USS Darke (APA-159)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]research packet n-packet.md (6 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-darke-apa159-pkt-n-packet-md

2. [2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 3 (NAVSHIPS 250-012, 1945), auxiliaries - transports, attack (APA) section, per-hull rows for DARKE APA-159 (shipscribe.com scan of the official BuShips publication) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v3 APA tables printed pp. 234-239 (dimensions p. 234; personnel p. 235; machinery p. 236; armament/cargo p. 238; construction p. 239); ship index printed p. 658; M.C. hull cross-index printed p. 712 (PDF text-extracted, values cross-checked vs DANFS/NavSource/MARAD card)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 3 carries per-hull rows for DARKE APA-159 (ex-M.C.V. Hull 125): machinery row - 1 'Westgh. turb.' (Westinghouse geared steam turbine), 8,500 shp, single screw, 2 'C.E. hdr.' (Combustion Engineering header-type boilers) at 465 psi / 750 deg F; dimensions row - 455'0" overall, 436'6" pp, 62'0" beam, 17.7 kt, 14,837 t; personnel row - OCR-columnar read of 54 officers + 498 enlisted ship's company and troop accommodations 91 officers + 1,420 enlisted (values differ from the class-standard 536 / 1,561 - see gaps); armament/cargo row - 1 x 5"/38 cal (D.P.), 4 twin + 1 quad 40mm, 150,000 cu ft non-refrigerated cargo, 2,900 DWT cargo (5,800 total); construction row - Oregon S.B. Corp., Portland, Oreg., acquired/commissioned 10 Oct 44, year built 1944. Ship index: 'Darke (ex-M.C.V. Hull 125) ... APA 159'; M.C. hull cross-index: 'M.C.V. Hull 125 (now Darke)'.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1945

   Limitations

   Authoritative wartime BuShips publication naming this hull - confirms identity, machinery plant (per-hull Westinghouse turbine + Combustion Engineering boilers, distinct from sister-hull attributions), manning, builder, and commissioning. OCR of the scanned table is columnar and partially garbled; the personnel-row values cannot be cleanly resolved and are logged as a variance rather than asserted. Contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-01

3. [3]DANFS, 'Darke (APA-159)' entry, Naval History and Heritage Command (modernized entry by Robert J. Cressman; live NHHC URL returns 404 - verbatim text retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture 20251209184741; original DANFS text mirrored at ibiblio HyperWar and losthistory.net/hazegray) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Darke entry, full text; Wayback capture 2025-12-09 of history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/darke.html; mirrors https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/APA/apa159.html and https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/amphib/apa159.htm

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC records: named for Darke County, Ohio; spec block - displacement 14,837 (trial), length 455', beam 62', draft 24' (limiting), speed 17 kt, complement 536, troops 1,561, armament 1 x 5-inch + 12 40mm + 10 20mm, class Haskell, type VC2-S-AP5. Laid down 14 Jun 1944 under Maritime Commission contract (M.C.V. Hull 125) at Portland, Oregon, by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 29 Aug 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Joseph A. Hanson (wife of a shipyard worker); transferred to the Navy at Astoria, Oregon, 10 Oct 1944 and commissioned there same day, Capt. McFarland W. Wood in command. Initially adjudged unready for 'extended foreign service' (shortage of contractor-furnished spare parts); shakedown Puget Sound/California; Port Hueneme 4 Dec 1944; Pearl Harbor 10 Dec; training to 27 Jan 1945; TG 51.12 via Eniwetok (5 Feb) to Saipan rehearsal landings (16 Feb); Iwo Jima - landed elements of 5th Marines on D-day 19 Feb, embarked casualties and unloaded cargo, sailed 25 Feb, Saipan 28 Feb; embarked 1,231 men of U.S. Army 106th Regiment, 27th Division at Espiritu Santo 15 Mar; Okinawa landings 9-14 Apr (disembarking men, receiving casualties, unloading cargo), Saipan 18 Apr; Ulithi 23 Apr; two new LCM-6s at Guam 25 May; Leyte 29 May; Subic Bay 31 May - reported to Commander, Transport Squadron 16; army training lifts incl. convoys SL-31, LS-61, SB-4; embarked 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division; TG 33.1 to Tokyo Bay 2 Sep 1945; 1,332 men of U.S. Army 41st Infantry Regiment embarked Zamboanga 22 Sep; Hiro Wan 6 Oct for Kure occupation; TG 16.12 Magic Carpet - Hiro Wan 11 Oct, Guam drydocking, Guadalcanal 31 Oct (1,292 passengers), Noumea 3 Nov (+702), San Francisco 18 Nov; Pearl Harbor round trips; Eniwetok 4 Jan 1946 (479 passengers), Kwajalein (+776), Pearl Harbor (+1,113), San Francisco 3 Feb; departed 10 Feb, Panama Canal 19-22 Feb, Norfolk 27 Feb; decommissioned 17 Apr 1946. Transferred to U.S. Maritime Commission (later Maritime Administration) for disposal 22 Apr 1946; placed in James River group Reserve Fleet; stricken from the Navy list 1 May 1946; period of repairs 26 Jan-14 Mar 1955, never returned to active service; sold 17 Jul 1974 to Sparreboom Shipbrokers, the Netherlands; removed from NDRF 5 Sep 1974 to be broken up for scrap. Two battle stars for World War II service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1974

