USS Hyades (AF-28)

Evidence

8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).

1. [1]Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS, 'Hyades' (AF-28) - published 2015-07-21; live page returned 404 on 2026-09-20; text verified via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2024-05-25 and the losthistory.net/hazegray DANFS transcription [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Hyades' entry (AF-28); mirror transcription https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/auxil/af28.htm

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS (NHHC) record for Hyades (AF-28): ex-SS Iberville, launched under Maritime Commission contract by Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, Ala., 12 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. L. R. Sanford; commissioned at Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, after conversion, 1 August 1944, Comdr. M. C. Wheyland in command. Class data line: dp. 7,700 lt.; l. 468'9"; b. 63'; dr. 25'11"; s. 16 k.; cpl. 252; a. 1 5", 4 3"; cl. Hyades; T. C2-S-E1. Service narrative: rescued 61 survivors of USS Warrington in the September 1944 Caribbean hurricane; Majuro/Kwajalein/Eniwetok/Philippines stores runs 1944-45; China service 1946-47 (Tsingtao, Hong Kong, Shanghai); joined Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk June 1948; Mediterranean 6th Fleet replenishment 1948-1967 including Suez crisis (1956), Jordan support (1957), Crete/Turkey (1958), Berlin crisis (1959); Guantanamo Bay dependent evacuation and quarantine-line replenishment in the 1962 Cuban missile crisis; helicopter deck installed at Horne Bros. Shipyard, Newport News, Va., December 1962; based at Norfolk through the mid-1960s (narrative ends fall 1967).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1942-1967

   Limitations

   Authoritative for identity, construction, and service history through 1967. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or hazardous-material statement, and does not cover decommissioning/stricken/disposal (narrative ends 1967). Supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-01

2. [2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - HYADES (AF-28), Ship History Detail 2282 (incl. digitized status card and HYADES.pdf) [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 2282, vessel particulars and milestone table; status card scan 2282_4245AF.jpg

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory database record for HYADES (AF-28): U.S. Official No. 0898575; year built 1943; shipyard Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation; MARAD type C2-S-E1; length 469.75 ft, beam 63.00 ft, gross tons 6165, displacement summer 13,893 / lightweight 7,700; fate 'Scrapped.' Milestones: Entry and Acquisition 18 March 1969; Disposition and Withdrawal 17 January 1984 (status-card line 'CUST 1969 NDRF 1969'). Mission tags: World War II, Suez Crisis.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1943-1984

   Limitations

   Authoritative for government custody milestones and vessel particulars; milestone table records custody events, not the decommissioning itself. Status-card document is an image scan not text-legible via automated fetch. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-02

3. [3]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Hyades (AF-28) page (navsource.org/archives/09/06/0628.htm) - non-official archive compiling official register data, NHHC photos, and DANFS; live fetch failed 2026-09-20, text via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2025-05-12 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource AF-28 page, chronology and specifications sections

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive compilation for USS Hyades (AF-28): laid down 12 October 1942 as SS Iberville, MC type C2-S-E1, MC contract 481, Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL; launched 12 June 1943; partial commission 27 September 1943 for transit to Bethlehem Steel Co., Baltimore MD (CDR Charles D. Schultz USNR, Ferry Crew #7); decommissioned 30 September 1943; recommissioned as stores ship 1 August 1944; decommissioned 18 March 1969; laid up NDRF James River Group, Lee Hall, VA, 18 March 1969; custody transferred to MARAD 1 September 1971; struck from Naval Register 1 October 1976; disposed by MARAD 17 January 1984, exchange-trade-out scrap ship to Jacobson Metal Co. 13 October 1983. Plant spec: 1 GE steam turbine, single screw, 6,000 shp; 2 B&W header-type boilers, 450 psi, 750F; double GE main reduction gears; 3 turbo-drive 300 kW DC generators; complement 22 officers + 230 enlisted; awards include China Service Medal (extended), Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia and Europe clasps), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Cuba, Lebanon).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1942-1984

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation reproducing official register/status-card data; retirement dates corroborated against MARAD milestones (NDRF entry 18 Mar 1969, disposal 17 Jan 1984) but its 'decommissioned 18 March 1969' conflicts with shipscribe's 31 December 1968 (see gaps). Propulsion/equipment spec is descriptive only - it does not state or imply asbestos content. Supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-03

4. [4]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Hyades (AF-28)' class page (usnaux/AF/AF28.html), S. S. Roberts 2001 - secondary compilation from Naval Vessel Register / Bureau of Ships records [other_primary]

