Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 928-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-708-pc708-pkt-928-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-708 page (ex-PC-708) - milestones, specifications, National Archives construction photo [other_primary]
- Locator
- SC-708 page timeline block, specifications block, and 27 October 1942 construction-photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 3 May 1942 by the Elizabeth City Shipyard, Elizabeth City, NC; launched 26 June 1942; 'Commissioned PC-708, 2 November 1942'; 'Reclassified SC-708 in April 1943'; struck from the Naval Register 26 February 1946; transferred to China 3 September 1947; fate unknown. Specifications: 148 t; 110'10" x 17' x 6'6"; 15.6 kts; complement 28; one 40mm mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, two Y-gun depth-charge projectors, two depth-charge tracks; two 880 bhp General Motors 8-268A diesels, Snow & Knobstedt single-reduction gear, two shafts. Call sign Nan-Xray-Charlie-Baker. Page carries a National Archives photo of the hull under construction at Elizabeth City on 27 October 1942. Page states: 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-708.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- crew complement 28 (class figure)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary archival compilation, not a primary record - its commissioning designation ('PC-708') conflicts with the ship's own muster roll, which already styles her 'U.S.S. SC 708' on the commissioning-quarter documents stamped 8 November 1942 (see ev-09). Specification figures are class-level for the SC-497 type; complement 28 is consistent with PCSA class data but not verified against a hull crew count. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-01
-
[3]NARA Record Group 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' (NAID 594996), file unit 'SC-708, 11/2/42-2/15/46' (Container Roll 6827) - digitized, 208 images [other_primary]
- Locator
- Roll 6827 images: Report of Changes page 1 ('U.S.S. SC 708', stamped NOV 8 1942) and Muster Roll of the Crew page 1 (quarter ending November 2, 1942, stamped NOV 8 1942) within file unit NAID 192251761
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own Bureau of Naval Personnel muster documents - the Report of Changes of 'U.S.S. SC 708' and the Muster Roll of the Crew of 'the U.S.S. SC 708 ... for the quarter ending November 2, 1942,' both stamped received 8 November 1942 - style her 'SC 708' at commissioning (2 November 1942). The roll footnotes that crew members reported for duty 'at the Elizabeth City Shipyard, Elizabeth City, N.C.'; personnel were received from the Receiving Station at NOB Norfolk, Va. (mostly 30 September 1942) and one from the Receiving Ship at New York, N.Y. (29 September 1942). The first muster page lists 18 crew by name and rating. The file unit spans her entire Navy career, 11/2/42-2/15/46, ending eleven days before striking.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-11-02 to 1946-02-15
- Population
- commissioning crew (18 names on first muster page; ~28 complement per class figures)
- Limitations
- Personnel/administrative record only - no operational or material content and no asbestos information. Confirms designation in use, commissioning date, crew intake and the coverage span; does not state a decommissioning date or disposal details. The 'SC 708' styling here precedes NavSource's 'April 1943' reclassification date by five months (see ev-09).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-02
-
[4]NARA Record Group 38 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), series 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories': USS SC-708 war-diary file units 6/3-30/43 (NAID 134346340, Roll A674), 7/4-23/43 (NAID 136007901, Roll A695), 8/16-27/43 (NAID 134346359, Roll A674), 9/1-30/43 (NAID 78267507, Roll A784), 10/1/43-11/30/43 (NAID 78352090, Roll A880) - all digitized [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 134346340 (18 images, day pages 3-28 Jun 1943); 136007901 (16 images, day page 4 Jul 1943); 134346359 (8 images, day page 16 Aug 1943); 78267507 (20 images, day page 1 Sep 1943); 78352090 (41 images, day pages 26 and 30 Nov 1943) - catalog URLs: catalog.archives.gov/id/{NAID}
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- War diaries place SC-708 on anti-submarine patrol out of Argentia, Newfoundland (Placentia Bay) across the located span 3 June-30 November 1943: outer-anchorage 'sound listening' patrols in Placentia Sound (moored berth 33; Army dock Berth Tare) and Harbor Approach Area No. 1 (HA-1) patrols at 6 knots maintaining sound-ranging watches. On 16 August 1943 she got underway 'from Pier # 3, Greens shipyard, Chelsea, Mass.' for Argentia, ran a degaussing range, and fired all guns at general quarters - bracketing a Chelsea availability. On 1 September 1943 she relieved USS YMS-32 of the HA-1 patrol and identified a radar contact as 'R 347, Fighting French sub-chaser.' On 26 November 1943 she escorted USS Salinas to St. John's, Newfoundland, in company with SC-707, mooring alongside SC-707 at the government dock, St. John's. Commanding officer throughout: Lt. (jg) J. W. Rettig, Jr., USNR; wardroom officers E. C. Doty and H. R. Johnson, USNR (Doty signing as Ensign in June, as Lieut. (jg) by October).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-06-03 to 1943-11-30
