Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet 1036-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-yms-178-yms178-pkt-1036-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-178 (page verified live via firecrawl 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19178.htm ship history block and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 7 September 1942 by Henry C. Grebe and Co., Chicago, IL; launched 24 April 1943; completed 31 July 1943; transferred to the Soviet Union 19 July 1945 and reclassified T-588; assigned to the Northern Pacific Fleet 30 July 1945; participated in the landings at Maoku (Kholmsk), Yuzhno-Sakhalin, Japan 11-25 August 1945; placed out of service 1 September 1945 and laid up; reclassified 27 February 1956 as auxiliary vessel BRN-11; sunk in the Tatar Strait between 28-30 June 1956 'in agreement with the United States'; struck from the Naval Register 29 October 1956. Specifications: 270 t displacement; 136' length; 24'6" beam; 8' draft; 13 kts; complement 50; one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount and two 20mm mounts; two 880bhp General Motors diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single-reduction gear, two shafts. Page states there is no DANFS history available for YMS-178.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1956
- Population
- Grebe construction trades (1942-43); U.S. Navy crew (1943-45); Soviet crew (1945)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records and are corroborated here by the NHC Project HULA monograph (ev-02), but ship-page specifications conflict with the same site's class index (270 t vs 320 t; complement 50 vs 33; 13 vs 12 kts - see gaps). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-01
-
[3]Richard A. Russell, Project HULA: Secret Soviet-American Naval Cooperation in the War Against Japan, The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series No. 4 (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, Washington, 1997) - full-text mirror at generalstaff.org [other_primary]
- Locator
- Appendix 'U.S. Navy Combatant Ships Transferred to the [Soviet Navy] May-September 1945', row 'YMS 178 | T-588 | 19 Jul. | 1956-destroyed'; narrative chapters on postwar settlement
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Naval Historical Center's official monograph on Project HULA lists this hull by name in its Appendix table 'U.S. Navy Combatant Ships Transferred ... May-September 1945': 'YMS 178 | T-588 | 19 Jul. | 1956-destroyed' - corroborating the transfer date, Soviet designation, and 1956 destruction given by NavSource. The monograph further documents that 149 vessels were transferred at Cold Bay, Alaska, under Project HULA; that transferred ships took part in operations against Japanese positions on southern Sakhalin Island beginning 11 August 1945; and that the postwar settlement included 'witnessed destruction,' under which the Soviet navy deliberately sank unreturned ships in view of American naval authorities (59 vessels in the Barents Sea near Murmansk and 20 at Nakhodka near Vladivostok in 1956).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-1956
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew pre-transfer; Soviet crew post-transfer; Navy Detachment 3294 training cadre at Cold Bay
- Limitations
- Ship-specific for transfer date, Soviet designation, and 1956-destruction disposition (appendix row names YMS-178). The witnessed-destruction and operations narrative is program-level - the appendix does not state where this hull was sunk; the Tatar Strait location and 28-30 June dates come from NavSource (ev-01). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-02
-
[4]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List #44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947, ship-number index [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, p. 116 (pdftotext -layout extraction: 'YMS-178 8/13/1943 7/18/1945')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 records U.S. Navy logbooks for YMS-178 covering 8/13/1943-7/18/1945 - the logbook run ends the day before the documented Soviet transfer (19 July 1945), consistent with U.S. Navy custody terminating at transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (coverage); list current as of publication
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew of YMS-178 (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Establishes that logbooks for this hull exist in NARA custody for the stated date range - not that they are digitized or that they contain any asbestos-relevant content. Deck logs are chronological event records kept by officers of the deck; material-content references in them are possible but undetermined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-03
-
[5]NARA National Archives Catalog, File Unit 'YMS-178, 8/13/43-7/18/45' (NAID 193045755), Record Group 24, Series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' (NAID 594996) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/193045755 (192 images; RG 24, series 594996; microfilm Roll 9021; College Park)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's muster rolls - personnel accounting records naming crew by name and rating - are digitized and publicly accessible: 192 images under file unit 'YMS-178, 8/13/43-7/18/45' (NAID 193045755), Record Group 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel records), unrestricted access, also on microfilm Roll 9021 at NARA College Park (Ancestry-partnership digitization). The coverage window matches the SL-44 logbook range exactly.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- YMS-178 crew, by name and rating, 8/13/1943-7/18/1945
- Limitations
- Muster rolls are crew-name/rating rosters, not material or exposure records - they establish who served aboard and when, not what materials were aboard. This is the muster-roll file unit, NOT the deck log; the YMS-178 deck logs listed in SL-44 do not appear in NARA's online digitized-deck-log index. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-04
