USS Crater (AK-70)

Evidence

8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).

1. [1]DANFS, Crater (AK-70) - verbatim transcription (hazegray DANFS mirror at losthistory.net; live NHHC page not located) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS auxiliaries section, AK-70 Crater entry

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS entry for Crater (AK-70): lead ship of the Crater class, named for a Southern Hemisphere constellation, only Navy ship to bear the name. Spec block: dp. 4,023; l. 441'6"; b. 56'11"; dr. 28'4"; s. 12 k.; cpl. 198; a. 1x5", 1x3". Launched as John James Audubon 8 October 1942 by Permanente Metals Corp., Richmond, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. M. E. C. Wetzel; transferred to the Navy 22 October 1942; commissioned 31 October 1942, Lt. Comdr. R. Dodd, USNR, in command. Service narrative: cleared San Francisco 10 Nov 1942, cargo to Efate and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, and Noumea, New Caledonia; Wellington, NZ 28 Jun 1943 to repair and reload; cargo from New Zealand and other supply bases to Guadalcanal and throughout the Solomons until 21 Jun 1944; Marshalls and Marianas through summer 1944; returned to Guadalcanal, southwest Pacific operations until 1 Mar 1945, then overhaul at San Francisco; west-coast cargo to Samar, P.I.; departed 26 Jul for Auckland; cargo from Auckland and Brisbane to Saipan, the Philippines, Manus, Noumea, and Eniwetok until 5 Feb 1946; Pearl Harbor 24 Feb 1946; voyage to San Pedro; decommissioned at Pearl Harbor 25 Jun 1946 and 'transferred to the Maritime Commission the next day.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1942-1946

   Population

   Navy crew (1942-46, complement 198 per spec block)

   Limitations

   Verbatim DANFS transcription on a mirror - the live NHHC DANFS page for Crater was not located (404 on URL patterns). Establishes identity, construction, service narrative, decommissioning. The 'transferred to the Maritime Commission the next day' (26 Jun 1946) is a paper-transfer statement; the primary MARAD custody record shows physical NDRF Suisun Bay entry 26 Jun 1947 (see ev-02, ev-06). Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-01

2. [2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CRATER (AK-70) Detail 1132 (status-card scans 1132_2054AF.jpg, 1132_AF.jpg) and JOHN JAMES AUDUBON Detail 8779 (card 3LV_01.png) [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 1132 (milestones + 2 status-card scans) and Detail 8779 (1 card scan); card images read directly at /cards/1132_2054AF.jpg, /cards/1132_AF.jpg, /cards/3LV_01.png

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory records and digitized status cards for this hull (CRATER (AK-70), Detail 1132; JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, Detail 8779). WSA-era vessel status card: JOHN JAMES AUDUBON ('Now Crater' annotated), flag American, type cargo, DWT 10,800, gross 7,176, net 4,380, bale 499,573 cu ft, hull no. 420, built by Perm. Metals Corp. at Richmond, Calif., completed 10-19-42; 'Basis to W.S.A. 10-19-42 4-PM PWT @ Richmond, Calif.' Custody table: A. H. Bull & Co. under GAA at Richmond 10-19-42 4-PM PWT; Navy Dept. (renamed Crater AK-70) purchase-bareboat at San Francisco 10-22-42 8-AM PWT; Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, 6-26-47 1PM PST; Ssangyong Trading Co., Ltd. (scrap, foreign), Seoul, So. Korea, purchase at Suisun Bay 8/26/74; physically delivered 10/7/74 9:30AM PDT. Reserve Fleet vessel-data card: name CRATER (AK-70), former John James Audubon, type EC2 Mil. Aux., fleet Suisun G-9, hull no. MCE-420, date entered fleet 6-26-47 1300, fuel oil at entry 611 bbls Bunker C; 'Sold scrap under PD-X-982, 8-26-74 to Ssangyong Trading Co., Ltd. for $466,668.00'; withdrawn/delivered 0930 PDT 10-7-74. Record of Ship Sales (Form MA-20, contract MA-7532): year built 1942, dimensions 417'8" x 56'10" x 37'4", gross 7,176, net 4,380, DWT 10,880; remarks - advertised under PD-X-967 (bids rejected), PD-X-980 (bid rejected), PD-X-982 dated 7-24-74 opened 8-19-74 under two conditions (1) NTU (2) Scrap Hull; award under condition (2). Database milestones: Entry/Acquisition 6/26/1947; Disposition/Withdrawal 10/7/1974; fate 'Sold - U.S. Operation.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1942-1974

   Population

   NDRF custody/maintenance personnel (1947-74); shipbreaking workers (1974-75) - exposure at breaking is era-consistent but undocumented

