USS Grand Canyon (AD-28)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]DANFS, 'Grand Canyon' (Vol. IV) - live NHHC page 404 on 2026-09-19; verbatim transcription via the hazegray mirror at losthistory.net [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Vol. IV entry 'Grand Canyon'; mirror https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/auxil/ad28.htm

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS records this hull launched 27 April 1945 by Todd-Pacific Shipyard, Inc., Tacoma, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. W. L. Mann; commissioned 6 April 1946 (sic - see correction row; other sources give 5 April), Capt. W. D. Hoover in command. Service narrative: shakedown off southern California; departed Port Townsend 26 June 1946 for Newport, R.I. via the Canal Zone (arrived 20 July); first 6th Fleet tender tour from 17 September 1946 (Palermo; 4-month Naples stay; Norfolk 1 March 1947); six further Mediterranean deployments between 1 November 1947 and 12 November 1954; eighth tour from 24 September 1956 through the Suez Crisis as flagship (Augusta Bay, Messina, Taranto; Cannes 20 December; Fall River, Mass. 13 March 1957); NATO fall exercises September-October 1957 crossing the Arctic Circle (Tromso, Isle of Portland); Souda Bay, Crete, from 1 August 1958 supporting 6th Fleet operations off Lebanon (Izmir, Athens, Naples, Barcelona); Charleston, S.C. duty 29 August 1959-11 January 1960 then Operation Springboard; ninth Mediterranean tour August 1961-March 1962; San Juan, P.R. 3 November 1962 (the mirrored text reads '1961', a transcription error - the Cuban quarantine and the ship's AFEM-Cuba award period 3 Nov-1 Dec 1962 fix the year) tending the quarantine force during the Cuban missile crisis, returning to Newport 5 December; tenth Mediterranean deployment 6 February-27 June 1963; modernization and refitting at Bethlehem Steel Yards, East Boston, completed 3 January 1964; eleventh Mediterranean cruise from 27 November 1964 relieving Shenandoah (AD-26) as 6th Fleet tender (Palma de Mallorca to 16 April 1965); a further 6th Fleet tour 29 March-12 August 1966; Atlantic Fleet tender duties into 1967.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1945-1967

   Limitations

   Authoritative official narrative for identity and service through 1967 (DANFS Vol. IV predates the 1971 AR-28 reclassification and 1978 disposal). Mirror text contains a '1961' typo for the 1962 San Juan arrival and gives 6 April 1946 for commissioning where NavSource/shipscribe give 5 April. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-01

2. [2]shipscribe.com, USS Shenandoah (AD-26) class page (Stephen S. Roberts compilation of BuShips/Auxiliary Vessels Board memoranda and NVR-derived tables) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Class design notes, construction table (row AD-28), disposition table, Ship Notes row 28, Class Notes paragraphs on contract transfers and the Lake Washington completion

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NARA-derived construction/disposition record for this hull (shipscribe AD-26 class page, Stephen S. Roberts compilation transcribing Bureau of Ships/Auxiliary Vessels Board records and NVR-derived tables): ordered 10 August 1944 to Todd along with AD-26/27/29/30 after a series of contract reassignments (earlier orders for AD-28: Tampa SB 18 Feb 1944 to the AD-14 design, then Tampa SB 15 Apr 1944 as a C3); keel 15 November 1944 at Todd Dry Dock & Shipbuilding, Tacoma; launched 27 April 1945; commissioned 5 April 1946; decommissioned and stricken 1 September 1978; disposal/MARAD sale 29 May 1980; to buyer 17 June 1980; scrapped by 20 April 1981; reclassified AR-28 on 12 March 1971 (to replace AR-14; one-day conflict with the 11 March 1971 date in NavSource/Wikipedia - logged). Ship note: 'Completed by Lake Washington SY, Houghton, Wash. (order 19 Apr 45, transferred 2 May 45).' Class notes document the Navy C3-Mod 'tender-repair ship' design on a Gibbs & Cox C3-S-A1 type hull with Gibbs & Cox as design agent, and the May 1944 decision to fit two surplus destroyer-escort (WGT) boilers in place of the planned C3-type boilers.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1944-1981

   Limitations

   Verified secondary compilation of primary records (BuShips/Auxiliary Vessels Board memoranda, NVR); keel and AR-28 dates conflict by one day with NavSource/Wikipedia. The Lake Washington completion detail explains NavSource's erroneous 'delivered to the Navy 8 May 1945' - the hull was towed incomplete to Houghton on 2 May 1945. No asbestos or materials content; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-02

3. [3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - GRAND CANYON (AD-28 / AR-28), Ship History Detail 5714 [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 5714 - vessel data block, fate field; milestones/images/documents sections all empty

