Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]DANFS, Penetrate (AM-271) (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returns 404 - text also verified against Wayback capture 20250125125657 of the official NHHC page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, Ala., 5 January 1943; launched 11 September 1943; sponsored by Miss Frances M. Moyer; commissioned 31 March 1944, Lt. M. S. Lazaron, Jr., in command. Stood down river to the Gulf 14 April 1944, sailed for the east coast and shakedown in Chesapeake Bay; training in Casco Bay by late May; steamed north 1 June to Argentia, Nfld., where converted to a weather patrol vessel; six months patrolling between Greenland and Canada tracking polar maritime air masses affecting the European battlefronts and transatlantic air routes. Early January 1945 meteorological instruments removed and minesweeping gear reinstalled; headed south 31 January to Philadelphia, arriving 7 February for abbreviated overhaul prior to Lend-Lease transfer. Sailed 27 February for the Panama Canal en route to Cold Bay, Alaska, arriving 15 April; trained the Soviet crew for a month; decommissioned and formally transferred 21 May 1945. Never returned nor purchased; redesignated MSF-271 on 7 February 1955 and carried on the Navy List into 1970. DANFS specifications block: dp. 625; l. 184'6"; b. 33'; dr. 9'9"; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3", 4 40mm.; cl. Admirable.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (U.S. service); 1955 (reclassification)
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding Chickasaw construction trades (1943-44); USN crew Mar 1944-May 1945 (complement 104); Soviet trainee crew at Cold Bay (Apr-May 1945)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing link-rot note from Batch 01); verbatim hazegray transcription cited, text confirmed identical to a Wayback capture of the official NHHC page (20250125125657). DANFS carries no striking date - the 'carried on the Navy List into 1970' close reflects the pre-1983 edition; sister-hull DANFS entries (e.g., Admirable AM-136) record a 1 January 1983 strike for unreturned Hula hulls but the Penetrate entry does not. Spec-block displacement 625 t conflicts with NavSource 945 t(fl) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Penetrate (MSF 271) ex-AM-271 page (construction chronology, Soviet-service chain, specifications, commanding-officer roster, disposition) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AM-271 page - Admirable Class Minesweeper chronology, specifications block, CO roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 5 January 1943 by the Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL; launched 11 September 1943; commissioned USS Penetrate (AM 271) 31 March 1944; decommissioned 21 May 1945 at Cold Bay, AK; transferred to the Soviet Union 22 May 1945 and reclassified T-280; assigned to the Soviet Pacific Fleet 27 June 1945; transferred 24 June 1947 to the Ministry of Transport and converted to a whaling vessel; named Typhoon 7 August 1948; reclassified by U.S. Navy as Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull) MSF-271, 7 February 1955; scrapped in the early 1960s. Specifications: displacement 945 t.(fl); length 184'6"; beam 33'; draft 9'9"; speed 14.8 kts; complement 104; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, one twin 40mm mount, six 20mm mounts, one depth-charge projector (hedgehog), four depth-charge projectors (K-guns), two depth-charge tracks; propulsion two 855-shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single-reduction gear, two shafts. U.S. CO roster: LT Morris Samuel Lazaron, Jr., USNR (31 Mar 1944-21 May 1945).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- USN crew Mar 1944-May 1945; Soviet Navy crew T-280 (1945-47); Soviet whaling crew of Typhoon (1947-c.1960)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page - the sole located source for the Ministry-of-Transport/Typhoon chain and the Cooper Bessemer propulsion detail. Propulsion conflicts with HyperWar ('diesel-electric, twin screws, 1,800 h.p.') - carried in gaps. Displacement 945 t(fl) conflicts with DANFS 625 t - carried in gaps. The Ministry-of-Transport whaler chain conflicts with Wikipedia's 'naval trawler ... Taifun' [citation needed] - carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos information. Live navsource.org fetch failed during research; identical content verified via navsource.net mirror and Google index of the live page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-02
-
[3]Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan, Naval Historical Center, Washington DC, 1997 (ISBN 0-945274-35-1) - official Navy historical monograph drawing on Soviet-era records and Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-012, 1949) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Project Hula appendix table, pp. 38-39 ('Penetrate (AM 271) - T-280 - 1960-scrapped'); program narrative pp. 11-14, 27, 37-39
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The NHC monograph's transfer appendix (p. 39) lists this hull directly: 'Penetrate (AM 271) - T-280 - [ditto] - 1960-scrapped' in the U.S./Soviet designation, transfer-date, and disposition columns; the ditto falls under the 22 May column sequence established by Disdain (AM 222)/Indicative (AM 250)/Palisade (AM 270), matching NavSource's 'transferred 22 May 1945.' Program context from the same source: the planned roster was 180 vessels including 24 minesweepers (AM); 149 ships were transferred at Cold Bay in 1945; about 12,000 Soviet officers and men were trained there. Russell documents that Hula transfers were single-ceremony events combining U.S. decommissioning, transfer, and Soviet commissioning.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1945 (transfer); monograph published 1997
