USS Pipit (AMC-1)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]DANFS, 'Pipit' (AMc-1) - official NHHC entry text via hazegray transcription mirror (live history.navy.mil page returns 404 across URL patterns this session; standing link rot, same as BATCH-01/1205/1242/1400) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'Pipit' entry, specifications block + full service narrative (losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/mine/amc1.htm; live history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/ patterns all 404)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official DANFS record for this hull (spec block: dp. 210; l. 83'11"; b. 22'6"; s. 10 k.; a. 2 .30 cal. mg.; cl. Pipit). 'The first Pipit (AMc-1) was built as Spartan in 1936 by Martinolich Shipyard, Tacoma, Wash.; acquired by the Navy at San Diego Calif., 18 October 1940, by purchase from Mr. Anton Sumic; conversion by Wilmington Boat Works, San Pedro Calif. completed 22 March 1941, and placed in service 28 March 1941.' Assigned to the 15th Naval District: departed San Diego 10 May 1941, arrived and reported for duty in the Panama Canal Zone 22 May 1941; 'from then until August 1944, Pipit performed coastal minesweeping duties for the Panamanian Sea Frontier.' Departed Balboa, arrived San Diego 26 August 1944; placed out of service 6 October 1944; struck from the Naval List 22 December 1944; returned to her owner by the War Shipping Administration.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1936-1945

   Population

   Martinolich Shipyard construction workforce (1936); Wilmington Boat Works conversion workforce (1940-41); ship's company 1941-1944 (complement undocumented); Panamanian Sea Frontier operating personnel (1941-44)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents identity, builder, dates, and service narrative - not materials or asbestos content. Does not describe conversion scope at Wilmington Boat Works, carries no complement figure, gives no propulsion type, and gives no disposal detail beyond the WSA return. Live NHHC URL 404s this session; the verbatim hazegray transcription mirror is cited (Wayback capture 20220910054757 of hazegray.org/danfs/mine/amc1.htm also retrieved and identical).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Pipit (AMc 1), file 11/03001 (Wayback capture 2024-05-24; live navsource.org DNS resolution failed this session, same as batches 1205/1242/1400) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource file 11/03001 (Wayback 20240524221004): header chronology, spec block, call sign, photo credits

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource per-hull record corroborates and extends DANFS: 'Pipit Class Coastal Minesweeper'; laid down 1936 as Spartan by the Martinolich Shipyard, Tacoma WA, for Anton Sumic of Seattle WA; acquired 18 October 1940; placed in service as USS Pipit (AMc 1) 28 March 1941; placed out of service 6 October 1944 at San Diego; struck from the Naval Register 22 December 1944; transferred to the War Shipping Administration in February 1945 and returned to her owner. Post-Navy chain: acquired 1945 by John Radine of San Pedro CA for use as a fishing boat, renamed Calsea; acquired 1946 by Frank J. Rodrigues of San Pedro; acquired 1949 by Joe Lewis of San Diego CA; renamed Steven L. in 1950; 'Stranded 7 July 1952 approximately 18 miles north of Cabo San Lazaro, Baja California, Mexico.' Spec block: displacement 210 t.; length 83'11"; beam 22'6"; speed 10 kts.; armament two .30 cal. machine guns; propulsion 'Diesel, one shaft.' Call sign Nan-Item-Queen-George.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1936-1952

   Population

   Ship's company 1941-1944; commercial fishing crews 1945-1952; stranding site response/salvage personnel (1952, undocumented)

   Limitations

   Specialist secondary compilation, not a federal record - consistent with DANFS on every shared datum and the only source for propulsion type (diesel, one shaft) and the post-Navy owner/fate chain; those details are single-source. Contains no asbestos or materials information. 'Pipit Class' heading is NavSource's grouping label for the heterogeneous AMc conversions, not a design class. The 1952 stranding position is approximate as printed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-02

3. [3]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation), 'Martinolich Shipbuilding, Dockton WA / San Francisco CA / Tacoma WA' yard table - Spartan row; plus Colton's 'Coastal Minesweepers (AMc)' table (shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/minesweepers2) [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/martinolich.htm - 'War-Time Construction in Tacoma WA' table, O.N. 235306 row; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/minesweepers2 - AMc-1 row

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Independent yard-table corroboration naming this hull by official number: 'O.N. 235306 | Spartan | Anton Sumic | Fishing Vessel | 210 GT | 85 ft | delivered 1936 | To USN 1940 as Pipit (AMc 1), returned to owner 1944, later Steven L' - confirming builder (Martinolich Shipbuilding, Tacoma yard at 1112 Alexander Avenue on the Blair Waterway), vessel type (fishing vessel), tonnage, delivery year, naval conversion, and post-Navy alias. Colton's separate AMc table corroborates: 'AMc-1 | Pipit | Martinolich SB | 85 | 210 | 1936 | ex-Spartan, acquired 1940, returned to owner 1944.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1936-1944

