Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CUMBERLAND (AO-153), Detail 1154, digitized status cards 1154_2095AF.jpg and d8b3cbff (Form MA-383, Dept. of Commerce / Maritime Administration) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Status Cards tab, two scanned Form MA-383 cards (1955-56 and 1957-66 custody periods)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD Reserve Fleet 'Ship Particulars' cards (Form MA-383) for this hull document the full custody chain to the day: card 1 (Esso Cumberland, ex-Fort Cumberland, MC-1736, built Sun 1944) shows entry into the James River fleet 22 Sep 1955 as an Esso trade-in tanker and withdrawal 2 Oct 1956 'GAA - Marine Transport, prior to Navy Custody' with note 'Custody transfer to Navy - See Sharpe ltr. 12-14-56'; card 2 (Cumberland AO-153) shows re-entry 26 Nov 1957 under 'Navy Custody (Trade-In Tanker)' with title 'USMA Permanent Lay-up' and withdrawal 28 May 1966 for 'Dept. of the Army - Army Material Command (for floating power plant)'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1955-1966
- Population
- NDRF custody chain-of-title (administrative)
- Limitations
- Primary government custody record - authoritative for NDRF entry/withdrawal dates and reasons. It establishes custody and layup events only; it contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information and supports no asbestos claim. Note: the 'historical documents' PDFs attached to this MARAD record belong to a different vessel named Cumberland (official no. 208240) - see correction row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-01
-
[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - CUMBERLAND (AO-153) Detail 1154 and FORT CUMBERLAND Detail 5622 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- Detail 1154 header fields; Detail 5622 milestones table and image record
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory records confirm identity: CUMBERLAND (AO-153) - year built 1944, official no. 245671, Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock, type T2-SE-A1, 523.5 ft, 68 ft beam, 5,782 t light / 21,880 t full; linked name-history record FORT CUMBERLAND (Detail 5622) shows the brief 1946 NDRF layup (entry 11 Apr 1946, withdrawal 10 Oct 1946), USCG photograph at New York 24 Jun 1944, and 141,158-barrel capacity.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Limitations
- Authoritative for registry identity and milestones. 'Fate: Transferred - No Further Info' on the AO-153 record reflects MARAD's loss of custody visibility after the 1966 Army transfer; the Fort Cumberland record carries 'Sold - Scrap'. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-02
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[3]Shipscribe, 'USNS Cedar Creek (T-AO 138, T2-SE-A1) Class' - construction/disposition tables, class notes, and per-ship notes (compiled from NARA and official sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AOT138.html - Construction table row 153; Disposition table row 153; Class Notes (T-AO 153-164 paragraph); Ship Notes row 153
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe's Cedar Creek (T-AO-138) class page documents the MSTS interlude from archival sources: class table lists Cumberland acquired/in service 12 Dec 1956; ship note reads '(ex-ESSO CUMBERLAND Oct 1956, ex-FORT CUMBERLAND 22 Nov 1946.) Completed 27 May 1944. Traded in by owner to MA (NDRF) 22 Sep 1955. To Marine Transport Lines 2 Oct 1956 for reactivation. Accepted from MARAD and transferred to Mathiasen's Tanker Industries of Philadelphia for operation 13 Dec 56. To Army for Project Powerfloat (YFPA) 28 May 1966, stationed at Qui Nhon, then Cam Ranh Bay. Sold there Feb 1972 to BU at Kaohsiung.' Disposition table: strike and disposal both 26 Nov 1957, MA sale 31 Jan 1972. Class notes establish that T-AO 153-164 were added under FY1957 during the Suez Crisis, that CNO assigned the hull numbers and names 28 Nov 1956, that the Secretary of Commerce approved the transfer 14 Dec 1956, and that the Navy operated the twelve ships under MARAD custody agreements and never held title - all returned and stricken by end of 1957.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- MSTS civilian crew (Mathiasen's Tanker Industries GAA), Dec 1956-Nov 1957
- Limitations
- Specialist archival compilation (not itself an official record) - it resolves the dates NavSource leaves unknown and agrees with the MARAD status card on every overlapping event. The 12 Dec vs 13 Dec 1956 acceptance/transfer difference is carried as a logged discrepancy, not resolved. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-03
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[4]Thomas Wildenberg, Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995 (Naval Institute Press, 1996), Appendix D (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Appendix D table, AO-153 row and note 28
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Wildenberg's Navy tanker history (Appendix D, 'Fleet Oilers Commissioned in the U.S. Navy, 1915-1993') lists AO-153 Cumberland as T2-SE-A1, MC hull 'MC 1736?', under note 28: 'Acquired from U.S. Maritime Commission, transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1956-1957
- Limitations
- Published secondary history (Naval Institute Press) - corroborates MC hull 1736 (author's own '?' flag noted) and the MC-to-MSTS custody characterization. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-04
