Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 1075-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-61-yms61-pkt-1075-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-61 (construction timeline, specifications, disposal; verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- YMS-61 page, specifications and timeline block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- YMS-61, YMS-1-class auxiliary motor minesweeper: laid down 23 September 1941 by Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, FL; launched 3 February 1942; completed 6 June 1942; struck from the Naval Register 19 June 1946; destroyed in March 1948. Specifications: displacement 270 t., length 136', beam 24' 6", draft 8', speed 15 kts., complement 32; armament one 3"/50 dual purpose gun 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. Call sign Nan - Fox - Able - Easy. NavSource states: 'There is no DANFS history available for YMS-61.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1948
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, construction, specifications, striking, and disposal date only. NavSource is a volunteer-run archival compilation, not an official Navy publication; the diesel-only plant (no boilers/steam) bears on asbestos inference but the page contains no asbestos or insulation-material statement whatsoever. 'Destroyed in March 1948' carries no manner or location. Does not establish exposure, quantity, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-01
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[3]National Archives Catalog, NAID 193212831, 'YMS-61, 6/23/42-5/2/46' (digitized muster rolls, Ancestry/NARA collaboration; catalog record and sampled frames verified 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Catalog item NAID 193212831; frames 32863_256088-00002 (forwarding sheet, Southport NC), -00060 (recap Q2 1943), -00150 (change report 1944-12-26), -00245 (recap Q1 1946), -00246/-00247 (final roll, Subic Bay transfers)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA holds the ship's digitized muster rolls, 23 June 1942 - 2 May 1946 (251 frames, RG 24, series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities', National Archives at College Park). Sampled frames show: the commissioning-quarter roll (30 June 1942) forwarded 14 July 1942 from Section Base, Inshore Patrol, Southport, North Carolina (T. T. Wuerth, Ens., D-V(G), USNR, Executive Officer); a 26 December 1944 Report of Changes recording a crewman temporarily admitted to USN Section Base, Navy #15, FPO San Francisco, for dental treatment; quarterly recapitulation sheets (24 aboard vs operating allowance 28, quarter ending 30 June 1943; 26 aboard vs operating allowance 24, quarter ending 1 April 1946); and the final roll (period ending 2 May 1946) transferring the crew to Receiving Station, Subic Bay, for further assignment by Commander Philippine Sea Frontier (R. P. Holding, Jr., Ens., USNR, Commanding Officer).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-06-23 to 1946-05-02
- Population
- Ship's company, approx. 24-26 enlisted aboard (1943-1946 samples)
- Limitations
- Primary personnel records; 251 frames were sampled at six points, not read end-to-end, so intermediate stations and movements are not established here. Muster rolls contain no asbestos, material, or insulation information. Catalog metadata lists microfilm 'Roll 8026' while the filmed reel leader reads 'No. 8139' (see gaps). Does not establish exposure or causation for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-02
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[4]National Archives, '1941-1959 Deck Logs, including World War 2 and the Korean War' (NARA deck-log resources and inventory); inventory coverage for YMS-61 as stated in batch tasking (NARA deck-log inventory row) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov deck-logs resource page (verified live 2026-10-05); YMS-61 inventory coverage 5/27/1942-6/30/1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA inventories US Navy deck logs for YMS-61 covering 27 May 1942 - 30 June 1945 (RG 24, National Archives at College Park). Deck logs are the authoritative movement and location record for this hull; they are not digitized for this vessel, so her detailed service track (including the unverified Caribbean claim) could not be confirmed this session.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1942-05-27 to 1945-06-30 (holdings coverage)
- Limitations
- Log coverage dates are holdings dates, NOT commissioning or decommissioning dates, and are not asserted as such. The inventory row for this hull was taken from batch tasking rather than re-verified line-by-line against the published NARA inventory spreadsheet; the deck logs themselves were not read (not digitized). Deck logs would be the primary source to resolve the Caribbean-vs-Pacific service question and the commissioning-date conflict.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-03
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[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (product-page description; full text blocked - gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, standing access gap since Batch 01)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the U.S. Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard its ships and continued installing asbestos-containing materials into the early 1970s, and that Navy efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure were a recognized program-level concern - the era and program under which this 1941-42 naval auxiliary was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- WWII era through 1979 (report scope); report 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; does not name this hull or any YMS-class vessel, and establishes nothing about materials aboard this ship. Full-text pull remains the open lead (403 block). Does not establish quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-04
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[6]Inference basis: NavSource YMS-61 specifications (diesel plant, no steam); 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); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; AJIM 11(3):359-373 abstract/article
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference only: YMS-61 was a wooden-hulled, diesel-powered minesweeper (two GM 8-268A diesels, no boilers or steam plant per NavSource specifications), so the era's highest-mass shipboard asbestos applications - boiler and steam-line insulation - were absent by design. Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material across WWII U.S. shipbuilding; aboard a small 1942 naval auxiliary of this type, era-typical asbestos use would have been confined to machinery and exhaust insulation, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and possibly asbestos-cement sheet.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, 1941-42); ship's company (approx. 24-32)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference, not a hull record: no source names this vessel or states that any asbestos-containing material was installed aboard it. The absence of a steam plant narrows - does not eliminate - the plausible application set. Does not establish presence, quantity, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-05
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[7]Batch-9142 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NHHC/DANFS (404 - no entry); NARA catalog (muster rolls NAID 193212831; deck-log inventory); GAO product page; CourtListener via fleet-authenticated helper; shipyards.json yard check; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-61-yms61-01 through sl-uss-yms-61-yms61-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming YMS-61 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Secondary web sweep surfaced only law-firm marketing listicles asserting asbestos aboard YMS-class minesweepers without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 2026-10-05
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - it reflects the thin documentation typical of number-only small combatants (no DANFS entry, no surviving museum, destroyed 1948). Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-61-yms61-06