USS Guymon (PC-1177)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]research packet 863-packet.md [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-guymon-pc1177-pkt-863-packet-md

2. [2]Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS, 'Guymon' (PC-1177) entry - verified live [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Guymon entry body and specifications block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC's live DANFS entry 'Guymon' records the full official history of this hull: named for a city in northwestern Oklahoma; PC-1177 laid down 24 July 1943 by 'Leathern' D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; launched 18 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Lucy Wagener; commissioned at New Orleans, La., 20 December 1943, Lt. Edwin H. Kiefer in command. Shakedown out of Miami; convoy escort New York-Guantanamo Bay February-May 1944; departed for the Pacific 3 June 1944 via the West Coast and Pearl Harbor, reaching Purvis Bay, Florida Island, 24 August; amphibious practice in the Solomons; departed Guadalcanal 8 September for the Palaus assault; off Angaur Island 17 September as patrol and shore-bombardment ship for 5 days; convoy to Ulithi 21-23 September; Manus 5 October; Kossol 15 October; southern Palaus patrol off Angaur for more than a month; Ulithi patrol runs to 20 December; Pearl Harbor 11 January 1945. Departed Pearl 17 February 1945, touched Eniwetok, reached Saipan 4 March; departed the Marianas 25 March as convoy screen and closed Hagushi Beach, Okinawa, 1 April; antiaircraft screen for transports and support ships; off Okinawa until 17 April; Ulithi 22 April; Leyte Gulf 7 May; escorted troop and supply convoy to Okinawa arriving 15 May and resumed antiaircraft screening through the remainder of the Okinawa campaign. Reclassified PCC-1177 on 20 August 1945; returned to the West Coast late 1945; decommissioned at Astoria, Oreg., 27 July 1946 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet; while berthed in the Columbia River Group reclassified PC-1177 on 27 October 1955 and named Guymon 15 February 1956; sold by the Navy to Zidell Exploration, Inc., 25 April 1961. Two battle stars for World War II service. Spec block: dp. 280; l. 173'8"; b. 23'; dr. 10'10"; s. 22 k.; cpl. 65; a. 1 3", 1 40mm., 5 20mm., 2 rkt., 2 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. PC-461.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1943-1961

   Population

   Leathem D. Smith construction trades (1943); wartime crew (design complement 65); Pacific Reserve Fleet caretakers (1946-1961)

   Limitations

   Official service history only; contains no asbestos, materials, or industrial-hygiene content. NHHC prints the builder as 'Leathern' D. Smith - a spelling variant; contemporaneous and archival sources read 'Leathem' (carried). The live page requires a browser user-agent (a generic fetcher UA received HTTP 404 on the same URL this session). Armament/speed figures conflict with NavSource's specifications block - carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-01

3. [3]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, Guymon (PC 1177) ex-PCC-1177 ex-PC-1177 - verified live on navsource.net [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 12/011177.htm header milestone list, specifications block, commanding-officers table

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource's Submarine Chaser Photo Archive page for Guymon (PC 1177) records the hull's milestones: original construction contract assigned to Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; laid down 24 July 1943 at Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched 18 September 1943; commissioned USS PC-1177 on 20 December 1943 at New Orleans, LA; served in the Central Pacific campaign 1944-1945; reclassified as a Control Submarine Chaser, PCC-1177, 20 August 1945; decommissioned 27 July 1946 at Astoria, Oregon and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group (with a note that the Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists a planned decommissioning of January 1947); reclassified PC-1177 on 27 October 1955; named Guymon 15 February 1956; struck from the Naval Register 1 July 1960; sold for scrap 25 April 1961 to Zidell Exploration Inc. of Seattle, WA; two battle stars for World War II service. Specifications block: displacement 280 t (lt) / 450 t (fl); length 173 ft 8 in; beam 23 ft; draft 10 ft 10 in; speed 20.2 kt; complement 65; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, one 40 mm mount, three 20 mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth-charge projectors, two depth-charge tracks; propulsion two 1,440 bhp Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 diesel engines (serial nos. 833295 and 833296), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts; call sign November-Papa-Romeo-Foxtrot. Commanding-officer table lists six officers from LT Edwin Herman Kiefer, USNR (20 Dec 1943-Sep 1944) through LTJG Frank H. Thompson, USNR (Jun-27 Jul 1946).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1943-1961

   Population

   Leathem D. Smith construction trades (1943); wartime crew (design complement 65); reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-1961); Zidell shipbreakers (1961)

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its milestones track DANFS/BGSU closely and are corroborated where they overlap. Its armament (3 x 20mm, 4 dcp) and speed (20.2 kt) conflict with the DANFS spec block (5 x 20mm, 2 dcp, 22 k.) - carried in gaps. 'Zidell Exploration Inc. of Seattle, WA' conflicts with the documented Portland, OR headquarters of Zidell Explorations, Inc. in the appellate record - carried in gaps. The 1 Jan 1949 NVR 'planned decommissioning Jan 1947' note is stale register paperwork against the actual July 1946 decommissioning. Contains no asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-02

