Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 1015-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-amber-pyc6-pkt-1015-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Amber (PYc-6) - Navy purchase, Winslow conversion, commissioning, 13th Naval District Inshore Patrol service, Alaska cruise, Astoria/Juan de Fuca patrol duty, decommissioning and disposal (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block; photo caption 80-G-456631
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: the yacht 'was purchased by the Navy from Edward and Kathryn Lowe on 23 December 1940; converted for naval service by the Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Winslow, Wash.; renamed Amber on 10 January 1941 and simultaneously designated PYc-6; and placed in commission at Seattle on 3 March 1941, Lt. William B. Combs, D-V(G), USNR, in command.' Assigned to the Inshore Patrol of the Thirteenth Naval District; May-early August 1941 operated around Seattle, Tacoma, and Port Townsend; left Seattle 6 August 1941 on an Alaska cruise visiting Ketchikan, Juneau, and Sitka, returning early September; in November 1941 assigned to patrol duty at Astoria, Oregon, patrolling the Strait of Juan de Fuca off Neah Bay under the Northwest Sea Frontier Patrol Group. 'Amber was decommissioned on 18 October 1944, and her name was stricken from the Naval Register on 13 November 1944. The ship was sold back to her former owners on 13 June 1945.' Spec block: dp. 260; l. 120'; b. 21'5"; dr. 10'6"; s. 12.5 k.; armament 1 3-inch, 2 depth charge tracks. Photo caption: 80-G-456631, off Seattle in No. 5 Navy gray, 1941.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1930-1945
- Population
- Yacht crew (1930-40); Winslow conversion trades (1940-41); naval crew, 13th Naval District (1941-44)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content of any kind, and no complement figure. The entry misstates the builder (Lake Union Dry Dock, Seattle) and calls her Polaris at build - contemporaneous 1930 documentation establishes Craig Shipbuilding, Long Beach, and the name Infanta; see ev-05 correction row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, Amber (PYc 6) - builder, registry chain, service timeline, specifications, NARA photo credits (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/1406.htm header timeline, specifications block, call-sign block, photo credits
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: built in 1930 as the yacht Infanta by Craig Shipbuilding, Long Beach, CA for actor John Barrymore; registered 1932 to John Barrymore of Beverly Hills as Infanta out of Los Angeles; acquired by Edward and Kathryn Lowe of San Francisco, renamed Polaris, home-ported at Juneau, Alaska; purchased by the Navy 23 December 1940; renamed Amber and designated Coastal Patrol Yacht PYc-6 on 10 January 1941; commissioned USS Amber (PYc-6) 3 March 1941 at Seattle; decommissioned 18 October 1944; struck from the Naval Register 13 November 1944; transferred to the War Shipping Administration 13 June 1945 and sold back to her former owners; registered 1946 to the Macco Construction Co. of Clearwater, CA as the freighter Polaris out of Los Angeles; registered 1951 to the Foss Launch and Tug Co. of Seattle as the yacht Thea Foss out of Tacoma; 'As of 2003 she was still operating out of Seattle.' Specs (mixed Navy and registry measures): displacement 260 t. / 1932 - 253 t.; length 120' / 1932 - 110.5'; beam 21'5"; draft 10'6" / 1932 - 13.6'; 'Complement: Eight' / 1946 - Nine; speed 12.5 kts.; armament one 3"/23 dual purpose mount and two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 275bhp Atlas Imperial diesels, two shafts. Photo credits include NARA 19-N-24223, 19-N-24224, 19-N-24225, 19-N-24227 (Polaris pre-conversion and March 1941 Bainbridge Studio images) and 80-G-456631.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1930-present
- Population
- Yacht crew and owners (1930-40); naval crew (1941-44); post-Navy civilian owners/crew (1945-present)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track DANFS and are corroborated here by the live DANFS page and the 1930 trade journal; its registry-measure figures (253 t., 110.5', 13.6' draft) differ from the DANFS spec block on measurement basis. 'Complement: Eight' is unattributed and likely a registry-crew figure, not Navy manning - carried in gaps, not asserted. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-02
-
