Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet 967-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: USS PCS-1437 → **MISMATCH
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-yms-469-pkt-967-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-469 (ex-PCS-1437) - timeline, specifications, transfer and disposal (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19469.htm header block, YMS-1 class data block, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 30 July 1943 as a Patrol Craft Sweeper, PCS-1437, by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, FL; reclassified as an Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper, YMS-469, 27 September 1943 (pre-launch and pre-commissioning - she never served under the PCS-1437 designation); launched 17 March 1944; completed 22 September 1944; transferred to the Soviet Union 30 April 1945 and reclassified T-186; NavSource then assigns her to the 'Northern Pacific Fleet' 28 June 1945 (conflicts with the Soviet-side record - see ev-04); scrapped 11 July 1956. 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 880 bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts. NavSource notes no DANFS history exists for this hull and no image is on file.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1956
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1943-44); U.S. Navy crew (Sep 1944 - Apr 1945); Soviet crew (1945-56)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates generally track official records but its 'Northern Pacific Fleet' assignment is contradicted by the Soviet-side record (ev-04). 'Completed' vs 'commissioned' wording: NavSource prints 'Completed 22 September 1944'; uboat.net prints 'Commissioned 22 Sep 1944' - same date either way. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS YMS-469 (YMS-469) - build and service data block (verified live 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/9884.html data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent secondary corroboration: ordered 16 November 1942; built by Gibbs Gas Engine Co. (Jacksonville, Florida); laid down 30 July 1943; launched 17 March 1944; commissioned 22 September 1944; end of service 30 April 1945 - 'Transferred to the USSR on 30 April 1945'; former name PCS-1437. No command history or patrol events listed for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1943-44); U.S. Navy crew (1944-45)
- Limitations
- uboat.net (Gudmundur Helgason's Allied Warships database) is a respected secondary compilation, not a primary registry; the 16 November 1942 contract/order date rests on this source alone - unverified against a contract record (carried in gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-02
-
[4]sewar.ru (Russian-language Soviet-WWII weapons reference), 'Tip "YMS". T-186 (do 25.10.1944 g. "YMS-469")' - Soviet-side service record (verified live 2026-10-04; corroborating sister-boat entries T-181/T-182/T-184/T-187 on the same site) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sewar.ru/tralschiki/1390 entry (full entry text); sister entries 1385-1396 in the same index
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Soviet-side record for this hull (translated): laid down 30 July 1943 (Jacksonville, USA); launched 17 March 1944; entered service 22 September 1944; on 30 April 1945 taken over by a Soviet crew under Lend-Lease deliveries; on 28 June 1945 arrived at Ronne (Bornholm island) and joined the KBF - Krasnoznamyonny Baltiysky Flot, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet; on 11 July 1956 disarmed and excluded from the Navy list in connection with transfer to the stock-property department (disposal). The page title dates the Soviet administrative designation T-186 to 25 October 1944 - i.e., the transfer was pre-planned in Soviet documents months before the physical handover. Sister entries on the same site show the same pattern for the early-transfer group: T-181 (ex-YMS-447), T-182 (ex-YMS-457) and T-184 (ex-YMS-462) all arrived Ronne 28 June 1945 and joined the Baltic Fleet; T-187 (ex-YMS-465) arrived Sevastopol 21 July 1945 and joined the Black Sea Fleet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1956
- Population
- Soviet crew (1945-56); disposal personnel (1956)
- Limitations
- Russian-language secondary compilation (sewar.ru), consistent in format with Soviet fleet-composition records but citing no source on-page - treated as corroborating secondary, not a primary document. The handover port is unstated. No asbestos content. Direct contradiction with NavSource's 'Northern Pacific Fleet' is resolved in favor of this record for the reasons stated in ev-04 - the conflict itself is logged, not hidden.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-03
-
[5]Cross-source conflict: NavSource YMS-469 ('Assigned to the Northern Pacific Fleet 28 June 1945') vs sewar.ru T-186 ('arrived Ronne (Bornholm) 28.06.1945 and joined the KBF'); navypedia T-181-class table consulted for a third reading (lists 'stricken 1956' only) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19469.htm fleet-assignment line vs sewar.ru/tralschiki/1390 arrival line; navypedia.ru_ms_t181.htm table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource assigns this hull to the 'Northern Pacific Fleet' on 28 June 1945. The Soviet-side record gives the same date a different event: arrival at Ronne, Bornholm - a Danish island in the Baltic Sea - and assignment to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The two accounts are mutually exclusive (a hull physically at Bornholm on 28 June 1945 was in the Baltic, not the Pacific), and the same NavSource-vs-sewar conflict repeats for sisters T-182, T-183 and T-184 while the sources agree for T-181 (Baltic) and T-187 (Black Sea). The Soviet-side record is carried as the better-supported account: it names a specific port consistent with an Atlantic-side Lend-Lease handover and matches the documented destinations of the rest of this transfer group.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945-1956