-
[6]NavSource Online, Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) photo index and class summary (YMS-1 class; class text credited to Robert Noonan, YMS-176) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19idx.htm class narrative and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- YMS-1 class context: the first 'Yard class Minesweeper' (YMS-1) was designed by Henry B. Nevins, Inc., City Island, NY, keel laid 4 March 1941; 481 U.S. Navy ships of the type were built at 35 yacht yards - 12 East Coast, 19 West Coast, four Great Lakes - plus 80 BYMS hulls for Britain (561 total). Wooden-hulled; class characteristics 136' length, 24'6" beam, 320 tons, 6'1" draft, complement 33, one 3"/50 and two 20mm mounts, General Motors 8-268A diesel engines on two shafts, 880 designed shaft horsepower, 12 knots. Surviving YMS hulls were reclassified AMS with bird names in 1947 and MSC(O) in 1955 - a path YMS-178 did not take, having been transferred to the Soviet Union in 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1941-1969 (class coverage)
- Population
- YMS-1 class crews and builders (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level secondary summary, not a hull record - YMS-178 is not individually discussed. Class specifications conflict with this hull's ship-page figures (see gaps). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-05
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[7]Era inference built on: NavSource ship page (builder, 1942-43 construction, GM diesel plant, wooden-hulled YMS-1 class); NavSource class index (diesel machinery, wooden hull); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos-use era - see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Derived from ev-01, ev-05, ev-07 source set
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled, diesel-powered motor minesweeper completed in 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel minecraft of this type and period were engine exhaust and muffler lagging, machinery thermal insulation in the engine space, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. The wooden hull and absence of a steam plant remove the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway dominant in larger steam combatants; scope of asbestos use aboard this type was comparatively limited but not necessarily zero.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1956
- Population
- Grebe construction trades (1942-43); U.S. Navy crew (1943-45); Soviet crew (1945, laid-up period to 1956)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or litigation record located for YMS-178. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution, no statement that asbestos remains aboard (hull sunk 1956).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-06
-
[8]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 U.S. service era (1943-45).
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-10-04) - content via product-page description, same standing defect as Batch 01/98.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-07
-
[9]Richard Russell, 'A Mission of Higher Classification,' U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 131/8/1,230 (August 2005) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Proceedings Aug 2005, article text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Program context for this hull's transfer: Project HULA was the secret program under which Navy Detachment 3294, based at Cold Bay, Alaska, trained approximately 12,000-15,000 Soviet naval personnel and transferred 149 U.S. naval vessels to Soviet custody in 1945. Before Soviet entry into the Pacific War on 9 August 1945, the Soviets had received 100 vessels including 19 wooden-hulled minesweepers (YMS); transfers continued until ordered halted 5 September 1945. Transferred vessels saw action supporting Soviet ground operations against Japanese positions on southern Sakhalin Island (11 August), northern Korea (12 August), and the Kuril Islands (17 August).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Navy Detachment 3294; ~12,000-15,000 Soviet trainees; crews of 149 transferred vessels
- Limitations
- Does not name YMS-178 - program-level corroboration for the transfer mechanism (Cold Bay), the pre-9-August timing cohort this hull belongs to (19 July 1945 transfer), and the Soviet-service combat context. Ship-specific transfer facts rest on ev-01 and ev-02. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-08
-
[10]Batch-8840 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship and class pages; NHC Project HULA monograph (generalstaff.org mirror); USNI Proceedings; NARA SL-44 PDF and National Archives Catalog (NAID 193045755); NVR; GAO HRD-80-2; ShipbuildingHistory Grebe table (secondary cross-check); CourtListener authenticated API v4; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-178-yms178-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS YMS-178 or T-588 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Secondary web sweeps surfaced only generic law-firm marketing pages asserting asbestos aboard Navy ships without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- 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 - a 1943 diesel minecraft of this era plausibly carried era-standard asbestos applications (ev-06), but nothing documents them for this hull. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the fleet-wide pacing limiter (cl_ratelimit, ~58/hr shared budget) returned budget-spent on six spaced attempts over ~50 minutes; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. The hull's destruction in 1956 forecloses any present-day material survey. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-178-yms178-09