Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, Falcon III (Minesweeper No. 28), NHHC - live page returned 404 on 2026-09-22; verbatim text via Wayback capture 2025-02-02 and hazegray transcription [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Canonical page https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/falcon-iii.html (404 live); Wayback capture 2025-02-02; mirror https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/am28.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Lapwing-class minesweeper launched 7 September 1918 by Gas Engine & Power Co. and C. L. Seabury Co., Morris Heights, N.Y.; commissioned 12 November 1918 as Minesweeper No. 28. Cleared the North Sea Mine Barrage out of Kirkwall, Aug-Nov 1919; second European voyage Mar-Aug 1920 towing a captured German submarine toward the Canal Zone. Assigned permanently to submarine salvage work at New London after S-5 (SS-110) salvage in summer 1921. Control Force operations to the Canal Zone, west coast, and Hawaii in 1925; S-51 (SS-162) salvage 1925-26, towing the raised submarine to New York in July 1926. Reclassified AM-28 on 17 July 1920 and ASR-2 on 12 September 1929. Central to the Squalus (SS-192) rescue and salvage in 1939 and the O-9 (SS-70) operation. WWII salvage, towing, and experimental operations out of New London and Portsmouth, N.H.; flagship for Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet at New London; Argentia deployment Jul-Oct 1943; trained divers and rescue personnel for newer rescue ships. Decommissioned at Boston 18 June 1946; sold 12 March 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1918-1947
- Population
- Crew and embarked divers/salvage personnel, 1918-1946
- Limitations
- Authoritative for construction, designations, and service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and supports no asbestos claim. Its 'June 1940' date for O-9 operations is erroneous (corrected at ev-uss-falcon-am28-04).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-01
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[2]NHHC, USS Squalus (SS-192): The Sinking, Rescue of Survivors, and Subsequent Salvage, 1939 (FAQ 99-1) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Wayback capture of history.navy.mil/faqs/faq99-1.htm; original rescue-operations report and diving log linked as faq99-3/99-4
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NHHC account of the Squalus operation: after USS Squalus (SS-192) sank in 240 feet off the Isle of Shoals on 23 May 1939, USS Falcon (ASR-2) lowered the McCann rescue chamber at 1130 on 24 May 1939 and, over the next 13 hours, rescued all 33 survivors; Falcon then supported the salvage that raised Squalus on 13 September 1939.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1939
- Population
- Falcon crew and divers; 33 Squalus survivors rescued
- Limitations
- Documents the ship's role in the best-known submarine rescue in U.S. Navy history; contains no asbestos or materials information and supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-02
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[3]Franke, K., and Paustenbach, D., 'Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970),' Inhalation Toxicology 23(sup3):1-20 (2011), PMID 22200078; NavSource Falcon (AM-28/ASR-2) propulsion spec [other_primary]
- Locator
- Franke & Paustenbach 2011 (era naval asbestos use); https://navsource.org/archives/11/02028.htm (machinery spec)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Falcon was powered by a two-boiler Babcock & Wilcox saturated-steam plant driving a Harlan & Hollingsworth vertical triple-expansion engine (NavSource compilation). Peer-reviewed history documents that amosite and chrysotile were used extensively as insulating materials on U.S. naval ships beginning in the 1880s and continuing into the 1950s, and that Navy specifications required asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and packing. Boiler lagging, steam-line covering, gaskets, valve packing, and winch/towing-gear brake linings aboard a steam vessel laid down in 1917 are era-consistent applications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1917-1946 era documented; article 2011
- Population
- Construction trades (Morris Heights, 1917-18); engineering crew and embarked divers (1918-1946)
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarly documentation plus a secondary machinery compilation; neither names this hull and neither is a ship-specific asbestos record. Secondary literature dates the Navy's formal asbestos mandate for new submarine construction to 1922 - after this hull's 1917-18 construction - so the inference is weaker than for mandated-era hulls. Does not establish quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation; hull was disposed in 1947.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-03
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[4]NOAA Ocean Explorer, 'Search for the USS O-9' (2004 expedition background); U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History Magazine, 'Forgotten Tragedy: The Loss of the USS O-9' (Fall 1991); NavalCoverMuseum FALCON ASR-2 postmark record [other_primary]
- Locator
