Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-734 (ex-PC-734) - milestones, specifications, call sign, and 'no DANFS history available' statement [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150734.htm header block, timeline, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 15 April 1942 by the Al Larson Boat Shop, Inc., Terminal Island, CA; launched 18 July 1942; commissioned PC-734 on 28 December 1942; reclassified SC-734 in April 1943; transferred to the State Department Foreign Liquidation Commission 25 April 1947; fate unknown. Call sign Nan-Xray-Jig-Uncle. Spec block: displacement 148 t.; length 110' 10"; beam 17'; draft 6' 6"; speed 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 diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single-reduction gear, two shafts. Page states explicitly: 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-734.' A single photograph (credited to Robert Hurst) is captioned 1 January 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Al Larson construction trades (1942); crew (1942-47)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone data here corroborated by uboat.net, shipscribe program data, and Shipbuilding History, so carried as verified. Contains no asbestos content. 'Fate unknown' is the compiler's honest marker, not evidence of loss.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-01
-
[2]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS SC-734 (SC-734) - build data and compiled operational history from wartime records [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/8951.html, 'Notable events involving SC-734' - Operation Dexterity 26 Dec 1943; Operations Reckless and Persecution 22 Apr 1944; Operation Straightline 17 May 1944
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net places this hull in Seventh Amphibious Force operations in the Southwest Pacific under Lt. R.B. MacLean, USNR, across three compiled operation records. Operation Dexterity (Cape Gloucester, New Britain): SC-734 was assigned to Task Unit 76.2.3, the Fourth Supply Section, with SC-703 and SC-738; at 0455L/26 December 1943 the seventh echelon - LSTs 474, 467, 468, 470 and 475 escorted by the three SCs - departed Cape Sudest for Yellow Beach, Cape Gloucester, destroyers Lamson, Drayton, Bagley and Mugford joining near Langemak Bay. Operations Reckless and Persecution (Hollandia and Aitape landings, 22 April 1944): SC-734 is listed among the patrol vessels of Task Group 77.2 (flagship destroyer USS Reid, T/Rear-Admiral R.A. Fechteler), with SC-703, LCI(G)-34, LCI(G)-73, minesweepers YMS-46/-47 and the tug Sonoma. Operation Straightline (Arara and Wakde Island landings, 17 May 1944): SC-734 was in Task Unit 77.2.91, the Control Unit, with SC-703, SC-699 and SC-736; Echelon S-3 including the four SCs departed Hollandia at 1900K/16 May 1944 for the operations area. Build data (ordered 12 Mar 1942; laid down 15 Apr 1942; launched 18 Jul 1942; commissioned 28 Dec 1942) matches NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (operations); 1942 (build data)
- Population
- Crew (~28 officers and men); embarked control/escort detachments
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a specialist secondary compilation assembled from wartime operation orders and action reports - accurate in our experience but not an official source; carried as corroborating detail alongside NavSource. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-02
-
[3]shipscribe.com, U.S. Navy Shipbuilding Programs, Fiscal Year 1942 - SC/PC contract table (compiled from official Navy program records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/navyrefs/usnprog/fy42.html, SC block rows '734-37' and '(734-35)'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The FY1942 program table documents the order for this hull: SC 734-37 appears in the SC contract block dated 16 February 1942 assigned to Al Larson (contract no. 26 series), with a subsequent '(SC) (734-35) - Re-order - 12 Mar 42 - Al Larson' line. This matches uboat.net's 'ordered 12 Mar 1942' and confirms the Al Larson Boat Shop award.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Al Larson Boat Shop (contract award)
- Limitations
- Program-level table compiled from official Navy records - documents the procurement action, not construction details or materials. The two order dates (16 Feb contract vs 12 Mar re-order) are reconciled as contract + re-order rather than conflict; see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-03
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (Colton compilation), 'Sub Chasers PC SC PCE PCS WWII' - per-boat builder table and class disposal context [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/pc2/, SC table row 734 and intro paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The per-boat table lists 'SC-734 | Al Larson boat | Terminal Island CA | 148 | 110 | 28 Dec 1942 | to FLC 1947', corroborating builder, commissioning date, and FLC transfer year. Class context: 973 sub chasers and related craft built by 74 boatbuilders; 'Almost all the rest were turned over to either MARCOM (now MARAD) or the Department of State's Foreign Liquidation Commission (FLC) for disposal and little is known of what happened to them' - the documented reason this hull's post-1947 fate is unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Al Larson construction trades (1942); post-war FLC disposal chain
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation of U.S. small-craft construction; corroborates NavSource. FLC transfer shown only to year precision here (1947); NavSource gives the exact date 25 April 1947. A third secondary source (navalmarinearchive Al Larson yard list) prints 'To FLC 1948' - see gaps. No asbestos content. Page fetched via firecrawl; direct curl intermittently 500s.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-04
-
[5]NARA, series 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1992' (RG 24, NAID 594258) - deck-log holdings; batch research brief reports SC-734 log coverage 1/1/1943-6/30/1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/594258 (series record); search-within 'SC-734' 13 file units
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The batch research brief reports NARA corroboration of SC-734 deck-log coverage 1 January 1943 - 30 June 1945; these are log-coverage dates, not commissioning/decommissioning dates. Live check of the NARA catalog (JS-rendered, series search-within NAID 594258, exact phrase 'SC-734') returned 13 file units - every one a DIFFERENT vessel's digitized deck log mentioning SC-734 in its OCR text (e.g., USS Gillespie DD-609 May and June 1944, USS Edwards DD-619 December 1944, USS Frazier DD-607 May 1945). Her own WWII logbooks are not in the digitized online set; they exist in the physical RG 24 holdings covered by finding aid SL 44.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-01-01 to 1945-06-30 (coverage window)
- Population
- Crew recorded in deck logs (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the per-vessel coverage window (1/1/1943-6/30/1945) comes from the batch brief's NARA pull and could not be re-verified against a dedicated SC-734 file unit in the catalog UI this session - the catalog's series search is OCR-based and surfaced only other ships' logs. Physical holdings at Archives II (College Park) per SL 44. No asbestos content. The other-ship log mentions are themselves leads placing SC-734 alongside those vessels in 1944-45.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-05
-
[6]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 entire service era (1942-47).
