Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 1035-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-yms-160-yms160-pkt-1035-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-160 (11/19160) - construction timeline, specifications, commanding officer, disposal (verified live) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19160.htm header block, specifications block, commanding-officer block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 25 August 1942 by the Burger Boat Co., Manitowoc, WI; launched 30 January 1943; completed 9 July 1943; assigned to the Caribbean Sea Frontier; 'Transferred to the Philippines in May 1945' (see correction row ev-04); struck from the Naval Register 16 September 1947; destroyed in June 1948. Specifications: displacement 270 t.; length 136'; beam 24'6"; draft 8'; speed 15 kts.; complement 32; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, two 20mm mounts, two depth-charge projectors; propulsion two 880 bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. Commanding officer listed: LT John Henry Adams, Jr., USNR (1944). Call sign Nan-Xray-Uncle-Queen. Page notes 'There is no DANFS History currently available for YMS-160' and that no photograph of the hull is held.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Burger Boat construction trades (1942-43); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its milestone dates generally track official records but the Philippine-transfer date it carries (May 1945) is contradicted by this hull's own NARA muster rolls (USN decommissioning 7 May 1946 - see ev-04). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-01
-
[3]NARA, RG 38 Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 'USS YMS-160 - Rep of opers in the assault landings in the Brunei Bay Area, Borneo, 6/7-12/45' - ship-authored action report, serial 71-45, dated 13 June 1945 (3 images, Fold3 296528609) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog NAID 101754971; WWII War Diaries microfilm A_1764, images 0977-0979; report pp. 1-3
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-authored CONFIDENTIAL action report, 'ACTION REPORT - U.S.S. YMS-160 - BRUNEI BAY OPERATION, 7 June to 12 June 1945,' signed by commanding officer E. C. Bolton. The ship operated under Commander Task Unit 78.1.6 (the Hydrographic Survey Group), Seventh Amphibious Force: marking navigational channels and conducting check surveys ahead of HMAS Lachlan's survey boats, sweeping ahead of the hydrographic unit through mined water, and acting as screening vessel. Chronology: 7 June - arrived objective area, streamed 'O'-type sweep gear; 8 June - swept the hydrographic unit through mined area, avoided floating mines, reported one shallow-laid mine to CTU 78.1.5; 9 June - fired on enemy shore installations on Cape Sapo and the south coast of Muara Island; 10 June - assisted buoying and survey of Anson Passage, then screened in Padas Bay; 11-12 June - screening and recovery of hydrographic material near Burong Island. Ammunition expended: 31 rounds 3"/50 cal, 183 rounds 20mm, 275 rounds .50 cal. Destroyed one probable bunker and damaged one probable pillbox west of Cape Sapo. No battle damage; no casualties.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 7-12 June 1945
- Population
- YMS-160 crew (~32 complement) under Lt. E. C. Bolton, USNR
- Limitations
- Ship-specific operational history only - no asbestos or material content. Confirms the ship was a commissioned USN unit under a USNR lieutenant in June 1945, one month after the 'May 1945' Philippine-transfer date carried by secondary sources (see ev-04).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-02
-
[4]NARA, RG 38, 'USS YMS-160 - Report of survey operations in Brunei Bay, Borneo, 6/16/45' - supplementary action report, serial 75-45, dated 17 June 1945 (2 images, Fold3 300773320) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog NAID 77506160; WWII War Diaries microfilm A_1888, images 0436-0437; report pp. 1-2
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-authored CONFIDENTIAL 'SUPPLEMENTARY ACTION REPORT - U.S.S. YMS-160 - BRUNEI BAY OPERATION, 16 June 1945,' signed by commanding officer E. C. Bolton. Covers the Padas Bay-Weston phase after the assault landings: assisting CTU 78.1.6 to mark and survey a channel from the river mouth in Padas Bay to the village of Weston (believed enemy-held); supporting the small boats 'Lark' and 'Mermaid' under CTU 78.1.6 with buoys and navigational gear; and standing by to give fire support at Batu Datu Point or Weston. On 16 June the ship moored alongside HMAS Lachlan to embark buoy materials, proceeded upriver with two LCIs and the two survey boats, helped buoy and sound the channel (obtaining minimum depth on the center-channel course), covered the landing of a reconnaissance party at Weston, and finished as screening vessel near Burong Island. No ordnance expended; no battle damage; no casualties.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 16 June 1945
