Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, online DANFS entry 'Hewell' (marked 'Partial update 19 June 2007'); live URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hewell.html returned 404 on 2026-09-20 — Wayback capture used [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC online DANFS 'Hewell' full entry text (Wayback 2020 capture); spec line and service paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC online DANFS: Hewell (AG-145: 515 t; 177'; 33' b; 10' dr; 13 kts; cpl 52; 2 .50-cal MG; class Camano), named for an island off the coast of Maine, was launched in 1944 by United States Concrete Pipe Corp., Los Angeles; served the U.S. Army as Freight and Supply (FS)-391; acquired by the Navy 2 Feb 1948, reclassified miscellaneous auxiliary and commissioned at Pearl Harbor 5 Jun 1948. Shakedown to Midway, Guam, Saipan; Service Force, Pacific Fleet; redesignated light cargo ship AKL-14 June 1949, carrying cargo among Pacific islands including the Caroline and Marshall Islands. From July 1950 based in Japan, shuttling supplies and ammunition between Japan, Okinawa, Guam and Korea; Pearl Harbor overhaul Aug 1951; shuttle route Japan–Korea Nov 1951–Mar 1953; further Pearl Harbor overhaul Apr–May 1953; supply runs continued through mid-1954. In late Aug 1954 sailed to Midway, mooring at the Naval Base 28 Aug, to help film Warner Brothers' Mister Roberts; underway footage off Midway harbor 1–16 Sep; returned to Hawaii 24–29 Sep; further filming off Kaneohe Bay 30 Sep–7 Oct 1954. Then to Astoria, Ore.; decommissioned 15 Mar 1955; Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; stricken 1 Nov 1959; sold to Steve Pickard 2 Jun 1960. Seven battle stars for Korean service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944–1960
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew (1948–1955); Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers (overhauls Aug 1951, Apr–May 1953); Warner Brothers film personnel aboard Aug–Oct 1954
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy ship-history text covering identity, chronology, overhauls, filming assignment, and awards. Contains no asbestos, materials, insulation, or condition information — supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC URL 404s (link rot also seen in Batch 01); content verified against a 2020 Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-01
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[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. 3 (1968), p. 322, 'Hewell' entry — transcription mirrored on hazegray (losthistory.net mirror); transcribed by Richard H. Bouchard [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- hazegray DANFS mirror, auxil/ag145.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Print DANFS (1968): Hewell (AG-145; dp 515; l 177'; b 33'; dr 10'; s 13 k; cpl 52; a 2 50-cal mg; cl Camano) launched 1944 by United States Concrete Pipe Corp., Los Angeles, Calif.; served the Army as FS-391; acquired 2 Feb 1948, commissioned 5 Jun 1948; Service Force Pacific shuttle duties; reclassified AKL-14 June 1949; Korea shuttle from Japan; decommissioned Astoria 15 Mar 1955; Pacific Reserve Fleet; stricken 1 Nov 1959; sold to Steve Pickard 2 Jun 1960; seven battle stars for Korean service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944–1960
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew (1948–1955)
- Limitations
- Print-edition DANFS corroborates the spec line, identity, chronology, and battle-star count; it predates the fuller online NHHC entry and lacks the Mister Roberts filming detail. No asbestos or materials content. Mirror transcription site is not itself official; text matches NHHC online version where they overlap.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-02
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[3]ShipScribe, 'USS Camano (AKL 1, FS Design 381 Part 1) Class' — class data page compiled from official Navy Ships' Data / contract records: construction and disposition tables [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/usnaux2/AKL/AKL01.html — Construction table row 14, Disposition table row 14, Class Notes paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ShipScribe construction table for the Camano class: AKL-14 HEWELL — builder United Concrete Pipe, Los Angeles; Army contract 24 Apr 1943; completed 25 Jul 1944; acquired by Navy 2 Feb 1948; commissioned 5 Jun 1948. Disposition table: decommissioned 'ca Oct 1954'; stricken 1 Nov 1959; disposal 2 Jun 1960 by Navy sale. Class notes: Design 381 was the Army 'Vessel, Supply, Diesel, Steel, 176-ft' built to specifications dated 1 Jun 1943 (eight addenda through 16 Aug 1944); United Concrete Pipe held contract blocks FS 387–393 and FS 546–550 (FS-391 falls inside); all ships of the design had Cleveland diesels. On 31 Mar 1949 the Navy established the AKL classification; AG 130–140, 143–145 and 398 reclassified AKL 1–14 and 398.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943–1960
- Population
- Construction workers, United Concrete Pipe yard, Los Angeles (1943–44)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary rendering of official Navy contract/ships'-data tables — not itself the underlying record. Resolves the DANFS 'launched 1944, date unknown' gap to a completion date of 25 Jul 1944, but its 'ca Oct 1954' decommissioning conflicts with DANFS's 15 Mar 1955 (kept as discrepancy, not merged). AKL effective-date framing (31 Mar 1949 classification decision) differs from DANFS/NavSource 'June 1949.' No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-03
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[4]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories' (media.defense.gov official .mil host) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Document preamble (JCS agreement; 288 vessels; design-series breakdown) — verified via search-index snippet; FS-391 page not directly read
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- USCG Historian's Office compilation documents that under a Joint Chiefs of Staff agreement of 14 Mar 1944 the Coast Guard manned five categories of Army Transportation Corps vessels (AMRS, TY, LT, FS, F), 288 Army craft in total; FS-140 through FS-234 were Design 330 and 'the rest were Design 381' — the design family of this hull (FS-391). NavSource's compiled record states FS-391 was USCG-manned and commissioned at Los Angeles 28 Jul 1944 under LTjg Ted C. Larsen, USCGR, serving the Southwest Pacific; Wikipedia's citation for the same claim is this USCG document.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944–1947
