Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 1054-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity confirmed; fate details partial
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-yms-339-yms339-pkt-1054-packet-md
-
[2]National Archives, Special List #44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947, ship-number ordering [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List #44 ship-number PDF, p. 119 (YMS-339: 9/25/1943 - 1/31/1946); digitization status per https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 inventories deck logs held for YMS-339 covering 9/25/1943 - 1/31/1946 (RG 24, National Archives at College Park). The coverage window opens on her completion/commissioning date (25 September 1943) and ends 31 January 1946 - months before her documented 9 May 1946 decommissioning; these are log-coverage dates, not asserted commissioning/decommissioning dates. YMS-339 does not appear on NARA's list of digitized deck logs in the National Archives Catalog (the digitized YMS entries are the hulls later named under the AMS/MSCO program); the logs are an undigitized primary record spanning most of her commissioned career.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Crew and officers keeping the logs (1943-1946)
- Limitations
- Inventory listing only - establishes that deck logs exist and their date coverage, not their content. Log coverage is not proof of commissioning/decommissioning dates, and the inventoried window ends ~3 months before the documented decommissioning (February-May 1946 logs are not in the inventoried coverage - see gaps). The deck logs themselves are undigitized; no page-level content reviewed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-339 - construction/milestone timeline, specifications, commanding-officer roster, photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19339.htm header block, timeline, specifications block, CO roster, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: 'Laid down 8 March 1943 by the Seattle Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Seattle, WA; Launched 8 May 1943; Completed 25 September 1943; Commissioned 16 October 1943; Accidentally damaged by U.S. aircraft 24 June 1945 off Balikpapan, Borneo; Decommissioned 9 May 1946 at Subic Bay, Philippines; Transferred to Nationalist China 30 June 1948; Struck from the Naval Register 13 July 1948; Seized by Peoples Republic of China in 1949; Placed out of service in 1963; Fate unknown.' Call sign Nan-Queen-King-Oboe. 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 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. CO roster lists three: LTJG Maurice E. Fitzgerald USNR (to 30 Nov 1945), LTJG R.F. Quinn USNR (30 Nov - Dec 1945), LTJG B.J. Hook USNR (from Dec 1945). Photo captions place the hull at Leyte, Philippine Islands c. December 1944 with USS Sabik (AK-121) in the background (QM3c Hartford Hale Holden collection). Page states: 'There is no DANFS history available for YMS-339.' Header notes the hull 'served the Navies of the United States, the Republic of China and the Peoples Republic of China.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1963
- Population
- Construction trades at Seattle Shipbuilding (1943); crew (1943-1946); later ROC and PRC crews (1948-1963)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track NVR-style data. Its 'Commissioned 16 October 1943' conflicts with uboat.net, the unit history, and the NARA log-coverage start (all 25 Sep 1943) - see gaps. Its CO roster omits Simpson and one other (five COs per the unit history). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS YMS-339 (YMS-339) - build/milestone data and transcribed task-group operations entries naming this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/9759 data block; 'Notable events' war-diary transcriptions (24 Mar 1945 Cebu roster; Oboe II narrative incl. 'A' echelon 11 Jun and 1100I/24 air-strike entry); corroborating unit roster in Karig, 'Battle Report: Victory in the Pacific' (archive.org full text: 'YMS 339 (Lt. (jg) Maurice E. Fitzgerald)')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net data block: built by Seattle Ship Building and Dry Dock Co. (Seattle, Washington); ordered 11 April 1942; laid down 8 March 1943; launched 8 May 1943; commissioned 25 September 1943; transferred to Nationalist China 30 June 1948. Two transcribed operations name this hull, both under Lt.