Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]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 World War II - the era of this hull's 1942 naval conversion and most of her service life (1939-built hull, Navy service 1941-1964). Wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard both naval and merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- 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. Her 1939 build predates the wartime peak the article documents, though the 1942 conversion and wartime service fall within it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-01
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[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (NHHC), 'Jupiter' (AK-43) entry - text verified via hazegray/losthistory.net transcription mirror [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Jupiter' (AK-43), full text; canonical NHHC page not located - three URL patterns returned 404 on 2026-09-21 (see search_ledger)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Jupiter (AK-43): built 1939 as Flying Cloud by Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; later renamed Santa Catalina; acquired by the Navy 1941-06-19 and renamed Jupiter the next day; commissioned 1942-08-22, Lt. Comdr. D. S. Baker in command. WWII service: Solomons supply runs Sept 1942-early 1943 supporting the Guadalcanal campaign; Tarawa (Gilberts) Nov 1943; assigned to 5th Amphibious Forces April 1944; Saipan June 1944 (discharged cargo under air attack); Palau Islands Sept 1944; Leyte Oct 1944; Iwo Jima Feb-Mar 1945 (cargo and 3d Marine Division units); Okinawa May 1945. Returned to San Francisco 1945-07-27 for conversion to aviation supply ship; redesignated AVS-8 1945-07-31. Decommissioned San Diego 1947-05-23. Recommissioned 1950-10-10 (Comdr. H. R. McKibben); Korea service out of Yokosuka Jan 1951-Aug 1952 and Mar-Oct 1953; Formosa-area replenishment 1954; operated out of Yokosuka 1955-1963 supporting the 7th Fleet. Struck from the Navy List 1965-08-01 and transferred to MARAD, NDRF Olympia WA. Six battle stars WWII; seven battle stars Korea. DANFS spec line: dp. 4,350; l. 459'2"; b. 63'1"; dr. 25'10"; s. 10 k.; cpl. 245; a. 1 4", 1 3", 4 20mm.; cl. Aldebaran.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1965
- Population
- Navy crew (cpl. 245 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- Official Navy history text (accessed via transcription mirror because the live NHHC page could not be located). Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement; supports no asbestos claim. The '10 k.' speed figure conflicts with MARAD's documented 15.5 knots (see correction row). Entry text predates the 1971 sale ('where she remains').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-02
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[3]U.S. Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images, 'USN Ships - USS Jupiter (AK-43, later AVS-8), 1941-1965' (ibiblio HyperWar mirror of history.navy.mil page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Ship page narrative + photo captions NH 97586, 80-G-427412, 80-G-427413 (Korea 1951-02-21 alongside USS Valley Forge; Sea of Japan 1953-08-01 from USS Boxer)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Historical Center Online Library ship page (via ibiblio/HyperWar mirror): describes Jupiter as a 5,994-ton Maritime Commission C2-Cargo type freighter, built in Kearny, N.J., as merchant ship Santa Catalina and acquired by the Navy June 1941; served as the U.S. Naval Cargo Ship Jupiter with a civilian crew until August 1942, when she was manned by a Navy crew and commissioned. Campaign summary matches DANFS (Solomons, Tarawa, Saipan, Palaus, Leyte, Iwo Jima, Okinawa); AVS-8 conversion completed after war's end; decommissioned May 1947; recommissioned October 1950; Yokosuka home port for nine years from March 1955; decommissioned and placed in MARAD reserve fleet June 1964; transferred to MARAD August 1965; sold for scrapping March 1971.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1941-1971
- Population
- Civilian merchant crew (1941-42 USNC period) then Navy crew
- Limitations
- Official NHC photo-archive page accessed via ibiblio mirror (live NHHC page not located). The '5,994-ton' figure is a merchant-tonnage description, not displacement - MARAD records 6,085 gross / 9,722 DWT. Contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-03
