Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[1]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'WEST ELCASCO (AK-33)' class page - construction/disposition tables, class notes, and ship notes compiled from Maritime Commission and Bureau of Ships records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class notes paragraphs on WEST ELCASCO conversion and the 1941 Army-ship takeover; Ship Notes row for EFC 1927 (AK-33); shipscribe AE type index cross-reference 'AE-7 (Henry Gibbons): see AK-33'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class compilation naming this hull (as WEST ELCASCO, AK-33): EFC Design 1013 'Robert Dollar' type, one of 86 vessels in the most numerous class of WWI emergency freighters; keel 1918-07-08, launched 1918-09-21 by Skinner & Eddy, Seattle (EFC hull 1927); served USN NOTS 1918-19 as USS West Elcasco (ID-3661). Laid up at New Orleans for years; acquired to fulfill an Army ammunition-carrier requirement (Dec 1940 or early 1941); converted at New Orleans by the Maritime Commission at Army expense; renamed HENRY GIBBONS (shipscribe spelling); delivered to the Army 1941-07-12. Only ammunition ship specially configured for Army service in WWII: elaborate fire detecting/extinguishing equipment, small special magazines, sheathing of all metal girders in cargo compartments, insulation where needed for protection from heat, steel hatch covers vs. aircraft fire, additional electrical generation, armament (2-4"/50 mounted at New Orleans 1941-05-24), degaussing. Navy designation chain: AK-33 assigned under the 1941 Army-transport takeover plan; CNO informed bureaus 1941-07-24 of rename/conversion to ammunition ship; BuShips assigned AE-7 1941-08-11; Navy manning of the AK group cancelled 1942-03-30 ('not used'). Intended primarily to carry ammunition to Panama. Sunk by submarine in the Gulf of Mexico 1942-06-23 enroute Panama to New Orleans with a cargo primarily of coffee.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1942
- Population
- Skinner & Eddy construction workforce (1918); New Orleans conversion workforce (1941); Army Transport Service crew and Army armed guard (1941-42)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official MC/BuShips/Army records, not the records themselves. Spells the name 'GIBBONS' - 'GIBBINS' adopted as controlling (see correction row). Acquisition framed 'December 1940 or early 1941' with delivery 1941-07-12 vs. NavSource 'acquired by the Army 24 July 1941' - discrepancy logged, not resolved. Contains no asbestos or insulation-fiber statement - the conversion's insulation/sheathing items are material-unspecified. Does not establish any asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive - Henry Gibbins (AE 7) / West Elcasco (ID 3661) page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page header chronology, specifications block, photo captions, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource photo archive page 'Henry Gibbins (AE 7) ex-AK-33 ex-USAT Major General Henry Gibbins ex-USS West Elcasco (ID 3661)' documents: laid down 1918-07-08 by Skinner & Eddy Corp., Seattle; launched 1918-09-21; acquired and commissioned USS West Elcasco (ID-3661) 1918-10-23 (LCDR Louis Tichenor Ward, USNRF); decommissioned 1919-06-14 Boston and returned to USSB; sold 1930 to Mississippi Shipping Co.; acquired by the Army 1941-07-24 and renamed USAT Major General Henry Gibbins; reclassified AK-33 December 1941, cancelled 1942-03-30 as 'not used'; identified in Navy records as Henry Gibbins (AE 7) 1941-08-11 but remained in Army service; torpedoed and sunk 1942-06-23 by U-158, 375 miles west of Key West FL. Specs: 12,225 t displacement; 423'9" x 54' x 24'2" draft, hold depth 29'9"; 11.25 kts; complement 60; 3 single-ended boilers, 2,500 shp Curtis steam turbine, 1 shaft. Photos include NH 65050-A (launch, NARA RG 19-LCM) and Army Signal Corps SC 126006/SC 140994 (Brooklyn Army Base, 1941, armed, neutrality markings).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1942
- Population
- 1918-19 NOTS crew; 1941-42 Army crew + 21 Army gunners
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive drawing on NHHC photos and official lists; corroborates shipscribe's BuShips-derived chain and DANFS-derived facts. Its 'Reclassified AK-33 in December 1941' framing conflicts with shipscribe's documented sequence (AK-33 assigned first under the 1941 takeover block, AE-7 assigned 1941-08-11) - logged in correction row. No asbestos or insulation-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-02
-
[3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - MAJ. GEN. HENRY GIBBINS, Ship History Detail 6171 + scanned status card /cards/6171_AF.jpg [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 6171 field table; status card image reviewed directly (JPEG, legible)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory database record for this hull: 'MAJ. GEN. HENRY GIBBINS' (Detail 6171) - Year Built 1918, U.S. Official No. 217128, Skinner and Eddy Corporation, general cargo/break bulk; no milestones or narrative (vessel never entered MARAD custody - sunk under Army ownership 1942). The attached scanned USSB-era status card (6171_AF.jpg), reviewed this session, reads: 'CARGO / MAJ. GEN. HENRY GIBBINS / EX-WEST ELCASCO', Official No. 217128, gross tonnage 5,766, owner 'WAR-DEPT', builder 'SKINNER + EDDY CORP.', '12-18' build notation. No materials, condition, or disposal notations present on the card.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1942
