Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
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[1]DANFS, Comfort II (AH-6) - verbatim transcription (live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-20; canonical URL was http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c11/comfort-ii.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- hazegray DANFS transcription, full entry; also mirrored at https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/AH/AH-6_Comfort.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Comfort II (AH-6): launched 18 March 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by First Lieutenant E. Hatchitt, USAMC; transferred to the Navy the same day; converted to a hospital ship by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, Calif.; commissioned 5 May 1944, CDR H. F. Fultz. Operated throughout WWII with a Navy crew and Army medical personnel: San Pedro to Brisbane/Hollandia June 1944; Leyte evacuations Oct-Nov; patients to San Pedro Dec; Hollandia 6 Feb 1945; Subic/Lingayen Mar; Okinawa standby 2-9 April; returned 23 April; 'six days later' struck by a Japanese suicide plane - 28 killed (including six nurses), 48 wounded, considerable damage; temporary repairs Guam; Los Angeles 28 May 1945. Station hospital ship Subic Bay 5 Sep-11 Oct 1945; home via Yokohama/Guam, San Pedro 11 Dec 1945; final Far East voyage 1 Jan-4 Mar 1946 (Manila, Yokohama, Inchon, Okinawa); decommissioned San Francisco 19 Apr 1946 and transferred to the Army the same day. Two battle stars for WWII service. DANFS stats: dp 6,000; l 417'9"; b 60'; dr 27'8"; s 14 k; cpl 233.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Navy crew (233) and Army medical personnel; ~400+ embarked patients
- Limitations
- Official NHHC ship history, cited via transcription mirror because the live NHHC page 404s (same link rot as batch-01). The entry's 'six days later' after 23 April reads as 29 April, but USNI Naval History, Shipscribe, and specialist accounts date the kamikaze attack to the night of 28 April - discrepancy carried in the correction row, not resolved. Casualty figure 28 killed/48 wounded differs from the 30-killed figure attributed in secondary accounts to the 206th Hospital Ship Complement casualty report (2 May 1945) - unverified. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-01
-
[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - COMFORT (AH-6) Detail 1078 and STATE OF MAINE Detail 4661, with digitized NDRF vessel status card and custody documents [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 1078 (milestones, status card scans 1078_1961AF/AB, documents COMFORT.pdf / COMFORT-1.pdf); Detail 4661 (withdrawal milestone); card images reviewed and OCR-verified 2026-09-20
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record for COMFORT (AH-6), Detail 1078, plus digitized NDRF status card and custody documents: built 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corporation; MARAD type C1-B (card annotation 'C1-B TURBINE (HOSP.)'); 416.0 ft, 60-ft beam, 6,700 GT, displacement 6,000 light / 11,250 summer. Handwritten custody chain on the status card: Consolidated Steel -> U.S. Maritime Commission Production Division, Wilmington, 3-18-43 'INCOMPLETE' at launch; USMC Prod. Div. -> Navy Dept 5:40 PM PWT same day 'PURCHASED'; Navy Dept -> War Shipping Administration 4-19-46 San Francisco 'SURPLUS' 11:00 AM PST; WSA -> War Department same day; War Dept (owned) -> Reserve Fleet, Hudson River, 11-25-49 1400 EST ('Title from Navy 4-19-46 to Army'; USMC title noted 12-8-49); Reserve Fleet -> Maine Maritime Academy layup loan 8-24-53 1145 EDST; Maine Maritime Academy -> Maritime Administration, Beaumont, 6-28-62 12 noon CST 'LOAN/LU RETURNED'. Name changes per MARAD milestones: COMFORT (AH-6) 1943-1953, STATE OF MAINE 1953-1967 (name change recorded 8/1/1953). Card memo: '4/17/67 - sold as scrap to Southern Scrap Mat'l Co. for $20,279.79, KR # MA 4295.' STATE OF MAINE detail page (4661): Entry 6/28/1962, Withdrawal 10/2/1967; Fate 'Sold - Scrap'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones, hull identity (MC-1021), machinery type notation, and disposal chain; status-card handwriting read with OCR assistance (partially legible fields noted where relevant). Contains no asbestos, materials, insulation, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim. Companion detail page 4661: https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4661.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-02
-
[3]War Department / U.S. Coast Guard correspondence chain re: oil spill from USS COMFORT, 31 December 1945 - scanned in MARAD ShipHistory vessel file (documents COMFORT.pdf) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- COMFORT_1078_001.pdf, 4 pages: COTPLA report 4 Jan 1946; DCGO 11ND forwarding 9 Jan 1946; US Engineer Office LA letters 13 & 15 Feb 1946
