Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. III (Naval History Division, 1968), 'Kennebago' p.617 - NHHC online edition (history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kennebago.html) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. III p.617 (Internet Archive scan dictionaryofamer03wash); NHHC live page returned 404 2026-09-24 - text verified verbatim against Wayback capture 2024-05-26 (web.archive.org/web/20240526175129/.../kennebago.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (Vol. III, p.617): Kennebago (AO-81), Escambia class, MC type T2-SE-A2 - laid down under Maritime Commission contract by 'Marineship' [sic: Marinship] Corp., Sausalito, CA, 1943-01-09; launched 1943-05-09 (sponsor Mrs. W. E. Waste); acquired by Navy 1943-07-30; converted by Matson Navigation Co., San Francisco; commissioned 1943-12-04, Comdr. B. N. Bock in command. Wartime service: Aleutians fuel runs 1944-01-24 to 02-19; Service Force Pacific Fleet fueling runs Marshalls/Pearl Harbor from April 1944; Marianas (off Saipan from 1944-06-22); Palaus (from 1944-09-11); sortied Manus 1944-10-09 with two other oilers to rendezvous with Mitscher's TF 38, refueled until 10-23; Ulithi-based replenishment east of the Philippines 11-12 to 11-24 and 12-16 to 12-25; Lingayen Gulf support during Formosa-Luzon strikes 1945-01-03 to 01-09; anchorage fueling Florida Island, Solomons, February-March; stateside via Los Angeles 1945-04-24; overhaul at Terminal Island Navy Yard; returned to Ulithi 1945-07-04; at-sea replenishment off Honshu during final strikes through 1945-08-28. Post-surrender: Okinawa 09-19 to 10-05; Taku, China fueling 7th Fleet ~2 months from 1945-10-09; Hong Kong departure 1946-02-17; Boston 1946-04-19; decommissioned 1946-07-19. Six battle stars. To Maritime Commission 1947-05-24; reacquired/assigned MSTS 1949-10-01; reactivated September 1950 (Korea Far East fuel); Atlantic/Pacific/Mediterranean service; inactivated Beaumont TX 1957-11-27 and transferred to Maritime Administration same day; returned to MSTS 1958-05-23 (Pacific logistics incl. Arctic base supply); 6th Fleet Mediterranean late 1958-early 1959; New York 1959-05-22; to Maritime Administration 1959-06-23, NDRF James River; transferred to Army 1966-05-20 for use as a floating power plant in South Vietnam.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1966
- Population
- Commissioned-era crew ~267 (DANFS cpl. figure); wartime Pacific service
- Limitations
- Official ship biography; establishes identity, construction, operations, and custody through the 1966 Army transfer. Contains no asbestos or materials statement; DANFS prints no strike date (see ev-04 correction row). 'Marineship Corp.' is a DANFS typo for Marinship Corp. Does not establish exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - KENNEBAGO (AO-81), Ship History Detail 2855, including five digitized Reserve Fleet vessel-data/status cards (MA-383 forms) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 2855 milestone table; status-card scans 2855_5304AF/AB (James River 1959-1966 card + back), 2855_5304BF (Beaumont 1957-1958 card), 2855_5304CF/CB (James River 1947 card + GE warning note)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record for KENNEBAGO (AO-81): Marinship Corporation, 1943, MARAD type T2-SE-A2; milestones show NDRF entry/acquisition 1947-05-24 'FROM NUCLEUS FLEET' and disposition/withdrawal 1966-05-20 'DELIVERED TO ARMY'; fate 'Sold - Scrap'. Digitized MARAD status cards (primary custody record) document: James River entry 1947-05-24 (MC hull 1260); withdrawal 1947-10-20 delivered to Navy; card-back note 'Navy (title) 1-16-48'; Beaumont NDRF entry 1957-11-27 (title 'Navy - Ready Status'), withdrawn 1958-05-23 'Navy Operation 1958 Arctic Season - See MSTS letter May 7, 1958'; James River re-entry 1959-06-23 (service prior to lay-up 'MSTS Nucleus Fleet'; title 'Reimbursable / USMA Perm. Transfer'); withdrawn 1966-05-20 'Physically delivered and permanently transferred to Department of Army - Army Materials Command' with annotation 'FLOATING POWER PLANT'; 'SOLD FOR SCRAP UNDER PD-X-983 9-9-74'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1947-1974
- Limitations
