Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 622-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: Queue: USS Proton / LST-1078 → VERIFIED — real identity: USS Proton (ex-USS LST-1078), later AG-147 / AKS-28. Type: LST-542-class tank landing ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-proton-lst1078-pkt-622-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Proton (LST-1078 / AG-147 / AKS-28) - construction at Bethlehem Hingham; WWII/occupation service; Tsingtao 1947; reserve fleet 1948; Proton (AG-147) Jan 1949; AKS-28 conversion at Mare Island; Korean-era electronics supply and repair; out of commission 22 Apr 1958; struck 1 Jan 1959 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Proton entry, service narrative and spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LST-1078 laid down 27 March 1945 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Hingham, Mass.; launched 25 April 1945; commissioned 15 May 1945. Shakedown Chesapeake Bay; departed New York 22 June 1945 via Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor (arrived 21 July). Debarked Army occupation troops at Wakayama, Japan, 29 September; embarked troops at Lingayen Gulf and returned to Wakayama; departed Japan 4 November for Pearl Harbor via Guam and Tinian, arriving 6 December. After Hawaiian shuttle/training duty, sailed 7 October 1946 for San Francisco (arrived 18 October). Post-overhaul, served at Tsingtao, China, January-October 1947; arrived San Pedro 8 November 1947; decommissioned 29 April 1948 at San Diego into the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Became Proton (AG-147) in January 1949; returned to active status February 1951 and underwent conversion to AKS-28 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Korean War electronic supply and repair duties in Japan: Sasebo-Yokosuka shuttle 1 June 1952 - 5 June 1954; Subic Bay and Manila Bay supply operations from 23 September (1954); Sasebo from 11 January 1955; further Sasebo/Yokosuka/Subic rotations through 1956; Sasebo 27 November 1956 - 30 April 1957, serving the 7th Fleet; sailed for home 20 November (1957). Arrived Naval Supply Center, Oakland, 22 December; placed out of commission, in reserve, 22 April 1958; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 January 1959. DANFS spec block: dp. 4,080 (full); l. 328'; b. 50'; dr. 14'1"; s. 11.6 k.; cpl. 119; a. 8 x 40 mm; cl. LST-1060.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Bethlehem Hingham construction trades (1945); crew (1945-58)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. DANFS dates the AG-147 naming 'January 1949' while Shipscribe's compiled CNO/BuShips correspondence shows name approval 1 February 1949 - see gaps. DANFS is silent on the 1946 Pearl Harbor spare-parts-ship conversion and the final sale (13 July 1959 per Shipscribe). Entry published 2015; live URL verified 2026-10-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-01
-
[3]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), Electron (AKS 27) class page - compiled from BuShips/CNO correspondence and NARA records: conversion sequence, designation chronology, stripping and disposal table [other_primary]
- Locator
- AKS-28 PROTON ship note row, construction/disposition tables, and class notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-specific record compiled from official correspondence: ex-LST-1078 reassigned to ComServPac effective 1 January 1946; arrived NSY Pearl Harbor 2 January 1946 and converted to a mobile spare parts issue ship, conversion completed about April 1946; at Tsingtao, China, January-October 1947 as electronics spare parts issuing vessel with ARL-31 and LST-1102. Designated 26 August 1947 for inactivation (report 1 November 1947, San Diego Group); 'decomm. in advance on 3 Dec 1947 in the interests of the inactivation program,' placed in inactive status (OCIR) 29 April 1948, San Diego Group. To AG-147 and named 1 February 1949 - BuShips recommended PROTON for AG-147 on 3 January 1949 because the five converted hulls were Electronic Parts Issue Ships (class notes). Reactivation ordered 31 August 1950, begun 15 February 1951 at NAS Alameda; recommissioned 7 April 1951; reclassified AKS-28 on 18 August 1951 (all five AG 146-150 -> AKS 27-31 the same date). Homeport shifted Mare Island -> Sasebo, Japan, 1 November 1954. Inspected September 1957 while still active and found fit for future service; arrived San Francisco 22 December 1957, inactivated in the San Francisco Group and towed to the San Diego Group; stripped of General Stores Issue facilities (used for modernization of Pollux AKS-4), impairing mobilization potential; on sale list December 1958; struck 1 January 1959; disposal 13 July 1959, Navy sale.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (Pearl Harbor NSY 1946; NAS Alameda + Mare Island NSY 1951; Hunters Point NSY 1958); crew (1945-58)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official Navy records (BuShips/CNO correspondence, NARA photos) - not itself an archive, but the most detailed disposition source located; its underlying record citations are not individually linked. Conflicts with DANFS/NavSource on two points are carried in gaps (decommissioning sequence 1947-48; 'fate unknown' vs the documented 13 Jul 1959 Navy sale). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Proton (AKS-28) ex-AG-147 ex-LST-1078 - designation timeline, CO list, awards, specifications, photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/16/1628.htm header block, awards table, specifications block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 27 March 1945 at Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard; launched 25 April 1945; commissioned USS LST-1078 15 May 1945, LT George W. Miller USNR in command; Asiatic-Pacific Theater WWII; Navy Occupation Service Medal window 18 October - 5 November 1945, China Service Medal (extended) 18 January - 9 October 1947; also American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, WWII Victory, National Defense Service, Philippines Liberation ribbons. Decommissioned and laid up 29 April 1948, Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego Group; named Proton (AG-147) January 1949; recommissioned 7 April 1951 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard as USS Proton (AKS-28); decommissioned 22 April 1958 at Naval Supply Center, Oakland; struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1959; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' Photo captions identify her as 'the navy's second Electronics Supply and Repair Ship' (Hunters Point, 6 April 1951) and place her moored at San Francisco Naval Shipyard / Hunters Point and in San Francisco Bay December 1957. Specifications block: LST-542 class; 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full; 328' oa x 50'; 11.6 kt; complement 13 officers + 104 enlisted, troop accommodations 16 officers + 147 enlisted; two GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, 1,700 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Bethlehem Hingham construction trades (1945); crew (1945-58)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its dates track DANFS where they overlap. Two compressions to note: 'recommissioned ... as USS Proton (AKS-28)' merges the 7 Apr 1951 recommissioning (as AG-147) with the 18 Aug 1951 AKS-28 reclassification; and its class-generic LST-542 spec block lists GM 12-567A engines while BuShips assigns this hull's block (LST-1060/1080) the 12-278A - conflict carried in gaps. 'Fate unknown' is superseded on the sale date by Shipscribe's compiled disposal table (13 Jul 1959 Navy sale), though the post-sale fate genuinely remains undocumented. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-03
-
[5]NHHC photo catalog, NH 94313-A - 'USS PROTON (AKS-28) (ex-LST-1078), In The Golden Gate, San Francisco Bay, California, in 1957' (courtesy Robert M. Cieri, 1983) [museum_official]
- Locator
- NHHC NH 94313-A catalog entry; Shipscribe AKS27-p caption for NH 94313
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC photo-catalog entry names this hull under its final designation ('USS PROTON (AKS-28) (ex-LST-1078)') and dates the image 1957 - the December 1957 Golden Gate return from her last Sasebo deployment (the companion Shipscribe caption for the same image series, NH 94313, describes a 'Homeward Bound' pennant). Corroborates the designation lineage LST-1078 -> AKS-28 on an official catalog page.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1957
- Limitations
- A caption-level record: establishes identity lineage and December 1957 presence in San Francisco Bay, nothing about materials, condition, or work performed. The '1957' date is NHHC's cataloging; the month comes from the Shipscribe-captioned companion print.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945) - LST design table and construction roster (shipscribe.com scan, Google-origin, text layer verified this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table (LST1060-1080 block row: 2 x GM Diesel 12-278A, 1,700 shp) and roster (LST1078: Bethlehem Hingham, 27 Mar/25 Apr/15 May 45)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips roster line for LST-1078: Bethlehem Steel Co., Hingham, Mass.; laid down 27 March 1945; launched 25 April 1945; completed/commissioned 15 May 1945 - matching DANFS and NavSource to the day. The design table assigns the LST-1060/1080 block (this hull's block): 328' oa, 50' beam, 2,366 t light / 4,080 t full, 11.6 kt, and 2 x 'G.M. Diesel 12-278A' engines at 1,700 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- The roster line is ship-specific (names this hull's builder and dates); the machinery figures are block-level design data covering 21 hulls (LST-1060 through LST-1080), not a per-hull machinery survey. Conflicts with NavSource's class-generic 12-567A spec block - BuShips block data carried; conflict logged in gaps. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: BuShips SDB-1945 v2 block machinery data (diesel plant, no boilers); DANFS/Shipscribe-documented yard events (Pearl Harbor NSY conversion Jan-Apr 1946; NAS Alameda/Mare Island reactivation-conversion Feb-Aug 1951; stores-issue stripping early 1958); WWII-era shipbuilding materials practice (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Consolidated: BuShips SDB1945v2 block data; DANFS service narrative; Shipscribe conversion/disposal record
