Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'Herald of the Morning II (AP-173)', Naval History Division / NHHC (entry dated 2015-07-15); transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Herald of the Morning II (AP-173)', full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Launched 14 August 1943 under Maritime Commission contract by Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA (sponsor Mrs. J. R. Moore); served with U.S. Lines; converted to Navy use at United Engineering Co., Alameda, CA; acquired on loan-charter and commissioned 22 April 1944, Comdr. H. A. Dunn in command. Pacific service: Saipan (arrived 16 June 1944), Palaus diversion off Babelthuap and Angaur landings (September 1944), Leyte Northern Attack Force (20 October 1944) and Dulag reinforcement run (23 November 1944) under air attack, Lingayen Gulf (9 January 1945) under heavy air attack, Mindoro lift (9 February 1945), Iwo Jima veteran embarkation (9-27 March 1945), Manila run (arrived 29 July 1945), then Operation Magic Carpet (four voyages). Released for deactivation 21 June 1946; decommissioned 9 August 1946 at Olympia, WA and returned to the Maritime Commission; subsequently sold to Waterman Lines (sailed as Citrus Packer to 1958), then Gulf-South American Lines as Gulf Trader. Five battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Navy crew and embarked troops, 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction, combat service, and custody milestones. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, crew-exposure, or crew-figure information whatsoever. The canonical NHHC URL (history.navy.mil/.../danfs/h/herald-of-the-morning.html) returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-25; the HyperWar mirror was used - NHHC permalink needs re-locating before production use (same standing defect as Batch-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - HERALD OF THE MORNING, Detail 2196, incl. three digitized status-card scans (2196_4084AF/AB/BF) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 2196, milestones/status-card fields 1-22 and reverse-side memo entries
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD record for U.S. Official No. 244750: type C2-S-B1 break-bulk cargo, built 1943 by Moore Shipbuilding/Moore Dry Dock Co.; 6,214 GRT, 3,508 NRT, 8,663 DWT, ~13,860 displacement; 438.9 ft x 63.1 ft x 27.7 ft. Status card: entered Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay (SUI/SBRF, berth B-23) 1946-10-09; last-voyage termination port Seattle; preliminary allocation 519A to Waterman Steam Ship Corp. 1948-02-02, final allocation 512A 1948-02-04 ('to be reconverted'); approved reconversion allowances noted 1948-10-27; withdrawn from fleet 1948-04-08, 'delivered to Purchaser'. Card memo records later non-government history: '1958, HERALD OF THE MORNING, sold to Gulf South America Line.' Separate card note: Pacific Far East Line undertook to replace motor and fan if the vessel were withdrawn (letter 1947-02-10).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1958
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones and registry particulars; status-card handwriting partially legible (read directly from card scans). Contains no asbestos, materials, insulation, or condition-survey content. MARAD's 'Fate: Sold - No Further Info' reflects the end of federal custody (1948 sale), not final disposition. The card records the vessel under HERALD OF MORNING even in the 1958 memo - merchant rename dates are not established by this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-02
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[3]Puget Sound Tug & Barge Co. v. Waterman S. S. Corp. (and Shipowners & Merchants Towboat Co. v. Waterman S. S. Corp.), 98 F. Supp. 123 (N.D. Cal. 1951), aff'd, Waterman S. S. Corp. v. Shipowners & Merchants Towboat Co. (The Sea Fox), 199 F.2d 600 (9th Cir. 1952) - CourtListener clusters 8751716 / 230338 [court_record]
- Locator
- 98 F. Supp. 123 (Nos. 25538, 25539, Roche C.J.); 199 F.2d 600 (No. 13135, per curiam)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Federal admiralty record naming this hull: Waterman purchased the S.S. Herald of the Morning from the U.S. Maritime Commission 'for reconversion to a cargo vessel'; the Maritime Commission contracted Pacific Car & Foundry (d/b/a Everett Pacific Shipbuilding & Drydock, Everett, WA) for the reconversion; the dead ship (no propulsion, crew of 16) left San Francisco Bay under tow by the tug Sea Fox on 1948-11-05; after tow-wire partings on 11-07 and again during heavy weather on 11-14, the vessel went adrift in a full gale; salvage efforts by Sea Fox with Coast Guard cutter Balsam and tugs Neptune and Hercules followed. District court awarded salvage to the tug; the Ninth Circuit affirmed (findings 'not clearly erroneous'). The opinion describes the vessel as 'a C-2 type vessel of 6,214 gross tons' - consistent with the MARAD record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1948-1952
- Population
- Skeleton crew of 16 aboard the dead ship during the November 1948 tow casualty
- Limitations
- Other litigation - an admiralty towage-versus-salvage dispute, affirmed at the appellate level on the facts. Names the hull and documents the 1948 purchase-for-reconversion and the reconversion yard, but contains no asbestos, materials, or exposure content. Confirms she still carried the name Herald of the Morning in November 1948.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-03
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[4]George Anderson v. The SS Gulf Trader, Her Engines, Tackle, Furniture and Apparel, and Gulf & South American Steamship Co., Inc., and New Orleans Stevedoring Co., 415 F.2d 316 (5th Cir. 1969) [court_record]
- Locator
- 415 F.2d 316 (5th Cir. July 30, 1969)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Fifth Circuit affirmance naming this hull under her Gulf Trader name: a longshoreman loading and stowing sacked cargo in a 'tween-deck locker was struck by falling sacks and permanently injured; the district court found the ship unseaworthy and awarded $75,000, with recovery over against the impleaded stevedore; the Fifth Circuit affirmed on clearly-erroneous review (decided 1969-07-30).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1969 (opinion); injury aboard Gulf Trader, late 1960s
- Population
- Longshoreman cargo handlers aboard the vessel, late 1960s
- Limitations
- Other litigation - a longshoreman unseaworthiness/Sieracki-type injury case, NOT an asbestos or occupational-exposure matter. Establishes the vessel's continued operation as Gulf Trader under Gulf & South American Steamship Co. into 1969 and a then-current condition finding; provides no asbestos evidence and does not adjudicate any exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-04
-
[5]Seafarers LOG (Seafarers International Union), 'This Month in SIU History' reprint (Vol. 72, No. 10, October 2010, p. 17) of the 1951 deck-delegate report from SS Citrus Packer (originally Vol. 13, No. 24, 1951-11-30, p. 3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Seafarers LOG Oct 2010 archive PDF, 'Two crew members of the SS Citrus Packer' item