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- MARAD-hosted document chain (COMFORT_1078_001.pdf, 4 pages) records an oil-pollution violation by this hull: USCG Captain of the Port, Los Angeles (Eleventh Naval District, Wilmington, Calif.) report of 4 January 1946 - at approx. 1235 on 31 December 1945, USS COMFORT spilled oil while loading Special Navy Fuel bunkers at Berth 88, San Pedro; cause per Engineering Officer Lt. Edward Stuckrath was the gangway catching a dock piling, the ship lurching to starboard, and full Tank 507F bubbling through its vent; slick approx. 100 ft by 10 ft, dispersed by outgoing tide; Commanding Officer named as Capt. Whitney. War Department U.S. Engineer Office, Los Angeles, letters of 13 and 15 February 1946 cite violation of the Federal Oil Pollution Act of 7 June 1924 and of Sec. 17 of the River and Harbor Act of 3 March 1899; the District Engineer recommended against prosecution (no federal witnesses, oil dispersed).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1945-12-31 to 1946-02-15
- Population
- Ship's engineering/bunkering crew (named officers in record)
- Limitations
- Genuine hull-specific federal record (scanned; OCR-reviewed page by page), but its content is an oil-spill incident - it documents the vessel's presence bunkering at Berth 88, San Pedro, on 31 Dec 1945 (consistent with the DANFS timeline: arrived 11 Dec, departed 1 Jan 1946) and contains zero asbestos or materials information. Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-03
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[4]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, 'Mercy Afloat' (August 2020) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History, Aug 2020 issue - Comfort attack narrative paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USNI Naval History magazine, 'Mercy Afloat' (Aug 2020): on the night of 28 April 1945 the 6,000-ton hospital ship Comfort (AH-6), fully illuminated and marked, steamed about 40 miles south of Okinawa loaded with casualties; a kamikaze held his dive into her superstructure, smashing through two decks into an operating room; fatalities totaled 28 including six nurses, with 48 injured - described as the worst ordeal suffered by a U.S. Navy hospital ship in WWII; the dead were buried at Guam and the ship reached Los Angeles for repairs, returning to the western Pacific shortly after VJ Day.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1945-04-28
- Population
- Navy crew, Army medical personnel (six nurses killed), embarked patients
- Limitations
- Professional naval-history journalism, not a primary record; corroborates DANFS on casualties (28 killed/48 wounded) and supplies the attack date (night of 28 April 1945) that resolves the DANFS 'six days later' phrasing toward April 28. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-04
-
[5]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Comfort (AH-6) Class' auxiliary-vessels file (Stephen S. Roberts compilation from Bureau of Ships and NARA records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe AH06 class page - Construction and Disposition tables, Ship Notes, Class Notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe USS Comfort (AH-6) class file (compiled by Stephen S. Roberts from BuShips/NARA records): construction table - Acq. 18 Mar 43; Builder Consolidated Steel, Wilmington; Keel 25 Jan 43; Launch 18 Mar 43; Commissioned 5 May 44. Disposition - Decomm. 19 Apr 46; Strike 1 May 46; disposal to Army 19 Apr 46; MA sale 17 Apr 67. Ship note: 'Delivered at launch, 55.5% complete. Converted by Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, Cal. To NDRF from Army 25 Nov 49. Withdrawn from NDRF on 24 Aug 53 for conversion to a training ship. Merc. training ship STATE OF MAINE 1953. Returned to NDRF 28 Jun 62. Sold by MA 17 Apr 67, to buyer 2 Oct 67, scrapped by 25 Apr 68.' Design data: MC C1-B; 6,000 lt / 11,250 lim. tons; 416.0' oa x 60.0' x 24.5'; J.-H. turbine, 1 screw, 4,000 HP; 15 kts; no armament. Class notes: JCS directive of 29 Jun 1942 to acquire three ships for the Army as Geneva-Convention hospital ships (Navy crewed, Army medical complement); C1 hulls substituted for Liberty hulls Sep 1942 for greater beam/stability; conversion deliveries were of half-built hulls; identification marks included green band and illuminated red crosses; 'COMFORT while illuminated was struck by a kamikaze on 28 Apr 45 off Okinawa.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1968
- Limitations
- A specialist secondary compilation of official records, not itself an official publication - used here for data DANFS omits (keel date, strike date, percent complete at delivery, disposal timeline) and corroborated where possible by the MARAD custody card. Strike date 1 May 1946 conflicts with NavSource's 19 Apr 1946; keel 25 Jan 1943 conflicts with shipbuildinghistory's 29 May 1942 (likely contract/order date). No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-05
-
[6]Booklet of General Plans, USS Comfort (AH-6), Cox & Stevens Inc. for US Navy/U.S. Maritime Commission, dated 1945-03-09 - Internet Archive identifier ah6ga1945 (35 sheet scans) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Internet Archive item ah6ga1945 - item description and sheets 03-06 (inboard profiles), 16-19, 24-31 (decks/platforms/holds) reviewed
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A digitized Booklet of General Plans for this hull survives publicly: 'USA - AH-6 USS Comfort General Arrangement (1945)', Cox & Stevens Inc. naval architects for US Navy/MARCOM, drawings dated 9 March 1945 (35 sheets: cover photo, outboard/inboard profiles, tops of houses, bridge, superstructure, main, second decks, first/second platforms, holds) - Internet Archive item ah6ga1945, Robert Churchill Collection. Metadata: MC hull 1021, Consolidated Steel Wilmington; launched/transferred 18 Mar 1943; commissioned 5 May 1944; damaged at Okinawa 29 Apr 1945 (their figure); decommissioned/transferred to Army 19 Apr 1946; MMA loan 24 Aug 1953; returned to MARAD Beaumont 28 Jun 1962; sold for scrapping to Southern Scrap Material Co. 2 Oct 1967. The sheets document the as-converted hospital-ship configuration (wards, operating suite, crew quarters, fire pump room, pipe tunnel, cargo holds).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (as-converted configuration)
