Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, Incredible (AM-249) (builder, specifications block, full service narrative, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block and full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Complete official service history: built by Savannah Machine & Foundry Co., Savannah, GA; commissioned 1944-04-17 (Lt. R. N. Ekland, USNR); convoy escort to North Africa and minesweeping for the southern France invasion (landings Aug 1944); repelled a 12-craft German human-torpedo attack 1944-09-10, destroying two; Black Sea sweeping out of Sevastopol and air-sea rescue patrol Jan-Feb 1945; Norfolk overhaul then Pacific transfer Jul 1945; Operation Skagway mine clearance East China Sea/Ryukyus to 1946-02-17; decommissioned Puget Sound 1946-11-06; 'in service, out of commission' Yokosuka 1947-11-28 to 1949-09-28; recommissioned Yokosuka 1950-08-14; rescued 27 survivors of USS Pirate (AM-275) after it struck a mine 1950-10-12; final decommission Long Beach 1954-09-21; reclassified MSF-249 1955-02-07; stricken 1959-12-01; sold 1960-08-08 to National Metal and Steel Corp. Two battle stars WWII, four for Korea.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Crew (complement 104) 1944-46 and 1950-54; Savannah Machine & Foundry construction trades 1943-44
- Limitations
- Verbatim transcription of the official DANFS entry (HyperWar mirror; live NHHC URL 404 on 2026-09-22). The transcription reads 'launched 21 November 1942' - a typo, since the keel was laid 1943-09-09; launch year carried as 1943 per NavSource and the ship's build sequence. Entry contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazmat information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-01
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[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II: Mine Vessels, NAVSHIPS 250-011 (13 April 1945), AM table p.34 (scan via shipscribe.com) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-011, Mine Sweepers (AM) characteristics table, p.34, row 'INCREDIBLE ... AM 249'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official wartime Ships' Data table lists Incredible (AM 249) with Cooper-Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines of 1,710 shaft horsepower and National Supply reduction gear - a diesel propulsion plant with no boilers and no steam system.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945 (publication); plant installed 1943-44
- Population
- Engine-room and machinery-space crew; construction trades
- Limitations
- Establishes propulsion type only; the table contains no insulation or asbestos information. Bounds era inference: the boiler and steam-line lagging typical of steam-driven combatants is not applicable to this hull. Scan is column-interleaved OCR; row alignment verified in layout view against the C-B GSB-8 ditto chain (AM-240 through AM-256).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-02
-
[3]Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images: USS Incredible (AM-249, later MSF-249), 1944-1960 (mirrored NHHC photo page) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHC Online Library page for AM-249/MSF-249; photo list 80-G-437698, NH 73146, NH 96908, 80-G-422081, NH 73685
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Historical Center summary corroborates the DANFS record: 530-ton Admirable-class minesweeper built at Savannah, commissioned April 1944; southern France invasion and the 1944-09-10 human-torpedo action; Black Sea duty early 1945; postwar East China Sea/Ryukyus sweeping; Yokosuka 'in service' period; 1950 Wonsan minesweeping; decommissioned September 1954; redesignated MSF-249 February 1955; sold for scrapping August 1960. Page catalogs NARA-held official photos incl. 80-G-422081 (Mine Division 31 conference in her wardroom off Wonsan, 1950-10-26).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Crew 1944-46, 1950-54
- Limitations
- Corroborating official history and photo catalog; no asbestos, insulation, or hazmat content. Sale month agrees with DANFS (August 1960); the '1 December 1960' date in secondary infoboxes is not supported here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-03
-
[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program, including that Navy ships built during the WWII era contained asbestos insulation products and that removal/replacement created shipyard-worker exposure - the program-level basis for era inference on a 1943-44 naval hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; does not name this hull or this class, does not establish what products were aboard AM-249, and its fieldwork yards (Long Beach, Norfolk) are not documented build or overhaul sites for this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-04
-