   Limitations

   Authoritative for government custody milestones, tonnage, and the 1974 disposal chain; card handwriting read directly from scans (partially legible). The 6-26-47 fleet-entry date on the primary cards controls over the 1946 transfer date in DANFS/NavSource secondary summaries. DWT reads 10,800 on one card and 10,880 on the sales card - minor internal variance. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-02

3. [3]U.S. Maritime Commission, Instruction Manual for Operating and Maintaining 2500 H.P. Triple Expansion Marine Steam Engines, EC2-S-C1 Cargo Vessels (mirrored excerpt) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Mirrored excerpt, engine-cylinder insulation section

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   The U.S. Maritime Commission instruction manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant (the design of this vessel's hull) describes cylinder insulation of magnesia under sheet-iron lagging; insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and period steam-system gaskets, packing, and insulation felts commonly contained asbestos. Liberty-type hulls were built to emergency USMC specifications during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding. The Navy's October 1942 AK conversion by Matson Co., San Francisco added naval outfitting (armament, communications, berthing for a ~200-man complement, landing boats) whose insulation scope is undocumented.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1942; conversion 1942

   Population

   Construction trades (Permanente Metals Yard No. 2, Richmond, Aug-Oct 1942); conversion workers (Matson Co., San Francisco, Oct 1942); Navy crew (~198-205, 1942-46); NDRF caretakers (1947-74); Korean breakers (1974-75)

   Limitations

   Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual names the type, not this vessel, and does not itself state 'asbestos' content. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence (hull scrapped 1975), individual exposure, or causation. Conversion material scope is an open archival lead, not a finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-03

4. [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

   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 program under which this EC2-S-C1 hull was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   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 type and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-04

5. [5]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Crater (AK-70) page (navsource.org/archives/09/13/130070.htm); Shipscribe USS Crater (AK-70) class page (shipscribe.com/usnaux/AK/AK70.html); corroborated by shipbuildinghistory AK table and shipindex.org vessel citations [other_primary]

   Locator

   Shipscribe AK-70 class page (construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship notes, armaments section); NavSource AK-70 page; shipbuildinghistory.com/navalships/ak.htm row AK-70; shipindex.org/ships/john_james_audubon

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive entry for USS Crater (AK-70) confirms the construction/commissioning chain (laid down 28 Aug 1942 as SS John James Audubon, MCE hull 420, Permanente Metals Corp. Yard #2 Richmond; launched 8 Oct 1942; acquired 22 Oct 1942; commissioned 31 Oct 1942, LCDR Russell Dodd USNR; decommissioned 25 Jun 1946) and adds final disposition detail: sold for scrapping 26 Aug 1974 at Suisun Bay to 'Seangyong Trading Co., Ltd.,' Seoul, South Korea, removed October 1974, scrapping completed 30 Mar 1975; call sign NXTX; awards American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, WWII Victory, Philippines Liberation medals; spec block incl. complement 16 officers/189 enlisted, Joshua Hendy VTE engine and 2 B&W header-type boilers. Shipscribe's BuShips-derived class record (shipscribe.com/usnaux/AK/AK70.html) adds: converted by Matson Co., San Francisco; AK-70 carried non-standard armament 1-5"/50, 1-3"/50, 8-20mm in late 1942 (later +2 20mm; Apr 1945 re-gunned to 1-5"/38, 1-3"/50, 10-20mm - one of only three Navy ships with a 5"/50 gun in WWII); 'Laid up at Pearl Harbor June 1946 for use in Operation Crossroads but not used and towed to San Francisco during 1947 for disposal. To NDRF 1947 as merc. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. To buyer 7 Oct 74'; class acquisition program (Cominch 3 Oct 42 directive; Auxiliary Vessels Board 10 Oct 42 recommendation for ten SF-area EC2 hulls at ~1 per 10 days). shipbuildinghistory's AK table corroborates: AK-70, John James Audubon, Permanente No. 2, hull 420, EC2-S-C1, delivered as AK 31 Oct 42, scrapped 1975. shipindex.org corroborates the name chain (John James Audubon 1942 -> Crater (U.S.S.) 1942 -> John James Audubon; AK.70; IMO 5173890; 10,852 dwt).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1942-1975

   Population

   Conversion workers (Matson Co., Oct 1942); Pearl Harbor layup/tow crews (1946-47)

