Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 895-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-478-pc478-pkt-895-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, PC-478 (construction, commissioning, theater assignment, collision, decommissioning, striking, disposal; specifications block; commanding-officer table) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PC-478 page, timeline block + specifications block + commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: PC-461-class submarine chaser; laid down 17 December 1941 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; launched 20 February 1942; commissioned USS PC-478, 1 April 1942 at New Orleans, LA; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater during WWII; damaged in a collision with LST-451, 6 October 1943, en route from Adak to Amchitka, AK; decommissioned 10 May 1946; struck from the Naval Register 5 June 1946; sold for scrap 14 November 1946 to Zidell Shipbreakers of Portland, OR. Specifications: 295 t light / 450 t full; 173'8" x 23' x 10'10"; 20.2 kts; complement 65; armament one 3"/50 DP mount, one 40mm, three 20mm, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectors, two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 1,440 bhp General Motors 16-258S diesels (serial 6329 and 6330), Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts. Nine commanding officers listed (LT Arthur Noyes Daniels, 1 Apr 1942 - Jun 1943, through LTJG John E. Boyle, Mar 1946 - 10 May 1946). Page states: 'There is no DANFS History currently available for PC-478.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-42; wartime and postwar crew (complement 65)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained photographic/archive compilation, not a government publication; it is the standard surviving record for unnamed PC-class hulls (DANFS covers named vessels only). Documents dates, specs, and the collision event but says nothing about materials or asbestos content. Collision damage extent and repair location are not stated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-01
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[3]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton's shipbuilding reference), 'Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City MI' yard production table; corroborated by the same site's US Navy sub-chaser table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Defoe yard table row for hull #182 (PC 478); us-navy-small/pc2 table row for PC-478
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder's-yard production record: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City MI, produced PC-478 as yard hull number 182, type 'Sub Chaser', delivered 1 April 1942 (matching the commissioning date), disposition 'Scrapped 1946'. Sister entries PC-471 through PC-482 surround it in the table. Yard history note: Defoe Boat & Motor Works (founded 1905) was renamed Defoe Shipbuilding Company at the start of WWII; the yard closed in 1976 and the site is now a scrapyard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades, Bay City MI, 1941-42
- Limitations
- Secondary reference work, not an official source - corroborates NavSource construction dates and adds the yard hull number but establishes nothing about materials or asbestos. 'Scrapped 1946' is consistent with NavSource's sale date but does not give a dismantling-completion date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-02
-
[4]HyperWar 'US Navy Sub Chasers, 1940-1945' reference table - PC-461 class specifications block and hull roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-sc.html, 'PC-461 Class' specifications block and roster (PC-476-79 row)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class reference: PC-461-class steel-hulled sub chasers - displacement 284 tons, length 173'8", beam 23', draft 10'10", speed 21 knots, armament 1 x 3"/50, 1 x 40mm, 5 x 20mm, 2 depth-charge throwers (mousetraps), 2 K-guns, 2 depth-charge racks, complement 65. PC-478 appears in the roster block 'PC-476-79, comm. 1942-44' with no name and no loss notation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- PC-461-class crews (complement 65 per class table)
- Limitations
- Class-level table only; establishes that PC-478 belonged to the class and gives class specifications - documents nothing hull-specific beyond membership. Minor spec variances vs NavSource's PC-478 block (284 t vs 295 t displacement; 21 vs 20.2 knots) are class-vs-ship tabulation differences.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-03
-
[5]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS PC-478 (PC-478) - patrol craft of the PC-461 class [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 8500, identity block and History line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary warship reference corroborates builder (Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City), laid down 17 Dec 1941, launched 20 Feb 1942, commissioned 1 Apr 1942, end of service 10 May 1946, and sold for breaking up 14 Nov 1946, and its six-officer wartime commanding-officer list (Daniels through Ongerth) matches NavSource's table - but reads 'Ordered 26 Dec 1940' (a detail NavSource does not carry) and 'Stricken on 25 October 1946', conflicting with NavSource's struck date of 5 June 1946. The same sale date (14 Nov 1946) follows the stricken entry in both sources.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1940-1946