- Authoritative primary custody record; card handwriting partially ambiguous (1947 withdrawal date '10-20-4?' read as 1947-10-20 consistent with Shipscribe 'reactivation began 20 Oct 47'). A card-back notice requires GE notification before restarting the main generator turbine (GE letter 1947-01-17). Cards contain no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; the 1966 Army power-plant conversion scope is not described. Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-02
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[3]NavSource Online, Service Ship Photo Archive - USS Kennebago (AO-81) / USNS Kennebago (T-AO-81), navsource.net/archives/09/19/19081.htm [other_primary]
- Locator
- Archive page: chronology, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions (Mare Island yard photos 5746-43/8274-43/8302-43; NH 78568; Nha Trang power-station photo)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource service-ship archive page for AO-81/T-AO-81: Escambia-class fleet oiler; MC T2-SE-A2 hull 1260 at Marinship; campaign-credit table supporting six battle stars (Marianas, Tinian, Western Carolines, Leyte incl. Surigao Strait, Luzon, 3d Fleet operations against Japan); Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp) and China Service Medal (extended) periods; commanding officers (CDR Brainerd N. Bock 1943-12-04 to 1944-06-02; LCDR Charles W. Brockway to 1946-06-19; LTjg Hansy N. Jorgensen to 1946-07-19); overhaul at Navy Yard Mare Island 1943-12-04 to 12-16 (per photo captions); post-service: Army transfer 1966-05-20, conversion to Mobile Army Emergency Power Plant for Vietnam service (photo caption: ex-Kennebago and ex-Tamalpais as floating power stations at Nha Trang, in role until at least May 1971); title to MARAD 1974-09-09; sold for scrapping under PD-X-983 same day to China Dismantled Vessel Trading Corp. Ltd., Taiwan. Specs: 5,782 t light/22,380 t full; 523'6" x 68' x 30'10"; one GE turbo-electric engine, two Babcock & Wilcox D-type boilers 600 psi/825 F; single propeller 10,000 shp; cargo 120,400 bbl oil + 575,000 gal gasoline; complement 22 officers + 245 enlisted.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Commissioned-era crew (22 officers + 245 enlisted per NavSource specs)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained secondary archive compiled largely from official sources (DANFS, NVR, MARAD, NARA photos); used for particulars not in DANFS (COs, specs, sale buyer). Its 'Struck from the Naval Register, 29 July 1946' entry is chronologically impossible (ship served MSTS to 1959) and is treated as an error - see ev-04 and gaps. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-03
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[4]Shipscribe.com, 'USS Escambia (AO-80) Class' data page - construction table, disposition table, class notes, and per-ship notes (Stephen S. Roberts compilation of Naval Vessel Register and Maritime Commission records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AO-80 class page: construction table row AO-81; disposition table row AO-81; class notes; ship notes AO-81
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe (S.S. Roberts) Escambia-class page, compiled from NVR/MC records - ship note for AO-81 (MC 1260): 'Delivered 92.3% complete, converted by Matson Navigation Co., San Francisco. Decomm. 19 Jul 46, to MC 24 May 47, stk. 10 Jun 47. Began reactivation 20 Oct 47, from MC 16 Jan 48 as USNT, to MSTS 1 Oct 49. In USN reserve 1949-50 (from MSTS 25 Jan 50). On list 20 Mar 50. To MSTS 21 Jul 50. To NDRF 27 Nov 57, from NDRF 23 May 58. From MA to Army 20 May 66 for use as powerfloat in Vietnam.' Class disposition table: strike 1959-06-23 / disposal 1959-06-23 (MA/R), MA sale 1974-09-09. Class notes: the uprated 10,000 hp GE plant was developed for the P2-SE-A1 (AP-120) transports; an added engineering-space bulkhead produced 'very crowded machinery spaces'; high-pressure high-temperature boilers with special alloy fittings. Resolves the strike-date question: initial strike 1947-06-10 on MC transfer; restored to list 1950-03-20 (28 Apr 1950 SecNav letter reinstated USNT-status T2s); final strike with 1959-06-23 MARAD transfer. NavSource's '29 July 1946' strike entry is inconsistent with this documented sequence and is treated as a data error.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Limitations