(jg) M.E. Fitzgerald USNR: (1) Cebu landings, Operation Victor II (March 1945) - Task Unit 78.2.9 eight-YMS minesweeping unit (YMS-68 group commander Lt. G.L. O'Neil, with YMS-9, YMS-46, YMS-52, YMS-313, YMS-339, YMS-340, YMS-481); the transcription records the unit sweeping area 'Orchestra', Olango Channel, and the southern Cebu Harbour approaches (area 'Stagedoor') to 15 feet, all with negative results; (2) Balikpapan, Operation Oboe II - 'A' echelon departed Morotai 11 June 1945 including YMS-339 among 16 YMS; TU 78.2.92 minesweeping group under Lt.Cdr. D.W. Blakeslee with 26 YMS hulls in the transcribed roster plus tenders Cofer (APD) and LSM-1; sweeping began at the 100-fathom curve 15 June and continued to Fox day 1 July - and the transcription records that around 1100 on 24 June 'heavy air strikes commenced. Several bombs however landed way too close to Allied ships,' the context of the friendly-air damage NavSource records for this hull that date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1948; combat ops February-July 1945
- Population
- Crew under Lt.(jg) M.E. Fitzgerald USNR (1945 operations)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a specialist secondary database compiling official action-report/war-diary material - the task-group rosters and event chronology transcribe Navy operational reports, but this record relies on the compilation, not the underlying document images. Documents minesweeping service only; no asbestos or material content. uboat.net's 'commissioned 25 Sep 1943' conflicts with NavSource's 16 October - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-03
-
[5]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), 'Seattle Shipbuilding, Seattle WA' yard vessel list - builder's production record [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Seattle Shipbuilding table, row 'YMS 339 ... 25-Sep-43 ... To China 1948, struck 1963'; yard-description header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The builder's production table lists YMS 339 as a US Navy minesweeper, 278 tons deadweight, delivered 25-Sep-43, disposition 'To China 1948, struck 1963.' Seattle Shipbuilding & Drydocking Company was started by Fred Bianco in the 1930s at 2629 NW 54th Street in Ballard (now the Stabbert yard site) and closed in the 1950s - explicitly 'not to be confused with the big yard of a similar name which subsequently became Todd Seattle.' The same yard built BYMS 21-24 and sister YMS hulls 334-341.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1963
- Population
- Seattle Shipbuilding construction trades (1943)
- Limitations
- Independent secondary yard register compiled from yard and government records. Its 'struck 1963' disposition conflates the 13 July 1948 U.S. Naval Register strike with the 1963 PRC out-of-service year - resolved in gaps. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-04
-
[6]Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual, NAVPERS 15,790 (1953), Part II - unit award rosters (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Awards Manual Part II, Presidential Unit Citation section (TU 78.2.9, Balikpapan) and Navy Unit Commendation section (TU 78.3.8, Manila Bay)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official awards manual lists USS YMS-339 by name in two unit-award rosters: (1) Presidential Unit Citation - 'Task Unit 78.2.9: USS Sentry (AM-299), USS Scout (AM-296), USS Scuffie [Scuffle] (AM-298), USS YMS-9, YMS-10, YMS-39, YMS-46, YMS-47, YMS-49, YMS-50, YMS-52, YMS-53, YMS-95, YMS-196, YMS-314, YMS-315, YMS-335, YMS-336, YMS-339, YMS-364, YMS-365, YMS-366, YMS-368, YMS-392 - 15 Jun-1 Jul 45 - Balikpapan, Borneo, Netherlands East Indies'; (2) Navy Unit Commendation - 'Task Unit 78.3.8 ... USS Salute (AM-294), Saunter (AM-295), Scout (AM-296), Scrimmage (AM-297), Scuffle (AM-298), Sentry (AM-299), USS YMS-6, YMS-8, YMS-46, YMS-48, YMS-50, YMS-53, YMS-314, YMS-315, YMS-329, YMS-334, YMS-335, YMS-336, YMS-339, YMS-363, YMS-364 - 14-18 Feb 45 - Manila Bay.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- YMS-339 crew during the cited operations (Feb 1945; Jun-Jul 1945)
- Limitations
- Official award rosters naming this hull in the cited units and periods - establishes award entitlement of the unit, hence the crew's participation in those operations; individual crew eligibility and exact days aboard are not established per-man. The unit history writes the Manila Bay unit as 'TU 78.3.6' - the manual reads 78.3.8 (see gaps). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-05
-
[7]Edward J. Fitzgerald, 'Maurice E. Fitzgerald in the Pacific War' (2009 revision), Navy League of the U.S., West CT Council - nine-chapter unit history of YMS-339 built on National Archives deck-log research, the transcribed diary of crew member Hartford Hale Holden (QM3c), 2008-09 crew interviews, and Jane's Fighting Ships annuals [other_primary]
