Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Implicit (AM-246) - verbatim transcription via the Haze Gray & Underway DANFS mirror at losthistory.net (live NHHC page returns 404; no Wayback capture located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: (AM-246: dp. 530; l. 184'6"; b. 33'; dr. 9'9"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3", 4 40mm.; cl. Admirable). Launched by Savannah Machine & Foundry Co., Savannah, Ga., 6 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Helen P. Page; commissioned 20 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. H. V. Brown in command. Shakedown in Chesapeake and Casco Bays; convoy duty Norfolk to Bermuda from 21 April 1944; Norfolk-Caribbean escort until 16 June 1944; sailed 24 July 1944 with transports for Oran; arrived off southern France 20 August (5 days after the Operation Dragoon landings) for daily minesweeping and patrolling, disposing of many floating mines and exchanging fire with a shore battery 6 and 10 September; sailed for Bizerte 23 October for minesweeping exercises; sailed from Palermo 18 January 1945 via Athens and Istanbul, arriving Yalta 31 January 1945 to be on hand during the Yalta Conference; returned to Palermo 21 February; convoyed home, Norfolk 5 May 1945; sailed 5 July 1945 via the Panama Canal for San Diego for minesweeping and countermeasures exercises; Pearl Harbor 20 August 1945; sailed 3 September 1945 to clear minefields at Eniwetok, Saipan, Okinawa, Sasebo harbor, the South China Sea, and the Formosa Strait; departed Eniwetok 18 February 1946, San Pedro 18 March; underway 20 July 1946 for transfer to China; Subic Bay 30 October 1946; decommissioned 16 November 1946; turned over to the Nationalist Chinese Navy 15 June 1948 as Yung Chia (MSF-47). Two battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1948 (U.S. service and transfer); entry text predates ROC striking ('where she serves as Yung Chia')
- Population
- Savannah Machine & Foundry construction trades (1943-44); USN crew Jan 1944-Nov 1946 (complement 104)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. The entry carries no laid-down date (16 March 1943 rests on secondary compilations - see gaps). Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 and no Wayback capture exists, so the verbatim Haze Gray transcription is cited. Spec-block displacement (530 t) conflicts with other compilations (625-945 t) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-01
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[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Implicit (AM 246) page - construction chronology, Republic of China service chain, specifications, commanding-officer roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/11/02246.htm - chronology, specifications, and CO-roster blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource per-hull record for this hull: laid down 16 March 1943 by Savannah Machine and Foundry Co., Savannah, GA; launched 6 September 1943; commissioned USS Implicit (AM 246) 20 January 1944; decommissioned 16 November 1946 at Subic Bay, Philippines; transferred to the Republic of China and renamed Yung Chia (MSF 47) 15 June 1948; decommissioned in August 1970 and struck from the navy list; fate unknown. Spec block reads 945 t (fl), 184'6", 33', 9'9", 14.8 kts, complement 104, two 1,710-shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines on a National Supply Co. single-reduction gear driving two shafts. Commanding officers: LCDR Henry Victor Brown USNR (20 Jan 1944-21 Feb 1945), LT Herschel Louis Wright USNR (to 3 Sep 1945), LT Robert James Exter USNR (to 10 Dec 1945), LTJG Richard Peter West USNR (19 Mar-20 Aug 1946), LCDR Charles Donald Griffin USNR (to 16 Nov 1946). Call sign Nan-Fox-Victor-Nan.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- USN crew 1944-46; ROC Navy crew 1948-70
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive - used for the laid-down date (absent from the DANFS entry), ROC-service chain, CO roster, and machinery fit, all of which rest on this compilation layer. The Cooper Bessemer propulsion reading conflicts with HyperWar's 'diesel-electric, twin screws, 1,800 h.p.' - carried in gaps. Establishes nothing about materials or asbestos aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-02
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[3]NARA, Special List 44 - Named Vessels (finding aid to Vessel and Station Log Books at the National Archives, RG 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 named-vessels table, 'Implicit (AM-246)' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 names this hull with deck-log coverage 'Implicit (AM-246) 1/20/1944-12/31/1945' - spanning commissioning through the Atlantic convoy period, Operation Dragoon, the Yalta deployment, and the first months of postwar Pacific mine clearance, but ending roughly ten and a half months before the 16 November 1946 decommissioning at Subic Bay; the transfer-cruise period is not covered in the named-vessels finding aid.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (logbook coverage)
- Population