- Population
- U.S. Coast Guard crews manning Army FS vessels, Southwest Pacific (1944–1945)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation: the PDF is image-scanned and its per-hull FS-391 entry could not be text-read — automated fetch of media.defense.gov returned HTTP 403 and the Wayback copy is a scanned-image PDF. Hull attribution of Coast Guard manning is supported by NavSource plus a Wikipedia citation trail to this document, not by direct reading of the FS-391 page. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-04
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[5]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 Design 381 steel diesel freighter was built (contract 24 Apr 1943, completed 25 Jul 1944), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard vessels of the period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Era/program-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or this design, and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull — nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. A diesel-powered cargo vessel of this size has a narrower plausible product envelope than steam tonnage (no boiler or steam-line insulation).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-05
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[6]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive — USS Hewell (AKL-14) ex-AG-145 ex-USAV FS-391 page (compiled records, contributed photos, reproduced DANFS) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/09/49/49145.htm — chronology, campaign table, specifications block, CO roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record: FS-391 built for the Army at 'United Concrete Pipe, Long Beach, CA' (vs. Los Angeles in DANFS/ShipScribe); delivered to Army Quartermaster Corps Jul 1944; commissioned USAV FS-391 28 Jul 1944 at Los Angeles, LTjg Ted C. Larsen, USCGR; USCG-manned in the Southwest Pacific (FS-391 awards incl. American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Philippines Liberation Medal); acquired 2 Feb 1948; commissioned AG-145 5 Jun 1948; reclassified AKL-14 9 Jun 1949; Korean War campaign list (North Korean Aggression; Inchon Landing; Communist China Aggression; Second Korean Winter; Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korean Summer-Fall 1953); decommissioned Astoria 15 Mar 1955; Pacific Reserve Fleet Columbia River Group; stricken 1 Nov 1959; sold 2 Jun 1960 to Steve Pickard; 'scrapped at Lake Union, Seattle, circa 1973.' Specs listed: 500 lt / 705 fl t; 176'; 32'; 14' dr; 13 kts; complement 26; two 500-hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A diesels, twin screws. Commanding-officer roster and crew photos included.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944–1973
- Population
- USCG crew (1944–c.1947); Navy crew (1948–1955); reserve-fleet caretakers (1955–1959); scrapping workers (c.1973, unverified)
- Limitations
- Secondary volunteer-compiled archive — lead-quality, not an official record. Where NavSource conflicts with DANFS it is the outlier (builder city 'Long Beach'; complement 26 vs. DANFS 52). The Lake Union c.1973 scrapping datum is NavSource-only and unverified against a primary source. Campaign list is consistent with DANFS's seven battle stars. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-06
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[7]Batch-643 search ledger (this record): NHHC online + print DANFS; ShipScribe Camano-class tables; USCG Historian's Office FS-vessel compilation; NavSource photo archive; CourtListener API v4 + site-scoped web index; NVR; NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hewell-ag145-01 through sl-uss-hewell-ag145-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, government survey, or docketed case naming USS Hewell / AG-145 / AKL-14 / FS-391 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation check: CourtListener API v4 was rate-limit blocked (429, 125/day machine quota exhausted); a site-scoped web index search of CourtListener and of VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions surfaced only unrelated 'Hewell' surname collisions (Publix FLSA litigation, deposition transcripts) — no vessel hit.
- 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 1944-built steel freighter is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The litigation leg is incomplete: CourtListener API was throttled at the machine level and could not be queried directly; the site-scoped index search is a weaker substitute and is logged as such. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hewell-ag145-07
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[8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel — Navy deck logs), RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard — USCG-manned Army vessel records/logbooks), RG 92 (Quartermaster General — Army Transportation Corps vessel records); NHHC Deck Log Access guidance [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/24.html ; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/26.html ; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/092.html ; NHHC Deck Log Access guidance
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved — requires research-room work or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) Navy deck logs for AG-145/AKL-14, 1948–1955 (NARA, RG 24, College Park) — would document the two Pearl Harbor overhauls and the Mister Roberts filming period; (b) USCG-manned Army FS-vessel records incl. any FS-391 logbooks/records (RG 26); (c) Army Transportation Corps / Quartermaster construction and delivery records for FS-391 under the 24 Apr 1943 United Concrete Pipe contract (RG 92); (d) the 1960 Navy sale to Steve Pickard and any subsequent scrapping documentation — surplus-property disposal records.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943–1973 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-hewell-ag145-08