- Locator
- navyleaguewestct.org/minesweeper.html landing page; chapter PDFs 'MEF YMS 339 Chap 1.pdf' (commissioning), 'Chap 7.pdf' pp. 44-45 (24-26 Jun), 'Chap 9E.pdf' pp. 52-54 (decommissioning and PRC-era fate); corroborating PRC listing in Jane's Fighting Ships 1960-61 (archive.org full text, PLA minesweeper inventory 'YMS 339')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The unit history documents: commissioning Saturday 25 September 1943 with LT E.A. Simpson as first captain and 3 officers + 27 enlisted aboard (ch. 1); fitting out at Bremerton, first ammunition at Indian Island 8 October, trial board passed 12 October, degaussing range 14 October 1943 (ch. 1); nine amphibious landings in the Pacific; at Balikpapan 18 days of continuous sweeping - arriving 15 June, sweeping named areas ('Red Sox', 'Cardinals', 'Braves', 'Phillies', 'Giants'), with Fitzgerald commanding a sweep squadron (ch. 7); on 24 June at 1140 an Allied aircraft accidentally dropped a bomb 'close aboard off the starboard quarter,' the concussion damaging internal salt-water cooling pipes and fire pumps, knocking out the magnetic sweep gear, and opening wooden seams - she kept operating on temporary repairs and went alongside AM-299 for pumping assistance on 25 June (ch. 7); sisters YMS-39 and YMS-365 mined and sunk 26 June in close company, one astern and one ahead on the sweep line (ch. 7); postwar Philippine sweeping ending at Ragay Gulf March 1946, last underway under own power 3 May 1946, decommissioned 9 May 1946 at Subic Bay - final log entry 'colors, commissioning pennant, and jack hauled down,' ship turned over to the Captain of the Yard, NOB Subic Bay (ch. 9); transferred June 1948 with three other U.S. YMS and one British YMS to the Nationalist Chinese navy; all five ex-YMS were taken over by the communists in 1949 and served the PRC as minesweepers or gunboats, 339 out of service 1963 - first of the five decommissioned (others by 1977), fate unknown (ch. 9).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1963; compiled 2009
- Population
- YMS-339 crew, esp. commissioning complement (4 officers, 27 enlisted) and 1945 sweep crews
- Limitations
- A veteran-family unit history published by a Navy League council - not an official Navy publication. Author states the work draws on the ship's deck logs at NARA, a crew diary, and 2008-09 crew interviews; specific entries quote the deck log verbatim but this record relies on the compilation, not the log images. No asbestos survey or material list; the one asbestos statement it carries is a crew recollection (separate row). Some details conflict with NavSource (commissioning date, CO count) - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-06
-
[8]Edward J. Fitzgerald, 'Maurice E. Fitzgerald in the Pacific War' (2009), ch. 5 - crew recollection of asbestos insulation aboard this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- 'MEF YMS 339 Chap 5.pdf', p. 36 of the chapter (PDF p. 12), Harper Gruber recollection bullets
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A named crew member's recollection documents asbestos insulation aboard this specific hull: Electrician's Mate Harper Gruber ('Little Sparky'), recounting his service in 2008-09 interviews, recalled that his hammock - amidships, while other crew berthing was forward - was 'suspended under asbestos-insulated pipes that he often bumped into.' This is a first-person, named-hull, named-location statement of asbestos-insulated piping in the crew berthing space of YMS-339.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (service); recollection 2008-2009
- Population
- YMS-339 crew berthed amidships; Electrician's Mate Harper Gruber specifically
- Limitations
- Recollection-grade evidence: a single crew member's account given ~63 years after service, published in a self-published veteran-family unit history (Navy League West CT, 2009) - not an official survey, drawing, or contemporaneous record. Establishes asbestos-insulated pipes in the amidships berthing area as recalled by one electrician's mate; does not establish extent, condition, manufacturer, other locations, exposure dose, or present-day relevance (hull disposed abroad 1948). No corroborating document located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-07
-
