Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Reform (AM-286) - NHHC live page returns 404 (2026-09-22); verbatim text from Wayback capture 2025-01-26 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Reform' (AM-286), spec block + service narrative; Wayback capture 2025-01-26
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 24 June 1943 by General Engineering & Dry Dock Co., Alameda, Calif.; launched 29 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Roland H. McCune of San Francisco; commissioned 28 February 1945, Lt. Francis Worcester in command. Shakedown out of San Pedro, Santa Barbara, and San Diego; sailed 28 April 1945; Guam; Ulithi; convoy escort to Okinawa, arriving Buckner Bay 26 June; minesweeping in the East China Sea from the first week of July; assisted sweeping the approaches to Jinsen, Korea; by September sweeping the approaches to Sasebo, Japan; rode out two typhoons in Sasebo Harbor with minor damage to port shaft and screw (driven into a mooring buoy; repairs complete by 5 November); check sweep in the Yellow Sea off Korea; operations off southwestern Kyushu until ordered home; departed Japan 12 February 1946, arrived San Pedro 28 March; designated for transfer to the Chinese Navy, decommissioned at Subic Bay 9 November 1946; delivered to the Chinese Navy 15 June 1948; struck from the Navy list 13 July 1948. Three battle stars for World War II service. Spec block: displacement 625; length 184'6"; beam 33'; draft 9'9"; speed 15 knots; complement 104; armament 1x3", 2x40mm, 6x20mm, 2 machine guns, 2 depth charge tracks; class Admirable.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- General Engineering & Dry Dock construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (complement 104)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Spec block omits propulsion. Narrative chronology has an anomaly ('In June she assisted in sweeping the approaches to Jinsen' follows a July-1945 East China Sea entry - Jinsen-area sweeping is otherwise consistent with the post-surrender August-September 1945 occupation window); carried as written in gaps. Live NHHC page 404s; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Reform (AM 286) - specs, commanding-officer list, NARA photo reference 80-G-408145 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AM-286 page: specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo credits
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource ship page for AM-286 corroborates DANFS dates (laid down 24 June 1943; launched 29 January 1944; commissioned 28 February 1945; decommissioned 9 November 1946 at Subic Bay; transferred to the Republic of China 15 June 1948; struck 13 July 1948) and adds: propulsion of two 855-shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines with National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts; full-load displacement 945 t.; call sign Nan-Queen-How-Queen; commanding officers LT Francis Worcester Jr. USNR (1945-02-28 to 1945-10-09), LT Robert Louis Lambert USNR (to 1945-11-16), LT Ernest Edward Fifield USN; NARA still photo 80-G-408145 (Reform alongside tender Mindanao ARG-3 at Ulithi); fate line 'Scrapped in 1950.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1950
- Population
- Wartime and postwar crew
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained photo archive aggregating official records - corroborating, not an official record itself. Propulsion figure is consistent with the class engine-block data (AM-246-AM-291 were Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 fits) and conflicts with the AM-286 Wikipedia infobox's 'ALCO 539' - carried in gaps. 'Scrapped in 1950' is shorthand resolved by the ROC-side record (ev-03) to a grounding loss.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-02
-
[3]Ying Shao-shun, Republic of China Navy vessel reference (NTU-hosted specialist page), entry for ROCS Yung Jen (ex-USS Reform, AM-286) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Entry for 永仁軍艦 (Yung Jen), ex-AM-286
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ROC-side record for this hull: ex-USS Reform (AM-286) was delivered to the Republic of China Navy (the page's narrative paragraph gives the 15 June 1948 handover consistent with DANFS; its summary line gives a 1 July 1948 transfer/formalization), renamed Yung Jen, commissioned into the ROC Navy 1 August 1948; in April 1950 she ran aground near the Tachen Islands (Lower Tachen) on the East China coast, was damaged too severely to repair, and was stricken by ROC Navy headquarters on 1 June 1950.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1948-1950
- Population
- ROC Navy crew 1948-1950
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary source (Ying Shao-shun's self-published ROC Navy ship reference, hosted at National Taiwan University), not an official ROC record; ROC-side details (name, 1948-08-01 commissioning, grounding, 1950-06-01 striking) are single-source - marked partial. It resolves, rather than confirms, English sources' 'scrapped in 1950': the hull was a constructive total loss abroad; whether the wreck was physically broken up is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-03
-
[4]FRUS 1947 vol. VII (Office of the Historian, U.S. Dept. of State): U.S.-Republic of China naval-vessel transfer agreement under Public Law 512, 79th Cong. (16 July 1946, 60 Stat. 664); Executive Order 9843 delegating transfer authority to the Secretary of the Navy (25 April 1947) [other_primary]
- Locator
- FRUS 1947 vol. VII, d798 (agreement text); d775 (Forrestal memo listing 12 AM among 137 vessels); 60 Stat. 664 (P.L. 79-512)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The statutory and diplomatic mechanism for this hull's disposal: Public Law 512 authorized the President to dispose of up to 271 excess naval vessels and craft to the Republic of China 'by sale, exchange, lease, gift, or transfer'; the December 1947 implementing agreement (signed Nanking, Stuart-Wang) provided for transfer without compensation of 137 vessels including 12 AM-type minesweepers, 'to assist the Chinese Government in policing its coastal and inland waters and protecting and improving the safety of navigation in its waters.' Reform's 15 June 1948 delivery falls within this program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1946-1948