   Limitations

   Primary Navy historical entry - authoritative for construction, service history, custody chain, and disposal narrative. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC page 404s (standing link rot, cf. BATCH-01); the Wayback capture is verbatim NHHC text corroborated by two independent DANFS transcriptions (HyperWar/ibiblio; hazegray via losthistory.net). NHHC's 'sold 17 July 1974' differs by one day from the MARAD status card's PD-X-980 sale date of 7-16-74 - see gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-02

4. [4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive - USS Darke (APA-159), file 10/03/03159 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource APA-159 page: chronology, Asiatic-Pacific campaign table, spec block, commanding-officer table, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource timeline corroborates DANFS and adds detail: laid down 14 Jun 1944 as Maritime Commission type VC2-S-AP5 hull under MC contract MCV 125 at Oregon Shipbuilding Group, Portland OR; launched 29 Aug 1944; acquired and commissioned 10 Oct 1944, CAPT McFarland W. Wood USN (USNA 1923); wartime assignment TransRon Sixteen (COMO J. R. McGovern USN) / TransDiv Forty-Six; campaign credits - Iwo Jima operation, assault and occupation 16 Feb-7 Mar 1945, and Okinawa Gunto operation 9-14 Apr 1945; Navy occupation service Far East 2 Sep-20 Oct 1945; decommissioned 21 Apr 1946 (conflicts with DANFS 17 Apr - see gaps); returned to Maritime Commission 22 Apr 1946 for NDRF James River Group, Lee Hall, VA; struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1946; sold for scrapping 11 Jul 1974 to Sparreboon Shipbrokers B.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands, delivered 5 Sep 1974; two battle stars. Spec block: displacement 6,873 t light / 14,837 t full; 455' x 62' x 24' (lim); 17.7 kts trial; complement 56 officers + 480 enlisted; troops 86 officers + 1,475 enlisted; cargo 2,900 DWT, 150,000 cu ft non-refrigerated; largest boom 30 t; boats 2 LCM, 1 open LCPL, 1 covered LCPL (captain's gig), 2 LCPR, 18 LCVP; armament 1x5"/38 DP, 4 twin 40mm, 1 quad 40mm, 10 single 20mm; fuel NSFO 7,780 bbl + diesel 970 bbl; propulsion 1 Westinghouse geared turbine, 2 Combustion Engineering header-type boilers 465 psi/750 deg F, double Westinghouse main reduction gears, three 300 kW 120/240V DC turbo-drive ship's service generators, single propeller 8,500 shp. CO table begins CAPT McFarland W. Wood, USN (USNA 1923), 10 Oct 44 - 5 Jul 45 (page tail truncated at fetch time; successor CO rows not captured). Photos: NARA 80-G-303899 (Iwo Jima transport area, 19 Feb 1945, photographed from USS Hansford APA-106); NARA 80-G-345761 (Tokyo Bay, 2-4 Sep 1945).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1974