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[5]U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) photograph, 'Power barges French Creek, Logan's Fort, and Cumberland,' Cam Ranh Bay (caption transcribed on Shipscribe class photo page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- AOT138-p.html - Cumberland powerfloat photo caption (Photo No. Unknown; Source: NHHC MSC)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- An NHHC (MSC) photograph documents the ship's Army service: 'Power barges French Creek, Logan's Fort, and Cumberland - Army "Powerfloats" at protective anchor, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, operated there under General Agency Agreements 1966-1970 to provide power to shore facilities.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1966-1970
- Population
- Army/Vinnell contractor personnel aboard the anchored power barge, 1966-70
- Limitations
- Official-source photograph caption naming this hull at Cam Ranh Bay as a powerfloat 1966-70; establishes station and operating arrangement (GAA), not conversion scope or materials. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-05
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[6]Adrian G. Traas, Engineers at War (U.S. Army Center of Military History, CMH Pub 91-14), pp. 114-15, 266-68, 568-69 [other_primary]
- Locator
- CMH Pub 91-14 ch. 'Building the Bases, 1966' (Cam Ranh power) and ch. 'Last Battles and Departure' (facilities engineering/power barges)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official Army history documents the program Cumberland served in: eleven T-2 tankers reactivated as floating power plants generating electricity with their turbo-electric main plants, power sent ashore by cable to substations; Cam Ranh Bay was the first site (French Creek arrived June 1966, generating to the depot by 5 Sep 1966), with five tankers ultimately at Cam Ranh and others at Nha Trang, Qui Nhon, and Vung Tau; Vinnell Corporation operated and maintained the power barges and built the shore distribution systems; by FY1970-71 Vinnell still ran eleven T-2 power barges (four Cam Ranh, two Nha Trang, three Qui Nhon, two Vung Tau); the three Qui Nhon barges were removed from generation Mar-Apr 1971; because return-to-US disposal was estimated at $140,000 per ship and the Navy had no further requirement, MARAD agreed to sell the ships to competitive bidders as scrap at their Vietnam locations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1966-1972
- Population
- Army Materiel Command / Vinnell Corp. contractor crews on the power barges (program level)
- Limitations
- Official program-level history - does not name Cumberland; the hull's participation rests on the MARAD status card, Shipscribe note, and NHHC photo. Documents the powerfloat operating context (continuous anchored machinery operation, contractor crews) but says nothing about asbestos or hazardous materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-06
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[7]Neterer v. United States, 183 F. Supp. 893 (D. Md. 1960) (CourtListener opinion 8747641); Lowell Neterer v. United States, 283 F.2d 899 (4th Cir. 1960) (CourtListener opinion 252313) [court_record]
- Locator
- 183 F. Supp. 893, opinion text (facts at 894-96); 283 F.2d 899 per curiam
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- OTHER LITIGATION (non-asbestos): Neterer v. United States, 183 F. Supp. 893 (D. Md. 1960), aff'd per curiam, 283 F.2d 899 (4th Cir. 1960), 1960 A.M.C. 2282 - a Suits in Admiralty Act libel by Lowell Neterer, First Assistant Engineer of the 'USNS Esso Cumberland'/'USNS Cumberland,' alleging a 12 Jun 1957 fall on oily drill-press shavings in the ship's machine shop; the court found for the United States (no unseaworthiness shown as cause; maintenance and cure already paid), affirmed on appeal. The opinion confirms the hull's MSTS-period operation: Neterer joined in December 1956 through the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association hiring hall and served as a civilian engineering officer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1957 accident; 1960 decisions
- Population
- MSTS civilian engine-room crew (MEBA-hired), 1956-57
- Limitations
- Classified OTHER LITIGATION - a personal-injury Jones Act/unseaworthiness claim with a merits disposition for the government, not an asbestos or occupational-disease claim. Its value here is documentary: it places a civilian engineering crew aboard during the MSTS custody period. Not evidence of asbestos exposure for anyone.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-07
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[8]Consolidated era inference - MARAD/Shipscribe type and custody data; T2-SE-A1 class profile (t2-se-a1-tanker.class.json); wartime merchant construction practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- Type technical data and custody chain; project class profile ev-t2-se-a1-tanker-04
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the T2-SE-A1 was a 1942-45 emergency-program steam turbo-electric tanker (two boilers feeding a turbine-generator set); construction at Sun Shipbuilding, Chester - a yard with documented asbestos-product usage - in Feb-May 1944 falls squarely in the peak marine-asbestos era. Typical applications for the type: boiler and steam-line lagging, turbine and machinery insulation, gaskets, packing, and accommodation insulation. A 1956 reactivation and the 1966 Project Powerfloat conversion at Newport News Shipbuilding, plus nearly five years of continuous anchored machinery operation in Vietnam, are periods when original-era materials would have been installed, disturbed, or worked around.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Construction trades (Sun Ship, 1944); wartime merchant crew + Armed Guard; commercial crews (1946-55); MSTS civilian crew (1956-57); Newport News conversion workers (1966); Army/Vinnell power-barge crews (1966-71); Kaohsiung shipbreakers (1972)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific source documents asbestos aboard this vessel. The ship's unusual second career (continuous stationary power generation, 1966-c.1971) kept the steam plant in heavy use but is not itself evidence of asbestos presence or exposure. Establishes no quantities, no individual exposure, no causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-08