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation - the cited FRUS passages enumerate vessel types, not hull numbers; AM-286 is not named in the quoted text. Establishes the legal mechanism and why no U.S.-side disposal, MARAD, or abatement record exists: the hull left U.S. custody in 1948, before asbestos documentation regimes, and was lost abroad in 1950.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-04
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 + report PDF (Navy response letter on asbestos usage)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's shipboard asbestos posture: per the report's Navy correspondence, 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables,' and thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems was the Navy's major asbestos application aboard ships; Navy product specifications for thermal insulation were changed to asbestos-free only in 1973, and some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978. Documents that asbestos was standard material aboard Navy vessels throughout this hull's construction era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1979 (report); WWII-era construction context
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; Navy-wide shipbuilding
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation decades removed from this hull: GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards in 1979; the report does not name AM-286 or the Admirable class. Supports era context only - it does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, in what products, or in what quantity. Full text via gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-05
-
[6]NARA research guide, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (archives.gov) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page, 'Bureau of Ships General, Confidential, and Secret Correspondence' filing-convention section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA officially frames asbestos in U.S. Navy materiel 1941-1961 as an established research topic and prescribes the hull-level documentation path: Bureau of Ships RG 19 correspondence filed by hull designation (for this hull, 'AM286'), class correspondence under the class-namesake code ('AM136 Class' for Admirable), and private-yard correspondence under 'QM/General Engineering'. Era-consistent asbestos applications for a 1943-built diesel-driven minesweeper: engine exhaust/muffler insulation, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical cable insulation, clutch facings, winch brake linings, deck coverings, and accommodation fireproofing/insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1941-1961 (guide scope); 1943-1950 (hull life)
- Population
- Construction trades (Alameda, 1943-44); ship's crew 1945-46; ROC Navy crew 1948-50
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - the NARA guide is a research methodology document, not a materials record; it names no hull and lists no products. The product list is period-standard inference for a diesel vessel (no boiler or steam-line lagging applies - the Admirable class had no steam plant). Nothing here is hull-proven for AM-286; does not establish quantity, location, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-06
-
[7]Batch-1260 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via Wayback); NavSource; uboat.net; NARA asbestos guide and deck-log program pages; FRUS/Office of the Historian; ROC-navy specialist reference; CourtListener API (blocked) and public index search; shipyards.json cross-check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-reform-am286-01 through sl-uss-reform-am286-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Reform or AM-286 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull's history forecloses later records: it left U.S. custody in June 1948 (pre-asbestos-regulation era), served the ROC Navy briefly, and was lost to grounding in April 1950 - no museum phase, no NDRF lay-up, no MARAD disposal file.
- 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 - era-consistent asbestos use in 1943 Navy construction is documented at program level (ev-05, ev-06). Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present, did not cause exposure, or bear on any claim of legal eligibility. Litigation check is incomplete: CourtListener API was rate-limited (HTTP 429, daily cap) on 2026-09-22 - see ledger sl-uss-reform-am286-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-07
-
[8]NARA records identified but not retrieved: RG 24 deck logs ('Reform', 'AM-286'; series 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978', NAID 594258); NARA still photo 80-G-408145; BuShips RG 19 correspondence (file code AM286; 'AM136 Class' correspondence; yard files under QM/General Engineering); ROC Navy records for Yung Jen [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA deck-log program page; NARA asbestos guide filing conventions; NavSource photo credit 80-G-408145
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-level record sets that could contain material specifications, yard work, or repair documentation for this ship exist per NARA's own guidance but were not retrieved: deck logs for the ship's 1945-46 service; the BuShips correspondence files filed under hull code AM286, Admirable-class correspondence under AM136, and builder correspondence under QM/General Engineering & Dry Dock; and NARA photo 80-G-408145. Digitization status of the AM-286 deck logs is unverified (NARA Catalog API requires a key; series NAID 594258 identified via NARA's published guidance).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-22
- Study period
- 1943-1950 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Leads only - existence and contents unverified for this hull; retrieval was not performed. Deck logs record events, not materials; RG 19 hull/class files are the likelier source for material specifications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reform-am286-08