[5]National Park Service, '(H)our History Lesson: Shipbuilding in Savannah and Chatham County, Georgia' (WWII Heritage City lesson quoting Atlanta Constitution 1941 and Atlanta Journal 1944) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS lesson, Readings 1 and 3 ('Ocean Broom Factory', Atlanta Journal 1944-09-10)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NPS documents Savannah Machine & Foundry's wartime conversion into a Navy minesweeper plant on the Savannah River: a ~$1M plant employing ~1,900 workers at full production on a nine-sweeper contract (~$15-16M), welding steel minesweepers 'as fast as the steel can be welded' - by September 1944 starting its 21st minesweeper. This is the yard that built AM-249.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1944
- Population
- Savannah Machine & Foundry construction workforce (~1,900 at full production; ~3,300 peak per archival finding aid)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard context, not hull documentation; identifies the construction workforce population for this hull but contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information. Period-press figures are as quoted by NPS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-05
-
[6]Los Angeles Times, 'Port Bedeviled by Pollution Sins of the Past' (1991-08-17); Port of Los Angeles cultural-resources documentation for Berths 212-214 (former Calship/National Metal and Steel site) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- LA Times 1991-08-17; portoflosangeles.org cultural resources section 3-4
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The facility that scrapped this hull is documented: National Metal and Steel Corp. dismantled Navy ships at the former California Shipbuilding property on Terminal Island until operations ceased 1986-01-01; the Port of Los Angeles pursued the company over site contamination and absorbed a ~$12M cleanup. Documents the disposal pathway of this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1960 (this hull's sale); contamination litigation 1991
- Population
- National Metal and Steel shipbreaking workforce (1960s-1986)
- Limitations
- Documents the dismantling site and its environmental legacy only; coverage is not asbestos-specific and says nothing about materials removed from AM-249. No hull-level abatement or exposure record exists for the scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-06
-
[7]Attorney witness-search posting on the USS Incredible (AM-249) unit page, Korean War Project / koreanwar.org (undated public posting) [other_primary]
- Locator
- koreanwar.org USS Incredible unit page, comment section (attorney posting re: fireman, 1951-1954)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- An attorney representing the family of a fireman who served aboard USS Incredible 1951-1954 posted a public witness-search request on the ship's unit page, stating the client died of mesothelioma ('an asbestos-caused cancer') and seeking shipmates who served during that window. Establishes that at least one claimant-side asbestos matter has asserted exposure aboard this hull.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1951-1954 (alleged exposure window); posting undated
- Population
- Navy fireman aboard USS Incredible 1951-1954; alleged mesothelioma death
- Limitations
- Litigation-stage discipline: classified BELOW pleading stage - this is counsel's public witness-solicitation posting, not a complaint, docket, or opinion. No case name, court, docket number, or outcome is identifiable; the underlying claim's existence is asserted by the attorney's own post and is unverified at any litigation stage. Does not establish asbestos aboard, exposure, causation, or eligibility. Source is a veterans' reunion board, not an official record - carried as archival_lead pending docket verification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-08
-
[8]Batch-1221 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live + transcription), NHC Online Library, NAVSHIPS 250-011 official data, NVR, NPS, CourtListener/PACER ship-name search, law-firm list spot-check, NARA deck-log availability [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-incredible-am249-01 through sl-uss-incredible-am249-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or donation condition exists (the hull was scrapped in 1960), and no docketed case naming USS Incredible or AM-249/MSF-249 was found in the public indexes searched. One claimant-side artifact exists (ev-08, below-pleading-stage attorney posting). The hull appears on law-firm 'asbestos ship list' marketing pages - excluded as a source class, recorded in the ledger.
- 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; WWII-era Navy construction practice makes era-typical ACM plausible but unproven for this hull. CourtListener authenticated-API search was rate-limit blocked at session time (sl-uss-incredible-am249-06) - the no-docketed-case finding is provisional pending a queued re-query. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-incredible-am249-07