Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 1061-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-378-yms378-pkt-1061-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-378 (11/19378) - construction and designation timeline, specifications, disposal; corroborated by uboat.net Allied Warships entry 9797 (ordered 13 Apr 1942; commissioned 7 Sep 1943) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19378.htm header timeline and specifications block; uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/9797.html data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline for this hull: laid down 3 March 1943 by Greenport Basin and Construction Co., Greenport NY; launched 27 April 1943; completed 7 September 1943; damaged by mine at Normandy 30 July 1944; struck from the Naval Register 16 September 1944; transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission, February 1946; sold 1 August 1947. 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. Call sign NDJN. NavSource notes no DANFS history exists for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Greenport Basin construction trades (1943); crew (1943-44)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track NVR/official sources but contain no asbestos content. Per-engine power figure conflicts with the sister-ship YMS-304 page (1,000 bhp) and the class header (880 shp designed total) - see gaps. 'Completed 7 September 1943' is the completion/delivery date; commissioning at Brooklyn Navy Yard is documented by the CO account (ev-02). The class header gives 320 tons and 33 complement vs this page's 270 t./32 - conflicts noted in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-01
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[3]Captain Joseph J. Guidrey, USNR, 'The Saga of the USS YMS-378 (D-Day Minesweeper), June-July 1944 (as recalled 50 years later)' - first-person commanding-officer account dated 1 June 1994, as told to his daughter Jo Ann Guidrey Aulick [other_primary]
- Locator
- guedryfamily.guedry.org/history/joseph_guidrey_usnr.html full text; also linked and quoted by the SHIPS Project monograph (ev-03)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- First-person account of this hull's service by her only commanding officer: commissioned at Brooklyn Navy Yard September 1943; operating out of Plymouth, England since early May 1944; briefed 2 June 1944 as one of 11 minesweepers forming Squadron Y of Assault Force 'U' (sweep and buoy the assault channel from 10 miles out to 2 miles offshore beginning H-6 hours; sweep the fire-support channel from west Omaha Beach through west Utah Beach; sweep around troop transports). Sailed 3 June, recalled by weather, sailed again; at ~2100 on 5 June Guidrey assumed squadron command by blinker when the designated command ship's navigation equipment failed. Swept off Normandy from 0030 on 6 June; under shore-battery fire from ~0500; swept transport areas to ~2100. Commanded Squadron Y-1 (7 ships), which detonated ~150 mines over 6 days. 12 June: shore-battery damage 1 mile off Cotentin, no casualties, repaired at Plymouth. 20 June: swept Bay of the Seine toward Cherbourg with a British squadron. 30 July ~0900 off St. Vaast: tandem sweeping with YMS-304; a mine exploded under YMS-304 (gone within five minutes; 8 dead and 30 injured per NavSource/SHIPS, not the account itself) and two mines exploded near YMS-378 - lost all electrical power and one main engine, sea chests blown out; rescued many of YMS-304's crew; beached, patched, refloated next tide; towed to Plymouth arriving 3 August; hull and engine-room equipment surveyed as worthless; stripped of main-deck-and-above equipment; decommissioned at Plymouth Navy Yard September 1944. Guidrey awarded Bronze Star with Combat 'V'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (events); 1994 (account written)
- Population
- Crew of YMS-378 (1943-44); Squadron Y / Y-1 minesweeper crews (June-July 1944)
- Limitations
- Eyewitness memory recorded ~50 years after the events, hosted on a family genealogy site - a primary account transmitted through a non-official channel, so minor details (timings, mine counts) should be cross-checked against deck logs (NARA SL-44 inventory, ev-04). The account contains no asbestos or material-content information. YMS-304 casualty figures it implies match NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-02
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[4]The SHIPS Project CIC (Plymouth UK maritime-heritage research non-profit): 'Minesweeper YMS-378' wreck page and Holt P., 2023, 'The First Ones In - the Story of YMS-378' monograph (shipsproject.org/downloads/TheFirstOnesIn-theStoryofYMS-378_SHIPSProject.pdf) [museum_official]
- Locator
- shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_YMS378.html wreck page (history, description, GPS position, site photos); PDF monograph pp. 1-5
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documents construction, launch sponsorship, loss, and post-Navy disposal of this hull: launched 27 April 1943 at Greenport Basin and Construction Company, sponsored by French-American soprano Lily Pons, who christened the ship and sang 'The Star-Spangled Banner' joined by ~2,000 workers and guests (contemporary press account quoted); wooden hull fastened with non-magnetic copper bolts for magnetic-mine sweeping; one of 481 YMS craft completed. After the 30 July 1944 mine explosions she was declared a total loss by surveyors, stripped of equipment on the main deck and above, and decommissioned September 1944. The hull was sold August 1947 and placed alongside the Davies and Cann scrapyard at Freeman's Wharf, Stonehouse, Plymouth; remaining useful metal removed and the remains left to disintegrate. Historian John Cotton identified the hulk in the 1980s from painted hull numbers. Remains visible today at low tide: flattened stern and bow sections, hull timbers, steel engine beds, an AA gun mount; position 50.363644, -4.163090.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-2021
- Population
- Davies and Cann shipbreakers (1947); heritage-site visitors (present)
- Limitations
- Non-profit heritage-research organization, not a government archive - but the monograph is a researched work built on primary sources (CO account, shipyard and site survey, hull-number identification) and is the only source documenting the hull's actual fate ashore. Contains no asbestos or material-content information; the 1947 breakup predates ACM-handling regulation and no hazmat record for it was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-03
-
