gunning. Decommissioned 1 September 1924 as an economy move; while in reserve, the Bureau of Construction and Repair used her for experimental torpedo-explosion test caissons (testing complete and ship restored per Norfolk Navy Yard report of 20 June 1938). Recommissioned 10 November 1938 for Fleet Landing Exercise No. 5 - holds modified for vehicles and troops, booms strengthened for lighters and experimental boats; Naval Transportation Service from March 1939; long-authorized battery of 2-5"/51 and 4-3"/50 AA fitted at Norfolk November-December 1940. Torpedoed accidentally by PT-59 9 April 1942 (detail in War Damage Report No. 27); repaired at the New York Navy Yard, resuming operations 20 May 1942; temporary stores issue ship (AKS role) June-October 1944 on Norfolk-Scotland-North Africa voyages; decommissioned 30 November 1945, struck 19 December 1945, to Maritime Commission 17 July 1946; to buyer 2 October 1947, scrapped by 21 July 1948. Class machinery data: Curtis geared turbines, 1 screw, 2,500 HP, 11.5 knots; complement 122. Design 1022 design data (Quistconck): 1 screw, 1 G.E. turbine, 3 Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, 2,500 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1919-1948
- Population
- Ship's complement; Norfolk Navy Yard workers (1924 decommissioning, 1938 recommissioning and conversion, 1940 armament installation, 1945 decommissioning); New York Navy Yard workers (1942 repair); Boston Metals scrapping workers (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation of official records (Roberts's shipbuilding data sheets), not itself an official source; consistent with DANFS, MARAD, and WDR-27 on all overlapping points. Ship-notes EFC field prints '150' - truncated/typo vs 'Hull No 1508' on the MARAD status card (1508 also fits the 77th-in-series arithmetic of the EFC 1482-1541 second order). 'MA Sale 4 Sep 47' vs status-card sale of 3 September - logged in gaps. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-03
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 27 (NAVSHIPS 27 (374)), 24 May 1943 - U.S.S. CAPELLA (AK13) torpedo damage section (combined report with U.S.S. ALHENA AKA9); HyperWar transcription of the official report [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar mirror, WarDamageReportAK13-AKA9.html, sections II-A through II-G (pp. 1-4); canonical NHHC Online Library listing under War Damage Reports
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Bureau of Ships damage study: at 1824 on 9 April 1942, at anchor in upper Narragansett Bay, R.I., Capella was struck on the starboard side at about frame 158, 15 feet below the waterline just aft of the shaft alley, by a nearly-spent 21-inch Mark VIII Mod. 3D torpedo (385-lb TNT warhead) accidentally discharged by a U.S. Navy PT boat. The explosion blew through both shell platings (starboard rupture ~17.5 ft fore-and-aft, ~18 ft vertically; port rupture ~6 ft 9 in diameter), destroyed the vertical keel between frames 152-158 and the shaft alley flat between bulkheads 156-160, and flooded the shaft alley, No. 5 hold, magazines, after peak tank, and storeroom; main generators, pumps, and thrust bearing were knocked out of line and four sections of the main and tail shafts were bent. A sick bay and a troop washroom on the main deck are noted in the report's shock-effects section. The report is the technical record of the damage that sent the ship to the New York Navy Yard for repair (resumed operations 20 May 1942 per Shipscribe).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Ship's complement aboard at the 1942 incident; New York Navy Yard repair workers (Apr-May 1942)
- Limitations
- Engineering damage report - documents structure, machinery, and flooding in detail but contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials-fiber information; does not state casualty figures (secondary photo captions claim eight injured, no deaths - not verified in the report text); identifies the repair event, not the materials disturbed by it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-04
-
[5]Digitized wire-service clipping in the MARAD vessel file (ShipHistory Detail 808 documents): Navy announcement of the accidental torpedo strike, date-stamped 4/10 (1942) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov documents/Capella_808_001.pdf (single-page scan)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous scanned press clipping held in the MARAD vessel history file: 'a torpedo accidentally discharged from a motor torpedo boat ran wild for 10,000 yards through Narragansett Bay, R.I., yesterday and struck the naval cargo ship Capella, the Navy announced'; text notes the ship was assisted by tugs and anchored in shallow water, and attributes the accidental discharge to 'a defective firing circuit'; dated 4/10 [1942].
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1942
- Limitations
- Image-only scan read visually this pass - partially legible; it is a news-wire transmission of a Navy announcement held in the official vessel file, not an official finding of facts. No asbestos, materials, or casualty content. Consistent with War Damage Report No. 27 (ev-04) on the event.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-05
-
[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
- 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 (1938 recommissioning conversion, 1940 Norfolk Navy Yard armament installation, 1942 New York Navy Yard torpedo-damage repair, 1944 AKS-role operations) and the Navy-yard system through which she was maintained.
