USS Limpkin (AMS-195)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Limpkin II (MSC-195)' entry (published 29 July 2015) - verbatim text via Internet Archive capture 2022-10-30 of the live NHHC page (which now 404s; standing NHHC link-rot per BATCH-01) and corroborated by the Haze Gray & Underway transcription mirror (Wayback capture) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Limpkin II (MSC-195)' entry, stats line + full text + hazegray transcriber's disposal note (Wayback capture 20221030202656; hazegray.org/danfs/mine/msc195.htm via Wayback)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS entry for Limpkin II (MSC-195): '(MSC-195: dp. 320; l. 144'0"; b. 28'0"; dr. 9'0"; s. 14.0 k.; a. 2 20mm.; cl. Bluebird). The second Limpkin (MSC-195) was laid down 17 April 1953 by Breward Marine, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; launched 22 May 1954; sponsored by Mrs. Edward Applegate; and commissioned 10 April 1955, Lt. T. E. Vines in command.' Career: reported to Mine Division 45 at Charleston 15 April 1955; shakedown Narragansett Bay; Fleet Sonar School Key West 20 July-3 August; transferred to Mine Division 41 on New Year's Day 1956 (Mine Evaluation Depot Key West, Guantanamo refresher, Atlantic Fleet minesweeping exercise); homeport Yorktown, Va. (Navy Mine Warfare School) January 1957 for two years of minesweeping instruction; homeport Little Creek, Va. 1 January 1959 (Atlantic Fleet amphibious forces; experimental minesweeping gear trials, Chesapeake Bay); NATO exercise 'Sweepclear' off Nova Scotia September-October 1960 via Boston and Halifax with Canadian minesweeps; Caribbean deployment (Cristobal, San Juan) with LANTPHIBEX 1-61; 1961 Chesapeake Bay equipment evaluation and training; LANTPHIBEX early 1962 and joint 'Sweepclear' with Canadian Mine Squadron 1 at Nova Scotia October 1962; 1963 'Sweepclear' at Mayport, Fla.; Atlantic coast and Caribbean mine-warfare service until late 1968. 'On 26 September 1968 she decommissioned and was placed in service as a Naval Reserve training ship, based at Perth Amboy, N.J. She continues to give reservists first hand training into 1969.' Transcriber's note (hazegray transcription): 'Limpkin was disposed of by Navy sale 1 September 1976.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1969 (entry coverage); disposal note 1976

   Population

   Crew, 1955-1969 (DANFS coverage); Naval Reserve trainees, Perth Amboy, 1968-1969

   Limitations

   Authoritative identity/history record naming this hull. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information - supports no asbestos claim. The DANFS text itself prints 'Breward Marine, Inc.' (typographical error for Broward Marine, Inc. - every other source, including the yard's own build list, gives Broward). Narrative ends in 1969 (the volume's publication era); the 1971 Indonesia transfer and 1976 striking/scrapping are not covered by the DANFS text - only the hazegray transcriber's one-line disposal note. Stat line 'cl. Bluebird' vs NavSource 'Falcon Class' grouping - see correction row ev-05.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Limpkin (MSC 195) ex-Limpkin (AMS 195), navsource.org/archives/11/05195.htm (page content via Internet Archive capture 2026-01-02; live site returns HTTP 406 to automated fetch) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Page header 'Falcon Class Motor Minesweeper' milestone block, Specifications block, Commanding Officers table, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive entry for Limpkin (MSC 195) ex-AMS-195: laid down 17 April 1953 as AMS-195 by Broward Marine Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL; launched 21 May 1954; reclassified Coastal Minesweeper MSC-195, 7 February 1955; commissioned USS Limpkin (MSC 195), 26 March 1955; decommissioned 26 September 1968 and placed in service as a Naval Reserve training ship based at Perth Amboy, NJ; transferred to Indonesia in 1971 and renamed Pulau Anjer (M 719); struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1976; disposed of for scrap through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service 1 September 1976. Spec block: displacement 362 t.; length 144'3"; beam 27'2"; draft 12'; speed 13.6 kts.; complement 40; one twin 20mm mount; four 600shp Packard diesel engines, two shafts. Commanding-officer roster of nine (LT Thomas Edward Vines, USNA 1950, 10 April 1955 - 8 July 1956, through LT William Joseph Donnelly, 1968). Photo table credits NHHC photos NH 81815 and NH 81816; caption for a 27 April 1962 official U.S. Navy photograph shows Limpkin at Vieques, Puerto Rico as one of 14 mine craft in LANTPHIBEX 1-62, an exercise President Kennedy observed.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1976

