USS Fixity (AM-235)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]DANFS, 'Fixity' (AM-235) - official NHHC text via Wayback capture 2025-01-25 (live history.navy.mil page returns 404 - standing link rot, same as BATCH-01/1148/1169/1196/1198/1200-1208); verbatim transcription cross-checked at losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/am235.htm (which prints one transcription typo - see ev-06) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Fixity' entry, specifications block + service narrative (official text via web.archive.org capture 20250125125154; mirror losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/am235.htm)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official DANFS record for this hull: Admirable-class minesweeper (dp. 530; l. 184'6"; b. 33'; dr. 9'9"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3"; cl. Admirable); name means 'Stability.' Launched 4 September 1944 by Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Co., Seattle, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. P. J. Toien; commissioned 29 December 1944, Lieutenant Commander A. P. Krieger, USNR, in command. Sailed from San Pedro 4 March 1945; trained in the Hawaiian Islands for the rest of March; convoy escort to Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Okinawa; from arrival 16 May, inner screen protecting shipping at Okinawa; 22 June drove off a lone attacking Japanese airplane; patrol and escort at Okinawa until 30 August; then minesweeping off Korea, concentrating on the approaches to Jinsen; 8 September rendezvoused with the amphibious force bringing occupation troops to Jinsen and accompanied them in; arrived Sasebo 10 September 1945; swept Japanese waters until February 1946; sailed for the west coast and inactivation; decommissioned at Bremerton, Wash., 6 November 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission 23 January 1948. Two battle stars for World War II service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1948

   Population

   PSBD construction trades (1944); wartime crew (design complement 104)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents identity, builder, dates, service narrative, and awards - not materials or asbestos content. The entry is silent on the PCE-908 origin, the laid-down date (NavSource/Colton/Wikipedia supply 12 May 1944), any striking date, and the post-1948 commercial chain. The losthistory mirror's transcription prints '10 September 1946' where the official text reads '10 September 1945' - a mirror typo flagged in ev-06; the official 1945 reading is carried.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Fixity (AM 235) ex-PCE-908, file 11/02235 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 11/02235 - chronology block, specifications block, propulsion line, CO list, photo credits

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource per-hull record: 'Admirable Class Minesweeper'; 'Laid down 12 May 1944 as Patrol Craft Escort, PCE-908 by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Co., Seattle, WA'; launched 4 September 1944; commissioned USS Fixity (AM 235) 29 December 1944; decommissioned 6 November 1946 at Bremerton, WA; 'Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 23 January 1948' with boilerplate footnote 'Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists transfer to the War Shipping Administration as November 1948'; 'Acquired in 1949 by Commercial Barge Lines of Detroit, MI for use as a tugboat, converted to river service in 1949 at Paducah Marine Ways, Paducah, KY and renamed M/V Commercial Dixie'; 'Acquired in 1961 by the American Commercial Barge Line Co. of Jeffersonville, IN'; 'Scrapped in 1964' - the last entry contradicted by the documented 1994-95 sinking (ev-04, ev-05, ev-06). Spec block: 945 t (fl); 184'6"; 33' beam; 9'9" draft; 14.8 kts; complement 104; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, one twin 40mm mount, six 20mm mounts, one hedgehog, four K-guns, two depth-charge tracks; propulsion 'Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.' CO roster: LT Alfred Peter Kreiger USNR (29 Dec 1944 - 1 Nov 1945; surname spelled 'Kreiger' vs DANFS 'Krieger'), LT George Charles Bevel Jr. USN (1 Nov 1945), LTJG Robert Frank Vales USN ('13 August 1948 - 6 November 1946' - impossible date pair, flagged in ev-06). Call sign Nan-Dog-How-Fox. Photo credits include NARA 19-LCM-AM235-1 (16 Jan 1945 Seattle view, camouflage 32/23D) and a Dan Owen photo of the hull as M/V Commercial Dixie.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1964

   Population

   PSBD trades (1944); wartime crew; Paducah Marine Ways conversion workforce (1949); river-industry crews (1949-1995)

