Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet 1090-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: MISMATCH
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hoptree-yn83-pkt-1090-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Hoptree (AN-62)', Naval History and Heritage Command (updated and corrected by Robert J. Cressman, Dec 2007; published 20 Jul 2015). Cited via Wayback Machine capture of 26 May 2024 - the live NHHC URL returns 404 (standing NHHC link-rot defect first noted in BATCH-01); citation is to the archived copy of the official page. [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS entry body text (3 paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS narrative for this hull: 'a wooden-hulled net layer, was launched on 14 October 1943 by Snow Shipyards Inc., Rockland, Maine, as YN-83; sponsored by Lt. Ann Jameson; reclassified AN-62, on 20 January 1944; and commissioned on 18 May 1944, Lt. Cdr. Theodore A. Ingham in command.' Shakedown at Melville Net Depot, RI, from 31 May 1944; Net Layer Precommissioning and Training Group at Melville; departed 2 December 1944 for the West Coast; sailed 3 February 1945 from Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, CA; arrived Pearl Harbor 13 February 1945; routed to Eniwetok Atoll, arriving 28 February. From March through the end of the war she maintained and repaired net defenses in the harbor, dismantling them after August; returned to the U.S. arriving San Francisco 8 November 1945. Decommissioned 1 March 1946; stricken from the List of Naval Vessels 20 March 1946; delivered to purchaser Van Camp Sea Food Co., San Pedro, CA, 23 April 1947; mercantile service until scrapped 1954.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-1954
- Population
- Crew (~56) 1944-46; construction trades at Snow Shipyards 1942-44
- Limitations
- Official Navy history of this specific hull; contains no asbestos, material, or hazmat content whatsoever - establishes identity, timeline, and service only. Commissioning CO's given name here ('Theodore A. Ingham') conflicts with NavSource's officer table ('Thomas Albert Ingham') - see gaps. Does not establish exposure, causation, or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Hoptree (AN-62) - designation timeline, specification block, commanding-officer table, photo captions (page verified live 2026-10-05; canonical navsource.net domain) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 09/18/18062.htm header block, specifications block, commanding-officer table, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 24 September 1942 as YN-83 at Snow Shipyards Inc., Rockland, ME; launched 14 October 1943; reclassified AN-62 20 January 1944; commissioned USS Hoptree (AN-62) 18 May 1944, LCDR. Thomas A. Ingham in command; Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment; decommissioned 1 March 1946 at San Francisco; struck 20 March 1946; sold to Van Camp Sea Food Co., San Pedro, CA, 23 April 1947; scrapped 1954. Specifications: displacement 1,100 t. (1,400 t. lim); length 194'6"; beam 37'; draft 13'6"; speed 12.1 kts; complement 4 officers, 52 enlisted; one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, four twin 20mm AA mounts; 12-ton boom; propulsion one Busch-Sulzer diesel engine, two 60 kW 120 V DC diesel-driven ship's-service generators, single propeller 1,200 shp. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. Photo caption documents the ship underway in Boston Harbor 2 December 1944 (Boston Navy Yard photo 6938-44, Boston National Historical Park collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-11434).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-1954
- Population
- Crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation reproducing official data, not a primary registry - milestone dates concur with DANFS and Shipscribe. Complement 56 conflicts with Shipscribe class figure of 43 (1944); the 'four twin 20mm' armament line differs from Shipscribe's class '4-20mm' table entry. Contains no asbestos content. The BOSTS-11434 photograph is an NPS archival lead not independently verified at the NPS catalog.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-02
-
[4]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List #44 (by ship number), inventory of U.S. Navy deck logs in NARA custody - entry 'AN-62 5/18/1944 12/3/1944' (PDF verified live and text-extracted 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List #44 PDF, ship-number table, line 'AN-62 5/18/1944 12/3/1944'; digitization status per archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online (name absent from digitized list)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List #44 inventories deck logs for AN-62 covering 18 May 1944 - 3 December 1944. The coverage window coincides exactly with the vessel's commissioned period from commissioning (18 May 1944) through her Melville departure for the West Coast (2 December 1944, per DANFS); the logs are the contemporaneous operational record of that window. The AN-62 logs do not appear on NARA's published 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' list of digitized logs (checked 2026-10-05), so the records exist in custody but are undigitized.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1944-05-18 to 1944-12-03
- Population
- Crew aboard during the logged window, 1944
- Limitations
- Inventory coverage dates are holdings metadata, not asserted commissioning/decommissioning dates - the commissioning date rests on DANFS/NavSource independently. The log contents are unexamined: nothing in the inventory speaks to materials, insulation, or asbestos. Later-service logs (Dec 1944 - Mar 1946) are not in this inventory entry and their location is unresolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-03
-
[5]Shipscribe (T. Colton), U.S. Navy Auxiliary Ship data - USS Ailanthus (AN-38) class construction/disposition tables compiled from official Navy and Maritime Commission registers (page verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Shipscribe AN38.html class spec block, construction table row '62 HOP TREE', disposition table row 62
