Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Hamul (Vol. IV; filed under AK-30 with errata correcting printed 'AK-20' to AK-30) - live NHHC page 404 on 2026-09-21; verbatim transcription via hazegray mirror at losthistory.net [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. IV entry 'Hamul' (AK-30 file, errata noted); mirror losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/auxil/ak30.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records this hull (formerly Sea Panther and Doctor Lykes) launched May 1940 by Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny, N.J.; after two Orient trips for Lykes Brothers Steamship Co. of New Orleans, acquired by the Navy and commissioned 14 June 1941 at Charleston, Comdr. F. M. Tillson in command. Rendered logistical support for the occupation of Iceland before U.S. entry into the war; worked with General Electric on night-camouflage experiments; departed Boston January 1942 heading a five-ship convoy to establish the Bora Bora base; returned via Chile with 10,000 tons of nitrate discharged at Mobile. Converted to destroyer tender; departed Mobile 7 January 1943 as AD-20; tended destroyers at Casco Bay, Maine until April; then flagship of the Destroyer Escort Shakedown Task Group at Bermuda - tended 348 DEs in 19 months and removed demolition charges from the captured U-505. After Brooklyn Navy Yard overhaul, sailed for the Pacific 1 January 1945: Saipan (12 Feb, prepping amphibious craft for Iwo Jima), Ulithi (repairs on Okinawa-campaign casualties), Okinawa from 10 May 1945 through February 1946 repairing battle-damaged ships; carried 400+ homeward-bound veterans to San Diego; proceeded to Jacksonville and Orange, Tex. for decommissioning. Recalled as station ship at Plymouth, England (arrived 17 April 1947, three years); departed 17 July 1950 and, with Korea, reached Sasebo 23 October 1950; thereafter alternating ~6-month WestPac deployments (Philippines, Hong Kong, Formosa) with Long Beach home port. Decommissioned 9 June 1962 at Long Beach; returned to the Maritime Administration, NDRF Suisun Bay.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1940-1962
- Population
- Ship's company (complement 857 per DANFS) plus tended-ship crews during repair availabilities
- Limitations
- Official service narrative; establishes identity, operations, and disposition through 1962 - contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and supports no asbestos claim. Published circa 1969 ('where she remains' predates the 1975 sale). Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-21; text verified via the hazegray transcription mirror - canonical URL retained for re-verification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-01
-
[2]USS Hamul (AD-20) War Diary 1 January 1943 - 1 January 1946, including 'Factual History From 7 December 1941 to 15 September 1945' - Enclosure (A) to Commanding Officer's letter to the Secretary of the Navy, serial AD20/A12-1, 26 September 1945, signed C. C. Hoffner (NARA-derived scan hosted by NavSource) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Enclosure (A) factual-history narrative, pp. ~390-392 of the NavSource scan (0320a.pdf); CO submission letter dated 26 Sep 1945; January 1943 handwritten diary page (p. 1 of scan)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own records document the conversion and the repair mission in detail. The handwritten January 1943 diary page records her 'Moored port side to Pier D, Alabama Dry Dock and Ship Building Co.-Lower Yard, Mobile Alabama. Undergoing conversion from AK to AD 20,' steaming on the port boiler, with 'Yard workmen aboard working three shifts' and the 'Number of workmen per daily averaged 1650' - roughly 1,650 yard workmen aboard per day on three shifts at conversion completion. The typed factual history records: at the outbreak of war Hamul was returning from her third Iceland voyage; in late December 1941-January 1942 she ran Bureau of Ships/General Electric night-camouflage experiments in the Boston area with ~250 lights rigged against vertical surfaces; the Bora Bora convoy carried two transports and three cargo vessels. Conversion at Alabama Drydock & Shipbuilding took ~7 months; recommissioned 18 December 1942 under Capt. R. G. Deewall; relieved USS Denebola (AD-12) as ComDesLant flagship at Casco Bay in early February 1943; arrived Bermuda 12 April 1943 as flagship of the DD-DE Shakedown Task Group under Capt. J. L. Holloway Jr., tending 348 new destroyer escorts in 19 months plus gunboats, frigates, destroyers, and 'innumerable other vessels of all descriptions and of several nationalities.' After New York Navy Yard overhaul (Nov-Dec 1944) she reached Saipan 12 February 1945 where her repair force 'worked almost continuously for five days and nights' on amphibious vessels before Iwo Jima; at Kerama Retto from 10 May 1945 under 'Flash Red' conditions she repaired kamikaze-damaged destroyers, destroyer-minesweepers, and minelayers - 'working on five ships alongside, two or three others in drydocks in the harbor,' shops working 'around the clock in the blacked-out ship'; shifted to Buckner Bay, Okinawa 10 July 1945 under Service Division 104.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (factual history); war diary coverage 1943-1946
