Evidence
15 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-15).
-
[1]research packet 927-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: PHANTOM
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-pc-703-pc703-pkt-927-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'SC-701 - SC-800' compilation - SC-703 entry (live NHHC page, verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS SC-701 - SC-800 page, SC-703 paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records for this hull, verbatim: 'Built at Delaware Bay SB Co., Leesburg, N.J. Keel laid 5/19/42. Launched 11/28/42. Commissioned 1/5/43. Transferred to Foreign Liquidation Commission 10/27/48.' The entry is a one-line milestone record with no service narrative - it does not carry the PC-703 commissioning designation, the April 1943 reclassification, the Pacific campaign record, a decommissioning date, or the striking date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Delaware Bay yard construction trades (1942); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific milestones only; no asbestos or material content, no spec block, no service narrative. DANFS's FLC transfer date (10/27/48) conflicts with NavSource's 'December 1948' - carried as an open conflict (gaps). NavSource's page note 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-703' refers to the absence of a full narrative entry - this one-line compilation entry does exist and was verified live 2026-10-03.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-703 (page verified live 2026-10-03; canonical /archives/ path confirmed HTTP 200) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150703.htm header block, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 19 May 1942 by the Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Co., Leesburg, NJ; launched 28 November 1942; commissioned USS PC-703 on 5 January 1943; reclassified SC-703 in April 1943; struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946; transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission in December 1948; 'Fate unknown.' Banner heading reads 'ex-PC-703'. Specifications: 148 t.; 110'10" x 17' x 6'6"; 15.6 kts.; complement 28; armament one 40mm mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, two depth charge projector 'Y Guns,' two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. Call sign NXBA (Nan-Xray-Baker-Able). No commanding-officer roster and no photograph posted ('No image of SC-703 is available at this time').
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Delaware Bay yard construction trades (1942); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track DANFS where DANFS covers them; the commissioning designation (PC-703), reclassification month, striking date, call sign, and spec block come from this source alone among those searched. Its 'December 1948' FLC transfer conflicts with DANFS's 10/27/48 (carried in gaps). 'Fate unknown' stands - no post-transfer or disposal record located. Its 'no DANFS history' note is stale - the one-line DANFS entry exists (ev-01). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: 110' Submarine Chaser photo index - class introduction and SC-497-class roster (verified live 2026-10-03, HTTP 200) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/01idx.htm class introduction paragraph and SC-497-class roster rows (SC-703 ex-PC-703)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- CORRECTION / designation-chain support: the class index explains the PC-703 -> SC-703 reclassification as class-wide, not hull-unique - 'World War II expansion programs led to construction of two large groups of subchasers, the new 110-foot wooden-hulled craft and the 173-foot steel-hulled type. By 1943, it was felt desirable to differentiate between the two types. The type symbol PC was retained for the steel 173-footers, and the separate symbol SC was adopted for the 110-foot vessels. These now dropped the dual "S.C.-PC" identification, and were simply identified as "USS SC-."' The roster lists 'SC-703 ex-PC-703' alongside the same ex-PC pattern for every early class boat. This hull was therefore never a PC-461-class steel patrol craft: PC-703 was the shared-series number carried by a wooden 110' boat until the April 1943 re-symboling.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Limitations
- Corrects the batch-scope classification: 'PC-703' reads as a PC-461-class hull number but is a designation-history fact, not a hull-type fact. The 1943 dual-to-SC re-symboling is stated at class level; this hull's specific April 1943 reclassification month rests on the vessel page (ev-02). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-03
-
[5]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Delaware Bay Shipbuilding yard construction table, Leesburg NJ; corroborated by the site's WWII sub-chaser production table at shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/pc2.htm (both verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- delawarebay.htm yard table, SC 703 row; smallships/pc2.htm SC 703 row; yard-history header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The builder's-yard table records for this hull: 'SC 703 | US Navy | Sub Chaser | 136 | 107 | 5-Jan-43 | To FLC 1948' - corroborating the 5 January 1943 delivery/commissioning date and the 1948 Foreign Liquidation Commission transfer. The companion production table lists 'SC | 703 | Delaware Bay SB | Leesburg NJ | 148 | 110 | 5-Jan-43 | To FLC 1948' - internally consistent for this hull. The yard page documents Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Co., Inc. as formed in 1920 by Dr. Malcolm Sharp for fishing vessels, split in 1929 into Delaware Bay Shipbuilding (larger boats) and Debasco Boat Works (smaller boats), yard on Main Street at Sharpstow Lane, Leesburg NJ - where Yank Marine's repair yard is today.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Delaware Bay yard construction trades (1942)