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[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - JUPITER (AK-43/AVS-8), Ship History Detail 2827, incl. digitized reserve-fleet status card (Form MA-383) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 2827 milestone table; status card scan /cards/2827_5260AF.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory database record 'JUPITER (AK-43/AVS-8)': year built 1939; U.S. Official No. 239070; shipyard Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock; type General Cargo / Break Bulk / MARAD type C2; length 459.0 ft, beam 63.2 ft, gross 6,085, net 3,597; fate 'Sold - Scrap'; name history FLYING CLOUD to JUPITER (AK-43/AVS-8). Milestones: MARAD custody entry/acquisition 1964-06-25; NDRF 1965; disposition/withdrawal 1971-03-30. Digitized reserve-fleet status card (Form MA-383, 'Reserve Fleet - Ship Particulars') adds: type 'Turbine C2-Cargo'; date built 11/1/39; hull no. 'MC-17; Bldrs-157'; entered Olympia fleet (Row E - Berth 2 - N) June 25, 1964 under D/H, temp custody 'Navy Reimbursable'; 'Marad title 8-1-65'; WITHDRAWN 3-30-71 1518 PST, reason 'SOLD SCRAP on PD-X-899 dated 3-12-71 to Zidell Explorations for $65,100. Contract 6274'; specs LOA 459.0, breadth 63.2, gross 6,085, DWT 9,722, speed 15.5 knots, depth 27.5.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1971
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones and disposal (sale contract PD-X-899 dated 3-12-71 vs physical withdrawal 3-30-71 - both documented; secondary sources citing only 'sold 12 March 1971' describe the sale date). Status card builder field appears to read 'Moore' - an apparent clerical error; every other source, including MARAD's own web record, gives Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock (see correction row). 'Navy Title 6/26/41' on the card vs DANFS acquisition 6/19/41 - title vs acquisition-date distinction, unresolved. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-04
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[5]U.S. Coast Guard / Navy Department Merchant Vessel Boarding Sheets (neutrality), Honolulu and San Francisco, 1941-42 - declassified NARA project NW 63684, attached to MARAD ShipHistory Detail 2827 (documents Jupiter_2827_001/003/004/005/006/007.pdf) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Detail 2827 'Documents' section, six digitized boarding-sheet PDFs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Declassified U.S. Coast Guard 'Merchant Vessel Boarding Sheet' documents attached to the MARAD record (NARA declassification project NW 63684) document the civilian-crewed U.S. Naval Cargo Ship period (1941-42): owner of vessel listed as 'U.S. Navy'; agents Matson Navigation Co.; normal speed 15.5 knots; gross tons ~6,085; maximum cargo capacity 9,722 tons; bunker capacity oil 9,300 bbls; crew 49-50 Americans (1942 San Francisco arrivals from Honolulu/Pago Pago); armament noted incl. a 4"/50 caliber low-angle gun aft. These predate the August 1942 Navy commissioning and corroborate DANFS/NHHC on the USNC period.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Population
- Civilian merchant crew (~49-50) under Navy custody
- Limitations
- Scanned wartime boarding forms read via OCR-style extraction - handwriting and scan quality make some fields unreliable; the fields cited (owner 'U.S. Navy', Matson agents, 15.5-knot normal speed, ~49-50 civilian crew) were legible. Documents port calls, crew, and specifications only - no asbestos, insulation, or materials content; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-05
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[6]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944); ToxicDocs archive; as cataloged in the AsbestosAtlas shipyard dataset (federal-shipbuilding-kearny flagship evidence) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ToxicDocs document scan; shipyard dataset entry federal-shipbuilding-kearny, evidence ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Yard-level documentation for the builder: an Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (1944-08-30 to 09-02), documented insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts measured during cutting and fitting; the survey was later introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in asbestos litigation (Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX, 1990). Establishes that asbestos products were in documented use at the yard that built this hull - in 1944, five years after Flying Cloud was delivered.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1944 survey; hull built 1939
- Population
- Shipyard insulators and pipefitters at Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny (1944)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard evidence, not hull evidence: the survey post-dates this vessel's November 1939 delivery by five years and documents yard practice, not this hull's materials. No construction-period (1939) survey located. Document hosted on a litigation-document archive (ToxicDocs); underlying survey is genuine but was produced by an asbestos manufacturer with commercial interest. Does not establish asbestos aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-06