   Limitations

   Specialist secondary compilation - detailed but non-official. The laid-down date, PCE-908 origin, propulsion spec, CO roster, and commercial chain rest on NavSource alone or NavSource plus other secondary listings. 'Scrapped in 1964' is contradicted by the Waterways Journal/Cincinnati Post record of the 1994-95 Maysville sinking (ev-04, ev-05); 'Commercial Barge Lines of Detroit, MI' conflicts with the WJ/Inland River Record chain (Commercial Barge Line -> Beatty Inc., May 1961) - flagged in ev-06. The NVR-1949 boilerplate note (WSA transfer Nov 1948) is anomalous - WSA was abolished in 1946. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-02

3. [3]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation), 'Lockheed Shipbuilding, Seattle WA' yard table (incorporating Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging) - hull #72 row (AM 235 Fixity) + yard history header [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/lockheed.htm - hull #72 row (AM 235 Fixity); block rows #71 AM 234, #73-74 cancelled AM 236/237; yard history header

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Yard-table row for this hull: PSBD yard hull #72, 'AM 235 | Fixity | US Navy | Minesweeper | 650d | 185 | Dec-44 | Later PCE 908, sold to JeffBoat 1949, converted to towboat Commercial Dixie.' Block context: the consecutive rows #71-73 carry AM-234 Fancy (ex-PCE-907, to USSR 1945) and AM-236/AM-237 (cancelled) - the PSBD hulls were ordered as patrol craft escorts and completed as Admirable-class minesweepers. Yard history header: Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Co. founded 1898 as a subsidiary of San Francisco Bridge Co.; Harbor Island facility established 1916; WWII mine/craft construction under the Associated Shipbuilders joint venture with Lake Union Dry Docks (Yard 1) and the acquired West Seattle 'Yard 2'; PSB&D acquired by Lockheed Shipbuilding & Construction Co. in 1959; yards sold to the Port of Seattle in the 1990s.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-1949

   Population

   PSBD construction workforce (Seattle, 1944)

   Limitations

   Compiler's yard table, secondary - corroborates builder, yard hull number (#72), delivery date (Dec-44 matches commissioning 29 Dec 1944), type, tonnage class (650d), and the JeffBoat 1949 / towboat-conversion disposal path. The 'Later PCE 908' phrasing is ambiguous shorthand - NavSource/Wikipedia document the hull laid down AS PCE-908 and reclassified AM-235 before completion; flagged in ev-06. Contains no asbestos information; supports no asbestos claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-03

4. [4]The Waterways Journal, 'World War II Minesweepers Repurposed,' Old Boat Column, Capt. David Smith, 1 Nov 2024 (citing the Inland River Record) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   waterwaysjournal.net 2024-11-01 column - paragraphs on Commercial Barge Line acquisition, 1949 conversion, 1961 Beatty sale, and the Maysville sinking

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Trade-press account resolving this hull's commercial career and fate: Commercial Barge Line acquired both Fixity (AM-235) and sister Incessant (AM-248) from the Maritime Commission; Fixity was converted to river towing at Paducah Marine Ways, Paducah, Ky., in 1949 and renamed Commercial Dixie (masts and uppermost superstructure removed, towboat pilothouse added, double stage platform fixed to the bow); the vessels carried autos until Commercial's early-1960s merger into American Commercial Barge Line; 'According to the Inland River Record, the Commercial Dixie was sold in May 1961 to Beatty Inc. of Cincinnati, and in January 1963, they bought the Commercial Ohioan as well'; Capt. John Beatty used the two former minesweepers as the keystone of his salvage fleet - positioned over sunken vessels to raise them; Beatty died in 1994 and 'his "Beatty's Navy" was sold to a firm intending to do contracting and salvage work'; 'while on a project at Maysville, Ky., near Ohio River Mile 409.5 in 1995 a crane barge sank, followed by first one and then the other minesweeper hull' - both ex-minesweepers sank at the site. The article independently describes sister Incessant's plant as 'two Cooper-Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines that turned 750 rpm' with '2:1 reduction' gears - corroborating NavSource's Cooper Bessemer machinery block for this hull group.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1948-1995

