Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Lyra (AK-101) - verbatim transcription (hazegray DANFS mirror at losthistory.net; live NHHC page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS auxiliaries section, AK-101 Lyra entry; hazegray auxil index lists LYRA at AK-101 (hazegray.org offline, mirror used)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for Lyra (AK-101): laid down as Cyrus Hamlin under Maritime Commission contract by Permanente Metal Corp., Richmond, Calif., 25 April 1943; renamed Lyra 27 May 1943; launched 28 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Harry N. Nelson; acquired by the Navy 10 June 1943; converted by General Engineering & Drydock Co., San Francisco, completed 22 July 1943; commissioned 22 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. J. H. Henderson in command. Service narrative: San Francisco to Wellington, NZ with 8,000 tons lend-lease cargo (departed 28 Aug 1943, towing sectional-dock unit to Espiritu Santo; Wellington 19 Oct; returned SF 24 Nov); towing run 17 Dec; departed 27 Dec towing ARD-12 to Espiritu Santo, then Tulagi/Munda, 200 troops to Guadalcanal (29 Feb 1944); back in SF 2 Apr after 13,567 miles; two west coast-Pearl Harbor voyages 29 Apr-30 Jun 1944; towing to Manus, Admiralty Islands 21 Aug 1944-15 Jan 1945; Samar voyage from 26 Feb 1945, returned 1 Jun; seventh voyage Honolulu/Saipan 17 Jun-24 Aug; final SF-Samar departure 26 Sep 1945; decommissioned Norfolk 3 May 1946; redelivered to WSA 5 days later; sold 1947 to A. G. Pappadakis, operated out of Piraeus as Virginia. Spec block: dp. 4,356; l. 441'6"; b. 56'11"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 255; armament 1x5", 1x3", 8x20mm; class Crater.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- Verbatim DANFS transcription on a mirror - the live NHHC DANFS page for Lyra was not located (404; site search finds no Lyra page). Establishes identity, construction, conversion, service narrative, decommissioning. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-01
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[2]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - LYRA (AK-101) Detail 12825 and CYRUS HAMLIN Detail 1169 with digitized vessel status cards (1169_2120AF/AB, e8edf884-...) and CYRUS HAMLIN.pdf [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 1169 (status-card scans + CYRUS HAMLIN.pdf custody ledger) and Detail 12825 (name history CYRUS HAMLIN -> LYRA AK-101, fate 'Sold - Foreign Flag Op.')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD ShipHistory records and digitized status cards for this hull (LYRA AK-101, Detail 12825; CYRUS HAMLIN, Detail 1169): U.S. Official No. 243618; MARAD type EC2-S-C1; built by Permanente Metals Corp., Richmond (Yard No. 1), hull no. 1555, completed 6-10-43; delivered to USMC then WSA then Navy Dept. (bareboat, form BB) at Richmond 6-10-43 3:45PM PWT, renamed Lyra. Status card records: DWT 10,856; gross 7,176; net 4,380; bale 499,573 cu ft; grain 562,608 cu ft; speed 12.5. Entered James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Va. 5-8-46 (ShipHistory milestone: Entry/Acquisition 5/8/1946 'ex-LYRA'); preliminary sale allocation 12-31-46 (148-A); 'SOLD 1/7/47' at a 1947 sales price of $544,506; withdrawn from fleet 1-23-47 11:45AM EST delivered to Blidberg Rothschild Co., Inc. under GAA at Lee Hall; 2-17-47 5PM EST redelivered through USMC and delivered to purchaser A. G. Pappadakis at Newport News, Va.; renamed Virginia.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody milestones, dimensions/tonnage, and 1946-47 disposal chain; status-card handwriting partially legible (read directly from scans, not OCR alone). Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-02
-
[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) 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. The Navy's 1943 AK conversion at General Engineering & Drydock added naval outfitting (armament, communications, berthing for a complement of 255) whose insulation scope is undocumented.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943; conversion 1943
- Population
- Construction trades (Permanente Metals Yard No. 1, Richmond, Apr-Jun 1943); conversion workers (General Engineering & Drydock, Jun-Jul 1943); Navy crew (~255, 1943-46); merchant crews (1947-67); Kaohsiung breakers (1967)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - the manual names the type, not this vessel, and does not itself state 'asbestos' content. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence (hull scrapped 1967), individual exposure, or causation. Conversion material scope is an open archival lead, not a finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-03
-
[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 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-lyra-ak101-04
-
[5]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Lyra (AK-101) page (navsource.org/archives/09/13/130101.htm); corroborated by shipindex.org vessel entry and shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net USN AK table [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AK-101 page (Crater-class block, merchant-service chain, final disposition); shipindex.org/ships/cyrus_hamlin; shipbuildinghistory AK table row for AK-101
