Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS compiled entry, 'SC-601 - SC-700' (NHHC, history.navy.mil) - construction and milestone line for SC-631 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- SC-601 - SC-700 compiled page, SC-631 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS line for this hull, verbatim: 'Built at Mathis Yacht Building Co., Camden, N.J. Keel laid 1/27/42. Launched 6/19/42. Commissioned 8/19/42. Transferred to Maritime Commission 3/5/48.' Neighboring entries confirm the Mathis yard sequence: SC-630 (keel 12/22/41), SC-632 (keel 2/23/42, destroyed 3/9/46 hulk), SC-633 (keel 3/20/42, destroyed 4/4/46), SC-634 (keel 4/27/42, transferred to Russia 6/10/45), SC-635 (keel 6/6/42, to Coast Guard 10/19/45).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Mathis/Trumpy construction trades (1942); crew (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific construction/milestone data only - the compiled DANFS entry contains no service narrative, no commanding officers, no designation history (omits the PC-631 commission and April 1943 reclassification), and no asbestos or material content. Decommission and stricken dates come from other rows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, SC-631 (ex-PC-631) - designation timeline, specifications, commanding officers, Leyte Gulf photograph, post-Navy ownership chain (verified live at navsource.net 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150631.htm header block, timeline, specifications, commanding-officers table, photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 27 January 1942 by the Mathis Yacht Building Co., Camden, NJ; launched 19 June 1942; commissioned USS PC-631, 19 August 1942; reclassified SC-631 in April 1943; decommissioned November 1945; struck from the Naval Register 19 December 1945; transferred to the Maritime Commission 5 March 1948; acquired 1950 by Theron S. Cederlund of Sausalito, CA for use as a fishing boat named Telesis; converted to a yacht in 1967; acquired 1970 by Edgar V. Rombauer of Seattle, WA and renamed Phoenix; acquired 1983 by Don W. Cole of Seattle; out of documentation 1987; fate unknown. Commanding officers listed: LT Richard E. Warner, USNR (19 August 1942) and LTJG T. W. White, USNR (1945). A photograph credited to Theodore Wojcik shows the craft alongside USS Erben (DD-631) at Leyte Gulf, Philippines, circa October 1944. Specifications block: displacement 83 t.; length 110'10"; beam 17'9"; draft 6'6"; speed 21 kts.; complement 28; armament one 40mm mount, one/two twin .50 cal., two/three K-guns, 14 depth charges, two Mk 20 Mousetrap rails; propulsion two 1,540 bhp General Motors (Electro-Motive Div.) 16-184A diesels, two shafts. Page states: 'There is no DANFS history available for SC-631' - superseded by the compiled DANFS SC-601-SC-700 entry located this session.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1987
- Population
- Mathis/Trumpy construction trades (1942); crew (1942-45); Maritime Commission/NDRF custodial personnel (1948-50); commercial fishing crew (1950-67); yacht owners/crews (1967-87)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track DANFS where the two overlap (all four shared dates agree). Contains no asbestos content. The Leyte Gulf presence rests on a single photo caption ('c. October 1944'); the page's 'no DANFS history' note is outdated - a compiled DANFS entry exists (ev-01). Post-Navy ownership chain is single-source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-02
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[3]NHHC, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas administrative document) - vessel assignment listing [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Service Squadron TWO vessel table, 'SC 631' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Pacific Fleet organization roster lists this hull - 'SC 631' under Service Squadron TWO, Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, with commanding officer 'Lt. (jg) T. W. White (USNR)' - matching the second CO in the NavSource roster. Places SC-631 administratively inside Service Squadron Two of the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, on 1 May 1945 - the fleet service-support organization covering forward-area logistics in the western Pacific, consistent with the October 1944 Leyte Gulf photograph.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Crew under Lt.(jg) T. W. White USNR (May 1945)
- Limitations
- Administrative organization listing only: establishes fleet assignment and commanding officer on one date, not operations, locations, or movements. Contains no asbestos or material content. The document is a type-sorted roster; 'Service Squadron TWO' is a service-force administrative grouping, not a tactical formation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-03
-
[4]NARA file unit NAID 192704199, 'SC-631, 8/19/42-11/1/45' - RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities; microfilm roll 6753; 131 images digitized online (partner images via Ancestry) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/192704199 - file-unit landing page, image browser (131 images), roll 6753
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The complete ship-specific muster-roll series for this hull is digitized in the National Archives catalog: 131 page-images covering 19 August 1942 (commissioning) through 1 November 1945 - the hull's entire commissioned life. Muster rolls enumerate every officer and enlisted man aboard at each reporting period - the authoritative crew-population record for any individual-exposure or service-verification question on this hull. The series end date (11/1/45) brackets the November 1945 decommissioning.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- All officers and enlisted crew, 1942-08-19 to 1945-11-01 (enumerated by period)
