Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet mj-packet.md (9 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED — real identity: USS De Grasse (Id. No. 1217); type: wooden-hulled steam-turbine patrol vessel / armed yacht
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-de-grasse-id1217-pkt-mj-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'De Grasse I (Yacht)' (rewritten Robert J. Cressman, 26 Feb 2007) - WWI takeover, inspection, rejection, and return [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'De Grasse I (Yacht)' entry text; live URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/de-grasse-i.html (404 at access)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The wooden-hulled steam turbine-powered yacht De Grasse, under construction by George Lawley and Son Corp., Neponset, MA, for J. L. Redmond of New York, was ordered taken over 7 June 1917 and assigned Id. No. 1217 for potential use as a section patrol craft. Commandant, 1st Naval District, took control 18 July 1918 and was ordered 27 July to have her inspected; Boston Navy Yard trials produced a 31 July 1918 report finding her 'unseaworthy' and of 'no value for naval operations.' Directed 17 August 1918 to return her, the Commandant did so 7 November 1918, paying the owner $500 'for restoration of [the] ship its former condition.' DANFS header: 'inspected for naval service but never taken over.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1917-1918
- Population
- 1st Naval District / Boston Navy Yard trial and inspection personnel (Jul-Nov 1918); Lawley construction trades (1917-18)
- Limitations
- Documents the WWI episode as a rejected acquisition: custody ~3.5 months, trials only, no deployment. Says nothing about asbestos, materials, or WWII service (DANFS I entry ends in 1918). Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-29; cited via Wayback capture of the canonical page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-01
-
[3]Naval Historical Center Online Library, 'USS De Grasse (ID # 1217), 1918-1918' photo page, photo NH 94479-A [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Photo caption, NH 94479-A; mirror https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-d/id1217.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The NHC photo caption states the craft 'was placed in commission when completed in about July 1918' and 'briefly served in mid-Atlantic coastal waters' before return to her owner 7 November 1918 - conflicting with the DANFS framing that she was 'inspected for naval service but never taken over.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1918
- Limitations
- Records a genuine source conflict inside Navy publications (commissioned/brief service vs. never taken into service). Neither version asserts any asbestos-relevant event; the commissioning question does not change the exposure picture because documented Navy contact was limited to trials either way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1943 edition, second half (NAVSHIPS 250), District Patrol Vessels (YP) section, p. 819 - YP-506 register row (scanned original, OCR-verified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ships' Data 1943 second half, District Patrol Vessels (YP) table, p. 819 (PDF page 191 of SDB1943v2.pdf scan); index entry 'Fleet (ex-) - District patrol vessel' in same volume
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official 1943 register row reads: 'YP506 | District Patrol Vessel No. 506 | 78'5" x 12'7" | engine: Gas. | allocation: 5th [Naval District] | Built Neponset, Mass., 1918 | Acquired 1942; Ex-Fleet.' This is the controlling primary record for the craft's WWII identity: same hull (Neponset 1918, ex-Fleet), designated YP-506, assigned to the 5th Naval District.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (register)
- Population
- 5th Naval District crews (1942-1944)
- Limitations
- The register lists engine type 'Gas.' (gasoline), which conflicts with the documented 1918 steam-turbine plant - probable re-engining before or at WWII acquisition, undated; a register error cannot be excluded. Register gives dimensions only (no draft/tonnage entries filled), no commissioning date, and no materials or insulation data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945 edition, Vol. III (NAVSHIPS 250-012), 'Vessels Stricken from Navy List - since February 1, 1944,' p. 622 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v3.pdf text layer, 'Vessels Stricken from Navy List-Continued,' p. 622
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official stricken-vessels list entry: 'YP506 | YP506 | District patrol vessel | 29 July 1944' - corroborates the NavSource strike date against a primary source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-07-29
- Limitations
- Confirms the strike date and type only; gives no disposal detail, location, or materials data. List entry carries the hull number alone (no name), consistent with the craft serving under number only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-04
-
[6]NavSource Online, Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive, 'YP-506 ex-De Grasse (ID 1217)' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 'YP-506 ex-De Grasse (ID 1217)' - vessel history list and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiles: renamed Fleet in 1929; acquired by the Navy in 1942 as District Patrol Craft YP-506; struck 29 July 1944; transferred to the War Shipping Administration April 1946; registered 1947 to W. E. G. Trail of Hampton, VA as the yacht Fleet out of Newport News; registered under the name Fleet as of 1959, fate unknown. Specs listed: 67 t., 81'2.5" x 13', draft 4'1", 14.5 kts, complement five, one Seabury boiler and one 650-shp Westinghouse steam turbine, one shaft.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1929-1959
- Population
- YP-506 crew (complement five per this source)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive citing official records; used as corroboration and for details absent from located primaries. Two NavSource claims conflict with other sources: 'built in 1918 as Fleet' contradicts DANFS/NHC/yard-list (build name De Grasse), and its steam-turbine spec contradicts the 1943 register's 'Gas.' engine - both discrepancies logged in gaps. WSA transfer and postwar registration details are NavSource-sourced only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-05
-
[7]Colton, shipbuildinghistory.com, 'George S. Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA' yard build list (archived capture) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Lawley yard build list, ON 218211 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Lawley yard build list entry reads: official no. '218211 | De Grasse | Passenger | 1918 | To USN 1917 as SP 1217, to USN 1942 as YP 506, sold 1946 as Fleet' - confirming the official number, build name De Grasse, both Navy acquisitions, and postwar sale back to the name Fleet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1917-1918; 1942; 1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1917-1918)
- Limitations