- USN complement aboard AM-246, Jan 1944-Dec 1945
- Limitations
- Deck logs are operational records - they document movements and events, not materials or asbestos aboard. Coverage ends 31 December 1945; ROC-era logs, if any survive, are not U.S. records. Muster rolls for this hull not separately confirmed in the named-vessels finding aid.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-03
-
[4]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (RG 19 research guide: hull-designation correspondence, Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books, hull-arranged Ship Engineering Drawings S39/S48/S103 filing codes) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page, sections on Bureau of Ships correspondence, 'General Information Books,' and 'Ship Engineering Drawings'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA's official asbestos-research guide identifies the record series that would document hull-level material specifications for this ship: RG 19 Bureau of Ships general correspondence filed under hull designation 'AM246' and class correspondence under 'AM136 Class' (Admirable namesake); builder contract files under 'QM/Savannah Machine & Foundry'; RG 19 Entry P-11, 'Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books' (Item S-68, 1940-1962); and the paper/microfilm Ship Engineering Drawings ('Hull Series') arranged by hull number and Ship Material Group - the guide names S103 (Booklets of General Plans), S39 (Insulation and Lagging), and S48 (Piping) as the codes most relevant to asbestos research. The guide officially frames asbestos use in U.S. Navy materiel as a 1941-1961 research window; this hull was built 1943-44 inside it. An AM-246-specific drawing or GIB volume, if it survives, is the realistic path to any ship-specific materials finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (hypothetical record coverage); guide current as of 2026-09-22
- Population
- Savannah Machine & Foundry construction trades (1943-44); USN crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the guide documents which series exist, not that AM-246 material survives in them; no hull-specific drawing, GIB, or contract file was retrieved or confirmed. Establishes a research path, not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-04
-
[5]Declaration of Peter Neushul, Ph.D., Siegfried v. Owens-Illinois, No. 2:18-cv-01575 (C.D. Cal.) (RECAP gov.uscourts.cacd.702384.52.0) - WWII Navy/USMC fireproof-insulation requirements and Navy QPLs; plus NARA recognition of asbestos in USN materiel 1941-1961 [court_record]
- Locator
- RECAP document 52-0, declaration paragraphs 6-7 (WWII shipbuilding insulation requirements; Kaylo QPL listings); NARA asbestos guided-topic page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/type inference only: the declaration documents that during WWII the U.S. Navy and U.S. Maritime Commission required fireproof insulation on military and civilian vessels, and that asbestos-containing thermal insulation products (e.g., Owens-Illinois Kaylo block and pipe insulation) appeared on Navy Qualified Products Lists under military specifications Mil-I-2819 and Mil-I-2781 (earlier Navy specs 32-I-3 and 32-P-8). Implicit was built in 1943-44 inside this procurement regime and inside the 1941-1961 window in which NARA officially recognizes asbestos use in U.S. Navy materiel. Era-typical applications for a diesel-powered minesweeper of this size: diesel exhaust lagging, engine-space insulation, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing, accommodation insulation, deck covering. Because the plant was diesel (no boilers or steam lines), the dominant WWII asbestos pathway aboard steam vessels - boiler and steam-line lagging - did not exist on this hull; expected ACM scope is smaller and differently distributed than aboard a steam vessel of the same era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Savannah Machine & Foundry construction trades (1943-44); USN crew Jan 1944-Nov 1946; ROC Navy crew (1948-1970)
- Limitations
- Inference from era, builder, and vessel type only - no ship-specific document names any asbestos product aboard this hull. The Neushul declaration is a defense-side expert filing in asbestos litigation, not a court finding, and never names this vessel. No material schedule for AM-246 was located (NARA RG 19 series are the lead, ev-04). Diesel propulsion reduces expected ACM scope relative to steam vessels but does not establish absence. ROC Navy service (1948-1970) and post-striking disposition are undocumented disturbance windows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-05
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[6]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (1946); PubMed PMID 21016030
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned wartime industrial-hygiene survey of pipe-covering operations at Navy and Navy-contract shipyards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - asbestos insulation was standard material in naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (survey era)
- Population
