Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (NHHC), 'Eider' entry - canonical page (published 2015-07-07) now 404s live; text verified verbatim via Wayback capture 2021-03-04 and NavSource DANFS transcription [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Canonical: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/eider.html (live 404 2026-09-22); transcription mirror https://www.navsource.net/archives/11/02017d.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS service spine: launched 27 May 1918 by Pusey and Jones Co., Wilmington, Del., sponsored by Miss Maren Lysholm; commissioned 23 January 1919, Lt. A. E. Freed in command. Swept the Delaware River approaches to 8 March 1919, then Norfolk; departed 3 April 1919 for Scotland and, based alternately on Kirkwall and Invergordon, Orkney Islands, swept the North Sea minefield; returned October via Brest, Lisbon, Azores, Bermuda. Reduced commission for repairs at Charleston Navy Yard 1 December 1919; joined Penguin (AM-33) in salvage operations on Widgeon (AM-22) 29 May 1920; full commission for passage to Mare Island (departed Norfolk 10 July, arrived 28 August 1920), reporting to Commander, Train, Base Force; reduced commission again 10 September 1920. Home yard changed to Pearl Harbor 1921 (arrived 18 June); decommissioned 18 April 1922, laid up until 1937, then sent back to Mare Island still decommissioned. Converted for duty as a gate tender and reclassified YNG-20 on 7 October 1940; placed in service in 1941 based on the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, operating with net tenders in San Francisco Bay throughout the war; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 1 July 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1917-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (complement 72 per DANFS stat line), 1919-1922; reduced/partial complements 1919-1922; gate-vessel crew 1941-1945
- Limitations
- Authoritative identity/service history only - the entry contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation statement and supports no asbestos claim. NavSource's transcription of the older printed DANFS entry adds 'converted by Philadelphia Navy Yard' before commissioning - absent from the NHHC online text; treated as a print-edition variant. Live NHHC URL 404 is standing link rot (same as Batch-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-01
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[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Auk' entry (hazegray DANFS transcription mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Auk entry, paragraphs covering 7-9 July 1919 operations off the Orkneys
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for sister ship Auk (Minesweeper No. 38 / AM-38) names Eider twice: Auk 'swept in company with Eider (Minesweeper No. 17)' on 8 July 1919, and on 9 July - 'Again sweeping in company with Eider,' Auk countermined two mines in the multi-casualty operation in which an upper-level mine exploded beneath Pelican (Minesweeper No. 27) at 1000, leaving her 'heavily hit, battered, and holed.' Corroborates Eider's presence in the most dangerous single day of the North Sea clearance.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1919
- Population
- Ship's company during North Sea clearance, July 1919
- Limitations
- Sister-ship entry names Eider 'sweeping in company' - establishes presence in the operation, not a specific role in Pelican's rescue. The claim that Eider was 'on hand to assist in the rescue' (Wikipedia) traces to a USS Teal logbook quotation republished in secondary compilations, not to DANFS itself. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-02
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Eider (AM 17) ship-data page (Naval Register milestone compilation); NavalCoverMuseum 'EIDER YNg 20' designation-history table [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource ship-data block; https://www.navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/EIDER_YNg_20 designation table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled administrative milestones beyond DANFS (NavSource ship page + NavalCoverMuseum designation history): laid down 25 September 1917 at Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, DE; designated AM-17 on 17 July 1920 (Navy's modern alphanumeric adoption); decommissioned 18 April 1922; reclassified gate vessel YNg-20 on 7 October 1940 (NavSource notes the Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists the reclassification as November 1940); placed in service at the 12th Naval District (Mare Island) - NavSource says 1941, NavalCoverMuseum gives 19 August 1940 and out-of-service 9 October 1945; struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945 per NavSource vs 1 July 1947 per NavalCoverMuseum; transferred to the Maritime Commission 1 July 1947 for disposal, sold 19 July 1947 per NavalCoverMuseum; fate unknown. Compiled specs (NavSource): 840 t., 187'10" x 35'6" x 9'9", 14 kts., complement 61, two 3-inch mounts, two Babcock & Wilcox boilers + one triple-expansion reciprocating engine, one shaft.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1917-1947
- Population
- 12th Naval District gate-vessel crew, 1941-1945