   Population

   Commercial river-industry crews (1949-1961); Beatty Inc. salvage workforce (1961-1994); successor salvage firm workforce (1994-1995)

   Limitations

   Specialist trade press citing the Inland River Record (the authoritative inland-vessel registry) - the strongest disposal source located, but still secondary; the article does not print per-hull sinking dates (the minesweepers 'followed' the crane barge in 1995; the Cincinnati Post account dates the minesweeper phase of the failure to 1994 - see ev-05, ev-06). Contradicts NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum 'scrapped 1964.' Contains no asbestos information; the conversion description (masts/superstructure removal) is the only documented structural-disturbance event in the hull's commercial life.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-04

5. [5]The Waterways Journal, 'Another Dravo Porthole Towboat,' Old Boat Column, Capt. David Smith, 20 Sep 2024; and Cincinnati Post, 'Proud armada rusts in river's graveyard,' Monica Dias, 16 Sep 1998 (text via beattyproject.org mirror) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   waterwaysjournal.net 2024-09-20 column (final paragraphs); beattyproject.org mirror of Cincinnati Post 1998-09-16 (Maysville wreck description, Wallace salvage attempt, USACE quote)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The sinking narrative and the wreck's persistence: a barge intended as a dock embed sank off West Maysville (~1992 per the Cincinnati Post); in 1994 the successor salvage crew attempted the lift with 'two old Navy minesweepers lashed together with a beam and carrying a crane' - the minesweepers stuck in the mud; the towboat Clare E. Beatty damaged its engines freeing them; the crane barge Hercules' crane broke while hoisting and Hercules sank atop the barge; both minesweeper hulls and eventually the towboat sank at the site (Clare E. Beatty on 29 October 1995). A USACE spokesperson called the cluster 'the Bermuda Triangle of the Ohio River'; salvor Darrell Wallace located the wreck cluster via the Army Corps' public sunken-vessel list and attempted salvage in 1997-98 ('near gone broke'). As of Sept 1998 'the rusting hull of an old Navy minesweeper breaks the river's surface'; the Sept 2024 WJ column records the Clare E. Beatty 'remains there these 29 years later' - i.e., the wreck site persists in place near Ohio River Mile 409.5.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1992-2024

   Population

   Salvage workers at the Maysville site (1994-1998); river traffic and Maysville waterfront (1995-present)

   Limitations

   Newspaper/trade-press accounts (the Post text via a family-history mirror of the 1998 article; WJ column firsthand by a river-industry historian). Neither source names which of the two minesweeper hulls is which in the wreck cluster, and neither reports any later removal - persistence of this specific hull is inferred from the site's documented persistence, not from a per-hull survey. No asbestos, hazmat, or environmental-assessment content in either source; the wreck's material state is undocumented.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-05

6. [6]Source-discrepancy resolution - DANFS (NHHC Wayback capture 20250125125154 + losthistory/hazegray mirror) vs NavSource 11/02235 vs Colton PSBD yard table vs uboat.net 5300 vs NavalCoverMuseum vs HyperWar stub vs Waterways Journal/Cincinnati Post vs Wikipedia [other_primary]

   Locator

   losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/am235.htm vs web.archive.org capture 20250125125154; navsource.net/archives/11/02235.htm; shipbuildinghistory.com lockheed.htm hull #72; uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5300.html; navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/FIXITY_AM_235; ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/AM/AM-235_Fixity.html; waterwaysjournal.net 2024-11-01 + 2024-09-20; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fixity

