USS Cormorant (AMS-122)

Evidence

11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).

1. [1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - 'Cormorant II (AMS-122)', Naval History and Heritage Command (published 6 Jul 2015); canonical URL history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cormorant-ii.html currently 404 - cited via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2021-07-27 [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Cormorant II (AMS-122)' entry, stats line + full text + photo caption; verbatim transcription also at historycentral.com/navy/Minelayer/Cormorant2.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS entry for Cormorant II (AMS-122), NHHC, published 6 July 2015: '(AMS-122: dp. 290; l. 144'; b. 28'; dr. 9'; s. 13 k.; cpl. 39; a. 2 20mm.; cl. Bluebird) A genus of web-footed sea birds. II. The second Cormorant (AMS-122) was launched 8 June 1953 by Mare Island Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. I. H. Whitthorne; and commissioned 14 August 1953, Lieutenant F. A. Mitchell, USNR, in command. She was reclassified MSC-122, 7 February 1955. For the rest of the year Cormorant conducted minesweeping, sonar school, and other operations on the west coast except for a brief cruise to Pearl Harbor for duty with the Naval Reserve Training Center. Sailing to the Far East, Cormorant arrived at her new home port Sasebo 22 February. She remained in the western Pacific conducting minesweeping exercises in Korean and Japanese waters and voyaging to Formosa, Okinawa, and the Philippines for training through 1960.' The page carries a captioned NHHC-held photograph: 'USS Cormorant (AMS-122)' - an official Navy image independently confirming the hull.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1952-1960

   Population

   Mare Island Naval Shipyard construction workforce (1952-53); commissioning and operating crews (complement 39)

   Limitations

   Authoritative identity/history record naming this hull. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information - supports no asbestos claim. Entry is truncated relative to the full service life: it omits the laid-down date, ends the narrative 'through 1960', and records no post-1960 homeport, no decommissioning/out-of-service event, no stricken date, and no disposal. 'Arrived at her new home port Sasebo 22 February' prints no year - consistent with Feb 1955 given the 7 Feb 1955 reclassification and a Dec 1954 Long Beach postmark, but the year is inference. Live NHHC page returns 404 (2026-09-23) - the same link-rot pattern noted in batch-01.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Cormorant (MSC 122) ex-AMS 122, navsource.org/archives/11/05122.htm [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource MSC-122 page, chronology block, specifications block, photo table with official Navy photo numbers, commanding-officer list

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive entry for Cormorant (MSC 122) ex-AMS 122: laid down 5 February 1952 by Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA; launched 8 June 1953; commissioned USS Cormorant (AMS 122) 14 August 1953; reclassified Coastal Minesweeper MSC-122, 7 February 1955; struck from the Naval Register 15 March 1974; sold for scrap 1 December 1974 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service. Spec block: displacement 330 t.; length 144'; beam 28'; draft 12'; speed 13 kts.; complement 39; armament one twin 20mm mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, one 81mm mortar; propulsion 600hp Packard diesel engines, two shafts. Photo table reproduces official U.S. Navy images with yard photo numbers: keel bow view 11765-2-52 (5 Feb 1952), on-ways 17483/17484-5-53 and 17750-6-53, launch/christening series 17758/17765/17766/17768-6-53 (from files of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum), commissioning ceremony 18414-8-53, off Mare Island NY9-19033-10-53 (13 Oct 1953), All Hands magazine Oct 1956 issue photo, and a 21 May 1958 'Ships History' image. Commanding-officer list runs LT F. A. Mitchell (14 Aug 1953) through LCDR Scott Laidlaw (1970).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1952-1974

   Population

   Construction and commissioning crews (Mare Island 1952-53); operating crews through 1970

   Limitations

   Volunteer-maintained secondary compilation, not an official record - corroborated against DANFS where they overlap (launch, sponsor, commissioning, reclassification all match). Sole located source for the 5 Feb 1952 laid-down date (corroborated by the dated official keel photo), the 15 Mar 1974 stricken date, and the 1 Dec 1974 DRMS scrap sale. Spec block conflicts with DANFS on displacement (330 vs 290 t) and draft (12' vs 9') and conflicts with the Navypedia class table on engine count - flagged in the correction row. Photo captions carry official Navy photo numbers and a Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum provenance but the images themselves were not individually re-verified at NARA/NHHC. Contains no asbestos or materials information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-02

3. [3]Los Angeles Maritime Museum online catalog, Schurman Collection prints FA.1994.2805.68 and FA.1994.2805.69 [museum_official]

   Locator

   Object records FA.1994.2805.68 (stern view) and FA.1994.2805.69 (mast detail, 'APRIL 1, 1965')

