Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 996-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-helena-pg9-pkt-996-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Helena I (Gunboat No. 9), 1897-1932' - construction, service history, decommissioning, disposal (NHHC canonical page; live URL returned 404 on 2026-10-04 - archived Wayback capture cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Helena I (Gunboat No. 9)' entry, service narrative and spec block (Wayback capture 20251208225030)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: launched by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va., 30 January 1896; sponsored by Miss Agnes Belle Steele, daughter of the mayor of Helena, Montana; commissioned at New York Navy Yard 8 July 1897, Cmdr. W. T. Swinburne in command. Spanish-American War: Fort Tunas exchanges 2-3 July 1898; part of the squadron that closed Manzanillo by sinking or destroying eight small vessels 18 July 1898. Sailed Boston 3 November 1898 for the Asiatic Station via Suez, arriving Philippines 10 February 1899; present at the evacuation of Jolo 21 May 1899; landing-party assault along the Zapote River 13 June; bombarded San Fabian, Lingayen Gulf, and covered the landing of 2,500 troops 7 November 1899. Chinese waters October 1900 - December 1902; Philippines to March 1903, then China coast; moored at Cavite December 1904 and placed out of commission there 19 April 1905; recommissioned 16 July 1906; Asiatic Station to June 1907; thereafter South China Patrol and Yangtze River Patrol with overhaul intervals. Reduced commission 29 June 1929; continued on the South China Patrol until decommissioned and struck from the Navy list 27 May 1932; sold 7 July 1934. Spec block: length 250'9", beam 40'11", draft 9'; armament 4 4-inch, 4 6-pounders, 4 1-pounders, 1 3-inch (landing force gun).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1894-1934
- Population
- NNS construction trades (1894-97); crew (1897-1932)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific service history only; contains no asbestos or material content. Live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-10-04 (standing NHHC link-rot defect, cf. BATCH-01); the 8 December 2025 Wayback capture of the canonical URL is cited and is labeled as an archived copy - do not present the live URL as verified. Text matches the DANFS Vol. III transcription at losthistory.net/hazegray.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Gunboat Photo Archive, Helena (PG 9) ex-Gunboat No. 9 - milestone timeline, specifications, armament-by-year, commanding officers, photographic record (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/09009.htm header block, specifications block, armament notes, photo captions (Dewey Drydock 16 Aug 1924)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline for this hull: laid down 11 October 1894 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; completed 29 January 1896; launched 30 January 1896; commissioned USS Helena (Gunboat No. 9) 8 July 1897 at New York Navy Yard; decommissioned 19 April 1905 at Cavite; recommissioned 16 July 1906; decommissioned (date not given); recommissioned 15 August 1917; designated PG-9 7 July 1920; reduced commission 29 June 1929; decommissioned 27 May 1932 and struck from the Navy list; sold for scrap 7 July 1934. Specifications: displacement 1,390 t.; length 251'10" (250'9" between perpendiculars); beam 40'1.5"; draft 9'; speed 13 kts (15.50 kts by 1914); complement 175 (187 in 1911, 195 in 1921); propulsion - four Hohenstein boilers, two 980-ihp vertical triple-expansion engines, two shafts. Armament listings by year: four 4-inch mounts, four 11-pounders, one 3-inch rifle (as built); eight 4-inch RF mounts, four 6-pdr, four 1-pdr, two 6mm (1905); eight 4-inch/40 RF mounts and four 3-pdr (1911). Photographic record places this hull in the Dewey Drydock at Olongapo, Luzon, 16 August 1924, and at Hong Kong c. 1923-25 and Canton c. 1925.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1894-1934
- Population
- NNS construction trades (1894-97); crew (1897-1932); yard/station trades at Cavite and Olongapo availabilities
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - its milestone dates track DANFS/NVR where those exist but the second decommissioning is undated in all sources; drydock photographs are from a private collection (Chief Walter E. Pegg) captioned by NavSource, establishing presence in drydock but not the work performed. Boiler attribution (Hohenstein) conflicts with the USNI class profile (Babcock & Wilcox) - the class was re-boilered in service; date for this hull undocumented (see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-02
-
[4]U.S. Navy Department, 'Standard Nomenclature and List of Vessels, U.S. Navy. July 1, 1920' (GPO; Internet Archive scan) - official nomenclature list assigning the PG hull-classification symbols [other_primary]
- Locator
- 'Standard Nomenclature and List of Vessels, U.S. Navy. July 1, 1920', section 'Patrol Vessels - Gunboats (PG)', Helena PG9 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Navy nomenclature list of 1 July 1920 carries 'HELENA PG9' under 'PATROL VESSELS - GUNBOATS (PG)', with assignment shown as Asiatic Fleet, Cavite - the document that standardized the new hull-classification scheme and documents this hull's PG-9 designation and Asiatic Fleet/Cavite station as of mid-1920. NavSource dates the designation 7 July 1920.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1920
- Population
- Crew, Asiatic Fleet (1920)
- Limitations
- Documents the designation and fleet assignment only; no asbestos or material content. The printed list is dated July 1, 1920 while NavSource dates the designation order 7 July 1920 - the document is the authoritative record of the scheme itself; the effective-date detail is carried per NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-03
-
[5]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine vol. 16 no. 5 (Oct 2002), 'Historic Fleets' by A. D. Baker III - Wilmington-class design profile [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History, 'Historic Fleets', October 2002 issue
