Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 1006-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: MISMATCH (RE-SCOPE).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-song-tu-pgm74-pkt-1006-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive, PGM-74 page - build/transfer record and specifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/11074.htm header block, specifications block; class designation line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'PGM-74 was built for South Vietnam.' Laid down as PGM-74 by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, WI; launched 7 December 1964; delivered 29 July 1965, transferred under the Military Assistance Program to South Vietnam and named RVN Song Tu (HQ 614). Fate unknown. The hull carried U.S. number PGM-74 but was never commissioned into the U.S. Navy - delivered straight to foreign transfer, consistent with NavSource's 'no DANFS history available for PGM-74.' Specifications: displacement 130 t.; length 101'; beam 22'; draft 6'8"; speed 18 kts.; armament one 40mm mount, two twin 20mm mounts and two .50 cal. machine guns; propulsion two 975bhp MB820 Mercedes Benz diesel engines/eight 250bhp General Motors 6-71 diesel engines, two shafts. NavSource classifies PGM-71 through PGM-83 as the 'PGM-71 Class Motor Gunboat.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1964-1975
- Population
- Peterson Builders construction trades (1964-65); RVN crew (1965-75)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry, but the most complete public record for this hull; generally tracks official transfer data. Contains no asbestos or material content. 'Fate unknown' conflicts with navypedia's captured-April-1975 report (see ev-02, gaps). Propulsion spec is written as alternative class fits (MB820 or GM 6-71) - which fit this specific hull carried is undetermined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-01
-
[3]Navypedia, 'PHU DU large patrol craft (1963-1967)' - Republic of Vietnam Navy PGM class table and project history [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia svi_cf_phu_du.htm, class ships table row 'Song Tu', technical data table, project history note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Navypedia's class table lists 'Song Tu HQ614' built by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay; launched 7.12.1964; completed 7.1965; fate 'captured by North Vietnam 4.1975.' Class technical data: 117 t standard / 142 t full displacement; 30.8 m length; 6.50 m beam; 2.30 m draught; 2 shafts; 2 Mercedes-Benz MB820 or 8 General Motors 6-71 diesels, 1950 or 2000 hp; 18 kts; endurance 1000 nm at 17 kts; armament 1 x 1 - 40/60 Mk 3 and (1-2) x 2 - 20/70 Mk 24; Raytheon 1500 radar; complement 30. Project history: 'Welded steel patrol boats built in USA specifically for foreign transfer. PGM59/71 class. Enlarged variant of USCG 95ft cutter with commercial-type machinery and electronics.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1964-1975
- Population
- RVN crew (1965-75); any North Vietnamese personnel post-capture
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (navypedia); its 'captured by North Vietnam 4.1975' fate entry is applied uniformly to every non-escaped PGM of the class and is the only located source for that fate - treated as partial verification, with NavSource's 'fate unknown' conflict disclosed. Class table dates corroborate NavSource (launched 7 Dec 1964, July 1965 completion). Complement figure (30) unverified against any official source. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-02
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Peterson Builders yard production table, Sturgeon Bay WI - '30 Motor Gunboats (PGM)' section [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/peterson.htm, '30 Motor Gunboats (PGM)' table, PGM 74 row; yard history paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Peterson Builders production table lists 'PGM 74 | Song Tu (HQ 614) | Vietnam | Patrol Gunboat | 130d | 100 | 11-Sep-65' - confirming this hull's builder, destination navy, and hull-number mapping, and showing Peterson built the entire PGM-71-through-PGM-104 MAP gunboat run (30 boats). The table's 11-Sep-65 delivery date conflicts with NavSource's 29 July 1965 delivery (see gaps). Yard history note: founded 1907 as Peterson Boat Works; rebuilt/reactivated 1933; WWII sub-chaser builder; reorganized as Peterson Builders 1946; 'a major producer of the more complex types of small naval vessels, including surface combatants and mine-warfare vessels'; closed 1996-98.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1964-1966 (yard PGM production window)
- Population
- Peterson Builders construction trades
- Limitations
- Respected secondary yard-compilation (Colton), not a contract or delivery primary record; delivery-date column conflicts with NavSource by ~6 weeks. Confirms identity/builder mapping only - no asbestos, material, or crew content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-03