[5]NARA, Special List 44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number), PDF page 120 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL-44 by-ship-number PDF, page 120, row 'YMS-378 9/8/1943 9/8/1944'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds this hull's deck logs: Special List 44 inventories logbooks for YMS-378 covering 9/8/1943 - 9/8/1944, matching her commissioned life (completed 7 September 1943) through disposal (stricken 16 September 1944). The logs are the primary record of her D-Day and minesweeping operations, the 12 June 1944 battle-damage period, and the 30 July 1944 mining.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (coverage); 1978 (list compiled)
- Population
- Crew of YMS-378 (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the inventory proves the logs exist in NARA holdings (RG 24) but the logs themselves were not reviewed and their digitization status in the National Archives Catalog is unverified (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and could not be checked this session). Log coverage dates are not commissioning/decommissioning dates. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-04
-
[6]Navy Department Communique No. 550, 26 October 1944 (ibiblio.org Pearl Harbor Working Group transcription of official Navy Department communiques); corroborated by the 'Communiques 301-600 Lost and Damaged Vessel (whole war)' index listing YMS-304, YMS-350, YMS-378 against communique 550 [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio.org/pha/comms/1944-10.html, N.D. Communique No. 550 (26 October 1944), European Theater item 1; ibiblio.org/pha/comms/301-600-lost-damaged.html index
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: official Navy reporting listed this hull as lost. N.D. Communique No. 550 (26 October 1944) states that during the Allied operations for the liberation of Northern France 'the following U. S. Naval vessels were lost as the result of enemy action or the perils of the sea,' and the lost-vessel index maps YMS-304, YMS-350, and YMS-378 to this communique (the communique text OCR transcribes the numbers as '301, 850 and 878'). She was in fact a constructive total loss that was beached, refloated, towed to Plymouth, stripped, decommissioned, sold in 1947, and broken up at Stonehouse - her remains survive on Stonehouse beach (ev-03). uboat.net ('Lost 30 Jul 1944 ... 49d33'N, 01d14'W'), shipbuildinghistory ('mined off Normandy and lost 1944'), and other secondary resources repeat the 'sunk' listing, which traces to this communique.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- The communique is a wartime public information release, not an engineering survey - 'lost' correctly describes a total loss from service but not the hull's physical fate. The ibiblio transcription's OCR renders the YMS numbers incorrectly (301/850/878); the index's mapping of 304/350/378 to communique 550 is the reliable reading and matches the SHIPS Project's citation of the same communique. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-05
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[7]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton compilation), 'Greenport Basin & Construction Co., Greenport NY' yard output table - YMS-378 row; yard-history note (founded mid-19th century by the Brigham brothers; expanded into steel boatbuilding in WWII; continues as Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-small/greenport/ output table, YMS-378 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder's-yard record: Greenport Basin & Construction Co. delivered YMS-378 to the US Navy on 7 September 1943 (type 278d, 136 ft) - matching NavSource's 'Completed 7 September 1943' and confirming the builder. The yard table also records Greenport's other YMS output (YMS-20 through YMS-31, YMS-183 through YMS-194, YMS-375 through YMS-382, YMS-453 through YMS-459) and repeats the 'mined off Normandy and lost 1944; wreck sold 1946' framing for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Greenport Basin construction trades (1943)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of merchant/naval construction - corroborates builder and delivery date; its 'lost 1944 / wreck sold 1946' notes repeat the communique framing (ev-05) and conflate the February 1946 Foreign Liquidation Commission transfer with the August 1947 sale. No asbestos content; no yard work-package detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource YMS-1 class specifications header (19idx.htm); USNI Proceedings 'Saga of a YMS' (Jan 1948, Vol. 74/1/539) - class machinery arrangement and habitability from a serving YMS officer; NavSource YMS-378 spec block (diesel, no steam); GAO HRD-80-2 (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 19idx.htm YMS-1 class header; usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1948/january/saga-yms (machinery paragraph); NavSource 11/19378.htm spec block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled diesel-powered minesweeper built in 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era, and a YMS-type craft carried a compact diesel machinery plant (two GM 8-268A mains, a third GM diesel driving the magnetic-sweep generator, two Hercules 30-kW auxiliary diesels) in a cramped wooden hull. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel naval craft of this period were engine-room and exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, and possible fireproofing panels around machinery spaces - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Greenport Basin construction trades (1943); crew (1943-44); Royal Dockyard Plymouth repair crews (June 1944); survey/stripping crews (Sep 1944); Davies and Cann breakers (1947)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for YMS-378. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The wooden-hull construction makes her a lighter asbestos candidate than steam-powered steel combatants of the era.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-07
-
[9]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 construction (1943) and entire service life (1943-44).
- 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 - standing access defect also noted in BATCH-01 and BATCH-98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-08
-
[10]Batch-9012 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship and class pages; Guidrey CO account; SHIPS Project monograph; NARA Special List 44; Navy Department Communique 550 transcription; shipbuildinghistory yard table; uboat.net; USNI Proceedings; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-378-yms378-01 through -13
- 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-378 was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated helper returned the fleet pacing stand-down (shared ~58/hr budget momentarily spent) on four spaced attempts across the session; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). Deck logs (SL-44 inventory), builder work packages, the September 1944 Plymouth survey report, and the 1947 scrapping-contract records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-378-yms378-09