Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Snowbell (AN-52)', NHHC (page published 2016-08-30; retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2025-12-09 - live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-24) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Full DANFS entry; canonical live URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/snowbell.html (404 at access date - NHHC link rot consistent with batch-01 finding)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Snowbell (AN-52) was laid down on 3 May 1943 by Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Co., Stockton, Calif., as YN-71; launched 14 September 1943; redesignated AN-52 on 20 January 1944; commissioned 16 March 1944, Lt. Comdr. Robert W. Nordstrom, USNR, in command. Shakedown from San Diego began 16 April 1944; then ordered to San Pedro to maintain the harbor net installation and serve as training ship for the Small Craft Training Center. Entered Craig Shipbuilding Corp., Long Beach, on 24 December 1944 for alteration and refitting (main mast removed, two 20mm guns added); sailed for Pearl Harbor 27 January 1945 (arrived 6 February); proceeded to Ulithi via Eniwetok and Johnston Island (in port 6-11 March); via San Pedro, Leyte Gulf, departed 19 March for the Okinawa Gunto assault. Entered the Kerama Retto anchorage 28 March and began laying the anti-submarine net curtain; tended nets there until 15 May, then moved to Buckner Bay; shot down her first enemy plane (a single-engine fighter) on 25 May. Continued operating around Okinawa after the war ended. On 9 October 1945 a typhoon (Louise) with winds DANFS describes as approximately 150 miles per hour struck: her stern anchor let go, she collided with Chinquapin (AN-17) on the starboard side, and at 1630 went aground; her timbers began breaking up and all hands were ordered off the next morning. An Inspection and Survey Board found her unsalvageable on 30 October; all equipment and stores were removed; decommissioned 5 December 1945; stricken from the Navy Register 19 December 1945; hulk blown up 14 January 1946. One battle star for WWII service. DANFS spec line: dp. 1,275; l. 194'6"; b. 37'; dr. 13'6"; s. 12.1 k.; cpl. 56; a. 1x3"; cl. Ailanthus.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (complement 56); Pollock-Stockton and Craig Shipbuilding yard workers (construction/refit)
- Limitations
- Authoritative for identity, construction, service history, and loss/disposal. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or crew-health information; supports no asbestos claim. 'Ship's timbers' phrasing reflects the class's wood-sheathed deck structure; nothing in the entry addresses hazardous materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Snowbell (AN-52), page 09/18/18052 (compiled by Gary P. Priolo; CO list courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Specifications block, commanding-officer table, and reproduced DANFS text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Service Ship Photo Archive entry for USS Snowbell (AN-52) reproduces the DANFS entry and publishes the standard spec block for this hull: displacement 1,460 t. (fl); length 194'6"; beam 37'; draft 13'6"; speed 12.1 kts; complement 4 officers + 52 enlisted; armament one single 3"/50 cal dual-purpose mount and four twin 20mm AA mounts; largest boom capacity 12 t.; diesel fuel 760 bbls; ship's service generators two diesel-drive 60 kW 120V DC; propulsion two Busch-Sulzer BS-539 diesel-electric engines, single propeller, 1,200 shp. Commanding officers: LCDR Robert W. Nordstrom USNR (1944-03-16 to 1945-09-29); LT Leonard G. Richardson USNR (1945-09-29 to 1945-12-05). Campaign listing: Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation 26 March 1945 (one battle star).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (56)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive transcribing official Navy data - not a scanned primary document. Spec figures are era-standard Ailanthus-class data attributed to this hull: displacement differs across sources (NavSource 1,460 fl vs DANFS 1,275 vs the HyperWar Ships-of-the-USN table's 1,225). Contains no asbestos or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-02
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[3]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and emergency-construction program under which this 1943 net tender was built at a small contract yard (Pollock-Stockton) and refitted at Craig Shipbuilding, Long Beach, in December 1944-January 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this class, or these yards and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-03
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[4]NHHC, 'Typhoons and Hurricanes: Pacific Typhoon at Okinawa, October 1945' (includes extract from the CincPac report on the Surrender and Occupation of Japan, Annex A) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Narrative casualty totals and CincPac report Annex A extract; live NHHC URL returned 404 at access date - Wayback capture 2025-12-08 used
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's history of the October 1945 Pacific typhoon at Okinawa (Typhoon Louise) documents the fleet-level loss context in which this hull was wrecked: the storm's sudden turn caught shipping in Buckner Bay (Nakagusuku Wan); on 9 October 1945 winds of 80 knots (about 92 mph) and 30-35 foot waves battered the anchorage; a total of 12 ships and craft were sunk, 222 grounded, and 32 severely damaged, with personnel casualties of 36 killed, 47 missing, and 100 seriously injured. The page includes the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet report extract on the storm.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1945-10
- Population
- All fleet units at Okinawa, October 1945 (context)
- Limitations
- Fleet-level storm account; does not name Snowbell individually and carries no asbestos or materials information. Wind-speed figures differ between sources (NHHC storm history: 80 kt/92 mph sustained; DANFS ship entry: ~150 mph for the winds that struck the ship) - recorded as source variance, not resolved here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-04
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[5]Batch-1800 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; NavSource AN-52 archive; NHHC Typhoon Louise history; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches; MARAD Vessel History Database public search; NARA vessel logbook guidance; Naval Vessel Register [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-snowbell-an52-01 through sl-uss-snowbell-an52-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, MARAD status card, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Snowbell / YN-71 / AN-52 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener searches returned zero opinions or dockets naming the vessel in an asbestos or naval context; the three 'Snowbell' opinion hits and 23 docket hits are all name collisions (street/plant/property references in unrelated litigation). The hull was stripped and demolished in place on the reef in January 1946, so no present-day material-status or museum-hazmat pathway exists.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 auxiliary built under wartime emergency specifications is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the 1945 Inspection and Survey finding and equipment-removal records (not located in digitized form) could contain material detail. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-05
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[6]NARA, 'Vessel and Station Log Books at the National Archives' guidance page; standard RG mapping for Navy deck logs (RG 24), Bureau of Ships records (RG 19), and Board of Inspection and Survey records [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA logbooks portal (US Navy Logs section); RG mappings per NARA Guide to Federal Records
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no box-level pull or reproduction spend authorized): (a) AN-52 deck logs, March 1944-December 1945, are in NARA RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, deck logs) at College Park - the logs would record the Craig Shipbuilding refit work, the 9 October 1945 grounding, abandonment, and equipment removal; (b) the 30 October 1945 Inspection and Survey Board 'unsalvageable' finding and any survey enclosures live in Board of Inspection and Survey / BuShips-era records (RG 19 / related series); (c) Pollock-Stockton contract and outfitting records for YN-71 would sit in Navy contract files or predecessor-agency collections rather than USMC RG 178, since this was a direct Navy contract yard.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1946 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether AN-52's logs or the InSurv report contain asbestos-relevant material detail is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowbell-an52-06