Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Courser II (AMS-6) and YMS-201 entries - NHHC ship-history entries (live NHHC pages returned 404 on 2026-09-24; verbatim Courser II text via Wayback capture 2025-04-06 of the hazegray.org DANFS mirror; YMS-201 build text via verbatim DANFS transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Courser II entry (one-line 'YMS-201 (q.v.) was reclassified AMS-6...' stub) + YMS-201 entry build block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity and milestone spine: laid down as YMS-201 on 1942-08-28 by Hiltebrant Dry Dock Co., Kingston, NY; launched 1942-11-19; completed 1943-07-24. Reclassified AMS-6 on 1947-02-17 and named Courser the following day; reclassified MSC(O)-6 on 1955-02-07; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1959-11-01; DANFS states 'her ultimate fate is unknown.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1959
- Population
- Crew of ~32 (class standard); Hiltebrant yard workforce (1942-43)
- Limitations
- Authoritative identity/history source; contains no asbestos, materials, or hazmat information whatsoever. The DANFS minecraft entry is a stub - no service narrative, no commissioning date, no complement. Live NHHC page unavailable (404); cited via Wayback capture of the hazegray transcription mirror (hazegray.org itself unreachable, DNS failure, on 2026-09-24).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-01
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[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Courser (MSC(O)-6) page: hull chronology, commanding officers, post-sale chain; NHHC photo NH 84971 (YMS-201 in San Francisco Bay, c.1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 11/19201, chronology block + commanding-officers table + disposal chain
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Service and disposal detail absent from DANFS: commissioned USS YMS-201 1943-07-29 and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet; decommissioned 1946-08-08; commanding officers listed for 1950-April 1952 (LT Rodier), April 1952 (LT Sharp), and January 1956-April 1958 (LT Dietrich) - establishing recommissioned service by 1950 and into the late 1950s. Post-strike chain: sold 1960 to Tracor Marine Acoustical Services, Inc., Miami FL, renamed G. W. Pierce (research vessel); sold 1973 to Harry D. Oliver, Miami, renamed Oceanic; sold 1975 to Maria Lina C. Estanislau, NY; sold 1980 to David W. Haldeman, Newark NJ; out of documentation by 1989.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1989
- Population
- Crews of ~32 per commission period; post-1960 commercial crews
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival secondary source (not an official record); used for corroboration and for chronology details DANFS omits. Its own NVR footnote ('NVR of 1 January 1949 lists plan for decommissioning and placing in reserve as February 1947') is internally confusing relative to the 1946-08-08 decommissioning line; status sequence unresolved. Contains no asbestos information. Direct fetch unavailable 2026-09-24 (navsource.org DNS failure on this machine); content via navsource.net mirror and search-index capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-02
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[3]U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 74/1/539 (January 1948), 'Saga of a YMS' - first-person account of YMS-class machinery and habitability by a YMS-238 officer [other_primary]
- Locator
- Proceedings 74/1 (Jan 1948), p.539 - power-plant and internal-arrangement passages
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- YMS-class machinery fit documented by a serving officer: wooden hull; two General Motors diesels for main propulsion (electro-pneumatically controlled); a similar diesel direct-connected to a generator for magnetic minesweeping; two Hercules 30-kW diesel generators for auxiliary power. No boilers and no steam distribution - the plant type that carried the era's dominant asbestos application (thermal insulation of boilers and steam piping) is absent from this class.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- YMS-class crews (~32-33 per boat); construction trades at 35 yacht yards
- Limitations
- Class/era inference, not a hull record: describes sister ship YMS-238 and the type generally; never mentions asbestos. The conclusion that this hull lacked steam-plant insulation is structural inference from the documented plant; does not establish presence or absence of residual ACM (gaskets, clutch facings, cable insulation) aboard YMS-201/Courser. Direct fetch blocked (403) on 2026-09-24; verbatim content via search index.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-03
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[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 letter text (gao.gov product page + PDF, blocked; indexed verbatim)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The Navy told GAO that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables,' while thermal insulation was the Navy's major shipboard use of asbestos; Navy removal policy (1975, modified 1979) replaced insulation only when damaged or when repairs required removal. For a diesel-powered wooden minesweeper the residual era-typical categories - clutch facings, electric-cable insulation, engine gaskets and packing - are the relevant ones.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era-wide application statement
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; crews fleet-wide (context)
- Limitations
- Program-level context, not a hull record: GAO fieldwork covered Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and the statement postdates this hull's Navy service (struck 1959). Establishes era-typical asbestos applications across the fleet; does not establish what was installed aboard YMS-201/Courser or in what quantity. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-09-24; quoted text verified via the indexed GAO PDF and corroborated by fleet session batch-1680's full-text retrieval on 2026-09-23.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-04
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[5]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945: Minecraft - YMS section (NHHC-derived compilation, HyperWar/ibiblio transcription); corroborated by Rushworth, D.H., 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal 117(2):35-48 (2005), doi:10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x (EPA HERO 3584926) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar minecraft page, YMS specifications block; Rushworth 2005 abstract (EPA HERO index)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class design for this hull: all 481 YMS-1-class ships shared the same general characteristics - wood-hulled, 320 tons full load, 136 ft, diesel engines on twin screws, complement 4 officers + 29 crew; YMS-135 through -445 (the subclass containing YMS-201) carried a single stack. Rushworth (2005) establishes that thermal insulation - the application absent from this diesel class - was the dominant and friable shipboard asbestos source for WWII-era crews.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (construction era); 2005 (literature)
- Population
- YMS-class crews and builder-yard trades (class-wide)
- Limitations
- Class-level design and era-literature context, not a hull record: establishes what the type was built of and which asbestos application it structurally lacked; does not document materials actually installed aboard YMS-201 and does not exclude residual era-typical ACM (gaskets, packing, clutch facings, cable insulation, brake linings).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-05
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[6]Batch-1750 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches by name and every hull designation; NavSource; yard tables; NARA deck-log index; MARAD vessel history DB; NVR [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-courser-ams6-01 through sl-uss-courser-ams6-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no litigation naming YMS-201 / AMS-6 / MSC(O)-6 / USS Courser (this hull) in CourtListener opinion or RECAP docket indexes; no asbestos survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure found for this hull in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion hits for 'Courser' (140) and 'AMS-6' (16) were all surname collisions or token noise; the single 'Courser asbestos' opinion hit (Whittington v. Ramsey Construction, Mont. 1987) contains 'Courser' only as a cited surname precedent (Courser v. Darby School Dist.).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard; this hull's documentation is thin (DANFS stub, no service narrative). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Name-collision risk documented: Courser I (AMC-32) is a different hull; MARAD 'Courser (1945)' is a cargo ship; 'Courser' is also a litigation surname.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-06
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[7]NARA series 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (digitized-logs index checked; series coverage per NARA) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' index - no Courser/YMS-201/AMS-6 entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- This hull's deck logs for its commissioned service (1943-1946 as YMS-201; recommissioned service into the 1950s as AMS-6/MSC(O)-6) fall within NARA's deck-log series coverage - the primary source most likely to document yard periods, maintenance disturbances, and any material events aboard. NARA's digitized-logs index lists no entry for Courser/YMS-201/AMS-6 - the logs are not among the fully digitized sets.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1959 (coverage); 2026-09-24 (check)
- Limitations
- Series-level lead only: the logs exist in archival custody but are not digitized (checked against NARA's digitized deck-log index 2026-09-24); logs are chronological event records and would not themselves identify asbestos content. NARA textual reference (Archives II, College Park) is the access path.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courser-ams6-07