-
[5]Naval History and Heritage Command, 'The Approaching Storm' (The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War series), VNN force-structure discussion [other_primary]
- Locator
- ApproachStorm_508.pdf, VNN force-structure section (mid-1960s VNN strength narrative)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC documents the operating context of this vessel type: 'the largest units in the VNN were Sea Force escorts (PCEs), motor gunboats (PGMs), large support landing ships (LSSLs), large infantry landing ships (LSILs), medium landing ships (LSMs), and tank landing ships (LSTs) that operated in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam.' By late 1964 the United States was supporting a Vietnamese naval arm of 44 seagoing ships and over 200 landing craft, patrol boats, and other vessels - the force into which PGM-74 was delivered mid-1965.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1959-1965 (entry coverage)
- Population
- VNN Sea Force crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Fleet/class-level official history: documents the VNN Sea Force gunboat role and operating areas in which HQ-614 served; does not name this hull and contains no material or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-04
-
[6]Malcolm Muir Jr., 'End of the Saga: The Maritime Evacuation of South Vietnam and Cambodia' (NHHC, 2017, ISBN 978-0-945274-92-6) - VNN fleet evacuation account [other_primary]
- Locator
- End-of-the-Saga.html (verified landing page); 'Passage to the Philippines' chapter of the 508 PDF
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's official evacuation history documents that in the final week of April 1975 'virtually every ship that could put to sea was on the move - 26 warships carrying an estimated 30,000 refugees' for the passage to Subic Bay, Philippines, under U.S. Navy escort. HQ-614 Song Tu is not documented among the VNN units that escaped - consistent with navypedia's 'captured by North Vietnam 4.1975' fate entry (ev-02), though the book does not enumerate the flotilla by individual hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1975-04 - 1975-05
- Population
- VNN crews and refugees, April-May 1975 (context)
- Limitations
- Fleet-level history; the 26-warship figure is an aggregate - absence of this hull's name from the evacuation narrative is corroboration by absence, not a documented disposition. Song Tu's capture rests on navypedia alone (ev-02). No asbestos content. Landing page verified live; PDF also retrieved via publication-508-pdf path.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-05
-
[7]NIOSH (Levine MS, Schott D), 'Walk-through survey report, Peterson Builders, Inc., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin' (1979; survey 15 Dec 1978) - CDC Stacks catalog record [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks record 233468 (NIOSHTIC-2 abstract); DS1.pdf serves a missing-file notice only
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- A federal industrial-hygiene record exists for this hull's builder: NIOSH walked through Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, on 15 December 1978 for an epidemiological study of health hazards in the painting trades; approximately 731 employees worked in the boat production yard; the company had no industrial hygiene program; personal respirators were used and ventilation in painting areas was poor. Documents the era industrial-hygiene environment at the yard that built PGM-74.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1978 (survey); 1979 (report)
- Population
- Peterson Builders production yard workforce (~731 employees, 1978)
- Limitations
- Yard-level record, not a hull record; the survey targeted painting-trade hazards (solvents, spray operations), not asbestos - its abstract contains no asbestos finding. Full report text is NOT digitized (CDC Stacks 'missing digital file' notice, confirmed 2026-10-04); abstract/metadata only. Does not establish any material aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-06
-
[8]U.S. EPA CERCLA Site Information, 'PETERSON BUILDERS INC' (EPA ID WID096828975), 107 East Walnut Street, Sturgeon Bay, WI [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA cumulis site profile, id=0507082