- NOAA Ocean Explorer O-9 project page; https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1991/september/forgotten-tragedy-loss-uss-0-9 ; https://www.navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/FALCON_ASR_2 (postmark 1941-06-20)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Correction: Falcon's rescue/salvage operation over USS O-9 (SS-70) occurred in June 1941, not 'June 1940' as stated in both the NHHC DANFS entry and the NHHC Online Library photo essay. O-9, recommissioned 14 April 1941, sank on 20 June 1941 during deep-submergence tests ~15 miles off Portsmouth, N.H., with the loss of all 33 aboard; the wreck lay too deep (~400+ feet) for recovery and the operation was abandoned. A Falcon postmark dated 1941-06-20, cacheted 'Standing by, over the wreck of USS O-9,' independently corroborates the 1941 date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941
- Population
- Falcon crew and divers; 33 O-9 crew lost
- Limitations
- Corrects an error inside an official NHHC source; O-9 (recommissioned April 1941) could not have been the object of June 1940 operations. No asbestos content; supports no exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-04
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[5]NHHC Online Library, 'USS Falcon (AM-28, later ASR-2)' photo essay (ibiblio mirror) vs. DANFS Falcon III entry; DANFS Widgeon entry for the ASR-1 comparison [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Photo-essay narrative paragraph; DANFS Falcon III designation line; DANFS Widgeon (losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/am22.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Designation-date conflict flagged and resolved in favor of DANFS: the DANFS entry, NavSource, and uboat.net all date Falcon's reclassification to submarine rescue ship ASR-2 as 12 September 1929, while the NHHC Online Library photo essay states 'January 1936.' The 1936 figure coincides with sister Lapwing-class rescue ship Widgeon's reclassification to ASR-1 (22 January 1936 per DANFS) and appears conflated; this record adopts 12 September 1929.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1929; 1936
- Limitations
- Documents an internal conflict between two NHHC products; the majority view (DANFS/NavSource/uboat.net) is adopted and the photo-essay date is flagged rather than silently dropped. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-05
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[6]The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II - 1940 (NHHC publication; HyperWar transcription); NavSource Falcon (AM-28/ASR-2) page [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- USN-Chron-1940, April 12 entry; NavSource 11/02028 chronology block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- On 12 April 1940, submarine rescue vessel Falcon (ASR-2) and U.S. freighter El Oceano were damaged when they collided in heavy fog in Buzzards Bay near Hen and Chickens Lightship (Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II - 1940; NavSource).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940
- Limitations
- Service-history event documented by an official Navy chronology; collision repair scope and yard are not documented in located sources. No asbestos content; any resulting admiralty proceeding was not located (CourtListener search constrained by rate limit - see search_ledger).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-06
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[7]Batch-1253 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS/Online Library/FAQ sources; NavSource; NavalCoverMuseum; NOAA/USNI (O-9); CourtListener API v4 (authenticated); MARAD ShipHistory; NARA lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-falcon-am28-01 through sl-uss-falcon-am28-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no insulation survey, abatement contract, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed opinion naming USS Falcon (AM-28/ASR-2) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sold 12 March 1947, decades before asbestos surveys became routine; a CourtListener opinion search for the exact ship name returned zero results.
- 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 WWI-era steam hull would have been built to era insulation practice. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present, and does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-07
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[8]NHHC FAQ 99-3/99-4 (original-document links off faq99-1); NARA RG 24 (Logs of U.S. Naval Ships) [other_primary]
- Locator
- faq99-1 'Related Resources' links (faq99-3 report, faq99-4 diving log); NARA RG 24
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads: NHHC hosts digitized scans of the original Squalus rescue-operations report and the diving log of rescue operations (FAQ 99-3/99-4), which document Falcon's work in detail; NARA Record Group 24 holds Falcon's deck logs (1918-1946). Neither corpus has been reviewed for materials, insulation, or repair-content data.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1918-1946 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Pointer to primary records, not a finding: contents unreviewed; whether they contain insulation/materials data is unknown. Deck-log digitization status varies; NARA review is the open lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-falcon-am28-08