[4]Pacific Marine Review, vol. 27 (1930), San Francisco: J.S. Hines - contemporaneous construction documentation for Craig hull 151 and the launch of John Barrymore's yacht (Internet Archive full text, OCR extracted 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Pacific Marine Review vol. 27 (1930) djvu text: February column, launching paragraph; monthly 'new construction' directory items under 'CRAIG SHIPBUILDING CO.'; National Battery column naming Infanta (page n316 region per Wikipedia citation)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous trade-journal documentation of this hull's construction: the monthly new-construction directories carry 'CRAIG SHIPBUILDING CO., Long Beach, Calif. ... Not named, hull 151, yacht for John Barrymore, Los Angeles; 118 L.B.P.; 21 beam; 9 loaded draft; 13 knots speed; 2 275-H.P. Atlas-Imperial diesel engs.; keel Sept. 15/29; launch 1/16/30.' A February-column article reports 'the launching January 15 of John Barrymore's new steel 120-foot twin-screw diesel yacht at the Craig Shipbuilding Company, Long Beach. In the presence of Mr. Barrymore, his wife, the screen star, Dolores Costello, and the architect, L. E. Geary of Seattle, this ... cruiser took her initial dip.' A second National Battery column item names her: 'the yacht Infanta, another Geary-planned yacht, built by the Craig Shipbuilding Company, Long Beach, California, for John Barrymore, is equipped with 60 cells of 270-ampere hour' batteries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1929-1930
- Population
- Craig Shipbuilding construction trades (1929-30); Barrymore yacht crew (1930-37)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous trade press, not a Navy record - establishes builder, hull number, designer, owner, keel/launch dates, and build specs; no asbestos or material-content information of any kind. Launch date reported as both January 15 (article) and 1/16/30 (directory) - the conflict is carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-03
-
[5]Colton, Tim, 'Craig Shipbuilding, Long Beach CA,' Shipbuilding History (yard construction list) - archived copy via Wayback capture 2015-05-02 (original site unreachable) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Craig Shipbuilding yard table, row '151 | 229467 | Infanta | John Barrymore | Yacht | 253 | 1930 | Later Thea Foss'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Craig Shipbuilding construction list carries this hull: yard number 151, official number 229467, name Infanta, owner John Barrymore, type Yacht, 253 (gross register tons), year 1930, fate 'Later Thea Foss.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1929-1930
- Population
- Craig Shipbuilding construction trades (1929-30)
- Limitations
- Secondary yard-history compilation (Colton's long-maintained shipyard lists), consistent with the contemporaneous 1930 trade journal - corroborates hull number, official number, owner, tonnage and year; no asbestos content. Original site inactive; cited via Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-04
-
[6]Designation/builder cross-check: DANFS Amber (PYc-6) vs Pacific Marine Review vol. 27 (1930), Colton Craig yard list, NavSource 12/1406, and NavalCoverMuseum AMBER PYc 6 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Amber narrative first paragraph vs Pacific Marine Review 1930 (hull-151 directory items; National Battery columns on the Barrymore and Blethen yachts); Colton Craig yard list row 151
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: The live DANFS entry states the yacht was 'built in 1930 at Seattle, Wash., by the Lake Union Dry Dock Co.' and names her Polaris at build. Both statements are contradicted by contemporaneous documentation: Pacific Marine Review (1930) records hull 151 at the Craig Shipbuilding Co., Long Beach, for John Barrymore, and names the yacht Infanta; the Colton Craig yard list, NavSource, and NavalCoverMuseum all agree. The probable error source is visible in the same 1930 journal: an adjacent National Battery column paragraph describes a different Geary-designed yacht 'built by the Lake Union Dry Dock & Ship-building Company in Seattle for Col. C. B. Blethen' - the Lake Union attribution belongs to the Blethen yacht, not to Infanta. The name Polaris dates to the 1937 Lowe purchase, not to build.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1929-1930 (event); DANFS error present in live entry accessed 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating DANFS misstatement, not a material claim. DANFS remains the authoritative service narrative; its construction attribution is overridden here by the contemporaneous 1930 trade journal and the yard list. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: DANFS and NavSource milestones (1930 construction; 1940-41 Winslow conversion; 1941-44 naval service); NavSource/PMR propulsion lines (two 275-bhp Atlas-Imperial diesels, twin shafts); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era program documentation (ev-08); EPA documentation of the conversion-yard site (ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications (propulsion); DANFS conversion milestone; ev-07 yard environmental record; ev-08 GAO program context
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered steel yacht built in 1930 and converted for naval service in 1940-41 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a diesel vessel of this period were exhaust/manifold lagging and heat shielding in the machinery space, gaskets and flange materials, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1929-present
- Population