- Limitations
- Shipbuildinghistory is a long-running secondary reference compilation (yard records and delivery tables), not an official registry. 'To FLC 1948' is consistent across both tables and with NavSource/DANFS on year, though month differs (DANFS 10/27/48 vs NavSource December 1948 - gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-04
-
[6]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS SC-703 (SC-703) vessel entry - milestones and four transcribed operation orders of battle (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/8920.html - milestone table and 'Notable events' sections (15 Dec 1943 Operation Director; 26 Dec 1943 Operation Dexterity; 22 Apr 1944 Operations Reckless and Persecution; 17 May 1944 Operation Straightline)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net records this hull: SC-497-class submarine chaser, built by Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Co. (Leesburg, NJ); ordered 16 February 1942; laid down 19 May 1942; launched 28 November 1942; commissioned 5 January 1943. Its transcribed orders of battle document her as a Seventh Amphibious Force escort and landing-control craft under Lt.(jg) R.M. Baird, USNR: Operation Director (Arawe, 15 Dec 1943) - escorting the seventh echelon of LCTs from Cape Cretin; Operation Dexterity (Cape Gloucester, 26 Dec 1943) - Task Unit 76.2.3 Fourth Supply Section, five LSTs escorted by SC-703, SC-734, SC-738, seventh echelon departing Cape Sudest 0455L/26 for Yellow Beach; Operations Reckless/Persecution (Hollandia, 22 Apr 1944) - escorting Echelon R-1 Group E (16 LCI(L)s, 2 LCI(G)s) from Cape Cretin via Seeadler Harbour with USS Stockton and SC-637, SC-648, SC-742, SC-743, SC-981; Operation Straightline (Wakde-Toem-Sarmi, 17 May 1944) - Task Unit 77.2.91 Control Unit with SC-699, SC-734, SC-736, departing Hollandia 1900K/16.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Crew aboard, SWPA operating areas (1943-44)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a secondary compilation; its milestone dates track DANFS/NavSource, and the order-of-battle material is transcribed from amphibious-force action reports - the task-unit assignments and movement entries read as verbatim report extracts but the underlying reports were not independently retrieved this session (NARA holds her own Sarmi/Wakde action report - ev-06). 'Ordered 16 Feb 1942' rests on this source alone - carried in gaps, not asserted. The Lt.(jg) R.M. Baird commanding-officer attribution likewise rests on these transcriptions; NavSource posts no CO roster for this hull. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-05
-
[7]NARA catalog, RG 38 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' (series NAID 4697018) - USS SC-703 war-diary and action-report file units (catalog search and NAID page verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search 'SC-703' - file-unit list; representative NAIDs 134065429, 78186866, 78476843, 139888112; series NAID 4697018
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA indexes at least 23 USS SC-703 file units in the WWII war-diaries series (RG 38), monthly microfilm rolls covering January 1943 through January 1945: the earliest 'USS SC-703 - War Diary, 1/5-31/43' (NAID 134065429, Roll A207) begins on her commissioning date; the latest located covers '12/1/44 to 1/31/45' (NAID 139888112, Roll A1425). The September 1943 diary (NAID 78186866, Roll A576) carries antiaircraft action reports of 12 and 21 September 1943 - the Lae/Finschhafen period. A standalone action report, 'USS SC-703 - Act Rep of Ops off Sarmi & Wakde Is, New Guinea, 5/17-18/44' (NAID 78476843, Roll A1012, 4 images), is held for the Operation Straightline landings.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-01-05 to 1945-01-31
- Population
- Crew aboard (1943-45); wartime command reporters
- Limitations
- Archival lead at catalog level: the file units are indexed and digitized page images exist, but the content was not read page-by-page this session - contents (positions, operations, personnel, any material notes) are uninventoried here. No January-1944 war diary surfaced in the first three catalog result pages - either bundled or absent; coverage description reflects units actually located. No asbestos content at index level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-06
-
[8]NARA catalog, file unit 'SC-703, 1/5/43-1/19/46' (NAID 192251051), RG 24 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' (series NAID 594996) - verified live 2026-10-03 [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/192251051 - file-unit metadata and image set
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds this hull's muster rolls spanning her entire U.S. commissioned career: file unit 'SC-703, 1/5/43-1/19/46' (NAID 192251051, microfilm Roll 6824, 256 digitized images scanned under the NARA-Ancestry partnership, National Archives at College Park textual reference). Coverage begins 5 January 1943 - the commissioning date - and runs to 19 January 1946, corroborating that the hull remained on the rolls through mid-January 1946, five weeks before the 25 February 1946 striking.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-01-05 to 1946-01-19