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Los Angeles Maritime Museum (Schurman Collection) holds two 1965 photographic prints cataloged for this hull: a stern view of 'the Bluebird-class minesweeper USS CORMORANT (AMS-122) docked near a crane holding aloft a mast' (catalog FA.1994.2805.68) and a damaged-mast detail handwritten 'CORMORANT / MSC 122 / APRIL 1, 1965 / MAST' (FA.1994.2805.69). The pair independently confirms the hull's identity, its Bluebird-class assignment, and its presence in Southern California waters in April 1965 - i.e., after the DANFS narrative ends (1960).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1965

   Population

   Aboard crew, April 1965

   Limitations

   Museum catalog records confirm the hull existed and was photographed in April 1965 near Los Angeles; they do not establish homeport, operational status, or activity beyond the photographed mast damage. Contain no asbestos or materials information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-03

4. [4]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - 'Spoonbill (MSC-202)', NHHC (published 26 Apr 2023); canonical URL currently 404 - cited via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2025-01-20 [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Spoonbill' entry, construction paragraph

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS entry for sister hull Spoonbill (MSC-202) describes the design group these minesweepers belonged to as 'a group of nonmagnetic minesweepers of wooden construction capable of sweeping any conventional type mine constructed at the time' - establishing the class's wooden-hull, nonmagnetic-signature construction, the design driver that eliminated ferrous fittings and kept these sweepers small (DANFS stats line for Cormorant: 290 t, 144').

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1961 (class construction window)

   Population

   Class-wide construction and operating crews

   Limitations

   Class-level design statement from a sister ship's DANFS entry - establishes hull material (wood) and nonmagnetic design intent for the type, not for this specific hull by name. Relevant to asbestos scope only as design context: wooden construction removes hull fireproofing applications, and diesel propulsion removes boiler/steam-line insulation - it does not document what insulating materials, if any, were fitted aboard this hull. Contains no asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-04

5. [5]U.S. General Accounting Office, HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (18 Oct 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page + report text ('all ships contain some asbestos... clutches and electric cables'; 'thermal insulation ... has been the major application'; 1975/1979 removal policies)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   GAO report HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (October 1979): reviewing Navy asbestos use and controls, GAO records the Navy's position that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables,' that asbestos also appears in deck tiling, and that 'thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos' aboard ships. The report documents the Navy's 1975 policy of removing/replacing asbestos insulation only when damaged or when removal was needed for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - i.e., within this hull's final service years.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1979 report; applicable window 1953-1974 for this hull

   Population

   Navy-wide operating crews and shipyard workers of the era (context)

   Limitations

   Program-level Navy-wide statement, not a hull finding - it establishes that asbestos was present in some form aboard in-service Navy ships of the era (clutches, cable, deck tile, thermal insulation) but does not name this vessel, does not address small wooden-hulled diesel sweepers specifically, and does not establish quantity, location, condition, or individual exposure aboard AMS-122. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (standing since batch-01); content verified via the indexed product description and report-text excerpt - full-text pull remains an open lead.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-05

6. [6]Department of the Navy, NAVSHIPS Instruction 5100.26 (9 Feb 1971) - scanned copy hosted in the ToxicDocs document archive (toxicdocs.org) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Instruction text: purpose paragraph citing MIL-STD-769C thermal-insulation requirements; 'the most critical use of asbestos in the Navy ... is in the fabrication, installation, repair or removal of pipe and boiler insulation materials'

   Finding type

   regulatory

   Finding

   NAVSHIPS Instruction 5100.26 (9 February 1971) set mandatory Navy safety precautions for 'the fabrication, installation and/or removal (rip-out) of asbestos-containing insulation/material,' identifying pipe and boiler insulation work as 'the most critical use of asbestos in the Navy from a safety viewpoint' - issued while this hull was still in service or in reserve (struck 1974). It documents that the Navy formally regulated asbestos work on its vessels and in its yards during the ship's final operating years.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1971

   Population

   Navy insulation workers and supervisors (yard and shipboard), 1971

   Limitations

   Era-policy document, not a hull finding - it proves the Navy recognized and regulated asbestos insulation work in 1971, during this hull's last service years, but names no vessel and establishes nothing about materials aboard AMS-122. Host is a third-party document archive (ToxicDocs/UCSF-affiliated repository), not a Navy server; the scan is a Navy instruction reprinted for distribution. The instruction's emphasis on 'pipe and boiler insulation' is less applicable to a diesel-powered wooden sweeper than to steam ships.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-06

