Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Kite I (AM-75) (build, acquisition, service, and disposal record; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; official text confirmed via Wayback capture of history.navy.mil page, 2025-02-19) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Kite I (AM-75)', specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: built in 1928 as beam trawler Holy Cross by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; purchased by the Navy from H. C. Trawling Corp. 11 September 1940; commissioned 3 March 1941, Lt. Comdr. George L. Burns in command; cleared Boston 27 March 1941 for training with the mine warfare school at Yorktown, Va.; operated with the Support Force out of Norfolk; arrived Argentia, Newfoundland, 31 August 1941 for minesweeping operations in the North Atlantic; swept sea lanes in Newfoundland waters until 3 May 1944; arrived Boston 7 May 1944; decommissioned at Quincy, Mass., 14 August 1944; transferred to WSA 2 March 1945 and sold. DANFS specifications block: 482 tons; 124'3" length; 23' beam; 10'6" draft; 9 knots; one 3-inch gun.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1945
- Population
- Trawler crew (1928-1940); Navy crew (1941-1944); conversion-yard workers (1940-41)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, dates, dimensions, and service history - it contains no materials, machinery-detail, or asbestos information and does not address exposure. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (verified 2026-09-22); a Wayback capture of the official page (2025-02-19) confirms identical text. Renaming (14 Aug 1940), striking (22 Aug 1944), and the conversion yard/dates come from NavSource and secondary compilations, not from the DANFS narrative.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-01
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[2]NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Kite (AM 75) - compiled hull record, specifications, conversion yard, and NARA/NHHC photo captions (page 11/02075, last updated 2023-07-14) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 11/02075, 'Converted Minesweeper' data block and Specifications section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiles this hull's record: steel hull; Bath Iron Works yard number 120; delivered to F. J. O'Hara & Sons, Boston, as beam trawler Holy Cross (official number 228057) 27 November 1928; renamed Kite 14 August 1940; Navy acquisition 11 September 1940; conversion to a minesweeper by Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, MA, 12 September 1940 - April 1941; commissioned 3 March 1941; propulsion one Fairbanks-Morse diesel, single propeller, 360 hp; armament one 3-inch/23 gun and two .30-caliber machine guns; complement listed as 'unknown'; struck from the Naval Register 22 August 1944; transferred to WSA for disposal 2 March 1945; final disposition fate unknown. Commanding officers: LCDR George Louis Burns, USNR (1941-1943); LT Jacob Schulman, USN (1943-1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1928-1945
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel East Boston conversion workers (1940-41); Navy crew (1941-44)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained photo archive, not an official repository - its compilation reproduces Ships' Data-type specifications and NARA/NHHC photo captions; all key dates corroborated by DANFS. Complement is listed as unknown, so no Navy crew figure is asserted. Armament spec conflicts with one secondary source (3-inch/23 vs 3-inch/50); official number conflicts with a registry-derived figure (228057 vs 228067). Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-02
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[3]NARA/NHHC photo record via NavSource: USS Kite and USS Linnet (AM-76) receiving post-commissioning alterations at Wet Slip No. 3, Norfolk Navy Yard, 2 August 1941 (George Strock, LIFE magazine); NARA photo 19-N-23650 (Kite underway off Boston, 25 March 1941) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 11/02075, photo captions 110207503-110207504 and 110207502
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous photographic documentation places this hull inside Norfolk Navy Yard Wet Slip No. 3 on 2 August 1941 undergoing post-commissioning alterations alongside sister AM-76 - a documented shipyard work period on this hull between completion of the Bethlehem East Boston conversion (April 1941) and departure for Argentia (August 1941).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard workers (August 1941)
- Limitations
- Photo-caption evidence only - the scope, trades, and materials of the alterations are not documented; no work order, contract, or materials record located. Does not establish asbestos disturbance or content aboard the hull. The underlying negatives (LIFE/Strock collection; NARA 19-N-23650) are the archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-03
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[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) - documents that asbestos-containing insulation and related materials were standard aboard Navy ships and disturbed during shipyard work [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos record exists for this hull. Era-consistent applications for a steel-hulled trawler converted at a commercial yard in 1940-41: thermal lagging on the diesel exhaust system and muffler uptake; sheet and molded insulation on hot machinery surfaces; asbestos-content gaskets and packing in piping, pumps, and valves; electrical insulation and fireproofing. The inference is bounded by this hull's plant - a single small Fairbanks-Morse diesel with no boilers and no steam turbines - so the boiler/turbine insulation pattern typical of steam combatants does not apply to this ship.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1944
- Population
- Conversion-yard workers (1940-41); Navy crew (1941-44)
- Limitations
- Era inference only - no survey, manifest, abatement record, or verified litigation identifies asbestos aboard this hull. GAO HRD-80-2 is program-level (Navy shipyard worker protection), not hull documentation; full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description. Does not establish presence, quantity, or exposure aboard AM-75.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-04
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[5]Batch-1426 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS and Wayback capture; NavSource archive; CourtListener API v4 opinion index (blocked - authenticated daily quota exhausted, HTTP 429); general web index for litigation, survey, and abatement records [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kite-am75-01 through sl-uss-kite-am75-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS Kite (AM-75) or the trawler Holy Cross was found in the public sources searched. Competitor asbestos-marketing pages assert an equipment manifest and a 'documented' litigation record for this hull but provide no primary-source citation and contain demonstrable factual errors (see correction row ev-uss-kite-am75-06).
- 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 - a 1928 steel hull refitted for Navy service in 1940-41 is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation and gasketing. The CourtListener query could not be executed (authenticated quota exhausted, HTTP 429 on 2026-09-22), so the litigation check is incomplete rather than negative-verified. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-05
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[6]DANFS, Kite I (AM-75) - authoritative identity and dates used to correct competitor misstatements about this hull [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Kite I (AM-75)' + AM-403 footnote; competitor pages as indexed 2026-09
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Competitor asbestos-marketing page navyshipexposure.com describes AM-75 as 'Auk-class', commissioned 1942, 'in service 1942-1972', pairs 'AM-75 / AMS-22' as a single vessel, and asserts a documented equipment manifest (Westinghouse, G.E., Atlas Valve Co., E B Badger and Sons Co.) and litigation record. The primary record establishes: AM-75 is the lead ship of the Kite class of converted trawler minesweepers (2 units, AM-75/AM-76), commissioned 3 March 1941, decommissioned 14 August 1944, sold out of service 1945; AMS-22/MSC(O)-22 was a different, later USS Kite, and AM-403 was cancelled during construction 12 August 1945. A second competitor aggregation (asbestos-products.com) lists AM-75 among vessels 'documented' in BUSHIPS records as carrying Gardner Denver equipment. No primary source located supports any of these competitor claims.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026 (competitor pages as indexed)
- Limitations
- Correction documents what the primary record establishes versus competitor assertions; it does not disprove any competitor manifest product-by-product, only that no primary source located supports it. Competitor sources are excluded from citations per batch rules; domains are named here only to identify the corrected claims. Live NHHC page serves 404 - DANFS text via verified mirror.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kite-am75-06