Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Force II (AM-445), NHHC ship-history entry (verbatim text via Wayback capture 2024-02-23; live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-22) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, 'Force II (AM-445)' - spec line and full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS entry (spec line: 'AM-445: dp. 620; l. 172'; b. 36'; dr. 10'; s. 16 k.; cpl. 74; a. 1 40 mm.; cl. Agile'): second Force (AM-445), launched 26 June 1953 by J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash., sponsored by Mrs. T. D. Wilson; commissioned 4 January 1955; redesignated MSO-445 on 7 February 1955. Reported to Mine Force, Pacific Fleet, Long Beach 20 January 1955. Far East tour from 1 May 1956 (northern Japan goodwill cruise; Chinese Nationalist Navy training; typhoon damage repaired at Sasebo and Yokosuka; returned Long Beach 15 November). Canal Zone special operations 30 August - 6 December 1957. 7th Fleet deployment 3 November 1958 - 1 June 1959 (Chinese, Korean, Thai navy training); November 1959 Kodiak, Alaska amphibious/minesweeping exercises with Greer County (LST-799) and Royal Canadian Navy ships, collecting hydrographic data and hosting an EOD team; returned Long Beach 16 December 1959. Missile nosecone recovery February 1960; exercise 'Steeple Jack' and 'Phiblex 60'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1952-1960 (narrative coverage)
- Population
- Crew (approx. 74 per DANFS spec line); construction trades at Martinac, Tacoma, 1952-54
- Limitations
- DANFS narrative ends at 1960 - it does not cover 1961-1972 service (including any Vietnam-era deployments) or the 1973 loss. Spec line gives cpl. 74; NavSource lists 78 (DANFS carried). DANFS prints first CO as 'Lt. J. W. Boiler' - NavSource officer research gives Jack Warren Boller; discrepancy logged. Live NHHC URL 404s (standing NHHC link-rot issue per BATCH-01); verbatim text verified via Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-01
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[2]Naval Vessel Register, FORCE (MSO 445) ex-AM 445, MINESWEEPER, OCEAN detail page (UIC 07975; class MSO 422) - NAVSEA official register via Wayback capture 2016-07-26 (live NVR site since retired) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail page, data table (status/stricken/build fields, hull material)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR record: award date 08/08/1951; keel 08/26/1952; launch 06/26/1953; delivery 12/17/1954; commission 01/04/1955; builder MARTINAC; overall length 173 ft; light displacement 800 tons; hull material 'Wood hull, (except engines and equipment)'; 2 propellers; status 'Disposed of by abandoning, burning, scuttling, or sinking'; date status changed 04/24/1973; stricken 04/24/1973; custodian US Navy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-1973 (register fields)
- Limitations
- Register fields only - NVR carries no asbestos, insulation, or material-content data for any hull. Wood hull per NVR refers to hull structure; machinery, piping, exhaust, and joiner materials are not characterized. Same-day stricken date means she sank in commission and was struck without a decommissioning.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-02
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[3]U.S. Navy Damage Control and Fire Protection Engineering museum (dcfp.navy.mil, NAVSEA), USS FORCE casualty page - via Wayback capture 2008-02-14; incident also listed on successor site damagecontrolmuseums.org casualty index [museum_official]
- Locator
- DC Museum 'USS FORCE' casualty page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy damage-control museum record: on 24 April 1973 the Agile-class minesweeper USS Force (MSO-445) experienced a Class B fire in the after engine room due to a leak in the fuel supply line on the No. 1 engine; fuel was ignited by hot portions of the engine turbocharger and spread rapidly throughout the ship; crew firefighting was ineffective, abandon ship was necessary; the burning ship sank and was lost at sea; no personnel casualties, one injury reported.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1973-04-24
- Population
- Crew aboard at loss (approx. 70-80; one injury, no fatalities per this record)
- Limitations
- Casualty narrative only - the page says nothing about insulation materials, asbestos, or material composition; it establishes the machinery-space fire and total loss, not any exposure claim. Surviving record is hosted via Wayback; the live successor site indexes the casualty without a migrated detail page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-03
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[4]U.S. Navy Damage Control and Fire Protection Engineering museum (dcfp.navy.mil), 'Excerpt from Formal Investigation' - excerpt of 'Formal investigation in the loss of USS Force (MSO-445), Report of', via Wayback capture 2006-08-25 [museum_official]
- Locator
- DC Museum 'Force2' page - excerpted formal-investigation text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Excerpt of the Navy formal investigation: Force was homeported in Guam in 1972 and left for Operation Endsweep; steaming independently Subic Bay to Guam under CTG 70.5, fire detected ~0340 on 24 April 1973 about 770 miles west of Guam; abandon ship passed 0415; all hands off by 0430; ship sank ~1053 at 13 deg 14 min N, 131 deg 57 min E in approx. 3,200 fathoms; British M.V. Spraynes recovered the entire crew by ~1900. Fire originated at the turbocharger of No. 1 main engine in the after engine room; 'the boiler flats were in flames' (boiler spaces documented aboard this hull); the 185 kW generator failed, killing fire-main pressure; the engine-room foam system was aligned so it could not be activated without first opening a valve on the 01 level.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1973 (loss investigation)
- Population
- Crew aboard at loss; rescue crew of M.V. Spraynes
- Limitations
- Partial excerpt (compiler states the full report is six pages; personnel names redacted) - establishes machinery spaces including boiler flats aboard this hull, and the total loss, but contains no asbestos or insulation-material content. Rescue-vessel identity conflicts with secondary accounts ('Chinese freighter' in veteran retellings); the investigation excerpt's 'British M.V. Spraynes' is carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-04
-