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (Bethlehem San Pedro); ship's force
- Limitations
- A genuine hull-specific primary artifact, but the sheets are hand-lettered scans: material/insulation callouts are not machine-searchable and no asbestos annotation was located in the sheets reviewed at available resolution. Sheet-level manual review (inboard profiles and machinery spaces) is the open lead for insulation specifications. Item metadata dates are contributor-compiled - the commissioning entry shows a day/month transposition and the attack date (29 Apr) conflicts with USNI/Shipscribe (28 Apr); treat metadata as leads, not authority. No asbestos content established; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-06
-
[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 program and era under which this MC-contracted C1-B hull was built (1943) and converted to a hospital ship (1943-44) - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipyards and aboard wartime hulls.
- 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, its builder, or its conversion yard, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Same context citation used in batch-05 merchant records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-07
-
[8]Basis facts: DANFS Comfort II (hazegray transcription) - builder, conversion yard, commissioning; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 1078 + status card - hull type 'C1-B TURBINE', custody dates; MMA Mariner 'Tale of Two Comforts' - 'two water tube boilers ... single propeller' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry + MARAD Detail 1078 + https://mainemaritime.edu/mariner/issue2-2020/features/tale-of-two-comforts/
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Asbestos-era inference for this hull's documented plant and work history: the MARAD record and status card identify a C1-B geared-turbine steam plant (~4,000 shp, single screw; water-tube boilers per the MMA history) built under a 1943 wartime Maritime Commission contract at Consolidated Steel, Wilmington, then converted to a hospital ship at Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, in 1943-44. Insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and related products installed in U.S. steamships of this period were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber; hospital conversion added extensive accommodation/medical-space outfitting of the same era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Consolidated Steel, Wilmington, 1943); conversion workers (Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, 1943-44); Navy crew; Army medical personnel
- Limitations
- Inference from documented propulsion type, construction era, and documented conversion - NOT a hull-specific asbestos record. No insulation specification, survey, or materials list naming asbestos aboard this hull was located. Does not establish presence, quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-08
-
[9]Batch-784 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 throttled; web-index classification of CourtListener-indexed documents; excluded marketing listicles [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-comfort-ah6-07 and sl-uss-comfort-ah6-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep result: no qualifying asbestos case naming USS Comfort (AH-6) located. CourtListener API v4 was rate-limited at research time (HTTP 429 - '125/day' exhausted); a web-index search of CourtListener storage and opinion hits was used instead and surfaced only name collisions: (a) gov.uscourts.nyed.479212 - a COVID-19 case referencing 'the USS Comfort' meaning the modern USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) deployed to New York in 2020 - a different hull, non-asbestos; (b) gov.uscourts.caed.303025 - an IP case over the AH-6 helicopter (MD Helicopters) - aircraft designation collision, non-asbestos. No opinion or docket naming this hull was found. Law-firm marketing listicles (mesobook, freeasbestostesting, bellucklaw, levylaw) list 'USS Comfort' among asbestos-exposure ships; per source rules these are excluded as non-authoritative and are logged, not cited as evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Search limited by CourtListener throttling - web-index fallback may under-retrieve RECAP dockets not indexed by general web search; a direct API re-check (exact name AND 'AH-6' AND operator/builder names) is an open item. Absence of a located docket is not proof no claim was ever filed; WWII-era claims typically named product manufacturers or the government rather than hulls. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-09
-
[10]Maine Maritime Academy, Mariner Issue 2 (2020), 'Tale of Two Comforts' (Billy R. Sims) - institutional publication [museum_official]
- Locator
