Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 882-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-pc-1264-pc1264-pkt-882-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'PC-1264' entry - verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- ibiblio HyperWar DANFS mirror, PC-1264 entry (NHHC live URL 404s on 2026-10-03)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- PC-1264 (PC-461 class) was laid down at Consolidated Ship Building Co., Morris Heights, N.Y., on 7 October 1943; launched 28 November 1943; commissioned 25 April 1944. She was one of two World War II Navy ships given a largely African-American enlisted complement. Her first mission was a New York-to-Guantanamo convoy during which she made sonar contact with a submarine and conducted a three-hour depth charge attack; contact was lost but no attack was made on the convoy. DANFS closes: 'Decommissioned on 24 March 1948, she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for final disposition.' Spec block: dp. 280; l. 173'8"; b. 23'; dr. 10'10"; s. 18 k.; cpl. 65; a. 1 3"/50.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- WWII enlisted crew (largely African-American complement); convoy escort personnel
- Limitations
- Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing NHHC link-rot defect first noted in BATCH-01); transcription mirror cited instead. DANFS compresses the disposal timeline - NavSource carries decommissioned 7 Feb 1946, struck 28 Mar 1946, transferred to Maritime Commission 24 Mar 1948; the DANFS 'decommissioned 24 March 1948' wording conflicts and is carried in gaps. DANFS spec block differs from NavSource on displacement (280 vs 450 t), speed (18 vs 19 kts), and armament (3"/50 only vs full fit) - consistent with light vs loaded figures but noted in gaps. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, PC-1264 (12/011264) - timeline, specifications, commanding officers, credited photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PC-1264 page, timeline/specifications/commanding officers blocks and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline: laid down 7 October 1943 by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, N.Y.; launched 28 November 1943; commissioned 25 April 1944 at Pier 42, New York City ('one of two World War II Navy ships to be manned by a largely African-American enlisted complement'); decommissioned 7 February 1946 at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y.; struck from the Naval Register 28 March 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 24 March 1948 and sold for scrap; 'Scrapped by Whitte Brothers Marine Scrap Yard of Rossville, Staten Island, NY' - 'As of February 2008, PC-1264 is still at the scrap yard now named Donjon Marine Yard.' Specifications: 450 t; 173'8" x 23' x 10'10"; 19 kts; complement 65; one 3"/50 dual purpose, one 40mm, five 20mm, two depth charge projectors, two depth charge tracks, two rocket launchers; two 1,280 bhp Hooven-Owen-Rentschler RB-99DA diesel engines (serial nos. 7319, 7320), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts. CO list: LT Eric S. Purdon USNR (25 Apr 1944-17 Sep 1945); LTJG Ernest V. Hardman USNR (17 Sep-31 Oct 1945); LTJG Jack W. Sutherland USNR (31 Oct 1945-7 Feb 1946). Photo captions sourced to NHHC (NH 92460-92465, NH 1151766) and NARA (208-N-26553) document 53 Black enlisted at commissioning and Ensign Gravely in the decommissioning party.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-2008
- Population
- Crew (53 African-American enlisted at commissioning per caption text); officers
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run secondary archive; its timeline and spec block are consistent with DANFS, NARA, and USNI where they overlap, and its photo attributions cite NHHC/NARA negative numbers. The 'scrapped by Whitte Brothers' line and the 'still at the scrap yard' line coexist unresolved - the record reads as sold for scrapping but never actually broken. No asbestos content. Post-2008 survival rests on dated photographs only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-02
-
[4]National Archives, 'Rediscovering Black History' blog (archives.gov): 'USS Mason, USS PC-1264, and the African-American Crews during World War II' by Dr. Tina L. Ligon (Archivist) and Kevin Bradley (Archives Technician), 23 July 2015 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Rediscovering Black History post, PC-1264 sections and deck-log reproductions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA states PC-1264 was commissioned 25 April 1944 with 53 African-American crew members; a PC-461-class submarine chaser whose mission was to destroy German U-boats off the East Coast; the ship 'experienced some difficulty docking in southern ports due to racial discrimination and the Jim Crow culture' and completed 'many convoys from New York to Cuba or Key West.' Ensign Samuel L. Gravely Jr. reported aboard 2 May 1945; 'Although, the vessel was placed out of service, Gravely became the only African American to command the PC-1264.' Decommissioned 7 February 1946; as of the 2015 post the hulk 'is currently at the Whitte Brothers Marine Scrap Yard in New York.' Her RG 24 deck logs are in NARA series NAID 594258 (Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978), with digitized pages including the commissioning day (NAID 28918908), decommissioning (NAID 28919053), and Gravely-signed log pages (NAID 26078718). Both PC-1264 and Mason received letters of commendation, and their performance forced the Navy to reevaluate its discriminatory policies.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (service); 2015 (post)
- Population
- 53 African-American enlisted crew at commissioning; Ens. Samuel L. Gravely Jr.