- Population
- YMS-160 crew (~32 complement)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific operational history only - no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-03
-
[5]NARA, 'YMS-160, 7/26/43-5/7/46' - USN muster rolls (NAVPERS 666-B Report of Changes series), 144 digitized images via Ancestry partnership [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 193047112, images 138-139 (April 1946 and decommissioning Report of Changes pages); catalog file-unit title '7/26/43-5/7/46'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: secondary sources (NavSource, uboat.net, shipbuildinghistory.com) carry 'transferred to the Philippines May 1945 / to Philippines 1945.' This hull's own muster rolls show she remained a commissioned, USN-crewed unit for a full year beyond that date: the Report of Changes series runs continuously to 7 May 1946, when the final page records the ship DECOMMISSIONED and the entire remaining crew transferred to 'USN R/S., Navy #3002' for further transfer to the U.S. for demobilization (authorities: ALNAV 76-46, ALNAV 131-46, ComPhilSeaFron correspondence). The April 1946 roll documents the progressive post-war drawdown (men transferring to demobilization at roughly weekly intervals) and one rating received aboard from USS YMS-269. The defensible reading is that the navy-to-navy transfer to the Philippines accompanied or followed the May 1946 decommissioning - or that 'May 1945' in secondary sources describes a theater reassignment, not the flag transfer. No primary transfer instrument was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 26 July 1943 - 7 May 1946
- Population
- USN crew of YMS-160, 1943-1946 (roll names itemized monthly)
- Limitations
- Establishes USN decommissioning date and end of USN manning, not the Philippine handover date itself - no Philippine-side or transfer-authority document was located. Muster rolls are personnel records; they contain no material or asbestos content. Hull identity on the decommissioning page is confirmed by the file-unit title and the roll's end date matching 7 May 1946 exactly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-04
-
[6]NARA Special List 44, 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947,' by-ship-number PDF - YMS-160 entry, p. 115 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, page 115, alphabetical YMS block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds US Navy deck logs for YMS-160 covering 26 July 1943 - 30 June 1945 (entry verbatim: 'YMS-160 7/26/1943 6/30/1945'). These paper logbooks at College Park are the day-to-day operational record for the ship's commissioned career - Caribbean Sea Frontier assignment, the Pacific transfer, and the Borneo operation - and are the natural lead for any in-service work or casualty documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 26 July 1943 - 30 June 1945
- Population
- crew (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the finding aid confirms the logs exist; their contents were not reviewed (undigitized, paper holdings). The 30 June 1945 end date is a holdings boundary of the wartime log series, not necessarily the end of the ship's logging; the digitized muster-roll file unit (ev-04) shows USN records continued to May 1946. The ship does not appear in NARA's list of deck logs digitized in the catalog.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-05
-
[7]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Tim Colton), Burger Boat Company construction list - YMS-160 row [other_primary]
- Locator
- burger.htm, Burger Boat Company Incorporated table, YMS 160 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Burger Boat Co. construction list records YMS-160 as a US Navy minesweeper of 278 displacement tons and 136 feet, delivery date 19 July 1943, disposition 'To Philippines 1945.' Corroborates the builder and the Philippine disposition; the delivery date runs 10 days after NavSource's 'Completed 9 July 1943' (see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Burger Boat construction trades (1942-43)
- Limitations
- Independent secondary compilation of yard records - respected for builder/delivery data, not an official registry. 'To Philippines 1945' shares the same one-year-early transfer dating flagged in ev-04. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-06
-