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory database record for this hull (Detail 5714, 'GRAND CANYON (AD-28 / AR-28) (1945)'): year built 1945; shipyard 'Todd Shipbuilding and Drydock'; general type Naval Auxiliary, specific type AR Repair Ship; MARAD type C3; length 492 ft, beam 69 ft; displacement 16,880 t summer / 11,755 t lightweight; fate 'Sold - Scrap.' The record carries no milestones, status card, images, documents, or narrative - the sparsest MARAD record encountered in this series.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1945-1980

   Limitations

   Authoritative for builder attribution, dimensions, type, and fate; contains no custody-milestone detail (no NDRF entry/withdrawal rows, no status-card scan), no asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim. Does not identify the reserve fleet where she lay 1978-1980 or the scrapping location.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-03

4. [4]NavSource Online, USS Grand Canyon (AR-28) ex-(AD-28) index page 09/03/0328 (specifications, awards PDF 0328d.pdf, CO roster, photo captions incl. NHHC NH 91180 and NARA RG-19-LCM 19-N-93917) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Index page specification block and milestone list; awards PDF https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/03/pdf/0328d.pdf ; NH 91180 caption

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource compilation for this hull: laid down 16 November 1944 (one day after the shipscribe figure) as Maritime Commission C3 hull 206 at Todd-Pacific Shipyards Inc., Tacoma; launched 27 April 1945; 'delivered to the Navy 8 May 1945' (a data error - the incomplete hull was towed to Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, on 2 May 1945 for completion; commissioning followed 5/6 April 1946); commissioned 6 April 1946 (prose block) with the CO roster starting Capt. W. D. Hoover 5 April 1946; reclassified repair ship AR-28 11 March 1971; decommissioned and struck 1 September 1978; transferred to MARAD; sold for scrapping June 1980 to Union Minerals and Alloy Corp., New York. Specifications: 11,755 t light / 16,900 t limited; 492 ft x 69 ft 6 in x 28 ft; 18.4 kts; complement 59 officers + 918 enlisted; armament two single 5-inch/38, four twin 40mm, twelve 20mm; 30-t boom; propulsion one Westinghouse geared turbine, two Foster Wheeler D-type boilers 425 psi/740 deg F, Westinghouse double reduction gear, six turbo-driven generators, single shaft 8,500 shp. Awards document (0328d.pdf): Battle 'E' 1974-75; Occupation Medal Europe clasp periods; AFEM Cuba 3 Nov-1 Dec 1962; NDSM x2. NHHC photo NH 91180 caption documents the ship at Pier 25, Norfolk NOB, 14 August 1978 preparing for decommissioning and transferring equipment to Shenandoah (AD-26).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1944-1980

   Limitations

   Volunteer compilation not independently verified against primary documents; internally inconsistent (commissioned 5 vs 6 April; 'delivered 8 May 1945' impossible given the documented 2 May 1945 tow to Houghton for completion). Boiler identification (Foster Wheeler D-type) rests on this compilation alone - the BuShips-derived class record describes the plant only as two surplus DE-type boilers. No asbestos content; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-04

5. [5]Washington Post, 'Michelangelo's David-Apollo returns to Washington' (20 Dec 2012); National Gallery of Art, 'Michelangelo's David-Apollo' gallery publication (PDF) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   WaPo article (ship named); NGA publication https://www.nga.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/apollo.pdf (1949 loan/installation context); crossing window inferred from the ship's documented 3 Aug-15 Dec 1948 Europe period on the NavSource awards document

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The ship carried Michelangelo's marble 'David-Apollo' from Italy to the United States: the National Gallery of Art's publication records that the statue - loaned by the Italian government as a goodwill gesture - was installed at the Gallery in 1949 coinciding with President Truman's inaugural reception, and the Washington Post records that it 'crossed the Atlantic on the USS Grand Canyon' and was escorted from Norfolk to the Gallery under a Marine color guard. The transport coincides with the ship's late-1948 Mediterranean period (Occupation Medal Europe clasp 3 Aug-15 Dec 1948); the statue was returned to Italy in 1949. Secondary summaries that call the cargo 'the statue of David' are imprecise - the object was the David-Apollo marble from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, not the colossal David.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1948-1949

   Limitations

   Reputable-press/museum documentation of a real but minor cargo event; exact embarkation/landing dates and port not stated in the cited sources (hullnumber.com's Dec 1948/Jun 1949 framing is secondary). No asbestos or materials content; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-05

6. [6]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 program under which this 1945 Navy C3-Mod tender was built, and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard U.S. hulls.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   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 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-grand-canyon-ad28-06

