Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Density (AM-218) (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 6 February 1944 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Fla.; sponsored by Miss M. Farmwald; commissioned 15 June 1944, Lieutenant Commander R. R. Forrester, Jr., USNR, in command; reclassified MSF-218, 7 February 1955. Arrived San Diego 23 September 1944 to serve as training ship for the Small Craft Training Center at Terminal Island until 2 February 1945, then sailed for Pearl Harbor and Ulithi. Sortied from Ulithi 19 March 1945 to sweep mines preparatory to the invasion of Okinawa 1 April; patrolling off Okinawa she fired on the enemy in several suicide attacks; on 6 April she splashed several of the kamikaze force that struck the Fleet, then assisted Rodman (DMS-21), picking up 16 survivors and towing her to Kerama Retto; on the 22d she splashed an attacker that cleared her bridge by 10 feet and rescued three survivors from stricken Isherwood (DD-520); five days later recovered the body of an enemy officer from a downed plane, obtaining intelligence material including a secret code book and photographs; sank an enemy suicide boat off Naha 4 May. Sailed from Okinawa 4 July to join minesweepers supporting 3d Fleet strikes against the Japanese homeland; San Pedro Bay, Leyte, overhaul 9-28 August; departed Okinawa 8 September to sweep Japanese waters; occupation duty until 20 November, arriving San Diego 19 December; arrived Galveston 29 January 1946 to provide services to the reserve fleet at Orange, Texas; placed in commission in reserve 14 May 1946; decommissioned there 3 March 1947. Three battle stars for WWII service. DANFS specifications block: dp. 530; l. 184'6"; b. 33'; dr. 9'9"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3"; cl. Admirable.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1955
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); USN crew 1944-47 (complement 104)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing link-rot note from Batch 01); verbatim hazegray/losthistory transcription cited. DANFS carries no laid-down date (NavSource supplies 21 Mar 1943) and no striking date. Spec-block displacement 530 t conflicts with NavSource 945 t(fl) and the HyperWar ship-data page's 625 t - carried in gaps. The 'Transcriber's note' appended on the hazegray page (post-Navy history) is transcriber-supplied secondary material, not DANFS text - used only as a labeled secondary source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Density (MSF-218) ex-AM-218 page (construction chronology, NVR note, specifications, commanding-officer roster, disposition) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AM-218 page - Admirable Class Minesweeper chronology, specifications block, CO roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 21 March 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, FL; launched 6 February 1944; commissioned USS Density (AM-218) 15 June 1944; placed 'in commission, in reserve' 14 May 1946 and laid up in the Reserve Fleet, Orange, TX; decommissioned 3 March 1947 at Orange; the Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists the ship out of commission, in reserve as December 1945; reclassified Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull) MSF-218, 7 February 1955; sold February 1955 for use as a Greek cargo ship and renamed Manoula; sold again September 1964 to a Texas consortium for use as an offshore radio station and renamed M/V Galaxy; sold for scrap 1970; sunk in the shipyard of Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel, Germany; raised August 1986 and scrapped. Specifications: displacement 945 t.(fl); length 184'6"; beam 33'; draft 9'9"; speed 14.8 kts; complement 104; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, one twin 40mm mount, six 20mm mounts, one depth-charge thrower (hedgehog), four depth-charge projectors (K-guns), two depth-charge tracks; propulsion two 1,710-shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single-reduction gear, two shafts. Commanding-officer roster: LCDR Russell Edwin Forrester Jr. USNR (15 Jun 1944-8 Dec 1945) through ENS Francis George Crawford USN (2 Jan 1947-3 Mar 1947).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1986
- Population
- USN crew 1944-47; Greek merchant crew (Manoula); radio-ship crew/staff (Galaxy, 1964-67)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page - the sole located source for the laid-down date, the NVR 1 Jan 1949 note, the post-Navy disposition chain (Manoula/Galaxy/HDW Kiel), and the Cooper Bessemer propulsion detail. The NVR note's 'December 1945' reserve-dating conflicts with the documented in-commission-in-reserve sequence (14 May 1946 / 3 Mar 1947) - carried in gaps. Propulsion conflicts with the HyperWar ship-data page ('diesel-electric, twin screws, 1,800 h.p.') and Wikipedia (ALCO 539 / Farrel-Birmingham) - carried in gaps. Displacement 945 t(fl) conflicts with DANFS 530 t and HyperWar 625 t - carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos information. Live navsource.org fetch failed during research; content verified via Wayback capture 20250124232724 and the navsource.net mirror.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-02
-
[3]BBC News, 'The final days of the pop pirates' (2017, 50th-anniversary retrospective); New York Times archive, 'Britain Turns Off Her Pirate Radio Stations, but One Owner Won't Give Up His Ships' (15 Aug 1967) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-40804501; nytimes.com archive 1967-08-15
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Reputable-press record of the post-Navy radio-ship career of this hull. BBC confirms Radio London broadcast from a ship anchored three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, from December 1964 until closure on 14 August 1967, when station staff landed at the Port of Felixstowe; NYT's same-week reporting confirms Radio London went off the air at 3 p.m. on 14 August 1967, hours before the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 took effect at midnight. NavSource and corroborating offshore-radio documentation establish that the Radio London transmitter ship M/V Galaxy was this hull (ex-USS Density, AM-218): converted in Miami with a 50-kW RCA transmitter and ~150-ft antenna mast (212 ft claimed for publicity), sailed from Miami 22 October 1964, arrived Thames Estuary 19 November 1964, and broadcast as 'Wonderful Radio London'/'Big L' from 23 December 1964.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1964-1967
- Population
- Radio London crew, DJs, and engineering staff aboard M/V Galaxy, 1964-1967
- Limitations
- Press sources document the station and the dates, not the hull's Navy lineage - the Galaxy = ex-USS Density identity link comes from NavSource and offshore-radio documentation, not the BBC/NYT text itself. Radio-era detail (mast height, itinerary) is from secondary/enthusiast documentation corroborated across sources; treat day-level radio-history claims as secondary. No asbestos information - the 1964 Miami conversion and decades of dereliction are disturbance events on the 1944 hull, but no source records asbestos handling.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-03
