Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 900-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: PHANTOM
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-sc-515-sc515-pkt-900-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, collective entry 'SC-501 - SC-600' (NHHC live page, verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'SC-501 - SC-600' page, SC-515 paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for this hull, verbatim: 'Built at Elizabeth City Shipyard, Elizabeth City, N.C. Keel laid 4/24/41. Launched 9/20/41. Commissioned 4/16/42. Transferred to France 10/10/44.' The entry does not mention the hull's initial PC-515 designation or any operational history.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyard construction trades (1941-42); USN crew (1942-44); French crew (1944-)
- Limitations
- Terse index-style collective entry: milestones only, no narrative, no designation detail (PC-515 phase omitted), no asbestos or material content. Live NHHC page verified 2026-10-03 - no link-rot workaround needed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-515 ex-PC-515 (page last updated 3 Dec 2023) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150515.htm header block, timeline, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 24 April 1941 by Elizabeth City Shipyard, Elizabeth City, NC; launched 20 September 1941; 'Commissioned USS PC-515, 16 April 1942'; 'Reclassified SC-515, April 1943'; 'Transferred to France as Chasseur 121, 10 October 1944'; 'Fate unknown.' Call sign Nan-Able-Fox-Nan. Spec block: displacement 148 t; length 110'10"; beam 17'; draft 6'6"; speed 15.6 kn; complement 28; armament one 40mm mount, two .50 cal MG, two depth-charge Y-guns, two DC tracks; propulsion two 880-bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. Page hosts French Navy photographs (courtesy Jacques Druel) of Chasseur 121 - see ev-11. Page states 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-515,' though NHHC in fact carries a terse collective entry (ev-01).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyard trades (1941-42); USN crew ~28 (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not a registry - milestone dates agree with DANFS and uboat.net. Its one operational-history claim (21-man James Robertson rescue) is contradicted by the official USN chronology and uboat.net - carried separately as a correction row (ev-03), not asserted here. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-02
-
[4]Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II, 1943 chapter (HyperWar transcription of the USN chronology); corroborated by uboat.net casualty account for James Robertson [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN Chronology 1943, 7 July entry ('Atlantic' section); uboat.net allies/merchants/ship/2990.html notes-on-event paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource's SC-515 page states this hull 'rescued 21 men from the US freighter James Robertson that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-185 off the coast of Brazil ... 07 July 1943.' The official USN chronology for 7 July 1943 records the same event with a different rescuer: 'Submarine chaser PC-575 rescues 21 men' after U-185's first attack on convoy BT-18 at 04 deg 00'S, 36 deg 00'W. Uboat.net's detailed casualty account agrees: 'The 21 men on the rafts, the men in one of the boats and five men in the water were picked up by USS PC-575 and landed at Trinidad on 15 July,' with 24 men (including three William Boyce Thompson survivors) picked up by Brazilian corvette Jaguarao (CS 55) and two lifeboats reaching Fortaleza and Cascavel on 9 July. Neither source mentions SC-515 or PC-515. The NavSource attribution is most plausibly a PC-515/PC-575 digit transposition - made more likely by PC-515 being this hull's own former designation.
