Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet 1050-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-311-yms311-pkt-1050-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Robin II' (YMS-311/AMS-53) - construction, commissioning, spec block, WWII operations, postwar training-ship and fleet service through striking (archived NHHC page; live page 404s) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol VI entry 'Robin II', http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r7/robin-ii.htm via Wayback Machine
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down as YMS-311 7 May 1943 by Henry B. Nevins, Inc., City Island, N.Y.; launched 6 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John W. Bradbury; commissioned 6 November 1943, Lt. (jg.) Hamilton Young, USNR, in command. DANFS class block: displacement 380 (full load); length 136'; beam 24'6"; draft 10'; speed 13 knots; complement 29; armament 1 40mm., 2 20mm., 2 depth charge tracks, 2 depth charge projectors; class YMS-135. Service: Caribbean Sea Frontier convoy escort (Jan-mid-May 1944); Leyte Gulf sweeping and control ship off Dulag (18-24 Oct 1944, TU 79.12.1); Lingayen control ship (9 Jan 1945, TG 79.9); Kerama Retto/Hagushi sweeping (25 Mar-6 Apr 1945); 6 April 1945 air attack - three Vals splashed, one hit the forecastle, killing 1 and wounding 2; repairs at Saipan; Okinawa/Saki Shima/Buckner Bay sweeping (May-Aug 1945); postwar home-island sweeping into Dec 1945; decommissioned 31 Jul 1946 to Naval Reserve training ship at Tompkinsville, N.Y.; named Robin and redesignated AMS-53 1 Sep 1947; recommissioned Feb 1952; MineRon 4/MinDiv 42 Charleston homeport Jun 1953-Feb 1954; Mine Warfare School Yorktown; Charleston again Jan 1955; redesignated MSC(O)-53 7 Feb 1955; Panama City ops Apr-Oct 1957; decommissioned and in service as 13th Naval District training ship 13 Dec 1957; out of service summer 1961; struck 1 Aug 1961; five WWII battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Crew (commissioned 1943-1946, 1952-1957); Naval Reserve trainees (1946-1957, 1957-1961)
- Limitations
- Establishes construction, designation timeline, and operations for this hull only. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or material content information. DANFS dates this hull's final decommissioning 13 December 1957; NavSource carries 7 December 1957 - see gaps. Archived 2012-10-23 capture of the old NHHC DANFS page; the live history.navy.mil URL 404s (standing NHHC link-rot defect).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, 'Robin (MSC[O] 53) ex-AMS-53 ex-YMS-311' - designation timeline, specifications, commanding officers, post-Navy disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 11/19311, 'Robin (MSC[O] 53)' specifications and timeline block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 7 May 1943 by Henry B. Nevins, Inc., City Island, NY; launched 6 October 1943; completed 5 November 1943; commissioned USS YMS-311 6 November 1943; decommissioned 31 July 1946 and placed in service as a Naval Reserve training ship (the Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists the plan for placing her in service in the 3rd Naval District, New York, as September 1947); named Robin and reclassified Motor Minesweeper AMS-53 1 September 1947; recommissioned February 1952; reclassified Coastal Minesweeper (Old) MSC(O)-53 7 February 1955; decommissioned 7 December 1957 and placed in service as a training ship at Tacoma, WA; out of service summer 1961; struck from the Naval Register 1 August 1961; acquired 1967 by Merle B. Parke of Fort Lauderdale, FL for use as a yacht; operated 1968 under the Mexican flag; fate unknown. Specs: displacement 270 t.; length 136'; beam 24'6"; draft 10'; speed 13 kts; complement 29; propulsion two 880 bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1968
- Population
- Crew; Naval Reserve trainees
- Limitations
- Corroborates the designation timeline and adds completion date, specifications, and post-Navy disposition not in DANFS. Decommission date variant (7 vs 13 December 1957) and displacement variant (270 t vs DANFS 380 full load) carried in gaps. NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive citing official sources (NVR, DANFS, NHHC photos); treated here as a transcription mirror. Contains no asbestos or material content information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-02
-
[4]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (compiled Bradley, Kurtz, et al., 1978), 'by Ship Numbers' list, PDF page 118 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 118, 'Special List #44, by Ship Numbers', row 'YMS-311 | 4/18/1944 | 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 inventories US Navy deck logs for YMS-311 covering 4/18/1944 - 6/30/1945 (verified in the digitized SL44 text, PDF page 118, row 'YMS-311 | 4/18/1944 | 6/30/1945'). The coverage window spans this hull's Leyte Gulf, Lingayen, and Okinawa-area operations (the Okinawa phase is covered through June 1945; postwar home-island sweeping falls outside it); the logs are held by NARA.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (log coverage)
- Limitations
- This is an inventory entry proving NARA custody of the logs, not evidence of log content - no page of YMS-311's log was examined, and the logs say nothing about asbestos by themselves. SL44 covers logbooks only through 1947; logs for the Robin/AMS-53/MSC(O)-53 period (1947-1961) are in later NARA series and were not verified (catalog JavaScript-rendered at research time).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-03
