Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Lesuth' (AK-125) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text; live NHHC URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lesuth.html returns 404 (standing NHHC link rot noted in BATCH-01) - text retrieved from Wayback capture 2024-12-09
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Lesuth (AK-125): laid down as William M. Gwin 1943-03-24 by California Shipbuilding Corp., Wilmington, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; launched 1943-04-17 (sponsor Miss M. B. Follis); acquired by the Navy 1943-10-09; renamed Lesuth 1943-10-11; converted at United Engineering, Alameda; commissioned 1943-11-01 (Lt. Comdr. B. H. Bassett). Ship-data header: dp. 4,023; l. 441'6"; b. 56'11"; dr. 28'4"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 237; cl. Crater; T. EC2-S-C1. Service: San Pedro departure 1943-11-14, Pago Pago, Funafuti; Service Squadron 8 at Kwajalein from 1944-03; Solomons/Russells cargo; sailed Manus 1944-09-14 for the Palau-Western Caroline campaign, off Kossol Passage and Peleliu ~2 months; San Francisco overhaul; rejoined ServRon 8 Eniwetok 1945-02-11; San Pedro Bay Leyte 1945-02-28; U.S. supply run May-Jun; Ulithi 1945-07-25; post-surrender occupation cargo runs (Japan, Philippines, Okinawa, Saipan) Sep 1945-May 1946; decommissioned Pearl Harbor 1946-08-16; returned to Maritime Commission 1947-05-29; struck 1947-07-17. One battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction, chronology, complement, and battle-star count. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - LESUTH (AK-125), Ship History Detail 3007 (incl. digitized status cards 3007_5600AF.jpg and 3007_AF.jpg); companion record WILLIAM M. GWIN, Detail 11670 [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 3007 milestone table + status-card images (/cards/3007_5600AF.jpg, /cards/3007_AF.jpg); Detail 11670 name history
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory record and digitized status cards for Lesuth (AK-125), ex-William M. Gwin: U.S. Official No. 243292; type EC2-S-C1 ('Liberty'); built 1943 by California Shipbuilding Corporation ('built for MA by California S/B'); historical narrative notes the vessel present in Tokyo Bay at the Japanese surrender. Reserve Fleet card: entered Suisun Bay fleet 1947-05-29 1320 hrs, reason 'Navy Surplus,' hull no. MCE 1638. Record of Ship Sales (Form MA-20, contract MA-3687, PD-X-671): advertised 1964-07-09, bids opened and awarded 1964-07-31 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. for $49,660.00, remark 'Dismantle Hull US'; withdrawn from fleet 1964-08-20 1100 hrs PDST and delivered to purchaser. Companion record for WILLIAM M. GWIN (ShipHistory Detail 11670) confirms MARAD type EC2-S-C1 and the 1943 merchant-service name.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1964
- Population
- NDRF Suisun Bay custody personnel (1947-64); Union Minerals & Alloys shipbreaking workforce (1964) - exposure-relevant populations by role, not documented individuals
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones, sale contract terms, and dismantling instruction ('Dismantle Hull US'). The milestone TABLE renders withdrawal/disposition as 8/20/1961; the handwritten status card reads 8-20-64 and the sale record is 1964 throughout - the table year is a data-entry artifact, logged in gaps. Cards contain no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim. Status-card handwriting read with image inspection (OCR-aided).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-02
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[3]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
- The U.S. Maritime Commission instruction manual for the EC2-S-C1 plant (the design of this vessel's hull and machinery) 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-type hulls were built to 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
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Construction trades (California Shipbuilding Corp., Terminal Island, 1943); United Engineering conversion yard workers (Alameda, 1943); engine-room and maintenance crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual names the type, not this vessel, and does not itself state 'asbestos' content (magnesia lagging of the era was typically asbestos-fiber-reinforced, but the manual text is silent on fiber). Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence (hull scrapped 1964), individual exposure, or causation. Does not cover the Oct-Nov 1943 Navy conversion outfit at United Engineering, whose materials are undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-03
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[4]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 program under which this EC2-S-C1 hull was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- 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 or the EC2-S-C1 type and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-04
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[5]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS Lesuth (AK-125), file 09/13/130125 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AK-125 page - construction/chronology bullets, campaign and occupation ribbon tables, commanding officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource service-ship archive corroborates and extends DANFS: delivered to American President Lines under a War Shipping Administration General Agency Agreement (1943); converted for naval service at United Engineering, Alameda; campaign credit - Western Caroline Islands operation, capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands 1944-09-06 to 1944-10-14; Navy Occupation Service (Asia clasp) periods 1945-09-02 to 1945-10-16 and 1945-12-24 to 1946-04-10; decommissioned Pearl Harbor 1946-08-16; struck 1947-07-17; sold for scrapping 1964-07-31 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., physically delivered for dismantling at Oakland, CA, 1964-08-20; commanding officer list (LCDR Bertrand H. Bassett USNR 1943-11-01 to 1945-07-01; LT Ray C. Gilkerson USNR; LCDR Gilkerson).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1964
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained private archive, not a government publication - used here only for details corroborated by DANFS and the MARAD status cards (WSA/APL delivery, conversion yard, occupation-service periods, Oakland delivery). Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-05
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[6]Batch-815 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live + Wayback); MARAD ShipHistory 3007 + 11670 and status cards; NavSource 130125; CourtListener API/frontend (blocked); Google Scholar (blocked); open-web litigation sweep (non-qualifying hits only); NARA record-group guides [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lesuth-ak125-01 through sl-uss-lesuth-ak125-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming Lesuth, AK-125, or William M. Gwin was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Open-web litigation sweeps returned only law-firm marketing pages listing the hull in boilerplate ship rosters - non-qualifying, never cited. CourtListener API v4 and frontend were rate-limit blocked during the research window (125/day quota exhausted, HTTP 403/429); the docket-level litigation sweep is therefore incomplete rather than negative - logged honestly in the ledger.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 EC2-S-C1 hull with a Navy conversion is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Coverage caveat: CourtListener and Scholar were blocked by rate limiting, so 'no docketed case located' is unverified-partial, not exhaustive. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lesuth-ak125-06
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[7]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 181 (naval districts), RG 178 (US Maritime Commission), RG 26 (USCG merchant logbooks) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov record-group guides 178/248/24; NARA merchant-vessel logbook guidance (RG 26 regional distribution); RG 19/181 series descriptions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction orders; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 (Navy deck logs) holds AK-125 logs for the commissioned period Nov 1943-Aug 1946; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) and RG 181 (14th Naval District / Pearl Harbor) may hold the United Engineering conversion contract files and decommissioning material records; RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) Construction Division and West Coast Director (San Francisco) files cover MCE hull 1638 construction/outfitting at CalShip; RG 26 merchant logbooks (1939+, distributed by port of submission - Los Angeles/San Pedro) cover the April-October 1943 William M. Gwin WSA/APL period.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1964 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-lesuth-ak125-07