Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet mp-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Giraffe (IX-118), ex-SS Sanford B. Dole. — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Giraffe
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-giraffe-ix118-pkt-mp-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'Giraffe' (IX-118) entry, transcription mirror at hazegray (NHHC live page 404s - standing link rot) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- hazegray DANFS mirror, IX-118 entry (full text)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: Giraffe (IX-118), formerly tanker Sanford B. Dole, launched 11 November 1943 by California Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, CA (sponsor Miss Mary F. Leddy); acquired and simultaneously commissioned 12 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. Frederick F. Daly, USNR. After shakedown, put in at Funafuti 10 February 1944, then refueled warships at Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam, Ulithi, and Palau before reaching Okinawa 21 July 1945; entered Sasebo 20 November 1945 and served the occupation fleet until departing Yokosuka 21 February 1946 via Pearl Harbor for Norfolk (arrived 3 May 1946); decommissioned there 17 June 1946; stricken from the Navy List 3 July 1946; subsequently sold to Metro Petroleum Shipping Co., Inc. Awarded two battle stars for WWII. DANFS stats line: dp. 14,245; l. 441'6"; b. 56'11"; dr. 28'4"; s. 11 k.; cpl. 108; a. 1 5".
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Crew of ~108 (1943-1946); port and refueling personnel at advance bases
- Limitations
- Transcription mirror of the published DANFS text (NHHC live URL returns 404 as of 2026-09-29, a standing NHHC link-rot issue recorded since batch-01). DANFS compresses disposition ('returned to the War Department'; 'subsequently sold to Metro Petroleum') - the MARAD status card shows WSA/NDRF James River entry 6-17-46 and an intervening Lavino/Forddom chain before Metro Petroleum (6-1-48). 'War Department' phrasing is contradicted by the status card and treated as error. Okinawa 'reached 21 July 1945' postdates the NavSource campaign-credit window (assault 3-29 May 1945) - chronology conflict carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-01
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - SANFORD B. DOLE, Ship History Detail 4398, including digitized vessel status cards (scans 4398_8107AF.jpg, 4398_8107AB.jpg, 6DJ_01.png, 6DJ_02.png) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 4398: data fields, milestone table (Entry/Acquisition 6-17-1946), status-card scans (operator/allocation table; vessel-data card)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD record for ON 244765 (MCE hull 1907, built by California S.B. Corp., Los Angeles, completed 12-12-43; DWT ~10,559; 7,243 gross / 4,384 net; 2,500 IHP; '2 WTB' - two water-tube boilers; card type field reads 'Z-ET1' with 'TANKER' and typed annotation 'Converted to DRY Cargo'). Status-card operator chain: 'Basis to W.S.A. 12-12-43 2:15PM PWT @ Los Angeles'; Navy Dept. '(Renamed Giraffe(IX-...) )' bareboat form, delivered Los Angeles 12-12-43 2:15 PM; Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Va. 6-17-46 3:50 PM EDT; Lavino Shipping Co. (agents) 2-3-48 11:45 AM; delivered to Forddom Trading Corp. (PUR) Baltimore 4-9-48 2:45 PM; 'RESOLD TO METRO PETROLEUM SHPG. CO.' 6-1-48, 'RENAMED "EILEEN"'; resold Sea Transport Corp. 10/51 renamed 'Seapender'; resold Naess, Mejlaender & Co. Inc. 8/53 renamed 'Ragnar Naess'; resold Norlo Shipping Co. Inc. 9/54; 'RESOLD FOREIGN (LIBERIA) 1/55'. Second card: status 'S', hull no. 1907, date withdrawn from fleet 2-3-48, 'delivered to Operations for purchaser'; entry/withdrawal papers 'Prelim alloc 532 12-31-47 ... Final alloc 537 12-16-48'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1955 (card coverage); fate field 'Sold - No Further Info'
- Population
- NDRF Lee Hall custody staff (1946-48); merchant crews 1948-1955 (U.S. flag), 1955-1967 (Liberian flag)
- Limitations
- Primary government custody record (card handwriting partially legible, read with OCR aid). Card reads renamed 'EILEEN' where NavSource and Auke Visser compilations render 'Kileen' - orthographic variance carried in gaps. Card trail ends at 'RESOLD FOREIGN (LIBERIA) 1/55'; subsequent names (Ocean Daphne, Orient Lakes) and 1967 scrapping rest on secondary compilations. Detail-page 'MARAD Type' field reads 'EC2-S-C1' while the card's type field reads 'Z-ET1' - the card controls; the Liberty-derived tanker-variant designation (Z-ET1-S-C3) is confirmed at specialist level (usmm.org, NavSource). 