Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 892-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-sturdy-pc460-pkt-892-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Sturdy II (PC-460), Naval History and Heritage Command (live page verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Sturdy II (PC-460)', full narrative + specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: 'The second Sturdy, ex-Elda, was built in 1930 by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, N.Y.'; the yacht was purchased from Mr. Arthur Davis of New York City on 4 September 1940 and converted for Navy use by the New York Navy Yard; commissioned as PC-460 on 16 October 1940. Assigned to the Panama Canal Zone for patrol duty, arriving 13 November 1940; assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier 10 February 1942; sailed to Mobile, Ala., 31 January 1943 for 'extensive repairs' and returned to Panama. Named Sturdy and redesignated PYc-50 on 15 July 1943. Steamed to Key West, Fla., for repairs and an overhaul in October 1944; on the 29th it was decided she should be disposed of and all work stopped; transferred to the 7th Naval District. Decommissioned 20 November 1944; struck from the Navy list 27 November 1944. Spec block: dp. 330; l. 154'; b. 24'; dr. 8'6"; s. 17 k.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1930-1944
- Population
- New York Navy Yard conversion workforce (1940); wartime crew (complement undocumented)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, conversion yard, service history, and striking - not materials or asbestos content. The entry omits the 24 January 1942 ramming and sinking of USS S-26 entirely (that event is carried from NHHC's Submarine Losses volume and NavSource in ev-02 and ev-03). The 4 September 1940 purchase date conflicts with NavSource's 13 September 1940 acquisition date - carried in gaps. No complement or armament figure is given.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-01
-
[3]NHHC, United States Submarine Losses World War II (NAVPERS 15,784, rev. 2017), S-26 (SS-131) entry (live page verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Online Reading Room, United States Submarine Losses WWII, S-26 (SS-131) narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy submarine-loss record naming this hull: S-26 (Lt. Cmdr. E.C. Hawk) 'was lost at 2223 on 24 January 1942 in the Gulf of Panama about fourteen miles west of San Jose Light in three hundred feet of water,' with three survivors and 46 men lost. 'S-26 was proceeding from Balboa, Canal Zone, to its patrol station in company with S-21, S-29 and S-44 and an escort vessel, PC-460, at the time of the disaster. At 2210 the escort vessel sent a visual message to the submarines that she was leaving the formation and that they could proceed on the duty assigned. S-21 was the only submarine to receive this message. Shortly there-after PC-460 struck S-26 on the starboard side of the torpedo room and the submarine sank within a few seconds.' Salvage operations under Capt. T.J. Doyle, USN, Commanding Submarine Squadron Three and Submarine Base, Coco Solo, were unsuccessful.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-01-24
- Population
- PC-460 crew (escort duty); S-26 crew (46 lost, 3 survivors)
- Limitations
- Loss-of-submarine record naming PC-460 as the escort vessel that rammed S-26; documents a wartime casualty event, not materials or asbestos content. Consistent with DANFS's S-26 entry ('Rammed by PC-460 ... sank on 24 January 1942 with the loss of 46 men'); the Sturdy II DANFS entry itself omits the event.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-02
-
[4]NavSource Online, Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, Sturdy (PYc-50) ex-PC-460, page 12/010460 (live .net URL verified 2026-10-03; navsource.org is dead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 12/010460, chronology, specifications, photo captions, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archival compilation for this hull: built 1930 as the yacht Elda by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, NY, for stockbroker Anson Wales Hard, Jr.; renamed Avalanche; acquired in 1935 by Arthur V. Davis of New York and renamed Elda; acquired by the Navy 13 September 1940; converted at the New York Navy Yard; commissioned USS PC-460 on 16 October 1940. Collision record: PC-460 'accidently rammed and sank' S-26 (SS-131) on 24 January 1942, rescued three survivors; 46 men lost. Reclassified coastal patrol yacht and named USS Sturdy (PYc-50) on 15 July 1943; decommissioned 20 November 1944; struck 27 November 1944; transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal in August 1945; acquired 13 March 1946 by the Marcross Corp. of Miami, Fla., renamed Elda, and operated from 16 August 1946 under the Honduran flag; fate unknown. Specifications: 380 t.; 154'; 24'; 8'6"; 17 kts.; 'two six-cylinder Winton diesel engines, two shafts.' Commanding officers LCDR Thomas M. Sheridan, USNR (16 October 1940) and LCDR James R. Keeling, USNR (15 July 1943 - 20 November 1944). NARA-captioned photos show the ship at Mobile, Ala., 22 May 1943 'after completion of repairs from submarine collision.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1930-1946
