Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 1046-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-285-yms285-pkt-1046-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-285 - construction timeline, specifications, wartime photography, Soviet transfer and loss [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19285.htm timeline block, specifications block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Baseline identity record for this hull: 'YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper: Laid down 16 June 1942 by the Northwestern Shipbuilding Co., South Bellingham, WA; Launched 20 March 1943; Completed 26 June 1943 and commissioned USS YMS-285; Transferred to the Soviet Union 6 September 1945 and reclassified T-610; Assigned to the Pacific Fleet 11 September 1945; Struck a mine in the area of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia 15 October 1945 and sank; Struck from the Soviet Navy list 11 December 1945.' Spec block: displacement 270 t, length 136', beam 24'6", draft 8', speed 15 kts, complement 32; armament one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount, two 20mm, two depth-charge projectors; propulsion two General Motors 8-268A diesels with Snow & Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. Call sign Nan-George-Oboe-Yoke. Photo captions place the hull at Kodiak, AK c. 1944 (photographer Frederick F. Davidson, via Kodiak Alaska Military History site). Page states 'There is no DANFS History currently available for YMS-285.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Northwestern Shipbuilding construction trades (1942-43); U.S. Navy crew (1943-45); Soviet Pacific Fleet crew (1945)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records but the Soviet transfer date conflicts with the Naval Historical Center appendix (6 Sep vs 27 Aug - see ev-06). Contains no asbestos content. Kodiak placement rests on a photo caption, not a log.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-01
-
[3]NARA, Special List #44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number), PDF page 117 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 ship-number list, YMS block, PDF p.117 ('YMS-285 6/26/1943 9/2/1945'); digitized-log list at archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's ship-number index inventories a U.S. Navy deck-log run for YMS-285 covering 6/26/1943 - 9/2/1945 - commissioning to four days before the NavSource-documented Soviet transfer. The logs sit in Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, RG 24, Entry 118 (NAID 581208). The companion NARA list of fully digitized deck logs in the National Archives Catalog contains no YMS-285 entry (the online list carries only surviving post-1947-named AMS/MSCO ex-YMS hulls - Egret, Flamingo, Fulmar, Goldfinch, Grackle, Grouse, Gull, Lapwing, Linnet, Lorikeet, Reedbird, Rhea, Robin, Ruff, Sanderling, Seagull, Siskin, Turkey, Waxbill); this hull's logs are inventoried but not digitized.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1945 records
- Limitations
- Verifies an archival inventory line, not log content - no box-level retrieval performed; the logs' operational detail (ports, availabilities, materiel notes) is unexamined. The digitized-list check confirms only that YMS-285 is absent from the online collection. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-02
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[4]Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, 1997) - appendix 'U.S. Navy Combatant Ships Transferred to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay, May-September 1945' (text reproduction at generalstaff.org) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Russell, Project Hula, appendix table row 'YMS 285 | T-610 | 27 Aug. | 1945-sunk'; Sources note citing NAVSHIPS 250-012 and Berezhnoi (1994)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Naval Historical Center's official study of the Cold Bay transfer program lists this hull in its transfer appendix: 'YMS 285 | T-610 | 27 Aug. | 1945-sunk' - i.e., transferred to the Soviet Navy as minesweeper (tralshchik) T-610 in the August 1945 increment and lost within 1945. The appendix was compiled from Department of the Navy, Ships' Data: U.S. Naval Vessels vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-012, 1 January 1949) and S.S. Berezhnoi's Soviet Lend-Lease vessels reference. The study's program roster carried 36 wooden-hulled motor minesweepers (YMS) among the 149 vessels received at Cold Bay between April and September 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Soviet transfer-crew trainees at Cold Bay; U.S. Navy crews delivering hulls
- Limitations
- Ships'-data-level appendix row: establishes hull designation pairing, program, and loss year but not transfer ceremony detail. The 27 Aug transfer date conflicts with NavSource/uboat's 6 Sep (see ev-06); U.S. deck logs run to 2 Sep 1945, between the two variants - the tension is logged, not resolved. Cited via generalstaff.org text reproduction; no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-03
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[5]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation), Fairhaven Shipyard / Northwestern Shipbuilding, South Bellingham WA - yard history and hull table [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Fairhaven Shipyard page, 'Built by Northwestern Shipbuilding' hull table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-yards record: Northwestern Shipbuilding Company was formed in 1942 by Seattle investors led by Jack Gilbert, built at the 201 Harris Avenue site in South Bellingham's Fairhaven neighborhood, and closed in 1947 (the yard later reopened as Fairhaven Shipyard, Inc., then the Fairhaven facility of Puglia Engineering, bankrupt 2019). Its hull table lists: 'YMS 285 | US Navy | Minesweeper | 278 tons | delivered 26-Jun-43 | To the USSR 1945 as T-610, scrapped' - confirming builder, tonnage, delivery/commissioning date, and Soviet disposition; 'YMS 286 ... delivered 27-Jul-43, struck 1946' confirms the same-yard sister.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Northwestern Shipbuilding workforce, South Bellingham WA (1942-47 yard life)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (standard reference for small-yard hull lists); the 'scrapped' disposition is imprecise - the hull was sunk on a mine in Soviet service, not scrapped (NavSource, Russell, Vesti account). Contains no asbestos content and no materials record for the yard's wartime output.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-04
-
[6]Skalatsky, Vyacheslav, 'Ekho vtoroy mirovoy voyny: Gibel tralshchikov TShch-610 i TShch-523' (Echo of WWII: the loss of minesweepers T-610 and T-523), Vesti / Vesti+TV, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 06.02.2018 - quoting a Soviet naval archival report obtained 2017 by the Kamchatka branch of the Russian Military-Historical Society from the Navy archive at Gatchina [reputable_press]
- Locator
- bezformata.com republication of Skalatsky's Vesti series article, 06.02.2018; archival coordinates and times quoted verbatim