   Locator

   AF-28 class page: Construction, Disposition, Class Notes, Ship Notes tables

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts) class compilation for HYADES (AF-28), from official records: class comprises Hyades AF-28 (MC hull 481, ex merc. Iberville) and Graffias AF-29 (MC hull 485, ex merc. Topa Topa), both built Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, AL; C2-S-E1 was a Waterman Steamship-developed C2 variant, 30 built at Chickasaw; Navy acquisition history documents MC hull 481 recommended for acquisition by the Auxiliary Vessels Board 16 July 1943 as 'Provision Stores Ship (for Fleet Issue)'; AF-28 delivered incomplete, ferry commission 30 Sep-14 Oct 43, converted by Bethlehem Steel, Key Highway, Baltimore; decommissioned 31 December 1968; struck 1 October 1976; disposal (MARAD/title) 1 September 1971; MA sale 13 October 1983; to NDRF 18 March 1969, to buyer 17 January 1984. Class data: 6,313 t light / 15,300 t lim; 468.7 ft oa; 15.5 kts; GE turbine 6,000 hp, 1 screw; 1944 complement 209.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1942-1984

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation; the VCNO/BuShips 'insulation' correspondence quoted in class notes concerns refrigerated cargo-hold insulation for frozen-beef carriage - NOT asbestos - and is not used as asbestos evidence. Decommission date 31 Dec 1968 conflicts with NavSource 18 Mar 1969 (see gaps). No asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-04

5. [5]Inference row keyed to this record's own documentation: DANFS class data (T. C2-S-E1, 16 k., 252 cpl.); NavSource plant spec (B&W boilers, GE turbine); shipscribe design notes (C2-S-E1 Waterman variant, fleet-issue conversion) [other_primary]

   Locator

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-01, -03, -04 (design and plant documentation)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Class/era inference: the hull was built 1942-44 as a Maritime Commission C2-S-E1 at Gulf Shipbuilding, Chickasaw, with a conventional steam plant (2 Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 450 psi/750F; GE turbine, single screw) and was converted to a refrigerated provision stores ship at Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, 1943-44 - construction period and plant type for which era-typical asbestos applications included boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and insulation in machinery and accommodation spaces.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1942-1944 construction/conversion

   Population

   Construction and conversion trades (Gulf Shipbuilding Chickasaw 1942-43; Bethlehem Steel Baltimore 1943-44); ship's engineering crew

   Limitations

   Era/design inference only - no source names asbestos aboard this hull. The refrigerated-hold insulation documented in shipscribe's class notes was cargo insulation (frozen-beef carriage) and is not evidence of asbestos. Does not establish presence, quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-05

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 Maritime Commission emergency-construction program under which this C2-S-E1 hull was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in ship construction.

   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

   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-hyades-af28-06

7. [7]Batch-526 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (Wayback); MARAD ShipHistory 2282 + status card; NavSource AF-28 (Wayback); shipscribe AF-28; NVR coverage statement; CourtListener 'Hyades' / 'AF-28' / 'USS Hyades' searches; veteran-claims and abatement searches [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-hyades-af28-01 through sl-uss-hyades-af28-11

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed case naming the Hyades AF-28 hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search on 'Hyades' returned 17 hits - all name collisions (pre-1955 opinions on earlier vessels named Hyades, a masonic lodge, a social club); 'AF-28' returned 5 hits - all collisions (exhibit/item numbers in unrelated cases, incl. the Bertoglio v. Texas International securities opinion); 'USS Hyades' returned 0. Naval Vessel Register carries no record (ships disposed before 1987 outside coverage). Non-authoritative marketing pages claiming generic stores-ship asbestos exist but are excluded as sources. Searches were scoped to USS Hyades (AF-28), 1942-1984; the later USNS Hyades (T-AF-28), a different 1960s stores ship of the same name and number, was treated as a collision and excluded.

   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 1942-44 steam auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-07

8. [8]NARA record-group guidance (RG 24 deck logs; BuShips records); MARAD ShipHistory Detail 2282 status-card and document scans [other_primary]

   Locator

   https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/24.html ; MARAD Detail 2282 status card (image scan)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival lead (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel) deck logs for AF-28, 1943-1969; Bureau of Ships conversion/work-package records for the 1943-44 Bethlehem Steel Baltimore conversion and the December 1962 Horne Bros. Shipyard helicopter-deck availability (yard-period records are where insulation disturbance, if documented, would appear); Maritime Commission contract records for MC hull 481 (Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw); the MARAD vessel status card (image scan posted on Detail 2282, not text-legible) and NDRF/scrapping-contract files for the 1983-84 Jacobson Metal disposal may hold hazmat declarations.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-20

   Study period

   1942-1984 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for MC hull 481 / AF-28 is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-hyades-af28-08