Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Fidelity II (AM-443) - verbatim text via Wayback capture (2025-01-20) of the official NHHC page; live URL returns 404 as of 2026-09-22 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Wayback capture 2025-01-20 19:43:15 of history.navy.mil DANFS 'Fidelity II (AM-443)'; published 2015-07-08
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS data line: (AM-443: dp. 620; l. 172'; b. 36'; dr. 10'; s. 16 k.; cpl. 74; a. 1 40 mm.; cl. Agile). Launched 21 August 1953 by Higgins, Inc., New Orleans, La.; sponsored by Mrs. R. K. Wells; commissioned 19 January 1955; reclassified MSO-443 on 7 February 1955. Home port Charleston, S.C. from 1 May 1955; service with the Mine Countermeasures Station at Panama City, Fla.; fleet exercises and a Halifax call. First Mediterranean tour 29 August 1957 - 13 February 1958 with the 6th Fleet (sweeping exercises and a large-scale NATO operation). On the 1958 deployment sailed directly to Beirut, Lebanon, arriving 15 August to support Marines landed a month earlier during the Lebanon crisis; 8-day visit, then Greece, Crete, and Balearic Isles ports; returned to Charleston 3 November 1958. Third Mediterranean tour 24 July 1959 - 11 February 1960; coastwise operations through 1962.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1953-1962 (narrative coverage)
- Population
- Crew (~74 per DANFS data line)
- Limitations
- Entry narrative ends in 1962 - nearly three decades of service (through 1989) are undocumented here. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information. Does not state laid-down date. Live NHHC page 404s; Wayback capture of the official page cited. The 'cl. Agile' class tag conflicts with NVR's MSO 422 (Aggressive) class key - naming discrepancy carried in gaps, not resolved here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-01
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[2]Naval Vessel Register (NAVSEA/NAVSHIPSO), ship detail page FIDELITY (MSO 443) ex-AM 443, UIC 07973 - Wayback capture 2019-09-23; page last updated 09/30/2004 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Wayback capture 2019-09-23 17:26:55; NVR page fields: Vessel Status / Milestone Dates / Physical Characteristics / Program Characteristics
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR lists: type MINESWEEPER,OCEAN; class MSO 422; status 'Disposed of, by Navy Sale' with status-changed date 08/16/1990; stricken 06/16/1989; decommissioned 05/19/1989; launched 08/21/1953; commission date field shows 01/09/1955; propulsion type Diesel; disposal custodian 'Schools, Organizations and Private Enterprises'. 34.0 years commission to decommission.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- Register entries as of 2004-09-30
- Limitations
- Official register record with several blank fields (keel date, builder, hull material, dimensions). Commission-date field (01/09/1955) conflicts with DANFS and NavSource (19 January 1955) - treated as an NVR data anomaly, not adopted. Contains no asbestos information; documents disposal pathway only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-02
-
[3]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Fidelity (MSO 443) ex-AM-443 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/11/02443.htm - 'Aggressive Class Minesweeper' chronology block, Specifications block, CO table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records: laid down 15 December 1952 by Higgins Inc., New Orleans, LA (DANFS omits the keel date and NVR's keel field is blank); sold for scrap 10 September 1990 to Wyns Hoggs for $13,775; specifications 775 t., 172', beam 35', draft 12', 14 kts, complement 78; propulsion four Packard ID1700 diesel engines later replaced by four Waukesha Motors Co. diesels, two shafts, controllable-pitch propellers. Photo captions document homeport at Naval Coastal Systems Center, Panama City Beach, Fla., and Mine Division 82 at Charleston (1957 Mediterranean deployment photo, Fidelity with Fearless MSO-442, Avenge MSO-423, Exultant MSO-441). Commanding-officer list runs to 16 June 1989 (18 officers, last CDR Carlton M. Baldwin IV).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1952-1990
- Population
- Shipyard workers (Higgins, New Orleans, 1952-53); crew
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official Navy data, not itself a government record; used only for details absent from DANFS/NVR (keel date, disposal buyer and price, engine replacement, later homeport). Buyer name 'Wyns Hoggs' and $13,775 price not verified against the disposal contract file. Complement (78) and beam (35') differ slightly from DANFS figures (74; 36').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-03
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[4]NARA still-picture record NN33300514 / DoD photo DN-SC-83-11882 (1 September 1983), USS Fidelity (MSO-443) at the Frederick Douglass Bridge en route to a Washington Navy Yard port visit; camera operator Don S. Montgomery, USN (Ret.) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NN33300514; photo ID DN-SC-83-11882; Wikimedia Commons file 'USS Fidelity (MSO-443).jpg' carries the same identifiers
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-held official Navy photography documents the ship in active service in September 1983 - corroborates continued commissioned operation through the 1980s beyond the 1962 end of the DANFS narrative. The NARA holdings pathway (RG 24 deck logs; RG 428 General Records of the Dept. of the Navy imagery) is the lead for any deeper hull-specific work.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1983
- Limitations
- Image metadata only - no asbestos, maintenance, or materials content. Deck-log digitization status for this hull unverified: NARA Catalog API could not be reached without an api.data.gov key during this pass. The getarchive.net mirror is a third-party index of NARA material; the underlying identifiers are NARA's.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-04
-
[5]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 extensively in ship construction and overhaul and that worker-protection practices at naval shipyards were deficient - the program-level backdrop for any era-consistent inference about asbestos aboard a 1952-53-built Navy hull and for overhaul-period exposure at yards that serviced her (Charleston Naval Shipyard appears in her photo record).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1979 (report); construction/overhaul era generally
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program-level)
- Limitations
- Program-level report; names no individual hull and does not establish asbestos aboard this vessel. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch in Batch 01 (2026-09-14) - product-page description relied on; full text remains an open lead. Fidelity's diesel plant removes the steam-boiler lagging pathway; residual era inference is limited to gaskets, packing, wiring, and joiner materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-05
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[6]Batch-1358 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404; Wayback capture); NVR ship detail (Wayback); NavSource; NARA imagery identifiers; CourtListener API v4; VA BVA decisions search; web search for docketed litigation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fidelity-am443-01 through sl-uss-fidelity-am443-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed litigation naming USS Fidelity (AM-443/MSO-443) was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). The only litigation-adjacent hits are law-firm marketing pages that list 'USS Fidelity' inside generic minesweeper ship lists - classified as name-list collisions, not cases, and excluded as banned source types. CourtListener could not be queried this session: authenticated API requests returned HTTP 429 (2,800/day quota already exhausted, ~7h reset) - the litigation screen is logged as blocked rather than as a clean negative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard. The litigation check is incomplete - CourtListener quota exhausted before this hull's queries ran; a follow-up pass on 'USS Fidelity', 'MSO-443', 'AM-443', and 'Fidelity' + asbestos is required before treating litigation as fully negative. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fidelity-am443-06