Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Humming Bird I (AMc-26), Naval Historical Center (verbatim 2004 Wayback capture; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-23) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, complete text (short entry for a small craft)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: the first Humming Bird (AMc-26), a wooden dragger, was built as Whaling City in 1936 by Morse Shipyard, Thomaston, Maine; acquired by purchase 30 October 1940 from owner William Hayes of New Bedford, Mass.; converted to Navy use at Geo. Lawley & Son, Neponset, Mass.; placed in service 12 June 1941. She operated throughout the war as a minesweeper and minesweeping training vessel, largely in the vicinity of Mine Warfare Training School, Yorktown, Va.; was reclassified Small Boat C-13548 on 12 June 1944; placed out of service at New York 18 February 1945; delivered to the Maritime Commission and eventually sold. Spec block: dp 180; l 90'5"; b 19'10"; dr 9'; s 9 k.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1936-1945
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (Geo. Lawley & Son, 1940-41); wartime crew (Yorktown, VA operating area)
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction, and service chronology; contains no asbestos information of any kind; does not document crew size, propulsion detail, or conversion work scope; build year conflicts with the builder-yard list (1938) - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-01
-
[2]Ships' Data Book, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II (1945), Mine Sweepers - Coastal (AMc) list (ShipScribe scan of official Navy publication) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2.pdf, Mine Sweepers-Coastal (AMc) section, AMc26 line entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy's own 1945 Ships' Data Book lists 'AMc26 HUMMING BIRD (now C-13548)' among the coastal minesweepers - primary-service corroboration of the hull number, name, and small-boat reclassification in the official inventory.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Confirms the hull in the official 1945 inventory; the data book carries no asbestos, material, or crew detail for this craft.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-02
-
[3]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945: Minecraft - AMc Coastal Minesweepers, Converted Vessel Class table (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-dm.html, 'AMc -- Coastal Minesweepers / Converted Vessel Class' spec block and AMc-26 table row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- AMc-26 Humming Bird is listed in the Converted Vessel Class of coastal minesweepers: commercial fishing vessels - mostly draggers and purse seiners - converted to Navy use; class-standard diesel engine of about 400 h.p.; displacement 165-270 tons; complement 15-47; light or no armament. Row entry: AMc-26 Humming Bird, commissioned 1941, ex-Whaling City (1936).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Population
- Converted-vessel AMc crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level specification block: the diesel plant, tonnage range, and complement range are class figures, not hull-verified for AMc-26; contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-03
-
[4]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive: C-13548 ex-Humming Bird (AMc 26) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AMc-26 page, chronology block and photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-Navy commercial chain and loss: transferred to the Maritime Commission and sold; acquired 1945 by Fishing Vessel Whaling City, Inc. of New York; 1956 by Whaling City Fishing Corp. of Fairhaven, MA; 1963 by Sea Breeze Fishing Corp. of New Bedford, MA and renamed Sea Breeze; 1967 by Wilton Trawler Corp. of Seaford, VA; foundered 11 November 1977 about 10 miles south-southwest of Mount Desert Rock, ME.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1945-1977
- Population
- Commercial fishing crews (1945-1977)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive corroborating the federal disposition sequence; not a federal record. Page contains obvious typos (out-of-service '1944' vs. DANFS 1945; beam '200 ft'). Foundering position differs from a contemporary news account (~25 mi SW of Mount Desert Rock); a crew-casualty event accompanies the loss but is beyond this record's scope.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-04
-
[5]Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, Thomaston ME - yard output list (Naval Marine Archive transcription; Charles A. Morse yard est. 1912, succeeded by Lyman-Morse) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Lyman-Morse yard table, Whaling City row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The builder-yard lineage list records fishing vessel Whaling City - 185 GT, 93 ft, built 1938 - with disposition 'To USN 1940 as Humming Bird (AMc 26), small boat 1944,' confirming the builder and the Navy transfer from the yard's own records.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1938 (yard-list build year)
- Population
- Builder-yard trades (Thomaston, 1930s)
- Limitations
- Confirms builder and transfer but conflicts with DANFS on build year (1938 vs. 1936) and with DANFS on registered dimensions; the conflict is logged in gaps and the DANFS date controls this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-05
-
[6]DANFS conversion record (1940-41, Geo. Lawley & Son) + HyperWar converted-vessel AMc class spec (diesel ~400 h.p. plant) - era context for probable materials [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry (conversion sentence); ships-dm.html converted-vessel spec block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Humming Bird's Navy conversion (Geo. Lawley & Son, winter 1940-41) and 1941-45 service fall within the Navy's peak asbestos-use era. For a diesel-powered wooden dragger conversion, era-standard asbestos applications were limited in scope relative to steam combatants: exhaust-line and muffler lagging, engine-room gaskets and packing, insulation around hot machinery spaces, and friction materials in winch and windlass brakes.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (Neponset, 1940-41); engine-room crew
- Limitations
- Era and class inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, conversion work package, or material list was located for this craft. A wooden diesel dragger's asbestos scope would have been far narrower than that of boiler-driven vessels, and nothing here establishes that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, in what quantity, or that any individual was exposed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-06
-
[7]GAO HRD-80-2 (1979), report on Navy asbestos worker-exposure control in naval shipyards - product page [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos-containing insulation and related products extensively aboard ships and in shipyards during the WWII era and for decades after, and that exposure controls lagged - program-level era context covering this hull's 1940-41 conversion period.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1940s-1970s (report scope); issued 1979
- Population
- Naval-shipyard workforce (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level report focused on major naval shipyards; does not name this hull or small-craft conversions, and private conversion yards such as Geo. Lawley & Son are outside its fieldwork. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches on 2026-09-23 (standing condition); the product-page description was used and the full text was not pulled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-07
-
[8]Batch-1561 search ledger (this record): CourtListener opinion and docket searches on all names and designations; NVR; NARA catalog; MARAD disposition records; shipbuildinghistory AMc table [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-humming-bird-amc26-01 through sl-uss-humming-bird-amc26-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Humming Bird, AMc-26, C-13548, Whaling City, or Sea Breeze was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned only name collisions (a car service, a coal company, a surname, Anchorage Municipal Code citations, and the NYT v. Microsoft copyright docket).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 2026-09-23
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard during 1940-45 naval service; a small wooden dragger generated sparse documentation to begin with, and the hull has been submerged since 1977, so no later condition survey could exist. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-humming-bird-amc26-08