7. [7]DANFS name index (Cormorant I/II); NavSource and NavalCoverMuseum namesake notes; reported decisions for the M/V American Cormorant litigation (Osprey Ship Mgmt, Inc. v. Jackson County Port Auth., 387 F. App'x 425 (5th Cir. 2010); Cormorant Shipholding Corp. v. United States (CIT)); CBC/admiralty-law reporting on the ex-HMCS Cormorant sinking [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavalCoverMuseum 'CORMORANT MSC 122' namesake note ('Three ships of the US Navy, and one cutter of the US Coast Guard, have been named Cormorant'); Osprey Ship Mgmt opinion text (M/V AMERICAN CORMORANT, 738-ft heavy-lift); Canada (Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund) v. Cormorant (Ship)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Name-collision surface documented for 'Cormorant': (a) USS Cormorant (AM-40, later AT-133/ATO-133), the first of the name - a WWI-era Lapwing-class minesweeper converted to fleet tug, in service 1919-1946, a steam-era hull with materially greater asbestos relevance than this hull; (b) USS Cormorant (MHC-57), an Osprey-class coastal mine hunter in service 1997-2007 at Ingleside, TX; (c) USCGC Cormorant (WPB-87313), an 87-ft patrol boat homeported Fort Pierce, FL; (d) M/V American Cormorant (T-AK-2062), a 738-ft semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel that generated reported litigation (Osprey Ship Mgmt v. Jackson County Port, 5th Cir.; Cormorant Shipholding Corp v. United States, CIT - vessel-repair duties); (e) the ex-Canadian naval diving-support vessel Cormorant that sank at Bridgewater, N.S. in 2015 and generated pollution-fund litigation. The four Navy hulls plus the commercial vessels share the name across overlapping literature windows - any unqualified 'Cormorant' document, veteran claim, or docket must be hull-resolved before attribution to AMS-122/MSC-122.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1919-2015

   Limitations

   Disambiguation context only - establishes that at least four naval vessels and two commercial/foreign vessels carry or carried the name across 1919-2015, including a steam-era namesake (AM-40) with far greater asbestos-relevant scope and a heavy-lift vessel with real reported litigation. Does not itself evidence anything about this hull's materials.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-07

8. [8]U.S. EPA Superfund Site Profile, Mare Island Naval Shipyard (EPA ID CA7170024775); California DTSC EnviroStor, Basewide EBS Section 5 deliverable (Mare Island Naval Shipyard) [other_primary]

   Locator

   EPA CERCLIS/SEMS profile fields (federal facility, state-lead cleanup, Vallejo CA); DTSC EnviroStor deliverable 3721280753 'Basewide EBS Section 5, Part 1' - ACM passages

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   The builder yard is itself a documented asbestos site: Mare Island Naval Shipyard (EPA ID CA7170024775) is a federal facility in environmental cleanup under California DTSC lead ('Other Cleanup Activity: State-Lead Cleanup' per the EPA Superfund profile; approximately 650 acres transferred for redevelopment beginning 2002). DTSC's Basewide Environmental Baseline Survey for the shipyard records that 'ACM issues are currently being addressed by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the Department of Labor, and PWCSFB' - i.e., asbestos-containing material is documented at the yard that built this hull in 1952-53.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1952-53 (construction); 1981-present (cleanup program)

   Population

   Mare Island Naval Shipyard workforce (construction-era context); remediation workers (1981-present)

   Limitations

   Builder-yard documentation only - it establishes that the construction workplace had documented ACM handled under remediation, not that asbestos is or was aboard this hull, and not that this hull's 1952-53 construction involved specific asbestos products. Yard-level contamination cannot be imputed to the vessel. EnviroStor's document server returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches; the EBS document is indexed and its content verified via search indexing - direct retrieval remains an open step.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-08

9. [9]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (archives.gov guided topic, RG 19 filing-path instructions) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Guided topic page: RG 19 Entries A1 1266-A..P and UD-series correspondence lists; Navy Filing Manual hull/class/type and NY-yard filing conventions

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA's guided research topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' sets out the archival path for hull-level asbestos documentation: Bureau of Ships records (RG 19) general/confidential/secret correspondence 1940-1961 filed by hull designation (for this hull, 'AMS122'), by class correspondence under the namesake hull ('AMS121 Class' - USS Bluebird), and by type ('AMS'), plus public-shipyard files under the 'NY' filing designations (Mare Island was a public naval shipyard) and Ship/General Information Books where they survive. The page confirms shipboard asbestos research for the 1941-1961 window is a recognized, ongoing NARA function - and confirms nothing is digitized at hull level for this ship.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1940-1961 records coverage

