Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet 1075-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (thin sourcing disclosed)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (thin sourcing disclosed)
- Evidence ID
- uss-yms-63-yms63-pkt-1075-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, YMS-63 - designation timeline, specifications, Mediterranean photographs, disposal (page verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19063.htm header block, specifications block, and photo captions (Naples, Palermo c.1944)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 26 November 1941 by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, FL; launched 6 March 1942; completed 2 June 1942; transferred to France 2 October 1944 and named Tiare (D 353); sold to France 21 March 1949; struck from the Naval Register 28 April 1949; reclassified D-16, M-656 and P-656; Tiare decommissioned in 1961; scrapped in 1967. Specifications: 270 t.; 136' length; 24'6" beam; 8' draft; 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, two shafts. Page photographs place the vessel at Naples, Italy and Palermo, Sicily circa 1944, consistent with her documented Mediterranean campaign participation (ev-03). Page states 'There is no DANFS history available for YMS-63.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1967
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1941-42); US Navy crew (~32, 1942-44); French Navy crew (1944-61)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; milestone dates are corroborated by uboat.net and shipbuildinghistory (ev-02, ev-08). Its 'Tiare (D 353)' pennant conflicts with French-side compilations assigning D312 to this hull - see correction row ev-12. 'Completed 2 June 1942' is carried as the commissioning-equivalent date; uboat.net labels the same date 'Commissioned'. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS YMS-63 (YMS-63) - build/milestone table (page verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/9483.html data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net record for this hull: ordered 1 April 1941; built by Gibbs Gas Engine Co. (Jacksonville, Florida); laid down 26 November 1941; launched 6 March 1942; commissioned 2 June 1942; end service 2 October 1944 - 'Transferred to France on 2 October 1944 being renamed Tiare.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1944
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1941-42); US Navy crew (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary database (Gudmundur Helgason's Allied Warships); corroborates NavSource on every shared milestone and adds the contract order date (single-source for 'ordered 1 Apr 1941'). 'Commissioned 2 Jun 1942' vs NavSource 'Completed' - same date, carried as commissioning. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-02
-
[4]Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual, NAVPERS 15,790 (Rev. 1953), Bureau of Naval Personnel / GPO - verbatim transcription on HyperWar (ibiblio.org); Part IV, Section 2, sub-section 16 ship participation list, 'YMS 63' entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- Awards-IV-16.html 'YMS 63' entry; operation-name lookup in Awards-IV-2.html code table (E2, E7, E226)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official US government documentation of this hull's WWII combat service: the NAVPERS 15,790 ship-by-ship campaign participation list credits YMS 63 with three operation/engagement-star entries - E2 'Sicilian occupation' (9 Jul 43 - 15 Jul 43 window), E226 'Minesweeping operations in Bay of Cagliari' (Oct 43 - Nov 43), and E7 'Invasion of Southern France' (15 Aug 44 - 25 Sep 44). This establishes Mediterranean minesweeping and amphibious-support service from July 1943 through late September 1944, ending immediately before her 2 October 1944 transfer to France.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- US Navy crew (~32) during Mediterranean operations 1943-44
- Limitations
- Documents campaign participation, not asbestos. NAVPERS 15,790 is an official Bureau of Naval Personnel manual (GPO 1953) accessed via the HyperWar verbatim transcription at ibiblio.org; the printed manual itself notes ship-list entries are award records, not operational narratives - no station-by-station detail exists in this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-03
-
[5]Naval History and Heritage Command, 'Mud, Muscle, and Miracles: Marine Salvage in the United States Navy' (official NHHC publication, Capt. C.A. Bartholomew) - Fleet Operations: European Theater chapter, Sicily section, p. 123 (PDF fetched live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Mud, Muscle, and Miracles, ch. 'Fleet Operations: European Theater' - 'Salvage During the Invasion' (Sicily), p. 123 of the NHHC PDF
