Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "Kestrel II (AMCU-26)" [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, 1952-1960 reclassification/Cold War service/disposal paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The vessel was reclassified Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) and renamed Kestrel (AMCU-26) 7 March 1952. Conversion work began 24 August 1953 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and was completed 1 March 1954; the ship was recommissioned 8 February 1954, Lt. Gurley P. Chatelain in command. After shakedown and training it arrived at San Diego 27 March 1954 for operations in the 11th Naval District; from 1954 to 1957 Kestrel operated out of San Diego on underwater mine location exercises. It was reclassified Coastal Minehunter MHC-26 in February 1955 (part of the Navy's fleet-wide 7 February 1955 redesignation of all AMCU hulls to MHC). Kestrel was decommissioned at San Diego 2 December 1957 and sold to Murphy Marine Service 28 June 1960.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1952-1960
- Limitations
- Same DANFS link-rot condition as ev-01/02. The recommissioning date (8 Feb 1954) as reported precedes the stated conversion-completion date (1 Mar 1954); reported exactly as documented, not reconciled - see record-level note. Establishes command custody, conversion yard/dates, and final disposal-to-commercial-buyer only; no asbestos, abatement, or hazmat content. Does not establish what the Puget Sound conversion work involved materially (e.g., whether any insulation or gasket materials were removed, added, or disturbed).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-03
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command DANFS commissioning line; NavSource Naval History photo-gallery title, Kestrel (MHC 26) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS commissioning sentence; NavSource page title/header
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source-designation quirk resolved: DANFS's own commissioning line for this hull reads "commissioned USS LSI(L)-874" on 13 October 1944 (LSI(L) = Landing Ship, Infantry, Large, a larger/different type), and NavSource's photo-gallery title likewise reads "USS Kestrel (LSI(L)-874/AMCU-26)." The wartime hull was in fact built and operated to the LCI(L)-351-class specification (LCI(L) = Landing Craft, Infantry, Large), the designation used throughout the rest of the DANFS narrative and by every other source reviewed. Per batch instruction, the wartime LCI(L)-874 designation is adopted as primary and LSIL-874/LSI(L)-874 is retained only as a documented alias, not treated as a distinct or additional hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Resolves a designation-label discrepancy between two authoritative-source titles for the same hull; does not affect identity, dates, or custody. NavSource page itself could not be directly re-fetched during this session (DNS resolution failure for navsource.org from this environment); its title text is corroborated via prior search-index results and by the identical LSI(L) framing already present in the DANFS text. No asbestos content in either source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-04
-
[3]Tweedale, Geoffrey, "Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences," (historical/occupational-health journal article) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article sections on U.S. Navy asbestos specification history and WWII-era fire-protection standards
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical scholarship documents that the U.S. Navy specified asbestos-containing materials in new ship construction well before WWII (the article traces Navy asbestos specification for gaskets, insulation, packing, and tape back to 1922 submarine construction) and that by WWII "asbestos board" had become the Navy's standard noncombustible fire-protection material fleet-wide. This is Navy-wide policy scholarship; it does not distinguish by propulsion type (diesel vs. steam) and does not name this vessel, its class, or the LCI(L)-to-AMCU conversion program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1922-1970s (article scope); WWII era relevant here
- Population
- U.S. Navy shipboard and shipyard population, WWII era (class/fleet context)
- Limitations
- General Navy-fleet policy documentation, not hull- or class-specific; this vessel and the LCI(L)/AMCU type are not mentioned. Does not establish that asbestos was installed on, or remains aboard, this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Does not distinguish diesel small-craft engineering spaces from steam-powered vessels, so no diesel-specific claim is drawn from it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-05
-
[4]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
- PubMed abstract (PMID 3555021); full text at Wiley Online Library (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajim.4700110311) was not independently re-read in full this session
- 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 World War II, the era and wartime construction program under which this LCI(L) hull was built, and that WWII industrial expansion drove an unprecedented rise in the amount of asbestos utilized fleet-wide.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class/era context)
- Limitations
- The direct PubMed page rendered only a cookie-consent notice to automated fetch and the publisher full-text domain (tandfonline.com/doi.org were blocked by network policy this session, wiley full text not attempted); citation and general subject matter confirmed via bibliographic metadata and prior corroborated use of this same article in this dataset (see ss-john-w-brown.atlas.json ev-ss-john-w-brown-02), but the full article text was not re-verified line-by-line in this session, hence 'partial'. Program/era-level documentation only; does not name this vessel, does not establish quantity, location, presence, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-06
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 (courtlistener.com), opinion (type=o), docket (type=d), and RECAP (type=r) searches [court_record]
- Locator
- See search_ledger rows sl-uss-kestrel-amcu26-04 through sl-uss-kestrel-amcu26-09 for individual query strings and result counts