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe class table row for this hull: AN-62 HOP TREE - ordered under contract of 30 July 1942; builder 'Snow SY'; keel 24 September 1942; launch 14 October 1943; commission 18 May 1944. Disposition entry: 'Ex YN-83 20 Jan 44. Sold (awarded) by MC to Van Camp Sea Food Co., Terminal Is., Cal. Merc. HOP TREE 1950, scrapped 1954.' Class design data (Navy YN-57/AN-38 design): wooden net tenders, 1,175 t. light / 1,460 t. lim, 194.5' oa x 37.0' x 13.5' lim, diesel-electric 1 screw 1,200 hp, 12.1 kts, class complement 43 (1944), original armament 1-3"/50 + 2-20mm. The class header documents sisters built at Everett-Pacific, Pollock-Stockton, Barbour Boat, and Snow yards.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-1954
- Population
- Construction trades, Snow Shipyards (1942-44); merchant crew, Van Camp Sea Food Co. (1947-1954)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official construction and Maritime Commission disposal records - identifies the MC as the disposal agency and the merchant name (HOP TREE, 1950 register) that DANFS does not give. Class-level complement (43) and armament entries conflict with the NavSource ship block (56; four twin 20mm) - carried in gaps, not merged. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-04
-
[6]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton), 'Net Layers and Tenders AN YN YNT YNG' and companion Snow Shipyards yard page (Rockland Marine) - yard-level construction lists (verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/yn.htm row 'YN 83'; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-small/snow/ yard table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipbuilding History's net-layer table lists 'YN 83 / AN 62 / Hop Tree / Snow Shipyards / Rockland ME / 195 (ft) / 1,200 (shp) / 18-May-44 (commission) / Sold 1947', and its Rockland Marine/Snow Shipyards yard page lists 'Hop Tree (YN-83/AN-62), net tender, 1,100d, 195 ft' among the yard's WWII naval builds alongside the yard's Accentor-class coastal minesweepers and other tree-named net tenders (Catclaw YN-81/AN-60 through Palo Verde YN-86/AN-65). The yard history records Snow Shipyards Inc. (founded 1862, Rockland ME) building wooden minesweepers, net tenders, and submarine chasers on Navy contracts 1937-1946, sold to General Seafoods after the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Snow Shipyards construction trades, Rockland ME (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Yard reference site - corroborates builder identity, hull dimensions, and the small wooden-combatant construction program at Rockland; not a primary registry. No asbestos, insulation, or materials content. Snow Shipyards is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: Shipscribe class design data (wooden diesel-electric net tender, Navy YN-57/AN-38 design); 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
- Corn & Starr, AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987), abstract and article; Shipscribe AN38.html class spec block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as an insulating and fireproofing material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII, the era and program under which this wooden-hulled net tender was built (keel 1942, commission 1944). For a diesel-electric vessel with no steam plant, era-standard asbestos applications were confined to diesel-exhaust and machinery lagging, engine-room thermal insulation, gaskets and flange packing, valve stem packing, electrical insulation, and brake linings on winch, windlass, and net-handling boom machinery.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-1954
- Population
- Snow Shipyards construction trades (1942-44); crew engine-room and deck machinery operations (1944-46); merchant crew and 1954 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, or work package was located for AN-62. Corn & Starr documents WWII shipbuilding asbestos policy generally; it does not name this vessel or this class and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, or condition. Wooden hull eliminates the boiler/steam lagging pathway but not machinery, gasket, packing, or electrical applications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-06
-
[8]Batch-9253 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404; Wayback capture used); NavSource.net live; NARA Special List #44 PDF and digitized-logs list; Shipscribe AN-38 class page; Shipbuilding History net-layer and Snow yard pages; Naval Vessel Register; secondary web sweep incl. asbestos-term searches; CourtListener API v4 (partially blocked - see below) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hoptree-yn83-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS Hoptree (YN-83/AN-62) was found in the public sources searched. Secondary and asbestos-term web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and, unusually for this batch, no law-firm marketing claims for this hull at all - nothing required exclusion. CourtListener status: PARTIAL - the exact-name opinion base query ('USS Hoptree', type=o, 20-result page) returned count 0 on 2026-10-05; the remaining three base queries (exact-name docket, hull-number opinion 'AN-62', hull-number docket) were blocked by the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing limit on multiple retries this session (ledger sl-07/sl-08) and are logged as blocked, not as negative results.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 2026-10-05
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era materials would have been present unless excluded at build, and no survey exists either way. The litigation record is an open gap: three of four mandatory base queries did not run (fleet pacing, not a zero-result finding). Deck logs (NARA, undigitized), builder work packages, and Maritime Commission disposal files are unexamined leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hoptree-yn83-07