Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, 'Force' (AM-99) entry - verbatim transcription on the losthistory.net hazegray mirror (transcriber Y. Hubert); live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, mine/am99.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records this hull under 'Force' (namesake: 'Power, strength'): 'Force (AM-99) was redesignated PC-1603 (q.v.) on 1 June 1944.' Establishes the hull's identity - an Adroit-class minesweeper, name cancelled when she became submarine chaser PC-1603.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- One-line DANFS stub entry only - the substantive service record sits in the DANFS PC-1603 entry (ev-uss-force-am99-02). Establishes identity and redesignation, nothing about materials or asbestos content. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-01
-
[2]DANFS, 'PC-1603' entry - verbatim text reproduced on the NavSource PC-1603 archive page and incorporated into the Wikipedia article under DANFS public-domain attribution; NavSource adds the ship's spec block and CO table [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NavSource PC-1603 page, history text and specifications/CO blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS service record for this hull: laid down 19 November 1941 by the Penn-Jersey Corp., Camden, New Jersey; launched 7 September 1942; commissioned USS Force (AM-99) 16 June 1943; reclassified submarine chaser PC-1603 on 1 June 1944. On 26 May 1945, anchored in Kimmu Wan, Okinawa, she was struck by two Kawasaki Ki-61 'Tony' kamikaze aircraft - the first hit the bow at the waterline, the second at deck level; three killed and 15 wounded, mostly burns. Decommissioned 21 June 1945 and towed to the ship graveyard at Kerama Retto; hulk ordered destroyed 24 October 1945; hull incorporated into a breakwater/dock and officially donated to the Government of the Ryukyu Islands 10 July 1957. Three battle stars for the Leyte, Luzon, and Okinawa landings. NavSource spec block (PC configuration): two 1,440 bhp Busch-Sulzer BS 539 diesels (serials BS 1147/1148), Farrel-Birmingham single-reduction gear, two shafts; CO table - Lt. T. T. Scudder USNR (16 Jun 1943), Lt. P. F. McLaughlin USNR (14 Nov 1943), Lt. L. W. Snoyer USNR (17 May 1944), Lt. A. H. Romeiser USNR (1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1957
- Population
- Penn-Jersey construction trades 1941-43; wartime crew (65-105 depending on configuration); 3 killed and 15 wounded in the 26 May 1945 attack
- Limitations
- Documents service history, loss, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. The deliberate 1945 destruction and breakwater use forecloses any postwar survey, museum, or abatement record for this hull. NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive reproducing official text; the DANFS wording is corroborated by the Wikipedia public-domain incorporation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-02
-
[3]ShipbuildingHistory.com (T. Colton), Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding yard page - yard history and complete build table (updated 2021-08-26) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Penn-Jersey build table, hull 9 row; yard-history paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Penn-Jersey yard record names this hull in its build table: yard hull no. 9, 'Force (AM 99)', U.S. Navy minesweeper, 295 LDT, 174 ft, delivered 16 June 1943, disposition 'Later PC 1603, kamikazied off Okinawa and lost 26-May-45'. Yard context: Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding was formed March 1940 in the Cooper Point section of Camden on the former Camden Shipbuilding Co. site (north end of North 5th St.), an Emergency Shipbuilding Program yard that delivered 29 vessels 1941-1945 and closed June 1945; AM-98 Firm (hull 8) and AM-99 Force (hull 9) were its only minesweepers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding construction workforce, Camden NJ, 1941-1943
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of yard build records (not a government publication) - corroborates DANFS build data; contains no materials or asbestos information. The 26 May 1945 'lost' phrasing is the yard's shorthand for the kamikaze damage-destruction sequence documented in DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-03
-
[4]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, 'Historic Fleets' column (February 1996, Vol. 10 No. 1) - illustrated profile of PC-1603 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Naval History magazine, Feb 1996, Historic Fleets photo column
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USNI documents the PC-1568-class conversion configuration of this hull: 'PC-1603 was one of the block originally ordered as minesweepers and actually was completed fairly early in the program, in June 1943, despite her high hull number.' The class carried two double-row Mk 22 Mousetrap antisubmarine rocket launchers on the bow, retained the crow's nest with added SO-series radar, a 40-mm Bofors aft, and five 20-mm guns; some class units had four K-guns at war's end.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew in PC configuration (105 per HyperWar class data)
- Limitations
- Professional naval press, not an official record; its summary line 'PC-1603 was stricken after being damaged in October 1945' compresses the May-1945 damage / October-1945 striking sequence documented in DANFS. Contains no materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-04