   Limitations

   Research-pathway documentation, not a hull finding - it confirms where hull/class/yard-level asbestos records for this ship would live (RG 19 'AMS122'/'AMS121 Class'/'AMS' files; Mare Island 'NY' yard correspondence; any surviving Ship Information Books) but contains no vessel-specific data. No box-level retrieval was performed; whether AMS-122-specific files survive unindexed is unknown.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-09

10. [10]DANFS 'Cormorant II' stats line (dp. 290; dr. 9'; a. 2 20mm.) vs NavSource MSC-122 spec block (330 t; 12'; twin 20mm + .50 cals + 81mm mortar; Packard diesels) vs Navypedia Bluebird class table (2 Packard diesels, 1,200 bhp) vs Wikipedia uncited Everett/1970 lines [nhhc_danfs]

    Locator

    Same citations as ev-01 and ev-02; navypedia.org/ships/usa/us_ms_bluebird.htm class table

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    Source discrepancies documented, not reconciled: (a) displacement - DANFS stats line 290 t vs NavSource spec block 330 t (the 330 figure shared verbatim with sister pages and matching the Wikipedia infobox); (b) draft - 9' (DANFS) vs 12' (NavSource); (c) propulsion - '600hp Packard diesel engines, two shafts' (NavSource, count unstated) vs 'four 600-hp Packard diesels / 2,400 hp' (Wikipedia infobox, NavSource-derived) vs 'two Packard diesels / ~1,200 bhp' for MSC 121/122/190-199 in the Navypedia class table; (d) Sasebo arrival '22 February' prints no year in DANFS - consistent with Feb 1955 (post-reclassification deployment, Dec 1954 Long Beach postmark) but unmarked; (e) decommissioning - 'decommissioned at Everett 1970' and 'final homeport Everett as Reserve training ship' rest on Wikipedia's citation-needed lines alone; NavSource prints no decommission date and NavalCoverMuseum prints 'Decommissioned (Date Unknown)'; (f) armament - DANFS '2 20mm' vs NavSource 'one twin 20mm mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, and one 81mm mortar' (consistent readings, different detail).

    Verification

    disputed

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-23

    Study period

    1952-1974

    Limitations

    Resolves nothing - documents a genuine multi-source conflict so a future pass does not silently pick one figure. The 1970 Everett decommissioning and reserve-training detail is secondary-only and unverified; Jane's Fighting Ships 1958/59 (the edition NavSource credits for a ship photo) is the likeliest authoritative resolution for the engine-count conflict but was not retrievable online this pass. No asbestos content in any of these sources.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-10

11. [11]Batch-1684 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback capture + HistoryCentral mirror; NavSource; LA Maritime Museum catalog; Navypedia class table; NARA asbestos guided topic; EPA CERCLIS + DTSC EnviroStor (Mare Island); CourtListener API v4 (authenticated queries); NVR; master-hull-list.json; class-profile worktrees [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-cormorant-ams122-01 through sl-uss-cormorant-ams122-16

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Cormorant (AMS-122/MSC-122) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated sweep: exact-name 'USS Cormorant' returned zero opinions and one docket - Pendley v. Ferguson-Williams, Inc., S.D. Tex. 2:07-cv-00141 (diversity personal-injury, marine nature-of-suit, filed 26 Mar 2007, remanded to Texas state court 1 May 2007); 'USS Cormorant' appears somewhere in that docket's RECAP-indexed documents but the phrase context could not be read without fetching the document, and the case was not returned under the asbestos-qualified query - classified as other litigation / unresolved collision, not qualifying asbestos litigation naming the hull. Hull-number query '"MSC-122" OR "AMS-122"' returned zero opinions and twelve dockets - all reviewed as collisions (patent-infringement exhibit strings, bankruptcy, employment, and finance cases; no vessel or asbestos nexus).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-23

    Study period

    2026-09-23

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1953-built naval vessel is era-consistent with asbestos-containing machinery fittings even accounting for the lighter diesel/wooden-hull insulation load. CourtListener coverage was near-complete this pass under intermittent fleet pacing pressure: exact-name opinion and docket sweeps, the hull-number opinion and docket sweeps, and the asbestos-qualified docket sweep all completed - only the Pendley document-level read could not be completed. The Pendley classification rests on docket metadata (cause, nature-of-suit, remand disposition) plus its absence from the asbestos-qualified result set, and could change if a document-level read later shows the phrase 'USS Cormorant' inside an asbestos pleading. Subject to the standing caveat that RECAP indexing is incomplete for older dockets. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-cormorant-ams122-11