Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 866-packet.md (1 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-westerly-pc1198-pkt-866-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Westerly (PC-1198) - live NHHC page, updated Robert J. Cressman 2024-02-26 (specifications block, construction, WWII Caribbean Sea Frontier service, reservist training, inactivation, naming, striking) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: PC-461 class; displacement 280; length 173'8"; beam 23'0"; draft 10'10"; speed 20.2 knots (trial); complement 65; armament 1 3-inch, 1 40mm, 3 20mm, 2 depth charge tracks, 4 K-guns, 2 Mousetraps. Laid down 3 October 1942 at Morris Heights, N.Y., by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 12 December 1942, sponsored by Miss Dorothy Given; commissioned 3 May 1943 at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, Lt. Albert E. Lind, D-V(VG), USNR, in command. WWII: Caribbean Sea Frontier convoy escort for two years, then air-sea rescue and mine-clearance support in the West Indies. Transferred to Third Naval District, trained naval reservists along the eastern seaboard through 1949. Inactivated at Boston; decommissioned 15 March 1950; berthed with Boston Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Named Westerly 15 February 1956 (for the town in Washington County, R.I.); never served actively under that name; stricken 1 April 1959 and disposed of.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1959
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and reservist-training crew (complement 65)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. NHHC page is the condensed 2024 update; the fuller pre-condensation text survives only in transcriptions (see ev-02/gaps). Displacement figure (280) conflicts with NavSource (450 t) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-01
-
[3]DANFS pre-condensation transcription, PC-1198 / Westerly, via HistoryCentral (verbatim text of the older, longer DANFS entry; the live NHHC page is the 2024 condensed update) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HistoryCentral 'Westerly PC-1198' page, narrative paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The fuller DANFS text adds operational detail the condensed NHHC page omits: month-long shakedown out of Miami; reported to Caribbean Sea Frontier 22 June 1943; convoy escort between West Indies islands specializing in petroleum-laden shipping from Curacao and Aruba on initial legs to Guantanamo Bay and Trinidad; post-VE-Day air-sea rescue and mine-removal operations adding Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas until June 1946; Third Naval District reservist training itinerary (New York to Portland, Maine; Portsmouth, Bridgeport, New Haven, Provincetown; July 1948 Halifax and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; later 1948 Boston, Nantucket, Gloucester, New London, New Bedford; May 1949 Charleston and St. Augustine); entered Boston in January 1950 for inactivation.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- Wartime and reservist-training crew
- Limitations
- Transcription of the older DANFS entry hosted on a third-party site - not itself an official page. Contains two internal date errors ('end of the war in Europe in May 1946' - context requires 1945; '11 January 1960' for the Boston inactivation arrival - context requires 1950), carried in gaps rather than silently corrected. Does not address materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive, Westerly (PC-1198) ex-PC-1198 (construction/service timeline, specifications, propulsion detail, photographs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PC-1198 page, timeline + specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: PC-461 class submarine chaser; laid down 3 October 1942 at Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, N.Y.; launched 12 December 1942; commissioned USS PC-1198, 3 May 1943 at New York Navy Yard; placed in service July 1946 as a Naval Reserve training vessel in the 3rd Naval District (New York); decommissioned 15 March 1950 at Boston and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Boston Group; named Westerly 15 February 1956; struck from the Naval Register 1 April 1959; fate unknown. Specifications: displacement 450 t.; length 173'8"; beam 23'; draft 10'10"; speed 20.2 kts.; complement 65; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, one 40mm mount, five 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, two depth charge tracks; propulsion two 1,440 bhp Hooven-Owen-Rentschler R-99DA diesel engines (serial nos. 6989 and 6990), Westinghouse single-reduction gear, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1959
- Population
- Construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-50
- Limitations
- NavSource is a curated volunteer archive, not an official source - used for specifications, propulsion detail, and the July 1946 reserve-training-service date. Its displacement (450 t) and armament (five 20mm, two rocket launchers) differ from DANFS (280; three 20mm, K-guns, Mousetraps) - conflicts carried in gaps. Propulsion detail confirms diesel drive: no steam plant aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-03
-
[5]NARA Catalog file unit 'PC-1198, 5/3/43-7/1/46' (NAID 192254648), Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, Record Group 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel) - digitized, 225 images [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAID 192254648 (RG 24, Muster Rolls series)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's muster rolls are digitized at the National Archives: 225 scanned images covering commissioning (5/3/1943) through 7/1/1946 - crew rosters naming every man carried aboard this hull across its entire commissioned WWII career. Primary source for service-member attribution aboard this vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- PC-1198 crew 1943-1946 (by name, per roll)
- Limitations
