Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, 'USS Kopara (AK-62/AG-50)', Naval History Division (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Service narrative paragraphs 2-5 and closing line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS service narrative: departed Auckland 5 October 1942 for supply runs from Noumea and Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal and Tulagi; arrived Lunga Roads 22 October and completed unloading that evening despite enemy shore-battery fire and a noon dive-bomber attack, escorted by Nicholas (DD-449), departing undamaged. Continued Solomons supply runs including unloading at Guadalcanal and Tulagi 13-15 November 1942 during the naval battles off Savo Island; Auckland-Noumea-Efate-Espiritu Santo cargo 20 February-26 June 1943; New Zealand-Norfolk Island shuttle 11 July-17 September 1943; from 16 November 1943 about eight months ranging Melanesia from Bougainville to New Caledonia; Noumea-based runs to Fiji, American Samoa and the Ellice Islands 10 August-21 December 1944; reached Auckland 3 January 1945; decommissioned 12 January 1945 and turned over to the New Zealand Joint Purchasing Board for return to her previous owner. DANFS credits one battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Operational events only - establishes no yard periods, material installations, or asbestos scope. The named Guadalcanal campaign attribution for the battle star comes from secondary campaign tables, not the DANFS text itself. No asbestos or machinery-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-02
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[2]ShipScribe, U.S. Navy Auxiliary Ships, USS Kopara (AG-50) page (S. Roberts compilation of official auxiliary data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class header block, Construction and Disposition tables, Class Notes, Ship Notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ShipScribe (Stephen S. Roberts) auxiliary-data compilation for KOPARA (AG-50): acquired 4 August 1942; commissioned 21 September 1942; decommissioned 12 January 1945; struck 19 January 1945; disposal 11 January 1945, RTO (returned to owner). Design 'Cargo, 1938'; 679 gross / 950 dwt; 193.0' x 35.7' x 13.7'; original armament 4-20mm (1943); complement 47 (1944); speed 12 knots; machinery two 4-cylinder diesels, 2 screws. Class notes: delivered 1938 to the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand on behalf of registered owner Richardson & Co. Ltd. of Napier; sister-type Robb-built motor cargo vessel CUBAHAMA later became KAULA (AG-33); chartered then purchased outright with BuShips maintenance funds charged to Reverse Lend-Lease (ComServForSoPacFor dispatch of 17 September 1942) because British law barred reflagging a chartered ship to foreign registry; reclassified AG-50 because of her small size; used as an interisland cargo ship in the Southwest Pacific; returned to the New Zealand government on decommissioning; in commercial service until 1988. Mercantile names: KOPARA 1945, SARANG 1966, CHERRY CHEPAT 1969, SEE HAI HONG I 1984; deleted 1988.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Compiled transcription of official Navy auxiliary records, not the underlying documents themselves. Strike date 19 January 1945 conflicts with 12 January 1945 in NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum compilations (logged in gaps); mercantile name-change years and the 1988 deletion are Lloyd's-derived compilation entries, not register extracts. Complement 47 is a 1944 figure, not a total crew count. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-03
-
[3]DANFS entry with transcriber's bracketed correction note; ShipScribe AG-50 Class Notes (builder and delivery/ownership attribution) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio DANFS first paragraph bracketed note; ShipScribe Class Notes paragraph 1
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Correction: the DANFS sentence garbles builder and owner - 'built in 1938 by Richardson Co., Ltd., Napier... purchased... from her owner, Henry Robb, Ltd., Auckland.' The DANFS transcriber's bracketed note and the ShipScribe class notes resolve it the other way: Henry Robb Ltd. of Leith, Scotland, built Kopara in 1938 for Richardson & Co. of Napier, N.Z., delivered to/operated by the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand. Adopted for this record: builder Henry Robb Ltd. (Leith); owner Richardson & Co. Ltd. (Napier).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations agree on builder (Henry Robb, Leith) but conflict on yard number (268 vs 288) - no yard number carried. Launch day (30 July 1938) appears only in secondary compilations and is not adopted. No asbestos content in any of these sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-04
-
[4]NARA, Special List 44 - Named Vessels (logbook coverage finding aid) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Kopara (AG-50) row, K-section of named-vessels table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 (Named Vessels) lists deck-log coverage for Kopara (AG-50) from 9/21/1942 through 1/12/1945, matching her commissioning-to-decommissioning span - a ship-specific archival lead for service, port, and repair detail.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Finding-aid entry verified; log pages not retrieved or reviewed. Does not establish an asbestos mention, material installation, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-05
-
[5]Department of Veterans Affairs, Public Health, Occupational Hazards [other_primary]
- Locator
- Introduction and Asbestos entry
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- VA identifies asbestos as a material used in older ships and states that potential occupational exposure depends on military occupation. This supports only broad older-ship context for this World War II-era vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Study period
- 1940s era context
- Population
- WWII-era ship crews and shipyard workers (class context)
- Limitations
- Broad era/type background, not documentation for Kopara, her Scottish construction, her equipment, or any individual. Kopara was a small diesel motor vessel - the usual steam-plant asbestos inference path (boilers, steam-line lagging) does not apply to her machinery, narrowing even era-level expectation. Tier 2 denotes this limited background only; ship-specific asbestos remains unknown. No product, quantity, or location is inferred.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-06
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (1979) [gao]
- Locator
- Product-page Highlights
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- GAO reviewed Navy asbestos protection at Long Beach and Norfolk shipyards and described the Navy's 1975 and 1979 insulation replacement policies.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Product-page summary only; full report not reviewed. These later U.S.-yard policies postdate Kopara's Navy service (1942-1945, Southwest Pacific) and do not document this hull, its work, or any removal aboard it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-07
-
[7]Batch-940 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror, ShipScribe AG-50, NARA Special List 44, MARAD PublicSearch, bounded site:gov/site:uscourts.gov searches, CourtListener throttle event [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kopara-ak62-01 through sl-uss-kopara-ak62-10; uss-kopara-ak62.research.md
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos documentation was located in the reviewed DANFS text, ShipScribe compilation, NARA finding aid, MARAD ShipHistory search, or the bounded official-domain searches recorded in the search ledger. The CourtListener exact-name ('Kopara') and hull-number ('AK-62', 'AG-50') litigation sweep could not be executed: authenticated requests returned HTTP 429 (2800/day quota exhausted); litigation status remains unresolved pending fleet backfill.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- A bounded search result, not proof that asbestos was absent - a 1938-built motor coaster is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and fittings even without a steam plant. Search-engine coverage is not a complete repository search, and the deferred CourtListener sweep prevents any litigation conclusion.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-08
-
[8]DANFS, 'USS Kopara (AK-62/AG-50)', Naval History Division (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Specification line and first paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS identifies Kopara (AK-62) as a former name retained: built in 1938; purchased in early August 1942 through the New Zealand Government; commissioned 21 September 1942 at Auckland with Lt. (j.g.) H.R. Greeley in command; and reclassified AG-50 on 23 September 1942. Published DANFS specifications: 679 tons; 193' length; 35'8" beam; 13'8" draft; 12 knots; armament 4 20mm.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-21
- Limitations
- Canonical NHHC URL (history.navy.mil/.../danfs/k/kopara.html) returned 404 on 2026-09-21; the ibiblio DANFS transcription is cited instead (standing NHHC link-rot issue noted in Batch 01). The DANFS sentence garbles builder and owner - resolved in the correction row, not here. No asbestos or machinery-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kopara-ak62-01