- Compiler's yard list (well-regarded secondary compilation of federal documentation); confirms identity lineage but carries no materials data. 'Sold 1946' is its only disposal detail; the instrument of disposal is not shown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-06
-
[8]DANFS, 'De Grasse II (AP-164)' - different hull documentation [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS De Grasse II entry; corroborating register rows in Ships' Data 1945 Vol. III (AK-223 entries)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- USS De Grasse (AP-164, reclassified AK-223 effective 20 Aug 1944) is a different hull: EC2-S-C1 Liberty-type (MCE hull 1598), laid down as Nathaniel J. Wyeth by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR, 31 Jan 1943; renamed De Grasse 27 Oct 1943; converted by United Engineering Co., Alameda, CA; commissioned 8 Nov 1943; decommissioned and delivered to WSA 28 Mar 1946; stricken 17 Apr 1946; scrapped 1970 after three battle stars. DANFS classes AP-164 as 'Kenmore' class. Any Crater-class/Liberty-cargo metadata or WWII combat history associated with 'USS De Grasse' belongs to this hull, not to the 1918 yacht/YP-506.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Limitations
- Correction row only - establishes hull separation, not any fact about the 1918 yacht. The same-hull distinction is itself verified across two official sources (DANFS II and the SDB 1945 Vol. III register row for AK-223).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-07
-
[9]Period insulation practice: trade-press heat-conservation text (citing American Brewers' Journal, 1921, 46:22) describing magnesia pipe covering 'usually obtained mixed with 15 per cent of long fibre asbestos'; and Johns-Manville, 'Thermal insulation and method of making the same,' U.S. Patent 2,016,039 (granted 1935), describing conventional 85%-magnesia/15%-asbestos steam-pipe covering [other_primary]
- Locator
- 1921 trade text via exa.ai mirror (secondary capture of period text); Google Patents US2016039A
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Steam-plant insulation standard in the era this yacht was built (1918) consisted of magnesia sectional covering bound with ~15% asbestos fiber, asbestos rope lagging for vibration zones, and asbestos gaskets/packing. A 1918 steam yacht's boiler and steam-line insulation would have been manufactured to this convention.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1918 (build configuration); era practice documented 1921/1935
- Population
- Lawley yard trades (1917-18); Boston Navy Yard trial/inspection personnel (1918)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull record located. Applies to the 1918 steam configuration only; the official 1943 register lists the craft's engine as 'Gas.,' so this inference does not extend to her YP-506 service. Even for 1918, the Navy's involvement was a ~3.5-month custody ending in rejection; no exposure event is documented aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-08
-
[10]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946;28:9-16 (PMID 21016030) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed citation PMID 21016030
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- U.S. Navy-commissioned survey of four naval shipyards (1943-44 fieldwork) documenting asbestos pipe-covering operations in naval vessel construction - the era context for Navy-yard insulation practice during the period YP-506 was in service (1942-1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Navy-yard pipe coverers and insulators (era)
- Limitations
- Era/program-level literature; survey covered construction at four naval shipyards, not this 78-ft district craft or the 5th Naval District specifically. As a gasoline-engined patrol craft, the steam-pipe-covering pathway documented here has limited applicability; carried as context for period naval asbestos practice, not hull evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-09
-
[11]CourtListener v4 opinion search, '"De Grasse"' - 311 results; top results classified [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results, 2026-09-29; opinions 6954092, 2295962, 6571323 classified as collisions
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search on the vessel name returned 311 hits; review of results shows name collisions only - e.g., 'The De Grasse,' 58 F.2d 1019 (E.D.N.Y. 1932), an admiralty case involving a different ocean-going vessel of that name (this hull was named Fleet by 1932); City of Boston v. De Grasse, 59 N.E.2d 3 (Mass. 1945) and De Grasse v. De Grasse, 37 A.3d 132 (Vt.) involve litigants surnamed De Grasse. No qualifying asbestos opinion naming the yacht, Fleet, ID-1217, or YP-506 was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- The vessel-name query completed; companion hull-number queries ('YP-506', 'ID-1217', 'USS De Grasse') were deferred by fleet rate-limit pacing at session time and are logged pending in the search ledger. A 'De Grasse' hit is not automatically this hull - collisions include the AP-164 cargo ship, the CGT ocean liner, and persons bearing the surname. Absence of located case law does not prove no claim was ever filed; state-court and pre-digitization records are not fully indexed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-10
-
[12]Batch-4660 search ledger (this record): DANFS I/II entries; NHC photo archive; NavSource; Ships' Data 1943/1945 official registers (shipscribe scans); Lawley yard list; CourtListener name sweep; NARA catalog; USCG documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-de-grasse-id1217-01 through sl-uss-de-grasse-id1217-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no insulation or hazmat survey, no abatement or disposal-condition record, and no docketed asbestos case naming this hull under any designation (De Grasse, Fleet, ID-1217, YP-506) was found in the public sources searched (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 1918 steam plant is era-consistent with asbestos insulation at build, but the probable pre-WWII re-engining and the craft's tiny WWII complement (five) leave almost no documented exposure surface either way. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-11
-
[13]Archival leads, unretrieved: NARA RG 181 (Commandant, 1st Naval District correspondence; Boston Navy Yard inspection-board report of 31 July 1918); NARA RG 24 deck logs for YP-506 (1942-1944), if extant; USCG vessel documentation file for Official No. 218211 (name/status history 1918-1959+) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-de-grasse-id1217-10, -11, -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary documentation that could resolve the commissioning conflict, the re-engining question, and any WWII service detail exists only as physical records: the 1st Naval District inspection report (31 July 1918), the 5th Naval District acquisition papers for YP-506 (1942), and the federal documentation file for ON 218211.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1918-1959
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these records were retrieved or confirmed digitized. NARA catalog API query for 'YP-506' returned no result; deck-log survival for a small district craft is not confirmed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-grasse-id1217-12