Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships, NAVSHIPS 1851, 'Yachts Acquired Since September 1939 from Private Owners' (24 July 1946), p. 3 - AMc 13 row (OCR of scanned official document) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 1851, p. 3 (PDF p. 3), AMc-13 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips register of small-craft acquisitions records: 'AMc 13 HORNBILL - J. A. Martinolich - Purchase - 12/7/40 - Anthony C. Martinolich, 2304 So. 16th St., Tacoma, Wash. - place of acquisition: Alameda, Calif.' Establishes the Navy acquired this hull by purchase (not charter) on 7 December 1940 from her builder-owner, and that the Navy took delivery at Alameda on San Francisco Bay.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940 (record compiled 1946)
- Limitations
- Acquisition record only - establishes method, date, seller, and place of acquisition but says nothing about conversion scope, materials installed or removed, or any asbestos content. Scanned document read via OCR; character-level transcription verified visually ('HORBILL' is an OCR artifact for HORNBILL).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-01
-
[2]DANFS, Hornbill (AMc-13) - verbatim transcription via hazegray.org mirror, Wayback capture 2024-06-18 (live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-22) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Hornbill entry, full text (3 paragraphs + spec line)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents: launched 1938 as J. A. Martinolich by Martinolich Repair Basin, Tacoma, Wash.; taken over by the Navy and commissioned December 1940; assigned to the mine force, 12th Naval District, sweeping the main ship channel for magnetic and acoustic mines; sank about half an hour after colliding with the lumber schooner Esther Johnson (outbound from Coos Bay, Oreg.) in San Francisco Bay on the morning of 30 June 1942, crew saved; stricken from the Navy Register 24 July 1942. Spec line: '(AMc-13: l. 85'; dph. 10'5'')'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Crew (complement ~11); 12th Naval District mine force
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy ship-history entry; contains no asbestos, materials, or industrial-hygiene information whatsoever. Confirms service area and loss but not exact wreck position or salvage disposition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-02
-
[3]CNO, 'United States Navy at War, 1941-1945' (official reports to the Secretary of the Navy), Appendix C - U.S. Navy vessel losses, minesweepers section; corroborated by BuShips 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945' index line 'AMc13 HORNBILL (sunk)' [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN at War Appendix C, minesweepers table; Ships' Data 1945 Vol. II index (shipscribe.com mirror SDB1945v2.pdf)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The CNO's official wartime loss list records 'Hornbill - San Francisco Bay - 30 June 1942' under minesweepers; the 1945 Ships' Data index carries 'AMc13 HORNBILL (sunk)'. Two independent official Navy publications confirm the loss date, place, and disposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1942; compilations 1945-1946
- Limitations
- Loss-list entries confirm date/place/cause category only; they do not establish wreck position, salvage status, casualties, or any materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-03
-
[4]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Hornbill (AMc 13) page (specifications block; cites National Archives photo 80-G-463823) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AMc-13 page, 'Specifications' block and photo caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource specification block for this hull: displacement 195 t.; length 85'; beam 20'11"; draft 5'; depth of hold 10'5"; speed 10 kts.; complement 11; armament one .30 cal. machine gun; propulsion one diesel engine, one shaft. Page identifies a National Archives photograph (80-G-463823) of the vessel in camouflage off Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco Bay.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1942
- Population
- Crew (complement 11)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive of official records, not itself a primary source - specs are NVR/Ships'-Data-derived but could not be re-verified against Ships' Data 1942 (prepared but never issued; microfilm only at Navy Department Library). The diesel/single-shaft datum is consistent with the vessel's fishing-boat origin. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-04
-
[5]MARAD Vessel History database, ESTHER JOHNSON (wood schooner; 1,104 gross tons / 611 net tons; built 1923; fate: sold to foreign-flag operation) + NavSource Army Ship Photo Index, USAT Esther Johnson (S-216) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD ShipHistory Detail/7890 (shipwreck + status card data); NavSource Army index 30/34/34001
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Federal records corroborate the collision partner described by DANFS: Esther Johnson was a wooden steam lumber schooner of 1,104 gross tons, later purchased by the War Shipping Administration from A. B. Johnson Jr. at Alameda, CA on 29 March 1943, operated by the Army as small ship S-216 in the Southwest Pacific, transferred to American President Lines in 1946, and sold to the Republic of the Philippines in 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1923-1947
- Limitations
- Documents the other vessel in the collision, not Hornbill herself - context corroborating the DANFS collision account. MARAD gives built year 1923; NavSource Army index gives 1922 by G. T. Matthews, Portland, OR - minor build-data discrepancy unresolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-05
-
[6]GAO, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979) - era documentation of asbestos use in naval vessel insulation, gasketing, packing, and deck materials [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO-era documentation establishes that asbestos was standard in Navy ship construction and overhaul materials of the period (thermal insulation, gaskets, packing, deck tile). For a wooden-hulled diesel fishing-boat conversion with no steam plant, the plausible subset on this hull type is confined to machinery-exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, and deck materials - a materially smaller asbestos profile than steam-powered combatants.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Construction/conversion yard workers (Tacoma 1938; Alameda 1940 - undocumented); crew of ~11
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only - the GAO report does not name this hull, the AMc type, or small diesel conversions, and its fieldwork concerned naval shipyards, not district-craft conversions. No application aboard this hull is established; equally, absence of the steam-plant pathway is a structural inference from the documented diesel propulsion, not a certification that no asbestos was present. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description, same limitation as Batch 01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-06
-
[7]Batch-1475 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS; NAVSHIPS 1851; CNO loss list; Ships' Data 1945; NavSource; MARAD vesselhistory; open-web legal index (CourtListener blocked by shared daily quota - see sl-uss-hornbill-amc13-07); wreck/salvage and asbestos-specific searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hornbill-amc13-01 through sl-uss-hornbill-amc13-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed case naming USS Hornbill (AMc-13) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The vessel sank in 1942, predating the Navy's asbestos-control era, and no structure survives to inspect.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof asbestos was absent aboard - era materials on small diesel craft are plausible but undocumented. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener index could not be queried within session (2800/day shared-key quota exhausted) - open-web legal indexes surfaced no opinion naming the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-07
-
[8]National Archives photo 80-G-463823 (identified via NavSource); NARA RG-19 (BuShips) conversion/alteration files and RG-181 (12th Naval District) records; USCG/Navy marine casualty file for the 30 June 1942 collision [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AMc-13 photo caption; NARA RG-19/RG-181 series (not digitized)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Identified archival leads not yet digitized: NARA photo 80-G-463823 (vessel off Yerba Buena Island in Measure camouflage); BuShips/12th Naval District conversion records for the December 1940 Alameda acquisition; and the Navy/USCG marine casualty investigation of the Esther Johnson collision, which may document damage extent and disposition of the wreck.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1942
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these files was examined; catalog.archives.gov record pages render as a JS application and could not be machine-read in session. No asbestos content is expected or implied by these leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornbill-amc13-08