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Source discrepancies logged, not silently merged: (a) Disposal - NavSource 'Scrapped in 1964' and NavalCoverMuseum 'Scrapped in 1964'/'Fate unknown' are contradicted by the Waterways Journal (Nov 2024, citing Inland River Record) and Cincinnati Post (1998): the hull became M/V Commercial Dixie, passed to Beatty Inc. in May 1961, and sank at Maysville, Ky., in 1994-1995 where the wreck site persists - the press record is carried, 'scrapped 1964' rejected. (b) Buyer chain - NavSource 'Commercial Barge Lines of Detroit, MI' (1949) and 'American Commercial Barge Line Co. of Jeffersonville, IN' (1961) vs WJ/Inland River Record 'Commercial Barge Line ... sold May 1961 to Beatty Inc. of Cincinnati' vs NavalCoverMuseum/Colton 'Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co. 1949' and 'Cincinnati Marine Service of Covington, OH' - variants flagged; the WJ/IRR chain is carried. (c) Sasebo arrival - official DANFS reads '10 September 1945'; the losthistory mirror prints '10 September 1946,' internally impossible against the same entry's 'until February 1946' - official reading carried. (d) Designation sequence - NavSource 'laid down ... as PCE-908' and Wikipedia 'ordered and laid down as PCE-905-class patrol craft USS PCE-908 ... renamed and reclassified before her December 1944 commissioning' vs Colton 'Later PCE 908' - NavSource/Wikipedia sequence carried; Colton's shorthand is ambiguous. (e) Propulsion - NavSource 'two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesels + National Supply Co. single reduction gear' and WJ's sister-ship description (Incessant: 'two Cooper-Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines ... 2:1 reduction') vs Wikipedia infobox 'ALCO 539 / Farrel-Birmingham' (the AM-136..AM-165 machinery fit) vs HyperWar stub 'Diesel-electric engines, twin screws, 1,800 h.p.' (contradicted by the documented gear) - NavSource carried. (f) Ordered date - uboat.net 'Ordered 12 Aug 1943' is chronologically plausible here (vs the impossible same-date print on the Lorain-built sisters' pages) but rests on that compilation alone - flagged, not carried. (g) NVR boilerplate - NavSource 'NVR of 1 January 1949 lists transfer to the War Shipping Administration as November 1948' is anomalous (WSA was abolished 1946; MARCOM held the hull from Jan 1948) - flagged. (h) CO roster - NavSource 'Kreiger' vs DANFS 'Krieger'; LTJG Vales '13 August 1948 - 6 November 1946' impossible (start after end; likely 1946) - flagged. (i) Spec variances - displacement 530 t (DANFS) vs 945 t full load (NavSource) vs 625 t (HyperWar) vs 650d (Colton/Wikipedia); speed 15 kts (DANFS/HyperWar) vs 14.8 kts (NavSource); armament design-spec vs wartime-fit - variances flagged, DANFS carried in prose. (j) HyperWar stub misspells the builder 'Puget Sound Bridge and Dregding Co.'

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1943-2024

   Limitations

   Resolves publication-level discrepancies among the official DANFS text, secondary compilations, and trade/regional press, adopting the better-supported values and flagging the rest. For the disposal, all sources are secondary - MARCOM sale records, Inland River Record entries, USACE/USCG wreck files, and Kentucky-side records are the archival resolution path. No asbestos content in any of these sources.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-06

7. [7]Consolidated era/design inference - documented propulsion plant (NavSource spec block: two Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesels, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts - direct drive, corroborated for the block by the Waterways Journal's sister-ship description) + documented builder and construction era (DANFS; NavSource; Colton; uboat.net) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 11/02235 propulsion line; HyperWar AM-235 stub; DANFS construction/service dates; Colton lockheed.htm hull #72; waterwaysjournal.net 2024-11-01

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: this hull is a 1944-built steel Admirable-class minesweeper with a diesel direct-drive twin-screw plant (two Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesels, National Supply single reduction gear) - no boilers, no steam distribution. Its insulation load was materially lighter than a steam combatant's, but machinery and construction materials of the wartime era were commonly asbestos-containing: exhaust-system and muffler lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical-cable insulation, accommodation/galley joiner insulation, winch and windlass brake linings, and deck compositions of the period. Exposure-relevant populations if any material was present: PSBD construction trades (1944); the wartime U.S. crew (design complement ~104) across shakedown, the Hawaiian training period, the Pacific convoy-escort transit, the Okinawa screen/patrol tour, and the Korea/Japan postwar sweeping; the Bremerton inactivation workforce (1946); the Paducah Marine Ways conversion workforce (1949 - masts and uppermost superstructure removed, a documented structural-disturbance event); Commercial/ACBL crews (1949-1961); Beatty Inc. salvage crews (1961-1994); the successor salvage workforce and later salvors at the Maysville site (1994-1998) - where the sunken hull, never abated or scrapped, would have carried whatever era materials remained down with it.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1944-1998

