USS YMS-23

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]research packet 1041-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-23-yms23-pkt-1041-packet-md

2. [2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-23 (11/19023) - construction timeline, transfer/sale/struck dates, French reclassifications, decommissioning, spec block (verified live 2026-10-04; page states 'There is no DANFS history available for YMS-23') [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 11/19023.htm header block, timeline list, and specifications block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Documented for this hull: laid down 23 July 1941 as YMS-23 by Greenport Basin & Construction Co., Long Island, NY; launched 13 December 1941; completed 7 May 1942; transferred to France 6 March 1944 as Perce Neige (D 201); sold to France 21 March 1949; struck from the Navy Register 28 April 1949; reclassified in French service as D-351, D-24, and M-664; decommissioned 28 December 1963; 'Fate unknown.' Spec block: displacement 270 t.; length 136'; beam 24'6"; draft 8'; speed 15 kts.; complement 32; armament one 3"/50 gun mount, two 20mm, two dcp; propulsion two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. Call sign Nan-Baker-Charlie-How.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1941-1963

   Population

   Greenport Basin construction trades (1941-42); U.S. Navy crew (1942-44); French Navy crew (1944-63)

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates generally track official records but the 'Completed' wording (vs 'commissioned' in secondary sources) is noted, and 'Fate unknown' leaves final disposal undocumented. Contains no asbestos content. A single photo (YMS-23 moored outboard of YMS-24, ex Leo Azous/YMS-24 crew collection) adds no service detail.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-01

3. [3]U.S. National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (Bradley, Kurtz, et al., comps., 1978) - 'Ships with Symbol and Number Designations' section, book page 509 (page-image scan via ACPL Genealogy Center mirror) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Special List 44, 'Ships with Symbol and Number Designations', book page 509 (ACPL scan display page 541)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA Special List 44 records 10 logbooks for YMS-23 spanning May 27, 1942 - December 31, 1943 (entry read verbatim from the page scan: 'YMS-23 | May 27, 1942-Dec. 31, 1943 | 10'). This documents that U.S. Navy deck logs exist for this hull covering her completed/commissioned U.S. service period; coverage ends 31 December 1943, before the 6 March 1944 transfer to France.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1942-05-27 to 1943-12-31 (log coverage); inventory published 1978

   Population

   U.S. Navy crew of YMS-23 (1942-43)

   Limitations

   Archival lead only: establishes that logbooks exist in NARA custody (RG 24), not what they contain - operating areas, availabilities, and any material remarks inside the logs are unconsulted. Log coverage is not a commissioning or decommissioning record. Whether the 10 logbooks are digitized in the NARA Catalog could not be verified this session (catalog is JS-rendered, unfetchable); they are not on archive.org. Physical consultation at NARA College Park remains the open path.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-02

4. [4]Service historique de la Defense (Ministere des Armees, France), archive file AA/375/I/5/176/2 - 'DRAGUEURS COTIERS (type americains YMS) : GENET - PIMPRENELLE - PERCE-NEIGE - PRIMEVERE - PETUNIA - ZINNIA', dated 1954-1963, physical format at Châtellerault (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SHD online inventory, cote AA/375/I/5/176/2, under 'DOCUMENTS CLASSES AU NOMS DES BATIMENTS' > 'DRAGUEURS COTIERS (type americains YMS)'

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The French Ministry of Armed Forces historical service holds a naval technical dossier (dossier technique de batiment) covering Perce-Neige - this hull - among six ex-US YMS-type coastal minesweepers, in the series 'Navires et systemes navals: dossiers techniques des batiments de la Marine et des avaries (1924-1977)', file dates 1954-1963. This is the documented official archive trail for her post-1954 French service and any refit/material work in that window.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1954-1963

   Population

   French Navy crew of Perce-Neige (1954-63); French yard trades in any covered refits

   Limitations

   Archival lead only: the file exists physically at SHD Châtellerault and is not digitized - contents (technical sheets, avaries, refit records, any material statements) are unconsulted. Covers 1954-1963 only; no equivalent 1944-1953 French dossier located in this search.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-03

5. [5]ShipbuildingHistory Greenport Basin & Construction Co. yard table (navalmarinearchive.com mirror, verified live 2026-10-04; identical row on shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net mirror) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Greenport Basin yard table, YMS 23 row; page header paragraph