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations of Naval Vessel Register data, not the registers themselves; the strike-date conflict (1945-11-28 vs 1947-07-01), in-service date (1941 vs 1940-08-19), complement (72 DANFS vs 61 NavSource), and displacement (950 DANFS vs 840) are unresolved - see correction row and gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-03
-
[4]Australian Government Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, Asbestos Product Guide - '85% Magnesia insulation' entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- Product guide entry: composition (85-95% magnesium carbonate, 10-15% asbestos binder), applications, era of use
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The standard molded steam-plant insulation of this hull's construction era, '85% magnesia' block and pipe covering, was manufactured with 85-95% magnesium carbonate bound with 10-15% asbestos fiber, used worldwide for high-temperature industrial plant (boilers, heat ducting, steam pipes) from the late 1800s. A 1917-1919 steam minesweeper (two Babcock & Wilcox boilers, triple-expansion engine) is era-consistent with asbestos-bound magnesia lagging plus asbestos gaskets, packing, and felts throughout the steam system.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1917-1919 construction era
- Population
- Construction trades (Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, 1917-1919); Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion workers (1918-1919); engine-room crew
- Limitations
- Era/product documentation, not a hull record - the guide does not name this vessel or the Lapwing class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard. Establishes only that the era-standard marine steam insulation product contained asbestos. Does not establish quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-04
-
[5]Rushworth, D. H., 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal 117(2):35-48 (2005) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Naval Engineers Journal 117(2), abstract and article
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed engineering-journal history documents that asbestos was the standard U.S. Navy shipboard pipe and machinery thermal-insulation material in WWII and post-WWII ships, and that friable thermal insulation was the most likely source of Navy shipboard asbestos exposures. Eider's 1940 conversion to a gate tender and her 1941-1945 in-service period working San Francisco Bay net defenses fall inside this documented heavy-use window; any refit insulation applied to her steam plant in that window is era-consistent with asbestos materials.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1945 service window; article 2005
- Population
- Mare Island conversion workers (1940); YNg-20 crew and net-depot personnel (1941-1945)
- Limitations
- Fleet/era-level scholarly documentation of Navy asbestos insulation practice; the article centers WWII-and-later ships and does not name this vessel or gate craft. Does not establish that asbestos was applied to or remained aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-05
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[6]Corn, J. K., and J. Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AJIM 11(3):359-373, abstract and reproduced 1943 SecNav memoranda
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents extensive asbestos use as fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding in the 1940s, when WWII industrial expansion drove unprecedented asbestos utilization, and reproduces the wartime Secretary of the Navy industrial-health memoranda governing naval shore establishments and contract shipyards - the policy environment in force during Eider's 1940 conversion and WWII in-service period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII naval shipyard and conversion workers (context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-06
-
[7]California Military Museum / California Center for Military History, 'Historic California Posts: Naval Net Depot, Tiburon' (militarymuseum.org) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Tiburon Naval Net Depot page - establishment, net production, training mission sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Net Depot, Tiburon - the installation DANFS identifies as Eider's base throughout the war - was commissioned 1 August 1940 on the former Tiburon coaling station; its personnel fabricated and maintained the ~7-mile anti-submarine net across the Golden Gate approach (in place by 7 December 1941), produced over 100,000 tons of anti-submarine/anti-torpedo netting during the war, and trained net-tender crews for Pacific harbor defenses. This is the net-tender flotilla Eider served as a gate vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1958 (depot); 1941-1945 (vessel's service)
- Population
- Naval Net Depot personnel and net-tender/gate-vessel crews, 1941-1945
- Limitations
- Installation-level history establishing the ship's operating base and mission context; contains no materials, asbestos, or condition statement about the vessel itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-07
-
