Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Mirth (AM-265) (verbatim transcription via hazegray mirror, Wayback capture 2024-06-18; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (Wayback capture of hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am265.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 31 July 1943 by American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio; launched 24 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. B. E. Gathercoal; commissioned 12 August 1944, Lt. M. A. Rusteen, USNR, in command (625 t; 184'6" x 33' x 9'9"; 15 k.; cpl. 104; 1x3", 4x40mm; cl. Admirable). Shakedown Chesapeake Bay; unit of MinDiv 37; NOB Bermuda duty from 29 November 1944, operating from St. George's Bay sweeping channels, antisubmarine patrols, escorting single vessels to mid-ocean convoy join-ups; returned to Virginia end of December; New York 3 January 1945; departed 5 February for Panama Canal and Cold Bay, Alaska, arriving 3 April; coastal exercises and training of Soviet Navy sailors until 21 May 1945, when she decommissioned and was transferred under Lend-Lease to USSR custody; redesignated MSF-265 on 7 February 1955; as of 1969 neither returned nor purchased by the U.S.S.R.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1969
- Population
- American Shipbuilding construction trades (Lorain, 1943-44); U.S. Navy crew (complement 104) 1944-45; Soviet trainees at Cold Bay spring 1945
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, and service history, not materials or asbestos content. The bracketed transcriber's note in this transcription ('Mirth was known as T-275 in Soviet service') is not DANFS text and is contradicted by the NHHC Project Hula monograph assigning T-275 to ex-USS Measure (AM-263) - see ev-uss-mirth-am265-04. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-01
-
[2]NavSource Online Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Mirth (MSF 265) ex-AM-265 hull page (machinery data, transfer chronology, Soviet service, disposal) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource hull page 11/02265, specifications block and chronology
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource hull record for AM-265: propulsion two 1,710 shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts; decommissioned 20 May 1945; transferred to the Soviet Union 21 May 1945 at Cold Bay, AK and reclassified T-277; assigned Soviet Pacific Fleet 22 June 1945; participated in the landing at Gensan (Wonsan), Korea 21 August 1945; transferred 24 June 1947 to the Ministry of Transport and converted to a whaling vessel; transferred to Glavpromorrybprom 7 August 1948 and named Monsoon; scrapped early 1960s; reclassified by U.S. Navy MSF-265 on 7 February 1955; struck from the Navy Register 1 January 1983. Commanding officers LT Milton A. Rusteen (12 Aug 1944 - 13 Mar 1945) and LT John F. Maddox Jr. (to 20 May 1945).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Population
- Soviet Navy crew 1945-47; Soviet whaling fleet crews 1948-ca.1960
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not an official record; consistent with DANFS where they overlap, and Soviet-era entries align with navypedia and Russian-language sources. Soviet-service and disposal details cannot be checked against U.S. primary records. Decommission date (20 May) is one day earlier than the transfer date Wikipedia/DANFS framing implies (21 May) - carried in gaps. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-02
-
[3]Richard A. Russell, Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan (Naval Historical Center / NHHC monograph, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Monograph text (transfer program scope, minesweeper roster context, T-275 caption)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Historical Center monograph documenting Project Hula, the secret program at Cold Bay, Alaska, that transferred U.S. Navy vessels - the planned roster included 24 minesweepers (AM), Admirable-class units - to the Soviet Union in spring-summer 1945, with ~12,000 Soviet personnel trained. This hull's Cold Bay crew-training and 21 May 1945 transfer documented by DANFS (ev-01) occurred under this program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Soviet Navy trainees at Cold Bay; U.S. Navy Detachment 3294 instructors
- Limitations
- Program-level official history; the monograph's photo caption identifies Soviet T-275 as ex-USS Measure (AM-263), not this hull - the T-number assignment for Mirth rests on NavSource and the monograph-derived transfer list reproduced in secondary sources (T-277). Documents the transfer program and hull-level context, not materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-03
-
[4]NHHC Project Hula monograph (T-275 = ex-USS Measure, AM-263); NavSource, navypedia, sewar.ru read T-277 for Mirth; hazegray DANFS transcriber's note, uboat.net, and navalmarinearchive read T-275 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hula monograph photo caption (ex-Measure as T-275); NavSource 11/02265; navypedia T-111 class table; sewar.ru T-277 entry; uboat.net/allies/warships/5330.html (T-275 variant)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Soviet pennant conflict documented and resolved in favor of T-277: the hazegray DANFS transcription's bracketed transcriber's note assigns Mirth T-275, and uboat.net/navalmarinearchive repeat T-275, but the NHHC Project Hula monograph's own photo caption identifies T-275 as the ex-USS Measure (AM-263) - a different hull. NavSource, navypedia, the Russian-language sewar.ru record, and the monograph-derived transfer list (as reproduced on Wikipedia) all assign Mirth the pennant T-277. T-277 is carried in this record; the T-275 annotation is not DANFS text and conflicts with the official monograph.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Limitations
- Resolution favors T-277 because the authoritative monograph assigns T-275 to Measure and Russian-language records independently read T-277 for Mirth; nonetheless Soviet pennant assignments rest on secondary compilations and the conflict is documented rather than erased. The hazegray note is a transcriber's annotation, not DANFS text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-04
-
[5]HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' entry for AM-265 (Admirable-class characteristics) + DANFS specifications block (ev-01) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar AM-265 entry (class characteristics: diesel engines, twin screws); DANFS specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a steel-hulled Admirable-class minesweeper built July-December 1943 at a commercial yard (American Shipbuilding, Lorain) during the Navy's peak asbestos era would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing materials - thermal insulation including diesel exhaust and muffler lagging, piping and machinery gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, deck coverings, and brake linings on winches and windlass. Unlike steam combatants, the Admirable class had diesel propulsion and no boilers or steam turbines, so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- American Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); U.S. Navy crew (104); Soviet crews 1945-60
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific material record was located for this hull and none is expected (scrapped in USSR ca. 1960). Does not establish that any specific material aboard contained asbestos, nor quantity, nor individual exposure, nor legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-05
-
[6]Batch-1237 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live site; hazegray DANFS mirror (Wayback); NavSource; Naval Vessel Register; NHHC Project Hula monograph; NARA deck-log catalog; CourtListener opinion/RECAP indexes; Atlas shipyards.json; class-profile worktrees [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-mirth-am265-01 through sl-uss-mirth-am265-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Mirth or AM-265 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull left U.S. custody 21 May 1945, was converted to a Soviet whaler in 1947-48, and was scrapped in the USSR in the early 1960s - no museum or abatement record can post-date that disposal.
- 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 aboard - WWII-era construction at a commercial yard makes era-typical asbestos plausible but unproven for this hull. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener API quota was exhausted mid-research (HTTP 429, shared key) - the litigation query is carried as a blocked ledger row pending re-run.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mirth-am265-06