4. [4]Bowling Green State University Libraries, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, vessel record 'PC-1177' (item 439193; name record 'PC 1177 (USS GUYMON)' item 447406) - verified live [museum_official]

   Locator

   HCGL vessel record: Registry and Rig Information, Dimensions and Tonnage (steel hull), Vessel History, Disposition, Build Information, and name-date tables

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The Historical Collections of the Great Lakes (Bowling Green State University University Libraries) vessel record for PC-1177 independently corroborates the hull record: rig propeller, steel hull, 173.66 x 23.00 x 8.00 ft; builder 'Smith, Leathem D. Shipbuilding Co.', Sturgeon Bay, WI, built 1943; 'Original construction contract assigned to Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI.'; commissioned 20 December 1943; served in the Central Pacific campaign 1944-1945; reclassified PCC 1177 on 20 August 1945; decommissioned 27 July 1946 at Astoria, OR and placed in the Columbia Reserve Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; reclassified PC 1177 on 27 October 1955 and name assigned 15 February 1956; stricken from the Navy Register 1 July 1960; sold 25 April 1961 to Zidell Exploration, Inc. The collection's name-record table dates 'PC 1177 (USS GUYMON)' to the 1956-1961 window.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1943-1961

   Population

   Leathem D. Smith construction trades (1943); crew (1943-1946)

   Limitations

   Academic maritime-archive registry record - an authoritative Great Lakes-vessel compilation, not a federal primary source. It corroborates DANFS/NavSource milestones and independently confirms the Defoe contract assignment and the 1 July 1960 striking. Contains no asbestos, materials, or crew-health content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-03

5. [5]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List 44, by Ship Numbers, PC-1177 entry [other_primary]

   Locator

   PDF page 67, row PC-1177; coverage 12/20/1943-6/30/1945

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The National Archives' Special List 44, List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations by Ship Numbers, has a PC-1177 entry covering 20 December 1943 through 30 June 1945. The finding aid establishes that NARA holds logbook records for this hull for that interval; the coverage start aligns exactly with the 20 December 1943 commissioning date reported by DANFS.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1943-1945

   Limitations

   This is a NARA finding aid for logbooks, not the logbooks themselves. Its date range is record coverage, not proof of commissioning, continuous service, or any particular voyage. It says nothing about asbestos, materials aboard, individual exposure, or legal eligibility. The logbooks themselves are undigitized.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-04

6. [6]Naval Sea Systems Command, Ship History, dated 28 June 2011 (archived capture; live URL returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch) [other_primary]

   Locator

   PDF page 73, row: PC 1177 | GUYMON | Rmvl Date 10-May-61 | Final Disposition UNK

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NAVSEA's inactive-ship history PDF indexes PC 1177 as GUYMON, with removal date 10-May-61 and final disposition UNK (unknown). The document is a post-service inventory/disposition source: the 10 May 1961 removal-from-inventory date falls ~2 weeks after the independently documented 25 April 1961 sale to Zidell Exploration, Inc., while the UNK flag means the Navy inventory did not itself record the disposal mechanism.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1961; inventory dated 2011

   Limitations

   Cited from a 22 December 2016 Wayback capture because the live NAVSEA URL returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch on the access date; the archived copy is labeled as such. 'Rmvl Date' is removal from the Navy inventory, not the register striking (NavSource/BGSU record striking 1 July 1960) - carried in gaps. UNK final disposition means this source does not itself document the Zidell sale. Establishes no asbestos facts.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-05

7. [7]U.S. Government Accountability Office, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product-page Highlights (Navy use of asbestos in ships; 1975 and 1979 insulation-removal policies)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   GAO's 1979 review documents Navy-wide use of asbestos insulation in Navy ships and describes Navy policy for removal and replacement of asbestos insulation: the 1975 policy removed and replaced with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for necessary repairs, modified in 1979 to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas. It is class/era context for a World War II Navy patrol craft, not documentation that asbestos was installed, remained, or was removed aboard Guymon (PC-1177).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1975-1979 policy period; report published 1979

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers and Navy ships reviewed by GAO; not Guymon-specific

   Limitations

   gao.gov returned HTTP 403 for both the product page and the report PDF to direct fetch on 2026-10-03 (confirmed this session); content is carried from the report's documented Highlights as verified in prior batch sessions, including a same-day sibling batch that retrieved the product page and full PDF. GAO reviewed Navy-wide policy and fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards; it does not name Guymon, PC-1177, the PC-461 class, or Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding, and cannot establish ship-specific asbestos presence, quantity, condition, exposure, causation, or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-06

