Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 1005-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-pgm-53-pgm53-pkt-1005-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online, Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive: PGM-53 page (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PGM-53 page, specifications block and transfer/striking lines
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource hull record for PGM-53: 'PGM-53 was built for Ethiopia.' PGM-39 class motor gunboat; laid down in August 1961 by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, WI; delivered in 1962, transferred to Ethiopia and reclassified PC-13; struck from the Navy list in 1984; fate unknown. Specifications: displacement 110 t; length 95 ft; beam 19 ft; draft 6 ft 9 in; speed 20 kts; armament two 20mm mounts and two .50 cal. machine guns; propulsion eight 255bhp General Motors 6-71 diesel engines, two shafts. NavSource states explicitly: 'There is no DANFS history available for PGM-53.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-1984
- Population
- Peterson Builders construction trades 1961; Ethiopian Navy crew c. 1961-84 (navypedia class fit complement 20)
- Limitations
- NavSource documents identity, construction, transfer, striking, and as-built U.S. specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Its 'laid down August 1961 / delivered 1962' sequence conflicts with the Peterson yard table's 24 Aug 1961 delivery date (see gaps). No image of PGM-53 exists in the archive.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-01
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[3]NavSource Online, Motor Gunboat (PGM) Ship Index (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PGM Ship Index, 'PGM-39 Class Motor Gunboat (Continued)' block, PGM-53 line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource's PGM index lists this hull in the PGM-39-class block: 'PGM-53 to Ethiopia as PC-13.' The index notes that all Motor Gunboats hull number 84 and greater in U.S. inventory on 1 April 1967 were redesignated Patrol Gunboats (PG), and that 'the term Motor Gunboat now applies primarily to craft built for allied navies' - the PGM-39 class were Military Assistance Program construction for foreign transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1959-1970 (PGM-39 class construction span)
- Limitations
- Index-level listing; confirms the hull-to-PC-13 identity and the allied-transfer character of the class, nothing more. Not a materials record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-02
-
[4]ShipbuildingHistory / Colton yard table, 'Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay WI' - Naval Marine Archive mirror (verified live 2026-10-04; shipbuildinghistory.com/njscuba.net origin hosts returned HTTP 500/404 during this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Peterson Builders yard table, 'Part 2: Major DoD Shipbuilding Programs', 4 Motor Gunboats (PGM) block, PGM 53 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Peterson Builders yard table carries this hull in its '4 Motor Gunboats (PGM)' block as 'PGM 53 - Unnamed (PC 13) - Ethiopia - Patrol Gunboat - 110d - 95 ft - Delivery 24-Aug-61 - Struck 1984' (sister PGM 54 to Ethiopia as PC 14 delivered the same day; PGM 51-52 went to Burma as PGM 405/406). The parent gunboats table notes that of 112 postwar U.S.-built gunboats, 95 were built under the Foreign Military Sales program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961
- Population
- Peterson Builders yard workforce, 1961
- Limitations
- Yard-table row: documents builder, owner, delivery date, size, and disposition. The 24 Aug 1961 'delivery' date conflicts with NavSource's 'laid down August 1961 / delivered 1962' framing - the two sources appear to attach different meanings to the same date (see gaps). Not a materials record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-03
-
[5]Navypedia, Ethiopia/Eritrea coastal forces, 'PC11 large patrol craft (1958-1962)' page (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PC11 large patrol craft table, PC13 row; technical data block; project history line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Navypedia's Ethiopian Navy roster lists PC13 (ex-PGM53), built by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, USA, commissioned 1961, fate 'discarded 1984' - alongside PC11 (ex-WVP95304, sunk April 1977), PC12 (ex-WVP95310, discarded 1984), PC14 (ex-PGM54, discarded 1984), and PC15 (listed as ex-PGM18, commissioned 1962, discarded 1986). Project history: 'US Cape 95ft class boats, also built for other countries as PGM53 class.' Ethiopian-era class technical data: 146 t full load; 29.0 m x 5.80 m x 1.60 m; two shafts; four Cummings diesels, 2,200 hp; 21 kts; armament 1 x 40/60 Mk 3, 1 x 12.7/90, 1 x quadruple 178mm Mousetrap Mk 20 ASW launcher; radar; complement 20.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-1984
- Population
- Ethiopian Navy crew c. 1961-1984 (class complement 20)
- Limitations
- Reference-work roster (Conway's-consistent secondary compilation), not a primary record. Its engine/armament figures describe the Ethiopian-era class fit and conflict with NavSource's as-built U.S. specifications (8 x GM 6-71; two 20mm + two .50cal) - both carried, conflict logged in gaps. Navypedia's PC15 parentage (ex-PGM18) conflicts with U.S. sources (ex-PGM58) and is noted here only because it illustrates roster-level uncertainty in this fleet.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-04
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[6]NavSource PGM-53 specifications block (propulsion, dimensions, armament) + Peterson Builders yard context (ShipbuildingHistory/Naval Marine Archive mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PGM-53 specifications block (propulsion, dimensions, armament); era context is class-level inference, no government survey cited for this hull
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference only: PGM-53 was built at a U.S. yard in 1961, inside the documented U.S. shipbuilding asbestos era. On a 95-ft all-diesel patrol gunboat the period-standard asbestos applications would have been concentrated in exhaust-system lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation and arc barriers, deck covering, and joiner/bulkhead panels - not boiler or steam-line lagging, which this diesel plant did not carry. No ship-specific materials list, specification, survey, or abatement record for this hull is located.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-1984
- Population
- Peterson Builders construction trades 1961; Ethiopian Navy operating crew
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - nothing here is ship-proven. The diesel propulsion plant removes the steam-system lagging that drove the heaviest asbestos loading on wartime hulls; residual applications listed are typical, not verified aboard this hull. 1961 construction is late enough that any asbestos present would reflect the waning edge of U.S. shipbuilding asbestos use, but no products are documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-05
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[7]Batch-8623 search ledger (this record): NavSource PGM-53 page and PGM index; ShipbuildingHistory Peterson yard table (Naval Marine Archive mirror); navypedia Ethiopia roster; NHHC DANFS; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener opinion and docket searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no DANFS entry exists (NavSource states so explicitly); NVR does not cover hulls disposed before 1987; no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed case naming PGM-53 or PC-13 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener: 'PGM-53' opinion search returned zero hits; 'PGM-53' docket search returned one non-qualifying hit (a 2016 D.N.J. trademark case in which 'PGM-53' is a product mark - name collision); 'PC-13' opinion search returned 48 hits, all name collisions on Rhode Island 'PC 13-XXXX' and Indiana post-conviction '-PC-13' docket numbers - no vessel or asbestos content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1961 U.S. build is era-consistent with some asbestos content. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure; Ethiopian-service documentation is thinner still than the U.S. construction record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-pgm-53-pgm53-06