Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Grackle I (AM-73) (verbatim transcription; live NHHC DANFS page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Grackle' (AM-73), full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: first Grackle (AM-73), formerly merchant fisherman Notre Dame; acquired 16 September 1940; commissioned 4 February 1941, Lt. Comdr. George W. Allen in command; shakedown Yorktown/Newport; departed Portland ME 25 September 1941 for Newfoundland as unit of Minesweeper Division 25, Squadron 9, Atlantic Fleet; Argentia from 2 October, minesweeping patrols to 15 January 1942; repairs at Boston, then Argentia sweeping until spring 1944; Boston 17 May 1944; decommissioned 25 August 1944; stricken from Navy List 16 September 1944; transferred to Maritime Commission for disposal 9 September 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1946
- Population
- Construction and conversion trades (1929, 1940-41); wartime crew at Argentia (complement unverified)
- Limitations
- Service-history narrative only - DANFS contains no materials or asbestos information. Its 'launched in 1919' conflicts with the builder production record (1929); the conflict is documented at ev-04 and in gaps rather than silently reconciled. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-01
-
[2]Navy Department, Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1943 (SHIPS-8, 1 April 1943) - official characteristics tables (scan via shipscribe.com) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SHIPS-8 pp. 290-293, Mine Vessels - Mine Sweepers (AM) tables, row 13 (GRACKLE AM73)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Navy's official 1943 data book tabulates GRACKLE (ex-Notre Dame), AM-73: 132 ft 4 in length overall, 121 ft 7 in on the waterline, 24 ft extreme beam, ~455 tons standard displacement, ~255 gross / 116 net U.S. register tons, 10 knots designed speed; propulsion one Cooper-Bessemer diesel engine with four diesel generator sets and NO boilers; armament one 3-inch/50-caliber dual-purpose gun; built by Bath Iron Works.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943 (data as of 1 April 1943)
- Population
- Wartime crew (quarters cells illegible in scan)
- Limitations
- Official characteristics only - contains no materials or asbestos information. Documents the propulsion configuration relevant to exposure-pathway assessment (diesel plant, no boiler insulation category). Secondary sources conflict on displacement (525-755 t) and armament (3"/23); the official figures are carried. Values read from OCR of the published scan; legibility of secondary cells (draft, quarters) was poor and those are left to gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-02
-
[3]Navy Department, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945 edition, Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-011, 13 April 1945) - stricken/returned list and ship index (scan via shipscribe.com) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 Vol. II, AM stricken/returned list ('GRACKLE (returned)') and alphabetical index (GRACKLE AM73 / AM396)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The April 1945 Ships' Data volume lists 'AM73 GRACKLE (returned)' among stricken/returned minesweepers, consistent with her 16 September 1944 striking. The same volume's index tabulates two distinct GRACKLE entries - AM73 (mine sweeper) and AM396 - documenting the name collision between this hull and the Admirable-class Grackle (AM-396) then under construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- List/index entries only - no characteristics, materials, or asbestos content. Confirms post-strike status as of April 1945 and establishes that 'USS Grackle' citations after 1944 may reference AM-396 (contract terminated August 1945) or AMS-13 (ex-YMS-312, renamed 1947) rather than this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-03
-
[4]Bath Iron Works production record: hull #129, official no. 229232, Notre Dame, 132-ft beam trawler, 269 GT, for F. J. O'Hara & Sons, delivered 21 December 1929, 'Discarded 1946' (shipbuildinghistory.com yard list; corroborated by hazegray.org/shipbuilding/biw2.htm) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com BIW table, hull #129 row; hazegray BIW production record part 2, hull #129 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder's production record dates this hull's delivery to 21 December 1929 as the fishing trawler Notre Dame (hull 129, official number 229232, 269 gross tons, built for F. J. O'Hara & Sons of Boston), and lists the hull as 'Discarded 1946' - correcting the 'launched 1919' printed in both DANFS and the Navy's 1943 Ships' Data. The 1929 date is consistent with the BIW hull-number sequence and the vessel's U.S. official number; the Navy '1919' is most plausibly a propagated clerical error.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1929; 1946
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades, 1929
- Limitations
- Compiled yard production list (secondary compilation of builder records), not a hull document; establishes build year, tonnage, owner, and disposal note only. Specific keel-laying (6 June 1929) and launch (2 December 1929) dates trace to the NavSource compilation, not to this list - carried with provenance noted in gaps. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-04
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program and the service's historical reliance on asbestos insulation in ship construction and repair during the period covering this hull's 1940-41 naval conversion - the program-level context for what a WWII-era conversion yard would have installed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1979 (report); pre-1970s program period
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; supports era context only and does not establish what materials were installed aboard this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-05
-
[6]GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation, read with this hull's documented 1943 configuration (SHIPS-8) and her 1940-41 naval conversion dates [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 (program context) + SHIPS-8 p. 292 row 13 (documented diesel configuration)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this specific configuration: a 1929 commercial trawler converted to a naval minesweeper in 1940-41 would plausibly have carried the period's standard asbestos products in categories applicable to a diesel plant - engine-exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, thermal/acoustic insulation, and fire-resistant sheet goods. The documented absence of boilers removes the largest steam-ship asbestos category; the documented Cooper-Bessemer diesel with four generator sets bounds the plausible product set.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1929-1946 (era inference)
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers at Bethlehem Steel East Boston 1940-41 (inferred); crew (inferred)
- Limitations
- Inference anchored to era documentation (GAO HRD-80-2) plus this hull's documented configuration - not a hull record. No ship-specific insulation survey, conversion specification, or materials list was located; does not establish that asbestos was or was not installed aboard, does not quantify, and does not establish individual exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-06
-
[7]Batch-1424 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via mirror); Ships' Data 1943 and 1945 official scans; BIW production record; CourtListener API/web (blocked); public web-index litigation screening; MARAD vessel history database [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-grackle-am73-01 through sl-uss-grackle-am73-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Grackle (AM-73) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The vessel was disposed of in 1946, so no preservation-era documentation exists. Litigation screening is incomplete: the authenticated CourtListener API was daily-quota-blocked this session, though public web-index searches surfaced no qualifying case.
- 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 hull's wartime conversion is consistent with era materials. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener quota block means docket-level screening remains an open lead, not a completed negative.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-grackle-am73-07