   Limitations

   Specialist secondary compilation - detailed but non-official; consistent with NHHC DANFS, BuShips per-hull rows (including the C.E. boiler attribution for this hull), and the MARAD status card. Its decommission date (21 Apr 1946) conflicts with DANFS (17 Apr) and its sale date (11 Jul 1974) matches the MARAD card's purchase-allocation line rather than the PD-X-980 sale-document date (7-16-74) or NHHC's '17 July' - variants logged in gaps. Contains no asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-03

5. [5]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - DARKE (APA-159), Ship History Detail 1191, incl. scanned vessel status cards (1191_2165AF.jpg, 1191_2165AB.jpg, 1P9_01.png) and DARKE.pdf custody card [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   Detail 1191 registry fields + milestones; status-card images /cards/1191_2165AF.jpg, /cards/1191_2165AB.jpg, /cards/1P9_01.png; document /documents/11ce103c-51e3-4244-87f4-98f4ee9a64c1.pdf

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory registry record for this hull: Year Built 1944; Shipyard 'Oregon Shipbuilding Company'; General Type Naval Auxiliary; Specific Type 'APA Attack Transport'; MARAD Type VC2-S-AP5; length 455.00 ft; beam 62.00 ft; displacement 14,837 t summer / 6,873 t lightweight; fate 'Sold - Scrap'; web milestones - Disposition 9/5/1974, Withdrawal 9/5/1974. The scanned vessel status cards document the custody chain in detail: built by Oregon SB Corp. #1109 at Portland, Ore., completed 10-9-44; delivered by builders to USMC at Portland 10-9-44 10:10 PM PWT; allocated to Navy Dept. (delivery by USMC, form LB) at Astoria, Ore. 10-10-44 9:00 AM PWT; to Reserve Fleet at Lee Hall, Va. 4-22-46 2:00 PM EST 'from Navy Dept. - Surplus' (hull no. MCV-125; fuel on entry 1,174 bbl Bunker C; termination port Norfolk). Permanent Ballast report 12/1/49: cement poured into 3rd-deck #2 hold (58'x36'x8") and #4 hold (60'x36'x8"), plus block/ballast sections 60'x36'x11" and 34'x34'x22" in #4 hold. Nominated to Repair Program FY 1955 Group 4: withdrawn 1-26-55 12:30 PM EST to Polarus SS. Co., Inc. under GAA at James River; returned to Reserve Fleet 3-14-55 9:00 AM EST. Disposal: allocation line 'Sparreboom Shipbrokers, B.V. (Scrap) Rotterdam, Netherlands - Purchase - James River - 7/11/74'; 'Sold scrap under PD-X-980, 7-16-74 to Sparreboom Shipbrokers for $732,500.00'; physically delivered 9/5/74 11:10 AM EDT.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1974

   Limitations

   Authoritative MARAD registry plus scanned handwritten status cards read directly (front and back images legible; the DARKE.pdf text layer is fragmentary OCR). Documents custody, preservation work (cement ballast), the 1955 repair-program activation, and disposal; contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-04

6. [6]Shipscribe U.S. Navy auxiliary ships data sheets, 'USS Haskell (APA-117) Class' page (Stephen S. Roberts compilation from Navy registers, BuShips/SCB design records, and MARAD files) [other_primary]

   Locator

   APA117.html class data block; construction table APA-159 row; disposal table APA-159 row; notes 'Repaired while inactive' entry

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Ship-design compilation naming this hull in the HASKELL (APA-117) class tables: construction table - DARKE APA-159, acquired 10 Oct 44, builder Oregon SB, keel 14 Jun 44, launch 29 Aug 44, commissioned 10 Oct 44; disposal table - decommissioned 17 Apr 46, stricken 1 May 46, to Maritime Commission 22 Apr 46, disposal flag MC/R, sold 16 Jul 74; notes row - '159 DARK(E) | 125 | Repaired while inactive 26 Jan55-14 Mar 55. To buyer 5 Sep 74.' Class data: MC design VC2-S-AP5; 6,873 t light / 12,450 t limiting; 455' oa x 436.5' pp x 62' x 24' lim; original armament 1-5"/38, 1-40mmQ, 4-40mmT, 10-20mm; complement 536 (1944); 17.7 kts; 8,500 hp; machinery note 'Westinghouse, Joshua-Hendy, or Allis-Chalmers turbine, 1 screw' - documenting that turbine manufacture varied by hull within the class.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1974