- Craig Shipbuilding construction trades (1929-30); yacht crew (1930-40); Winslow conversion trades (1940-41); naval crew (1941-44); post-Navy civilian owners/crew and refit trades (1945-present)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work order, or conversion specification located for this hull. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. A 1930 private-yacht build predates some naval-material norms; nothing establishes which era materials were installed, retained, or disturbed during Navy service, or what survives aboard the still-operating Thea Foss.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-06
-
[8]U.S. EPA, Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund site, West Harbor Soils and Sediment Cleanup Area (OU3) - former shipyard operable unit; plus EPA site overview and Fifth Five-Year Review (2022); corporate chain corroborated by State of Washington v. United States, 930 F. Supp. 474 (W.D. Wash. 1996) (live EPA pages verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor site pages (West Harbor OU3; site overview and history; Fifth FYR July 2022); 930 F. Supp. 474 successor-liability findings (Hall Brothers/Winslow Marine/CSR/PACCAR chain); Kitsap Sun 'Toxic Kitsap' via Wayback (Wyckoff demolition quantities)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The yard that converted this hull in 1940-41 - Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co., on the north shore of Eagle Harbor, Winslow, Bainbridge Island - is a documented Superfund operable unit (Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor, EPA ID WAD009248295). EPA's Fifth Five-Year Review records that 'a major shipyard was established on the north shore of Eagle Harbor' in 1903 and 'continued operations until 1961'; the West Harbor OU3 remedy addressed sediment contamination 'with mercury and other metals' from former shipyard operations (excavation, disposal, and capping completed; now part of a Washington State DOT ferry maintenance facility). The federal court's successor-liability findings document the operating chain on this site: Hall Brothers (marine railway from 1903) sold to Winslow Marine 8 June 1916; Commercial Ship Repair took over in 1946; PACCAR purchased 1 June 1953. Separately, press documentation of demolition at the adjacent Wyckoff wood-treating facility cited 'more than 600 cubic yards of asbestos' removed - from the wood-treating plant's buildings, a different operable unit, not the shipyard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1903-1961 (yard era); 1987-2026 (Superfund listing/remediation/monitoring)
- Population
- Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding trades (1916-1946 window covering the 1940-41 conversion); subsequent yard operators' trades to closure
- Limitations
- Site-level environmental documentation, not a hull record: EPA attributes mercury and metals contamination to the former shipyard operable unit and does NOT document asbestos at OU3; the asbestos removal reported at the site pertained to the adjacent Wyckoff facility demolition. 930 F. Supp. 474 is a CERCLA successor-liability ruling on cleanup responsibility - not an exposure finding; the shipyard-closure year also differs between sources (court 1959 vs EPA 1961). Establishes that the conversion yard was a contaminated industrial site, not that any material was installed aboard or disturbed aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (published 18 October 1979; product page live 2026-10-04) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed the Navy's efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure and documented that the Navy's 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs - i.e., asbestos insulation aboard Navy ships was a standing, managed material condition through at least the late 1970s, long after this hull's 1940-41 conversion and 1941-44 service era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1979 (report); Navy asbestos-use era contextual
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk - supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull, her 1930 yacht construction, or her 1940-41 conversion at a civilian yard. Content taken from the GAO product-page Highlights; full report PDF not extracted this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-08
-
[10]Rainshadow Journal (Port Townsend, WA), 'On the hard: Thea Foss' (17 April 2020) + Northwest Yachting, 'The Remarkable Thea Foss' (2020, via Wayback) + NavSource Thea Foss photographs (Seattle, August 2019) + vesseltracker.com AIS record (MMSI 367035820) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- rainshadownorthwest.com 2020-04-17 article (live); nwyachting.com article via Wayback 2025-01-21 capture; NavSource 12/1406 Thea Foss photo block; vesseltracker.com Thea Foss I294613