- Population
- USN crew + Soviet trainee crew at Cold Bay, Apr-May 1945
- Limitations
- Authoritative for the transfer event and Soviet designation: Russell used Soviet-era records unavailable during the Cold War plus NAVSHIPS 250-012, and resolves the 21-vs-22 May discrepancy toward a simultaneous 22 May ceremony (DANFS compresses the event to 21 May; both dates carried). The 1960-scrapped disposition agrees with NavSource's 'early 1960s.' Establishes nothing about materials or asbestos aboard; the monograph is a transfer-program history, not a hull materials record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-03
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Madisonville LA yard table, Gulf Shipbuilding hull #15 row: AM 271 Penetrate, U.S. Navy minesweeper, 890d tons, 221 ft, delivered 31-Mar-44, 'To USSR 1945 as T 280, disposition unknown' [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/madisonville.htm, Gulf Shipbuilding hull #15 row; cross-check shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/minesweepers1.htm 'AM 271 Penetrate Gulf SB Madisonville LA'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Colton's Madisonville yard table carries 'AM 271 - Penetrate' as Gulf Shipbuilding yard hull #15, delivered 31 March 1944 (the commissioning date), disposition 'To USSR 1945 as T 280' - confirming identity and transfer. The same table's minesweeper sequence (AM 267 Notable through AM 282+ Rampart, yard hulls ~10-26) assigns all Gulf-built Admirable hulls to the Madisonville LA yard; Colton's Chickasaw table carries destroyers, C2 cargo ships, and barges but no minesweepers - consistent with a systematic Madisonville attribution for the Gulf minesweeper contracts.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (Colton's yard lists), not an official record - the Madisonville yard attribution conflicts with DANFS, NavSource, uboat.net, and Wikipedia, which all read Chickasaw AL. DANFS controls the record (Chickasaw carried); the systematic nature of the conflict is documented in gaps. Independent verification would require Bureau of Ships contract files (QM/Gulf Shipbuilding, NARA RG 19). Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-04
-
[5]NARA, Special List 44 - Named Vessels (finding aid to Vessel and Station Log Books at the National Archives, RG 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 named-vessels table, 'Penetrate (AM-271)' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 names this hull with one logbook volume: 'Penetrate (AM-271) 3/31/1944-5/21/1945' - deck-log coverage spanning the hull's entire U.S. commissioned career, from the commissioning date through the decommissioning day, covering the Chesapeake shakedown, Casco Bay training, the Argentia weather-patrol conversion and six months of Greenland-Canada weather patrol, the January 1945 re-conversion, the Philadelphia overhaul, and the Cold Bay Project Hula period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (logbook coverage)
- Population
- USN complement aboard AM-271, Mar 1944-May 1945
- Limitations
- Deck logs are operational records - they document movements and events, not materials or asbestos aboard. Coverage ends 21 May 1945 at U.S. decommissioning; Soviet-era logs, if any survive, are not U.S. records. Muster rolls for this hull not separately confirmed in the named-vessels finding aid.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-05
-
[6]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessels up through 1961' (RG 19 research guide: hull-designation correspondence, Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books, hull-arranged Ship Engineering Drawings S39/S48/S103 filing codes) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page, sections on Bureau of Ships correspondence, 'General Information Books,' and 'Ship Engineering Drawings'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA's official asbestos-research guide identifies the record series that would document hull-level material specifications for this ship: RG 19 Bureau of Ships general correspondence filed under hull designation 'AM271' and class correspondence under 'AM136 Class' (Admirable namesake); builder contract files under 'QM/Gulf Shipbuilding'; RG 19 Entry P-11, 'Minesweeper and Minelayer General Information Books' (Item S-68, 1940-1962); and the paper/microfilm Ship Engineering Drawings ('Hull Series') arranged by hull number and Ship Material Group - the guide names S103 (Booklets of General Plans), S39 (Insulation and Lagging), and S48 (Piping) as the codes most relevant to asbestos research. An AM-271-specific drawing or GIB volume, if it survives, is the realistic path to any ship-specific materials finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (hypothetical record coverage); guide current as of 2026-09-22
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); USN crew Mar 1944-May 1945
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the guide documents which series exist, not that AM-271 material survives in them; no hull-specific drawing, GIB, or contract file was retrieved or confirmed. Establishes a research path, not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-06
-
[7]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (1946); PubMed PMID 21016030
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned wartime industrial-hygiene survey of pipe-covering operations at Navy and Navy-contract shipyards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - asbestos insulation was standard material in naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (survey era)
- Population
- Navy and Navy-contract shipyard pipe-covering trades (wartime)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether the Gulf Shipbuilding yard was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, quantities, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-07