[5]Rear Adm. Brian McCauley, USN (Commander, Task Force 78), 'Operation End Sweep,' U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 100/3/853 (March 1974) - via Wayback capture 2025-05-17 (live usni.org blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Proceedings article body, Task Force 78 composition and sweep narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Primary participant account by the task force commander: 'Engage (MSO-433), Force (MSO-445), Fortify (MSO-446) and Impervious (MSO-449) had been sailed from Subic for the Tonkin Gulf on 27 January [1973]'; Operation End Sweep commenced 6 February 1973 'with the four MSOs sweeping the areas in which the LPHs and LPDs were to anchor'; 'The MSOs continued to sweep in the deep water approaches' to Haiphong, Hon Gai, and Cam Pha until the force was withdrawn 17 April 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1973-01-27 to 1973-04-17
- Population
- Crew, End Sweep deployment Jan-Apr 1973
- Limitations
- Establishes Force's named participation in End Sweep, Feb - 17 Apr 1973; published professional-journal account, not an official deck log or command history. Does not address shipboard materials or any asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-05
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[6]Capt. George Stewart, USN (Ret.), 'Minesweeper USS Force (MSO 445) Experiences,' Naval Historical Foundation (2013) - firsthand account by Force's executive officer 1959-1961 [other_primary]
- Locator
- navyhistory.org article body (Stewart memoir)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Firsthand account: Force assigned to Mine Division 72 ('Can Do 72') at Long Beach; machinery plant described as '9 diesel engines plus two oil fired boilers' producing significant fire risk in combination with wooden hull construction; Stewart states at least eight ships of the class suffered significant machinery-space fire damage and three, including Force, were lost to fire; Force's homeport changed to Guam in 1972; lost by fire in the after engine room 24 April 1973 enroute Subic Bay to Guam; fuel-line leak on an outboard main engine; difficulty stopping the engine due to flywheel inertia.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1959-1961 (firsthand); 1972-1973 (loss narrative)
- Population
- Crew; engineering department (machinery description)
- Limitations
- Memoir published by the Naval Historical Foundation - firsthand for 1959-61 service, secondhand for the 1973 loss; contains a date slip ('Force itself in 1972' - the loss was April 1973, corrected against NVR/DC museum records). Class-level fire-loss count ('eight damaged, three lost') is the author's figure, not independently enumerated here. No asbestos or insulation-material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-06
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) - program-level documentation of Navy asbestos use and the 1975/1979 insulation-removal policies [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for a 1952-54-built Navy minesweeper: documented machinery spaces aboard this hull (after/forward engine rooms with diesel main engines and turbochargers; boiler flats) are the space types in which Navy ships of this construction era carried asbestos-containing thermal insulation, exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, and joiner/deck materials under period specifications. GAO documents that asbestos was pervasive aboard Navy ships of this era and that the Navy's insulation-removal program post-dated the ship's 1973 loss. The NVR-documented wooden hull applies to structure only - machinery, piping, and equipment applications are unaffected by hull material.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1952-1973 (service era); 1979 (GAO report)
- Population
- Construction trades (Tacoma, 1952-54); engineering-plant crew 1955-73; yard workers during undocumented availabilities
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation plus era inference - NOT a ship-specific finding. No manifest, survey, or hull record located; GAO fieldwork did not include this vessel (sunk 1973, before the 1979 report). Does not establish that asbestos was or was not aboard, quantity, or any individual exposure. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description, same limitation as BATCH-01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-07
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[8]Batch-1360 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS, NVR, NAVSEA DC museum (dcfp.navy.mil) and successor damagecontrolmuseums.org, USNI Proceedings, NHF memoir, CourtListener API v4, web-index litigation searches, NARA catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-force-am445-01 through sl-uss-force-am445-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, equipment manifest, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Force (AM-445/MSO-445) was found in the public sources searched. Hull is a 1973 deep-water total loss - no post-service abatement, museum, or present-day ACM record can exist. CourtListener authenticated API was rate-limited at research time (daily quota exhausted); the docket search is logged blocked, not negative, and should be re-run when quota resets.
- 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 - the ship predates the Navy's documented removal programs and sank with her as-built era materials. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Docket coverage is incomplete pending a non-throttled CourtListener pass.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-08
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[9]Archival leads: NARA RG 24 deck logs for MSO-445 (1955-1973); the six-page report of formal investigation into the loss referenced by the DC museum excerpt; NHHC command-history files (Mine Division 72, Mine Flotilla units, CTG 70.5 / TF 78 records); NavSource photo archive for hull 11/02445 (machinery-space photographs incl. Packard main engines and GM 3-71 generator set) [other_primary]
- Locator
- nara.gov catalog (no digitized hit); dcfp.navy.mil excerpt references 6-page report; navsource.org/archives/11/02445.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Unretrieved primary records that could bear on shipboard materials: (1) the full six-page formal-investigation report excerpted by the DC museum (may describe burning materials/insulation in the space narrative); (2) NARA RG 24 deck logs for MSO-445, 1955-1973; (3) NHHC command-operation-report files for her mine units and CTG 70.5; (4) NavSource crew-donated engine-room photographs (Packard diesel mains, GM 3-71 generator sets, engine-room gang 1955-59) usable as material-condition leads.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1955-1973
- Limitations
- Leads only - none retrieved; NARA catalog API search returned no digitized record (physical holdings require research-room work; not authorized). No lead is known to contain asbestos-content data; the investigation excerpt itself is silent on materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am445-09