- 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 1022, or Hog Island. 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-capella-ak13-06
-
[7]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology 28:9-16 (1946); PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 21016030; J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28:9-16 (1946)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Contemporaneous U.S. Navy-sponsored industrial-hygiene survey (data collected during WWII, published January 1946) documenting that amosite asbestos was 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels' and measuring dust exposure in pipe-covering operations at two Government Navy Yards and two Navy contract yards during wartime naval vessel construction and outfitting.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- Survey wartime; published 1946
- Population
- Pipe coverers and shipyard workers, WWII naval vessel construction (program level)
- Limitations
- Era-level primary literature; does not name this hull, its builder, or its repair yards, and its survey yards are anonymized (A-D). Documents material and practice at the program level only - establishes nothing about this hull, its 1920 construction materials, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-07
-
[8]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 insulation-removal policies with fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - program-level context for Navy-yard asbestos practice. Norfolk Navy Yard is a documented availability site for this hull (1924 and 1945 decommissionings, 1938 recommissioning, 1940 armament installation), but the report's policy window is the 1970s, decades after this ship's 1945 service end, 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. 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-capella-ak13-08
-
[9]Batch-820 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live check + Wayback capture; hazegray/HyperWar DANFS and NHC Online Library mirrors; MARAD ShipHistory Details 808/7453/6445 + status-card scans + document scans; Shipscribe AK-13 class page and EFC 1022 design notes; BuShips War Damage Report No. 27 (HyperWar); CourtListener API + web UI (throttled/blocked); general web litigation-index searches; NavSource (lead only); NARA Catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-capella-ak13-01 through sl-uss-capella-ak13-11
- 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 Capella (AK-13), SS Comerant, or this hull's earlier USSB-allocated names was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The one completed CourtListener opinion query ('Capella,' 863 results, first page reviewed) returned only name collisions - Capella University, Capella Healthcare, Capella Photonics, Capella Sales & Services (a customs litigant), and surnamed parties; none naming a vessel. General web litigation-index searches surfaced only law-firm marketing list pages that enumerate USS Capella (AK-13) among hundreds of Navy ships - non-qualifying sources, not evidence of any claim.
- 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 Navy-yard availabilities are consistent with era-typical materials, but nothing ship-specific was located. CourtListener coverage is INCOMPLETE: API v4 returned HTTP 429 (125/day cap exhausted, ~4.7-hour retry window) and the web UI returned HTTP 403 to subsequent queries on 2026-09-20; opinion- and docket-level searches for 'USS Capella,' 'Capella' + asbestos, 'AK-13,' and 'Comerant' 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-capella-ak13-09
-
[10]MARAD Vessel History Database - CAPELLA (AKR-293), ShipHistory Detail 6445; NavSource/official Navy nomenclature for T-AK/T-AKR-293 (cross-check) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/6445 (name history table); NavSource 540293.htm (lead only)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Hull-quarantine record. Two U.S. Navy ships have carried the name Capella: THIS hull, USS Capella (AK-13) - the EFC Design 1022 freighter ex-Comerant, in service 1921-1945, scrapped 1947-48; and USNS Capella (T-AK-293, later T-AKR-293, now SS Capella) - an Algol-class fast sealift ship built 1972 by Rotterdamsche D.D.Mij N.V. as SS Sea-Land McLean, acquired by the Navy in 1982, in MARAD Ready Reserve Force custody from 2007. MARAD name history confirms the second hull's identity (1972-1982 Sea-Land McLean; 1982-present Capella AKR-293). Nothing belonging to T-AK/T-AKR-293 - Rotterdam construction, Pennsylvania Shipbuilding conversion, Desert Storm/Restore Hope service, Alameda/Beaumont layup - should be attached to this hull, and vice versa.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1972-present (second hull); 1919-1948 (this hull)
- Limitations
- Correction row: records the name/hull collision so downstream readers do not merge the two Capellas' records or attach the later ship's asbestos-era (1972-built, 1982 conversion) profile to this hull. Bears on identity only - no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-10
-
[11]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); NARA-held NHHC photo 80-G-76595 per NHHC Online Library [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov record-group guide pages (024, 032, 181); NHHC Online Library ak13.htm photo listing (80-G-76595)
- 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 Capella (AK-13) covering 1921-1945; RG 32 U.S. Shipping Board/EFC records that may hold hull 1508 (Sea Girt/Colfax/Liberty Bell/Comerant) construction and outfitting papers; RG 181 records for Norfolk Navy Yard (1924 and 1945 decommissionings, 1938 recommissioning and FLEX-5 conversion, Nov-Dec 1940 armament installation) and New York Navy Yard (April-May 1942 torpedo-damage repair, incl. work packages that could document disturbed/replaced materials); NARA photo 80-G-76595 (14 July 1943 aerial view off Norfolk) noted on the NHHC Online Library page.
- 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, EFC files, and yard repair records is unverified; no box-level retrieval performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-capella-ak13-11