- Limitations
- Official NARA-authored institutional blog citing NARA records (NAIDs verified live at catalog.archives.gov 2026-10-03). The Gravely-command statement is explicitly scoped to the period after the vessel 'was placed out of service' and conflicts in emphasis with the official Navy.mil biography, which does not list PC-1264 among Gravely's commands - carried in gaps rather than resolved. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-03
-
[5]Captain Roy C. Smith III, USNR (Ret.), 'USS PC-1264: Forgotten Groundbreaker,' Naval History (U.S. Naval Institute), Vol. 12 No. 1, February 1998 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History online archive, February 1998 issue, full article text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Detailed operational history: five reserve officers (CO LT Eric Purdon; XO LTJG George Poor; Engineer LTJG Ernest Hardman; Gunnery LTJG Wilbur Otto; Communications ENS Frank Gardner) and eight white petty officers who trained and were replaced by Black petty officers about seven months after commissioning. Reported 1 May 1944 to ComEastSeaFron escort base Tompkinsville; Miami shakedown rated 'Excellent'; two New York-Guantanamo convoy round trips then the Key West run; layover for cracked engine-bedplate welds; escorted Free French submarine Argo to Key West; lube-oil metal chips and second yard period late 1944; 1945 New York-Key West convoys plus offshore anti-V-weapon-submarine patrols off the New York sea buoy with PC-1209, including a hedgehog attack on a possible contact; ordered to Charleston 25 April 1945 as escort commander for a group of 30 ships and two other patrol craft joining a Key West-to-New York convoy (two destroyers returning from shakedown took over a contact and sank U-548); escort on the last New York-Key West convoy sailing 7 May 1945; Pacific orders cancelled after VJ-Day; Norfolk 10 September 1945; represented the patrol-craft class at the Navy Day fleet review for President Truman on the Hudson River; target ship for Submarine School, New London; decommissioned 7 February 1946 'with an entirely black crew and a black executive officer.' Quotes Purdon's Black Company (1972) on the BuPers evaluation that led to assigning Black general rates to fleet auxiliaries and abolishing assignment restrictions in 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-46; names five officers and eight white petty officers; Ens. Samuel L. Gravely Jr. (reported 2 May 1945)
- Limitations
- Secondary institutional-journal account drawing partly on the commanding officer's memoir; specific incidents (Miami Beach pier refusal, Key West seating incident) are narrative history, not contemporaneous records. Contains no asbestos information. Gravely's service is described as duty officer then executive officer - no command claim is made here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-04
-
[6]U.S. Navy official flag-officer biography, Vice Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. [other_primary]
- Locator
- navy.mil BioDisplay article 2236270
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Gravely enlisted in the Naval Reserve 15 September 1942, entered the V-12 program, and was commissioned 14 December 1944 - 'the first African American commissioned as an officer from the Navy Reserve Officer Training Course.' His seagoing career began aboard PC-1264. The biography's list of 'firsts' names USS Theodore E. Chandler (DD-717) as the first U.S. Navy warship he commanded and USS Falgout (DER-324), USS Taussig (DD-746), and USS Jouett (DLG-29) among his commands; it does not list PC-1264 among them. He retired in 1980 as a vice admiral after 38 years.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1980
- Population
- VADM Samuel L. Gravely Jr. (individual service record)
- Limitations
- Confirms PC-1264 service but does not corroborate a PC-1264 command - consistent with the NARA phrasing that any command followed the ship's being placed out of service, but the tension is carried in gaps rather than resolved. Personnel fact only; no asbestos or exposure content. Record makes no exposure claim for any individual, including Admiral Gravely.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-05
-
[7]GAO HRD-80-2, 'How Well the Navy Protects Its Workers from Asbestos Exposure' (product page; published 18 Oct 1979, publicly released 22 Oct 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 product page highlights section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO program-level review of Navy asbestos exposure covering 'the use of asbestos in Navy ships, the cost of removing asbestos from Navy ships, and compensation programs for asbestos-related disabilities.' The Navy's 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for necessary repairs; modified in 1979 to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas. Establishes that Navy ships of this hull's era carried asbestos insulation as a program-level fact; era inference for this diesel-powered patrol craft: machinery and exhaust insulation, gaskets, valve and flange packing, electrical insulation - no boiler/steam-line pathway.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979 (report); wartime construction era
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program context); construction trades (Consolidated Shipbuilding, 1943-44) by era analogy only
- Limitations