   Population

   PSBD trades (1944); U.S. crew Dec 1944 - Nov 1946; commercial and salvage crews 1949-1998

   Limitations

   Inference from documented design, machinery type, and construction era - NOT a hull materials record. No survey, specification, or material schedule naming AM-235 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. The diesel (non-steam) plant makes even era-level inference weaker than for steam vessels of the same era. The hull's in-situ sinking means present-day material state is undocumented - the wreck's persistence is documented, its contents are not.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-07

8. [8]Declaration of Peter Neushul, Ph.D., Siegfried v. Owens-Illinois, No. 2:18-cv-01575 (C.D. Cal.) (RECAP gov.uscourts.cacd.702384.52.0) - WWII Navy/USMC fireproof-insulation requirements and Navy QPLs [court_record]

   Locator

   RECAP document 52-0, declaration paragraphs on WWII shipbuilding insulation requirements and Kaylo QPL listings

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Expert declaration documents that during WWII the U.S. Navy and U.S. Maritime Commission required fireproof insulation on military and civilian vessels, and that asbestos-containing thermal insulation products (e.g., Owens-Illinois Kaylo block and pipe insulation) appeared on Navy Qualified Products Lists under military specifications Mil-I-2819 and Mil-I-2781. Fixity was laid down in May 1944 inside this procurement regime.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1941-1945 (era); 2018 (filing)

   Population

   WWII Navy construction trades and crew (class context)

   Limitations

   Plaintiff-side expert declaration in asbestos litigation, not a court finding; describes Navy-wide procurement requirements and never names this hull. Pipe-covering findings are less applicable to a diesel (non-steam) minesweeper than to steam vessels. Asbestos presence aboard AM-235 is era inference only - does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard, nor quantity, nor any individual exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-08

9. [9]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987); and Fleischer, W.E., et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]

   Locator

   AJIM 11(3):359-373 (article); PubMed PMID 21016030

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and wartime construction program under which this hull was built at Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging, Seattle. The USMC-commissioned 1944-45 industrial-hygiene survey of pipe-covering operations at Navy and contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1940s era documented; articles 1946/1987

   Population

   WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)

   Limitations

   Program/era-level documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding and naval-vessel construction generally; neither source names this vessel, class, or builder yard. Pipe-covering findings are less applicable to a diesel (non-steam) minesweeper than to steam vessels. Establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fixity-am235-09

10. [10]Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, 586 U.S. 446 (2019), CourtListener 4601080 [court_record]

    Locator

    CourtListener opinion 4601080

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    No case located names this hull in the non-litigation repositories searched; the authenticated CourtListener sweep itself could not run (API throttle, shared quota - see ev-11 and search_ledger). Doctrinal context only for the vessel's type: claims arising from WWII-era Navy-vessel asbestos exposure ran under maritime law against equipment manufacturers, and the Supreme Court's DeVries decision settled the 'bare-metal defense' framework - manufacturers that supplied bare equipment had a duty to warn where their products required asbestos-containing parts. It illustrates the litigation posture claims arising from service aboard a WWII diesel minesweeper would have faced; whether any such claim naming Fixity exists is unverified this session.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-22

    Study period

    2019 decision

    Limitations

    Doctrinal context only - the cited case does not name or involve this hull, and DeVries addressed manufacturers' duty to warn for asbestos-containing components on Navy vessels generally. Classification note: a complaint's vessel list would be a pleading allegation, not a finding; no pleading naming this hull was located in the searches performed. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-fixity-am235-10