- Population
- ship's company (~28 complement); NOB Argentia base personnel; Boston Navy Yard Chelsea Annex yard workforce (August 1943 availability)
- Limitations
- Operational record of positions and watchstanding - no material/construction content and no asbestos information. Establishes locations and movements, not the purpose or scope of the Chelsea yard period (the diary resumes only on departure 16 August). File-unit boundaries leave coverage gaps: notably 24 July-15 August 1943 (the Chelsea transit) and all dates after 30 November 1943 - service to 1946 is undocumented here. Officer names as printed/signed on day pages.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-03
-
[5]Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, Vol. 3 of 3 (Boston National Historical Park, Division of Cultural Resources, National Park Service, 2010), Appendix A chronology [nps]
- Locator
- Vol. 3, Appendix A chronology: entries of 18 April 1942 (designation), October 1942 (marine-railway reconstruction), February 1943 (rehabilitation completed), July-August 1943 ('Chelsea Annex placed in active use'), 31 October 1945 (declared surplus)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NPS chronology documents that the area occupied by Marine Railways 12 and 13 - 'property ... purchased from Green's Shipyard and Boston Dry Dock Co., respectively, in 1941' - was 'officially designated as the Chelsea Annex of the Boston Navy Yard' on 18 April 1942; reconstruction of Marine Railways 12 and 13 at the Chelsea Annex completed October 1942; 'extensive rehabilitation and construction of new facilities at Chelsea Annex' completed February 1943; and the Annex was 'placed in active use' in mid-1943. SC-708's documented presence at 'Pier # 3, Greens shipyard, Chelsea' on 16 August 1943 (ev-03) therefore situates a Navy Yard annex availability immediately after the annex entered service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1943 (yard designation and activation); August 1943 (hull presence)
- Population
- Chelsea Annex yard workforce; ship's company during availability
- Limitations
- Yard-level context - names the annex, not this hull. Establishes that 'Greens shipyard, Chelsea' was Navy-operated Boston Navy Yard property in August 1943; does not establish what work was performed on SC-708, nor that any asbestos work occurred. Chelsea Annex held marine railways (small-craft hauling), not the full industrial plant of the Charlestown yard. Navy property purchase dated 1941 per NPS; a related federal taking of 'Richard T. Green Shipyard, Plant No. 2' is dated 22 January 1942 in Richard T. Green Co. v. City of Chelsea, 149 F.2d 927 (1st Cir. 1945) - parcels differ.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-04
-
[6]'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' (U.S. Naval History compilation), Submarine Chasers (SC) section - HyperWar/ibiblio mirror [other_primary]
- Locator
- SC listing, row 'SC-701-708 | | 1942-44'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- SC-708 appears in the 'SC-701-708' group row with service dates '1942-44' - the Navy-compiled listing corroborates commissioning within the 1930-1986 study window and service through 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Tabular compilation, not a narrative - gives only the in-service date band, no operations detail and no asbestos content. '1942-44' is the publication's coverage window; it does not by itself establish disposition after 1944.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource SC-708 specifications (two GM 8-268A diesels, two shafts - no steam plant; 110' wooden hull); Patrol Craft Sailors Association SC-497 class data (110-foot wood hull, two diesels); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era context (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications; ww2pcsa.org/subchaser.html class summary; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A 1942-built wooden-hulled diesel submarine chaser sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era, but the application inventory differs sharply from steam vessels: no boilers, no turbines, no steam lagging. Era-standard applications aboard a boat of this type and period were diesel-exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and small-craft joiner/paint materials; wood construction and a ~28-man complement compress both the material inventory and the exposed population relative to steel steam hulls.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyard construction trades (1942); crew (1942-46); Boston Navy Yard Chelsea Annex trades (Aug 1943 availability); disposal personnel (1946-47)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for this vessel. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. Wooden hull removes the large steam-plant and steel-structure asbestos loads typical of combatants; residual diesel-era applications remain inference, not fact. No quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (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 entire construction (1942) 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 2026-10-03) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-07
-