-
[8]Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501 (1946) (opinion describing Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation's ownership of the company town of Chickasaw, Alabama) [court_record]
- Locator
- 326 U.S. 501, opinion of the Court (Black, J.), statement of facts
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A U.S. Supreme Court opinion documents the builder's operating environment during this hull's construction period: 'the town, a suburb of Mobile, Alabama, known as Chickasaw, is owned by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation. Except for that it has all the characteristics of any other American town' - residential buildings, streets, sewers, business block, company-paid policing. The wartime construction workforce that built AM-271 lived and worked in a company-controlled town adjoining the yard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (events); 1946 (opinion)
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding Chickasaw workforce and residents (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Builder-workforce context only - a First Amendment case, not asbestos litigation; it names no vessel, no materials, and no exposure. Establishes only that the yard workforce was resident in a company town during the construction window. CourtListener API was rate-limited at research time; opinion text verified via Cornell LII and Justia mirrors.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-08
-
[9]DANFS AM-271 entry (vessel type, builder, 1943 construction window, documented conversion/overhaul events) + NavSource propulsion data (diesel plant); NARA recognition of asbestos in USN materiel 1941-1961; wartime shipbuilding-materials context [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS AM-271 entry (construction record, conversion narrative); NavSource AM-271 specifications block; NARA asbestos guided-topic page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/type inference only: a steel Admirable-class fleet minesweeper built 1943 at Gulf Shipbuilding - inside the 1941-1961 window in which NARA officially recognizes asbestos use in U.S. Navy materiel - plausibly carried period-standard asbestos-containing materials in applications typical for the type: diesel exhaust lagging, engine-space insulation, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing, accommodation insulation, and deck covering. Because the plant was diesel (two diesel engines, no boilers or steam lines), the dominant WWII asbestos pathway aboard steam vessels - boiler and steam-line lagging - did not exist on this hull; expected ACM scope is smaller and differently distributed than aboard a steam vessel of the same era. Documented modification events - the June 1944 Argentia weather-patrol conversion, the January 1945 minesweeping-gear reinstallation, the February 1945 Philadelphia overhaul, and the 1947-48 Soviet whaler conversion - were disturbance opportunities on the 1943 hull; any disturbance of era materials in that work is inference only.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction trades (1943-44); USN crew Mar 1944-May 1945; Soviet Navy and whaling crews (1945-1960); Soviet scrapping workers (1960)
- Limitations
- Inference from era, builder, and vessel type only - no ship-specific document names any asbestos product aboard this hull. No material schedule for AM-271 was located (NARA RG 19 series are the lead, ev-06). Diesel propulsion reduces expected ACM scope relative to steam vessels but does not establish absence; the documented conversions/overhaul and the 1960 Soviet scrapping created undocumented disturbance opportunities. The ~14-month U.S. career limits the U.S.-service exposure window relative to hulls retained in U.S. custody.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-09
-
[10]Batch-1244 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription + NHHC Wayback capture; NavSource; Russell Project Hula NHC monograph; Colton Madisonville table; NARA Special List 44 + asbestos guide; CourtListener API (blocked, 429) + Google-indexed fallback; VA BVA index; uboat.net; HyperWar per-hull page; shipyards.json lookup [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-penetrate-am271-01 through sl-uss-penetrate-am271-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Penetrate / AM-271 / MSF-271 / T-280 / Typhoon was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) executed one successful query - "Penetrate" + asbestos, type=o, 137 hits - whose reviewed top results are all word-collision opinions ('penetrate' as a verb in asbestos-pleading boilerplate); no returned opinion names the vessel. Follow-on exact-phrase queries ("USS Penetrate", "AM-271") were blocked when the shared 2,800/day cap was exhausted; Google-indexed site:courtlistener.com and VA BVA searches returned only collision hits and no qualifying document naming the vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 2026-09-22
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 diesel minesweeper is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The hull left U.S. custody in May 1945 and was scrapped in the USSR in 1960, so no U.S. late-life record chain (reserve fleet, museum, domestic scrapping) exists to generate documentation; Soviet/Russian shipyard and fleet records were not searched (language/access barrier). CourtListener coverage is partial: the broad 'Penetrate'+asbestos opinion query ran (137 hits, top results reviewed - all collisions), but exact-phrase and docket-level confirmation queries were throttled (HTTP 429) before completion; an authenticated re-run remains an open item.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-penetrate-am271-10