- Verification
- disputed
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-07
- Population
- James Robertson survivors (68); rescuing crews of PC-575 and Jaguarao (CS 55)
- Limitations
- Corrects a secondary-source service-history attribution, not a material or asbestos claim. Whether SC-515 was elsewhere in the South Atlantic in July 1943 is undocumented in located sources; deck logs (RG 24) are the undigitized lead. It remains possible - unverified - that SC-515 participated in some capacity, but no source located supports crediting her with any part of the James Robertson rescue.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-03
-
[5]NHHC Library, ZC Files - P (archival-holdings listing): 'PC-515 | 1941 | Launching brochure' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC ZC Files - P page, PC-515 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Naval History and Heritage Command's ZC files hold a 1941 launching brochure for 'PC-515' - an official archival holding documenting this hull under its PC-515 designation at launch (20 September 1941), corroborating NavSource's commissioned-as-PC-515 timeline against the re-scope premise that no PC-515 existed. Adjacent listings hold launching brochures for PC-516 & 517 and a keel-laying brochure for PCs 638-640.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941
- Limitations
- Catalog listing only - the brochure itself is not digitized; contents unverified beyond NHHC's one-line description. Confirms the designation in use at launch; does not by itself establish the commissioning pennant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-04
-
[6]NavSource SC/PC index introductory text (type-history paragraph) and SC index class note ('Five hundred eighty SC-497 Class wood-hulled, 110-foot Submarine Chasers') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/01idx.htm introduction paragraphs; 12/15idx.htm class line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- DESIGNATION CONTEXT / CORRECTION of the re-scope premise: the 110-foot wooden subchasers initially carried dual 'S.C.-PC' identification; per the NavSource type-history text, 'By 1943, it was felt desirable to differentiate between the two types. The type symbol PC was retained for the steel 173-footers, and the separate symbol SC was adopted for the 110-foot vessels.' The steel-hulled PC-461 class was built in three series - PC-461 to PC-496 (36), PC-542 to PC-627 (86), PC-776 to PC-826 (51), PC-1077 to PC-1265 (189) - so no 173-foot PC-461-class PC-515 ever existed. What did exist: this 110-foot wooden SC-497-class hull, commissioned as PC-515 and reclassified SC-515 in April 1943. The class index note documents the type as 'wood-hulled.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1943 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Type-level documentation explaining this hull's designation change; the batch re-scope note ('PC-515 never existed as a PC vessel') is correct for the PC-461 class but the designation PC-515 was in fact carried by this hull for approximately its first year (corroborated by ev-02 timeline and ev-04 official brochure holding).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-05
-
[7]uboat.net, Allied Warships of WWII: USS SC-515 (SC-515) - milestones and commanding officers [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net warships/8819.html data table; commands section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net record for this hull: built by Elizabeth City Shipyard (Elizabeth City, NC); ordered 1 April 1941; laid down 24 April 1941; launched 20 September 1941; commissioned 16 April 1942; end service 9 October 1944; 'Transferred to France on 9 October 1944 being renamed CH-121.' Wartime commanding officers listed (all USNR): R O Herbig (16 Apr 1942 - late 1942); Bayard Walker (late 1942 - mid 1943); John J Lenahan (mid 1943 - mid/late 1943); D W Buchanan (mid/late 1943 - early 1944); Clarence G LeBoff (early 1944 - 9 Oct 1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944
- Population
- USN crew ~28; five wartime COs named
- Limitations
- Authoritative secondary compilation; agrees with DANFS/NavSource on all milestones except the transfer date - uboat.net gives 9 October 1944, DANFS/NavSource give 10 October 1944 (one-day conflict in gaps). Officer roster is the site's crowd-maintained commands section. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-06
-
[8]Naval Marine Archive, 'Elizabeth City Shipyard, Elizabeth City NC' - yard history and construction-table row for SC 515 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NMA Elizabeth City Shipyard page, yard-history paragraph and construction table (SC 515 row)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The yard table lists: 'SC 515 | US Navy | Sub Chaser | 136 [LDT] | 110 [ft] | 14-Apr-42 [delivery] | To Free French 1944 as CH 121.' Yard history per the same page: the Elizabeth City Shipyard was 'originally a division of the Elizabeth City Iron Works and Supply Company, formed in 1914 from the merger of the T. B. Hayman and E. S. Willey shipyards. It continued as a repair yard after the war but closed in the mid-1960s. The site on Riverside Avenue is now a marina.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1942 (build/delivery); yard operating history 1914-mid-1960s