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class profile of the two sister-ship gunboats Wilmington (PG-8) and Helena (PG-9), both built by Newport News Shipbuilding and delivered in 1897, designed for service in Chinese waters: shallow 9-foot drafts; tall tubular 'military masts' incorporating a lightly armored conning station below a gun platform for up to four 1-pounder quick-firing guns; 1,684-ton full-load displacement; 251'10" length, 40'1" beam; eight single 4-inch/40-caliber guns and four 3-pounder quick-firing guns; a 1-inch armored belt amidships abreast the engineering plant; four coal-fired Babcock and Wilcox boilers supplying two 934-ihp vertical triple-expansion engines for speeds up to 15 knots. On 18 July 1898 Wilmington and Helena led the attack on Manzanillo, destroying eight Spanish gunboats and supply vessels in 20 minutes; Helena sailed for the Philippines November 1898 and remained in Asian waters until her 1932 disposal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1894-1932
- Population
- NNS construction trades (1894-97); crew (1897-1932)
- Limitations
- Class-level secondary profile - describes the design shared by both hulls, not this hull individually (Helena is named only for the Manzanillo action and Philippine deployment). Boiler attribution (Babcock & Wilcox) conflicts with NavSource's 'four Hohenstein boilers' - the class was re-boilered during service; which plant this hull carried at which dates is undocumented (see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-04
-
[6]Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Division of Naval History (OP 09B9), Ship's History Section - official 'History of the USS Helena FG9' text (verbatim transcription hosted by the USS Helena Organization; verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- usshelena.org/fg9history.html - full 'History of the USS Helena FG9' text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Ship's History Section text for this hull adds detail absent from the DANFS summary: in December 1899 Helena ascended the Cagayan River searching for the advance battalion of the 24th Infantry with which communications had been lost - the battalion was located by a boat party about eighty miles above Aparri. It also confirms keel laid 11 October 1894 (supporting the NavSource date over the 10 October secondary variant), and the secondary armament listing - four 6-pounders, four 1-pounders, two Colts, one 3-inch rifled field gun.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1894-1934
- Population
- Crew; embarked landing parties (1899)
- Limitations
- Official Navy text reproduced on a veterans'-organization site (usshelena.org is the USS Helena Organization's association site, not a .mil host) - content verified against the NHHC Ship's History Section attribution carried on the page itself. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-05
-
[7]Old Weather / naval-history.net transcription, USS Vicksburg logbooks 1902-1904 - transcribed log entries naming USS Helena at anchor off Chefoo, China (transcription of NARA-held primary deck logs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- naval-history.net OW-US Vicksburg 1902-04 log transcription, entries 25 Jul - 2 Aug 1902 (linked scans oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/USS Vicksburg/); naval-history.net WW1 US casualties alpha list, entry for BANBURY, Howard George
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Transcribed deck-log entries of USS Vicksburg place this hull at anchor off Chefoo, China, 25 July - 2 August 1902: 'U.S.S. Helena - Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Helena called on board' (25 Jul); officers' calls returned (26 Jul); 'At 5:00, U.S.S. Helena got underway and went alongside Collier' and 'New Orleans and Helena left collier and anchored inshore of us' (2 Aug) - corroborating DANFS's October 1900 - December 1902 Chinese-waters window with contemporaneous log evidence of station presence and underway/coaling activity. A separate naval-history.net transcription of the official WWI casualty rolls lists Seaman 2nd Class Howard George Banbury dying of disease aboard 'USS Helena, gunboat (No.9, later PG-9), China Patrol and Yangtze River Patrol' on 12 August 1917 - documenting this hull back on China/Yangtze patrol three days before her recorded 15 August 1917 recommissioning.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1902; 1917
- Population
- Crew on North China station (1902); crew on China/Yangtze patrol (1917)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: establishes station presence (Chefoo 1902; China/Yangtze patrol Aug 1917), not work records or material content. Citizen-science/community transcriptions of NARA-held primary records - may contain transcription errors; page scans are hosted on the project's own S3 bucket (oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com), not a .gov mirror. The casualty entry is a death-by-disease record, not an exposure record. Helena's own logbooks were not confirmed transcribed this session - RG 24 deck logs for this hull remain an open archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-06
-
[8]J. T. Donald, 'Canadian Asbestus: Its Occurrence and Uses,' Popular Science Monthly vol. 36 (February 1890) (Wikisource transcription verified live 2026-10-04; printed page range not captured) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Popular Science Monthly vol. 36 (Feb 1890), 'Canadian Asbestus' - steam-pipe covering passage
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A contemporaneous 1890 technical article - published four years before this hull was laid down - documents asbestos lagging in U.S. Navy service in exactly this construction era: 'Much of this asbestus felt is used as a non-conducting covering for steam-pipes. It is made into sections to fit any size of pipe, and into rolls and sheets for large surfaces. It is in use on the war-ships of the United States Navy, and has there and elsewhere been demonstrated to be superior to hair-felt as a non-conductor.' The same article documents asbestos yarn, wicking, rope, and millboard 'for packing pistons, flange joints, hot-air joints, cylinder-heads,' and asbestos cement 'extensively used as a non-conducting covering for boilers and steam-pipes.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1890