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive entry for USS Lyra (AK-101): confirms construction/commissioning chain and adds post-sale merchant chain - sold 1947 to A. G. Pappadakis of Piraeus, renamed Virginia; sold 1951 to Freighters & Tankers Agency Corp., New York; sold 1953 to J. J. Culucundis, Piraeus (with Freighters & Tankers); 1954 to Culucundis with A. G. Pappadakis & Co. Ltd., London; sold 1964 to Amedeo - Marfrontera Cia Nav. S.A., Panama (Greek flag; managed Carpanayoti & Co. Ltd., London); sold to Taiwan breakers, arrived Kaohsiung 3 April 1967. NavSource lists the Naval Register strike date as unknown. Shipindex.org independently corroborates the name chain (Cyrus Hamlin 1943 -> Lyra -> Cyrus Hamlin 1946 -> Virginia 1947 -> Amedeo 1964; IMO 5381904; official no. 243618); shipbuildinghistory's AK table corroborates builder/conversion/'scrapped 1967'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1947-1967
- Population
- Merchant crews (1947-67); shipbreaking workers (Kaohsiung, 1967) - asbestos exposure at breaking is era-consistent but undocumented
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled volunteer-run reference, not a government publication - the merchant resale dates rest on it alone, though the name chain and breaking are corroborated by shipindex.org and shipbuildinghistory. Direct fetch of the page failed during research; content was captured via search-index extract. No asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-05
-
[6]DANFS Lyra (AK-101) entry (Crater-class cargo ship); MARAD ShipHistory 1169/12825 (EC2-S-C1, AK Cargo Ship); NHHC Online Library, 'USS Etamin (AK-93, later IX-173)' photo history (HyperWar mirror); DANFS Atik (AK-101) entry (HyperWar transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Etamin AK-93/IX-173 page (ibiblio mirror); DANFS Lyra entry (losthistory/hazegray mirror); DANFS Atik entry https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/AK/ak101.html; MARAD Detail 12825
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Corrections applied. (a) The batch assignment carried a Gato-class submarine designation for this hull; DANFS and MARAD records establish USS Lyra (AK-101) as a Crater-class cargo ship on an EC2-S-C1 hull - there was no USS Lyra submarine. (b) Wikipedia's infobox for this ship lists hull symbol 'IX-173' - IX-173 was USS Etamin (ex-AK-93, ex-SS Isaac Babbitt), a different Crater-class ship redesignated a non-self-propelled stores-issue vessel in August 1944 per NHHC's Online Library photo history; Lyra never carried an IX designation. (c) Hull-number collision: AK-101 was first assigned to USS Atik (ex-SS Carolyn), the Q-ship sunk by U-123 on 27 March 1942 with all hands; the number was reused for Lyra in 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1942-1943; 2026-09-20 (correction)
- Limitations
- Corrects classification/identification errors in assignment metadata and secondary sources; does not itself bear on asbestos. The AK-101 hull-number reuse means hull-number searches (dockets, registries) must discriminate between Atik (sunk 1942) and Lyra.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-06
-
[7]Batch-789 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; MARAD ShipHistory + status cards; NavSource; CourtListener API (throttled) + Google-indexed CL corpus; NVR; shipbuildinghistory; shipindex; marketing-page check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lyra-ak101-01 through sl-uss-lyra-ak101-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Lyra, SS Cyrus Hamlin, or AK-101 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Live CourtListener API and web search were rate-limited/forbidden during research (HTTP 429, shared 125/day quota exhausted; HTTP 403 on the web UI); Google-indexed CourtListener content for the ship's names and hull number shows only unrelated collisions (surnames, a street address, a PCR diagnostic device). Marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com, mesotheliomaasbestoshelpcenter.com) list the ship with boilerplate claims and were excluded as non-authoritative - one asserts 'Everyone who served on the USS Lyra (AK-101) inhaled the asbestos fibers' and misdates decommissioning to May 1943 (correct: May 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- 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 emergency-built steamship is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The litigation check is a partial negative: CourtListener's own index was unreachable under rate limit, and only the Google-indexed subset of CL content was swept. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-07
-
[8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 24 (naval deck logs), RG 38 (war diaries), RG 178 (US Maritime Commission), RG 248 (War Shipping Administration), RG 26 (USCG merchant logbooks) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov record-group guides; NARA merchant-vessel logbook guidance (archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/merchant-vessels-pl.html)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction orders; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds WWII conversion specifications and contract records that may document the June-July 1943 General Engineering & Drydock AK-conversion material scope for this hull; RG 24 holds USS Lyra deck logs and RG 38 holds WWII war diaries (operational detail, not materials); RG 178 (USMC Construction Division) and RG 248 (WSA) hold hull 1555 construction/acquisition files; RG 26 merchant-vessel logbooks (by port of submission) cover the Virginia/Amedeo period.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1967 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for hull 1555/AK-101 is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lyra-ak101-08