Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 982-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-bath-pf55-pkt-982-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Bath II (PF-55) (R. J. Cressman, 2006-02-28; live NHHC page, verified 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS Bath II page, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second Bath (PF-55), named for Bath, Maine; laid down 1943-08-23 at Milwaukee, Wisc., by Froemming Bros., Inc., under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1480, type T.S2-S2-AQ1); launched 1943-11-14, sponsored by Mrs. Fred R. E. Dean; completed at New Orleans by Pendleton Shipyards; commissioned 1944-09-09, Comdr. John R. Stewart, USCG, in command. Shakedown out of Bermuda; post-shakedown repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard (arrived 1944-11-01); reported to TG 20.9, Eastern Sea Frontier, based at Tompkinsville, Staten Island; convoy escort to Guantanamo Bay and antisubmarine barrier patrol through mid-May 1945; brief weather-station duty; repairs/alterations at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Mariners' Harbor yard, Staten Island; departed for the Pacific 1945-07-14, the day after agreements signed turning her over to the Soviet Navy under lend-lease; transited Panama Canal 22 July, reached San Pedro 30 July, then Seattle; sailed for Siberian waters 1945-08-28; 'decommissioned and turned over to the Russians at Petropavlovsk on 9 September 1945'; served as 'unnamed Soviet escort vessel, EK.11' until returned at Yokosuka 1949-11-15; loaned to Japan 1953-12-13, 'renamed Matsu and redesignated PF-6'; struck from Navy list 1961-12-01; permanently transferred to Japan 1962-08-28; removed from JMSDF register 1966-03-31, became non-operational training ship; sold to Chin Ho Fa Steel and Iron Co., Ltd., of Taiwan 1971-12-13 and scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- Froemming Bros. construction trades 1943-44; Pendleton Shipyards completion trades 1944; USCG-manned crew (design complement 190) 1944-45; Philadelphia Navy Yard and Bethlehem Mariners' Harbor repair trades 1944-45; Soviet crew 1945-49; JMSDF crews 1953-69; Taiwan shipbreakers 1971-72
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Two DANFS assertions conflict with NHHC's specialist Project Hula study (see ev-02, ev-04): the Soviet designation 'EK.11' (Russell appendix assigns EK-29 to Bath; EK-11 was ex-Tacoma PF-3) and the 'Petropavlovsk' turnover location (all Project Hula transfers occurred at Cold Bay; Bath departed Cold Bay for Petropavlovsk 17 Sep 1945). The turnover date 9 September matches Russell's appendix table; Russell's narrative dates the actual Soviet acceptance 4 September.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-01
-
[3]Richard A. Russell, Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan (U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series No. 4, Naval Historical Center, Washington DC, 1997), pp. 34-35 and appendix p. 39 - verbatim PDF transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror of the NHHC publication [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Russell, Project Hula (NHC 1997), narrative pp. 34-35; appendix p. 39 row 'Bath (PF 55) EK-29'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's specialist Project Hula study names this hull: appendix table 'U.S. Navy Combatant Ships Transferred to the USSR Under Project HULA, May-September 1945' lists Bath (PF 55) = Soviet designation EK-29, transfer date 9 Sep., disposition 1949-returned. Russell's narrative (pp. 34-35) records that Soviet crews accepted the last four frigates - Gloucester (EK-26), Newport (EK-28), Bath (EK-29), and Evansville (EK-30) - on 4 September 1945 at Cold Bay, and that these four frigates remained at Cold Bay for additional training and shakedown until departing in company for Petropavlovsk on 17 September 1945, the last four of 149 Project Hula ships transferred in 142 days by Navy Detachment 3294.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- U.S. Navy Detachment 3294 and USCG-manned crew; Soviet Navy receiving crew, Cold Bay 1945
- Limitations
- Internal inconsistency inside the NHHC study itself: narrative dates the last-four-frigate acceptance 4 September while the appendix table reads 9 September (likely the formal U.S. decommissioning date; sister-ship NavSource entries show transfer and decommission dates straddling the same window). Documents transfer mechanics only - not materials aboard and not asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Frigate Photo Archive, Bath (PF 55) ex-PG-163 (navsource.net, verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource Bath (PF 55) page - class data block, timeline, specifications, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline and specifications for this hull: authorized as patrol gunboat PG-163, redesignated PF-55 1943-04-15; laid down 1943-08-23 under Maritime Commission contract at Froemming Brothers Inc., Milwaukee; launched 1943-11-14; commissioned 1944-09-01 per timeline (commanding-officer table shows CDR John Rupert Stewart, USCG, from 1944-09-09); struck from Navy Register 1961-12-01; permanently transferred to Japan 1962-08-28; reclassified auxiliary training craft YTE-9 1966-03-31; decommissioned (JMSDF) 1969-03-31; returned to U.S. custody 1971-07-12; sold for scrap 1971-12-13 to Chin Ho Fa Steel and Iron Co., Ltd., Taiwan. Specifications: 1,430 t.; 303'11" oa; 37'6" beam; 13'8" draft; 20.3 kt; complement 190; armament 3x 3"/50, 2 twin 40mm, 9x 20mm, Hedgehog, 8 Y-guns, 2 DCT; propulsion two 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500 iHP J. Hendy Iron Works engines, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- USCG-manned crew (complement 190); construction and repair trades
- Limitations
- Specifications and milestone dates; NavSource is a volunteer-edited archive, not an official record - used for the propulsion spec block and milestone corroboration only. Its own timeline entries for the Soviet transfer ('Decommissioned 12 July 1945 at Cold Harbor, Alaska; Transferred ... 13 July 1945') are superseded by NHHC sources and are treated as a documented error - see ev-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-03
-