   Limitations

   NavSource, Shipscribe, and shipbuildinghistory are compiled references (Shipscribe/shipbuildinghistory derive from BuShips and Auxiliary Vessels Board records), not government publications - the Operation Crossroads nomination and Matson Co. conversion rest on Shipscribe's ship note alone, though the sale/disposal chain is independently confirmed by MARAD primary cards. NavSource page direct-fetch failed; content captured via search-index extract. The 'not used' half of the Crossroads note is consistent with the Defense Nuclear Agency's official target-vessel reconstruction (84 target ships; AK-70 absent, DOI 10.2172/6354996). No asbestos information in any of these sources; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-05

6. [6]DANFS Crater (AK-70) entry vs MARAD ShipHistory status cards/milestones (Details 1132, 8779), Shipscribe AK-70 disposition table and ship notes, NavSource AK-70 page [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   MARAD status cards (fleet-entry 6-26-47 1300/1PM PST); Shipscribe disposition table row AK-70 and ship note; DANFS spec block; NavSource spec block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Date/figure conflicts resolved or flagged. (a) Stricken date: NavSource prints 'Struck from the Naval Register, 23 June 1946' - impossible as printed, since the ship was still in commission until 25 Jun 1946; Shipscribe's disposition table and secondary compilations give 23 Jun 1947, consistent with MARAD fleet entry 26 Jun 1947. Carried as 1947-06-23 with the NavSource typo flagged. (b) NDRF entry year: DANFS 'transferred to the Maritime Commission the next day' (26 Jun 1946) and NavSource's 1946 WSA-transfer-for-Suisun-layup are paper-transfer statements; the primary MARAD status cards and milestone table record physical Suisun Bay fleet entry 6-26-47 1PM PST, and Shipscribe documents the intervening year (Pearl Harbor layup for prospective Operation Crossroads use, then 1947 tow to San Francisco). (c) Decommission date: DANFS/NavSource 25 Jun 1946 vs Shipscribe disposition table 24 Jun 1946 - DANFS carried, conflict noted. (d) Complement: DANFS 198 vs NavSource 16 officers + 189 enlisted (205) vs Shipscribe 133 (1944) and class range 133-207 - DANFS carried. (e) Armament: DANFS abbreviated spec '1x5", 1x3"' vs documented non-standard fit 1-5"/50, 1-3"/50, 8-20mm (later 1-5"/38, 1-3"/50, 10-20mm) - the DANFS block is an abbreviation, not a contradiction.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1946-1947; 2026-09-21 (reconciliation)

   Limitations

   Corrects and reconciles conflicting secondary-source dates; does not itself bear on asbestos. Primary custody documents (MARAD cards) control the 1947 fleet-entry date; DANFS and NavSource 1946 transfer statements are retained in the record with their scope stated.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-06

7. [7]Batch-945 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; MARAD ShipHistory + status cards; Shipscribe; NavSource; shipbuildinghistory; shipindex; CourtListener API (throttled) + Google-indexed CL corpus; NVR; marketing-page check [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-crater-ak70-01 through sl-uss-crater-ak70-12

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Crater, SS John James Audubon, or AK-70 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Live CourtListener API v4 was rate-limited during research (HTTP 429 - shared authenticated 2,800/day quota exhausted, ~9,400 s retry-after; not retried to avoid a ban); Google-indexed CourtListener content for the ship's names and hull number shows only unrelated collisions (JJ Audubon, LLC v. Unknown, 1:20-cv-00917 - a 2020 marine limitation-of-liability docket for a Hornblower New York entity, not this ship; multi-ship complaint schedules such as the Siegfried/Owens-Illinois filing that list other Navy hulls but not Crater). Marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com, freeasbestostesting.com, duboselawfirm.com) list the ship with boilerplate claims and were excluded as non-authoritative - one asserts 'More than 300 asbestos-containing materials were used in the manufacturing of the USS Crater' and 'Everyone who served on the USS Crater (AK-70) inhaled the asbestos fibers.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   2026-09-21

   Limitations

   Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1942 emergency-built steamship is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The litigation check is a partial negative: CourtListener's own index was unreachable under rate limit, and only the Google-indexed subset of CL content was swept. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-07

8. [8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 24 (naval deck logs), RG 38 (war diaries), RG 178 (US Maritime Commission), RG 248 (War Shipping Administration) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov record-group guides

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction orders; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds WWII conversion specifications and contract records that may document the October 1942 Matson Co. AK-conversion material scope for this hull (the class program called for deliberately minimal conversion); RG 24 holds USS Crater deck logs and RG 38 holds WWII war diaries (operational detail, not materials); RG 178 (USMC Construction Division) and RG 248 (WSA) hold MCE hull 420 construction/acquisition files including the A. H. Bull & Co. general-agency paperwork.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-21

   Study period

   1942-1974 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for hull 420/AK-70 is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-crater-ak70-08