[8]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS YMS-160 (YMS-160) - service table and Operation Oboe VI (Brunei) order of battle [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/9582.html, service table and 'Notable events' TG 78.1.6 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net lists YMS-160 ordered 14 March 1942, laid down 25 August 1942, launched 30 January 1943, commissioned 9 July 1943, 'End service May 1945,' 'Transferred to the Philippines in May 1945.' Its transcribed Operation Oboe VI order of battle (from the TG 78.1 action report) places USS YMS-160 under Lt. E. C. Bolton, USNR, in Task Group 78.1.6, the Hydrographic Survey Group (Lt.Cdr. G. D. Tancred, RAN), with HMAS Lachlan and net tender USS Satinleaf, for the Brunei Bay landings of 10 June 1945 - corroborating the ship's own action report (ev-02) down to the commanding officer's name. The operation narrative documents sustained minesweeping under mine threat (USS Salute mined and sunk 8 June) and YMS gear fouling on moored contact mines.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- crew (1943-45); Lt. E. C. Bolton USNR (CO at Brunei, June 1945)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; the order of battle is action-report-derived and reliable, but the 'End service May 1945' service-table entry is contradicted by the ship's own June 1945 activity and NARA muster rolls (ev-04). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-07
-
[9]Palm Beach Post (via Legacy.com), obituary of James Young (1919-2014), published January 2015 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- legacy.com obituary text, service paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Named-crew corroboration: the obituary of James Young (95, of Tequesta FL, d. 29 December 2014) records that 'from 1944 to 1946, he served as an officer in the Navy assigned to a PT Squadron in Borneo and the Philippines and on the minesweeper, USS YMS 160.' Independently corroborates the hull's Borneo/Philippines operating area and USN manning into 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Officer James Young; YMS-160 crew (1944-46 window stated)
- Limitations
- Family-supplied obituary in a reputable paper - a service-association data point, not an official record; the 1944-46 span covers his total Navy service, not continuous time aboard. It is NOT an exposure record - this record makes no asbestos claim for Young or any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource/class specifications (wooden-hulled YMS-1-class auxiliary motor minesweeper, 2 x GM 8-268A diesels); shipbuildinghistory.com Burger construction table; GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications; Wikipedia YMS-1-class article (design/wooden-hull context, secondary cross-check); GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled diesel motor minesweeper built 1942-43 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this type and period were diesel-exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets and valve packing, electrical insulation, and limited thermal insulation in the engine space. The confined 136-foot hull and 32-man crew mean any present material was worked in close quarters. Two structural factors cut the asbestos footprint sharply versus a steam combatant: no boilers or steam plant (eliminating the boiler/turbine lagging pathway), and a wooden rather than steel hull (chosen to defeat magnetic mines - far less pipe lagging and compartment insulation than a comparable steel vessel).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Burger Boat construction trades (1942-43); crew (1943-46); Philippine naval crew (1946-48)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or builder's specification located for YMS-160. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; a wooden-hulled YMS carried meaningfully less asbestos than a steel steam ship and possibly very little, but the era record does not support 'none' either. No quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-09
-
[11]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) and USN service era (1943-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- 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 2026-10-04) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-10
-
[12]Batch-8830 search ledger (this record): NavSource; uboat.net; NARA catalog (3 ship-titled file units); NARA Special List 44 PDF; shipbuildinghistory.com; Palm Beach Post obituary; NHHC DANFS search; NVR; secondary web litigation sweep; CourtListener via authenticated helper (status in sl-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-160-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, industrial-hygiene report, or verified litigation naming USS YMS-160 was found in the public sources searched. A targeted web sweep for '"YMS-160" asbestos lawsuit mesothelioma' returned zero results; no law-firm marketing page naming this hull was encountered at all - even the standard excluded-source listicles do not cover her. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the fleet-wide authenticated pacing budget (shared ~58/hr token bucket) stayed saturated across six acquisition attempts over ~30 minutes; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result.
- 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). The ship's short life (destroyed June 1948 in Philippine service, ~5 years after commissioning) and foreign disposal remove the two channels - museum preservation and scrapping-yard disclosure - through which asbestos documentation usually surfaces for WWII hulls. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-160-11