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Union-press primary report naming this hull under the Citrus Packer name: two crew members - George W. Miller (25) and Lewis W. High - 'slain by North Korean gunfire along the invasion road between Inchon and Seoul' after leaving the ship at Inchon on 1950-10-01; bodies later recovered. Confirms the vessel trading in the Korean combat zone as a Waterman freighter in October 1950 under the Citrus Packer name.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1950 (event); 1951/2010 (reports)
- Population
- Merchant crew of SS Citrus Packer, Korean War merchant sealift
- Limitations
- A union newspaper's reprint of a shipboard delegate's letter - primary for the crew-casualty event and the vessel's name/presence at Inchon, but not an official casualty or merchant-registry record. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-05
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[6]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., Drinker, P., 'A Health Survey of Pipe Covering Operations in Constructing Naval Vessels,' J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28(1):9-16 (1946), PMID 21016030 - U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial hygiene survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28:9-16, Tables 1-4 (material analyses and dust counts)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Contemporaneous government-commissioned survey documenting that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U. S. Navy vessels is amosite' (a South African asbestos), with dust counts and worker X-ray examinations in pipe-covering operations at two government Navy yards and two Navy contract yards (anonymized A-D) during WWII naval-vessel construction. Directly documents that WWII-era naval vessels carried amosite-asbestos pipe insulation applied in contract-yard conditions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1942-1945 survey period
- Population
- Pipe coverers, insulators, and nearby trades at WWII Navy contract yards (construction-phase population)
- Limitations
- Yards and vessels are anonymized in the published study - it does not name this hull, the C2-S-B1 type, or Moore Dry Dock. Application to this vessel is era/yard-type inference only. NOTE: the paper's exculpatory conclusion (pipe covering 'not a dangerous occupation') is itself contested - a 2026 critique (DOI 10.1177/10482911261446696) documents the study's flaws and calls for retraction; the asbestos-material finding stands independent of that conclusion.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-06
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[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 documenting that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and program under which this C2-S-B1 hull was built (1943) and Navy-converted (1944).
- 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 its builder 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-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-07
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[8]AsbestosAtlas shipyards.json yard record 'moore-dry-dock-oakland' (evidence_tier 2): cites Fleischer-Drinker 1946 USMC-commissioned survey and W.A. Simons Asbestos Trust California Site List (Sep. 2020), which designates MOORE DRY DOCK-OAKLAND, CA (Adeline St.) as Exposure Level H (High) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyard-exposure-map/client/src/data/shipyards.json, yard_id moore-dry-dock-oakland
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The builder yard of this hull (Moore Dry Dock, Oakland) is a documented WWII asbestos-exposure shipyard: the yard record documents amosite pipe covering, asbestos boiler block, gaskets, millboard, and deck covering at the yard and a peak wartime workforce of ~37,000.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Moore Dry Dock construction trades, 1943 (hull construction phase)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard documentation, not a hull record - establishes that the construction environment of this hull was an asbestos-intensive yard, not that this hull was surveyed or that asbestos was installed/abated on it. The trust site list is bankruptcy-claims documentation, not a government finding; the cited dust-survey yards were anonymized.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-08
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[9]National Archives (NARA) leads not yet digitized: U.S. Maritime Commission records (contract MC-1161 file; 1948 Everett Pacific reconversion contract documented in 98 F. Supp. 123); Navy BuShips/conversion records for the 1944 United Engineering Co. transport conversion [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 178 (USMC) and RG 19 (BuShips) candidate series; reconversion contract referenced in 98 F. Supp. 123
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documented-but-undigitized record series that plausibly contain this hull's material specifications: the MC construction contract file, the Navy conversion record (United Engineering, Alameda, early 1944), and the MC-funded reconversion contract (Pacific Car & Foundry/Everett Pacific, 1948) - the last an explicit government-paid restoration of a WWII cargo hull, the most likely point at which original insulation was removed or replaced.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - record existence and contents unverified; no material or asbestos content confirmed. If located, these files are the likeliest route to ship-specific insulation documentation for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-09
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[10]Batch-2100 search ledger (this record): CourtListener opinion and docket searches for 'Herald of the Morning', 'AP-173', 'Citrus Packer', 'Gulf Trader' asbestos, and 'Moore Dry Dock' asbestos; MARAD ShipHistory; DANFS; Seafarers LOG archive; NARA lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement or reconversion-materials contract, hazmat disclosure, or asbestos-litigation opinion/docket naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation hits name the hull in two admiralty salvage opinions (1951-52) and one longshoreman unseaworthiness affirmance (1969) - all non-asbestos; 'AP-173' and 'Citrus Packer' hits are name collisions; 'Gulf Trader' asbestos and 'Moore Dry Dock' asbestos opinion searches returned no exposure case naming the vessel or its builder in an asbestos matter.
- 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 1943 steam-plant hull of this era would era-typically have carried asbestos insulation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility; the honest status is 'no ship-specific documentation'.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-herald-of-the-morning-ap173-10