Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 879-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (strong
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-culpeper-pc1240-pkt-879-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, Culpeper (PC 1240) ex-PC-1240 - milestone timeline, specifications, photographic record; companion class record NavSource 12/010461.htm (PC-461/Bluffton: named 15 February 1956, same reserve-PC naming program) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/011240.htm header block, specifications block, photo captions, DANFS-availability note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: PC-461 class submarine chaser; laid down 15 May 1943 by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, NY; launched 26 June 1943; commissioned USS PC-1240 on 13 October 1943; placed in service July 1946 as a Naval Reserve training vessel assigned to the 9th Naval District (Great Lakes); placed out of commission October 1949 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk, VA; named Culpeper 1 February 1956; struck from the Navy Register 1 April 1959 and sold for scrap. Specifications: displacement 450 t.; 173'8" x 23' x 10'10"; 20.2 kts; complement 65; armament one 3"/50 DP mount, one 40mm, five 20mm, two rocket launchers, two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 1,440bhp Hooven-Owen-Rentschler R-99DA diesels (serials 7051, 7052), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts. Photographs include one 'taken while serving in the Great Lakes.' Page notes 'There is no DANFS History currently available for Culpeper (PC 1240).' The companion NavSource record for the class name-ship shows PC-461 was named Bluffton on 15 February 1956 - the same February 1956 program that named surviving reserve patrol craft.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); wartime crew; Naval Reserve trainees, 9th Naval District (1946-49)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates generally track NVR/DANFS records, but no DANFS entry exists for this hull to cross-check. Contains no asbestos or material content. Postwar status wording ('in service' vs 'out of commission') is ambiguous across sources - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS PC-1240 (PC-1240) - order date, milestone table, wartime commanding officers [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 8767, data table and 'Commands listed' section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net record for this hull: ordered 21 November 1942; laid down 15 May 1943; launched 26 June 1943; commissioned 13 October 1943; decommissioned October 1949; stricken 1 April 1959. Wartime commanding officers (USNR): J. F. Mueller (13 Oct 1943 - mid 1944); Kenneth W. Tipping (mid 1944 - early 1945); L. M. Persons (early 1945 - mid 1945); J. L. Ferman (mid 1945 - late 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1959
- Population
- Wartime crew under four USNR commanding officers (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary reference, not an official Navy source; corroborates NavSource milestones and adds the order date and CO list. Theater of operations and war service narrative are not given. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-02
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Consolidated Shipbuilding, Morris Heights NY yard ledger - hull 3144 entry; surrounding ledger documents the yard's WWII small-combatant output [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com consolidated.htm, hull table rows 3141-3144 (PC-1237 to PC-1240 block) and yard narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder's-yard ledger entry for this hull: yard hull 3144, 'PC 1240,' US Navy Sub Chaser, design '463d,' 173 ft, delivered/commissioned 13-Oct-43, 'Named Culpeper 1956, scrapped 1959.' The same ledger documents Consolidated's wartime output around this hull: sisters PC-1208, PC-1209, PC-1210, PC-1237 (Abingdon), PC-1238 (lost in typhoon off Okinawa Oct-45), PC-1239 (destroyed 1946), and later PC-1264, PC-1265, and PC-1546-1549, plus Army DPC tugs and Navy LCC landing-craft control vessels. The yard history notes Consolidated formed in 1896 from Gas Engine & Power and Charles L. Seabury Co., operated at Matthewson Road, Morris Heights (Bronx), and was known for naphtha-powered launches, steam-powered yachts, and small craft before the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding trades, Morris Heights (1943)
- Limitations
- Specialist shipyard-history compilation drawing on yard and registry records - corroborates NavSource milestones independently. Yard-level wartime output data is context, not a hull materials record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-03
-
[5]NARA Ship Plan Index (archives.gov cartographic research), CULPEPER PC-1240 entries: RG 19 Hull series of Ship Engineering Drawings (NAID 153715655) and Microfilm (NAID 175668812) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov Ship Plan Index table, CULPEPER PC-1240 rows (NAIDs 153715655, 175668812)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official NARA ship plan index lists two holdings for 'CULPEPER PC-1240' in Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships): a hull series of Ship Engineering Drawings (NAID 153715655) and a microfilm copy (NAID 175668812). Ship engineering drawings are the builder/Bureau contract drawings - the document class in which hull-specific insulation and material specifications would appear for a PC-461-class craft.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943 (drawing era); index verified 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the index confirms the drawings exist at NARA; the drawings themselves were not retrieved or reviewed, and nothing in the index states asbestos content. Retrieval requires NARA cartographic research-room access.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-04
-