- Population
- Crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Archival lead at catalog level: the 256 images are digitized and unrestricted but were not read page-by-page - individual crew names, transfers, and any remarks are uninventoried here. Muster rolls are personnel records, not material or engineering records - no asbestos content expected or found at index level. A name-collision artifact was also returned by the same catalog search: Item '111-SC-703 - Captain Ellis, Infantry' (NAID 55162741) is an Army Signal Corps photograph (111-SC prefix), not this vessel - excluded.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-07
-
[9]NARA Special List 44 (by ship number), 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' - SC-703 row (PDF verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, SC hull-number sequence, SC-703 row (begin 1/5/1943, end 7/31/1945)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 ship-number index records deck logs held for SC-703 covering 1/5/1943 - 7/31/1945 (RG 24 logbooks series) - the log series begins on her commissioning date and runs through the end of July 1945, corroborating the commissioned-service window against an official archival finding aid. No deck logs after July 1945 are listed; the muster rolls (ev-07) continue to 19 January 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-01-05 to 1945-07-31
- Population
- Crew (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Finding-aid level: documents that deck logs for this hull exist in RG 24 for 5 January 1943 - 31 July 1945; the logs themselves are undigitized at NARA College Park and were not read - contents (positions, operations, material notes) unknown. The log endpoint (July 1945) precedes the muster-roll endpoint (January 1946) and the striking (February 1946) - consistent with postwar inactivation, but the decommissioning event itself is undocumented in sources located. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-08
-
[10]World War II U.S. Navy ship campaign-participation table (transcription of the CNO-approved campaign/engagement list), SC 703 rows - via officialmilitaryribbons.com (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- officialmilitaryribbons.com 'USS SC-692 to SC-1004' page, SC 703 row block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The campaign-participation table credits this hull with seven WWII operations: P17-2 Lae occupation (4-14 September 1943); P17-3 Finschaffen occupation (22-23 September 1943); P22-3 Arawe, New Britain (19-20 December 1943); P22-5 Cape Gloucester, New Britain (26-27 December 1943); P40 Hollandia operation (21-28 April 1944); P28-3 Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation (17-18 May 1944); P28-4 Biak Island operation (27-30 May 1944) - a Southwest Pacific service arc consistent with the NARA war-diary coverage and the uboat.net order-of-battle transcriptions.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-09-04 to 1944-05-30
- Population
- Crew aboard, 1943-44 campaign periods
- Limitations
- Secondary transcription on a commercial ribbon-vendor site of the official CNO campaign-participation list - the campaign codes and date ranges follow the Navy's awards annexes, but the underlying official document was not located online this session (NHHC awards-manual pages carry the campaign framework, not per-hull credits). Four of the seven credits (Arawe, Cape Gloucester, Hollandia, Toem-Wakde-Sarmi) are independently corroborated by the uboat.net orders of battle; the Lae and Finschhafen credits align with the AA action reports in her September 1943 war diary; the Biak credit stands on the transcription alone. Carried 'partial'; the authoritative citation remains the CNO list itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-09
-
[11]Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (NHHC publication), 1943 and 1944 chapters - HyperWar/ibiblio verbatim transcription (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN-Chron-1943.html December 1943 entries (Arawe, Cape Gloucester); USN-Chron-1944.html April-May 1944 entries (Hollandia/Aitape, Wakde-Toem, Biak vicinity)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official Navy chronology documents the operations this hull took part in per ev-05/ev-09: 15 December 1943 - 'TF 76 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) lands Army troops (112th U.S. Cavalry Regiment) on Arawe Peninsula, New Britain, in Operation DIRECTOR'; 26 December 1943 - '1st Marine Division ... landed at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, by Seventh Amphibious Force (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey)'; 22 April 1944 - 'TF 77 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) lands two divisions of the I Army Corps ... at Aitape and Tanahmerah Bay in Operation PERSECUTION, and Humboldt Bay, Hollandia, New Guinea, in Operation RECKLESS'; 17 May 1944 - 'TF 77 (Rear Admiral William M. Fechteler) lands Army 163d Regimental Combat Team (Reinforced) in Wakde-Toem area, New Guinea ... in Operation STRAIGHTLINE.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-12 to 1944-05
- Population
