Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 1006-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: MISMATCH (RE-SCOPE).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-may-rut-pgm60-pkt-1006-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive, PGM-60 page (verified live at navsource.net 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PGM-60 entry, 'PGM-59 Class Motor Gunboat' block; specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- PGM-60 was a PGM-59-class motor gunboat laid down in 1963 by J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA; delivered 11 March 1963 and transferred to South Vietnam as May Rut (HQ 606); 'Fate unknown.' Specifications: 122 t. displacement, 100' 4" length, 21' 1" beam, 8' 6" draft, 17 kts, armament one 40mm mount / two 20mm mounts / one 81mm mortar, diesel propulsion on two shafts. NavSource states no DANFS history exists for PGM-60 and no image is available.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1963 (construction/transfer); page accessed 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compiled archive (volunteer-maintained), not a primary record; its builder/date data here corroborates HistoryLink's account of the five-boat Martinac contract and the RVN ship-list concordance, but the 'laid down in 1963' date compresses construction unusually tightly against the 11 March 1963 delivery and is unverified against contract documents. No asbestos information of any kind.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-01
-
[3]HistoryLink.org File 22440, 'J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation (Tacoma)' - Washington State historical encyclopedia entry documenting the yard's naval contracts (verified live 2026-10-04) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Section 'World War II and the Cold War,' paragraph on the High Point-era Navy contracts
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- While completing subcontracted work on the hydrofoil USS High Point (PCH-1), Martinac 'received a contract for five conventional, 101-foot patrol boats in 1962 that were transferred to South Vietnam.' The five Martinac boats correspond to PGM-59 through PGM-63 deliveries of March-May 1963 (per shipbuildinghistory.com and NavSource), placing PGM-60 within this contract group.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1962-1963
- Population
- Martinac shipyard workforce, Tacoma (1962-63 construction)
- Limitations
- HistoryLink does not name PGM-60 or May Rut individually; attribution to this hull rests on the independently documented fact that PGM-60 was Martinac-built and one of the five Martinac PGMs delivered to South Vietnam in spring 1963. A secondary historical source citing Tacoma press coverage, not a contract document. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-02
-
[4]Judith C. Erdheim, 'Market Time' (CRC 280), Department of the Navy / Naval Historical Center, September 1975, prepared for the Office of Naval Research and the Chief of Naval Operations - Appendix A, 'Characteristics of VNN PCE and PGM' (canonical NHHC page verified live 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Appendix A, Figure A-2 'Patrol Motor Gun Boat (PGM)'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official U.S. Navy figures for the Vietnamese Navy PGMs committed to Sea Force Market Time patrols: length 100 feet, beam 21 feet, draft 7 feet, speed 17 knots, crew 1 officer + 14 crew, endurance 1,000 n.mi. at 12 knots, armament one 40mm single-mount Mk 3, two .50-caliber, two 20mm single-mount Mk 10 Mod 2.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- Publication September 1975; describes force as operated 1965-1972
- Population
- VNN PGM crews (Sea Force)
- Limitations
- Type-level characteristics for the VNN PGM force as a group - the appendix does not name or distinguish individual hulls, so it cannot confirm which of the ~20 VNN PGMs performed which patrols, and its figures differ in detail from the NavSource ship page (draft 7 ft vs 8' 6"; .50-caliber machine guns vs 81mm mortar) and from other secondary tabulations. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-03
-
[5]Erdheim, 'Market Time' (NHHC, September 1975) - main text and Appendix D Table D-1 VNN surface force levels [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Main text pp. 4, 16-17, 45 area (An Xuyen blockade, PGM shallow-water finding, Cloud concept); Appendix D Table D-1 (VNN force levels)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- VNN PGMs operated as Sea Force units throughout the documented period: in December 1963 four PGMs were part of the blockading force around An Xuyen Province and Phu Quoc island; PGMs were judged to lack the shallow-water capability needed to lead junk patrols; under the 1971 'Cloud' inner-barrier concept a typical task unit was one PGM plus four PCFs/WPBs; quarterly averages show roughly 7-13 VNN PGMs assigned to Market Time (about 2.5-8 employed on patrol) across 1966-1971, and the VNN took over the inner barrier 1 September 1970 and the full surface mission by December 1972.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1963-1972 (VNN PGM Market Time employment)
- Population
- VNN Sea Force PGM crews
- Limitations
- Force-level and doctrine documentation only - no individual hull (including HQ-606) is named anywhere in the study, so this establishes the operating environment this hull belonged to, not this hull's own patrol record. Whether May Rut was among the four PGMs in the December 1963 An Xuyen blockade is plausible on dates but unproven. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-04
-
[6]Edward J. Marolda, 'By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia,' Chapter 5 'The Final Curtain, 1973-1975' (NHHC online edition, verified live 2026-10-04); plus NavSource PGM-83 page (archives/12/11083.htm) for the sister-hull contrast [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Chapter 5, paragraphs on DAO-administered VNN strength and the April 30 - May 2, 1975 exodus; NavSource PGM-83 entry ('Escaped to the Philippines ... renamed BRP Basilan (PG 60)')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The 42,000-man Vietnamese Navy of 1973-75 operated roughly 450 patrol craft among 1,440 ships, craft, and junks; in late April 1975 a flotilla of 26 Vietnamese Navy and other vessels concentrated off Son Island southwest of Vung Tau with about 30,000 sailors, families, and civilians aboard and sailed to reception centers in the Philippines and Guam, ending the RVN Navy's existence. Sister PGM Hon Troc (HQ-618, ex-PGM-83) is documented by NavSource as having escaped to the Philippines in 1975 and becoming BRP Basilan (PG-60), struck 1989 and scrapped 1991 - individual hull fates diverged and cannot be inferred fleet-wide.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1973-1975
- Population
- VNN personnel and refugee families (April-May 1975)
- Limitations
- The official history counts the exodus flotilla but does not list its hulls; whether HQ-606 was among the 26 escaping vessels, was turned back (as happened to sister PGM HQ-602 per secondary sources), was captured, or was lost is not established by this or any located authoritative source - NavSource records 'Fate unknown.' The PGM-83 comparison documents a sister hull's fate, not this hull's. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-05
-
[7]shipbuildinghistory.com, 'Gunboats (PGM, PG, PFMM, PGG, PCG) Built Since WWII' - MAP PGM construction table (Wayback capture 2011-11-04; live shipbuildinghistory.com returns equivalent page) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PGM table rows for PGM-59 through PGM-63
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The table corroborates PGM-60 as 'May Rut,' Vietnamese Navy, built by Martinac at Tacoma WA, delivered 11-Mar-63 - but assigns it RVN pennant 'HQ 601,' conflicting with HQ-606 carried by NavSource's PGM index, NavalCoverMuseum's PGM designation list, and both the English and Vietnamese Wikipedia RVN ship tables (which map HQ-601 to PGM-65 Tien Moi). HQ-606 is carried in this record on the weight of the concordant sources.