- 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. The report addresses Navy shipyard work practices and ship insulation generally - it does not discuss 110-foot wooden submarine chasers. 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-734-pc734-06
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (wooden-hulled SC-497 class, twin GM 8-268A diesels); NavSource SC index ('110-foot wood-hulled'); Shipbuilding History class totals; GAO HRD-80-2 era anchor (ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150734.htm spec block; NavSource 12/15idx.htm class index; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/pc2/ intro
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled 110-foot submarine chaser built in 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era, but the hull form sharply limits the plausible material footprint: no boilers, no steam plant, no extensive piping systems. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel-driven wooden combatant of this type were confined to machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, engine and exhaust gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and possibly localized heat-shielding or deck compounds near the machinery space. In a 148-ton craft with a crew of 28, any such material was limited in quantity but present in a small, poorly ventilated below-deck machinery compartment.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Al Larson construction trades (1942); engine-room crew (1942-47)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific material list, insulation survey, or work package located for SC-734. Names era-standard applications for the type, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. The wooden construction is itself evidence AGAINST the extensive lagging seen on steel steamships - the inference is deliberately narrower than the fleet-wide pattern.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-07
-
[8]WWII Navy ship campaign participation list, SC-734 entry (commercial mirror of the official Navy campaign-participation serials: P17-2 Lae occupation 4-10 Sep 43; P17-3 Finschhafen occupation 22-23 Sep 43; P22-5 Cape Gloucester 26-27 Dec 43 and 9-10 Jan 44; P28-3 Toem-Wakde-Sarmi 17-19 May 44) [other_primary]
- Locator
- officialmilitaryribbons.com SC 692-1004 page, 'SC 734' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A reproduction of the Navy's WWII per-ship campaign participation list credits SC-734 with five dated engagements across three campaign areas: Lae occupation 4-10 Sep 1943 (P17-2); Finschhafen occupation 22-23 Sep 1943 (P17-3); Cape Gloucester, New Britain 26-27 Dec 1943 and 9-10 Jan 1944 (P22-5); Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation 17-19 May 1944 (P28-3). The Gloucester and Wakde-Sarmi entries are independently corroborated by uboat.net's compiled task-organization records (ev-02).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-09 to 1944-05
- Population
- Crew during credited operations (1943-44)
- Limitations
- The host site is a commercial ribbon retailer reproducing the official Navy campaign-participation serials - data format and content match the official CNO lists, but the page is a mirror, not the underlying document. Carried as archival_lead: the controlling primary source is the Navy Department campaign-participation list (CNO/SECNAV serials). Not an asbestos record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-08
-
[9]Class/designation correction: NavSource SC-734 page ('ex-PC-734', SC-497 class); NavSource SC-497 page (PC-497 -> SC-497, April 1943) and SC-732 page (PC-732 -> SC-732, April 1943) documenting the class-wide reclassification; shipbuildinghistory class table distinguishing 110' wooden SCs from 173' steel PCs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150734.htm ('ex-PC-734'); NavSource 12/150497.htm and 12/150732.htm (parallel PC->SC trails); shipbuildinghistory pc2 class intro
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: this hull is an SC-497-class submarine chaser - a 110-foot wooden-hulled craft - NOT a PC-461-class 173-foot steel patrol craft, despite having commissioned under the PC-734 designation. The confusion is structural: the entire block of 110-foot SCs was commissioned with PC numbers in late 1942/early 1943 and reclassified to SC in April 1943 (sisters SC-497 and SC-732 show the identical PC->SC reclassification trail). No PC-461-class 'PC-734' ever existed; the PC-734 and SC-734 identifiers denote one hull in sequence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Limitations
- Corrects a classing error, not a material claim. The April 1943 reclassification month is stated only to month precision in NavSource. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-09
-
[10]Batch-8108 search ledger (this record): NavSource; uboat.net; shipscribe FY42 program; Shipbuilding History small-craft table; navalmarinearchive Al Larson yard list; NHHC/hazegray DANFS indexes; NARA catalog NAID 594258; ww2pcsa.org; NVR; web sweeps; CourtListener (3 of 4 queries completed - sl-12/14/15; 'PC-734' docket blocked - sl-13) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pc-734-pc734-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation spec, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming PC-734/SC-734 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener returned zero opinion hits for 'PC-734' and 7+14 hits for 'SC-734' that are all name collisions (Kentucky 'SC' docket prefixes, reporter/docket-number fragments) - no qualifying vessel or asbestos litigation. One required query ('PC-734' dockets) could not be completed - fleet pacing saturated all session; logged blocked, not a negative result. Web sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing material asserting asbestos aboard 'patrol craft' generically (navyshipexposure.com, mesotheliomahope.com) with no primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. No DANFS entry exists for this hull (confirmed via hazegray patrol index and NavSource's own statement).
- 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 - WWII-era machinery spaces of even small wooden combatants plausibly carried some era-standard ACM. The 'PC-734' docket query is an open gap (paced, not run). Deck logs (RG 24, coverage 1/1/1943-6/30/1945) and any builder/FLC records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pc-734-pc734-10