Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 905-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-546-pc546-pkt-905-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, PC-546 - construction, operations, transfer, specifications (page verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/010546.htm header block, operations list, specifications block, and photo-credit captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 9 April 1942 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Corp., Bay City, MI; launched 15 May 1942; commissioned USS PC-546, 8 July 1942. Operations: Sicilian operation 9-11 July and 28 July-17 August 1943; Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943; Invasion of Southern France 15 August-25 September 1944. On 16 December 1943 rescued survivors from the U.S. freighter John S. Copley, torpedoed by German submarine U-73 off Oran, Algeria. Decommissioned 3 October 1944 and transferred to France at Toulon, named Franc Tireur (W 112); struck from the Navy Register 17 February 1953 and sunk as a target. Four battle stars for World War II service; call sign Nan-Baker-Oboe-Nan. Specifications: displacement 280 t (lt) / 450 t (fl); length 173'8"; beam 23'; draft 10'10"; speed 20.2 kts; complement 65; armament two 3"/50 dual-purpose mounts (Mount 32 later replaced by one 40mm), three 20mm mounts, two rocket launchers, four depth-charge projectors, two depth-charge tracks; propulsion two 2,880 bhp General Motors 16-258S diesels (serial nos. 6904 and 6905), Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts. NARA photographs cited on page: 80-G-K-13278, 80-G-K-13279 (port views off the U.S. East Coast, c.1942) and 80-G-13277 (stern view, c.1942).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1953
- Population
- Defoe construction trades (1942); wartime crew (complement 65); French Navy crew (1944-1953)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track NVR/DANFS conventions but no DANFS entry exists for this hull (page states 'There is no DANFS History currently available for PC-546'). Documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-01
-
[3]NavalCoverMuseum (Naval Cover Museum) wiki, PC 546 - name/designation history, campaign awards [museum_official]
- Locator
- NavalCoverMuseum PC_546 wiki page - 'Ship Name and Designation History', 'Other Information', and postmarks sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Naval Cover Museum record for this hull: name/designation history USS PC-546 -> FRANC TIREUR W-112 (French Naval Service); commissioned 8 July 1942, decommissioned 3 October 1944; transferred to France 3 October 1944 and renamed; struck from the Naval Register 17 February 1953; sunk as target. Awards: European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four battle stars and the World War II Victory Medal. A Locy Type 3z 'FREE / NAVY MAIL' postmark dated 17 February 1943 is documented from a collector's cover.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1953
- Population
- Wartime crew (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained philatelic reference - corroborates milestones and awards already in NavSource; not a primary registry. No asbestos or material content. The 1943 postmark is a collector's-cover artifact, not a service record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-02
-
[4]shipbuildinghistory.com, Defoe Shipbuilding (Bay City, MI) construction table - hull #191, PC 546 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Defoe construction table, hull #191 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-side construction record for this hull: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, yard hull no. 191, original name PC 546, owner US Navy, type 'Sub Chaser', 173 ft, delivered 8-Jul-42; disposition 'To Free French 1944 as Franc-Tireur (W 112), sunk as target 1953.' The same yard table shows Defoe built PC-461-class units across hull blocks PC 471-482, PC 542-549, PC 583-587, and PC 1119-1149 (56 units of 343 per secondary literature).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1953
- Population
- Defoe construction trades (1942)
- Limitations
- Secondary construction-records compilation (shipbuildinghistory.com, maintained by shipbuilding historians from builder/regulatory data); corroborates NavSource milestones and independently records 'sunk as target 1953' - against which Navypedia's 'BU 2.1953' is a documented conflict (see gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-03
-
[5]Navypedia, L'Eveille-class coastal escorts (French Navy) - Franc-Tireur (ex-PC546) row [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navypedia fr_es_pc.htm, Franc-Tireur (ex-PC546) row and class project-history note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- French-service record for this hull: Franc-Tireur (ex-PC546), pennant W112, Defoe yard no. 191, commissioned 7.1942 (USN) // 10.1944 (French service), fate 'BU 2.1953' (broken up February 1953). Class note: 'US-built 173ft PC-type patrols, transferred to France by lend-lease in 1944.' CONFLICT VALUE: this row's 'BU 2.1953' fate conflicts with the U.S.-side sources' 'sunk as a target' disposition - both are documented rather than silently reconciled (see gaps).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1953
- Population
- French Navy crew (1944-1953)
- Limitations
- Navypedia is a secondary compilation; its 'BU 2.1953' fate conflicts with NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum/shipbuildinghistory 'sunk as target 1953' - the U.S. Navy Register striking of 17 February 1953 is common to both accounts. Neither disposition is supported here by a French primary record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-04
-
[6]uboat.net, Allied Warships of WWII - USS PC-546 (PC-546) entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net warship page 8523 - construction block and 'Notable events' list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net warship record for this hull: patrol craft of the PC-461 class, built by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City; ordered 1 April 1941; laid down 9 April 1942; launched 15 May 1942; commissioned 8 July 1942; end service 3 October 1944, transferred to France and renamed Franc Tireur. Notable events logged: convoy escort alongside gunboat USS Plymouth, USCGC Pandora, and PC-548 (CO listed as Lt. W.L. Dommerich, USNR); 16 December 1943, with USS SC-977, picked up men from the American merchant John S. Copley torpedoed by U-73 off Oran at position 35-56'N, 00-54'E; 1 September 1944 escorted HMS Upstart from La Maddalena toward Marseilles (CO listed as Lt.(jg) J. O'Shea, USNR).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Wartime crew (1942-44); John S. Copley survivors rescued 1943
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a curated secondary database (event entries compiled from convoy/operational records); individual officer attributions are unverified against muster rolls or primary action reports. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-05
-