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches for the exact ship name ("USS Kestrel" + asbestos), each of its three hull designations ("AMCU-26", "MHC-26", "LCI(L)-874"/"LCI 874"), and the bare name "Kestrel" combined with "minesweeper" all returned zero results. A broader unscoped opinion search on "Kestrel" alone returned nine hits, none of them naval or asbestos-related and none containing the word "asbestos": all nine are unrelated corporate-name collisions (Kestrel Aircraft Company, Kestrel Technologies LLC, Kestrel Oil & Gas Properties L.P., Kestrel Coal Pty. Ltd., Kestrel Holdings I L.L.C., Kestrel Capital L.P.) and were classified as name collisions, not qualifying cases.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- Search conducted 2026-09-23
- Limitations
- Absence of a located litigation record does not establish absence of exposure or of unfiled/settled claims; CourtListener's opinion index is not a complete record of all filed cases (many settle or are unpublished at the trial level). Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim, causation, or legal eligibility for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-07
-
[6]Batch-1655 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NPS/NRHP database check (no listing); NARA Guide to Federal Records (RG 19, RG 38); NARA Navy-asbestos-records research guide; CourtListener searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kestrel-amcu26-01 through sl-uss-kestrel-amcu26-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located under any of this hull's three designations: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, GAO report, or NPS/NRHP hazmat note was found in the public official sources searched (DANFS, NPS place-page/NRHP database, NARA finding-aid guides, and the sources listed in the search ledger). The hull was never preserved as a museum or memorial ship (sold directly to a commercial buyer in 1960), so it has none of the museum-disclosure or hull-survey documentation seen for preserved vessels in this dataset.
- 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 the hull during its 1944-1960 Navy service - WWII-era small-craft construction is class/era-consistent with asbestos-containing gaskets, insulation, packing, and tape (see ev-05, ev-06). Does not establish presence or absence aboard this specific hull, quantity, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-08
-
[7]National Archives and Records Administration, Navy asbestos-records research guide [other_primary]
- Locator
- Guide sections: primary record groups, ship-specific vs. component-based records, research methodology for a specific hull
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Archival lead (not retrieved - no in-person research or reproduction order performed, no spend authorized): NARA's own published research guide for Navy asbestos records directs researchers first to Record Group 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships, 1794-1972), specifically General/Confidential/Secret Correspondence (1940-1961) filed by hull designation (this hull would be filed as "AMCU-26" or "LCI(L)-874"), General Information Books, and Board of Inspection and Survey material-condition reports; and secondarily to RG 38 (Chief of Naval Operations, Board of Inspection and Survey reports), RG 143 (Bureau of Supplies and Accounts specification indices, including Navy Filing Manual code S39 for insulation/lagging), and RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel deck logs/muster rolls). NARA's guide states it "cannot perform the research required for this topic" and that such research "may quickly become layered and complex."
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- Guide reflects current NARA finding aids; underlying records 1940-1961
- Limitations
- Record-group and finding-aid mapping only; no box-level or correspondence-level retrieval was performed for this hull. Whether any hull-specific asbestos-relevant correspondence exists for LCI(L)-874/AMCU-26/MHC-26 in RG 19 or the other named groups is unknown until an in-person or contracted archival search is conducted. Nothing in this row is itself an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-09
-
[8]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "Kestrel II (AMCU-26)" [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, construction/commissioning paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LCI(L)-874 was laid down 7 September 1944 by the New Jersey Shipbuilding Corporation, Barber, N.J.; launched 6 October 1944; and commissioned 13 October 1944, Lt. (j.g.) J. O. Harrison in command.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- The live DANFS URL returned HTTP 503 on every direct-fetch attempt on 2026-09-23 (consistent with the NHHC link-rot pattern already logged in BATCH-01-REPORT.md). Content verified via (a) a search-engine cached extraction of the same URL quoting these exact facts and dates, and (b) Wikipedia's USS Kestrel (AMCU-26) article, which states it "incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" and reproduces this passage verbatim. No independent primary-document image of the DANFS page was obtained. Establishes construction/commissioning only; no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-01
-
[9]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, "Kestrel II (AMCU-26)" [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, WWII/postwar Pacific service paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Following shakedown and training off the Atlantic coast, LCI(L)-874 departed Key West 25 November 1944 for the Pacific; after further training at San Diego from 13 December, it departed 29 January 1945, touching Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Guam before arriving at Peleliu 12 April 1945, and performed picket and patrol duty in the Palau Islands for the remainder of World War II. From September 1945 to February 1946 it operated between the Palau and Mariana Islands providing mail and shuttle service; it departed Eniwetok 4 February 1946, reached San Pedro a month later, sailed to Oregon in May, and was decommissioned there 10 July 1946, joining the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Same DANFS link-rot condition as ev-01; verified via cached search extraction and Wikipedia's verbatim DANFS incorporation. Establishes WWII deployment, duty type (picket/patrol, not combat action), and first decommissioning only; no asbestos content, no hull-condition or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kestrel-amcu26-02