Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Gull (AM-74) - verbatim transcription (live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-22) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, Gull (AM-74), full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents: built 1928 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME, as trawler Boston College; acquired by the Navy 1940-08-30; converted at the Boston yards of Bethlehem Steel Corp. 1940-09-30; commissioned 1940-12-03, Lt. Comdr. Ernest L. Posey, USNR. Attached to the Inshore Patrol, minesweeping in Massachusetts Bay until 1941-03-28; homeported Norfolk 1941-04-06 to 1941-08-26 with Atlantic-coast operations as far north as Boston; sailed for Argentia, Newfoundland, arriving 1941-09-04; minesweeper duty at Argentia until summer 1944 with Boston repair calls; decommissioned Quincy, MA, 1944-07-25; stricken from the Navy List 1944-08-22; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 1946-05-15; transcriber's note records she was sold the same month and served commercially as Gudrun.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Bath, 1928); conversion trades (Bethlehem East Boston, 1940-41); commissioned crew 1940-44
- Limitations
- DANFS is the official Navy history entry but contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information of any kind; it establishes identity and service only. Its single conversion date (1940-09-30) differs from NavSource's begin/complete pair - logged as a discrepancy, not merged.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Gull (AM 74) - construction chronology, specifications, commanding-officer roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AM-74 page, chronology/specifications/CO sections; NHHC photo NH 89213 noted
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents: laid down 1928-06-12 as M/V Boston College by Bath Iron Works for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc., of Boston; launched 1928-10-17; delivered 1928-12-01; renamed Gull by the Navy 1940-08-14 prior to acquisition; acquired 1940-08-30; minesweeper conversion began 1940-09-08 at Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, MA; commissioned 1940-12-03 (during conversion); conversion completed 1941-03-27; decommissioned Quincy, MA, 1944-07-25; struck 1944-08-22; transferred to the Maritime Commission 1946-05-15 and sold to Gudron Inc. of Boston, renamed Gudron; lost 1951. Specifications: 410 t., 124'3" x 23' x 10'8", 9 knots, one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount; propulsion one Cooper Bessemer diesel engine, one shaft. Commanding-officer roster: LCDR Posey; LT Burke; LT Hull; LT Simms; LTJG LaTour (to decommissioning).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1951
- Population
- Construction trades (1928); conversion trades (1940-41); five successive wartime commands' crews
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled Navy vessel archive (secondary, though standard for hull chronologies); the Cooper Bessemer diesel propulsion detail rests on this single source and is unverified against contract or yard records. The 'Gudron' buyer/name spelling conflicts with the federal docket and press 'Gudrun' - logged as a discrepancy. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-02
-
[3]Bath Iron Works production record (hazegray.org shipbuilding tables; mirrored at shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-large/bath/) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BIW production table, hulls 119-121
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Bath Iron Works production record lists hull 119 as Boston College, U.S. official number 228023, a 241-GRT trawler for F. J. O'Hara & Sons, with a recorded completion milestone of 1 Nov 1928 and fate noted 'lost 1951.' Sister trawlers hull 120 Holy Cross (official no. 228057; later USS Kite, AM-75) and hull 121 Georgetown (official no. 228098; later USS Linnet, AM-76) complete the three-ship O'Hara group that became the Navy's Gull-class converted minesweepers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1951
- Limitations
- Compiled yard production table (secondary), not the original yard ledger; its 1 Nov 1928 milestone conflicts with NavSource's 1 Dec 1928 delivery date - logged, not merged. Contains no materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-03
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[4]In re Trawler Gudrun, Inc., 101 F. Supp. 586 (D. Mass., No. 51-28, filed 1951-12-11, Sweeney, C.J.) [court_record]
- Locator
- 101 F. Supp. 586; D. Mass. docket no. 51-28; corroborated at ecases.us D. Mass. 1951 index and by citation in 223 F. Supp. 161
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Published federal admiralty opinion in the name of this hull's post-Navy identity: after the January 1951 loss, the owner petitioned for exoneration from or limitation of liability; the court fixed the vessel's value at $175,000, noted two filed claims (Helen Mello, administratrix, $5,000 for injuries received by her intestate aboard; Charles Poirier, $150,000 for injuries aboard on the same trip), denied limitation without prejudice because the claims did not approximate the vessel-plus-cargo value, and preserved Poirier's Jones Act jury-trial path on waiver of res judicata. Cited as authority in Petition of Trawler Weymouth, Inc., 223 F. Supp. 161 (D. Mass. 1963).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951
- Population
- F/V Gudrun crew and dependents (post-Navy claimants)
- Limitations
- Documents post-Navy ownership and loss litigation only - it is a limitation-of-liability procedural ruling with no asbestos allegation or finding, and the excerpt reviewed does not identify which voyage produced the injury claims. CourtListener API was throttled and its HTML search returned 403 during this pass; the citation is carried by reporter cite (verified via two independent legal indexes), not a CourtListener URL.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-04