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- This hull survives and remains in service. After the 13 June 1945 sale back to her former owners she passed to the Macco Construction Co. of Clearwater, California, used as a freighter and for geological surveys; purchased by the Foss Launch and Tug Company of Tacoma (literature says 1950; NavSource registry says 1951), restored at Foss's own Tacoma shipyard, and renamed Thea Foss for the company founder. She is now the Foss Maritime/Saltchuk corporate yacht homeported in Seattle: photographed there in August 2019 (NavSource); documented at a Port Townsend Boat Haven haul-out January-April 2020, whose account notes her twin 275-hp Atlas-Imperial diesels 'still power her today'; described by Northwest Yachting as a 120-foot steel-hulled yacht owned by Saltchuk with King Olaf V of Norway among her 1975 guests; and still returning AIS positions from Seattle as of 2026-06-30 (vesseltracker.com, MMSI 367035820, callsign WDL5077).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-2026
- Population
- Post-Navy civilian owners/crew (1945-present); Foss restoration trades (1950-51); contemporary crew, charter guests, and haul-out trades (1951-present)
- Limitations
- Extant-status documentation only; contains no asbestos information - the 2020 haul-out coverage describes hull and machinery condition but no hazmat or insulation survey. The 'original engines still in service' report supports long retention of 1930 machinery fabric, which cuts both ways for material survival and is noted, not claimed. Callsign differs between aggregators (WDL5077 vs WA9606) - MMSI carried as identifier. Northwest Yachting live domain returned a WP Engine error 2026-10-04; cited via Wayback capture of 2025-01-21.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-09
-
[11]NARA, Logbooks of the U.S. Navy at the National Archives (RG 24, Entry P118 / catalog series 594258, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations 1941-1978, College Park) + NARA photographs credited by NavSource captions (RG 19: 19-N-24223/4/5/7; RG 80: 80-G-456631) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy (RG 24 guidance); NavSource 12/1406 photo credits (RG 19/RG 80 photo numbers)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The archival locations of this hull's Navy-era records: NARA's deck-log guide confirms 1941-and-later Navy deck logs are held at College Park (RG 24 Entry P118; online series 594258), covering Amber's entire 1941-44 commission; whether PYc-6's logs are digitized was not determinable - the National Archives Catalog is JavaScript-rendered and returned no extractable results to scripted query. NavSource captions credit five NARA-held photographs of this hull (19-N-24223/24224 Polaris pre-conversion; 19-N-24225/24227 March 1941 Bainbridge Studio; 80-G-456631 the 1941 Seattle image republished by DANFS). Conversion-period work orders for the Winslow yard and any 13th Naval District material records would sit in RG 181 series for that district.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1940-1944 (record coverage); digitization status as of 2026-10-04
- Population
- Naval crew (1941-44); Winslow conversion trades (1940-41)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the guides confirm the record series exist, not that hull-specific deck logs, work orders, or material lists are digitized or survive. No asbestos content. Catalog.archives.gov could not be queried from this session (JS-rendered SPA).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-10
-
[12]Batch-8691 search ledger (this record): live DANFS Amber page; NavSource 12/1406; Pacific Marine Review 1930 full text; Colton Craig yard list via Wayback; NavalCoverMuseum; EPA Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor pages; NARA deck-log guide; Northwest Yachting via Wayback; Rainshadow Journal; vesseltracker AIS; Alaska State Library ASL-P337-11-098; NVR (no entry); secondary web litigation sweeps; CourtListener (blocked - fleet pacing) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-amber-pyc6-01 through -16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum/owner disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS Amber (PYc-6), Infanta, or Polaris was found in the public sources searched. The CourtListener opinion index was searched for both name and hull ('USS Amber' and 'PYc-6', type=o): 0 results each - no published opinion names this hull. CAVEAT: the two remaining base queries (docket index 'USS Amber' type=r; 'PYc-6' type=r) could not be run this session - the fleet pacing budget was exhausted on repeated attempts through the authenticated helper (exit 2, 'momentarily spent'); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content on Navy PYc conversions generally (mesowatch.org and similar) - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and the docket-side repository search remains a genuine open gap (paced, not run); the opinion index was searched for both name and hull number and is negative. Deck logs, RG 181 Thirteenth Naval District records, Winslow Marine conversion work orders, WSA disposal records, and 75+ years of private-owner refit records are undigitized or private leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amber-pyc6-11