   Population

   Oregon Shipbuilding construction workforce (1944); Polarus SS Co. repair workforce (1955); NDRF James River caretakers (1946-1974); 1974 breaking-yard workers (Rotterdam)

   Limitations

   Compiled secondary transcription of official Navy register, design, and MARAD records, not the registers themselves; all values consistent with DANFS, BuShips, and the MARAD card. Contains no asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-05

7. [7]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 v3 machinery row for this hull + shipscribe APA-117 class page VC2-S-AP5 type data [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v3 APA machinery table DARKE row (printed p. 236); APA117.html class machinery line

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: this hull carried a single-screw geared-steam plant (one Westinghouse turbine per the BuShips row, 8,500 shp, two Combustion Engineering header-type boilers at 465 psi / 750 deg F superheat) built at the peak of WWII asbestos usage at a Maritime Commission emergency yard - the machinery configuration for which boiler and fireroom insulation, main and auxiliary steam-line lagging, turbine and turbo-generator lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and accommodation joiner insulation of the period were commonly asbestos-containing. Troop-space outfitting (on the order of 1,500 embarked-troop berthing) added interior insulation scope. Documented disturbance events - the Iwo Jima and Okinawa assault operations, the December 1949 permanent cement-ballast pour into the #2 and #4 holds, the January-March 1955 Repair Program activation under Polarus Steamship GAA, ~28 years of James River NDRF lay-up, and the 1974 breaking at a Rotterdam yard - are events whose asbestos scope is unrecorded.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1974

   Population

   Construction trades at Oregon Shipbuilding, Portland (1944); wartime crew and embarked troops; 1955 Polarus SS Co. repair workforce; NDRF lay-up caretakers and 1974 breaking-yard workers

   Limitations

   Inference from the documented machinery plant and construction era - NOT a hull record. No survey, specification, or material schedule naming APA-159 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-06

8. [8]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 Maritime Commission emergency construction program under which this VC2-S-AP5 attack transport was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

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

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-07

9. [9]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]

   Locator

   PubMed record PMID 21016030; article pp. 9-16 (pipe covering material section)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at two Navy yards and two Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era and type.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   survey ~1944-45; published 1946

   Population

   WWII pipe coverers and insulators at Navy and contract yards (era context)

   Limitations

   Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether Oregon Shipbuilding Portland was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized - see the 2026 critique at DOI 10.1177/10482911261446696.)

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-darke-apa159-08

10. [10]MARAD ShipHistory Detail 1191 status-card scans (primary) vs. Wikipedia 'USS Darke (APA-159)' article and asbestos-ships.com 'USS Darke (APA-159) Areas With Asbestos Exposure' page (secondary propagation) [other_primary]

    Locator

    MARAD card images /cards/1P9_01.png (allocation line) and /cards/1191_2165AF.jpg (PD-X-980 sale note); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Darke_(APA-159); asbestos-ships.com/ships/uss-darke-apa-159

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Secondary-source error documented: Wikipedia's USS Darke article states she 'was sold for $732,500 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corporation for scrapping on 16 July 1974,' and the law-firm marketing page asbestos-ships.com repeats the wrong buyer as 'Union Metals & Alloys Corporation.' The official MARAD status card for this hull names the purchaser twice - 'Sparreboom Shipbrokers, B.V. (Scrap) Rotterdam, Netherlands - Purchase - James River - 7/11/74' and 'Sold scrap under PD-X-980, 7-16-74 to Sparreboom Shipbrokers for $732,500.00' - corroborated by NHHC DANFS ('sold on 17 July 1974 to Sparreboom Shipbrokers, the Netherlands'), NavSource ('sold for scrapping, 11 July 1974, to Sparreboon Shipbrokers B.V., Rotterdam'), and the shipscribe disposal table (sold 16 Jul 74). Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. was the actual buyer of sister hulls (e.g., USS Hendry APA-118 under PD-X-956, 1973) - the wrong firm name propagated to the Darke summaries.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-25