   Population

   Crew, 1955-1968; Naval Reserve trainees 1968-1971; Indonesian crew 1971-1976

   Limitations

   Volunteer-maintained secondary compilation, not an official record - corroborated against DANFS where they overlap. Sole located source for the post-1969 chain in detail (NRT ship Perth Amboy, Indonesia 1971 as Pulau Anjer M-719, struck 1 May 1976, DRMS scrap 1 September 1976) and for the CO roster and NHHC photo numbers. Internally inconsistent on the commissioning date: its chronology prints 26 March 1955 while its own CO roster starts LT Vines on 10 April 1955 - the DANFS date; see correction row ev-06. Spec block conflicts with DANFS (362 t vs 320; 27'2" vs 28'0"; 12' vs 9'0"; 13.6 kts vs 14.0) - carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos or materials information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-02

3. [3]Navypedia, BLUEBIRD coastal minesweepers (1953-1961) - class table MSC195 row, technical data block, project history [other_primary]

   Locator

   Class table MSC195 row; Technical data block; Project history paragraphs

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Navypedia 'BLUEBIRD coastal minesweepers (1953-1961)' class table row for MSC195 Limpkin: builder Broward, Fort Lauderdale; laid down 4.1953; launched 21.5.1954; commissioned 3.1955; fate 'to Indonesia 1971 (719 Pulau Anjer)'. Class project history: the SCB-69 type 'were essentially versions of the Second World War YMS, initially for transfer abroad under the MDAP programme' - ~159 units launched from 1953 onward, all but twenty transferred, 'often called the Adjutant class'; U.S. MSCs had wooden frames; controllable-pitch propellers; twin 20mm forward. Class technical data: 360 t standard / 400 t full, 44.3 m oa, 13 kts, complement 39; Packard plant (1,200 bhp total) fitted to MSC121, 122, 190-199.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1976

   Population

   Crew, 1955-1971

   Limitations

   Reference compilation; the Limpkin table row corroborates builder, launch month, commissioning month, and Indonesian transfer while technical data is class-level (MSC121-209 series). No asbestos or materials information. Commissioning given at month precision (3.1955) consistent with NavSource's 26 March but not DANFS's 10 April - carried in the correction row. Displacement, complement, and machinery figures conflict across sources - carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-03

4. [4]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Broward Marine yard list - MSC-195 row plus Broward build block (MSC-109..112 Dutch, MSC-195/196/197 USN, MSO-493/494/495) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Broward Marine yard list, Limpkin (MSC-195) row and adjacent Broward rows

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation), Broward Marine yard list, Fort Lauderdale FL: 'Limpkin (MSC-195) | US Navy | minesweeper | 390d | 144 | 10 Apr 1955 | to Indonesia 1971 as Pulau Anjer (M-719), struck 1976' - corroborates builder, yard, delivery/commissioning date (matching DANFS, not NavSource's 26 March), and the Indonesian transfer. Same yard list shows the Broward build program: the four Royal Dutch Navy MSC-109 through MSC-112 hulls, then Limpkin, Meadowlark (MSC-196, to Indonesia 1971 as Pulau Alau M-717), and Parrot (MSC-197, scrapped 1976), followed by the larger MSO-493/494/495 ocean minesweepers.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1976