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the series is digitized and browsable, but individual pages were not examined line-by-line this session - roll metadata (title, span, image count) is verified, page contents are not. Muster rolls name crew members and movements; they contain no material, maintenance, or asbestos information. A second catalog hit under 'SC-631' (NAID 55162597, '111-SC-631 - Drills - Machine gun') is a Signal Corps WWI photograph number - a name collision, not this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-04
-
[5]Designation cross-check: NavSource SC-631 page ('ex-PC-631'; commissioned USS PC-631 19 Aug 1942, reclassified SC-631 April 1943); NavSource SC-632 page (identical ex-PC-632/April 1943 pattern); DANFS SC-601-SC-700 compiled entry; batch-prompt QA re-scope note (PC-461-class numbering skips this block) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150631.htm timeline; NavSource 12/150632.htm timeline (sister-hull pattern); DANFS SC-601-SC-700 entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CLARIFICATION on the PC-631 designation: this hull was commissioned 19 August 1942 under the designation USS PC-631 and reclassified SC-631 in April 1943 - a class-wide event (sister SC-632 shows the identical commissioned-PC/reclassified-April-1943 pattern), when the Navy consolidated the wooden 110-foot subchasers under SC numbers. 'PC-631' therefore did exist as a worn designation for roughly eight months - but the hull was always an SC-497-class submarine chaser and was never a PC-461-class 173-foot steel patrol craft. The batch QA note 'PC-631 never existed as a PC vessel' is correct as to vessel type; the PC-631 designation itself was real.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-08 to 1943-04 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a designation ambiguity, not a material claim. DANFS records the hull only under SC-631 and does not mention the PC-631 interlude; the reclassification month (April 1943) rests on NavSource - day-level precision not located. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-05
-
[6]Era inference built on: NavSource SC-631 specifications (two GM/EMD 16-184A diesels, two shafts - diesel plant, no steam); NavSource class index (580 SC-497-class wooden 110-foot subchasers built in WWII, 142 Lend-Lease, 70 converted SCC); Patrol Craft Sailors Association subchaser page (475 ordered, 37 cancelled, 438 delivered; ~$500,000 each; 98 tons, 110'10", 3 officers + 25 enlisted) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/150631.htm specifications; NavSource 12/15idx.htm class index; ww2pcsa.org/subchaser.html class data
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled diesel submarine chaser built in 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period: engine and exhaust-system lagging on the two 1,540 bhp GM diesels, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and compartment insulation in the engine room and accommodation spaces. No steam plant aboard - the boiler/turbine-lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - and wooden construction materially reduces the fireproofing-insulation envelope relative to steel combatants. The class was deliberately designed for construction by small yacht and boat yards to leave steel and heavy-yard capacity for larger ships.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1987
- Population
- Mathis/Trumpy construction trades (1942); crew (1942-45, enumerated in muster rolls ev-04); maintenance personnel at operating bases (1942-45); post-Navy fishing/yacht crews and refit trades (1950-87)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or abatement record located for SC-631. Names era-standard applications for the type, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. Wooden hull + diesel plant = smaller asbestos envelope than a steam-driven steel vessel of the same era, but zero does not follow: exhaust and electrical systems of the period commonly used asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-06
-
[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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 construction (1942) and entire commissioned life (1942-45).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull - a small wooden diesel craft whose asbestos envelope was materially smaller than the steam vessels the GAO review centered on. Full text not retrieved this session; content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-07
-
[8]Batch-8006 search ledger (this record): DANFS compiled entry; NHHC Pacific Fleet organization document; NavSource hull page and class index; NARA catalog (muster-roll series located, digitized); uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory.com Colton Mathis/Trumpy table; PCSA class page; CourtListener (partially throttled - see ledger); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sc-631-sc631-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS SC-631 (or PC-631) was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion search returned 14 hits, all classified as state-court name collisions on case posture (reporter-citation matches such as 'S.C. 631'; non-maritime appellate cases with no vessel or Navy party names - v4 returns no match snippets and opinion-body inspection was pacing-throttled); docket-index queries and 'PC-631' queries were pacing-throttled on every attempt - see search_ledger. A targeted web sweep ('SC-631' asbestos/mesothelioma/lawsuit) surfaced only unrelated 'S.C. 631' reporter citations; notably, even law-firm marketing listicles do not list this hull. No ship-specific 'asbestos aboard' assertion exists anywhere in the located record.
- 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 - and part of the litigation-repository sweep remained throttled at session end (docket type and PC-631 designation queries), so the litigation picture is open, not negative. Deck logs and any yard work packages are undigitized; muster rolls (ev-04) are digitized but unexamined line-by-line. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sc-631-sc631-08