USS Indus (AKN-1)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS entry: Indus (AKN-1) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry text, Indus (AKN-1), paragraphs 2-4

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS operational narrative: after additional equipment installation at Norfolk, shakedown in Chesapeake Bay to 14 March 1944; sailed Norfolk 1 April via Canal Zone, arrived Espiritu Santo 12 May 1944; directed and supported net installation at Seeadler Harbor from 1 June 1944; loaded gear at Milne Bay, installed nets at Mios Woendi 30 August; flagship for Commander 7th Fleet Service Forces during the Leyte operation, arriving Leyte Gulf 24 October, issuing stores and performing repair work and downing at least two Japanese aircraft during air raids; departed 6 December for Hollandia; joined service group for the Lingayen Gulf operation, departing 28 December and arriving the assault area 9 January 1945; established net defenses at Subic Bay from 28 February to 11 May 1945; Manila Bay, then Pearl Harbor (1 June-30 June), Eniwetok net defenses; at Pearl Harbor at Japanese surrender; cargo and net work at Eniwetok, Saipan, and Kwajalein to end of 1945; returned to Norfolk 14 March 1946 via the Panama Canal; decommissioned Norfolk 20 May 1946; returned to the Maritime Commission three days later. 'Indus received one battle star for World War II service.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1946

   Population

   Ship's company (complement 228 per DANFS), 1944-1946; embarked service-force and net-laying personnel supported

   Limitations

   Establishes the WWII service timeline and exposure window (1944-1946 active service). No asbestos or materials content in the source. Battle-star count discrepancy unresolved: DANFS states one battle star while the NavSource campaign table (drawn from CNO campaign-credit lists) lists two campaign credits (Leyte; Lingayen Gulf) - see gaps. Does not establish individual exposure or conditions aboard.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-02

2. [2]Shipscribe (S. S. Roberts), USS Indus (AKN-1) class page - compilation from BuShips/MC records and ship histories [other_primary]

   Locator

   Class Notes and Ship Notes tables, shipscribe.com/usnaux/AKN/AKN01.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Construction/conversion detail: keel laid 4 October 1943 at Bethlehem-Fairfield (MCE 1814); delivered to the Navy 93.2% complete; converted to a net cargo ship by Maryland Dry Dock Co., Baltimore (a few hundred yards up the Patapsco from the construction yard); all three AKNs then completed fitting out at Norfolk Navy Yard. Conversion scope (per VCNO/BuShips description, 20 Aug 1943): clear weather-deck spaces ~140 x 15 ft port and starboard forward of the bridge for assembling 73 x 40 ft net panels; a 'tween-deck working space fitted with work benches, welding equipment, and stowage for net tools/shackles; additional searchlights and cargo lights; two 38-ft buoy boats; extra-heavy deck gear, cutaway bulwarks, and built-up hatches. Original armament 1 x 5in/38, 1 x 3in/50, 12 x 20mm. Class design: 2,500 HP vertical triple-expansion machinery, one screw, 12.5 kts design speed.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-1944

   Population

   Conversion-yard workers (Maryland Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, Nov 1943-Feb 1944); Norfolk Navy Yard fitting-out crews; Bethlehem-Fairfield construction trades (1943)

   Limitations

   Secondary scholarly compilation of BuShips/Maritime Commission records (Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels lineage), not the underlying primary documents; figures trace to official records as compiled. Establishes the conversion event and yard populations only - no source states the materials scope of the conversion or whether asbestos-containing materials were installed or disturbed. Armament and speed figures differ from DANFS (see gaps). No asbestos content in the source; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-03

3. [3]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Detail 4796, including digitized Form MA-20 Record of Ship Sales and Reserve Fleet Division vessel-data cards [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 4796 milestone table; status-card scans /cards/4796_AF.jpg, 4796_8844AF.jpg, 4796_8844BF.jpg, 4796_8844BB.jpg