- Limitations
- Corrects a factual conflict in the secondary record, not a material claim. sewar.ru is itself an uncited secondary compilation - the Baltic assignment is carried as better-supported, not proven; a US-side 'intended Pacific assignment' administrative layer cannot be ruled out but would not change the documented Ronne arrival. navypedia corroborates build/transfer/stricken dates only. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-04
-
[6]U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945, Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-011, 15 April 1945), 'MOTOR MINE SWEEPERS (YMS)' table, pp. 536-543 (scanned document, generalstaff.org mirror; shipscribe.com mirror also located) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-011 Vol II, pp. 536-543, 'MOTOR MINE SWEEPERS (YMS)' table (scan OCR-verified at block level)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official Bureau of Ships register as of 15 April 1945 lists the YMS series hull-by-hull, including the YMS-461..481 block in which this hull falls, at 136'0" length, 24'6" beam, 1,000 shaft horsepower, 'Diesel reduction' propulsion remarks, named builders (Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, Fla., for this block), 'Ex-PCS####' remarks on the YMS-446+ entries documenting the PCS-to-YMS reclassification series, and 'Wood construction' noted for the type. This places the hull in the official U.S. Navy register within its documented ex-PCS block at the time it was still in U.S. service.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Bureau of Ships registry (1945); Gibbs construction trades
- Limitations
- Primary U.S. Navy register, but a scanned facsimile: OCR confirms the table structure, specs, builder list, ex-PCS remarks and 'Wood construction' note at block level; the exact YMS-469 line is not cleanly machine-readable and its ex-PCS-1437 cross-reference is corroborated by NavSource rather than independently read here. Class-level spec sheet, not a materials list - no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: official class characteristics (NAVSHIPS 250-011: wood construction, diesel reduction plant); NavSource/shipbuildinghistory class data (wooden-hulled minesweepers from 35 yacht-type yards; YMS-446 subclass, no stacks); U.S. Navy asbestos-use era (GAO HRD-80-2, ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-011 class spec sheet; NavSource/shipbuildinghistory class data; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled diesel-powered auxiliary motor minesweeper built in 1943-44 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period were engine and exhaust lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets, valve packing, electrical cable insulation, fire-resistant paneling (engine room and galley boundaries), brake linings on sweep-winch and windlass gear, and deck coverings or coatings - products installed both by the builder and by equipment suppliers. As a diesel, wood-hulled craft she carried no steam plant, so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; the exposure-relevant environment is the confined, poorly ventilated machinery space documented for the class (ev-07).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1943-1956
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1943-44); U.S. Navy crew (1944-45); Soviet crew (1945-56); 1956 disposal personnel
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, or work package located for YMS-469. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Wooden hull construction reduces but does not eliminate the asbestos-relevant system set.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-06
-
[8]Hobart Hughes, 'Saga of a YMS,' U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 74/1/539 (January 1948) - firsthand officer's account of sister boat YMS-238 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Proceedings Vol. 74/1/539 (January 1948), 'Saga of a YMS' narrative paragraphs 2-4
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A contemporaneous officer's account of a sister YMS documents the class operating environment: a wooden craft ~135 ft long 'with a crew of thirty enlisted men and four officers, the quarters of all were, to put it mildly, very cramped and uncomfortable' with a 'wholly inadequate ventilating system'; the power plant 'two General Motors Diesels for main propulsion,' a separate diesel direct-connected to a generator for magnetic minesweeping, and 'two Hercules 30-KW Diesels' for auxiliary power - machinery-intensive confined spaces aboard a wooden hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (events); 1948 (publication)
- Population
- YMS-class crews (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Describes sister YMS-238, not this hull - class-context documentation of the crew environment and machinery fit, relevant to the exposure setting but establishing nothing about materials aboard YMS-469. Proceedings page returns HTTP 403 to plain curl; full text accessed via Firecrawl extraction 2026-10-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-07
-
[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 entire construction (1943-44) and U.S. service era (1944-45).