- Population
- Conversion and repair-yard workers (New York Navy Yard 1940; Mobile 1943); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Secondary archival compilation, not a government record; where it conflicts with DANFS the DANFS value is carried and the conflict logged in gaps (acquisition 13 Sep vs purchase 4 Sep 1940; displacement 380 t. vs 330; printed coordinate '79deg21minE' is an obvious typo for west longitude - the Gulf of Panama/San Jose Light is near 79degW - noted, not propagated). Post-disposal fate 'unknown.' No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-03
-
[5]NavSource specifications block (Winton diesel plant, no steam) + Atlas shipyard dataset, New York Naval Shipyard record (yard_id brooklyn-navy-yard, evidence_tier 3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 12/010460 specifications block; shipyards.json record 'brooklyn-navy-yard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference only: a 1930-built diesel motor yacht converted to naval patrol service at the New York Navy Yard in 1940 would plausibly have carried period-standard asbestos-containing applications - machinery and exhaust lagging, gaskets and flange material, valve and machinery packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing and deck covering. Diesel propulsion means no boiler or steam-line lagging pathway aboard. The conversion yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas shipyards dataset (New York Naval Shipyard, brooklyn-navy-yard, evidence_tier 3 - ship-specific yard asbestos documentation exists in that record, independent of this hull).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1930; 1940-1944
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding trades (1930); New York Navy Yard conversion workforce (1940); Mobile repair-yard workers (1943); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no source names this hull's materials, and nothing here establishes that asbestos was, or was not, installed aboard. The 1943 Mobile repair yard is not named in any consulted source (not asserted to be Alabama Dry Dock). Yard-level documentation describes the conversion yard environment, not this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-04
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[6]Batch-7835 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS and Submarine Losses volumes; NavSource 12/010460; NARA digitized deck-log list; Naval Vessel Register; hazegray DANFS mirror; ww2pcsa.org; CourtListener ship-name and hull-number sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sturdy-pc460-01 through sl-uss-sturdy-pc460-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum file (the ship was not preserved), or digitized deck log was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger); no litigation naming this hull surfaced in general web sources, and the dedicated CourtListener opinion/docket sweep was blocked by fleet pacing this session (sl-08 through sl-11) - litigation status is open, not negative. The Naval Vessel Register excludes vessels disposed of before 1987, and NARA's digitized deck-log list covers only the later minesweeper Sturdy (MSO-494), not this hull.
- 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 - a 1930 yacht hull in naval service 1940-1944 falls squarely inside the asbestos-shipbuilding era. The ship was sold out of service in 1946 and her fate is unknown, so no extant hull remains to survey. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-05
-
[7]National Archives, 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' (digitized-log list) + NavSource NARA-captioned photography (Mobile, 22 May 1943) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov digitized deck-log list (no PC-460/PYc-50 entry); NavSource 12/010460 photo captions crediting National Archives
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead: WWII-era deck logs for PC-460/Sturdy (PYc-50), including the 24 January 1942 S-26 collision entries and the 1943 Mobile repair period, should exist in NARA RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel), Entry 118, held by Archives II, College Park - but they do not appear on NARA's digitized deck-log list (the only 'Sturdy' there is MSO-494). Separately, NavSource hosts NARA-captioned photographs of the ship at Mobile on 22 May 1943, indicating original 80-G still-photo holdings on this hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1940-1944 (records); 2026-10-03 (verification)
- Population
- Wartime crew (deck-log subjects)
- Limitations
- Lead only - textual deck logs not pulled; the NARA catalog is JS-rendered and the check was against NARA's published digitized list, not a full catalog search. Photo NAIDs not retrieved. Deck logs may document maintenance/disturbance history but are unlikely to name materials as asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sturdy-pc460-06