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody/identity data; sparse record - no milestones because the hull never entered MARAD/NDRF custody. Status card is handwritten and partially legible (read directly this session). A second ShipHistory record, 'HENRY GIBBINS (APA-183/T-AP-183)' Detail 8461, is a DIFFERENT hull (1943 C3-1N P&C) sharing the name - see correction row. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-03
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships/merchant losses database, 'Major General Henry Gibbins' ship page (1841); corroborated by u-boot-archiv.de wiki entry and NavSource chronology [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship 1841 event notes; u-boot-archiv 'Major General Henry Gibbins' datenblatt (position DL 2918, route, cargo, rescue)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Loss record: on 1942-06-23 the unescorted Major General Henry Gibbins (Master Peter A. Kalleberg), 5,766 tons, route Buenaventura (Colombia) - Panama Canal - New Orleans with 5,235 tons of coffee, was torpedoed by U-158 (Kptlt. Erwin Rostin) at 24 deg 35'N, 87 deg 45'W, about 375 miles west of Key West. First torpedo hit port side at No. 2 hold at 08:40; ~20 minutes later a second torpedo struck amidships between No. 3 hold and the engine room and the ship sank shortly after. 47 crew and 21 U.S. Army armed guards (68 total, 0 dead) abandoned in three lifeboats; a flying boat directed the schooner Dolphin to two boats, survivors flown to Pensacola 1942-06-26; third boat recovered next day. U-158 was itself sunk 1942-06-30, so no attacker-side war diary detail survives.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1942-06-23
- Population
- 47 merchant/Army crew + 21 U.S. Army armed guard (all survived)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary research database (not an official record); the sinking fact, attacker, and ~375-mi-west-of-Key-West position are corroborated by NavSource. Crew/armed-guard split (47+21) and cargo tonnage rest on this source alone. Loss position is the recorded attack position, not a confirmed wreck survey - wreck discovery/condition undocumented in sources searched. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-04
-
[5]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS West Elcasco (ID # 3661), 1918-1919' page text (mirrored at shipscribe WWI ships section; this is NHHC Online Library content, NOT the DANFS entry - the live DANFS 'West Elcasco' page returned 404 this session) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Page narrative + photo captions NH 65050-A and Philadelphia 1919-03-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC Online Library of Selected Images text (Naval Historical Center-authored) documents the WWI phase: 6,087 gross-ton cargo ship built at Seattle under the WWI emergency merchant program; taken over and commissioned 1918-10-23 as West Elcasco (ID #3661); maiden voyage flour to the U.S. East Coast; December 1918-January 1919 food to Trieste and Turkey; second trans-Atlantic voyage April 1919 to France; decommissioned mid-June 1919 and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board 1919-06-14; sold 1930 into commercial operation; became the U.S. Army's Henry Gibbins in 1941. Photo captions place the ship at Philadelphia Municipal Pier 78 on 1919-03-07 and document original prints in NARA RG 19-LCM.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1941
- Population
- 1918-19 NOTS crew
- Limitations
- NHHC-authored archival-catalog text, mirrored on a secondary host. Its closing line - 'retained that name until disposed of in the late 1940s' - is contradicted by every other source (sunk 1942); treated as a source error, see correction row. No asbestos or insulation-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-05
-
[6]Cross-source reconciliation: shipscribe AK-33 class notes; NavSource ID-3661 page; NHHC Online Library mirror; MARAD status card 6171_AF; DANFS T-AP-183 entry (hazegray mirror); NavalCoverMuseum ID-3661 page; uboat.net 1841 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Each cited page's name/date/tonnage fields as logged in search_ledger
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved: (a) Name spelling - shipscribe renders 'HENRY GIBBONS' throughout while NavSource, MARAD, uboat.net, the DANFS T-AP-183 entry, and the Navy Filing Manual render 'Henry Gibbins'; 'Gibbins' adopted as controlling (namesake Maj. Gen. Henry Gibbins, Quartermaster General of the Army). (b) NHHC Online Library says the ship 'retained that name until disposed of in the late 1940s' - contradicted by the documented 1942-06-23 sinking (shipscribe, NavSource, uboat.net); treated as an OLI error. (c) Army acquisition - shipscribe 'acquired Dec 1940 or early 1941, delivered 12 Jul 41' vs. NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum 'acquired by the Army 24 July 1941'; the 7-12 vs 7-24 dates likely reflect delivery vs. administrative transfer - noted, not resolved. (d) Designation sequence - NavSource 'reclassified AK-33 December 1941' vs. shipscribe's documented sequence (AK-33 block assigned 1941 to WEST ELCASCO before the rename; AE-7 assigned 1941-08-11; manning cancelled 1942-03-30); shipscribe's BuShips-derived sequence adopted. (e) Tonnage 5,766 gross (MARAD card, uboat.net) vs. 5,701 (shipscribe) vs. 6,087 (NHHC OLI) - register/measurement conventions differ; all attributed, none merged. (f) Complement 60/63/70 across sources and periods - attributed separately.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1942