- Specialist compilation of official NVR/MC records, not itself an official publication; its 1947/1959 strike sequence is adopted over NavSource's 1946-07-29 entry because it reconciles with DANFS and the MARAD status cards. Also lists 'Complement 54 (1944)' conflicting with DANFS 267 - discrepancy carried in gaps, not resolved here. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-04
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[5]Historic American Engineering Record (NPS), HAER CA-337, 'Mission Santa Ynez (AO-134)', written historical and descriptive data (historian Brian Clayton, 2006), pp.4-5, quoting Jaffee, The Last Mission Tanker (1990) [haer]
- Locator
- HAER CA-337 written data pp.4-5 (T2 tanker description; Anderson quote re flexitallic gaskets); LOC call number HAER CA-337, LOC item ca3445
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NPS Historic American Engineering Record HAER CA-337 for Mission Santa Ynez (AO-134) - a T2-SE-A2 tanker built at the same yard (Marinship, Sausalito) in the same 1943-44 production program as AO-81 - documents the type's 600 psi/825 F B&W boiler plant and quotes engineer Capt. Ted Anderson on the higher-pressure Mission/T2-SE-A2 boilers: 'Those darn handheld plugs on the economizer element had what they called a flexitallic gasket that was part metal and part asbestos. They'd wind up leaking and steam would come out and cut a groove in the steel or the seat of the gasket,' requiring repeated maintenance attention. This is a named asbestos-containing component documented at type level for the identical propulsion design installed on AO-81.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1975 (type operating era)
- Population
- Engine-room personnel on Marinship-built T2-SE-A2 hulls (Escambia and Mission classes); boilermakers maintaining economizer hand plugs
- Limitations
- Type-level documentation only - the HAER subject is sistertype hull AO-134 (Mission class), not AO-81. The gasket quote describes the T2-SE-A2 boiler plant design shared by both classes; it does not by itself prove the component was installed on or retained aboard Kennebago, and establishes no quantity, no present-day presence, and no individual exposure. Anderson's account is an oral recollection quoted in a secondary source inside an official record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-05
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[6]U.S. Maritime Commission Industrial Hygiene Survey series, Pacific Coast shipyards 1942-1944 (originals in NARA RG 178), as documented in the Atlas shipyards.json record marinship-sausalito (ev-marinship-sausalito-usmc-1944; citing Fite, 'U.S. Shipyards: A History of Massive Asbestos Exposure and Disease,' White Lung Association conf. paper WS-H-02, 2004) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json yard record marinship-sausalito, evidence item ev-marinship-sausalito-usmc-1944; NARA RG 178 guide
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission conducted industrial hygiene surveys at Pacific Coast shipyards during 1942-1944, documenting asbestos dust exposure among insulators and pipefitters during Liberty-ship and T2-tanker construction; Marinship (Sausalito) was among the yards surveyed. Kennebago's hull was built at Marinship January-December 1943 - within the documented survey window and production program (the yard's first nine tankers were the Escambia-class fleet oilers).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1944 surveys; hull construction 1943
- Population
- Marinship construction workforce (~20,000 peak), including workers building AO-81 (1943)
- Limitations
- Yard-level survey series, not a hull record - it documents asbestos work conditions at the builder yard during this hull's construction but does not name AO-81. Marinship-specific dust-count data has not been separately published; the survey's existence is carried via the yard dataset's citation (Fite 2004 review), and individual survey documents are not digitized. Establishes construction-era pathway context only - no exposure finding for any worker on this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-06