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[7]Cross-source reconciliation: DANFS spec line; MARAD status card (MA-383) and database fields; NHHC photo page; NavSource class naming (via search snippet - NavSource unreachable, see ledger) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Detail 2827 + card 2827_5260AF.jpg; hazegray DANFS mirror; ibiblio NHHC page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies logged, none affecting identity: (a) builder - MARAD reserve-fleet status card's builder field appears to read 'Moore' while MARAD's own database record, DANFS, NHHC, and all secondary rosters give Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny; treated as a clerical card error. (b) speed - DANFS spec line lists 10 knots while the MARAD card and a 1942 USCG boarding sheet document 15.5 knots (and secondary sources give ~16); MARAD-documented 15.5 knots is carried as the more proximate record. (c) Navy acquisition - DANFS gives 1941-06-19 (renamed Jupiter 6-20) while the status card notes 'Navy Title 6/26/41' - likely acquisition vs title-transfer distinction; both stated, not merged. (d) class naming - DANFS class entry is Aldebaran (as AK); post-1945 AVS-8 class naming varies between 'Jupiter class' (NavSource) and 'Grumium class' framings; the hull designation AVS-8 is the stable fact. (e) merchant tonnage - NHHC page calls her a '5,994-ton' freighter while MARAD records gross 6,085 / DWT 9,722 - different measures, both stated by source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1939-1971 records
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level discrepancies across authoritative sources; none of the discrepancies affects the asbestos documentation level. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-07
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[8]Batch-928 search ledger (this record): DANFS via hazegray mirror; NHHC Online Library (ibiblio); MARAD ShipHistory Detail 2827 + status card + attached USCG documents; NVR (coverage boundary confirmed); site:va.gov BVA search; NavSource and Wayback attempted (unreachable); CourtListener attempted (throttled) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-jupiter-ak43-01 through sl-uss-jupiter-ak43-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court opinion, or VA benefits decision naming the Jupiter (AK-43/AVS-8) hull was found in the sources searched - DANFS and the NHHC photo page contain no asbestos or insulation statement; the MARAD record, reserve-fleet status card, and USCG boarding documents contain none; a site:va.gov search of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions surfaced no Jupiter-specific asbestos decision; CourtListener opinion/docket search could not be executed because the authenticated API was rate-limited (2800/day shared cap; ~4-hour backoff - not retried, per batch rule).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1939 turbine C2 with 1942 and 1945 Navy conversions is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation. The negative is itself incomplete: the CourtListener litigation sweep was blocked by API throttling and NavSource/Wayback were unreachable, so docket-level litigation and archive-mirror checks remain open. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jupiter-ak43-08
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[9]NARA, 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208) and 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog'; NavSource AVS-8 page war-diary index (snippet - host unreachable); NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 19 [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy ; https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online ; RG 19 guide https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no spend/reproduction authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel), Entry 118, National Archives Identifier 581208 - Navy deck logs; Jupiter was commissioned 1942-1964, so her deck logs should exist within this series (Special List #44 covers 1801-1947; post-1947 logs at Archives II, College Park - logs 1956-78 were partially closed during the VA Blue Water Navy digitization but WWII logs are being released into the Catalog); NavSource also indexes a 'USS Jupiter (AK-43) War Diary 1942-1945' and 'AVS-8 History and Action Reports, 1942-1945' - war diaries/action reports are NARA RG 38 materials. (b) NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) - the 1945 AVS conversion Booklet of General Plans and work packages, the likeliest surviving source for insulation/materials specs aboard this hull. (c) Olympia NDRF lay-up/inactivation records (1964) - any hazmat/condition survey would post-date Navy custody.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1941-1964 records
- Limitations
- Record-group and index 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-jupiter-ak43-09