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[9]convoyweb.org.uk (Hague/PRO convoy database) entries for Fort Cumberland; warsailors.com transcriptions of convoys CU-29 and TCU-33 [other_primary]
- Locator
- convoyweb.org.uk convoy CU-38 vessel list; warsailors.com CU-29 and TCU-33 vessel lists
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Convoy databases transcribed from UK Public Record Office/Arnold Hague files document the ship's wartime Atlantic service as Fort Cumberland: convoy CU-29 (departed New York 24 Jun 1944, arrived Liverpool 5 Jul 1944, bound Avonmouth/Mersey - the same day as the MARAD/USCG photograph showing her outbound with aircraft as deck cargo), convoy TCU-33 (departed New York 26 Jul 1944, arrived Liverpool 5 Aug 1944, bound Clyde), and convoy CU-38 (departed New York 4 Sep 1944, arrived Liverpool 15 Sep 1944).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Wartime merchant crew + Navy Armed Guard detachment
- Limitations
- Specialist transcriptions of primary convoy records - three 1944 crossings confirmed; the full wartime voyage record (1944-45, incl. any Armed Guard service detail) was not exhaustively reconstructed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-09
-
[10]Batch-1862 search ledger (this record): MARAD ShipHistory + status cards; Shipscribe AOT138 class/photo pages; CourtListener name/hull sweeps (opinion + docket); NavSource; NHHC; CMH official histories; convoy databases; specialist compilations [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cumberland-ao153-01 through sl-uss-cumberland-ao153-14
- 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: 'Esso Cumberland' - 2 hits, both Neterer (other litigation, ship-specific); 'USNS Cumberland' - 1 hit (same case); 'Cumberland' + 'AO-153' - 0; 'Fort Cumberland' + ship/tanker/vessel - 17 hits, all name collisions (hotel company, Maryland land/geography cases); 'Cumberland' + asbestos + tanker - 6 hits, all name collisions; docket search 'Esso Cumberland' OR 'USNS Cumberland' - 1 name collision. No DANFS entry exists (NavSource; NHHC site search returned no ship page).
- 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 1944 steam tanker that ran continuously as a power plant through ~1971 is era-consistent with retained asbestos-containing materials. 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-cumberland-ao153-10
-
[11]Comparison across MARAD status cards/Detail 1154+5622, Shipscribe AOT138, NavSource 09/19/19153, shipbuildinghistory Sun list (hull 412 row), aukevisser T2 pages, Wildenberg App. D [other_primary]
- Locator
- MARAD status card 'HULL NO. MC-1736' fields (both cards); NavSource 'MC 1745'; shipbuildinghistory Sun hull 412 row '1745'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved/logged: (a) MC hull number - the MARAD status cards (both typed 'MC-1736'), Shipscribe ship note (MC 1736), Auke Visser ('UMSC No. 1736'), and Wildenberg App. D ('MC 1736?') agree on 1736; NavSource and shipbuildinghistory print 'MC 1745' - likely the Maritime Commission contract number rather than the hull number. The government status card is adopted as controlling for hull number 1736. (b) NavSource's timeline conflates events - its 'acquired by the Maritime Commission 26 November 1957' is actually the return to NDRF after MSTS service (the original MARAD trade-in was 22 Sep 1955), and its Navy-service dates are resolved by the status cards and Shipscribe. (c) The two PDF 'historical documents' attached to MARAD Detail 1154 belong to a different vessel - the oil screw Cumberland, official no. 208240 of Cumberland Shipping Co., laid up at Nassau in 1947 - an internal name collision in the MARAD upload; not relied on for anything.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Limitations
- Corrects publication-level identifiers; does not change the custody timeline. If '1745' is the MC contract number rather than hull number, both figures are technically accurate in different numbering spaces - flagged rather than asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cumberland-ao153-11
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 178 (US Maritime Commission/MARAD), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 26 (USCG merchant vessel documentation); AMC Project Powerfloat records [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 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission) - vessel acquisition/trade-in files for MC-1736, the 1955 trade-in docket, and the Nov-Dec 1956 activation correspondence including the 'Sharpe letter' cited on the status card; NARA RG 19 (BuShips) for the T-AO 153-164 assignment action of 28 Nov 1956; U.S. Army Materiel Command records for Project Powerfloat including the 1966 Newport News Shipbuilding conversion contract/work package (the likeliest source of any hull-specific materials detail); U.S. Coast Guard merchant-vessel logbooks (RG 26) for the Fort Cumberland/Esso Cumberland operating record.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1972 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-cumberland-ao153-12