- Crew-roster records only - muster rolls document who served aboard, not materials or asbestos conditions. Coverage ends 7/1/1946; the 1946-1950 reservist-training period and the reserve-fleet era have no digitized muster rolls located. No deck log file unit for this hull was located as digitized.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-04
-
[6]NARA Catalog file unit 'TRINIDAD SECTOR GR 04.6 - War Diary, 11/1-30/44' (NAID 78711985), WWII War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, Record Group 38 - digitized, 18 images [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAID 78711985 (RG 38, WWII War Diaries series)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A digitized November 1944 war diary for the Trinidad Sector surfaced under a NARA catalog query for this hull - PC-1198 escorted petroleum convoys to Trinidad in exactly this period per DANFS. The catalog's match indicates a probable vessel-level mention inside the images.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-11
- Population
- Caribbean Sea Frontier / Trinidad Sector commands, Nov 1944
- Limitations
- Command-level operational record - the vessel mention is a catalog-search match not confirmed by page-level image review. A war diary documents operations, not materials or asbestos. Lead for confirming hull-specific convoy assignments, not an asbestos source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-05
-
[7]Patrol Craft Sailors Association Collection & Archives index, Bates County Historical Society Museum (Butler, Mo.) - hull 1198 listed among patrol craft represented in the collection [other_primary]
- Locator
- PCSACollectionArchives.pdf, 'PATROL CRAFT (STEEL HULL) - PC' index listing
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The PCSA collection index lists hull 1198 among the patrol craft for which the archive holds material - a veterans-organization collection that may hold photographs, cruise books, or personal papers for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Index-level listing only - the PDF enumerates hull numbers covered, not item-level contents; what is held for PC-1198 (if more than a hull-number file) is unverified. A veterans' collection is not an asbestos or materials source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-06
-
[8]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Colton), Consolidated Shipbuilding, Morris Heights NY - construction table, hull no. 3128 = PC 1198 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Consolidated Shipbuilding table, row hull #3128
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder's production table corroborates this hull: Consolidated Shipbuilding (Morris Heights, Bronx - formed 1896 from Gas Engine & Power Co. / Charles L. Seabury Co.; built yachts, tugs, and WWII subchasers) hull number 3128 was PC 1198, US Navy sub chaser, 173 ft, delivered/commissioned 3 May 1943, 'Named Westerly 1956, struck 1959.' Yard history: the Morris Heights yard closed after WWII when the company bought the Robert Jacob and B. F. Wood yards on City Island.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding trades, Morris Heights, 1942-43
- Limitations
- Independent compiler's shipyard production table, not an official record - consistent with DANFS/NavSource on all shared data points. '463d' appears in the tonnage column of the row and is not carried. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: DANFS/NavSource spec blocks (PC-461-class steel-hulled submarine chaser, built Oct-Dec 1942); NavSource propulsion detail (two H-O-R R-99DA diesels, no steam plant); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use era (see ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS + NavSource specification blocks; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled patrol craft built 1942-43 for the U.S. Navy sits squarely inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era. For a diesel-driven vessel of this type and period, era-standard asbestos applications were thermal insulation on hot machinery and piping, diesel-exhaust lagging and muffler insulation, gaskets and valve packing, electrical cable insulation, deck coverings, and possibly asbestos-cement panels in accommodation spaces. She carried no boilers, so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; the 65-man complement lived and worked within a 173-foot hull where machinery-space insulation was the dominant pathway.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1959
- Population
- Consolidated Shipbuilding construction trades (1942-43); crew (1943-50); inactivation and disposal workers (1950, post-1959)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, or work package located for PC-1198. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-08
-
[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, HTTP 403)
- 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 (1942-43), commissioned service (1943-50), and reserve-fleet lay-up (1950-59).
- 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. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-03) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-09
-
[11]Batch-7694 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS page; pre-condensation DANFS transcription; NavSource; NARA muster rolls NAID 192254648; NARA Trinidad Sector war diary NAID 78711985; shipbuildinghistory builder table; PCSA collection index; NVR; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-westerly-pc1198-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming PC-1198 / USS Westerly was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated API returned daily-quota exhaustion (~2.6 h to reset); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm listicle content for this hull at all.
- 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 the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). The hull was disposed of in 1959, so no modern survey/abatement record was ever likely to exist. Muster rolls, war diaries, and the PCSA collection are open archival leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-westerly-pc1198-10