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Government custody record explicitly tying the merchant hull to this Navy vessel: vessel data card names 'THEODORE ROOSEVELT', former 'INDUS (AKN-1)', type EC2-S-C1, hull no. MCE-1814, built Beth-Fairfield 1943. Entered the reserve fleet 1946-05-23 (earlier card shows fleet 'JR' - James River). Repair Program FY1955 (Group 2): withdrawn 1954-11-08 (1345 hrs EST), repairs under GAA contractor Stockard Steamship Corp., returned 1955-01-17; subsequent card shows fleet Wilmington, NC ResFlt. Disposal: advertised for scrap under PD-X-586 (opened 1960-09-30, no bids); re-advertised PD-X-752 'scrap hull, US' (opened 1967-03-22); awarded to Horton Industries, Inc. 1967-03-24 for $50,600 under contract MA-4275; withdrawn from fleet and delivered to Horton Industries 1967-04-26 (1250 EST). Milestone table: 'Acquisition 5/23/1946 ex-INDUS'; 'Disposition/Withdrawl 4/26/1967, REPAIR PROGRAM 1955'. Status-card strip notes 'DELIVERED INCOMPLETE TO NAVY - 1943 / REDELIVERY BY NAVY'. Card figures: gross 7,176 tons, net 4,380, DWT 10,800 (sale card; earlier card shows 10,547), dimensions 417'8" x 56'10".

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1946-1967

   Population

   NDRF caretaker crews (James River 1946-1954; Wilmington 1955-1967); Stockard Steamship Corp. repair workers (Nov 1954-Jan 1955); Horton Industries shipbreaking workers (1967)

   Limitations

   Authoritative for government custody milestones and disposal chain. Card handwriting partially legible (the 'incomplete delivery' strip's latter lines are not confidently transcribed); the two cards record slightly different return times (1300 vs 1500 hrs EST) and DWT figures (10,800 vs 10,547). The earlier James River fleet assignment refines the 'Wilmington, N.C.' framing carried by DANFS/NavSource - see correction row. No asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information on the cards; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-04

4. [4]U.S. Maritime Commission, Instruction Manual for Operating and Maintaining 2500 H.P. Triple Expansion Marine Steam Engines, EC2-S-C1 Cargo Vessels (mirrored excerpt) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Mirrored excerpt, engine-cylinder insulation section

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   This hull was built to the EC2-S-C1 design (MARAD Type EC2-S-C1 confirmed on the MARAD record and status cards). The USMC operating manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant describes cylinder insulation of magnesia under sheet-iron lagging; insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and period steam-system gaskets, packing, and insulation felts commonly contained asbestos. Liberty hulls were mass-produced under emergency USMC specifications during the period when the federal government had reserved asbestos supply for shipbuilding.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943

   Population

   Construction trades (Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore, 1943); engine-room crew (wartime)

   Limitations

   Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual does not name this vessel and does not itself state 'asbestos' content; asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, condition, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation. The Navy AKN conversion may have altered the baseline fit; scope undocumented.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-05

5. [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 emergency construction program under which this EC2-S-C1 hull was built at Bethlehem-Fairfield and converted to naval use.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   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-indus-akn1-06

6. [6]U.S. EPA, Superfund Site Profile - Horton Iron and Metal, Wilmington, NC (NPL listed 2011; sitewide ROD signed 2018-09-06) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Site Profile, Background and Remedial Investigation timeline sections (2003/2011/2013 entries)

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   The hull was delivered to Horton Industries, Inc. at the Wilmington, NC reserve fleet on 1967-04-26 and scrapped there (complete by 1967-11-07). EPA documents that 'during the 1960s and 1970s, ship breaking of World War II Liberty ships took place in the two slips' at the Horton Iron and Metal site on the Northeast Cape Fear River, and that the Remedial Investigation reported asbestos (along with select VOCs, SVOCs, metals, PCBs, and pesticides) in surface soil at concentrations above preliminary screening criteria; the site was placed on the NPL in 2011.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1967 dismantling; EPA investigations 2003-2018

   Population

   Shipbreaking workers (Horton site slips, 1967); later remediation and site workers

   Limitations

   Site-level federal record: EPA does not name this hull or any vessel, and asbestos in site soil cannot be attributed to this hull's materials - the site hosted fertilizer manufacturing 1911-1954 and broke multiple Liberty ships over two decades. Establishes that this hull was dismantled at a site where EPA later documented asbestos contamination from an era of Liberty-ship breaking; does not establish that this hull contained asbestos, that breaking released fibers, or that any person was exposed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-07

7. [7]Batch-1111 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; MARAD ShipHistory Detail 4796 + status cards; shipscribe AKN-1 compilation; NavSource AKN index; EPA Horton Iron and Metal Superfund profile; CourtListener API v4 opinion searches [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-indus-akn1-01 through sl-uss-indus-akn1-12