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches, confirmed again 2026-10-04) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-08
-
[10]WJCT Jacksonville Today / The Jaxson, 'The lost shipyards of Jacksonville' (9 May 2023) - Gibbs Corp. Shipyards history; corroborated by Tim Colton's shipbuildinghistory.com Gibbs yard page [reputable_press]
- Locator
- jaxtoday.org Gibbs Corp. Shipyards section; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/gibbs.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder yard is documented: George Williams Gibbs established the Gibbs shipyard on Jacksonville's Downtown Southbank in 1908; it was a major World War I employer (16 sub chasers for the U.S. Navy) and built 'sub chasers, minesweepers, covered lighters and tugboats' for the Navy plus sea skiffs for the Army during World War II, becoming the largest shipbuilder in the South by the 1960s. Colton's shipbuilding history adds the corporate sequence: Gibbs Gas Engine Works, postwar Gibbs Corporation (ship repair), sold 1964 to Aerojet-General Shipyards then to Bill Lovett and merged into Jacksonville Shipyards, sold 1969 to Fruehauf, sold 1989 to Terex, all three yards closed 1992; the site is now hotels and the Southbank Riverwalk.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1908-1992
- Population
- Gibbs yard workforce (1908-1992 site history)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard context only - documents the yard, not this hull's materials or any asbestos condition; no work-package or material record for the 1943-44 build located. The two sources differ on founding year (1908 per Jaxson; 1911 per Colton) - minor, noted not resolved. Jacksonville Shipyards' later-era occupational litigation (LHWCA/injury cases, 1970s-90s) postdates this hull's construction and is not carried as evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-09
-
[11]State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory - Gibbs shipyard photograph holdings: N032621 'Ships under construction at Gibbs Gas Engine Company shipyard' (30 Jan 1918); N032623/N032624 aerial views (c.1950); C006141 launch of F.C. Randall (1 Oct 1946); related aerial 3 Sep 1947 (item 166955) [other_primary]
- Locator
- floridamemory.com/items/show/142069 (N032621, verified); items 142071, 142072, 66725, 166955 (surfaced via index)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The State Archives of Florida holds a photographic series on this hull's builder yard spanning the WWI sub-chaser era (1918 construction views), the immediate postwar period (1946 launch view, 1947 and c.1950 aerials) - official state-archive holdings available for yard-level research into the WWII construction period between these frames.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1918-c.1950
- Population
- Gibbs yard workforce (1918-c.1950 frames)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: yard photographs, not hull records - no image of YMS-469 itself was located in the collection and no WWII-era Gibbs construction view was identified in the surfaced items. Establishes where to look, not what the yard installed. floridamemory.com returns HTTP 403 to plain curl; item metadata verified via Firecrawl extraction 2026-10-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-10
-
[12]Archival leads not yet digitized: NARA RG 24 deck logs and muster rolls for YMS-469 (Sep 1944 - Apr 1945 U.S. service); BuShips contract/work-package files for PCS-1437 (contract ordered 16 Nov 1942 per uboat.net); Soviet Navy archival records for T-186 (Baltic Fleet, 1945-56) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 (College Park); BuShips contract records; Russian naval archives
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The hull's U.S. service was only about seven months, so its deck logs and muster rolls (expected in NARA RG 24 holdings, College Park) are a small, finite set - the most promising remaining primary source for her actual 1944-45 employment and the handover circumstances. BuShips correspondence for the PCS-1400-series contract would document builder and materials. Soviet-era service records are held in Russian archives and were not accessed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1944-1956 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Leads only: none of these records was examined - RG 24 deck logs for this era are not publicly digitized; Soviet archival holdings were not queried. Existence of the deck logs is inferred from standard RG 24 coverage, not verified for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-11
-
[13]Batch-8355 search ledger (this record): NavSource; uboat.net; sewar.ru + navypedia (Soviet side); NAVSHIPS 250-011 scan; USNI Proceedings; GAO product page; jaxtoday + shipbuildinghistory; Florida Memory; NHHC/DANFS; NVR; CourtListener (partial); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-469-01 through sl-uss-yms-469-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming YMS-469 / PCS-1437 / T-186 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS entry exists for this hull (numbered craft - NavSource states none is available) and NVR carries no entry (disposed 1945, before NVR coverage). CAVEAT on litigation: CourtListener docket search '"USS YMS-469"' returned zero dockets (verified), but the two opinion queries and the '"YMS-469"' docket query were not completed - the fleet-wide request budget was spent for most of this session and the helper directed stand-down; logged as blocked, not as a negative result. The only 'asbestos aboard' material surfaced is law-firm marketing content (asbestos-ships.com lists the 'Gibbs Shipyard' as an exposure site 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 - era inference remains reasonable and consistent. The litigation repository search is a genuine open gap: three of four base queries could not be run this session (pacing, not quota exhaustion); re-run all four when the fleet budget frees. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-469-12