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Detailed loss account from a regional-history investigation quoting the archival report: on 15 October 1945 T-610, T-523 (ex-YMS-144), and KT-150 went out on 'combat minesweeping' to clear the Soviet defensive minefield (~400 anchored mines laid from 1943 in two staggered rows at 50-100 m) covering the approaches to Avacha Bay. At about 08:06 T-610, running ~5 cable lengths behind T-523, detonated a mine at 52 deg 49.2 min N, 158 deg 49.1 min E (between Capes Bezymyanny and Mayachny, the Avacha Bay mouth); at 08:29 T-523, closing to ~1 cable length, struck a second mine. T-610 was effectively obliterated ('practically nothing remained on the surface'); T-523 broke in half and her entire crew was lost. Total dead: 35 sailors across the detachment; one KT-150 signalman lightly wounded. Six bodies were recovered and buried near Battery Street, Petropavlovsk; the grave obelisk is now a regional cultural-heritage object.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-10-15
- Population
- Soviet Pacific Fleet minesweeping crews - 35 dead across T-610 and T-523; KT-150 wounded
- Limitations
- Regional press account quoting archival records - reputable secondary corroboration, not the archive itself; the cited casualty figure (35) is a detachment total across both sunken ships, not a per-hull count. Attributes the mines to the Soviets' own 1943 defensive field (post-war 'clearing one's own mines' context). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-05
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[7]Transfer-date cross-check: Russell Project Hula appendix (NAVSHIPS 250-012-based) vs NavSource 11/19285 and uboat.net ship/9705 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Russell appendix row; NavSource timeline; uboat.net history line ('End service 6 Sep 1945'); NARA SL-44 p.117
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- SOURCE CONFLICT documented, not reconciled: the Naval Historical Center appendix gives the transfer to the Soviet Navy as 27 August 1945; NavSource and uboat.net both print 6 September 1945. The NARA-inventoried U.S. deck-log run ends 2 September 1945 - between the two variants - consistent with handover-era administrative closure but proving neither date. shipbuildinghistory prints only 'To the USSR 1945.' Both variants are carried with attribution; the record does not assert either as final.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-08/09
- Limitations
- Flags a date conflict across credible compilations; resolution requires the transfer certificate or deck-log final entries (RG 24, unexamined). Not a material-content claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-06
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[8]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 (DOI resolves to Wiley 2026-10-04; publisher page returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - normal bot-wall, citation intact)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era-level inference only: peer-reviewed scholarship 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 wooden-hulled motor minesweeper was built. Period marine diesel installations and auxiliary machinery commonly used asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and exhaust-system insulation; aboard a ~270-ton, 136-ft diesel minesweeper the plausible applications, if any, would be confined to such machinery fittings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Northwestern Shipbuilding construction trades (1942-43); wartime crew (design complement 32)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship only - does not name this vessel or the YMS-1 class and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation. No class- or design-specific material documentation for YMS minesweepers was located; the diesel/wooden-hull profile limits plausible scope relative to steam-driven vessels (no boiler-room or steam-line insulation envelope). The machinery-fitting applications named are general era practice, not documented aboard this class.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-07
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[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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 1942-43 construction and 1943-45 U.S. service era.
- 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 - and this hull's wooden-hull diesel design narrows the relevance further. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch - standing access defect; content via product-page description).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-08
-
[10]Washington State Department of Ecology, Harris Avenue Shipyard cleanup-site page (Facility Site ID 2922, Cleanup Site ID 193), Port of Bellingham MTCA site [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ecology cleanup-site page csid 193, 'More about cleanup' narrative and contaminants table (8 classes)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The builder's site is a documented state cleanup: the Harris Avenue Shipyard site at 201 Harris Avenue, Bellingham (the former Northwestern Shipbuilding / Fairhaven Shipyard location) is an Ecology-supervised cleanup covering ~5 acres of contaminated upland soil/groundwater and ~5 acres of in-water sediment, with earliest record 30 March 1993. Documented contaminants: upland soil/groundwater petroleum hydrocarbons and metals; in-water sediment PCBs, PAHs, semivolatile organics, and metals (incl. arsenic). Asbestos is NOT among the eight contaminant classes Ecology lists for the site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1993-present
- Population
- Port of Bellingham / Ecology remediation crews (1993-present)
- Limitations
- Yard-site record, not a hull record - documents post-war contamination at the builder's location (multiple operators over a century), not materials installed aboard this 1943 hull. Absence of asbestos from the contaminant list is a site-remediation finding only and says nothing about wartime construction materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-09
-
[11]Batch-8910 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NARA SL-44 + digitized-log list; Russell Project Hula (NHC); shipbuildinghistory; uboat.net; Vesti/Skalatsky archival-report account; WA Ecology csid 193; NHHC DANFS (404); NARA catalog; wrecksite.eu (captcha-blocked); CourtListener (fleet-paced, not completed); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-285-yms285-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed case naming YMS-285 / T-610 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). A general-web litigation sweep ('YMS-285'/'YMS 285' + asbestos/mesothelioma/lawsuit) surfaced only the Project Hula history - no law-firm marketing page even targets this hull, and no qualifying case surfaced. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated helper returned the fleet pacing wait three times across ~40 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 - a 1942-43-built naval vessel is era-consistent with asbestos-containing machinery fittings even accounting for the light diesel/wooden-hull insulation load. The litigation-repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). The hull's loss in October 1945 forecloses any museum/abatement-era record - no surveyable structure exists. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-285-yms285-10