Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Hawk II (AM-133) (NHHC entry published 2015-07-14; verbatim text via Internet Archive Wayback capture 20250202204830 - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Hawk II (AM-133)', specifications block + service narrative (Wayback capture 20250202204830)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC records: the second Hawk (AM-133), a converted trawler, was built in 1937 as Gale by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass.; acquired by the Navy 1 January 1942 from her owner, General Sea Foods Corp., Boston; converted to a minesweeper at Bethlehem Steel's Atlantic Yard, and commissioned 23 May 1942, Lt. J. W. Lowes in command. Spec block: dp. 590; l. 147'; b. 26'; dr. 13'; s. 12 k.; a. 2 6-pdrs. Assigned to the 1st Naval District, based at the Boston Section Base; performed general minesweeping duties near Boston and in mid-1943 was assigned to the Northern Ship Lane Patrol; decommissioned 1 May 1944 and was sold.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1937-1944
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1937; Bethlehem Atlantic Yard conversion workforce Jan-May 1942; wartime crew May 1942 - May 1944
- Limitations
- Primary Navy historical entry - authoritative for identity and service narrative. Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC page 404s (standing link rot, cf. BATCH-01); the Wayback capture is the verbatim official text. DANFS reads 'built in 1937 as Gale' while NavSource documents the trawler as built M/V West Point, renamed Gale 1939 - variance carried in gaps. DANFS gives no complement, no stricken date, and no post-sale fate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive: Hawk (AM 133), file 11/02133 - chronology, specifications, and commanding officer listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 02133.htm - chronology block, specifications block, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: built October 1937 as the steel-hull trawler M/V West Point by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA for General Sea Foods Corp., Boston; delivered 29 October 1937; renamed Gale in 1939; acquired by the Navy 1 January 1942; conversion to a minesweeper began 8 January 1942 at Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, MA; renamed Hawk 21 January 1942; commissioned USS Hawk (AM 133) 23 May 1942; decommissioned 1 May 1944; transferred to the War Shipping Administration 16 September 1944, struck from the Naval Register and sold to her previous owner; ran aground 13 December 1945 off Sable Island, Canada and sank. Spec block: 530 t.; 147' x 26' x 13'; 11.5 kts.; two 6-pounders; propulsion one 650 shp Cooper Bessemer diesel engine, one shaft - a diesel plant, no boilers or steam distribution piping. Commanding officers listed: LTJG Harva H. Crabtree Jr., USNR (28 August 1943); LT Ralph William Olson, USNR (16 February 1944 - 1 May 1944).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1937-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew incl. engineering personnel (context)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run archive reproducing official characteristics; the propulsion row is not independently confirmed against a primary BuShips or Maritime Commission specification. Confirms machinery type only - says nothing about materials or asbestos content. Spec-block conflicts with DANFS (displacement 530 vs 590 t.; speed 11.5 vs 12 kts.; DANFS 'built as Gale' vs NavSource 'built as West Point, renamed Gale 1939') carried in gaps. The stricken date (16 Sep 1944) and the 13 Dec 1945 grounding date are NavSource-only detail - corroborated in kind but not to the day by the museum and memoir records (ev-03, ev-04).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-02
-
[3]Edward J. Fitzgerald, 'Maurice E. Fitzgerald in the Pacific War' (April 2006, revised May 2009), chapters 4 ('Under the Southern Cross') and 9 ('Three Flags'), hosted by the Navy League West Connecticut council [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.navyleaguewestct.org/minesweeper.html (index) + MEF%20YMS%20339%20Chap%204.pdf p.17 (Hawk tour) and MEF%20YMS%20339%20Chap%209E.pdf (decommissioning, shipmate letter on the wreck)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A Navy League council-archived shipboard account documents a named officer aboard this hull: Maurice E. Fitzgerald, a 29-year-old Milford, Mass. lawyer commissioned ensign USNR 7 September 1942, reported to his first ship USS Hawk (AM 133) in December 1942 as Communications Officer, later adding Gunnery Officer duties; the ship performed minesweeping in the vicinity of Boston until about mid-1943, then patrolled the 'northern ship lane' protecting ships gathering into convoys en route to Nova Scotia; Fitzgerald transferred to YMS 308 in August 1943. Chapter 9 records that Hawk decommissioned 1 May 1944 and was sold back into the fishing trade, and quotes an early-1946 letter from a Hawk shipmate reporting the vessel had been 'wrecked completely in a storm off the Maritime Islands' while fishing - consistent with the NavSource/MMA Sable Island record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1942-1944 (tour); 1946 (crew letter)
- Population
- Ens./Lt(jg) Maurice E. Fitzgerald, USNR - Communications and Gunnery Officer aboard, Dec 1942 - Aug 1943; Hawk crew generally
- Limitations
- A family-compiled memoir built from the subject's service record, recollections, and crew correspondence - not an official record; its ship facts are consistent with DANFS/NavSource. Contains no asbestos, materials, or industrial-hygiene content whatsoever; its value here is crew documentation (a named officer's tour dates) and corroboration of the wreck. Does not establish exposure, materials aboard, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-03
-
[4]Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Nova Scotia Museum), 'Sable Island Lifesaving and Ship Wrecks' info sheet - photo caption 'The aptly named trawler Gale is swallowed by sand after running aground in 1945' (MMA MP 15.49.3, N-16176), via Wayback capture 20121031071444 [museum_official]
- Locator
