Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 366-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: Castine (for Castine, Maine). Verified hull/designation:
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-castine-ix211-pkt-366-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, Submarine Chaser Photo Archive - Castine (IX 211) ex-PC-452 (compiled from Navy records; no DANFS history exists for this hull) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource IX 211 / PC-452 page, chronology and specifications blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- PC-452 (DeFoe yard hull No. 167, DeFoe Boat and Motor Works, Bay City, MI) was laid down 1940-03-14 under the Experimental Small Craft program of 1938-05-17 ('X-Boats'), launched 1941-08-23, towed to Philadelphia Navy Yard for boiler installation and use as a steam turbine test bed hull; commissioned USS PC-452 1943-07-26; reclassified Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary IX-211 and named Castine 1945-03-10; decommissioned 1945-10-03 and laid up at Philadelphia; advertised for Maritime Commission sale in the 1946-10-21 Miami News; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal January 1947; fate unknown. Specifications: 348 tons, 173 ft 8 in, 23 ft beam; two Beasler boilers with DeLaval turbines, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940-1947
- Population
- Ship's crew (76 officers and enlisted); Philadelphia Navy Yard fitting-out and trial-support trades (1941-1945)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compilation of Navy record data, not a primary document; its dates and specifications here are corroborated by uboat.net and by the executive officer's published firsthand account (ev-02, ev-03). Contains no asbestos information; establishes the hull's history and plant type only. Does not establish exposure, causation, or any individual claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships - USS PC-452 (PC-452), Prototypes class patrol craft [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page, data block and commands table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net's warship file for PC-452 independently records: built by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; ordered 1939-10-19; laid down 1940-03-14; launched 1941-08-23; commissioned 1943-07-26; 'Used as experimental ship'; reclassified unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary IX-211 and named Castine 1945-03-10; end of service 1945-10-03. Commanding officers listed: Lt. Charles G. Herbermann, USNR (1943-07-26 to mid-1944); Lt. (j.g.) John W. Hazard, USNR (mid-1944 to 1944-12-07).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1939-1945
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; corroborates NavSource on dates and adds order date and command roster. Contains no asbestos or insulation information. Does not establish exposure or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-02
-
[4]Hazard, John W., 'The Flying Teakettle,' The New Yorker, January 21, 1950 issue, p. 24 (published online January 14, 1950) - firsthand account by PC-452's executive officer [reputable_press]
- Locator
- The New Yorker, 1950-01-21 issue, 'The Flying Teakettle' full text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's executive officer describes PC-452 as 'the only one of her kind' among subchasers: 'the other PCs had oldfashioned Diesel engines, while the Flying Teakettle ... had two ultra-modern, experimental steam boilers, which generated hotter and higher-pressure steam than a battleship' in a closed feed-water system served by shipboard evaporators. Documents commissioning at Philadelphia Navy Yard in July 1943 with a complement of 'seventy-six nearly helpless officers and enlisted men'; chronic plant casualties (boiler tubes melted five days after commissioning; repeated distilled-water exhaustion requiring tow); Delaware River trials, Miami shakedown, convoy escort, and failed measured-mile trials off Rockland, Maine.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- PC-452 crew (76 officers/enlisted at commissioning); Philadelphia Navy Yard engineers and trial-board personnel
- Limitations
- A firsthand narrative published in a national magazine five years after the events; journalistic memoir, not an engineering survey. Contains no mention of asbestos or insulation materials; it establishes only that the hull carried an experimental high-pressure steam plant and where the work/trials occurred. Asbestos inference from steam-plant type is era-level only and cannot be attributed to this hull from this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-03
-
[5]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
- 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's experimental high-pressure steam plant was installed (1941-1943, Philadelphia Navy Yard) - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-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-castine-ix211-04
-