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or materials statement naming this hull was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener searches ('USS Indus', 'AKN-1', 'Indus' + asbestos/vessel/ship variants, '"Theodore Roosevelt" asbestos ship', '"Maryland Drydock" asbestos', '"net cargo ship" asbestos') returned no docketed opinion naming this hull - all hits were name collisions ('Indus.' as Industries abbreviation; 'Theodore Roosevelt' as person/president). DANFS, the MARAD record, and the digitized status cards contain no asbestos information (see search_ledger).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   2026-09-22

   Limitations

   Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 EC2-S-C1 hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and EPA's site record confirms asbestos at its dismantling location. Does not establish presence or absence aboard the hull; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener covers published opinions; unindexed dockets, settled claims, and trust claims are outside its scope.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-08

8. [8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 24 (Naval Personnel/deck logs); NHHC deck-log access guidance [other_primary]

   Locator

   https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; /groups/178.html ; https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks ; https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/15/1501.htm

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - record-group mapping only; no reproduction spend authorized): RG 19 BuShips records may hold the AKN conversion files generated from the 1943-08-20 VCNO conversion description (conversion drawings, outfitting specifications for Maryland Dry Dock work); RG 178 Maritime Commission construction records may cover MCE hull 1814 outfitting at Bethlehem-Fairfield; WWII deck logs for USS Indus (1944-1946) are in NARA custody under RG 24 (deck logs 1941-1959 at the National Archives, College Park); a veteran-published ship book ('The Indus Log') is referenced on the NavSource page as an informal source - non-authoritative lead only.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-1967 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of 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-indus-akn1-09

9. [9]MARAD ShipHistory status cards for THEODORE ROOSEVELT (ex-INDUS) vs DANFS/NavSource secondary framing [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   Status-card scans 4796_8844BF.jpg (fleet 'JR', entry 5-23-46), 4796_8844AF.jpg (Wilmington fleet; repair annotations), 4796_8844BB.jpg (incomplete-delivery strip)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Source discrepancies resolved in favor of the primary record: (a) Reserve-fleet berth - DANFS ends 'she is berthed at Wilmington, N.C.' and NavSource simplifies 'Laid up in the NDRF, Wilmington, N.C.'; the earlier MARAD status card instead shows fleet 'JR' (James River) with fleet entry 1946-05-23, a FY1955 repair-program withdrawal (1954-11-08, GAA Stockard Steamship Corp.), and the later card shows Wilmington ResFlt with return 1955-01-17 - i.e., James River 1946-1954, then Wilmington 1955-1967. (b) Completion state - the status-card strip's 'DELIVERED INCOMPLETE TO NAVY - 1943' matches the shipscribe BuShips-compiled 'delivered 93.2% complete,' explaining the gap between Navy acquisition (1943-11-05) and commissioning (1944-02-15).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1946-1967

   Limitations

   Corrects secondary-source simplifications using digitized primary custody records; does not affect the asbestos posture. Residual conflicts carried in gaps: battle-star count (one per DANFS vs two campaign credits in NavSource's CNO-derived table); speed (11 kts per DANFS and status card vs 12.5 kts design per shipscribe); original armament (1x5in + 4x40mm per DANFS vs 1x5in/38 + 1x3in/50 + 12x20mm per shipscribe); card return-time entry 1300 vs 1500 hrs EST.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-indus-akn1-10

10. [10]Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS entry: Indus (AKN-1) [nhhc_danfs]

    Locator

    DANFS entry text, Indus (AKN-1); page live-verified via direct fetch 2026-09-22

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    DANFS statistics line: AKN-1, displacement 4,023 lt., length 441'6", beam 56'11", draft 28'4", speed 11 k., complement 228, armament 1 x 5in and 4 x 40mm, class Indus, type EC2-S-C1. The hull was launched as Liberty ship Theodore Roosevelt by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc., Baltimore, MD, 29 October 1943 under Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. William MacMillan (granddaughter of President Theodore Roosevelt); acquired by the Navy 5 November 1943; converted at Maryland Dry Dock Co.; renamed Indus; commissioned 15 February 1944, Comdr. A. S. Einmo in command.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    supporting

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-22

    Study period

    1943-1946

    Limitations

    Establishes identity, builder, conversion yard, commissioning, and outfitting statistics. DANFS does not state the keel-laying date (1943-10-04 carried from BuShips-compiled class data - see ev-uss-indus-akn1-03) and was written while the ship was still in the reserve fleet ('she is berthed at Wilmington, N.C.'). No asbestos or materials content in the source; supports no asbestos claim.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-indus-akn1-01