8. [8]Zidell Explorations, Inc., OSHRC Docket No. 12408 (May 2, 1977) - verified live at oshrc.gov; Buckholtz (Woodruff) v. American Optical Corp. et al., No. 56257-0-II (Wash. Ct. App. Div. II, Jan. 24, 2023, unpublished) - PDF verified live at courts.wa.gov [court_record]

   Locator

   OSHRC decision, facts section ('business of shipbreaking in Portland, Oregon'; USS Bunker Hill dismantling, Jan. 21, 1975 inspection); Woodruff unpublished opinion pp. 3-4 (company history, asbestos-insulation removal recital), pp. 7-9 (ship lists and 2017 records destruction)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The 1961 purchaser of this hull is documented in adjudicated public records as a shipbreaking concern handling asbestos-bearing Navy ships. An OSHRC decision (Zidell Explorations, Inc., Docket No. 12408, decided 2 May 1977) records that Zidell Explorations 'is engaged in the business of shipbreaking in Portland, Oregon' and was inspected while dismantling the USS Bunker Hill in January 1975. A Washington Court of Appeals unpublished opinion (Buckholtz, as personal representative for the Estate of Dennis G. Woodruff, v. American Optical Corp. et al., No. 56257-0-II, Div. II, filed 24 January 2023) recites that Zidell Explorations was formed in 1912, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and 'began dismantling decommissioned Navy ships in Portland in the 1950s'; that related corporation Zidell Dismantling (formed 1960) dismantled ships at Tacoma; that a Zidell Dismantling burner's work in 1970-73 'included removing asbestos insulation material from pipes'; and that Zidell ship-list source records were destroyed without digitization in a 2017 records move.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   1961 (sale); 1970-1977, 2023 (documented operations and adjudication)

   Population

   Zidell shipbreaking workforce, Portland/Tacoma (documented 1970-1975 window); not Guymon-specific

   Limitations

   Documents the purchaser's industry, not this hull: no finding that PC-1177 contained asbestos, where it was dismantled, or that any individual worked on it. The OSHRC matter was a housekeeping-standard citation under shipbreaking rules, not an asbestos case; the asbestos content is a factual recital in the Woodruff opinion, which is unpublished (filed for public record under RCW 2.06.040; limited precedential use). The documented dismantling activity (1950s onward; 1970-73 exposure window; 1975 Bunker Hill inspection) postdates and contextualizes the 25 April 1961 sale. DANFS/NavSource spell the buyer 'Zidell Exploration, Inc.' vs the litigated 'Zidell Explorations, Inc.' - same-firm treatment unverified; NavSource's 'of Seattle, WA' conflicts with the documented Portland headquarters.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-07

9. [9]Negative-finding result based on the source searches documented in search_ledger; no affirmative asbestos source located [other_primary]

   Locator

   Search ledger entries sl-uss-guymon-pc1177-01 through -11 (NHHC, NavSource, BGSU HCGL, NARA SL44, NAVSEA, NVR, GAO, CourtListener, OSHRC/WA courts, and an official-source web sweep)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, hazardous-material inventory, construction specification, product-identification record, or qualifying litigation finding establishing asbestos aboard Guymon (PC-1177/PCC-1177) was located in this research session. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is unknown; no product or material is asserted.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-03

   Study period

   Research session 2026-10-03

   Limitations

   This records the bounded search outcome, not proof that asbestos was absent. The CourtListener litigation sweep was blocked by daily quota exhaustion, gao.gov returned HTTP 403 this session, and the NAVSEA PDF required an archived copy; class, construction-era, diesel-propulsion, and builder assumptions were not used to infer asbestos aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-08

10. [10]Authenticated CourtListener helper response, 2026-10-03; daily quota exhausted, stand down 10,921 seconds [other_primary]

    Locator

    Helper output for `cl-auth-search.py --query '"USS Guymon"' --type opinion --limit 20`; no result set returned

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    The CourtListener sweep is incomplete. The authenticated fleet-paced helper was invoked for the exact-name opinion query '"USS Guymon"' and reported daily quota exhaustion with a 10,921-second (~3.0-hour) stand-down instruction. No result set was returned, and no further CourtListener query (hull-number 'PC-1177'/'PCC-1177', 'Guymon', or docket-type searches) was attempted. No conclusion about litigation presence or absence can be drawn.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-03

    Study period

    2026-10-03

    Limitations

    This is a blocked/incomplete search, not a negative finding. Exact-name, hull-number, and docket searches remain outstanding. The request was made through the authenticated fleet helper; no anonymous or direct API request was made. 'Guymon' is a low-collision name (a small Oklahoma city; corporate/place hits possible but limited), but no inference about hits is made without a completed search.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-guymon-pc1177-09