- Population
- Navy engineering crews and yard laggers of the 1890s era (class context)
- Limitations
- Era/Navy-level documentation, not a hull record: the article names no vessel or class, does not establish what this hull carried, and states that asbestos felt competed with and displaced hair-felt - i.e., non-asbestos lagging was also in Navy use in this period. Predates this hull's 1894 laying but describes the market her builder drew from. No quantity, location, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-07
-
[9]Geo. H. Barrus, 'Tests of Steam Pipe Coverings,' Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers vol. 23 (1901-1902), paper 952, pp. 791-837 (Internet Archive scan of the printed volume; full text verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Trans. ASME vol. 23, pp. 791-837; covering descriptions ~pp. 803-804 (items 12/14 'Asbestos Navy Brand')
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An engineering-society test program on commercial steam-pipe coverings marketed in 1901 - inside this hull's service window - found the market dominated by asbestos products: of 17 coverings tested the majority were asbestos-based (Asbestocel, Asbesto-Sponge felts and moulded coverings, 'Asbestos Navy Brand,' asbestos fire felts) alongside magnesia and hair-felt variants. Items 12 and 14, sold as 'Asbestos Navy Brand,' are described as 'an inner layer or crust of asbestos, surrounded by asbestos fibre of a more or less felted texture, and an outer layer of asbestos.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1901-1902
- Population
- Marine and stationary steam-plant trades of the 1900s era (class context)
- Limitations
- Market-era documentation, not a hull or Navy record: the coverings tested were commercial products in the New York market; 'Navy Brand' was a manufacturer's trade name and the paper contains no Navy procurement record. Establishes that asbestos steam-pipe coverings were standard market offerings in her era - not that any specific covering was installed aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: documented propulsion (coal-fired boilers, two vertical triple-expansion engines, two shafts - NavSource/USNI); Popular Science Monthly 1890 (asbestos felt on U.S. Navy warships); ASME Trans. 23 (1901-02) commercial asbestos coverings; 35-year service life with overhaul intervals through 1932 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource/USNI propulsion data; PSM 1890 steam-pipe passage; ASME Trans. 23 covering descriptions
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A coal-fired twin-screw steam gunboat built 1894-96 sits inside the documented era of asbestos steam-pipe and boiler coverings - contemporaneous 1890 reporting places asbestos felt aboard U.S. Navy warships generally, and 1901-02 market documentation shows asbestos coverings as standard offerings. Era-standard applications aboard a steam warship of this type and period were boiler and steam-drum lagging, steam-line insulation between boiler and engine spaces, flange and valve gaskets, machinery packing, and insulating felts. Thirty-five years of overhaul intervals extended the window in which era materials could have been installed or renewed.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1894-1934
- Population
- NNS construction trades (1894-97); engineering crew (1897-1932); Cavite/Olongapo yard and station trades at overhauls and the documented 16 Aug 1924 drydocking
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, work package, or survey located for Gunboat No. 9 / PG-9. Hair-felt and magnesia lagging coexisted with asbestos products in this period (per the same sources), so non-asbestos lagging aboard this hull is also consistent with the record. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-09
-
[11]Batch-8563 search ledger (this record): DANFS via archived NHHC page; NavSource 12/09009; official 1920 Navy nomenclature list; USNI class profile; Ship's History Section text; Old Weather/Vicksburg log transcription; PSM 1890; ASME Trans. 23; CourtListener base queries; secondary web sweep; NVR; NARA leads [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-helena-pg9-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation schedule, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming Gunboat No. 9 / PG-9 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener base queries on the ship name returned only name collisions (Helena, Montana offices/parties; a Navy disability-pay case) - no opinion naming this gunboat as an exposure site. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying record; 'asbestos aboard USS Helena' marketing listicles refer to the WWII cruiser CL-50 or assert asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. DISAMBIGUATION: later Navy namesakes are distinct hulls - CL-50 (Brooklyn-class light cruiser; DANFS documents her torpedoed and sunk in the Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943 - 168 of her nearly 900 men perished), CL-113 (Fargo-class, cancelled before completion), CA-75 (Baltimore-class heavy cruiser per DANFS), and SSN-725 (Los Angeles-class submarine); asbestos-litigation material associated with 'USS Helena' in the record corpus overwhelmingly concerns CL-50's WWII-era construction and must not be attributed to this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era documentation makes asbestos lagging/packing plausible but unproven for this hull, and the ship predates the heavily documented WWII-1970s Navy asbestos era (scrapped 1934). Deck logs, builder's specs, and overhaul work packages are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-helena-pg9-10