[6]HyperWar, 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' - IX Unclassified Vessels table and Sub Chasers table (ships-sc.html), compiled from Naval Vessel Register / NavShips data; corroboration: NavSource PC-468 and PC-1124 (Chocura IX-206) pages [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-ix.html rows IX-211 and IX-206; ships-sc.html 'Experimental Vessels' block, PC-452 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy-derived register tables corroborate the lineage PC-452 -> Castine (IX-211), reclassified 1945, but contain internal transcription errors corrected here: the IX table lists 'IX-211 Castine ... Converted from Sub Chaser PC-468' and 'IX-206 Chocura ... Converted from Sub Chaser PC-452'; the Sub Chasers table correctly links PC-452 to Castine but prints '(IX-206)'. Independent records resolve both errors: PC-468 was transferred to the Netherlands 1942-08-06 as HNMS Queen Wilhelmina, and Chocura (IX-206) was ex-PC-1124, a DeFoe-built PC-461-class chaser damaged off Leyte and sunk as a hulk off Manus October 1945.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Register-style tables transcribed by HyperWar contain the documented misprints; do not attribute Chocura's (ex-PC-1124) history or PC-468's Dutch service to this hull. Establishes reclassification lineage at register level only; contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-05
-
[7]ShipbuildingHistory.com (T. Colton), Defoe Shipbuilding Bay City yard table - hull 167 row [other_primary]
- Locator
- Defoe yard table, hull No. 167 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Defoe yard production table lists hull 167 as 'PC 452, US Navy, Sub Chaser, 348d, 174 ft, [commissioned] 26-Jul-43' with the note 'Prototype, reclassified 1944 as Castine (IX 211), to NDRF 1947' - independently confirming builder, hull number, dimensions, and commissioning date from a yard-records compilation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940-1947
- Population
- Construction trades, DeFoe yard, Bay City (1939-1941)
- Limitations
- Secondary yard-records compilation; the 'reclassified 1944' phrasing conflicts with the 1945-03-10 date in NavSource/uboat.net (likely decision-vs-effective distinction - logged in gaps); 'to NDRF 1947' is consistent with Maritime Commission transfer. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-06
-
[8]Batch-4769 search ledger (this record): NavSource, uboat.net, HyperWar tables, New Yorker archive, MARAD Vessel History Database, NHHC/DANFS index check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-castine-ix211-01 through sl-uss-castine-ix211-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no DANFS entry exists for Castine (IX-211); no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or disposal-condition record was found in the public sources searched; the MARAD Vessel History Database contains no status card for this hull (queries 'Castine' and 'PC-452' returned no result). See search_ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a one-off experimental steam plant fitted at a Navy yard in 1941-1943 is era-consistent with asbestos insulation, but this is inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-07
-
[9]NavSource PC-452 page photo credits: U.S. National Archives photo 19-N-24533 (hull at DeFoe yard, 1941-07-07, before launching); line drawing by A.D. Baker III from Norman Friedman, 'U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource photo-credit block; NARA RG 19-N still-picture series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Record Group 19 'N' photo series holds at least one pre-launch image of this hull (19-N-24533, dated 1941-07-07). The likeliest repositories for plant/insulation specifications are Bureau of Ships experimental-craft records (RG 19) and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard work-package files; the Friedman design history documents the X-boat program. None retrieved in this pass.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1941
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - the photo and records exist in indexes but were not retrieved or reviewed; content, including any insulation material notation, is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 authenticated search - 'Castine', 'IX-211', 'PC-452' across opinion and docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs at 2026-09-29, four attempts, all paced-out (exit 2)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener litigation sweep could not be completed in this session: the fleet-wide pacing limiter (shared ~114 requests/hour across concurrent batch sessions) returned 'budget momentarily spent' on all four attempts over ~40 minutes. No results retrieved; absence of litigation evidence is therefore unestablished, not negative-confirmed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Blocked sweep, not a negative finding of fact - no opinion or docket data was retrieved, so neither the presence nor absence of asbestos litigation naming this hull can be asserted. High name-collision risk exists ('Castine' town/municipal matters, PG-6 gunboat-era records). Retry queued for a later session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-castine-ix211-09