Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Phantom III (AM-273) (builder, dates, service narrative, striking; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org DANFS mirror, Wayback capture 2022-09-10 - live NHHC page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull (spec block: AM-273; dp. 945 fl.; 184'6" x 33'0"; dr. 9'9"; 15 k.; cpl. 104; 1x3", 4x40mm; class AM-214): laid down by Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, Ala., 1 February 1943; launched 25 July 1943; commissioned 17 May 1944, Lt. Lawrence Dana, USNR, in command. ComServLant duty from 8 July 1944 - minesweeping and escort out of Norfolk along the east coast and off Bermuda; January 1945 stood by USS Pontiac as she was beached in sinking condition off McNab Island, Nova Scotia; east-coast ops Boston to Jacksonville; Panama Canal transit 9 April 1945; Pearl Harbor 4 May; Okinawa 26 June - swept mines there for the rest of the war; Japan minesweeping September 1945; China coast December 1945; San Diego 18 February 1946; Subic Bay inactivation from 14 September 1946; decommissioned 10 October 1946; reserve until transferred to the Nationalist Chinese Navy 15 June 1948; struck from the U.S. Navy List 13 July 1948; served as Yung Ming until October 1949 (decommissioned and struck from the ROC list); hulk sold for scrap July 1951. Three WWII battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1951
- Population
- Gulf Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 104)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, dates, and specifications - it contains no materials or asbestos information. Live NHHC DANFS page for this hull not located (consistent with standing NHHC link rot noted in BATCH-01); verbatim mirror transcription cited instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-01
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[2]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P. 'A Health Survey of Pipe Covering Operations in Constructing Naval Vessels.' J Ind Hyg Toxicol. 1946 Jan;28:9-16. PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946;28:9-16, materials section ('Pipe Covering Material'); PMID 21016030
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Saranac Laboratory industrial-hygiene survey of WWII naval-vessel construction states that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' (a commercial asbestos fiber) and documents pipe-covering crews handling asbestos felts and cements at two Navy yards and two Navy contract yards during the war. Establishes that asbestos pipe covering was standard material in U.S. Navy vessel construction during the period when this hull was built at a Navy contract yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (survey period); published January 1946
- Population
- Pipe coverers and construction trades at WWII Navy and contract shipyards (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level construction documentation - the surveyed yards are anonymized (A-D) and the study does not name this hull, this class, or Gulf Shipbuilding; asbestos use aboard AM-273 is inference from the documented era material standard, not ship-proven. The study's 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion is historically disputed (it under-counted fine fibers and short-tenure workers) - cited here only for material content, not exposure safety. Does not establish quantity, location, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-02
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[3]U.S. Navy Department and U.S. Maritime Commission, 'Minimum Requirements for Safety and Industrial Health in Contract Shipyards' (Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1943; approved U.S. Navy 20 Jan 1943, USMC 9 Feb 1943; HathiTrust page images) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Minimum Requirements (US GPO, 1943), bibliographic record via UPenn Online Books Page / HathiTrust; Shuman v. United States, 765 F.2d 283, 285-86 (1st Cir. 1985) (describing the document)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Joint Navy/USMC wartime standards imposed on contract shipyards beginning January-February 1943 - the month this hull's keel was laid at Gulf Shipbuilding, a Navy contract yard. As judicially described in Shuman v. United States (765 F.2d 283), the Minimum Requirements 'dealt in part with the hazards of asbestos dust' and were applied to shipyards operating under Navy contracts as well as the Navy's own yards. Documents that asbestos-dust hazard was a recognized and regulated condition in the wartime contract-yard environment where AM-273 was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Contract-shipyard construction workforce (era context)
- Limitations
- Regulatory-environment documentation only - the document does not name this hull or Gulf Shipbuilding specifically, does not enumerate shipboard materials, and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard AM-273 or that any individual was exposed. Application to Gulf Shipbuilding rests on the yard's status as a Navy contract yard in 1943, which is documented independently of this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-03
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[4]Shuman v. United States, 765 F.2d 283 (1st Cir. 1985) [court_record]
- Locator
- 765 F.2d 283 at 285-86 (findings on Minimum Requirements and Navy knowledge)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published First Circuit opinion reciting district-court findings on WWII-era Navy asbestos knowledge and policy: Navy inspectors observed 'asbestos and asbestos dust ... open and obvious' in a contract shipyard; 'upper echelon Navy officials knew at least as early as 1940, and probably earlier, that asbestos dust posed a significant health hazard'; and the 1943 Minimum Requirements were promulgated with the Secretary of the Navy expecting 'full and complete compliance' at contract and Navy yards alike. The opinion frames the era regulatory backdrop for wartime Navy contract-yard construction such as this hull's 1943 build at Gulf Shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1940-1943 (findings); 1985 (opinion)
- Population
- WWII contract-shipyard workers (era context)
- Limitations
- Context only - the litigated yard was Bethlehem's Fore River (Quincy, MA), not Gulf Shipbuilding, and the opinion does not name or touch AM-273. Recites findings about Navy institutional knowledge and contract-yard standards; establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull or any exposure. Cited for era context, not hull evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-04
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[5]Batch-1246 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via hazegray Wayback mirror); NavSource AM-273 page (secondary corroboration only); NARA catalog imagery; CourtListener ship-name and hull-number search; NPS/MARAD applicability check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-phantom-am273-01 through sl-uss-phantom-am273-06
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, museum hazmat disclosure, materials inventory, or docketed case naming USS Phantom (AM-273) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). A supplementary public-index sweep of CourtListener content found only name collisions (Phantom Technologies crypto suit, DJI Phantom drone product cases, Phantom Secure racketeering) - no asbestos matter naming the vessel. The hull's early disposal (foreign transfer 1948, scrapped 1951) forecloses the modern documentation channels - museum files, NDRF records, abatement contracts - that produce ship-specific records for surviving hulls.
- 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 naval hull is era-consistent with standard asbestos applications. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The authenticated CourtListener API sweep itself was blocked all session by shared-quota saturation (see ledger sl-03/sl-04) - the litigation negative rests on the supplementary public-index check, which is weaker than a full API/RECAP pass and is flagged as such.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-05
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[6]NARA holdings for USS Phantom (AM-273): WWII deck logs (RG 24, Logs of U.S. Naval Ships and Stations), war diaries (RG 38), and NHHC-transferred photography (catalog.archives.gov hosts Phantom imagery credited by NavSource); BuShips plans/specifications for the Admirable class (RG 19) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov (imagery records located via NavSource photo credits); RG 24/RG 38/RG 19 series, College Park
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead, not a finding: NARA RG 24 deck logs, RG 38 war diaries, and RG 19 Bureau of Ships plans/material specifications are the holdings most likely to contain hull-level construction and materials detail for AM-273 (e.g., the class booklet of general plans and builder's specifications). Not retrieved or reviewed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (records coverage)
- Limitations
- Holdings existence inferred from standard NARA series for WWII USN vessels; no AM-273-specific document has been pulled or reviewed. Digitized catalog imagery confirms NARA holds photos of this hull; textual materials records are not digitized. Retrieval not performed - contents unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-phantom-am273-06