-
[5]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) class index - class design origin, construction program, reclassification history [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource YMS/BYMS index page 11/19idx, introductory class text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class context for this hull's design: the YMS type was designed by Henry B. Nevins, Inc. - the same yard that built YMS-311 - with the YMS-1 keel laid at City Island 4 March 1941. The class was wooden-hulled; 561 were built 1942-45 at 35 yacht yards (12 East Coast, 19 West Coast, 4 Great Lakes) rather than industrial shipyards. YMS-1 through 134 carried two stacks; YMS-135 through 445, 480, and 481 (the subclass containing YMS-311) carried one. Surviving YMS hulls were reclassified AMS and given names in 1947, redesignated MSC(O) in 1955, and MSCO in 1967; the type served as Naval Reserve trainers into the 1960s.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1941-1969
- Population
- YMS-class construction crews at 35 yacht yards; YMS-class crews generally
- Limitations
- Class-level program description; establishes hull material (wood), propulsion type (diesel), and builder context for inference purposes only - it does not document any material or condition aboard YMS-311 specifically. Totals differ across sources (561 built incl. transfers vs 481 'of this type') - both figures are NavSource's own and the difference is transfer accounting, not a data conflict.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-04
-
[6]Era inference built on: DANFS spec block (diesel machinery, wood-hulled YMS-135 class); NavSource specifications (2 x 880 bhp GM 8-268A diesels, no steam plant); NavSource YMS class index (wooden hull, yacht-yard construction); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy-wide asbestos insulation use era) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Synthesis row - cited sources at ev-01 (DANFS), ev-02 (NavSource ship page), ev-04 (NavSource class index), ev-06 (GAO HRD-80-2)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wood-hulled, diesel-powered minesweeper built 1943 at a yacht yard carries a different asbestos profile than steam-driven combatants: no boilers, no steam drums, no high-energy steam lagging. The era-standard asbestos applications consistent with this type are diesel engine and exhaust lagging; gaskets; valve and machinery packing; electrical insulation and arc-proofing; and brake linings on winch, windlass, and sweep-gear machinery. GAO documented Navy-wide reliance on asbestos insulation through this era. Asbestos aboard this hull is a reasonable era-consistent inference from class and period, not a documented fact.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Construction trades (City Island, 1943); crew (engineering, deck machinery, electrical ratings); maintenance/overhaul crews at navy yards (Charleston, Yorktown periods); Naval Reserve trainees
- Limitations
- Class/era inference - no source names YMS-311 or any individual YMS hull, no survey or abatement record exists, and no primary document establishes that any asbestos product was installed aboard. Diesel wooden minesweepers plausibly carried less asbestos tonnage than steam vessels, but 'less' is not 'none' and is also unquantified. Does not establish exposure to any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-05
-
[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- 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 - the program-level frame for the era inference carried at ev-05. This hull's entire Navy career (1943-1961) sits inside that asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- through 1979 report date; relevant window 1943-1961
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews generally
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; names no vessel. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches at research time (standing defect noted since Batch 01) - the product-page description was used; full-text pull remains an open lead. Does not establish that asbestos was aboard YMS-311.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-06
-
[8]Batch-8939 search ledger (this record): DANFS Robin II entry; NavSource ship page and YMS class index; NARA Special List 44; Naval Vessel Register detail-page check; CourtListener API v4 (see ledger for final status); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-311-yms311-01 through sl-uss-yms-311-yms311-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming YMS-311, Robin, AMS-53, or MSC(O)-53 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger).
- 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 - era-consistent inference remains reasonable. Litigation coverage is partial: only the "YMS-311" opinion base query executed (name collisions only); the docket and remaining queries were fleet-paced (sl-08) - litigation status is open on those repositories, not negative. The hull's post-Navy fate is unknown (private yacht, Mexican flag, 1967-68), so no modern survey or disposal hazmat record can be expected. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-311-yms311-07