[9]Batch-8082 search ledger (this record): NavSource SC-708 page; NHHC DANFS (no entry); NARA catalog (muster rolls + war diaries); NARA Special List 44 deck-log coverage; HyperWar NHHC ship list; NPS Charlestown Navy Yard HRS; NHHC abbreviations reference; shipyards.json cross-check; NVR (out of coverage); CourtListener (blocked); secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-708-pc708-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming PC-708 or SC-708 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated API returned a fleet-pacing throttle (shared hourly request budget spent) on every attempt; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material for this hull type is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos on WWII patrol craft 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). Undigitized deck logs, yard work packages (Elizabeth City; Chelsea Annex), and Chinese-service records are open leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-08
-
[10]Designation cross-check: NavSource SC-708 page sequence ('Commissioned PC-708, 2 November 1942; Reclassified SC-708 in April 1943' - identical wording on her Elizabeth City Shipyard sisters' pages); NARA RG 24 muster roll 'U.S.S. SC 708' commissioning documents stamped 8 November 1942 (ev-02); uboat.net Allied Warships lists her as SC-497 class ordered 16 February 1942 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource SC-708 header/timeline; NARA NAID 192251761 commissioning muster documents; uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/8925.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION (two parts). (1) Class: batch input framing 'PC-461 class' is wrong for this hull - the Elizabeth City hull was a 110-foot wooden SC-497-class submarine chaser; PC-461 is the 173-foot steel patrol-craft class. The hull was never a PC-461 design. (2) Commissioning designation: NavSource's sequence - 'Commissioned PC-708, 2 November 1942; Reclassified SC-708 in April 1943' - conflicts with the ship's own muster roll, which already styles her 'U.S.S. SC 708' on the commissioning-quarter Report of Changes and Muster Roll stamped received 8 November 1942, five months before NavSource's reclassification date. The contemporary BUPERS record is favored for the SC styling in service; 'PC-708' is carried as the documented contract/NavSource variant, and the April 1943 date appears to mark a fleet-wide administrative reclassification applying to the whole Elizabeth City group.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects designation/class framing, not a material claim - no asbestos content. The 'April 1943' reclassification date rests on NavSource's uniform wording across the ECS group; whether the hull ever officially carried 'PC-708' in service is not resolved by the located sources (muster roll already says SC 708 at commissioning). uboat.net's 'ordered 16 Feb 1942' is secondary, uncorroborated by a primary source here - not carried as fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-09
-
[11]National Archives, Special List 44 - Logbooks of the U.S. Navy (finding aid to Navy deck logs by ship number), SC-708 entries, PDF p. 108 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 ship-number PDF p. 108, rows 'SC-708 11/2/1942 11/30/1943' and 'SC-708 1/1/1944 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists SC-708 deck-log coverage for 11/2/1942-11/30/1943 and 1/1/1944-6/30/1945 - corroborating U.S. Navy service under the SC-708 designation from commissioning through mid-1945, and showing the logs filed under the SC designation throughout (including the November 1942-April 1943 window NavSource dates to the 'PC-708' period). Coverage gaps in the list: December 1943 and July 1945 onward.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-11-02 to 1945-06-30 (listed deck-log coverage, with listed gaps)
- Limitations
- A finding aid listing the date coverage of extant deck logs - it does not contain the logs themselves, and does not establish operational events, a continuous narrative, asbestos content, individual exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. The listed logs are paper records; they did not surface as digitized file units in the catalog search (ev-03), which located muster rolls and war diaries instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-10
-
[12]Naval History and Heritage Command, Ship Abbreviations and Symbols (nomenclature reference) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Ship Abbreviations and Symbols, 'PC -- submarine chaser (173')' and 'SC -- submarine chaser (110')' entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's ship-type abbreviation reference defines 'PC -- submarine chaser (173')' and 'SC -- submarine chaser (110')' as distinct types - official nomenclature confirming that the PC and SC designations denote different hull designs (173-foot steel patrol craft vs. 110-foot wooden subchaser), consistent with treating this hull's physical class as SC-497, not PC-461.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Nomenclature reference, not a hull-specific construction record - establishes the meaning of the designations, not which designation this hull officially held at each date, nor any material fact. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-708-pc708-11