Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS Buttress' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USS Buttress' returned 45 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-buttress-acm4-cl-name-opinion
-
[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS Buttress' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USS Buttress' returned 337 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-buttress-acm4-cl-name-docket
-
[3]CourtListener opinion search: 'ACM-4' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'ACM-4' returned 10667 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-buttress-acm4-cl-hull-opinion
-
[4]CourtListener docket search: 'ACM-4' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'ACM-4' returned 27427 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-buttress-acm4-cl-hull-docket
-
[5]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), Buttress (ACM-4) entry - hazegray/losthistory.net verbatim transcription (live NHHC canonical URLs returned 404 on 2026-09-19) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full DANFS entry (transcriber's note, entire); canonical NHHC slugs tried: danfs/b/buttress.html and danfs/b/buttress-i.html (both 404); Wayback Machine temporarily offline at research time
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull is a transcriber's note only: the ship was omitted from DANFS Vol. I. The note confirms the identity chain - built as PCE-878, redesignated ACM-4 and named Buttress in 1944, disposed of by sale and became the mercantile ship Pacific Reefer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- The DANFS entry is only a transcriber's note - the ship was omitted from Vol. I, so the 'official' narrative is minimal and gives no dates beyond the 1944 redesignation. Dates and detail are carried from the Shipscribe and NavSource rows. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-01
-
[6]Shipscribe (Stephen S. Roberts), USS Buttress (ACM-4) class page - compiled from BuShips/CNO/Maritime Commission records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction table, disposition table, class notes, and ship notes for ACM-4 (compiled 29 Dec 2008)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe class/ship record for BUTTRESS (ACM-4) class, design Navy 180' PCE: laid down 11 May 1943 by Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon; launched 26 August 1943; commissioned 13 March 1944; reclassified ACM-4 effective 15 June 1944; decommissioned 24 February 1947; struck 5 March 1947; disposal 31 October 1947, Maritime Commission sale 30 October 1947 - sold (delivered) by MC to J. W. Rumsey, Seattle. Class notes: on 17 January 1944 CominCh cancelled PCE-878's assignment to the Western Sea Frontier and made the ship available for conversion to a drill mine laying and mine recovery vessel; BuShips assigned the conversion to Mare Island Navy Yard 8 February 1944; outfitting completed at the builder's yard 23 March 1944; conversion at Mare Island completed circa 27 April 1944; served the remainder of the war as a unit of Service Squadron 6; at Pearl Harbor February 1946; returned to the West Coast December 1946. Specs: 850 t trial / 903 lim; 184.5' oa x 33.0' x 9.4'; 1-3"/50 and 4-20mm; complement 98 (1944); 15.7 kt; diesel, 2 screws, 1,800 hp. ACM program context from the same source: the ACM-1 (Chimo) class page lists ACM 1-3 and 5-9 as ex-Army Marietta-built mine planters and the ACM-11 (Camanche) class as ex-Army M-1 mine planters - with Monadnock (ACM-10, ex-coastal steamer CMc-4), Buttress was one of only two ACMs not built as Army mine planters and the only PCE-derived ACM.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Albina Engine & Machine Works construction trades (1943-44); Mare Island Navy Yard conversion workers (Mar-Apr 1944); embarked Navy crew 1944-1947
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary record drawn from official BuShips/MC data, not a contemporaneous document; sole located source for the CominCh/CNO/BuShips action dates and the MC sale detail. The Mare Island conversion is an asbestos-relevant yard event but its material scope is undocumented - inference only. Contains no asbestos statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-02
-
[7]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Buttress (ACM 4) ex-PCE-878 page (contributed data incl. U.S. Navy photo captions and commanding-officer list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chronology bullets, specifications block, photo captions (U.S. Navy photo nos. 1973-44, 1974-44, 1975-44, 1976-44, 2532-44, 2533-44; NHHC NH 79738), commanding-officer list (LT Blake H. Beatty Jr. USNR from 3 Mar 1944; LT Kenneth F. X. Smith USN 10 Jun 1946 - 10 Jan 1947)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource mine-warfare archive record for this hull: planned as PC-878, reclassified PCE-878 April 1943; laid down 11 May 1943 by Albina Engine and Machine Works, Portland; launched 26 August 1943; delivered and commissioned USS PCE-878 13 March 1944; converted to auxiliary minelayer ACM-4 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard 27 March - 26 April 1944; reclassified and named Buttress (ACM-4) 15 June 1944; decommissioned 24 February 1947 at Bremerton, WA; struck 5 March 1947. Merchant chain: Pacific Reefer Fisheries, Tacoma, 1952 (Pacific Reefer); Roy D. Furfiord, Seattle, 1967 (Aleutian Fjord); Greyhound Leasing & Financial Corp., Chicago, 1975; Trident Seafoods Corp., Seattle, 1977 (Mr. J), crab processor at Akutan Harbor, Aleutian Islands; I. D. Logan, Bothell, 1989; towed out to sea and sunk sometime in the 1990s. Specs: complement 102; two 900bhp GM Electro-Motive 12-567A diesels, two shafts. Contemporaneous U.S. Navy photos document the Mare Island availability (photos 1973-44 through 1976-44 dated 27 March 1944; 2532-44 and 2533-44 dated 25 April 1944 during conversion) and NHHC photo NH 79738 (c. 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1990s
- Population
- Merchant fishing/processing crews 1947-1990s (Pacific Reefer, Aleutian Fjord, Mr. J)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation - merchant ownership chain is not registry-verified (MARAD ShipHistory holds no digitized card for this hull under any name) and omits the 1947 MC-sale step to J.W. Rumsey documented by Shipscribe. Complement 102 conflicts with Shipscribe's 98 (1944) - carried in gaps. 'Towed out to sea and sunk' vs 'sunk as a target' (class list) divergence logged. Contains no asbestos statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-03
-
[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); Atlas shipyards.json record 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (tier 2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AJIM 11(3):359-373 (article/abstract); shipyards.json yard record
- 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, with wartime demand driving unprecedented utilization aboard naval and merchant-type hulls. This hull's construction (Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, 1943-44) and her documented conversion availability at Mare Island Navy Yard (March-April 1944) fall squarely within that period; the Atlas yard dataset independently documents Mare Island Naval Shipyard as an asbestos-use yard (tier 2). Because the plant is diesel (no boilers or steam mains), era-typical asbestos applications for this hull would center on exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproof bulkhead/joiner panels, cable insulation, and brake linings rather than boiler and steam-line insulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Albina construction trades (1943-44); Mare Island conversion workers (Mar-Apr 1944); embarked crew (1944-47); merchant crews (1947-1990s)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation and yard-level dataset context; neither source names this vessel and neither establishes that asbestos was or was not aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. Diesel propulsion materially narrows the plausible asbestos scope relative to steam vessels of the era.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-04
-
[9]Batch-435 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirrors; Shipscribe class page; NavSource; MARAD ShipHistory (no record under any name); NVR (pre-1987 disposal not covered); CourtListener (blocked); general-web litigation lead check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-buttress-acm4-01 through sl-uss-buttress-acm4-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming this hull (under PCE-878, Buttress, ACM-4, Pacific Reefer, Aleutian Fjord, or Mr. J) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion/docket search was attempted 2026-09-19 by exact name and hull numbers but was rate-limited (API v4: '125/day' cap consumed, ~3.7h to reset; HTML search returned 403) - logged as blocked, not as a negative result. The hull was sunk at sea in the 1990s, foreclosing any present-day fabric survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2026-09-19
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 naval hull built and converted in wartime yards is era-consistent with installed asbestos materials. Litigation coverage is incomplete: CourtListener verification is pending rate-limit reset, and state-court/PACER coverage is inherently partial. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-05
-
[10]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 24 (deck logs), RG 38 (CNO war diaries); NHHC photo collection (NH 79738 via NavSource caption) [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; /groups/024.html ; /groups/038.html ; NavSource photo captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 deck logs for PCE-878/Buttress (Mar 1944 - Feb 1947); RG 38 WWII war diaries; RG 19 Bureau of Ships records for the ACM-4 conversion (Mare Island Navy Yard availability, Feb-Apr 1944) - the likeliest repository of any materials/insulation documentation for this hull; NHHC photographic collection holds NH 79738 (c. 1945) and the Mare Island conversion photo series (1973-44 through 1976-44, 2532-44, 2533-44).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1947 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-buttress-acm4-06