- SWPA amphibious-force crews (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Names the operations, not the hull - Cressman does not mention SC-703; her participation rests on the uboat.net order-of-battle transcriptions and the campaign-credit table. ibiblio/HyperWar is the standard verbatim-transcription mirror for the NHHC-published chronology; the 1944 chapter is at USN-Chron-1944.html. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-10
-
[12]Era inference built on: NARA-authored Unwritten Record blog (wooden 110' SC put into production for WWII); NavSource spec block (GM 8-268A diesels, no steam plant); class-article construction data (438 boats, 1941-44); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-13) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Unwritten Record 'Spotlight: Submarine Chasers' (26 Apr 2016); NavSource specifications block; shipyards.json (no Delaware Bay Shipbuilding entry)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled, diesel-powered 110' submarine chaser built 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era but at the low end of its material intensity: no boilers, no steam lines, no turbine lagging - the dominant shipboard asbestos pathways do not exist on this hull type. Era-standard diesel-craft applications aboard a boat of this type and period were engine and exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets, valve packing, and electrical/wiring insulation in a small wooden hull volume.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-unknown
- Population
- Delaware Bay yard construction trades (1942); crew (1943-46); disposal workforce (unknown date/location)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for SC-703/PC-703. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity. The wooden-hull type plausibly carried materially less asbestos than steel steam vessels of the same era - an inference about degree, not an exemption claim. No manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-11
-
[13]National Archives, The Unwritten Record (NARA staff blog), 'Spotlight: Submarine Chasers' (26 April 2016) - RG 19 engineering-record context for the 110' chaser type (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov post, RG 19 drawing links (NAID 28264940, 30010079)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-authored record on the type: '440 of these wooden SC boats were constructed and placed in service during the World War I era. The design proved very effective, and an improved wooden 110' SC was put into production for World War II' - confirming the wooden-hull construction of this hull's class from a government archival source, and pointing to RG 19 Alphabetical Series of Ship Engineering Drawings holdings for the 110' chaser type (NAID 28264940 outboard profile; NAID 30010079).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944 (WWII production statement)
- Limitations
- Confirms the class's wooden construction - a material-context fact relevant to how much asbestos the type could plausibly carry - but contains no asbestos content and documents the WWI predecessor design directly; the WWII production statement is at type level. The linked NARA drawing records were verified retrievable via the catalog this session but their contents were not reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-12
-
[14]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) - product-page highlights (verified 2026-10-03) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 highlights block; 26-page full-report PDF not retrieved
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO's review of Navy asbestos-exposure protection documented that asbestos insulation was in use in Navy ships, and that the Navy's 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs - a policy modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. The program-level finding places asbestos insulation aboard Navy ships throughout this hull's U.S. service era (1943-46).
- 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. Fieldwork shipyards were Long Beach and Norfolk - not this hull's builder. This hull is wooden and diesel-powered, at the low end of the asbestos-intensity range the report addresses.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-13
-
[15]Batch-8077 search ledger (this record): DANFS compilation; NavSource vessel + class index; uboat.net; NARA catalog (war diaries, muster rolls) + Special List 44; shipbuildinghistory yard + production tables; HyperWar ships table + Cressman chronology; NARA blog; GAO product page; NVR check; PCSA class page; AWM + LOC collections; CourtListener (API v4); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-703-01 through sl-uss-pc-703-19
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS SC-703 or USS PC-703 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener queries could not be completed this session - the fleet-wide pacing budget was saturated on spaced retries and the helper returned stand-down guidance; logged as blocked, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm asbestos-list hits for this hull or the Delaware Bay yard; generic hits were name collisions (South Carolina Highway 703, statute-section strings). A distinct Republic of Korea patrol craft carried the number PC-703 (ex-USS PC-802, 'Sam Kak San') - a known collision for any future 'PC-703' litigation hit.
- 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 (throttled, not run). Deck logs (RG 24), war diaries (RG 38), and muster rolls (RG 24) exist for this hull and are largely digitized but unread page-by-page - a positive archival lead, not a resolved record. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-703-14