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The builder's Sturgeon Bay yard is a registered EPA CERCLA site (EPA ID WID096828975): NPL status 'Not on the NPL,' non-NPL status 'Deferred to RCRA (Subtitle C).' Establishes that the yard that built this hull carries a federal environmental-oversight footprint, though the listed record concerns the yard, not the vessels built there.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- site record current as of 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Site-level environmental record for the builder's yard; contains no vessel-specific and no asbestos-specific content. 'Deferred to RCRA' indicates oversight under hazardous-waste authority rather than Superfund listing - not a finding of contamination severity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource PGM-74 specifications (diesel patrol gunboat, no steam plant); navypedia project history (welded steel MAP boat, enlarged USCG 95-ft cutter variant, 'commercial-type machinery and electronics'); NHHC-era documentation that U.S. naval construction used asbestos-containing insulation materials through the early 1970s (GAO HRD-80-2 context) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; navypedia project history; GAO HRD-80-2 product page (era context)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A 1964-65 U.S.-built diesel patrol gunboat sits inside the era when asbestos use in marine construction was standard practice; era-consistent applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this type would be engine and exhaust insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and interior/deck surfacing materials. Two qualifications keep this a weak inference: the boat carried no steam plant (no boiler/turbine lagging pathway), and she was built to commercial-type machinery standards for foreign transfer rather than to fleet U.S. Navy specifications - the Navy-wide asbestos documentation is context, not a specification for this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1964-1975
- Population
- Peterson Builders construction trades (1964-65); RVN crew (1965-75); any post-capture personnel
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or build specification located. Names plausible era applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity; no manufacturer attribution. Commercial-type MAP construction makes even the era inference weaker than for a U.S. fleet hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-08
-
[10]Vietnamese veterans' community history (Tran Ly, via vnchtoday.blogspot.com, quoting conghoa.com): 'Truyen nhung con tau: Tuan duyen ham (PGM)' - VNN PGM roster and HQ-614 anecdote [other_primary]
- Locator
- vnchtoday.blogspot.com PGM history post (roster list; HQ-614 anecdote paragraph)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A Vietnamese veterans'-community history of the VNN PGM squadron lists HQ-614 Song Tu (PGM-74) among the three Peterson-built boats (with HQ-612 Thai Binh / PGM-72 and HQ-613 Thi Tu / PGM-73) completed August-September 1965 and handed over January 1966. It describes PGM duties as coastal patrol and anti-infiltration interdiction, gunfire support to shore units, and post-1973 convoy escort to Phnom Penh; and records (via conghoa.com) that HQ-614, on a night transit in the Ha Tien operating area, was struck by a 'Sealand' transport ship. This is the only located source with ship-specific RVN service detail for HQ-614.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1965-1975
- Population
- RVN crew, HQ-614 (anecdotal)
- Limitations
- Veterans' community memoir on a blog platform quoting another community site - not an official or archival record; treated strictly as an archival lead. The January-1966 handover and the Ha Tien collision are unverified; no primary record located for either. No asbestos content. Carried for research follow-up only - establishes nothing by itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-09
-
[11]Batch-8631 search ledger (this record): NavSource PGM-74 and PGM index; navypedia PHU DU class page; Shipbuilding History Peterson table; NHHC Approaching Storm and End of the Saga; CDC Stacks NIOSH yard survey; EPA CERCLA profile; CourtListener base queries (see ledger for query-by-query results); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-song-tu-pgm74-01 through sl-uss-song-tu-pgm74-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming PGM-74, HQ-614, or Song Tu was found in the public sources searched. Structural reasons the record is thin: the hull was never commissioned into the U.S. Navy (no DANFS entry - NavSource confirms; no NVR entry - disposed pre-1987 and never USN), and its entire operational life was in the Republic of Vietnam Navy, whose records are largely outside U.S. public repositories. CourtListener 'Song Tu' queries (opinion + docket) returned four hits, all name collisions (music copyright, trademark Schedule A, prisoner civil rights) - no qualifying asbestos litigation; the 'PGM-74' hull-number queries could not be executed this session (fleet pacing limit - see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-consistent materials remain plausible. RVN operational records (deck logs, maintenance files) and MAP transfer documentation (NAG Vietnam records, COLL-353) are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-song-tu-pgm74-10