-
[4]Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), legislation.gov.uk - royal assent 14 July 1967, in force 15 August 1967 [other_primary]
- Locator
- legislation.gov.uk UKPGA 1967/41, sections 1-6 (prohibitions), s.11 (commencement)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The UK statute that ended this hull's broadcasting career: the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 made broadcasting from ships in UK/external waters unlawful and criminalized supplying or staffing offshore stations, taking effect at midnight 14/15 August 1967 - nine hours after Radio London's final transmission from the Galaxy at 3 p.m. on 14 August.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1967
- Limitations
- Regulatory context only - the Act does not name the vessel and establishes nothing about materials or asbestos aboard. It documents why the ship's radio career ended and why the hull subsequently lay derelict in Hamburg/Kiel awaiting sale or scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-04
-
[5]NARA, Special List 44 - Named Vessels (finding aid to Vessel and Station Log Books at the National Archives, RG 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 named-vessels table, 'Density (AM-218)' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 names this hull with one logbook volume: 'Density (AM-218) 6/15/1944-6/30/1945' - deck-log coverage from the commissioning date through the end of June 1945, spanning the Terminal Island training-ship period and the Okinawa campaign including the April-May 1945 events DANFS records.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (logbook coverage)
- Population
- USN complement aboard AM-218, 1944-1945
- Limitations
- Deck logs are operational records - they document movements and events, not materials or asbestos aboard. The list shows a single volume ending 30 June 1945; coverage of the post-June-1945 period (Japanese-waters sweeping, occupation duty, transit home, Orange reserve service to March 1947) is not listed in the named-vessels table - whether later logs survive in RG 24 is unverified. Muster rolls for this hull not separately confirmed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-05
-
[6]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessels up through 1961' (RG 19 research guide: Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books; hull-arranged Ship Engineering Drawings, S39/S48/S103 filing codes) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page, sections 'General Information Books' and 'Ship Engineering Drawings'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA's official asbestos-research guide identifies the record series that would document hull-level material specifications for this ship: RG 19 Entry P-11, 'Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books' (Item S-68, 1940-1962), and the paper/microfilm Ship Engineering Drawings ('Hull Series') arranged by hull number and Ship Material Group - the guide names S103 (Booklets of General Plans), S39 (Insulation and Lagging), and S48 (Piping) as the codes most relevant to asbestos research. An AM-218-specific drawing or GIB volume, if it survives, is the realistic path to any ship-specific materials finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1947 (hypothetical record coverage); guide current as of 2026-09-22
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); USN crew 1944-47
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the guide documents which series exist, not that AM-218 material survives in them; no hull-specific drawing or GIB was retrieved or confirmed. Establishes a research path, not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-06
-
[7]DANFS AM-218 entry (vessel type, builder, 1943-44 construction window) + NavSource propulsion data (diesel plant); wartime shipbuilding-materials context [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS AM-218 entry (construction record); NavSource AM-218 specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/type inference only: a steel Admirable-class fleet minesweeper built 1943-44 at Tampa Shipbuilding - during the period when asbestos supply was federally reserved for shipbuilding - plausibly carried period-standard asbestos-containing materials in applications typical for the type: diesel exhaust lagging, engine-space insulation, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing, accommodation insulation, and deck covering. Because the plant was diesel (two diesel engines, no boilers or steam lines), the dominant WWII asbestos pathway aboard steam vessels - boiler and steam-line lagging - did not exist on this hull; expected ACM scope is smaller and differently distributed than aboard a steam vessel of the same era. The 1964 Miami conversion into the radio ship M/V Galaxy was a documented modification of the 1944 hull; any disturbance of era materials in that work is inference only.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1986
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); USN crew 1944-47; post-Navy crews and German shipyard/salvage workers (1955-1986)
- Limitations
- Inference from era, builder, and vessel type only - no ship-specific document names any asbestos product aboard this hull. No material schedule for AM-218 was located (NARA RG 19 series are the lead, ev-06). Diesel propulsion reduces expected ACM scope relative to steam vessels but does not establish absence; post-Navy modification and the 1979-1986 sinking/raising/scrapping created undocumented disturbance opportunities.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-07
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset record 'tampa-bay-shipbuilding' (shipyards.json): Tampa Bay Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, FL (aliases incl. Tampa Shipbuilding Company), WWII peak employment 16,000, evidence_tier 3, yard-level asbestos products documented [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'tampa-bay-shipbuilding' (yard_id, asbestos_products_documented, employment fields)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard context: the Atlas shipyards dataset carries Tampa Bay Shipbuilding Company (the builder of this hull) at evidence_tier 3 with yard-level asbestos products documented: asbestos insulation on steam systems, asbestos-wrapped turbines and pipes, gaskets, valve packing, brake linings, fireproof panels, pipe insulation. WWII peak employment 16,000 (1941-1945).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (this hull's construction window)
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding trades, 1941-1945 peak
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record - asbestos products documented at the yard do not establish installation aboard this specific hull. The dataset's asbestos_products_documented field is carried at face value; the yard record's own evidence array is empty in shipyards.json, so the underlying yard-level citations are not inspectable from the dataset file.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-density-am218-08