USS Kingman (AKS-18)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Kingman' (APB-47) entry - NHHC page (dead link) via Wayback capture 2021-07-26 [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Wayback capture 2021-07-26 of history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kingman.html (canonical NHHC page returns 404 - standing link-rot issue)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS ship history (verbatim via Wayback capture of the NHHC page): '(APB-47: dp. 4,080; l. 328'; b. 50'; dr. 11'2"; s. 10 k.; cpl. 137; a. 8 40mm., 12 20mm.) A county in Illinois. Kingman (APB-17 [sic]) was laid down as LST-1113; then reclassified AKS-18 and named Kingman 8 December 1944; again reclassified APB-47 on 3 March 1945; launched 17 April 1945 by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, Ind.; sponsored by Mrs. K. B. Bragg; transferred to New Orleans; and commissioned 27 June 1945, Lt. R. J. Figaro in command. After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, Kingman cleared Gulfport, Miss., and steamed westward through the Panama Canal, arriving Pearl Harbor 2 September, the day of Japan's historic surrender. Five days later the barracks ship sailed for the Far East, arriving Sasebo 8 October via Eniwetok and Guam. She remained in Japanese ports for 5 months before loading America-bound troops and departing Sasebo 16 March 1946. Kingman arrived San Diego 29 April and remained there until she decommissioned 15 January 1947. She was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet and at present is berthed in San Diego.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1947 (narrative); entry written before 1977

   Population

   Ship's company (cpl. 137) plus embarked troops in accommodation spaces (up to 303)

   Limitations

   Authoritative Navy service history and stat block; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. The transcription shows 'APB-17' - apparent artifact for APB-47 - and namesake text 'A county in Illinois' conflicts with the only U.S. Kingman County being in Kansas (see correction row and gaps). Narrative ends with 'at present is berthed in San Diego' - the entry predates the 1977 striking and says nothing about disposal.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Kingman (APB-47), page 10/13/1347 (specification block, chronology, CO roster, BuShips photo captions) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource page 10/13/1347: chronology bullets, APB Specifications block, photo captions, CO roster

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive page for USS Kingman (APB-47): 'Benewah Class Self-propelled Barracks Ship' chronology - laid down 8 January 1945 as LST-1113 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; redesignated General Stores Issue Ship Kingman (AKS-18) 8 December 1944; redesignated APB-47 3 March 1945; launched 17 April 1945; decommissioned 15 January 1947; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group; struck from the Naval Register 1 October 1977; sold for scrapping 19 November 1980 to Levin Metals Corp. (PD-X-1034 of 6 October 1980) for $450,000.00, part of a two-ship group sale. APB specification block: 4,000 t., 328', 50', 11'2", 12 kts; complement 12 officers + 125 enlisted; troop accommodation 28 officers + 275 enlisted; two quad 40mm AA mounts plus twenty .50 and .30 cal machine guns; two GM 12-567A diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, five diesel-drive 100 kW 120/240 V ship's-service generators, twin rudders, two propellers 1,600 shp; diesel fuel 4,485 bbls. Commanding officers: LT Raymond Joseph Figaro USN (to 9 Sep 1946), LCDR Troy Brashear USN (9 Sep 1946 only), LCDR Francis Albert Schreiber USNR (to 15 Jan 1947). Ribbon list: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. BuShips photo caption (19-N-86527, NARA): the ship underway circa July 1945 'with a single level deckhouse running most of the length of the ship, the pilot house forward, stack aft ... kingposts and booms forward ... two Welin davits amidships.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1980

   Population

   Ship's company ~137 per spec block; berthed troops up to ~303

   Limitations

   Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Its chronology bullet repeats the launch date as the commissioning date ('Commissioned ... 17 April 1945') - contradicted by DANFS and Shipscribe (27 June 1945); see correction row. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos content stated or implied.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-02

3. [3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USS Blackford (APB-45) Class' auxiliary register page - construction/disposition table and notes columns [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipscribe.com/usnaux/APB/APB45.html - APB-45 class construction, disposal, and notes tables, rows for APB-47