- Population
- Ship's company; ~1,650/day conversion-yard workmen aboard (Jan 1943); repair-party labor on tended vessels alongside
- Limitations
- Primary ship documents confirming a heavy steam-era conversion and repair workload aboard this hull - the strongest operational documentation in this record - but they name no materials and contain no asbestos statement; they do not establish that asbestos was handled or present, only that yard conversion labor (avg ~1,650 workmen/day on three shifts) and repair work on battle-damaged combatants occurred at scale. Handwritten diary entries are partially legible; quoted readings verified at 200-DPI render but should be re-checked against the scan before quotation in publication. The 392-page scan is image-only: the typed factual-history enclosure (final pages) and the January 1943 page were read in-session, but the remaining monthly handwritten sheets were not individually reviewed - internal repair-job detail (e.g., lagging/insulation mentions) cannot be excluded. The narrative internally dates the Bora Bora convoy loading 'January of 1941,' a wartime typo inconsistent with its own chronology (1942 per DANFS).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-02
-
[3]shipscribe.com, USS Hamul (AD-20) class page (Stephen S. Roberts compilation transcribing Bureau of Ships/Auxiliary Vessels Board records and NVR-derived tables) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AD-20 class page: construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship notes (MC hull 40)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA-derived construction/conversion record for this hull: keel 9 October 1939 at Federal SB & DD, Kearny (MC hull 40, MC C3-Cargo 'Federal' design, ordered November 1938 among the MC's first six large C3s); launched 6 April 1940; completed/delivered 10 May 1940 as Doctor Lykes (ex Sea Panther); acquired by the Navy 5 June 1941; austere AK conversion at Charleston Navy Yard June 1941 (initial armament only machine guns). Auxiliary Vessels Board earmarked AK 30-31 for AD conversion 14 July 1941; Hamul converted by Alabama Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, in commission in ordinary from 13 May 1942 to 7 January 1943, design agent George G. Sharp of New York - new upper deck, new boat deck, new first and third platforms, new watertight bulkheads, some kingposts removed; 'To AD-20 2 Jun 42' (administrative redesignation); placed in full commission as an AD 18 December 1942; reported for duty 4 February 1943 after fitting out at Norfolk Navy Yard. Disposition table: decommissioned 9 June 1962, stricken 1 July 1963, MARAD sale 16 October 1975. Data tables: DeLaval turbine, one screw, 8,500 HP; complement 662 (1944); trial speed 18.4 kt; armament sequence documented 1942-1961. Class of two (Hamul AD-20, Markab AD-21, ex AK-30/AK-31).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1975
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation transcribing official BuShips/Auxiliary Vessels Board documents - faithful in detail but not itself a government publication; underlying memoranda sit in NARA RG 19 (see archival-lead row). Conflicts with DANFS on launch and commissioning dates are logged in the correction row rather than silently reconciled. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-03
-
[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - HAMUL (AD-20), Ship History Detail 2076, including two posted status-card scans (Form MA-383 Reserve Fleet card and Form MA-199 Vessel Status Card), both transcribed in-session, and 23 official photos [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 2076 - identity block, milestone table, status-card scans 2076_3856AF.jpg (MA-383) and beb7e9f2 card (MA-199); image gallery
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD record for this hull: U.S. Official Number 0467375; built 1940 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock; MARAD type C3; Naval Auxiliary, AD Destroyer Tender; 492 ft, 7,773 gross tons. Milestones: entry/acquisition 25 September 1962 ('MARAD TITLE 7/1/63'), disposition and withdrawal 2 December 1975 ('CUST 1962 NDRF 1962'). The transcribed status cards add: ex DOCTOR LYKES; MC hull no. 40, builders hull no. 164; 12,532 DWT; 'Date built 5-10-40' (completion/delivery to Lykes Bros. Steamship Co.); 'Original basis to WSA-MA: Navy Dept., Permanent agreement, 6-8-41'; NDRF Suisun Bay entry 25 Sep 1962 at 1439 hrs PDST, arrival drafts 13'07" fwd / 18'00" aft, light displacement 8,790 tons; title 'Navy Reimbursable' with preservation-funding correspondence June-July 1962-63; permanent transfer to Maritime Administration 1 July 1963 12:01 am PDST; and 'Sold scrap under PD-X-1000, 10-16-75 to Levin Metals Corp. for the lump sum of $1,500,000.00 for 7 ships,' delivered/withdrawn 12-2-75 1100 PST. Complement block on the MA-383 card reads 62 officers + 795 enlisted (=857, matching DANFS). Posted photo set includes conversion-completion views at Mobile 4 January 1943 and post-overhaul views at San Francisco Naval Shipyard 1 October 1953.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1962-1975 (custody); card reflects 1940 build and 1941 Navy acquisition