[5]Correction grounded in: Russell, Project Hula (NHC 1997) narrative pp. 34-35 + appendix p. 39; DANFS Bath II ('the day after agreements had been signed turning her over to the Soviet Navy under lend lease', departing New York 14 July 1945); older DANFS transcription (Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. 1 p. 105); NavSource Bath (PF 55) and sister-ship pages Gloucester (PF 22), Evansville (PF 70) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Russell pp. 34-35 + p. 39; DANFS Bath II narrative; NavSource Bath/Gloucester/Evansville timelines; losthistory.net hazegray DANFS mirror (Vol. 1 p. 105)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION - widely repeated transfer-date errors for this hull. (1) NavSource and the older DANFS text state Bath was transferred to the Soviet Union on 13 July 1945 (NavSource adds 'Decommissioned 12 July 1945 at Cold Harbor, Alaska'). That conflates the lend-lease transfer agreement date with the physical transfer: per modern DANFS the agreement was signed 13 July 1945 and Bath was still in New York, departing for the Pacific only on 14 July; she then transited the Panama Canal, called at San Pedro and Seattle, and did not reach the transfer area until late August. (2) Modern DANFS's 'turned over to the Russians at Petropavlovsk' contradicts NHHC's Project Hula study: all Hula transfers occurred at Cold Bay, Alaska, and Bath departed Cold Bay for Petropavlovsk only on 17 September 1945. (3) 'Cold Harbor, Alaska' in NavSource is a recurrent misprint for Cold Bay, Alaska (same error on sister-ship pages). (4) Russell's narrative dates Soviet acceptance 4 September 1945; his appendix table and DANFS give 9 September (the formal decommissioning date per sister-ship NavSource patterns). Carried: transfer to Soviet crews at Cold Bay 1945-09-04, U.S. decommissioning recorded 1945-09-09.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- N/A - record correction
- Limitations
- Date reconciliation is a best-fit synthesis across sources whose own records conflict; the 4 vs. 9 September split may reflect acceptance vs. formal decommissioning but no primary document located settles which. Does not bear on asbestos status.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-04
-
[6]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (two 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500 iHP J. Hendy Iron Works engines, two shafts - i.e., a steam plant); DANFS class designation (Tacoma class, MC type T.S2-S2-AQ1); construction dates 1943-44 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; DANFS Bath II class/build data
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a steam-driven Tacoma-class patrol frigate built 1943-44 under a Maritime Commission contract (two 3-drum boilers feeding two vertical triple-expansion engines on two shafts) would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler insulation, steam-line and machinery lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and fireproofing - the materials routinely installed in steam auxiliaries of the era. USCG-manning and the convoy-escort/ASW operating profile do not change the materials inference; crew and shipyard repair trades (Philadelphia Navy Yard, Bethlehem Mariners' Harbor) are the plausible exposure populations if ACM was present.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Froemming Bros. and Pendleton construction trades 1943-44; USCG crew 1944-45; Philadelphia Navy Yard and Bethlehem Mariners' Harbor repair trades 1944-45; Taiwan shipbreakers 1971-72
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for PF-55. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution. Neither builder (Froemming Brothers, Milwaukee; Pendleton Shipyards, New Orleans) appears in the Atlas shipyards dataset - yard-level asbestos documentation for the builders is unavailable, removing the yard-context leg that comparable records carry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-05
-
[7]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 - spanning this hull's construction (1943-44), U.S. service (1944-45), and through the era of her foreign transfers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- 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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403 - consistent with Batch-01 finding) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-06
-
[8]Batch-8461 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; Russell Project Hula (NHHC/NHC 1997) PDF; NavSource PF-55 + sister-ship pages; older DANFS transcription (losthistory.net hazegray mirror); NVR; NARA catalog API; CourtListener API v4 completed sweep; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-bath-pf55-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located in public sources searched: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, donation-condition record, or ship-specific product identification naming USS Bath (PF-55), and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull. Completed CourtListener sweep (2026-10-04, authenticated API v4): 'USS Bath' exact-name = 0 opinions and 0 dockets; 'PF-55' = 1 opinion (Fisher v. United States, D. Mass. 2010 - '(PF 55)' is a Proposed Findings paragraph cite in an electric-shock FTCA case, not a vessel reference - other litigation/name collision) and 37 dockets, first page all name collisions ('PF-55' as Proposed-Findings cites, exhibit and Bates numbers); asbestos-qualified 'PF-55' docket variant (run because the base page overflowed 20) = 3 results, all name collisions/other litigation. The hull left U.S. custody early (transferred to the Soviet Navy in September 1945, days short of her first commissioning anniversary), spent 1949-1953 in reserve at Yokosuka, and was scrapped in Taiwan after 1971 - leaving no U.S. museum, memorial, or stateside yard period in which a modern asbestos survey or abatement record would likely have been generated.
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam vessel sits squarely in the documented asbestos-use era (ev-05, ev-06). Undigitized leads: NARA deck logs (RG 24), Maritime Commission contract records for MC hull 1480, Froemming/Pendleton yard records, and any Taiwan scrapping documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bath-pf55-07