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyard construction trades (1941-42)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-run archive secondary compilation (table source not footnoted). The 14-Apr-42 figure is the yard delivery date - two days before the documented 16 Apr 1942 commissioning; both carried, not a conflict. Its 136 LDT displacement differs from NavSource's 148 t (spec variance in gaps). Sister boats in the same table (SC 516, 517, 638, 639) also went to France 1944.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource SC-515 spec block (two 880-bhp GM 8-268A diesels, twin screw - no steam plant); NavSource SC index class note ('wood-hulled'); uboat.net SC-497 class technical table (diesels, 2 shafts) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150515.htm specifications block; NavSource 12/15idx.htm class note; uboat.net class/464.html technical table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wood-hulled 110-foot diesel submarine chaser built 1941-42 carries a narrow asbestos-relevant plant relative to steam vessels: no boilers, no steam lines, no turbine lagging - the dominant WWII shipboard asbestos pathway is absent by design. Era-standard applications on a small diesel patrol craft of this period were: diesel exhaust and muffler lagging; thermal insulation in the engine compartment; gaskets (exhaust manifold, engine, pipe flanges); valve and pump packing; electrical insulation and arc-resistant panel materials. Built within the Navy's asbestos-use era (GAO HRD-80-2, ev-09), so era-consistent asbestos presence aboard is a reasonable inference - for this hull it is inference only, at reduced scale compared with steam-driven vessels.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1944 (construction and US service)
- Population
- Elizabeth City Shipyard trades (1941-42); USN crew ~28 in a small confined hull (1942-44); French crew (1944-); maintenance personnel at any refits
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, specification, or work package located for SC-515. Names era-typical applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution. Wooden construction removes structural/thermal insulation volume but does not eliminate engine-room and electrical applications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-08
-
[10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch)
- 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 - spanning this hull's entire construction (1941-42) and US service era (1942-44).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979 (report); covers this hull's build/service era
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull - a 110-ft wooden diesel chaser sat at the low end of the asbestos-product spectrum the report describes. Full text not retrieved this session (gao.gov has historically returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed in prior batches); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-09
-
[11]Batch-7890 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; NavSource ship and index pages; uboat.net warship and casualty pages; NHHC ZC-files catalog; NMA yard table; USN official chronology (HyperWar); French Wikipedia class page (cross-check only); NVR; web litigation sweep; CourtListener (blocked - fleet pacer) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sc-515-sc515-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or verified litigation naming USS SC-515 / PC-515 / Chasseur 121 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Web sweep for '"SC-515" asbestos' surfaced only name collisions (South Carolina reporter citations; a Santa Cruz Biotechnology antibody catalog number) and law-firm marketing listicles on patrol boats generally asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the fleet pacing limiter refused tokens for the whole session (~58/hr shared budget spent by concurrent sessions); logged as blocked in search_ledger, NOT as a negative result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era inference (ev-08) stands, and the litigation-repository gap is open rather than negative. The hull's French-era disposition records and any US transfer/stricken paperwork are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-10
-
[12]NavSource SC-515 page, French Navy photographs courtesy of Jacques Druel (Chasseur 121 hauled for repairs; Chasseur 121 with Chasseur 134 ex-SC-666 and Chasseur 144 ex-SC-655 at Cannes, Victory Day 08 May, year unknown) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150515.htm photo table, images 1215051502-1215051504
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- French Navy photographs hosted on NavSource document this hull in post-transfer French service: two views of Chasseur 121 hauled out for repairs (date and location unknown; 'the unusual painted pennant number' noted in caption), and Chasseur 121 alongside Chasseur 134 (ex-SC-666) and Chasseur 144 (ex-SC-655) 'decorated for Victory Day (08 May) at Cannes, exact year unknown.' The photographs establish survival into French service at/after a May 8 observance; final fate is undocumented ('Fate unknown' per the same page).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944 onward (undated)
- Population
- French Navy crew of CH-121 (post-1944)
- Limitations
- Photographic presence record only - establishes existence in French service on an undated May 8, not a service narrative or disposition record. French strike/disposal date not located in any public source checked.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-515-sc515-11