   Population

   Construction workforce, Broward Marine, Fort Lauderdale, 1953-1955

   Limitations

   Compiler's yard table, secondary - corroborates builder, commissioning date (10 Apr 1955 = DANFS), and the 1971 Indonesian transfer. Live page returned HTTP 404 on shipbuildinghistory.com and the njscuba.net mirror was not directly fetched; the row was verified via search-result extract showing the table contents. '390d' displacement figure conflicts with DANFS (320), NavSource (362), and Navypedia (360/400) - carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos or materials information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-04

5. [5]NavSource Motor Minesweeper (AMS) / Coastal Minesweeper (MSC) class grouping + Navypedia Bluebird class page + DANFS stat block (per ev-01) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource page header 'Falcon Class Motor Minesweeper'; DANFS stat line 'cl. Bluebird'; Navypedia project history

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Class-designation reconciliation: NavSource groups MSC-190 through MSC-199 as 'Falcon Class' (lead-ship convention; adopted by this record per batch instruction); the DANFS spec block for this hull prints 'cl. Bluebird'; Navypedia treats the entire SCB-69 production run (~159 units, 1953-1961) as the Bluebird family, 'often called the Adjutant class' in MDAP context; Wikipedia uses 'Bluebird-class'. All sources agree the type is postwar new construction - the SCB-69 design descends from the WWII YMS but is a 1950s program (laid down 1953 onward), not a WWII YMS-1-class vessel. Record corrects the intake's WWII/YMS-1 metadata to the postwar Falcon-class MSC.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1953-1961 (class production run)

   Limitations

   Documents a naming-convention discrepancy across authoritative compilations, not a disagreement about the hull itself - all sources describe the same postwar SCB-69 wooden-hulled coastal minesweeper. The record retains 'Falcon class' per the batch instruction's canonical designation; the correction is against the intake record's WWII/YMS-1 association, not against any authoritative source.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-05

6. [6]DANFS Limpkin II entry vs NavSource milestone block and CO roster vs Shipbuilding History yard row vs Navypedia table row [other_primary]

   Locator

   Cross-source date comparison; NavSource chronology vs its own Commanding Officers table

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Commissioning-date reconciliation: DANFS (the authoritative entry) prints commissioned 10 April 1955 with 'Lt. T. E. Vines in command'; the Shipbuilding History Broward yard list independently gives 10 Apr 1955; NavSource's own commanding-officer roster starts 'LT Thomas Edward Vines, USN - 10 April 1955' - yet NavSource's milestone chronology prints 'Commissioned USS Limpkin (MSC 195), 26 March 1955' and Navypedia prints 3.1955. The preponderance - DANFS plus NavSource's own roster plus the yard list - supports 10 April 1955; the 26 March figure is retained only as a flagged minority report. Similarly, DANFS prints launched 22 May 1954 vs 21 May in NavSource, Navypedia, and the Wikipedia infobox - unreconciled, DANFS retained.

   Verification

   disputed

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1954-1955

   Limitations

   Resolves nothing by itself - documents a genuine multi-source date conflict so a future pass does not silently pick one figure. The record carries DANFS dates (commissioned 10 April 1955; launched 22 May 1954) because DANFS is the authoritative source and NavSource's own CO roster corroborates the DANFS commissioning date. Wikipedia's infobox is internally inconsistent (26 March commissioned vs its own DANFS-derived body text of 10 April).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-06

7. [7]Rushworth, Denis H., 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal 117(2):35-48 (April 2005), American Society of Naval Engineers [other_primary]

   Locator

   Article abstract and bibliographic record

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era documentation: asbestos was used in U.S. Navy shipboard pipe and machinery thermal insulation and in many other shipboard products, and plaintiffs in Navy asbestos litigation include many exposed while serving in Navy ships built during and following WWII - the era in which this hull was built (1953-54) and served (1955-1976). For this hull type the inference is limited: Falcon-class MSCs were wooden-hulled diesel craft with no boilers or steam plant, so plausible era-typical asbestos applications were confined to diesel exhaust lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical wire insulation, and friction materials such as winch/windlass brake linings - none documented aboard this hull.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   post-WWII era documented; article 2005