- Navy and Navy-contract shipyard pipe-covering trades (wartime)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether the Savannah Machine & Foundry yard was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, quantities, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-06
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[7]NPS, '(H)our History Lesson: Shipbuilding in Savannah and Chatham County, Georgia, World War II Heritage City' - Savannah Machine & Foundry wartime minesweeper program [nps]
- Locator
- nps.gov heritage-city lesson, Reading 3 'Minesweepers' and associated readings
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NPS heritage-city lesson documents this hull's builder and its wartime program: the Savannah Machine and Foundry Company, 'a boat repairing firm,' put up a million-dollar plant on the Savannah River and was 'just now starting on its 21st minesweeper since November 1941' at the time of the source text; principal Walter Lee Mingledorff Jr. estimated about 1,900 workers at full production on a nine-sweeper contract worth roughly $15-16 million, and the yard designed to keep building smaller Navy craft after the war. Savannah-built minesweepers served in the North African, Italian, and Normandy invasions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (yard program); lesson current as of 2026-09-22
- Population
- Savannah Machine & Foundry construction workforce (~1,900 at capacity, 1941-45)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard context only - the NPS lesson documents the yard's minesweeper program and workforce, does not name AM-246, and contains no asbestos or materials content. Savannah Machine & Foundry is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-07
-
[8]NPS National Historic Landmark nomination, USS Hazard (AM-240), NRHP ref. 79003712 - Admirable-class description and surviving-sister condition [nps]
- Locator
- NPS NHL nomination form 79003712, classification/description/significance sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NHL nomination for this hull's sister USS Hazard (AM-240, Winslow Marine Railway, 1944) documents the class: 'Admirable class minesweepers formed the majority of American minesweepers built during World War II,' fitted for wire and acoustic sweeping and doubling as ASW/AAW platforms; class data 185 ft, 900 t loaded, 33 ft beam, 15 kt, crew 104. The nomination reports Hazard retains essentially all original 1945-era equipment ('radio, engines, ovens, electrical systems, plumbing ... fully operational'; 'a virtual time capsule dating from 1945') - demonstrating that original-era Admirable-class material can survive aboard a preserved sister. Hazard is the only Admirable-class minesweeper surviving in the United States; sister USS Inaugural was destroyed in the 1993 Mississippi River flood.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (class era); nomination circa 1985-86
- Population
- Admirable-class crews (class context); museum visitors/staff (Hazard)
- Limitations
- Sister-hull and class-level context only - the nomination never names AM-246 and contains no asbestos statement for any hull. Survival of original material aboard Hazard says nothing about materials installed on, or remaining aboard, Implicit.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-08
-
[9]Batch-1218 search ledger (this record): DANFS verbatim transcription via losthistory/hazegray; NavSource mine-warfare archive; HyperWar per-hull page; NARA Special List 44 + asbestos guided-topic; NPS Savannah heritage lesson + Hazard NHL nomination; shipyards.json lookup; CourtListener API (blocked, 429) + Google-indexed fallback; VA BVA index; NVR; general web for litigation/abatement naming AM-246 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-implicit-am246-01 through sl-uss-implicit-am246-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Implicit / AM-246 / Yung Chia / MSF-47 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) was rate-limited (HTTP 429, shared 2,800/day cap) at time of research; Google-indexed site:courtlistener.com and VA BVA searches returned no qualifying hit naming the vessel. Law-firm/marketing list pages name the ship (mesothelioma.com minesweeper table lists 'USS Implicit | AM-246 | Admirable | 1/20/1944 | To China, 1948'; mesotheliomaveterans.org lists USS Implicit; navyshipexposure.com's Implicit page covers MSO-455 - the second, non-target hull) but carry no ship-specific content - excluded per batch source rules.
- 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 1943-44 diesel minesweeper is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The hull left U.S. custody in 1948, so no U.S. late-life record chain (reserve fleet, museum, domestic scrapping) exists to generate documentation; ROC Navy records were not searched (language/access barrier). The CourtListener API query itself was blocked by the shared daily cap - the litigation check rests on the indexed fallback; an authenticated API re-run (exact name + hull number, with AM-455/MSO-455 collision disambiguation) remains an open verification item.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-implicit-am246-09