- Population
- NDRF Suisun Bay layup/preservation crews 1962-1975 (context); complement 62 officers + 795 enlisted per card
- Limitations
- Authoritative government custody record, now including both status cards transcribed from the posted scans; contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information and supports no asbestos claim - the 1975 scrap-sale entry (PD-X-1000, Levin Metals Corp.) carries no hazmat or abatement annotation. Buyer name and sale terms now rest on the official card rather than NavSource alone.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-04
-
[5]NavSource Online, USS Hamul (AD-20) ex-AK-30 index page - specifications, campaign table, CO roster, photo captions compiled from official sources (contributors M. Smolinski, A. Grazevich; NARA/BuShips photo credits) - plus hosted awards/campaign date sheet 0320d.pdf [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/03/0320 index - specifications block, campaign/awards table, disposition lines, photo caption set; awards sheet https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/03/pdf/0320d.pdf
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compilation for this hull: complement 63 officers + 795 enlisted; propulsion two Foster Wheeler D-type boilers (465 psi, 765 deg F) driving one DeLaval geared turbine with double reduction gear, single propeller, 8,500 shp, trial speed 18.4 kt; ship's-service generators four diesel-driven 300 kW 450V AC and three turbo-driven 300 kW DC sets. Campaign participation - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation, 10 May-30 June 1945) and Korean War Third Korean Winter (engagement star 19 March 1953); one battle star each for WWII and Korea. The hosted awards sheet (0320d.pdf) gives medal/campaign windows: Korean Service periods 23 Oct 1950-16 Apr 1951, 2 Nov 1951-17 Jun 1952, 1 Dec 1952-2 May 1953, 9 Dec 1953-27 Jun 1954; Navy Occupation Service Medal Asia 2 Sep 1945-10 Feb 1946 and Europe 17 Apr 1947-17 Jul 1950; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Taiwan Straits) 14-31 Dec 1958; American Defense Service Medal 'A' periods Jun-Dec 1941. Disposition detail: struck from the Naval Register with permanent title transfer to MARAD 1 July 1963; sold for scrapping 16 October 1975 to Levin Metals Corp., delivered 2 December 1975. Photo captions document the ship near Boston Navy Yard 19 December 1941, at Mobile on conversion completion 4 January 1943, and alongside USS Levy (DE-162) at the Bermuda DE training base 3 June 1943.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1941-1975
- Population
- Crew (63 officers + 795 enlisted per this compilation)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled record; specifications and campaign table derive from official sources (BuShips data, OPNAV campaign lists) but were not independently verified against NVR/NHHC primary documents in-session - the Foster Wheeler boiler count rests on this source alone. A caption misnames the ship 'USS Hamel.' Buyer name (Levin Metals) is now corroborated by the MARAD status card (ev-04). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-05
-
[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, with wartime demand driving unprecedented utilization aboard merchant-type and naval hulls. This hull's 1940 C3 construction and 1942-43 wartime conversion to a steam-powered destroyer tender - a floating repair yard whose documented work centered on steam-propelled combatants - fall inside the documented era and work pattern.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers, repair-yard and tender 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, individual exposure, or causation. Tender repair work on other ships' plants is consistent with asbestos disturbance but that pathway is inference here, not a documented hull finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-06
-
[7]Batch-920 search ledger (this record): DANFS via hazegray mirror (live NHHC 404); shipscribe AD-20; MARAD ShipHistory 2076 + both status-card scans transcribed; NavSource 0320 + war-diary scan 0320a.pdf (factual-history enclosure and Jan-1943 page read in-session) + awards sheet 0320d.pdf; CourtListener API + site index; general web index [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hamul-ak30-01 through sl-uss-hamul-ak30-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Hamul, AK-30, AD-20, Doctor Lykes, or Sea Panther was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener's API was throttled for this session as well (HTTP 429, 2,800/day authenticated cap exhausted; ~4.5h to reset at session time) - the vessel-name/hull-number opinion and RECAP docket sweep could not be run; a prior site-index sweep of courtlistener.com returned only name collisions (Hamulic bankruptcy, Hamdan, Hamlin, Ham). Law-firm/marketing pages assert a ~$2.7M settlement for an Arizona electrician's mate who served aboard USS Duluth, USS Hamul, and USS Lea - banned sources, and the claim could not be traced to any docketed case.