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[7]U.S. EPA CERCLIS record CAD982400715 'MARINSHIP' (cumulis id 0903540); ACM-in-soil detail per Atlas shipyards.json marinship-sausalito evidence ev-marinship-sausalito-epa-01 [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA Superfund site information page for MARINSHIP, Sausalito CA (NFRAP)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- EPA CERCLIS/Superfund record exists for the Marinship site (Spring St & Gate 5 Rd to Bay, Sausalito, CA 94965; EPA ID CAD982400715), status NFRAP - 'site does not qualify for the NPL based on existing information' (archived non-NPL site). The Atlas shipyard record for marinship-sausalito documents asbestos-containing materials found in site soil and debris with remediation completed under CERCLA.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1945 operations; remediation 1990s-2000s
- Population
- Post-closure site/remediation population; wartime yard workforce (context)
- Limitations
- Site-level environmental record for the builder yard only - the EPA page verified this session confirms the record and NFRAP status but the contaminant detail was not individually reviewed; ACM-in-soil detail is carried from the shipyards.json yard record. NOTE: the yard record's EPA URL (cumulis id 0901512, 'CA0001900563') resolves to a different site (Tandy Magnetics, Santa Clara) - the correct Marinship record is CAD982400715/0903540; flagged in the batch report. Site contamination does not establish hull-specific asbestos aboard AO-81.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-07
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[8]Batch-1929 search ledger (this record): DANFS; MARAD ShipHistory 2855 + status cards; NavSource; Shipscribe AO-80 class page; NPS/LOC HAER CA-337; CourtListener name/hull sweeps (opinions + RECAP); NVR; EPA CERCLIS; NARA guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kennebago-ao81-01 through sl-uss-kennebago-ao81-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for AO-81. CourtListener opinion search for exact name 'Kennebago' returned 5 hits, all name collisions (Kennebago Corp. bankruptcy, Bankr. D. Me. 1985; Maine River-region and corporate matters; a 1961 S.D. Ala. tug-collision opinion whose text does not mention this vessel); CourtListener docket search for 'Kennebago' returned 0; 'AO-81' opinion search returned 2 unrelated hits (Anchorage municipal, Puerto Rico tax); 'T-AO-81' and 'Kennebago asbestos' searches returned 0. No asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or veterans-appeal decision naming this hull was located in public sources searched (see search_ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 Marinship T2-SE-A2 hull is era- and design-consistent with installed asbestos-containing materials (see ev-05 type documentation). Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility. Merchant-crew (USNT/USNS) asbestos claims, if any, typically proceeded against operators or under the Jones Act and are poorly indexed by hull name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-08
-
[9]NARA record-group mapping: RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission), RG-19-LCM (BuShips photo series, per NavSource photo credits) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 178; archives.gov deck-log guidance; NavSource photo credits (RG-19-LCM)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 deck logs for USS Kennebago (AO-81), 1943-1946 (WWII deck-log digitization status unknown); NARA RG 178 U.S. Maritime Commission records for MC hull 1260 construction contract and Marinship outfitting specifications; BuShips conversion work records for the 1943 Matson Navigation Co. naval-service conversion and the 1945 Terminal Island Navy Yard overhaul; U.S. Army Materiel Command records for the 1966 floating-power-plant conversion and Vietnam deployment (scope undocumented in public sources); NARA RG-19-LCM holds the Mare Island yard photographs cited by NavSource.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1974 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for MC hull 1260 / AO-81 is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kennebago-ao81-09