- MMA Mariner feature article - State of Maine/Comfort paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Maine Maritime Academy official alumni publication ('Tale of Two Comforts,' Mariner, Issue 2 - 2020): the academy received its first training ship TS State of Maine in 1953, converted from WWII-era USS Comfort (AH-6), a 700-bed hospital ship built at Consolidated Steel Corporation; describes the ship as 'steam powered from two water tube boilers and driven by a single propeller'; recounts the kamikaze attack (28 killed including six nurses, 48 injured); notes the ship was Navy-crewed with Army medical staff.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1953-1962
- Population
- MMA midshipmen and training-ship crew (1953-62)
- Limitations
- Institutional history from the academy that operated the hull as TS State of Maine; confirms the 1953 MMA acquisition and machinery description. Its 'May 1944' framing of the kamikaze attack is a typographical error (attack was 28 Apr 1945); '700-bed' figure exceeds the ~400-patient figure in HyperWar - capacity figures differ by source and are carried unmerged in the complement field. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-10
-
[11]Batch-784 search ledger (this record): MARAD ShipHistory 1078/4661 + status cards + vessel documents; archive.org BOGP ah6ga1945; hazegray/HyperWar DANFS; Shipscribe class file; MMA publication; CourtListener/web-index litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-comfort-ah6-01 through sl-uss-comfort-ah6-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, insulation specification, or docketed asbestos case naming the USS Comfort (AH-6) hull was found in the public sources searched - the MARAD vessel file (milestones, status cards, custody documents), the digitized 1945 Booklet of General Plans, DANFS, NHHC-adjacent photo records, and institutional histories contain none (see search_ledger).
- 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 1943 wartime steam hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the 1945 plan set's hand-lettered material callouts were not machine-searchable. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-11
-
[12]Cross-source reconciliation: DANFS transcription; USNI 'Mercy Afloat'; Shipscribe AH-6 file; MARAD status card/milestones; NavSource 09/12/1206; archive.org ah6ga1945 metadata; shipbuildinghistory Consolidated-Wilmington yard table; master-hull-list.json record 3917 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Per-item locators as in cited rows; hull-list record at ships-worktrees/hull-list-verify/master-hull-list.json index 3917
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies consolidated (not resolved, recorded): (a) Kamikaze attack date - USNI Naval History, Shipscribe class notes, and specialist accounts document the night of 28 April 1945; DANFS's 'six days later' after a 23 April return reads as 29 April; archive.org metadata says 29/4/1945. Record adopts 28 April with the conflict logged. (b) Keel-laid - Shipscribe and the plan-set metadata give 25 Jan 1943; shipbuildinghistory's yard table gives 29 May 1942 (likely contract/order date). (c) Stricken - Shipscribe records Strike 1 May 1946; NavSource states struck 19 Apr 1946 (the decommission/transfer date). (d) MMA acquisition year - MARAD custody/milestones and the card give Aug 1953 (loan 8-24-53, name change 8-1-53); secondary sources variously say 1953/1954/1955. (e) Class naming - the verification hull list labels this hull 'Mercy' class; DANFS and all consulted references identify the class as Comfort (AH-6 lead ship).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1967; sources 1998-2026
- Limitations
- Documents publication-level discrepancies so a future pass does not re-attach superseded values; none affects identity, custody timeline, or the asbestos posture. Adopted values are flagged in each relevant field.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-12
-
[13]NARA record-group mapping: RG 24 Navy deck logs (archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online), RG 38 action reports, RG 112 Army medical records, RG 178 USMC records; NARA 19-N photo series via NavSource captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA deck-log program page; NavSource captions citing NARA 19-N-117682; talkingproud.us summary referencing the 206th HSC report of 2 May 1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no spend authorized): because this was a commissioned Navy hull, its WWII deck logs are in NARA RG 24 (Navy deck logs, 1944-46; NARA's ongoing digitization has not been confirmed to include this vessel); war diaries/action reports in RG 38 should include the April 1945 kamikaze action report; Army-side records of the embarked 206th Hospital Ship Complement (RG 112 family) include the Report of Dead and Wounded Personnel dated 2 May 1945 referenced by secondary casualty accounts; RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) construction/outfitting records may cover MC hull 1021; the BuShips 19-N photo series at NARA holds conversion-period photographs of this hull (e.g., 19-N-117682, Bethlehem Steel San Pedro, 31 Dec 1943).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1967 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. The 206th HSC casualty report is referenced in secondary accounts, not yet pulled. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-comfort-ah6-13