-
[5]Consolidated class/era inference - DANFS Adroit-class specifications block (AM-82 entry, verbatim transcription) + HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' Adroit-class and PC-1568-class tables [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Adroit (AM-82) spec block; HyperWar ships-dm Adroit table and PC-1568 table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- This hull was a diesel-driven small combatant built 1941-43 at the peak of WWII asbestos usage: Adroit-class design was 295 tons, 173'8", diesel engines on twin screws (DANFS class block); as PC-1603, two 1,440 bhp diesels, twin shafts. For a vessel of this type and era, era-standard asbestos applications were: engine exhaust lagging, machinery and piping insulation in the engine spaces, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, electrical cable insulation, fire-resistant bulkhead and overhead paneling in accommodation spaces, and deck coverings. She carried no boilers or steam plant, so the boiler/fireroom and steam-line insulation dominant on steam-driven hulls is absent by design.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Penn-Jersey construction trades (1941-43); crew in both configurations (65 minesweeper / ~105 sub chaser)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, specification, or photograph analysis located; the hull's 1945 destruction forecloses any post-service materials documentation. Names era-typical applications for the type, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; establishes nothing about exposure of any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-05
-
[6]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., '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
- Journal article abstract/text (PubMed PMID 21016030)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at two Navy yards and two Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945 survey; published Jan 1946
- Population
- WWII naval-vessel construction pipe coverers and associated trades (program level)
- Limitations
- Era-level program documentation covering Navy construction yards generally - does not name this hull, this class, or the Penn-Jersey yard; supports the era inference only, not ship-specific presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-06
-
[7]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) [other_primary]
- Locator
- American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- 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 Emergency Shipbuilding Program under which this Adroit-class hull was mass-produced at the Penn-Jersey emergency yard - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- WWII shipbuilding workforce (industry level)
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship, not a hull record; documents industry-wide practice and policy during the construction window, not materials installed aboard this specific vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-07
-
[8]Batch-1451 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live + mirrors; NavSource 12/011603; HyperWar PC-1603 and class tables; ShipbuildingHistory Penn-Jersey; USNI Naval History Feb 1996; CourtListener API v4 (throttled); indexed-web litigation proxy; Wayback Machine; class-profile worktrees [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-force-am99-01 through sl-uss-force-am99-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum file, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Force, AM-99, or PC-1603 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No post-service record can exist in the usual sense - the hulk was ordered destroyed 24 October 1945 and expended as a breakwater/dock at Kerama Retto. CourtListener API access was rate-limit blocked during this batch (HTTP 429, daily cap exhausted), so the litigation surface was additionally screened by indexed-web search, which surfaced no case naming the vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard during 1941-45 construction and service - era-typical materials are consistent with the class record. Residual litigation-surface risk remains: unindexed or non-digitized dockets, and any opinion behind the throttled API, are unscreened. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-08
-
[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships); National Archives still-photo identifier 19-N-53728 (29 Sep 1943 image of this hull, per NavSource photo credit) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG 24/RG 19 guides; NARA photo identifier via NavSource
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): Navy deck logs for USS Force (AM-99) 1943-44 and PC-1603 1944-45 (RG 24, NARA); BuShips design and construction records for the Adroit class / PC-1568 conversion block, including Booklets of General Plans (RG 19); National Archives photo 19-N-53728 showing the ship 29 September 1943. The PC conversion work order and any wartime material-condition reports would sit in BuShips or fleet maintenance files.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1945 records
- Limitations
- Leads only - none retrieved or reviewed; contents unknown and may contain no asbestos-relevant material. The 19-N-53728 photo identifier is taken from NavSource's photo credit line.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-force-am99-09