Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'John Blish' entry (DANFS transcription mirror; canonical NHHC page returned 404 on access) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full DANFS entry text (namesake bio, stats block, service narrative)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents this hull: laid down by Ballard Marine Railway Co., Seattle, 1943-05-23; launched 1943-09-06 (sponsor Miss Patricia McQuire); commissioned USS PCS-1457, 1944-02-26. Supported Marianas operations (Guam, Tinian) summer 1944; hydrographic duties in the Pacific from November 1944; provided hydrographic information for the Iwo Jima landings of 1945-02-19; reclassified AGS-10 on 1945-03-20 and named John Blish 3 days later; participated in the invasion of Okinawa; reclassified AGSC-10 on 1946-07-27; performed hydrographic services off the U.S. West Coast for 2 years; sailed to New York 1948; decommissioned there 1949-08-26; sold for scrapping to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, 1950-02-10. Awarded four battle stars for WWII service. DANFS stats block: dp 245, l 136', b 23'4", dr 8'7", s 14k, cpl 58, cl PCS-1376. Namesake: Cmdr. John Bell Blish (1860-1921), inventor of the Blish sounding tube and the Blish lock used in the Thompson submachine gun.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1950
- Population
- Ship's company (~58 per DANFS stats block); survey crews and boat crews operating signals/buoys ashore and afloat
- Limitations
- Verbatim DANFS transcription hosted on a mirror (losthistory.net/hazegray) because the canonical NHHC page (history.navy.mil/danfs/j3/john_blish.htm) returns 404 - same link-rot condition documented in BATCH-01. The source contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information whatsoever. DANFS dates conflict with secondary compilations on the naming date (implied 1945-03-23 vs NavSource 1945-03-24) and decommissioning (1949-08-26 vs 1949-08-22) - conflicts logged in gaps, not resolved. Does not establish any exposure condition aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-01
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[2]NavSource Online, Patrol Craft Sweeper Photo Archive - 'John Blish (AGSC 10) ex-John Blish (AGS 10) ex-PCS-1457' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 12/071457, specifications block and chronology list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archive page documents: planned as PC-1457, reclassified PCS-1457 in April 1943; laid down 1943-05-23 at Ballard Marine Railway Co., Seattle; launched 1943-09-06; commissioned USS PCS-1457 on 1944-02-26; reclassified Hydrographic Survey Ship AGS-10 on 1945-03-20; named John Blish 1945-03-24; reclassified Coastal Surveying Ship AGSC-10 on 1946-07-27; decommissioned 1949-08-22; sold for scrap 1950-02-10 to Boston Metals Co. of Baltimore. Specs: 245 t light / 338 t full; 136' length; 24'6" beam; 8'7" draft; 14.1 kts; complement 57; armament one 3"/50 DP mount, one 20mm mount, four depth charge projectors, one hedgehog projector, two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 800-bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines with Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1943-1950
- Population
- Ship's company (57 per this source)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not a primary document - used for specs and date cross-check only. Conflicts with DANFS: naming date 1945-03-24 vs DANFS '3 days later' (implied 03-23); decommission 1949-08-22 vs DANFS 08-26; complement 57 vs 58; beam 24'6" vs 23'4"; armament lists differ (NavSource shows hedgehog, DANFS shows 40mm + 4x20mm). Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-02
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[3]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
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII, the era and program under which this hull was built (1943, Ballard Marine Railway, Seattle).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-03
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[4]NavSource PCS-1376 class specifications (navsource.net/archives/12/071376.htm) + Navypedia 'PCS submarine-chasers (PCS1376)' class entry + WW2 Patrol Craft Sailors Association class data (ww2pcsa.org) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PCS-1376 page specs; Navypedia PCS1376 design note; ww2pcsa.org/patrol-craft-sweeper.html program table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- PCS-1376-class design context: 59 patrol craft sweepers delivered of 90 ordered, built by small commercial yards; diesel propulsion (two GM 8-268A engines, twin screws, no boilers or steam plant); Navypedia's class entry states wood was chosen as the hull construction material (non-magnetic minesweeper role); PCSA lists unit cost $723,000 and tabulates the AGS/AGSC hydrographic-survey conversions among the class's documented conversion paths.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (class construction program)
- Population
- PCS-class crews and builder-yard trades (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level design data from secondary compilations (NavSource, Navypedia, PCSA veterans association) - no builder's spec, Booklet of General Plans, or BuShips drawing was retrieved for this hull. Wooden-hull statement rests on Navypedia (secondary) and the minesweeper design rationale; not verified against a primary document. Establishing what a class typically carried is not evidence of what this hull carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-04
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[5]Pinsel, Marc I., '150 Years of Service on the Seas: A Pictorial History of the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office from 1830 to 1980,' Vol. 1 (1830-1946), Dept. of the Navy, Oceanographic Office / U.S. G.P.O., 1982 - LCCN 2009366059 [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org bibliographic record; Wikipedia USS_John_Blish references (Pinsel 1982 pp. 59, 64, 67, 70) used as discovery lead only
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office institutional history covering the WWII hydrographic-survey program this vessel served. Secondary summaries of the volume attribute detailed operational coverage of this hull's survey work at pp. 59, 64-70 - including pre-invasion surveys at Iwo Jima with charts printed aboard USS Sumner and a Sumner survey team's navigational signal erected atop Mount Suribachi - plus the broader PCS-to-AGS conversion program (five hulls: AGS-6 through AGS-10).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1982 publication; covers 1830-1946
- Limitations
- Bibliographic record verified (archive.org identifier 150yearsofservic0001pins, publisher Dept. of the Navy Oceanographic Office); the volume is borrow-controlled and page-level text was NOT retrieved this pass. The Sumner/Suribachi and Yangtze-service details are reported via secondary summaries only and are not asserted as verified facts. Does not contain or constitute asbestos documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-05
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[6]NARA archival path mapped, holdings unverified: RG 24 (Navy deck logs) for USS PCS-1457 / John Blish AGS-10, 1944-1949; RG 19 / BuShips contract and plans files for Ballard Marine Railway hull; WWII deck logs digitization project (NARA College Park) is the retrieval path [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 deck logs; catalog.archives.gov (query attempted 2026-09-20)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The record path for hull-specific construction and operations records exists: deck logs for the commissioned period (1944-02-26 through 1949-08 decommissioning) in RG 24, and builder contract/plan records under BuShips wartime contract files. These are the sources that would hold any materials or insulation specifications.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Limitations
- Path mapping only - no box-level or digitized retrieval performed. catalog.archives.gov query interface was not programmatically retrievable this pass (JS-gated/API-key interface), so the presence of a digitized PCS-1457 log set is unconfirmed. Record-group mapping is not evidence about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-06
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[7]Batch-762 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror; NavSource; NVR details page; NARA catalog; CourtListener API v4 and HTML; general web litigation surface; shipbuildinghistory Ballard yard table; PCSA class page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-blish-ags10-01 through sl-uss-john-blish-ags10-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming John Blish / AGS-10 / AGSC-10 / PCS-1457 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1950, so no extant-structure survey or museum disclosure can exist. Litigation coverage is INCOMPLETE: CourtListener API v4 returned HTTP 429 (daily quota exhausted, ~8.7h to reset) and the HTML interface returned 403 this pass - the opinion/docket sweep is logged as blocked, not as a clean negative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-20
- Study period
- 2026-09-20
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-typical materials in a 1943 wartime build remain plausible and unrefuted. The blocked CourtListener sweep means the litigation negative is partial-coverage only; a follow-up pass on the opinion index plus RECAP dockets is required before the litigation surface can be called fully negative. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-blish-ags10-07