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, 'Avocet II (AMCU-16)' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full entry text, final-service/decommissioning/striking paragraph. Live NHHC page returned HTTP 503 on 2026-09-23; text confirmed via mirror (see ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-01 limitations_note for sourcing method).
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- For less than 15 months, Avocet operated out of San Diego, California, conducting experiments for the Naval Electronics Laboratory; she also served as a sonar training ship and participated in mine-hunting exercises. On 23 February 1955 she arrived in San Francisco, where she began preparations for inactivation, and while undergoing inactivation overhaul was reclassified as a coastal minehunter with the designation MHC-16. She was towed to Stockton, California, on 5 May 1955 and was decommissioned there on 20 May 1955. Her disposal was approved on 21 December 1959, and her name was struck from the Navy Directory on 1 January 1960. She was sold in 1960; the DANFS entry states her ultimate fate as unknown (superseded - see ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-04).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1953-1960
- Limitations
- Establishes the MHC-16 designation, final decommissioning, disposal approval, and striking dates. DANFS's own 'ultimate fate unknown' statement is contemporaneous with the source text and is corrected by the HAER AK-52 record (ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-04). Establishes no asbestos content, quantity, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-03
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[2]Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No. AK-52, 'M/V Husky II, Seldovia Harbor, Seldovia, Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK,' Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division [haer]
- Locator
- LOC catalog record metadata: title, alternative-names field ('LCI(L)-653', 'USS Avocet'), call number HAER AK-52, description (30 photographs, 4 color transparencies, 4 measured drawings, 24 data pages, 4 photo-caption pages), and historical-significance summary. The underlying 24-page HAER written data pages (PDF at tile.loc.gov) could not be rendered/read in this research pass (see gaps) - this row relies on the LOC catalog metadata layer, not the full written history.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Library of Congress/Historic American Engineering Record HAER AK-52, titled 'M/V Husky II, Seldovia Harbor, Seldovia, Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK,' formally cross-identifies the documented vessel under the alternative names 'LCI(L)-653' and 'USS Avocet.' The HAER catalog record's historical-significance summary states the hull represents 'widespread commercial reuse of surplus navy landing craft' by Alaska fishermen and coastal operators after WWII, and dates the vessel's initial construction to 1944, consistent with the DANFS-documented build date. This resolves DANFS's 'ultimate fate unknown' statement: the hull sold out of Navy service in 1960 was documented (post-disposal) as a civilian vessel in Alaska before eventual disposal.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944-2010 (HAER documentation compiled after 1968, per catalog record)
- Limitations
- Confirms hull continuity/identity (LCI(L)-653 = USS Avocet = M/V Husky II) via an official federal documentation-program catalog record, which is stronger than an aggregator claim, but this row is sourced to catalog metadata only, not the full 24-page HAER narrative, which was inaccessible (PDF fetch returned unreadable/corrupted content and the LOC item page itself returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch). Establishes no asbestos content, quantity, condition, or exposure aboard the hull at any point in its history.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-04
-
[3]Secondary summaries of HAER AK-52 content (vessel-history aggregation drawn from the HAER record and local Alaska maritime-history sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Aggregated secondary narrative; the primary HAER written data pages that would substantiate this narrative directly could not be retrieved/read in this research pass (LOC item page returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch; the HAER data PDF at tile.loc.gov downloaded but could not be rendered as text, and no PDF page-rendering tool was available in this environment). A dedicated Alaska local-history site (seldoviaremembers.info) that appears to cover this vessel is blocked by this environment's network egress policy and could not be checked as a cross-reference.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary aggregator accounts describing the HAER AK-52 record state that mariner Oddmund Sumstad purchased the former Avocet/LCI(L)-653 in 1962 and renamed her Husky II for use as a pilot boat on the Kuskokwim River in southwest Alaska; that Ronald Sumstad (nephew) purchased the vessel in 1979 and continued pilot service; that in 1986 the vessel was converted to a fisheries tender; that Sumstad sold Husky II in 2001; that the vessel was later abandoned at Seldovia, Alaska, and was cleared of hazardous materials in a project headed by the U.S. Coast Guard; and that the deteriorating vessel was broken up at Homer, Alaska, in 2010.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1962-2010
- Population
- Commercial mariners/fishery workers, Kuskokwim River and Seldovia, AK (1962-2001, civilian, not Navy-related)
- Limitations
- This is the strongest lead on the hull's full post-Navy civilian history and on the 2010 pre-breakup hazardous-materials clearance, but it is carried here as an unverified archival lead, not a confirmed finding, because the underlying primary HAER text could not be independently read in this session. Critically, none of the available text identifies the specific hazardous material(s) cleared before the 2010 breakup (asbestos is not named in any source located); this row supports no asbestos claim of any kind. Recommend a follow-up pass with PDF-rendering capability (or direct access to loc.gov/tile.loc.gov) to read the full 24-page HAER AK-52 data pages, and an attempt to reach seldoviaremembers.info from an unrestricted network, before treating any hazmat detail as ship-specific asbestos evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-05