[6]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' - official research guide naming the record series applicable to a patrol craft hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided-topics/asbestos page; GIB section (Entry P 12, NAID 1275932) and Material Inspection Reports section (Entry P 1-E, NAID 2092723); deck-log caveat paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's own asbestos research guide documents the ship-specific research path for a hull of this type: RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence filed by hull designation (e.g., 'PC1240'), RG 19 Entry P 12 'Patrol Craft General Information Books, 1902-1955' (NAID 1275932) - GIBs go deck by deck through a ship's arrangement and systems - and RG 38 Entry P 1-E 'Patrol Craft Material Inspection Reports and Related Documentation, 1940-1978' (NAID 2092723). The guide notes GIBs are incomplete (not every ship has one) and explicitly warns that RG 24 deck logs and muster rolls 'provide no direct evidence of asbestos' - they can only date work periods.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1940-1978 (series coverage); guide verified 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Research-pathway documentation, not a hull record: none of these series was retrieved this session; whether a PC-1240 GIB or material inspection report survives is unverified. The guide's own caveat applies - deck logs would show work dates only, not materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-05
-
[7]NavSource Submarine Chaser index - PC-461 class description (173' steel-hulled twin-diesel patrol craft; PC-1240 falls in the listed PC-1077-1265 block, 189 hulls) + NavSource ship page documented specifications (2 x Hooven-Owen-Rentschler R-99DA diesels, no steam plant) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/01idx.htm class narrative; NavSource 12/011240.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: PC-1240 was a 1943-built, steel-hulled, twin-diesel PC-461-class patrol craft in the PC-1077-1265 block - the largest of the ranges the NavSource class index lists (PC-461-496: 36; PC-542-627: 86; PC-776-826: 51; PC-1077-1265: 189). Per the index narrative, WWII-built 173-foot PCs replaced larger DDs and DEs around harbors and restricted waters and worked coastal convoys, carrying submarine detection and ranging gear. Within the Navy's documented asbestos-use era, era-standard applications aboard a diesel patrol craft of this size were diesel engine exhaust lagging and muffler/exhaust-pipe insulation, machinery-space thermal insulation, compressed-asbestos sheet gaskets at flanges and pipe joints, valve and machinery packing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings. The class carried no steam plant - the boiler and steam-line lagging pathway of steam-powered hulls does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- Consolidated construction trades (1943); crew 1943-49; Naval Reserve trainees 1946-49
- Limitations
- Era inference only - names era-standard applications for a 1943 diesel patrol craft, not confirmed installed materials aboard this hull. No hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. Does not establish that asbestos is or was aboard this specific hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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 entire construction (1943) and service era (1943-59).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- 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 this session - content via product-page description (gao.gov has previously blocked automated fetches, HTTP 403).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-07
-
[9]Asbestos-source landscape sweep (excluded sources): navyshipexposure.com PC-461 class page; no law-firm or marketing page naming this hull located [other_primary]
- Locator
- navyshipexposure.com/posts/ship-class-pc-461-submarine-chaser-wwii-asbestos (excluded); NavSource 12/011240.htm specifications block (plant facts)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION of circulating class-level material: the marketing site navyshipexposure.com asserts PC-461-class boats 'used four General Motors diesel engines with asbestos-containing cylinder head and exhaust manifold gaskets.' That plant description is wrong for this hull: NavSource's documented specifications give two 1,440-bhp Hooven-Owen-Rentschler R-99DA diesels (serials 7051, 7052) on two shafts - a twin-diesel, not quad-GM, plant. The site's asbestos assertions carry no primary sourcing and are excluded under source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026 (source landscape)
- Limitations
- Corrects a factual error in a banned-class source; establishes the documented plant (2 x HOR R-99DA), not the presence or absence of asbestos in it. Marketing-source content is cited here only to mark it excluded and erroneous - it is not evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-08
-
[10]Batch-7736 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page and class index; NHHC DANFS (absent); uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory.com yard ledger; NARA ship plan index and asbestos research guide; CourtListener/PACER 4-query base sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-culpeper-pc1240-01 through sl-uss-culpeper-pc1240-14; CL result files cl-culpeper-name-opinion.json, cl-culpeper-name-docket.json, cl-pc1240-hull-opinion.json, cl-pc1240-hull-docket.json
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or material list for this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation sweep: CourtListener base queries on 'USS Culpeper' returned zero opinion and zero docket results; 'PC-1240' returned zero opinion results and 10 docket results that are all unrelated court dockets - civil, bankruptcy, and criminal cases whose document text contains 'PC-1240' as a statute/form/docket reference (e.g., docket-number strings), not the vessel. No docketed case naming this ship was found.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - it means only that no public ship-specific documentation was located. CourtListener coverage is a docket/opinion index, not a complete registry of filed or settled claims; a case could exist outside its coverage. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-culpeper-pc1240-09