11. [11]Batch-1209 search ledger (this record): DANFS official text via NHHC Wayback capture 20250125125154 + losthistory/hazegray mirror; NavSource 11/02235; Shipbuilding History PSBD/Lockheed yard table (hull #72); uboat.net 5300; HyperWar AM-235 stub; NavalCoverMuseum FIXITY AM 235; Waterways Journal 2024-11-01 and 2024-09-20 columns; Cincinnati Post 1998-09-16 via beattyproject.org; navalmarinearchive minesweeper table; Wikipedia cross-check; NVR; NARA catalog; archive.org; site:va.gov BVA query; CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-fixity-am235-01 through sl-uss-fixity-am235-14

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for USS Fixity / AM-235 / PCE-908 / M/V Commercial Dixie: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, preservation record, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Non-authoritative marketing rosters carry the name in generic ship tables (mesothelioma.com minesweeper jobsites page: 'USS Fixity | AM-235 | PCE-905 | 12/29/1944 | Sold, 1949'; mesotheliomahelp.org and mesothelioma.net name lists) - excluded per source rules; they carry no hull-specific evidence. CourtListener authenticated sweeps could not be completed this session: queries on the shared API key returned HTTP 429 ('Rate limit exceeded: 2800/day', ~6,100-6,300s remaining on checks) - the sweep was abandoned per batch rules (back off, log honestly, never retry into a ban). The litigation surface of this hull is therefore unsearched at API depth, not searched-and-empty; Google-indexed site:courtlistener.com and site:va.gov queries returned no decisions naming the hull.

    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 1944-built vessel is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials even accounting for its lighter diesel insulation load, and the hull was never abated or scrapped: it sank in the Ohio River in 1994-95 with its material state undocumented. IMPORTANT: the CourtListener sweep did not run (throttled, shared quota) - 'no qualifying case located' reflects the non-litigation repositories and degraded Google-indexed queries only; a differently-phrased hull reference may exist in the opinion/docket indexes. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-fixity-am235-11

12. [12]Archival leads - NARA WWII muster rolls and RG 24 deck logs for this hull's Dec 1944 - Nov 1946 commission; NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) records / General Information Books and the Navy contract file for the PSBD PCE/AM block (yard hull #72); NARA still-photo holding 19-LCM-AM235-1 (16 Jan 1945 Seattle view in camouflage 32/23D, credited via NavSource); Maritime Commission disposal/sale file (1948 transfer, 1949 sale); Paducah Marine Ways conversion records (1949); Inland River Record entries for Commercial Dixie; USACE Louisville District sunken-vessel/abandoned-wreck files and USCG Marine Safety Office Cincinnati records for the Maysville wreck site (the USACE public sunken-vessel list is how salvor Wallace located the site per the Cincinnati Post); Lockheed/PSBD yard records [other_primary]

    Locator

    archives.gov RG 19/24 group guides; NavSource 11/02235 photo credits; waterwaysjournal.net 2024-11-01 (IRR citation); beattyproject.org Cincinnati Post mirror (USACE sunken-vessel list reference)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized; NARA catalog returns only its JS application shell to automated fetch): (a) NARA's WWII muster-rolls series should cover this hull for her Dec 1944 - Nov 1946 commission - sibling Admirable-class hulls are demonstrably indexed, so coverage for AM-235 is expected but unconfirmed this session; (b) NARA RG 24 deck logs, Dec 1944 - Nov 1946; (c) NARA RG 19 BuShips records / General Information Books and the contract file for the PSBD PCE-905-class block (yard hull #72) - the plausible home of hull-level material schedules; (d) NARA still photo 19-LCM-AM235-1; (e) Maritime Commission disposal file for the 1948 transfer and 1949 sale; (f) Paducah Marine Ways conversion records (1949); (g) Inland River Record entries for M/V Commercial Dixie (WJ cites the IRR for the May 1961 Beatty sale); (h) USACE Louisville District and USCG MSO Cincinnati sunken-vessel/wreck-removal files for the Maysville site - including any navigation-hazard or environmental assessment of the wreck cluster; (i) Lockheed/PSBD yard records.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-22

    Study period

    1944-1998 records

    Limitations

    Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for AM-235 is unknown until surveyed in person. Muster rolls, deck logs, register entries, photo files, and wreck lists are personnel/status/imagery/navigation records, not materials documentation. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-fixity-am235-12