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies among secondary compilations; no primary document settles (c) or (d) this session. No asbestos content in any source cited here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-06
-
[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 of the WWII mobilization era, with wartime demand driving unprecedented asbestos utilization - the era into which this hull's 1941 Army ammunition-carrier conversion at New Orleans falls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1941-1945 era; article 1987
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel. The article's focus is wartime (post-1941) Navy and Maritime Commission programs - this hull's 1941 conversion was an Army/WSA-side action, adjacent but not identical in program terms. Does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard, nor quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-07
-
[8]Hedley-Whyte, John, and Debra R. Milamed, 'Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences,' Ulster Medical Journal 77(3):191-200 (2008), PMID 18956802 [other_primary]
- Locator
- UMJ 77(3):191-200; fireproofing-standards and Navy-specification passages
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed history documents that asbestos was established as the best and most cost-effective insulating/fireproofing material by the early twentieth century - British Fire Prevention Committee testing 1898-99, UL/NFPA fire-test standards 1917-1920, ASTM's first asbestos standard D299-29 in 1930 - and that the U.S. Navy specified asbestos (South African chrysotile for gaskets, insulation, packing, tape; Transvaal amosite for insulation) in new submarines as early as 1922. This covers the era of this hull's 1918 WWI-program construction, which Corn & Starr's WWII-focused paper does not reach.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1898-1940s era; article 2008
- Population
- WWI-era shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship on asbestos use in early-20th-century shipbuilding; does not name this vessel or EFC Design 1013 specifically. Does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-08
-
[9]Batch-505 search ledger (this record): shipscribe AK-33/AE index; NavSource; MARAD ShipHistory 6171+8461; NHHC Online Library mirror; uboat.net; CourtListener API v4 (name, hull, and asbestos queries); NOAA PPW vessel list; supplementary web searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-01 through sl-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming this hull under any name (West Elcasco / Major General Henry Gibbins / AE-7 / AK-33 / ID-3661) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search 'Henry Gibbins' returned 4 hits, all classified name collisions or unrelated (three non-asbestos longshoreman-injury cases aboard the later, different ship USNS Henry Gibbins T-AP-183 - Santomarco, Oblatore, Lamazza - and one Court of Federal Claims utility dispute concerning the Armed Forces Retirement Home, whose Gibbins Hall is named for the same general); 'West Elcasco' returned 0; 'Henry Gibbins' + asbestos returned 0; 'AE-7' + asbestos returned 0; 'Henry Gibbins' docket search returned 1 (the same unrelated CFC docket). No law-firm ship-list page naming this hull was located in searches.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1918 steam freighter converted for ammunition carriage in 1941 is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation and fireproofing. Litigation search coverage is name-based and cannot exclude unindexed or nameless dockets; RECAP docket text is not fully searchable by ship name. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-09
-
[10]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'WEST ELCASCO (AK-33)' class notes, quoting/compiling the Army conversion description from official records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class notes, WEST ELCASCO conversion paragraph
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Ship-specific conversion record: the 1941 Army ammunition-carrier conversion of this hull at New Orleans (Maritime Commission, at Army expense, in consultation with the Navy Department) added 'elaborate fire detecting and extinguishing equipment, small special magazines for special explosives, sheathing of all metal girders, etc, in the cargo compartments, insulation where needed for protection from heat, steel hatch covers ... additional electrical generation capacity, and adequate armament and degaussing equipment.' Added insulation and girder sheathing aboard a government conversion of this era are applications for which asbestos was the standard-era material.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1941
- Population
- New Orleans conversion-yard workers (1941); Army crew handling cargo spaces
- Limitations