[9]NavSource Online: Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) / British Motor Minesweeper (BYMS) Index - class description and class-level specifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19idx.htm class narrative and 'Auxiliary Motor Minesweepers (YMS-1 to YMS-481)' specification block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class context for this hull: 'The wood-hulled YMS proved to be one of the U.S. Navy's more durable and versatile types' - 561 yard minesweepers were built at 35 U.S. yacht yards (12 East Coast, 19 West Coast, 4 Great Lakes) beginning with YMS-1, laid down 4 March 1941 at Henry B. Nevins, Inc., City Island, NY. YMS-135 through -445, 480 and 481 (which includes this hull) carried one stack. Class-level specifications on the index: length overall 136', extreme beam 24'6", displacement 320 tons, max draft 6'1", complement 33, one 3"/50 dual-purpose mount and two 20mm mounts, designed speed 12 knots, General Motors 8-268A diesel engines on two shafts, designed shaft horsepower 880. Surviving YMS were reclassified as AMS and given bird names in 1947 - YMS-339, decommissioned in the Philippines in 1946, never received one.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Class-wide construction and crew populations (1941-1969)
- Limitations
- Class-level description only - names the type's shared characteristics, not anything specific to hull 339 beyond her place in the single-stack production group. Spec figures differ from the hull-page values (320t/33/12 kts here vs 270t/32/15 kts on the hull page; see gaps). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource class index (wood-hulled YMS type); NavSource/uboat.net hull data (two GM 8-268A diesels, reduction gear, two shafts - no steam plant); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use documentation (ev-10) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19idx.htm class description; NavSource 11/19339.htm propulsion spec; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wood-hulled, diesel-driven minesweeper delivered in September 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications on a small wooden diesel combatant of this type and period were diesel-exhaust and muffler lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, machinery gaskets and valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - and her wood hull and small machinery spaces imply a substantially smaller insulation footprint than a steam combatant.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1963
- Population
- Seattle Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); engine-room and maintenance crew (1943-1946); any yard/base trades during in-theater availabilities; ROC and PRC maintenance crews (1948-1963)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for applications beyond the berthing-space pipes documented in the crew recollection (ev-07). Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. The small craft's reduced systems footprint makes the inference weaker than for steam-powered hulls of the same era.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-09
-
[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 (1943) and U.S. service era (1943-1946).
- 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 - same standing defect as Batches 01/98/8941) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-10
-
[12]Batch-8969 search ledger (this record): NARA Special List 44 and digitized-log list; NHHC DANFS (no entry exists); NavSource hull page and class index; uboat.net operations record; shipbuildinghistory and navalmarinearchive yard tables; Navy & Marine Corps Awards Manual; Navy League unit history; NVR; VA Board of Veterans' Appeals search; CourtListener; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-339-01 through sl-uss-yms-339-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying official ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, VA/BVA decision, or docketed case naming YMS-339 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The single ship-specific asbestos statement is a crew recollection published in the 2009 unit history (ev-07). The only other 'asbestos aboard' material for YMS-class hulls is law-firm marketing listicle content asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. A veterans'-compilation PDF surfaced in search (Eveleth Heritage) carries a YMS-339 service memoir but its asbestos sentence belongs to a different veteran's USS Saratoga (CV-3) story - name collision ruled out.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located official record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the crew recollection affirms some asbestos insulation, and the hull's foreign transfer and unknown fate leave any post-1946 material history undocumented. CourtListener status recorded in the ledger. Undigitized deck logs (RG 24) remain the open primary lead. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-339-11