Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet 918-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: UNVERIFIABLE
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-pc-640-pc640-pkt-918-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'SC-601 - SC-700' combined entry page, SC-640 stub line (NHHC, verified live 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'SC-601 - SC-700' page, SC-640 paragraph (between SC-639 and SC-641 stubs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents this hull under its SC-640 designation: 'Built at Elizabeth City Shipyards, Elizabeth City, Keel laid 8/30/41. Launched 1/17/42. Commissioned 7/12/42. Transferred to Maritime Commission 12/16/46.' The entry is a one-line stub inside the combined SC-601-through-SC-700 page - there is no per-hull DANFS narrative. DANFS makes no mention of the PC-640 designation she carried at commissioning.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyards construction trades (1941-42); crew (1942-46)
- Limitations
- Stub-level coverage only: construction dates, commissioning date, and MARAD transfer date; no service narrative, no specifications, no stricken date, no asbestos or material content. The DANFS stub does not record that she commissioned as PC-640 and was reclassified SC-640 in April 1943 - that sequence comes from NavSource (ev-02).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-640 ex-PC-640 page (filed under the SC-640 designation; verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150640.htm header block, specifications block, commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull (filed as 'SC-640 ex-PC-640'): SC-497-class submarine chaser; laid down 30 August 1941 by Elizabeth City Shipyards, Elizabeth City, NC; launched 17 January 1942; commissioned USS PC-640, 12 July 1942; reclassified SC-640 in April 1943; visited Auckland, New Zealand 7-18 October 1944; struck from the Naval Register 21 January 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission 16 December 1946; fate unknown. Commanding officer listed: LTJG W. R. Burford, USNR, 1945. Spec block: 148 t., 110'10" x 17' x 6'6", 15.6 kts, complement 28; armament one 40mm mount, two .50-cal machine guns, two Y-gun depth-charge projectors, two depth-charge tracks; propulsion two 880-bhp General Motors 8-268A diesels, Snow and Knobstedt single-reduction gear, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyards construction trades (1941-42); crew of ~28 (1942-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track DANFS/NVR but the Auckland visit and the stricken date rest on NavSource alone in this record. Page contains no asbestos content. The April 1943 reclassification month is given without a day. NavSource's own 'no DANFS history' note is stale - a DANFS stub exists (see ev-01 and the correction row ev-08).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-02
-
[4]NavSource Submarine Chaser Photo Index (SC/PC index page, verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/01idx.htm index entries SC-628 through SC-669+ and class header notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The NavSource index documents the reclassification block this hull belongs to: sequential entries 'SC-628 ex-PC-628' through 'SC-669 ex-PC-669' (and continuing beyond SC-669) show that hulls PC-628 onward commissioned as patrol craft and were reclassified into the SC series - SC-640 sits inside this block (entry 'SC-640 ex-PC-640'). The index header describes the class context: 580 SC-497-class wood-hulled 110-foot submarine chasers built during WWII, 142 transferred to Allies under Lend-Lease; the steel-hulled PC-461 class (173-foot, twin-diesel) is a different, separately listed class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- n/a (index/context)
- Limitations
- Index-page documentation, not a reclassification order: it establishes the ex-PC naming pattern and class framing but not the mechanism or exact date of reclassification. Hull count ('580') is NavSource's class summary; secondary literature carries 438-built figures that count differently - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-03
-
[5]NHHC, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (Navy Department Library transcription; verified live 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Pacific Fleet organization, Service Squadron TWO section, page-break sequence '--104--' to '--108--', SC-block listing
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization lists 'SC 640' under Service Squadron TWO, Service Force, Pacific Fleet (flagship USS Argonne AG-31), commanded by Lt. (jg) W. R. Burford (USNR) - corroborating the NavSource commanding-officer listing and placing the hull on forward-area service-squadron duty in the Pacific war's final year. Sister hulls SC-628 through SC-636 appear in the same block listing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- SC-640 crew under Lt. (jg) Burford (May 1945)
- Limitations
- Establishes organizational assignment and commanding officer on a single date (1 May 1945); it does not establish the hull's operating locations before or after that date, and it contains no material-content or asbestos information. Assignment under a service squadron does not by itself document what duties the hull performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-04