   Population

   Martinolich Shipyard construction workforce (1936)

   Limitations

   Compiler's yard table, secondary - consistent with DANFS/NavSource on the spine. 'Fishing Vessel' is the stated ship type; hull material is not given (Martinolich was documented by the Tacoma Public Library as 'well known for their building of purse seiners' but no source consulted states this hull's construction material - carried in gaps). 85-ft length is LOA vs DANFS/NavSource 83'11" - convention difference, unmerged. No materials content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-03

4. [4]HyperWar/ibiblio transcription of 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' - 'US Navy Minecraft' index (wartime official publication), AMc-1 Pipit row [other_primary]

   Locator

   ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-dm.html - AMc table row 'AMc-1 Pipit 1941 ex- Spartan (1936)'

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Wartime-era official index entry for this hull: 'AMc-1 | Pipit | 1941 | ex- Spartan (1936)' - corroborates the hull number, name, in-service year, and prior identity from a period Navy publication (1940-45 series). The same index lists the AMc group as individually named conversions (AMc-2 Magpie ex-City of San Pedro 1936; AMc-3 Plover ex-Sea Rover 1936; AMc-8 Cockatoo ex-Vashon 1936; etc.) - the 'class' is an administrative series of acquired fishing vessels, each of different origin, not a design class.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1941-1945

   Limitations

   Index-row corroboration only - one line, no narrative; HyperWar is a transcription host, the underlying publication is the wartime official 'Ships of the U.S. Navy' series. No dedicated AMc-1 page exists in the series. No materials content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-04

5. [5]Consolidated era/design inference - documented vessel type and propulsion (fishing vessel per Colton O.N. 235306 row; diesel engine, one shaft per NavSource spec block) applied to WWII-era marine practice; no class design document exists for the AMc series because each hull was an individually acquired fishing vessel of different design [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource spec block (propulsion); Colton O.N. 235306 row (vessel type); DANFS (conversion event); GAO HRD-80-2 (substitution-era bound, ev-06)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference, deliberately weaker than the steam-vessel pattern: this hull is a 1936-built fishing vessel (210 t., 85 ft) converted at a commercial boat yard, propelled by a single diesel engine on one shaft - so the heaviest era asbestos applications aboard naval vessels (boiler casing, fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging) do not apply. Plausible era-typical asbestos applications on a small diesel naval craft of her period: diesel exhaust/muffler lagging; engine gaskets and packing; electrical wiring insulation; brake linings on the anchor windlass and on the minesweeping-gear winches installed in conversion; possibly insulation board around the engine space. The documented conversion event at Wilmington Boat Works (October 1940 - 22 March 1941) is the likeliest point at which naval-specification materials were added to this hull, but no conversion contract, work order, or material schedule was located.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1936-1952

   Population

   Martinolich construction workforce (1936); Wilmington Boat Works conversion workforce (1940-41); ship's company 1941-1944; commercial fishing crews 1945-1952

   Limitations

   Inference from documented vessel type, machinery type, and construction/conversion era - NOT a hull materials record. No survey, specification, work order, or material schedule naming Spartan/AMc-1 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, condition, or individual exposure. The conversion is a documented event, not a documented material disturbance. Does not establish or defeat any claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-05

6. [6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page HRD-80-2; Justia mirror gao.justia.com/department-of-defense/1979/10/; indexed PDF excerpts

   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 - so every materials event on this hull (1936 Martinolich construction; 1940-41 Wilmington Boat Works conversion; wartime maintenance 1941-44) predates the substitution era. The Department of the Navy's comments incorporated in the report enumerate shipboard asbestos in thermal insulation for machinery and equipment, piping-system gaskets and packing, and equipment brakes and clutches, and state that all ships then in service contained some asbestos.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1979 report on earlier practice

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers and crews (program-level context)

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation decades after this hull was disposed of; GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and the report does not name AMc-1 or any small craft. Supports era context for insulation practice at build and conversion, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved - gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (product-page description, Justia GAO mirror summary, and search-indexed PDF excerpts used, same constraint as BATCH-01/1205/1242/1400).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-06