-
[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
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II, the program and era under which this landing craft was built (laid down June 1944), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization across U.S. Navy and merchant hull types generally.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers generally (program-level context, not this hull's builder or conversion yard specifically)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally. Does not name this vessel, this hull's LCI(L)-351 class, or its diesel machinery/outfit specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was used aboard this hull, nor its quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. This vessel is a small diesel-powered landing craft, not a steam-plant hull; no boiler- or steam-lagging inference is drawn from this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-06
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 (courtlistener.com), searches: q="USS Avocet" asbestos (opinions, 0 hits); q=Avocet asbestos (opinions, 2 hits, both name collisions - Anderson v. A.J. Friedman Supply Co. cluster 2444051; Amato v. Bell & Gossett cluster 2794708); q=Avocet asbestos (RECAP, name-collision hits only, all 'Avocet Enterprises, Inc.'); q="AMCU-16" OR "LCI(L)-653" OR "Husky II" (RECAP, 1 unrelated hit, In re New Rite Aid LLC bankruptcy, no asbestos/vessel connection); q="USS Avocet" (RECAP, 0 hits) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search tool, queries logged in search_ledger sl-uss-avocet-amcu16-05 through sl-uss-avocet-amcu16-09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener search (opinions and RECAP/PACER dockets) for this hull under every documented designation and name ("USS Avocet", "Avocet" + "asbestos", "AMCU-16", "LCI(L)-653", "Husky II") returned no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this vessel or its Navy crew/shipyard workforce. All 'Avocet' hits in asbestos-related dockets and opinions (e.g., Anderson v. A.J. Friedman Supply Co., 416 N.J. Super. 46 (App. Div. 2010); Amato v. Bell & Gossett, 116 A.3d 607 (Pa. Super. 2015); and numerous MDL-875 and state-court asbestos dockets) are name collisions with the unrelated corporate defendant 'Avocet Enterprises, Inc.' (f/k/a Ventfabrics, Inc.), a mechanical-insulation-products manufacturer, not the ship. This is a negative finding, not an absence-of-search.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- Search conducted 2026-09-23; CourtListener corpus coverage varies by court and era
- Limitations
- Confirms absence of located litigation naming this hull; does not establish that no such litigation exists (CourtListener/RECAP coverage of older state-court and pre-electronic-filing dockets is incomplete), and does not establish anything about asbestos presence, quantity, exposure, or causation aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-07
-
[6]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Avocet II (AMCU-16)' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full entry text, construction/WWII-service paragraphs. Live NHHC page returned HTTP 503 on 2026-09-23 (see limitations_note); text confirmed via a mirror that states it incorporates the public-domain DANFS text (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Avocet_(AMCU-16)), cross-checked against a second independent aggregator quoting identical DANFS sentences verbatim.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Avocet was laid down as LCI(L)-653 on 14 June 1944 at Barber, New Jersey, by the New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 14 July 1944; and commissioned on 21 July 1944. Assigned to the Pacific during the last year of World War II, LCI(L)-653 served in the Philippines in the spring of 1945, participating in the occupation of many of the smaller islands around Mindanao and of those that comprise the Sulu Archipelago. She earned one battle star during World War II as LCI(L)-653. After the war, the ship returned to the United States and was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 6 June 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Establishes construction, WWII Pacific service, and the LCI(L)-653 identity that is the same hull later renamed Avocet. The live NHHC/DANFS URL returned HTTP 503 Service Unavailable on the research date (standing link-rot issue, consistent with prior Atlas batches); text is taken from a mirror reproducing the public-domain DANFS entry verbatim, not from the live government page directly. Establishes no asbestos content, quantity, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-01
-
[7]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Avocet II (AMCU-16)' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full entry text, reclassification/conversion paragraph. Live NHHC page returned HTTP 503 on 2026-09-23; text confirmed via mirror (see ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-01 limitations_note for sourcing method).
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- On 7 March 1952, LCI(L)-653 was reclassified as a minehunter, redesignated AMCU-16, and named Avocet, for the avocet, a long-legged, web-footed shore bird. Her conversion began on 1 July 1953 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, and she was recommissioned there on 9 December 1953, Lt. James E. McMullen in command.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1952-1953
- Population
- Puget Sound Naval Shipyard conversion-yard workforce, 1953 (not individually documented)
- Limitations
- Establishes the identity link between LCI(L)-653 and AMCU-16/Avocet and the location/date of the minehunter conversion (Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA, Jul-Dec 1953). Does not itself state which of the nine reported sister-hull conversions in this program were converted alongside her, and does not establish asbestos content, quantity, or exposure in the conversion work.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-avocet-amcu16-02