'Lavino' spelled 'Lavino Shipping Cp' and 'Forddom'/'Fordon' spellings vary across card faces. Contains no asbestos or materials information whatsoever; 'no historical narrative' on detail page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Giraffe (IX-118) page - Armadillo Class Mobile Station Tanker entry (build data, campaign credits, specifications, merchant-service chain) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource IX-118 page: chronology block, campaign table, specifications block, merchant-service section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource: laid down 14 October 1943 as SS Sanford B. Dole, Maritime Commission type Z-ET1-S-C3, MCE hull 1907, California Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, CA; acquired by U.S. Navy 27 October 1943, renamed Giraffe (IX-118); launched 11 November 1943; commissioned 12 December 1943, LCDR Frederick F. Daly, USNR. Asiatic-Pacific campaigns credited: Marianas operation (capture/occupation of Saipan, 7-10 August 1944) and Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation, 3-29 May 1945); two battle stars. Decommissioned and delivered to WSA 17 June 1946 at Norfolk; laid up NDRF James River Group, Lee Hall, name reverted to SS Sanford B. Dole; struck 3 July 1946. Merchant chain: Lavino Shipping Corp./Forddom Trading Corp. (1948); Metro Petroleum Shipping Co., Wilmington, DE (1 June 1948, renamed 'Kileen'); converted to dry cargo carrier at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., August 1949; Sea Transport Corp. October 1951 ('Seapender'); Naess Wejlander & Co. August 1953 ('Ragnar Naess'); Norlo Shipping Co. September 1954; Ocean Liberties Inc., Monrovia, June 1955 ('Ocean Daphne', Liberian flag); Cosmos Cia. Naviera S.A. 1961 ('Orient Lakes', Orient Mid East Lines); scrapped at Moji, Japan, 1967. Specifications: 3,665 t. light / 14,500 t. full load; 441'6" x 56'11" x 28'4"; 11 knots; cargo 8,500 DWT / 63,000 bbls oil; complement 11 officers + 97 enlisted; armament one 5"/38 DP, one 3"/50, eight 20mm AA; propulsion triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine, two Babcock & Wilcox boilers 220 psi 450F, three recip-drive 120V DC generators, single 4-blade 18'6" propeller, 2,500 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Crew of ~108 (1943-46); shipyard trades at Calship (1943) and Newport News (1949); merchant crews to 1967; scrapping yard at Moji
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive (authoritative standard for this hull type, but not a government record); corroborated where overlapping by the MARAD status card and DANFS. NavSource 'acquired 27 October 1943' conflicts with the MARAD card/DANFS delivery-commissioning date of 12-12-43 (likely name-assignment or authorization date - unresolved, carried in gaps). NavSource 'Kileen' vs status-card 'EILEEN' (gaps). Okinawa Gunto assault credit 3-29 May 1945 vs DANFS 'reached Okinawa 21 July 1945' (gaps). Merchant-period dates after the Liberian flag sale rest on compilation only. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-03
-
[5]usmm.org (American Merchant Marine at War memorial reference), 'Liberty Ships built by California Shipbuilding Corp., Terminal Island' - Z-ET1-S-C3 Type Tankers section [other_primary]
- Locator
- usmm.org/l/calship.html - 'Z-ET1-S-C3 Type Tankers' table, hull 1907 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The usmm.org Calship yard table's Z-ET1-S-C3 tanker section lists MC hull 1907 'Sanford B. Dole' with designation 'IX 118 Giraffe', situating this hull among the 30 Liberty-derived tankers Calship built on the same ways as its EC2-S-C1 cargo hulls (MC hulls ~1880-1909: Armadillo to Jaguar, of which nine - MC 1900-1909 - became the Navy's IX-111 through IX-120).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Calship construction workforce (~40,000 peak employment, yard-level figure from secondary yard histories)
- Limitations
- usmm.org is a private merchant-marine memorial reference, not a government publication; the hull-row correlation (1907/ Sanford B. Dole / IX-118) is independently corroborated by the MARAD status card, DANFS, and NavSource. The 30-hull Z-ET1 count and IX conversion mapping are corroborated by the NavSource class listing but not by an official member list. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-04
-
[6]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; machinery correlation per MARAD status card and NavSource specs
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The USMC operating manual for the EC2-S-C1 emergency plant 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. The Z-ET1-S-C3 'Liberty tanker' was a tanker variant of the same emergency Liberty design family built on the same Calship ways with the same machinery family - this hull's own plant is documented as a triple-expansion engine of 2,500 ihp fed by two water-tube boilers (MARAD status card: '2500 IHP, 2 WTB'; NavSource: two Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 220 psi, 450F), matching the manual's plant class. Liberty-family hulls were built during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943 (construction); operation to 1967