[8]U.S. EPA Superfund Site Profile, Mare Island Naval Shipyard (EPA ID CA7170024775); California DTSC Mare Island fact sheets/remedial action plans [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA site profile (federal facility, state-lead cleanup); DTSC Mare Island investigation-area documents
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo - where Eider passed to the Train, Base Force in 1920, lay in decommissioned status from 1937, and was converted to a gate tender in 1940 - is a documented federal-facility cleanup site: EPA Superfund profile CA7170024775 (Other Cleanup Activity, state-lead under California DTSC oversight), with Navy Installation Restoration and DTSC remedial documents identifying asbestos-containing material among investigation-area contaminants.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1920-1940 (vessel's yard exposure); cleanup program ongoing
- Population
- Mare Island yard workforce (context); Eider conversion detail 1940
- Limitations
- Yard-level environmental record only - documents the industrial environment where the ship was laid up and converted; no survey or work order ties any yard ACM to this hull. Note: EPA lists the site as 'Not on the NPL / Other Cleanup Activity: State-Lead' - secondary claims of NPL listing are inaccurate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-08
-
[9]Cross-check of NHHC/DANFS Eider entry vs NavSource ship-data page vs NavalCoverMuseum designation table (locators in ledger rows sl-uss-eider-am17-02, -07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS stat line and narrative; NavSource data block; NavalCoverMuseum designation table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source-conflict register (resolved/unresolved): (a) launch date - DANFS gives 27 May 1918; NavSource and derivative compilations give 26 May; DANFS adopted as controlling. (b) In-service date - DANFS says 'placed in service in 1941'; NavalCoverMuseum gives 19 August 1940, preceding the 7 October 1940 YNg-20 reclassification; both logged, unresolved. (c) Strike date - NavSource gives 28 November 1945 (consistent with the reported 9 October 1945 out-of-service date); NavalCoverMuseum gives 1 July 1947, which collides with the Maritime Commission transfer date and likely conflates it; unresolved pending a register check. (d) Complement - DANFS stat line 72 vs NavSource compiled 61; unresolved. (e) Displacement - DANFS 950 vs NavSource/Wikipedia 840; unresolved.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1918-1947
- Limitations
- Documents where the authoritative and compiled sources diverge; resolves launch-date and disposal-date fields to DANFS only. The NVR strike/reclassification discrepancies cannot be resolved without the 1945-1949 register volumes - carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-09
-
[10]Batch-1190 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS + mirrors; NavSource; NavalCoverMuseum; MARAD ShipHistory; EPA/DTSC Mare Island; California Military Museum; CourtListener (blocked); general web index [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-eider-am17-01 through sl-uss-eider-am17-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, materials specification, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming the Eider hull (Minesweeper No. 17 / AM-17 / YNg-20) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was disposed in 1947, leaving no surviving museum-ship documentation surface. Direct CourtListener API litigation search was blocked by throttling (HTTP 429, retry-after ~8,900s) and is logged as an open gap; an indirect index search located no qualifying opinion. Mesothelioma marketing sites list 'USS Eider AM-17' on generic minesweeper pages - non-authoritative, not treated as evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1917-1919 steam plant operated through WWII is era-consistent with asbestos materials. The litigation check is incomplete (API throttle); a same-named Bureau of Fisheries vessel, USFS/MV Eider (Alaska, 1919-1940s, later USCG YP-198), is a live name collision for logbook and document matching. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-10
-
[11]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (deck logs), RG 181 (shore establishments), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships); NARA WWII deck-log digitization program [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 181 12th Naval District + Tiburon files; RG 24 logbooks; RG 19 construction/conversion
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required; no spend authorized): NARA RG 24 deck logs for Eider/YNg-20 (WWI-era and WWII-era deck-log digitization projects cover this hull's commissioned and in-service periods); RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) - 12th Naval District and Naval Net Depot Tiburon records may hold gate-vessel assignment, crew, and maintenance files; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships / Bureau of Engineering) - Minesweeper No. 17 construction and 1940 conversion records, incl. Pusey & Jones contract and Mare Island conversion specifications; Maritime Commission disposal file for the 1 July 1947 transfer (RG 178-era records).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1917-1947 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-eider-am17-11