- The conversion and its added insulation/sheathing are ship-specific documented facts; that the insulation contained asbestos is era inference - the source does not state fiber content. 'Standard-era material' inference rests on ev-07/ev-08 era scholarship. Does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, exposure, or causation for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-10
-
[11]DANFS 'Henry Gibbins' (T-AP-183) entry, verbatim transcription (hazegray mirror ap183.htm); NavSource T-AP-183 page; CourtListener opinions 250671, 253749, 8749197 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS T-AP-183 entry text; NavSource archives/09/22/22183.htm; CL opinion pages
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Name-collision record: a second, different U.S. government ship bore this name - USNS Henry Gibbins (T-AP-183), laid down as SS Biloxi (MC hull 164, type C3-1N P&C) by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, 1941-08-23; launched 1942-11-11; delivered to the Army as USAT Henry Gibbins 1943-02-27; to Navy MSTS 1950-03-01; out of service 1959-12-02; then TS Empire State IV (NY Maritime) and TS Bay State (Mass. Maritime); returned to MARAD 1978, scrapped 1983 after an engine-room fire. Same namesake (Maj. Gen. Henry Gibbins, Quartermaster General). All three CourtListener 'Henry Gibbins' ship cases located - Thomas Santomarco v. United States (2d Cir. 1960), Espedit Oblatore v. United States (2d Cir. 1961), Lamazza v. United States (S.D.N.Y. 1960, 190 F. Supp. 692) - are non-asbestos longshoreman-injury suits aboard THAT ship (loading accidents at Brooklyn/Staten Island piers, 1957-1960 period), not this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1983 (other hull); 1960-1961 (cases)
- Limitations
- Disambiguation record only - establishes that the litigation hits name a different hull; the three cases are about that ship and are non-asbestos regardless. Nothing here is an asbestos finding for either vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-11
-
[12]NARA record-group guides (RG 19-LCM photos; RG 24 deck logs; RG 32 EFC; RG 178 USMC); U.S. Army Signal Corps photo numbers per NavSource captions; Grover 1987 (bibliographic lead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG guides; NavSource photo credits; publisher record for Grover
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no spend authorized): NARA RG 19-LCM holds the Navy photo file for this hull (launch view NH 65050-A, Skinner & Eddy, 1918-09-21; Philadelphia arrival 1919-03-07). U.S. Army Signal Corps photos SC 126006 (Brooklyn Army Base, August 1941) and SC 140994 (late 1941, armed, neutrality markings) are in NARA Still Pictures. WWI deck logs for USS West Elcasco (ID-3661) are in RG 24; EFC/USSB construction records for hull 1927 in RG 32; the 1941 Maritime Commission conversion contract file (New Orleans, Army-funded) in RG 178; Army Transport Service vessel records for USAT Major General Henry Gibbins; and David Grover, 'U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II' (Naval Institute Press, 1987), the standard USAT reference, covers this hull.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1918-1942 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping and photo-number verification only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether any of these contain insulation schedules or asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-12
-
[13]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403 - standing gao.gov issue per BATCH-01)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program and its 1975/1979 insulation-removal policies - an era boundary for this hull: she was sunk 1942-06-23, three decades before the Navy's documented asbestos-control program, so no Navy abatement program record would be expected for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy era); hull lost 1942
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; does not name this vessel or any ammunition ship. Establishes era context only - explains why no Navy abatement record exists, not whether asbestos was aboard. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-13
-
[14]NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 'Potentially Polluting Wrecks in U.S. Waters - Vessels and Regions' list page [nps]
- Locator
- PPW vessel list (115 named wrecks); NOAA AWOIS endpoint wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov unreachable (SSL/connection failure)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The hull remains on the seabed at the recorded loss position (24 deg 35'N, 87 deg 45'W, Gulf of Mexico). It does not appear on NOAA's Potentially Polluting Wrecks in U.S. Waters priority list (the 115-vessel sanctuaries.noaa.gov PPW/RULET list was checked 2026-09-20; GIBBINS/ELCASCO absent). No wreck survey, salvage record, or environmental assessment for this hull was located; NOAA's AWOIS wrecks-and-obstructions service endpoint was unreachable this session (connection failure) and could not be checked.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Scoped negative: absence from the PPW priority list means the wreck was not prioritized for pollution-risk assessment - it does not establish the wreck's condition, contents, or absence of hazardous materials aboard. AWOIS could not be queried; charted-wreck status unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-gibbins-ae7-14