- Program-level, not a hull record - GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and does not name this vessel or its builder yard. Product-page highlights used; direct automated fetch of gao.gov returned HTTP 403 this session (standing access defect; page text obtained via firecrawl). Supports era inference only - does not establish asbestos aboard this hull, quantities, or present-day presence aboard the surviving hulk.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-06
-
[8]Staten Island Advance (silive.com), 'Staten Island's ship graveyard: Beauty in decay' (Bill Lyons, 2016) - Donjon Iron and Metal Scrap Processing Facility, Rossville, on the Arthur Kill [reputable_press]
- Locator
- silive.com article body (pre-paywall text); cross-check with NavSource c.1990/Feb-2008 notations
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Confirms the site described as the 'boat graveyard' at Rossville on the Arthur Kill is the Donjon Iron and Metal Scrap Processing Facility, founded in the 1930s by John J. Witte (the 'Whitte Brothers' yard of NavSource/DANFS-era records), and that it remained an active scrap-hulk site in 2016. Combined with NavSource's February 2008 'still at the scrap yard' statement and c.1990 photographs of PC-1264 and PC-1217 among the hulks, this situates the surviving hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2016 (yard operation); 1948-2008 (hulk disposal chain)
- Limitations
- Article does not name PC-1264 and is partially paywalled - used only to verify the yard's identity and continued operation, not the hull's presence in 2016. Hull's post-2011 condition is documented only by a personal maritime blog (tugster, August 2011 photos - 'not much remained'), which is cited in the search ledger but not carried as a record source. No hazmat or condition survey of the hulk located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-07
-
[9]NARA catalog, RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAID 594258) - PC-1264 deck logs; digitized items NAID 28918908 (commissioning day), NAID 28919053 (decommissioning), NAID 26078718 (Gravely-signed pages) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAID 594258; NAIDs 28918908, 28919053, 26078718 reproduced in the NARA blog
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's wartime deck logs exist in NARA Record Group 24 and are partially digitized; the NARA blog reproduces her commissioning-day, convoy, and decommissioning log pages plus pages bearing Ensign Gravely's signature. These logs are the primary source pool for any future crew-level or machinery-maintenance documentation (including any shipyard availabilities during her 1944 engine repairs).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-46
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the logs were not reviewed line-by-line for this record; their existence is verified (catalog URLs live 2026-10-03) but their full content (including any material that could bear on maintenance-disturbance of era insulation) is unexamined. No asbestos content identified in the reproduced pages.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-08
-
[10]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Tim Colton's U.S. shipyard production database), Consolidated Shipbuilding, Morris Heights NY - build table and yard history [other_primary]
- Locator
- Consolidated Shipbuilding page, WWII Navy build table row 'PC 1264' and yard-history header text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The yard's own compiled production table lists 'PC 1264 | US Navy | Sub Chaser | 463d | 173 | 25-Apr-44 | Sold for scrap 1948 but never scrapped' - independently corroborating builder, delivery/commission date, and the never-broken disposition. Yard history: formed 1896 by merger of Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co.; the Morris Heights yard stood on Matthewson Road at the southern end of what is now Roberto Clemente State Park; after WWII Consolidated bought the Robert Jacob yard on City Island and closed Morris Heights; the company ceased active boatbuilding in 1958.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1948 (table row); 1885-1958 (yard history)
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Secondary compiled database, not a contemporaneous record - but the standard reference for U.S. shipyard production tables and consistent with DANFS/NavSource on every overlapping point. '463d' is the table's displacement shorthand (463 t), differing from NavSource's 450 t - minor third-source spec variance carried in the same gaps note. Contains no asbestos information; the yard's own asbestos documentation was not assessed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-10
-
[11]Batch-7759 search ledger (this record): DANFS/HyperWar mirror; NavSource 12/011264; NARA blog + catalog NAIDs; USNI Naval History 1998; navy.mil Gravely biography; GAO HRD-80-2; NVR ship-detail lookup; silive.com; ShipbuildingHistory.com Consolidated table; CourtListener (see ledger for status) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-01 through sl-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming PC-1264 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Notably, the hull's physical survival means the standard 'scrapped and gone' assumption does not apply - but no condition survey or hazmat assessment of the extant hulk was located either.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and for this vessel the question remains live: the hulk survives at a working scrap yard, so any retained era materials would be undocumented rather than removed. CourtListener search (4 base queries, opinion and docket, both name forms) returned no qualifying litigation - only docket-number collisions. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-1264-pc1264-09