- Verification
- disputed
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1963 (delivery); table accessed 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- A secondary compiler's table - its HQ-number column conflicts systematically with NavSource for the Martinac-built hulls, suggesting a transcription offset rather than a rival primary record; flagged so the conflict is visible rather than silently resolved. Disposition column ('unknown') agrees with NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-06
-
[8]Washington State Department of Ecology, Cleanup Site 144 / Facility Site 1375, 'JM Martinac Shipbuilding Corp,' Tacoma, Pierce County (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Cleanup site page, 'Contaminants' table (Metals - Other; Metals - Arsenic; soil/sediment confirmed)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The builder's yard on the Thea Foss Waterway is a state-listed cleanup site (cleanup started, independent process, earliest record 1995) with confirmed contamination above cleanup levels for metals and arsenic in soil and sediment. Two contaminants are listed; asbestos is not among them.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1995-present (listing); yard operated 1924-2013
- Limitations
- A present-day environmental record for the construction yard only - it says nothing about materials installed aboard this 1963 hull, and the listed contaminants do not include asbestos. Carried to show the government environmental record for the builder was checked, not as evidence about the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-07
-
[9]GAO, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979; product page verified live 2026-10-04) [gao]
- Locator
- Product page 'Highlights' section
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO documents that the U.S. Navy used asbestos insulation aboard ships into the 1970s: the Navy's 1975 policy removed and replaced with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs, modified in 1979 to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas - placing this hull's 1962-63 construction squarely inside the Navy's asbestos era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- Reviewed practices through 1979; hull built 1962-63
- Population
- U.S. Navy shipyard workers (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level context: the report's fieldwork was Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and addresses U.S. Navy practice, not MAP-recipient vessels; it says nothing about this hull or Martinac and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard PGM-60.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource PGM-60 specifications (diesel propulsion, two shafts); NHHC 'Market Time' Appendix A (VNN PGM type characteristics); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos era through the 1970s); HistoryLink file 22440 (Martinac build contract, U.S. yard, 1962) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Synthesis row; see evidence ev-01, ev-03, ev-08 and search_ledger
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled U.S.-designed patrol gunboat built in an American yard to U.S. Navy MAP standards in 1962-63 falls inside the period when GAO documents Navy-standard use of asbestos insulation and gasket/packing materials. Diesel propulsion means no boiler or steam-line lagging pathway; the era-standard candidate applications for a patrol craft of this size are machinery- and exhaust-space thermal insulation, piping and valve gaskets, machinery packing, electrical insulation, and interior/deck covering materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1962-1975
- Population
- Martinac construction workers (1962-63); VNN PGM crews (1963-1975)
- Limitations
- Pure era inference - no ship-specific document (survey, plan, lawsuit, or veteran account) establishes that any asbestos product was installed aboard PGM-60/May Rut, in what quantity, or whether any remains. Foreign-transfer MAP construction could have deviated from fleet-build specifications in either direction; treated as possibility, not fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-09
-
[11]Batch-8627 search ledger (this record): NavSource PGM-60 page and PGM index; NHHC 'Market Time' and Marolda ch. 5; HistoryLink 22440; WA Ecology site 144; shipbuildinghistory PGM table; DANFS/NHHC ship histories; NVR; NARA catalog; CourtListener opinion and docket indexes (queries: "May Rut", "PGM-60"); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-may-rut-pgm60-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific record located: no asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming PGM-60, May Rut, or HQ-606 was found in the public sources searched; the hull's post-1975 disposition is undocumented ('Fate unknown'), so no disposal or scrapping record exists either. CourtListener all four base queries complete: 'May Rut' opinions = 0; 'May Rut' dockets = 5 (all token collisions in unrelated cases); 'PGM-60' opinions = 0; 'PGM-60' dockets = 3 (trademark and bankruptcy collisions) - no qualifying case.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a foreign-transfer patrol craft's records are thin by nature, VNN records largely did not survive 1975, and the unknown disposition forecloses the usual disposal-documentation trail. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-may-rut-pgm60-10