-
[6]NARA, NAID 192703143 - file unit 'SC-640, 8/1/42-10/31/45', RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' (NAID 594996); 218 images digitized (Ancestry partnership), microfilm Roll 6762 (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAID 192703143 file-unit page (RG 24, series 594996, Roll 6762)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds and has digitized this hull's muster rolls covering 1 August 1942 - 31 October 1945: 218 page images. The file-unit title's coverage window spans her commissioning month through three months after the war's end. These are personnel muster records (name/rate aboard by quarter), not deck logs - but they document that a complete crewed-service record for this hull survives and is viewable online.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (coverage window)
- Population
- SC-640 crew complement (~28) across 8/1/42-10/31/45
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the images are untranscribed (0 of 218 as of access date) and were not read page-by-page this session; the record establishes that personnel documentation exists, not what any page says. The file-unit title ends coverage 10/31/45 - the assignment's prior verification carried a 12/27/1945 end date that does not match the live record (see gaps). Muster rolls contain no material or asbestos data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (SC-497 class, wood hull, 2 x GM 8-268A diesels); NavSource class index (580 wood-hulled 110-foot chasers built WWII); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150640.htm specifications block; NavSource 12/01idx.htm class header; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wood-hulled diesel submarine chaser built 1941-42 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period were engine and exhaust lagging in machinery spaces, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and thermal insulation. As a diesel-engined vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - and her wooden hull carried none of the steel-hull fireproofing insulation documented on larger combatants; the relevant exposure pathway is machinery-space materials and fittings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyards construction trades (1941-42); crew of ~28 (1942-46); any availability/yard trades during Pacific service
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or builder's spec sheet located for this hull. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. The wooden-hull construction argues for a materially smaller asbestos loading than a steel steamer, but no source quantifies or documents the difference for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-06
-
[8]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 product-page description used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-07
-
[9]Batch-8015 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS range page; NavSource hull page and class index; NHHC Pacific Fleet organization; NARA catalog (muster-roll file unit); NVR (not digitized - pre-1987 disposal); secondary web sweep; CourtListener (4 queries - blocked by fleet pacing this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-640-pc640-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material list, or verified litigation naming USS PC-640 / USS SC-640 was found in the public sources searched. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm marketing pages specifically asserting asbestos aboard this hull. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried to completion this session - the fleet-wide request pacer stayed saturated across six spaced attempts; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result.
- 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 (pacing-throttled, not run). The NARA muster-roll images are untranscribed and unread; RG 24 deck logs for this hull were not located in digitized form. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-08
-
[10]Cross-check: live DANFS stub (ev-01) vs NavSource 'no DANFS history' note; NavSource designation sequence vs DANFS stub; SC-497 class framing vs PC hull number [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150640.htm footer note; DANFS SC-601-SC-700 stub; NavSource 12/01idx.htm renumbering block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS: (a) NavSource's SC-640 page carries a 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-640' note, but a live NHHC DANFS stub for SC-640 exists on the SC-601-SC-700 combined page - NavSource's note is stale. (b) The PC-640 designation invites misreading this hull as a PC-461-class 173-foot steel submarine chaser; she is an SC-497-class 110-foot wood-hulled chaser that happened to commission with a PC number - the NavSource index documents the PC-628-onward block's wholesale reclassification into the SC series. (c) The designation direction is PC-to-SC, not SC-to-PC: she commissioned USS PC-640 on 12 July 1942 and was reclassified SC-640 in April 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects cataloguing/designation errors, not a material claim. The April 1943 reclassification rests on NavSource alone (DANFS is silent on designations in the stub); the exact day is not given by any located source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-640-pc640-09