-
[5]Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, MA), 'Dragger Gudrun Lost With Crew of 17,' Monday 1951-01-15 (mirrored text) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Gloucester Daily Times front coverage, 1951-01-15; corroborating USCG-history series narrative at liboatingworld.com
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous reporting documents the hull's loss: F/V Gudrun - formerly the Boston beam trawler Boston College, built at Bath, ME, in 1928 and renamed for her owner-skipper's daughter - departed Gloucester 1951-01-03 for Grand Bank dabs for Gorton-Pew Fisheries Co. Ltd.; at 3:24 a.m. Sunday 1951-01-14 her owner-skipper Capt. Johan Axel Johannsson, 46, of West Medford radioed 'We are sinking' from a position roughly 200 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland; an extensive air-sea search found no trace, and she was lost with a crew of 17 including seven Gloucester fishermen, her hold estimated at ~300,000 lb of fish.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-01
- Population
- F/V Gudrun crew (post-Navy commercial service)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous newspaper reporting via a mirror site; the printed position figures are internally inconsistent with 'south of Cape Race' and are treated as approximate (exact coordinates not carried). Crew count conflicts with a later USCG-retrospective figure of 15 - both logged in gaps, neither silently adopted. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-05
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[6]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
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era in which this 1928 hull was acquired and converted to a Navy minesweeper (1940-41) at Bethlehem Steel's East Boston yard, and in which era-standard machinery gaskets, packing, exhaust and machinery lagging, electrical insulation, and accommodation fireproofing were installed on small naval auxiliaries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard conversion workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Her diesel propulsion plant lacks the boiler/steam systems that carried the heaviest asbestos loads aboard steam vessels - inference here is correspondingly weaker than for steam-driven hulls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-06
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[7]Cross-source discrepancy check (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource AM-74; BIW production record; 101 F. Supp. 586; Gloucester Daily Times 1951-01-15; USCG-history retrospective [other_primary]
- Locator
- Sources as cited in the finding; see search_ledger
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Discrepancies logged so later passes do not re-attach errors: (a) loss year - a Wikipedia infobox says 1952, but contemporaneous press and NavSource/BIW records date the sinking to 1951-01-14 (adopted); (b) post-Navy name - 'Gudrun' per the federal docket, press, and DANFS transcriber's note vs. 'Gudron' in NavSource (Gudrun adopted; variant noted); (c) conversion - DANFS's single 'converted 30 September 1940' vs. NavSource's begin 1940-09-08 / complete 1941-03-27 pair, treated as different milestones rather than a conflict; (d) delivery/completion - NavSource 1928-12-01 vs. BIW production table 1928-11-01 (unresolved; both cited); (e) final crew count - 17 (contemporary press) vs. 15 (USCG retrospective) - unresolved, both cited.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1951
- Limitations
- Resolves publication-level conflicts to the earliest or official source where possible; none of these discrepancies affects the asbestos question. The commissioning-inside-conversion sequence (commissioned 1940-12-03, conversion completed 1941-03-27) is real, not an error.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-07
-
[8]Batch-1425 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource; BIW production record; 101 F. Supp. 586; contemporaneous press; CourtListener API + HTML attempts; web litigation searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-gull-am74-01 through sl-uss-gull-am74-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Gull (AM-74), Boston College, or F/V Gudrun was found in the public sources searched. The only federal court record naming the hull (101 F. Supp. 586) is a 1951 limitation-of-liability proceeding with no asbestos content; the only 'asbestos' web mentions of the hull are law-firm marketing ship-lists, which are excluded sources by batch rule. The hull's total loss at sea in January 1951 forecloses any later-condition survey record.
- 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 - era-consistent materials remain plausible but are not ship-proven. CourtListener coverage this pass was degraded (API daily quota exhausted, HTML search HTTP 403), so docket-level litigation coverage is incomplete; reporter-verified citations were used instead. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-08
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[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel - Navy deck logs), RG 181 (naval districts and shore establishments), RG 26 (U.S. Coast Guard merchant-vessel logbooks), RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG 24/26/178/181 group descriptions, archives.gov
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): RG 24 WWII deck logs for USS Gull (AM-74), 1940-44 (Argentia/Inshore Patrol period; many AM-hull logs are in the deck-log digitization program, hull coverage unconfirmed); RG 181 First Naval District / Boston-area records may hold the 1940-41 Bethlehem East Boston conversion contract file; RG 26 merchant logbooks for Boston College and F/V Gudrun would follow her home ports (Boston/Gloucester); RG 178 Maritime Commission disposal file for the 1946-05-15 transfer.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1951 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gull-am74-09