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Builder's yard-table row for this hull: 'YMS 23 | US Navy | Minesweeper | 278d | 136 | 7-May-42 | To France 1944 as Perce Neige (D 201/D 351/D 24/M 664), condemned 1963 as Q 358.' The yard-page header records Greenport Basin & Construction Co. as a mid-19th-century Brigham-brothers yard building fishing vessels and yachts, expanded into steel boatbuilding in WWII after acquiring the neighboring Greenport Shipyard Company, and still operating as Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding Company.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1942-1963

   Population

   Greenport Basin construction trades (1941-42)

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation, not a builder's record - corroborates the NavSource timeline and uniquely adds the French condemnation designation Q 358 (1963) that NavSource lacks ('Fate unknown' resolved to condemned-for-disposal only; actual destruction still unrecorded). '278d' is the vessel's type tonnage figure, not displacement. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-04

6. [6]NavSource Online: Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) / British Motor Minesweeper (BYMS) index page - class design and construction overview (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 11/19idx.htm introductory text and class spec block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Class context: the YMS-1 class was designed by Henry B. Nevins, Inc. of City Island, NY; 561 wooden-hulled 136-foot minesweepers were built at 35 yacht yards (12 East Coast, 19 West Coast, 4 Great Lakes); YMS-1 through YMS-134 were the two-stack variant (this hull, YMS-23, is Mk. I); they were wooden-hulled for non-magnetic minesweeping, originally rated service craft and used for inshore sweeping ahead of amphibious assaults; class index specs - 320 tons, complement 33, GM 8-268A diesels, 880 designed shp.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1941-1969 (class span)

   Population

   YMS-class crews and small-yard construction trades (class context)

   Limitations

   Class-level overview on a volunteer compilation - establishes the wooden-hull/diesel design envelope and build program only. Complement here (33) conflicts with the hull page spec block (32) - carried in gaps. No asbestos content; wooden construction is the salient materials fact and it cuts both ways (no boiler/steam lagging pathway, but era-standard outfit materials still applied).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-05

7. [7]Era inference built on: NavSource hull spec block (wooden-hulled YMS-1 class; 2x GM 8-268A diesels, Snow & Knobstedt reduction gear, 2 shafts); NavSource class index (wooden non-magnetic construction, yacht-yard build program); shipbuildinghistory class overview (561 wooden-hulled minesweepers, same design) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 11/19023.htm spec block; NavSource 11/19idx.htm class overview; shipbuildinghistory YMS overview

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   A wooden-hulled, diesel-engined minesweeper built 1941-42 at a small yacht yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era but at the low-density end of the exposure spectrum: with no boilers and no steam plant, the boiler/turbine lagging and steam-line insulation pathways of larger combatants do not apply. Era-standard applications aboard a wooden diesel craft of this type were diesel-exhaust lagging, engine-space thermal insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1941-1963

   Population

   Greenport Basin construction trades (1941-42); U.S. Navy crew (1942-44); French Navy crew (1944-63); disposal workers (1963-64)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for YMS-23. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. A wooden-hull boat plausibly carried substantially less asbestos than a steam-driven steel ship of the same era, but that is an inference, not a measured fact.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-06

8. [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 (1941-42) and U.S. service era (1942-44), and most of her French service.

   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 or to small wooden minesweepers generally. 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-23-07

9. [9]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII, the era and program under which this YMS-1-class minesweeper was built, and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in the shipbuilding industry.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1940s era documented; article 1987

   Population

   WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)

   Limitations

   Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this class, or yacht-yard builders, and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Study emphasis is large steel-vessel construction; wooden small-craft yards are peripheral to its scope.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-yms-23-08

10. [10]Batch-8872 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page + class index; NARA Special List 44 page scan (ACPL mirror); French SHD archive inventory; shipbuildinghistory yard table (two mirrors); uboat.net; NARA Catalog and archive.org deck-log digitization checks; CourtListener (see ledger for status); open-web litigation/marketing sweep [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-23-01 through sl-uss-yms-23-11

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS YMS-23 / Perce Neige (D 201/D 351/D 24/M 664/Q 358) was found in the public sources searched - including three completed CourtListener queries ("USS YMS-23" opinion and docket; "YMS-23" opinion), all returning count 0. No law-firm or marketing 'asbestos aboard' content was even surfaced for this hull - the usual listicle coverage does not extend to this numbered boat. No DANFS entry exists (numbered craft were not covered); no NVR entry exists (disposed 1949, decades before the NVR's covered window).

    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 - 10 U.S. deck logbooks (1942-43) and a French technical dossier (1954-63) exist unconsulted in archives, and her 1963-64 condemnation/disposal has no located hazmat or demolition record. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-yms-23-09