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered tank landing ship built March-May 1945 at Bethlehem Hingham sits inside WWII shipbuilding's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a ship of this type: diesel exhaust and muffler lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets and valve packing, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, winch/crane brake linings, and electrical insulation. Her conversion history adds inference weight at yard level: conversion to a mobile spare parts issue ship at Pearl Harbor NSY (Jan-Apr 1946) and reactivation/conversion at NAS Alameda and Mare Island NSY (Feb-Aug 1951, including a new forward deckhouse) were exactly the kind of interior rework events that disturbed or added insulating materials; the early-1958 stripping of her stores-issue facilities (she was photographed at Hunters Point NSY in January 1958) is a further disturbance event. No boilers - the steam-lagging pathway does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Construction trades (Bethlehem Hingham, 1945); conversion/yard trades (Pearl Harbor NSY 1946; Alameda/Mare Island 1951; Hunters Point 1958); crew (1945-58); post-sale handlers of the hull (1959-, undocumented)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or abatement record located for LST-1078 / AG-147 / AKS-28. Names era-standard applications and documented yard events, not confirmed installed or removed materials. No quantity, no individual exposure, no causation, no present-day presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-06
-
[8]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
- 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 program under which this hull was built (Bethlehem Hingham, March-May 1945) and first converted (Pearl Harbor NSY, 1946) - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Era/program-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-07
-
[9]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, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s; standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. This hull's entire build-and-service window (1945-1959) falls inside the asbestos-use era the report describes - including her 1951 conversion and 1958 stripping, events of a type that disturbed original-era insulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description and prior-batch verification of the same source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-08
-
[10]Designation consolidation: DANFS entry header (LST-1078 spec block, Proton narrative); NavSource page header ('USS Proton (AKS-28) ex USS Proton (AG-147) (1949-1951) USS LST-1078 (1945-1949)'); NHHC NH 94313-A title ('USS PROTON (AKS-28) (ex-LST-1078)'); Shipscribe class table (AKS 28 ex AG 147 ex LST 1078) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS Proton entry; NavSource 09/16/1628.htm header; NHHC NH 94313-A; Shipscribe AKS27.html construction table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- SINGLE-HULL CONSOLIDATION: LST-1078, AG-147, and AKS-28 are one hull, not separate vessels - the ship was laid down and commissioned as tank landing ship LST-1078 (1945), named Proton and designated AG-147 (January 1949 / name approved 1 February 1949), and reclassified AKS-28 (18 August 1951) under the Electron-class electronics/spare-parts issue conversion group. This record carries the ship under its LST-designation slug with AG-147 and AKS-28 as aliases; vessel_type reflects the documented auxiliary conversion, not landing-ship-only service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Limitations
- Corrects registry-splitting risk only - a lineage statement, not a material claim. All four sources agree on the lineage; the only divergence is naming/reclassification date granularity, carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-09
-
[11]Batch-6566 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource 09/16/1628; Shipscribe AKS-27 class record; NHHC photo catalog; BuShips SDB-1945 v2 full text; NVR (n/a - struck 1959); MARAD ShipHistory; CourtListener opinion index (4 identifiers, all zero); live-web litigation/asbestos sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-proton-lst1078-01 through -10 (incl. -08b)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or case naming LST-1078 / Proton (AG-147) / Proton (AKS-28) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener's opinion index returned zero hits for all four identifiers ('USS Proton', 'LST-1078', 'LST 1078', 'AKS-28'; authenticated API v4, HTTP 200, 2026-10-02). CAVEAT: coverage is partial - the RECAP docket index and the 'AG-147' opinion query remained unsearched (fleet-wide pacing spent); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. A live-web sweep surfaced only law-firm/marketing content listing this hull (simmonsfirm.com ship list; freeasbestostesting.com auxiliary-ships list) asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull's build era, diesel-plant applications, and three documented yard events are consistent with era-standard materials. The zero-hit opinion index covers published opinions only; district-court filings in the RECAP docket index were not searchable this session - an open gap. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Deck logs (RG 24) and BuShips work packages for the 1946/1951 conversions are undigitized leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-proton-lst1078-10