    Study period

    1974

    Limitations

    Correction documents a buyer-name error in secondary sources only; the official record (MARAD card, NHHC, NavSource, shipscribe) unanimously names Sparreboom Shipbrokers B.V., Rotterdam. Date variants (purchase/allocation 7-11-74; PD-X-980 sale document 7-16-74; NHHC '17 July') remain in gaps - the card's two entries reflect the allocation record versus the sale-document date. No asbestos content in any of these sources.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-darke-apa159-09

11. [11]Batch-2231 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback + HyperWar and hazegray mirrors; NavSource 03159; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 1191 + status-card scans; BuShips SDB 1945 v3 per-hull rows; shipscribe APA-117 class page; shipbuildinghistory APA list; NARA catalog; CourtListener name/hull sweeps; law-firm marketing lists (excluded) [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-darke-apa159-01 through sl-uss-darke-apa159-14

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Darke / APA-159 / MC hull MCV-125 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener: '"USS Darke"' opinion search returned zero hits (clean HTTP 200); '"USS Darke"' docket search returned zero hits; '"APA-159"' opinion search returned 5 hits, all statutory/regulatory-identifier collisions (Oregon nursing-board appeal, Tax Court, Delaware Chancery tobacco contract, Delaware Superior Court medical-device case, Cobell v. Norton - 'APA' resolves to Administrative Procedure Act or exhibit identifiers, not the ship); '"APA-159"' docket search returned 32 hits, all Administrative Procedure Act citation collisions; 'Darke "Iwo Jima"' opinion search returned 2 hits, both criminal-case person-name collisions (People v. Donahue, Ill. App. 2014; State v. Noble, Mont. 1963); '"Darke" "attack transport"' opinion search returned zero hits; 'Darke asbestos' opinion search returned 383 hits, all person-name/county collisions (Darke County, Ohio is itself an asbestos-litigation venue; litigants/judges named Darke), none naming the vessel; 'Darke asbestos' docket search returned 2,638 loose-match results dominated by unrelated asbestos MDL/bankruptcy dockets and firm-name fragments ('Dark Circuit Labs', 'Dark Mode LLC'), none tied to this hull. A law-firm marketing page (asbestos-ships.com) names USS Darke as an asbestos ship without primary support - excluded source class per batch rules; reviewed and not carried.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-25

    Study period

    2026-09-25

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 VC2-S-AP5 steam auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and her ~28 years in NDRF custody, the undocumented-scope 1955 Polarus repair activation, and the 1974 Rotterdam breaking are undocumented disturbance phases. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-darke-apa159-10

12. [12]National Archives Catalog verified holdings + NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel - deck logs and muster rolls), RG 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), RG 178 (Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 357 (Records of the Maritime Administration) [other_primary]

    Locator

    catalog.archives.gov record NAIDs 125664385 (muster rolls), 139967502-77604601 (war diaries), 140078067 (Okinawa action report); https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; /groups/019.html ; /groups/178.html ; /groups/357.html

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival leads (holdings verified in the National Archives Catalog; contents not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required, no spend authorized): muster rolls 'Darke (APA-159), 10/10/44-4/17/46' (NAID 125664385, microfilm roll 1293, NARA College Park - full active-service crew lists); USS DARKE monthly War Diaries for Mar-Nov 1945 (NAIDs 139967502, 139991770, 140046397, 101718558, 101777042, 83576471, 77550738, 77550754, 77604601); action report 'USS DARKE - Rep of opers in the occupation of the Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands, 4/9-14/45' (NAID 140078067). Record-group mapping: RG 24 Entry 118 deck logs 1941+; RG 19 BuShips records incl. VC2-S-AP5 contract plans and the design Booklet of General Plans; RG 178 USMC construction-contract records for MC hull 125 at Oregon Shipbuilding; RG 357 MARAD/NDRF custody files covering the 1946-1974 James River lay-up, the FY1955 Repair Program GAA file (Polarus SS Co.), the 12/1949 permanent-ballast report, and the 1974 PD-X-980 disposal-sale file - the disposal-era files are the most promising hazmat leads.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-25

    Study period

    1944-1974 records

    Limitations

    Catalog-level verification only - muster-roll, war-diary, and action-report NAIDs confirmed extant, but no box-level retrieval performed and no deck-log series hit located for this hull in the catalog sweep; 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-darke-apa159-11