- Limitations
- Secondary aggregator - usable only as corroboration/conflict documentation. The stricken-date conflict is unresolved (carried in gaps): NavSource's 5 June 1946 is carried as the primary value because it is the archive-of-record for PC-class hulls, but no primary document (NVR/Navy Register extract) was retrievable to adjudicate. 'Ordered 26 Dec 1940' is single-source secondary and is also carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-04
-
[6]Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, 'Zidell Waterfront Property Cleanup' (2012 community presentation, Scott Manzano, DEQ); corroborated by USCG Regulated Navigation Area, 77 Fed. Reg. 19544 (Apr 2, 2012), FR doc. 2012-7784 [other_primary]
- Locator
- DEQ 'Zidell Waterfront Property Cleanup' PDF (history, contaminants, abatement sections); federalregister.gov doc 2012-7784
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The yard that scrapped this hull is a documented asbestos-contaminated shipbreaking site: Zidell purchased the Portland South Waterfront property in 1946 - the same year it bought PC-478 for scrap (14 Nov 1946) - and dismantled 336 ships there over 30 years, with scrap sold and waste used as site fill. DEQ documents asbestos as prevalent in upland and bankline soil among site contaminants (with metals, PAHs, PCBs, TBT); the remedy (2005 ROD; 2006 consent decree) included a certified asbestos-abatement project with air monitoring and bulk ACM disposal, certified complete in 2012-13; the 2012 USCG Regulated Navigation Area protects the engineered sediment cap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1946-2013
- Population
- Zidell shipbreaking workers (1946-c.1976); cleanup workers (2010-2012)
- Limitations
- Yard-level environmental record, NOT hull-level: asbestos in site soil reflects 30 years and 336 ships of dismantling plus other industrial uses (shipbuilding, wire burning, smelting). It does not establish that PC-478 itself contained asbestos, that its dismantling released asbestos, or any individual exposure; it does document that ships broken at this yard in the postwar window were dismantled under conditions DEQ later found contaminated with asbestos. DEQ ECSI deep link (ecsidetail.asp?seqnbr=689) now redirects to a dead index page - cited the live DEQ PDF and Federal Register instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-05
-
[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's entire construction (1941-42) and service era (1942-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed in prior batches) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-06
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[8]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (2 x GM 16-258S diesels, reduction gear, 2 shafts); HyperWar PC-461 class table; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use documentation (ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PC-478 specifications block; HyperWar PC-461 class table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered steel subchaser built Dec 1941 - Apr 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period were machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings within a confined 173-foot hull carrying a 65-man complement. As a diesel vessel she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Defoe construction trades (1941-42); crew (1942-46); Zidell shipbreakers (1946-47)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or litigation exhibit located for PC-478. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-07
-
[9]Batch-7853 search ledger (this record): NavSource PC-478; Shipbuilding History Defoe yard table; HyperWar PC-461 class table; uboat.net PC-478; Oregon DEQ Zidell record + Federal Register; GAO HRD-80-2; NARA catalog (JS-blocked); CourtListener (7 queries, all hits token collisions); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-478-pc478-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming PC-478 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener was queried this session - 4 base queries (exact-name opinion + docket, hull-number opinion + docket) plus 3 asbestos-qualified variants justified by overflows (1,022 / 3,742 / 24,494 base hits); every returned hit was reviewed and classified as a token-level name collision ('PC' professional-corporation or probable-cause token + '478' docket/page/ECF fragment); the asbestos-qualified sets return generic asbestos captions (MDL-875, Federal-Mogul, Bestwall, W.R. Grace dockets) with no vessel reference. Secondary web sweeps likewise surfaced no qualifying case or documentation; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content (mesothelioma.net, mesotheliomalawyercenter.org, mesothelioma.com, mesowatch.org Defoe-yard pages) asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- 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. CourtListener name matching is token-level and 'PC-478' collides heavily; a case mentioning the vessel only in body text could sit inside the collision sets unseen - the variants bounded this risk but did not eliminate it. Deck logs, Defoe work packages, and any scrapping-contract records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-478-pc478-08