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Shipscribe U.S. Navy auxiliary register (S. S. Roberts), APB-45 class table entry for APB-47 KINGMAN: 'Mo. Valley B/I, Evansville; keel 8 Jan 45; launch 17 Apr 45; commiss. 27 Jun 45; decomm. 15 Jan 47; strike 1 Oct 77; disposal 19 Nov 80; fate MA/S; MA sale 19 Nov 80. Notes: Ex AKS-18 31 Mar 45, ex LST-1113 14 Dec 44. Converted by builder. In reduced commission 16-27 Jun 45 for transit to New Orleans. In USN reserve 1946-77.' Sister hulls in the same table show the identical pattern - APB-45 Blackford (ex AKS-16, ex LST-1111), APB-46 Dorchester (ex AKS-17, ex LST-1112), APB-48 Vanderburgh (ex AKS-19, ex LST-1114) - all four Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron LST hulls redesignated AKS then reclassified APB and converted by the builder.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1980

   Population

   Builder-yard trades at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville (conversion workforce); fitting-out workforce at New Orleans

   Limitations

   Specialist register compiled from official Navy records (successor to the Bauer & Roberts register); the 'reduced commission 16-27 Jun 45' detail explains the New Orleans transit and corroborates the 27 June commissioning date. Its reclassification dates (14 Dec 44 and 31 Mar 45) conflict with DANFS/NavSource (8 Dec 44 and 3 Mar 45) - carried in gaps, unresolved. No asbestos or materials content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-03

4. [4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - KINGMAN (APB-47), Detail 6060, incl. digitized Record of Ship Sales (Form MA-20) card 6060_AF.jpg [marad_nrc]

   Locator

   ShipHistory Detail 6060, status-card image /cards/6060_AF.jpg (MA-20); companion-hull cross-reference at navsource.net/archives/09/26/2605.htm (USS Midas ARB-5)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   MARAD ShipHistory record for KINGMAN (APB-47), Detail 6060, including the digitized Record of Ship Sales card (Form MA-20): sale no. PD-X-1034; awarded to LEVIN METALS CORPORATION, dated 11-19-80; purchase price 'Lump Sum of $450,000 for 2' (ships); contract no. MA-9944; year built 1945; type LST; dimensions 328' x 50'; LOCATION OF VESSEL: Bremerton, Washington; acquisition note: 'Advertised under PD-X-1034 dated 10-6-80, opened 11-13-80 under two condition: (1) NTU (2) SCRAP HULL. Award under condition (1) NTU.' MARAD fate field: 'Sold -NTU.' The companion hull in the two-ship lot is not named on the card; NavSource's USS Midas (ARB-5) entry records the same PD-X-1034 sale dated 6 October 1980, sold 19 November 1980, '$452,000 (lot of 2 ships)' - circumstantially identifying Midas, another San Diego Group reserve-fleet LST-hull conversion, as the consort.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1945-1980

   Population

   Scrapping-yard workforce (Levin Metals, 1980-81) - inferred labor population, not documented

   Limitations

   Authoritative for the disposal transaction. NTU = non-transportation use - the sale was awarded under that condition rather than the explicit 'SCRAP HULL' condition, so 'sold for scrapping' (NavSource) describes the reported outcome, not the contract condition; dismantling site and completion are not documented on the card. The Bremerton location indicates the hull lay at Bremerton, WA at sale - after an undocumented move from the San Diego Group recorded by NavSource. Companion-hull identification (Midas ARB-5) rests on a secondary cross-reference and its price figure ($452,000) conflicts slightly with the card ($450,000). No asbestos or materials content anywhere in the record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-04

5. [5]DANFS 'Kingman' entry; NavSource 10/13/1347 spec block and chronology; Shipscribe APB-45 register; Kansas Historical Society Kansapedia, 'Kingman County, Kansas' [other_primary]

   Locator

   KSHS Kansapedia entry (county organized 27 Feb 1874, named for Chief Justice Samuel A. Kingman); DANFS and NavSource rows per ev-01/ev-02