   Population

   Navy ship crews and shipyard workers, post-WWII era (context)

   Limitations

   Fleet/era-level scholarship; does not name this vessel or class. Establishes that asbestos was standard Navy practice in the era, not that asbestos was aboard this hull - no quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. A wooden diesel-mechanical minesweeper carried substantially less insulation than the steam combatants the article centers on. Publisher page returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; content characterized at abstract level, same treatment as sibling batch-1696.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-07

8. [8]U.S. General Accounting Office, HRD-80-2, Navy's Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (B-163375, October 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   Report letter to Reps. Anderson and Patterson, 'Navy's Policy on Use of Asbestos' section, pp. 1-2 of the letter (full PDF text via Internet Archive capture 2025-02-11; gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - standing issue per BATCH-01)

   Finding type

   regulatory

   Finding

   GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy's Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (October 1979): 'According to the Navy, although all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables, most ships delivered in the last several years or now under construction have little or no asbestos as thermal insulation, which was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships.' The Navy advised GAO that product specifications for thermal insulation were changed in 1973 to specify asbestos-free materials, but asbestos materials already purchased were in some cases installed in ships under construction - 'some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978'; the October 1975 elimination policy removed/replaced only damaged insulation, modified January 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. This hull was built (1953-54) and spent her entire U.S. career (1955-1971) inside the asbestos era the report describes; she was struck and scrapped in 1976, just as the documented policy regime was beginning.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1973-1979 (policy period); report 1979; hull era 1953-1976

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers and crews, 1970s policy era (context)

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation; names no individual hulls and does not establish asbestos aboard MSC-195. Its relevance is bounded: the 'major use' it documents is thermal insulation - light on a small diesel wooden minesweeper - though the Navy's own framing that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables' covers vessel types exactly like this one. The documented abatement-era regime (1973-1979) postdates her U.S. service and coincides only with her final Indonesian-flag months - no abatement-era record for this hull is expected.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-08

9. [9]U.S. National Archives Catalog - RG 24 deck-log file units 'Limpkin (MSC-195) - [month year]', 1957-1968 (VBA Blue Water Navy Deck Log Project scans); NARA 3rd Quarter FY2025 Release List (archives.gov), item 313-TEP-12 'Project-OF-155 - USS Limpkin 3/6/64' [other_primary]

   Locator

   Catalog API records search (catalog.archives.gov/proxy/records/search), ~20 monthly file units dated 1957-03 to 1968-09, images served via catalog.archives.gov/medialz/rg-024; release-list PDF archives.gov/files/3rd-quarter-fy25-release-list.pdf

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA holdings located for this hull: the National Archives Catalog indexes digitized monthly deck logs for Limpkin (MSC-195) spanning at least March 1957 through September 1968 (the decommissioning month) in Record Group 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), scanned and online via the Veterans Benefits Administration 'Blue Water Navy Deck Log Project' - e.g., file units 'Limpkin (MSC-195) - January 1965' (naId 296936677), 'Limpkin (MSC-195) - September 1968' (naId 182643442), useRestriction 'Unrestricted'. Separately, a NARA motion-picture item is indexed in the official FY2025 third-quarter release list: '313-TEP-12 | Project-OF-155 - USS Limpkin 3/6/64' (4 min 30 sec).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-23

   Study period

   1957-1968 (logs); 1964 (film)

   Population

   Crew of record, 1957-1968

   Limitations

   Verifies that ship-specific primary records exist and are digitized - the deck logs are the authoritative day-by-day activity record for this hull (locations, personnel musters, drills). The logs themselves were not individually read this session; whether any log entry bears on materials, maintenance, or conditions aboard is untested. The 1964 film item is indexed but its content was not viewed. Neither holding is an asbestos record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-09

10. [10]U.S. National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' guided topic (RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence series) [other_primary]