- MMA Sable Island info sheet, photo caption MP 15.49.3 (Wayback capture 20121031071444)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic's Sable Island wreck materials document and photograph the trawler Gale aground on Sable Island in 1945 - the same hull as AM-133 via the documented chain Gale (1939-42) -> USS Hawk -> sold back to prior owner 1944 -> trawler Gale wrecked off Sable Island 13 Dec 1945 (NavSource) and the 1946 crew-letter report of a wreck 'off the Maritime Islands' (ev-03).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Post-sale civilian fishing crew (1944-45, context)
- Limitations
- The museum caption names 'trawler Gale' without the naval hull identity; the identification to AM-133 rests on NavSource's chronology and is corroborated by the memoir letter - the museum record itself does not say 'ex-USS Hawk.' Exact date (13 Dec 1945) is NavSource-only. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-04
-
[5]HyperWar, 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 - Minecraft', 'Converted Fishing Trawlers' class table and AM-133 Hawk row [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-dm.html, 'Converted Fishing Trawlers' class block and AM-133 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The HyperWar minecraft compilation lists AM-133 Hawk, commissioned 1942, 'ex-Gale (1937),' inside the 'Converted Fishing Trawlers' group - class characteristics 314-585 tons, 122'6"-150', 9-13 knots, complement 36, diesel engine - independently confirming the type's diesel propulsion and giving a class-level crew figure absent from DANFS and NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Population
- Converted-trawler minesweeper crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level compilation (not hull-specific); the class table's 36-man complement is a group figure and is carried as such, not as Hawk's actual crewing. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-05
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[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 + indexed report text (gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO's program review of Navy asbestos exposure records the Navy's position that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables' and that thermal insulation was 'the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships.' Era-level confirmation that WWII-era Navy hulls carried asbestos-containing components; for this diesel-driven converted trawler the thermal-insulation pathway is largely absent by design, leaving the small-component uses (cable insulation, gaskets, clutch/brake linings) as the era-consistent candidates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1979 report; WWII-era construction context
- Population
- Navy personnel and shipyard workers (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; does not name this vessel, class, or builder and establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, or exposure aboard this hull. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - content via product-page description and indexed excerpt of the report text (standing issue since batch-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-06
-
[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
- Abstract and article, AJIM 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 program under which this hull's January-May 1942 conversion to a minesweeper was performed at Bethlehem Steel's Atlantic Yard, East Boston.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context); Bethlehem Atlantic Yard conversion workforce (context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, class, or yard and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull during conversion, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-07
-
[8]Batch-1166 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (live page 404; Wayback capture of official text); NavSource 02133; Navy League West CT memoir (chapters 2, 4, 9); Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Sable Island sheet; HyperWar minecraft table; CourtListener API v4 (opinion + RECAP docket types, authenticated); VA BVA index via va.gov/vetapp search; MARAD vesselhistory; shipyards.json cross-check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hawk-am133-01 through sl-uss-hawk-am133-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, specification, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Hawk / AM-133 / Gale / West Point was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). This hull also lived a short, low-paperwork life: a pre-war civilian trawler, one documented conversion (Jan-May 1942, Bethlehem Atlantic Yard), roughly two years of 1st Naval District minesweeping, a WSA transfer and resale in September 1944, and a loss at Sable Island fourteen months later - a lifecycle with few of the overhaul/refit/lay-up phases that tend to generate hull-level asbestos records.
- 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 - a 1942 shipyard conversion is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials having been installed or disturbed. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hawk-am133-08
-
[9]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel - deck logs), RG 38 (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations - war diaries/op files), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships - design and construction records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; /groups/038.html ; /groups/019.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): Navy deck logs for USS Hawk, May 1942 - May 1944 (RG 24, NARA) - the primary surviving crew/operations record; 1st Naval District / Boston Section Base and Northern Ship Lane Patrol operational records (RG 38 and related district series); Navy acquisition and conversion-contract records for the Gale purchase and the Bethlehem Atlantic Yard conversion (RG 19 and related series) - the only realistic path to a conversion-period materials schedule; War Shipping Administration disposition file for the 16 September 1944 transfer and resale; Canadian/Nova Scotia wreck-survey records for the 1945 Sable Island grounding (Maritime Museum of the Atlantic photo file MP 15.49.3).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1937-1945 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-hawk-am133-09