- Verification
- partial
- 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 1940-built, wartime-converted steam tender is era-consistent with installed asbestos-containing materials, and the hull's documented repair mission involved exactly the machinery spaces where era insulation concentrated. Litigation coverage is partial: the CourtListener sweep remains incomplete across two sessions (2026-09-19 and 2026-09-21) and the marketing-site settlement claim is unverifiable without a docket reference. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-07
-
[8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 24 (deck logs); NARA RG 19-LCM photo series (19-N-38704, 19-N-38705, 19-N-26434; BS145591 / NAID 145590); NHHC photo USN 1043637 [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov Guide to Federal Records RG 19/RG 24; NavSource 0320a.pdf; NHHC photo index entry USN 1043637
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required; no spend authorized): (1) The full war-diary file exists as a 392-page image scan at NavSource (0320a.pdf) sourced from U.S. Navy records; the typed factual-history enclosure and the January 1943 page were read in-session, but the remaining monthly handwritten diary sheets resist OCR and may contain repair-job-level detail (lagging, insulation, boiler work) not searchable without manual review. (2) NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships - conversion design files for the George G. Sharp (New York) tender conversion and the Auxiliary Vessels Board memoranda transcribed at shipscribe. (3) NARA RG 19-LCM photo series - conversion-completion and overhaul imagery. (4) NARA RG 24 deck logs, 1941-1962. (5) NHHC Naval Subjects Collection photo USN 1043637 (broadside view, circa 1959).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1975 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether asbestos-specific documents for this hull exist is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding. The MARAD status-card lead from the prior pass is closed - both posted cards are transcribed in ev-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-08
-
[9]Cross-source reconciliation: shipscribe construction/disposition tables (NARA-derived) vs DANFS narrative vs NavSource compilation vs MARAD milestones + status cards (citations as in ev-01 through ev-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ev-01 through ev-05 source texts, side-by-side; MARAD status-card scans
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies reconciled: (a) keel date - shipscribe 9 October 1939 vs NavSource/Wikipedia 6 March 1940; shipscribe carried, conflict logged. (b) launch - shipscribe 6 April 1940 vs DANFS/NavSource 'May 1940'; DANFS appears to conflate the 10 May 1940 completion/delivery (which the MARAD status card records as 'Date built 5-10-40'). (c) commissioning - DANFS/NavSource 14 June 1941 vs shipscribe table 15 June 1941 (acquisition 5 June 1941; MARAD card 'Navy Dept., Permanent agreement, 6-8-41'); DANFS 14 June carried. (d) AD-20 redesignation - shipscribe 'To AD-20 2 Jun 42' (administrative redesignation) vs DANFS/NavSource 7 January 1943 (departure from Mobile as AD-20); both carried with labels. (e) complement - DANFS 857, now corroborated by the MARAD MA-383 status card (62 officers + 795 enlisted = 857); NavSource 63 officers + 795 enlisted (=858); shipscribe 662 (1944); carried separately by source, not merged. (f) disposal - sale contract 16 October 1975 under PD-X-1000 to Levin Metals Corp. ($1,500,000 lump sum covering 7 ships per MARAD card) vs MARAD disposition/withdrawal 2 December 1975; reconciled as contract sale vs physical delivery.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1975
- Limitations
- Editorial reconciliation across authoritative sources; none of the variances affects identity or the service timeline materially. The 6 March 1940 keel date in NavSource/Wikipedia may reflect a framing/laying milestone distinct from keel laying - not resolvable without builder's records (NARA RG 19 / Federal Shipbuilding records). The MARAD status cards now supply official readings for the complement and the buyer/sale terms that previously rested on secondary sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hamul-ak30-09