    Locator

    Guided topic page: 'Bureau of Ships General, Confidential, and Secret Correspondence' and 'Unclassified Correspondence 1947-1961' sections (Entries UD 1007-UD 1009); shipyard QM-file guidance

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    NARA research guide 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' documents that ship-level asbestos records live in Record Group 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), with correspondence 1940-1961 filed by hull designation - for this hull the 'AMS195'/'MSC195' vessel files; class correspondence under the lead-hull code ('AMS121 Class' under the Bluebird-class cataloging used by DANFS/Navypedia, or 'AMS190 Class' under NavSource's Falcon-class lead-ship convention); private-yard correspondence filed under 'QM/Broward Marine'. The unclassified general correspondence entries UD 1007 (1953), UD 1008 (1954), and UD 1009 (1955) cover her contract, construction, and commissioning years.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-23

    Study period

    1940-1961 record series; 1953-1955 construction years

    Limitations

    A research pathway, not a located record - no AMS-195/MSC-195 file was retrieved and the guide establishes only where hull-specific materials records would exist if any survive. Records are textual, non-digitized (College Park, MD); retrieval was not performed this session. Class-correspondence file code is ambiguous given the Falcon-vs-Bluebird class-name discrepancy (see ev-05).

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-10

11. [11]CourtListener API v4 search index (opinion and RECAP docket), queries executed 2026-09-23 via authenticated fleet helper [court_record]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-limpkin-ams195-06 through sl-uss-limpkin-ams195-10

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    CourtListener opinion and docket searches on 'Limpkin', 'USS Limpkin', 'AMS-195', 'MSC-195', and 'Limpkin asbestos' returned zero qualifying asbestos litigation. Broad 'Limpkin' opinion search returned 8 hits - all surname/place collisions (e.g., Revels v. Southeastern General Hospital, N.C. Indus. Comm. 1996; United States v. Underwood, M.D. Fla. 1972; Talbotton Railroad v. Gibson, Ga. 1898); none references a vessel. The hull-number OR query returned 0 opinions and 8 dockets - all term collisions (Austin Montessori School 'AMS', mesh-litigation 'MSC' substrings, bankruptcy docket numbers); none vessel-related. Separately, 'Broward Marine' returned 77 opinions, all commercial, labor, or worker's-compensation matters naming the builder yard - e.g., Teaters v. Broward Marine (Fla. 1967) and Hayslip v. Broward Marine (Fla. 1967), Florida Industrial Commission appeals - with no asbestos content in any located text. Classified: no qualifying asbestos litigation; no litigation naming the vessel at all.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-23

    Study period

    2026-09-23

    Population

    None (vessel); Broward Marine construction workforce, 1950s-1960s (yard context)

    Limitations

    Absence of a located docket does not prove no claim was ever filed: RECAP coverage is incomplete for older state-court asbestos pleadings, and 'Limpkin' is a surname and bird name that a bare-name search cannot fully exclude. The Broward Marine yard cases are classified as other litigation (commercial/labor/worker's-comp matters at the builder yard), not qualifying asbestos litigation - the Industrial Commission appeals document litigated workplace-injury claims at the yard in the 1960s but their injury nature is not stated in the located texts. No litigation stage applies - nothing qualified.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-11

12. [12]Batch-1697 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC via Wayback + hazegray mirror, NavSource, Navypedia, Shipbuilding History, NARA catalog + guided topic, GAO HRD-80-2, NVR, CourtListener [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-limpkin-ams195-01 through sl-uss-limpkin-ams195-15

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located across the sources searched: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, builder materials disclosure, hazmat report, or docketed case names this hull. None is expected to surface easily - she left U.S. custody in 1971 for Indonesian service and was scrapped in 1976, before U.S. shipboard-asbestos documentation regimes existed, and no structure survives to survey. Recorded as a finding, not an inference of absence.

    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 - BuShips construction-correspondence files in NARA RG 19 (see ev-10) and the digitized 1957-1968 deck logs (see ev-09) are untested ship-specific sources. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-limpkin-ams195-12