[7]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, 'Historic Fleets' by A. D. Baker III, February 1996, Vol. 10 No. 1 - PC-461-class program summary [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History Feb 1996, Historic Fleets column (opening program summary; PC-1262 caption note on diesel exhaust)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Authoritative class-program summary: the WWII PC-series submarine chasers were all built to one basic design for coastal escort; of 403 total in the original PC-461-class program, 24 were completed as gunboats (PGMs), 60 canceled, 35 adapted as amphibious assault craft control vessels (PCCs), and 46 transferred to Allied navies under Lend-Lease (France took 32, Brazil 8); 15 yards participated; first completed (PC-461) commissioned March 1942, last in 1944. Design detail documented: the main (diesel) engines 'discharged over the sides, near the waterline' - the class's funnel is a dummy - confirming a diesel plant with no boiler uptakes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944 (program era); 1996 (publication)
- Population
- 15 participating yards' construction trades (1941-44)
- Limitations
- Class-level program history by a specialist naval author in USNI's professional journal - documents class design and program scale, not this hull and not materials. PC-546 is within the program scope described (Defoe-built unit, French transfer) but is not individually named.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-06
-
[8]Edythe Shuman v. United States, 765 F.2d 283 (1st Cir. 1985) [court_record]
- Locator
- 765 F.2d 283 - 'Factual Background' and Minimum Requirements discussion (Justia transcription of published opinion)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Published appellate opinion documenting the wartime asbestos-safety regime binding on Navy contract shipyards: the district court found that in 1943 the Navy promulgated 'Minimum Requirements for Safety and Industrial Health in Contract Shipyards,' a document that 'dealt in part with the hazards of asbestos dust'; the Secretary of the Navy stated he expected 'full and complete compliance,' and the standards were imposed on shipyards operating under Navy contracts as well as the Navy's own yards. The requirements originated in a 1942 joint Navy-Maritime Commission conference with shipyard representatives nationwide. Defoe Shipbuilding, which built this hull under Navy contract in 1942, was within the class of contract yards to which these standards applied. The First Circuit reversed the judgment on discretionary-function grounds under the FTCA.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943 (requirements); 1985 (opinion)
- Population
- Contract-shipyard construction trades (1942-era regulatory regime)
- Limitations
- Documents a regulatory regime, not its execution at Defoe and not materials aboard this hull; the opinion's exposure findings concern Fore River Shipyard (Bethlehem), a different yard. Disposition discipline: the district court's bench-trial liability finding was REVERSED on discretionary-function grounds - no merits finding of liability survived; the recital of the 1943 Minimum Requirements' existence and scope was not itself disturbed. Does not establish asbestos aboard PC-546 or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- 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 construction (1942) and both its U.S. (1942-44) and French (1944-53) service eras.
- 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 - consistent with prior batch sessions); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource PC-546 spec block (two GM 16-258S diesels, two shafts - diesel plant); USNI class summary (diesel mains exhausted over the side; dummy funnel); 1943 Navy/USMC Minimum Requirements regime documented in Shuman (asbestos dust hazards in contract yards); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use era [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; USNI class summary; Shuman 765 F.2d 283; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled patrol craft built at a Navy contract yard in mid-1942 sits squarely inside the documented wartime asbestos era for U.S. naval construction. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel-powered combatant of this type and period were thermal insulation around engine and exhaust runs, gaskets and valve packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing on bulkheads/overheads, and deck coverings - concentrated in the confined volume of a 173-ft hull. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant, so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; the small-ship confined-space exposure dynamic applies with full force.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1953
- Population
- Defoe construction trades (1942); USN crew 1942-44 (complement 65); French Navy crew 1944-53
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or builder specification located for PC-546. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-09
-
[11]Service historique de la Defense (SHD), 'Collection de documents relatifs a des batiments de la Marine nationale' finding aid (SHDAA_REP_5I_NO_661) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SHDAA_REP_5I_NO_661 PDF, alphabetical ship index, 'FRANC TIREUR Patrouilleur ex P.C 546' entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official French naval-archive finding aid indexes a document collection for this hull's French identity: 'FRANC TIREUR Patrouilleur ex P.C 546' appears in the SHD ship-file index (alphabetical F section, patrouilleur listing). Confirms French-service documentation on this hull exists in the Service historique de la Defense archive.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1953 (service window)
- Population
- French Navy crew (1944-53)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the index entry proves a file exists, not its contents - no French-service maintenance, material, or asbestos information was retrieved. File contents undigitized and unexamined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-546-pc546-10
-
[12]Batch-7921 search ledger (this record): NavSource PC-546 page; NavalCoverMuseum; shipbuildinghistory.com Defoe table; Navypedia L'Eveille class; uboat.net warship entry; USNI Historic Fleets; Shuman opinion; GAO HRD-80-2; SHD finding aid; NHHC DANFS (none exists); CourtListener (blocked); NVR (not digitized); NARA catalog (blocked); NIOSH/HHE for Defoe (no result); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-546-pc546-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, builder material specification, or verified litigation naming USS PC-546 / Franc Tireur (W 112) was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated helper reported the fleet-wide request budget exhausted on repeated attempts; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material found is law-firm marketing content (mesothelioma.net, mesotheliomalawyercenter.org, mesothelioma.com, mesowatch.org) asserting asbestos use at Defoe Shipbuilding without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. A 1944 U.S. Maritime Commission report on shipyard asbestos hazards cited by those pages could not be traced to a digitized primary copy; the documented 1943 Navy/USMC Minimum Requirements (Shuman, ev-07) covers the same regime.
- 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 the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). Deck logs, Defoe work packages, French-service maintenance files (SHD), and any target-sinking 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-546-pc546-11