- Population
- Construction trades (Calship, 1943); Navy engine-room crew (1943-46); merchant engine crews (1948-67)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual names the EC2-S-C1 cargo type, not the Z-ET1-S-C3 tanker variant or this vessel, and does not itself state 'asbestos' content (magnesia lagging of the era was typically asbestos-fiber-reinforced, but the manual text is silent on fiber). Asbestos presence aboard this hull is design/era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, location, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-05
-
[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 era and emergency program under which this hull and its sister Liberty tankers were mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name the Z-ET1-S-C3 type, Calship, or any vessel 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-giraffe-ix118-06
-
[8]Batch-4687 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription mirror (NHHC live URL 404); MARAD ShipHistory detail + status cards; NavSource IX-118; usmm.org Calship table; NARA catalog API; CourtListener opinion sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-giraffe-ix118-01 through sl-uss-giraffe-ix118-11
- 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 Giraffe (IX-118), Sanford B. Dole, or the hull's later merchant names was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search 'USS Giraffe' returned zero hits; 'Sanford B. Dole' returns only cases naming Judge Sanford B. Dole of the Hawaiian territorial courts - name collision, not the ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 emergency-built steam tanker of this design family is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener coverage incomplete at report time: hull-number and docket-index queries were repeatedly blocked by the shared fleet pacing limit; completion status is logged per-query in the search ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-07
-
[9]NARA guidance and record-group mapping: Navy deck logs (RG 24, Entry 118, National Archives Identifier 581208; Special List #44 covers 1801-1947); RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission); RG 248 (War Shipping Administration) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy; catalog.archives.gov API query 'Giraffe IX-118' (no digitized results 2026-09-29)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require catalog/FOIA or research-room access): IX-118 deck logs 1943-1946 should sit in RG 24 Entry 118 (search 'Giraffe' + hull number, per NARA deck-log guidance; digitized status not confirmed - the catalog API query for this hull returned no digitized records). RG 178 Construction Division files may hold MCE hull 1907 contract/outfitting records for the Z-ET1-S-C3 variant and the Navy IX conversion specification; RG 248 holds WSA allocation files for the 1943 Navy basis and 1946 fleet entry; NNS work orders for the 1949 dry-cargo conversion would be in yard or USMC/Navy contract records.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1941-1950 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents in these series is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 opinion-search sweep (authenticated): 'USS Giraffe' - zero hits; 'Sanford B. Dole' - hits are Hawaii territorial probate/estate opinions naming Judge Sanford B. Dole, i.e. name collisions, not the vessel [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search, type=o; ledger rows sl-uss-giraffe-ix118-06 through -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion sweep produced no qualifying asbestos-litigation result naming the ship: 'USS Giraffe' returned count 0; 'Sanford B. Dole' returns Hawaiian jurisprudence involving Judge Sanford B. Dole (e.g., a Bishop Trust Co. probate opinion in which he is named as the territorial Supreme Court justice who admitted the will to probate) - name collision only.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Partial sweep at report time: 'USS Giraffe' opinion search completed with zero hits; 'Sanford B. Dole' opinion hits reviewed are person-name collisions (ship-name string itself is not litigated). Hull-number ('IX-118'), remaining merchant-name variants ('Seapender', 'Ragnar Naess', 'Ocean Daphne', 'Orient Lakes', 'Eileen'/'Kileen'), and RECAP docket-index queries were blocked by shared fleet pacing before completion - logged in the search ledger as blocked/pending rather than treated as negative results. A clean opinion-level negative on the exact ship name does not reach unindexed dockets or state-court pleadings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-giraffe-ix118-09