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Source reconciliation (secondary-source conflicts resolved against primary records): (a) Commissioning - NavSource's bullet 'Commissioned USS Kingman (APB-47), 17 April 1945' repeats the launch date; DANFS ('commissioned 27 June 1945') and Shipscribe ('commiss. 27 Jun 45'; 'in reduced commission 16-27 Jun 45 for transit to New Orleans') agree - 1945-06-27 adopted as controlling. (b) Namesake - DANFS says 'A county in Illinois,' but no Kingman County exists in Illinois; the only U.S. Kingman County is in Kansas, organized 1874 and named for Kansas Chief Justice Samuel A. Kingman (Kansas Historical Society, Kansapedia). (c) Complement - Wikipedia's infobox figure '28 officers, 275 enlisted' is the NavSource troop-accommodation line; ship's company is 137 (DANFS 'cpl. 137' = NavSource 12 officers + 125 enlisted).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-2026

   Limitations

   Resolves publication-level discrepancies; none affect the exposure record. The namesake remains officially unresolved - DANFS's own wording ('a county in Illinois') is carried verbatim in ev-01 and flagged in gaps; the Kansas identification is the probable intent, not a confirmed Navy statement. No asbestos content in any reconciling source.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-05

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

   AJIM 11(3):359-373; abstract via PubMed PMID 3548627

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that WWII-era U.S. shipbuilding extensively installed asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and gaskets - the era and program under which this hull was built and converted (1945). For a diesel-powered LST-hull barracks ship with no boilers, the era-relevant applications concentrate in diesel exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, gaskets and packing, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings; the builder's barracks-ship conversion - a deckhouse running most of the hull's length per the BuShips photo caption - added interior outfitting of the type associated with period asbestos-containing insulation and bulkhead materials.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1945-1980

   Population

   Shipyard construction/conversion trades (Evansville, 1945); fitting-out workforce (New Orleans, 1945); wartime crew and berthed troops (era context)

   Limitations

   Era/program-level scholarship plus type inference - the source does not name this hull or class and does not establish that any specific material aboard this ship contained asbestos, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. The diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels; the conversion's interior work is inference from the documented deckhouse configuration, not a materials record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-06

7. [7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch, HTTP 403; content via product-page description, consistent with prior batches)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place on active Navy hulls for decades.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1979

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)

   Limitations

   Program-level Navy documentation that never governed this hull's active service: she decommissioned January 1947, before either policy existed, and sat in reserve custody 1947-1980 - inactive reserve layup is itself consistent with era material remaining in place undisturbed until sale, but no document establishes that for this hull. Context for the era fleet picture only.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-kingman-aks18-07

8. [8]Batch-1124 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback; NavSource 10/13/1347; Shipscribe APB-45 register; MARAD ShipHistory 6060 + MA-20 card; NVR; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-kingman-aks18-01 through sl-uss-kingman-aks18-10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Kingman / APB-47 / LST-1113 / AKS-18 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated API sweeps returned zero opinions for 'USS Kingman', 'APB-47', 'LST-1113', and 'AKS-18'; bare 'Kingman' opinion and docket results are name collisions only (Kingman, Arizona municipal and prison litigation; 'Kingman' surnames; Kingman Holdings LLC land-trust cases) - none involving this hull. The Naval Vessel Register holds no entry (ship stricken 1977, predating NVR coverage).

   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 1945-built, builder-converted hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and 33 years of reserve-fleet layup plus a 1980 scrap sale predate both asbestos regulation and any survey expectation. 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-kingman-aks18-08

9. [9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 24 (Navy deck logs); photo identifiers 19-N-86527/-86530/-86531 per NavSource captioning [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov RG 19 / RG 24 group descriptions; NavSource 10/13/1347 photo captions

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) - the 19-N-86527/-86530/-86531 BuShips photos of this hull are already NARA-held, and RG 19 holds contract and conversion specifications for the LST-to-APB builder conversions; NARA deck logs (RG 24) for the ship's commissioned period (June 1945-January 1947) would document the reduced-commission transit and occupation-era berthing; Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron contract files would carry the construction/conversion material schedule if any survives.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1980 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-kingman-aks18-09