7. [7]Identity and designation clarifications, documented not resolved: DANFS 'Pipit' wording vs secondary renderings; NHHC Courser I (AMC-32) entry for AMc service status (Wayback capture 20240526123606 - live URL 404s this session); NavSource/DANFS 'Pipit class' label; AM-420 disambiguation [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Pipit entry ('placed in service') vs Wikipedia/liquiscope renderings ('commissioned'); NHHC Courser I (AMC-32) entry via Wayback 20240526123606 ('in service' status); globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/am-136-unit.htm (AM 420 PIPIT cancelled 11 Aug 1945); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mine_warfare_vessels (AM-420 canceled Aug 11, 1945)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Three corrections applied: (1) Service status - secondary sources (Wikipedia infobox, derivative pages) render 28 March 1941 as a 'commissioning'; DANFS's own wording for this hull is 'placed in service,' and NHHC's Courser (AMC-32) entry states expressly that 'The first Courser (AMC-32) served in an "in service" status from 1941 to 1945' - AMc coastal minesweepers carried in-service status, not full commissions; 'in service' carried. (2) 'Pipit class' - the DANFS spec block ('cl. Pipit') and NavSource heading ('Pipit Class Coastal Minesweeper') are administrative labels over a heterogeneous series of acquired fishing vessels (Spartan, City of San Pedro, Sea Rover, Vashon, etc.), not a single design class; no class design record exists to infer materials from - flagged so class framing is not misread as design documentation. (3) Name collision - a second USS Pipit was assigned to AM-420, an Admirable-class minesweeper cancelled 11 August 1945 prior to start of construction (globalsecurity.org unit page; Wikipedia mine-warfare list); that hull was never built and no asbestos exposure record can attach to it - any 'Pipit AM-420' reference is the cancelled contract, not this vessel.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1941-1945

   Limitations

   This row asserts the existence of the imprecisions/collisions and the resolution rules applied (DANFS wording controls for service status; the AMc series is an administrative grouping; AM-420 is a different, never-built hull), not an independent adjudication. No primary document was located for the commissioning-vs-in-service point on this specific hull beyond DANFS's own 'placed in service' phrasing.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-07

8. [8]Batch-1452 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404 across patterns; hazegray/losthistory.net mirror + Wayback capture); NavSource (Wayback 20240524221004); Colton Martinolich and AMc tables; HyperWar ships-dm index; NHHC Courser page via Wayback; NVR; NARA; GAO HRD-80-2 (blocked); CourtListener API v4 (blocked); general web-index substitute; disambiguation cross-checks (cross-check sources not cited as evidence) [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-pipit-amc1-01 through sl-uss-pipit-amc1-13

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, preservation record, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Pipit / AMc-1 / Spartan / Calsea / Steven L. was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The CourtListener opinion-index sweep was attempted under authentication and blocked - the shared 2,800/day API quota was already exhausted before this batch's first query (HTTP 429, ~3.8h stated backoff); the exact-name ('USS Pipit') and hull-number variants were not retried rather than retrying into a ban - the litigation sweep is an open gap, NOT a negative result. A general web-index substitute surfaced no qualifying case at all - even the marketing rosters that populate most minesweeper names do not list Pipit (mesotheliomaveterans.org's ~300-name minesweeper roster omits AMc-1); the only 'Pipit' litigation hit anywhere was Giuliano v. Pipit Partners LP (Delaware bankruptcy) - an unrelated entity, name collision.

   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 - the vessel returned to commercial fishing service in 1945 and was lost by stranding in 1952 with her material content undocumented. The litigation negative is weaker than a completed sweep: the CourtListener index was quota-blocked this session, so 'no docketed case found' rests on the web-index substitute only. 'Pipit' is a low-collision ship name but collides with a cancelled second hull (AM-420) and unrelated litigation parties (Pipit Partners LP). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-08

9. [9]Archival leads - NARA deck logs and muster rolls for USS Pipit (AMc-1), 1941-1944 (post-1941 deck logs at NARA College Park; WWII-era digitization incomplete); 15th Naval District / Panamanian Sea Frontier war diary and minesweeping operation records (NARA RG 181 field records / RG 38); the Wilmington Boat Works conversion file - the likeliest hull-level material documentation (Navy acquisition/conversion contract records, RG 19 Bureau of Ships); the War Shipping Administration custody-and-return file (February 1945); Martinolich build records (Washington State archival collections - Tacoma yard records are fragmentary) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov deck-log and record-group guides; post-1941 logs at Archives II College Park per archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads (not retrieved - require research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized; NARA catalog API is JS-gated to automated fetch this session): (a) NARA deck logs and muster rolls for AMc-1, 1941-1944 - personnel/operations records, not materials, but the only day-by-day record of the Panama minesweeping service; (b) 15th Naval District and Panamanian Sea Frontier records (RG 181/RG 38) - operations context for the 1941-44 minesweeping duty; (c) the Navy acquisition and conversion file for this hull (RG 19 Bureau of Ships / district contract records) - the plausible home of any material or specification detail for the Wilmington Boat Works conversion; (d) the War Shipping Administration transfer file (February 1945 custody-and-return); (e) Martinolich yard records for the 1936 build of O.N. 235306 - Tacoma maritime collections hold fragmentary Martinolich materials.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-22

   Study period

   1936-1952 records

   Limitations

   Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Muster rolls, deck logs, and war diaries are personnel/operations records, not materials documentation. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-pipit-amc1-09