7. [7]Batch-458 search ledger (this record): DANFS via hazegray mirror (live NHHC 404); shipscribe AD-26 class page; MARAD ShipHistory 5714; NavSource 09/03/0328 + awards PDF; CourtListener opinion/RECAP sweeps; NARA catalog probe [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-01 through sl-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Grand Canyon, AD-28, or AR-28 was found in the public sources searched - DANFS, shipscribe, MARAD Detail 5714, and NavSource contain no asbestos statement; CourtListener API v4 was hard-throttled all session (HTTP 429, 125/day shared cap); a CourtListener HTML opinion search for the exact phrase 'USS Grand Canyon' returned zero results and a RECAP docket sweep for 'Grand Canyon' + asbestos returned only name collisions (national-park/environmental litigation and a Todd Shipyards wrongful-death asbestos complaint, Cronin v. Todd Shipyards Corp., N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03274, whose docket text contains the phrase at pleading stage - not verified to name this hull as an exposure site); two law-firm/SEO pages assert asbestos aboard in generic terms and were excluded as sources.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   2026-09-19

   Limitations

   Litigation coverage is partial, not empty: the CourtListener API was blocked (429) so RECAP/docket coverage is via one HTML sweep that CloudFront then cut off (403); a pleading-stage complaint hit (Cronin) contains the phrase 'Grand Canyon' but was not verified to name this hull. Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1945 steam tender with 32 years of repair-shop service and a 1963-64 modernization is era-consistent with installed and disturbed asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-07

8. [8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 24 (deck logs); NHHC photo catalog (NH 91180); NARA RG 19-LCM (19-N-93917) [other_primary]

   Locator

   https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required; no spend authorized): (1) NARA RG 24 deck logs for AD-28/AR-28, 1946-1978, at College Park (the NARA Catalog is JS/key-gated to automated queries; digitized-log coverage for this hull unconfirmed). (2) RG 19 Bureau of Ships records: MC hull 206 construction correspondence incl. the 19 April 1945 Lake Washington Shipyards completion contract and transfer correspondence; Gibbs & Cox C3-S-A1 tender-repair-ship design files. (3) NARA RG 19-LCM photo 19-N-93917 (Puget Sound, 3 April 1946) and NHHC photo NH 91180 (Norfolk Pier 25, 14 August 1978). (4) The NavSource 'Welcome Aboard and Decommissioning Pamphlets' scans linked from the index page were not individually reviewed. (5) 1963-64 Bethlehem Steel East Boston modernization work packages (BuShips/Boston-group records) are the likeliest ship-specific materials lead: a steam-era tender 'modernization and refitting' completed 3 January 1964 is precisely the scope where insulation removal/installation would be documented.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1944-1978 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; 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-grand-canyon-ad28-08

9. [9]Cross-source reconciliation: shipscribe construction/disposition tables (NARA-derived) vs DANFS narrative (hazegray mirror) vs NavSource compilation and awards PDF vs MARAD Detail 5714 vs Wikipedia/hullnumber secondary framings [other_primary]

   Locator

   All cited sources; variances enumerated in finding_value

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Source discrepancies reconciled: (a) keel date - shipscribe 15 November 1944 vs NavSource and Wikipedia narrative 16 November 1944 vs Wikipedia infobox and hullnumber.com 16 October 1944 (apparently Yellowstone AD-27's keel date copied across); shipscribe carried, conflict logged. (b) commissioning - 5 April 1946 (shipscribe, NavSource CO roster, Wikipedia, hullnumber) vs 6 April 1946 (DANFS via mirror, NavSource prose block); both carried, conflict logged. (c) NavSource 'delivered to the Navy 8 May 1945' is inconsistent with the documented 2 May 1945 tow of the incomplete hull to Lake Washington Shipyards for completion - delivery more plausibly preceded the 5 April 1946 commissioning; logged as a data error, actual Navy acceptance date unverified. (d) AR-28 reclassification - 11 March 1971 (NavSource, Wikipedia, awards PDF) vs 12 March 1971 (shipscribe ship note); 11 March carried, conflict logged. (e) disposal - MARAD sale 29 May 1980 and buyer delivery 17 June 1980 (shipscribe) vs 'sold for scrapping June 1980' (NavSource) - consistent once sale vs delivery are separated; scrapped by 20 April 1981. (f) DANFS mirror text 'arriving 3 November 1961' for San Juan is a transcription error - the Cuban quarantine and the ship's AFEM-Cuba award period (3 Nov-1 Dec 1962) fix 1962. (g) complement - 977 (DANFS; NavSource 59+918) vs class design 741 (shipscribe, 1944); carried separately. (h) light displacement - 11,755 t (DANFS, MARAD, Wikipedia) vs class design 7,664 t (shipscribe) - different measurement bases, both recorded.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-19

   Study period

   1944-1981

   Limitations

   Resolves publication-level discrepancies in secondary framings; none affects the identity or custody timeline materially. No asbestos content in any of these sources.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-grand-canyon-ad28-09