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC history names this hull in a combat-support action: 'In the early evening of 15 July [1943], while clearing a channel and engaging enemy shore batteries, the fleet minesweeper Staff struck a mine. The ship listed to starboard, fires broke out throughout the vessel, and she went down by the bow. YMS-63 provided immediate assistance, put out the fires, and removed the casualties.' Staff's sister ship Skill (AM 115) then took her in tow. The incident occurred off Sicily during Operation Husky - inside the same 9-15 July 1943 window for which NAVPERS 15,790 credits this hull's E2 engagement star (ev-03).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1943-07-15
- Population
- US Navy crew (~32) during the Staff rescue; casualties removed from USS Staff
- Limitations
- Documents a salvage/rescue action by this hull, not asbestos. The narrative confirms she was present and operating in the Sicilian assault area on 15 July 1943, corroborating the campaign-star record. No material or material-condition content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-04
-
[6]NHHC, 'Casualties Navy and Coast Guard Ships' (official ship-loss list) - Motor Mine sweepers (YMS) section, USS YMS-24 entry (page verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC casualties page, Motor Mine sweepers (YMS) section; wrecksite.eu wreck.aspx?13957 (secondary quote, flagged unverified)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Operational-context documentation for the sweep environment this hull worked: the NHHC casualties list records 'USS YMS-24 sunk by a mine off St. Tropez, France, 15 August 1944' - D-Day of Operation Dragoon, the same operation for which this hull holds E7 engagement credit (ev-03). A secondary compilation (wrecksite.eu, YMS-24 wreck entry) quotes an action-report passage - 'On 16th, YMS-24, YMS-63 and YMS-200 deployed their gear and had begun a new sweep along an East-West heading when there was a tremendous [explosion]' - naming this hull in a sweep group during the operation (the '16th' postdates YMS-24's documented loss, so the quote describes a separate near-incident or is unattributed); the quoted report is an untraced archival lead, not a verified fact.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1944-08-15/16
- Population
- US Navy crews of the St. Tropez minesweeping force (Aug 1944)
- Limitations
- The official NHHC casualty entry establishes only that a sister YMS was mined off St. Tropez on 15 August 1944 - it does not name this hull. The sweep-group detail naming YMS-63 comes from a non-authoritative site's quote of an unidentified action report and is flagged as unverified; it is not used to assert any specific position or action. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-05
-
[7]National Archives, Special List 44, List of Logbooks of US Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units (by ship number), YMS-63 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf entry 'YMS-63 ... 1/1/1943 - 10/2/1944'; NARA 'Logbooks of the US Navy' online list (absence verified by full-text check of the 1941-and-later list)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA inventories US Navy deck logs for YMS-63 covering 1 January 1943 through 2 October 1944 - RG 24 Entry 118 at the National Archives at College Park. The coverage end date coincides exactly with her documented 2 October 1944 transfer to France (ev-01, ev-02): the US Navy logbook run closes at handover. The start date (1 January 1943) falls seven months after completion, so the located inventory does not cover her June-December 1942 work-up period (see gaps). YMS-63 does not appear in NARA's online digitized-logbook list - her logs are inventoried but not digitized.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1943-01-01 to 1944-10-02 (inventoried coverage)
- Population
- US Navy crew during the logged period (1943-44)
- Limitations
- A logbook index is a history locator, not a commissioning order or material record; coverage dates are logbook run dates, not asserted as service dates. It does not establish asbestos presence, products, quantity, individual exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. Whether pre-1943 logbooks exist separately is unestablished.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-06
-
[8]navypedia.org, French Navy D200-series motor minesweepers page - D312 (ex-YMS63) row; page uses a YMS-63 photograph as the type illustration (page verified live 2026-10-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia.org/ships/france/fr_mw_d201.htm, D312 (ex-YMS63) table row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- French-side record for this hull: 'D312 (ex-YMS63), 1947- Tiare; M656, 1951- P656' - built by Gibbs Gas Engine, Jacksonville; laid down 11.1941; launched 6.3.1942; in service 6.1942; transferred 10.1944; reclassified patrol vessel 1951; stricken 1961. This specialist compilation records the transfer pennant as D312 (not the D353 carried by NavSource) and the renaming to Tiare as a 1947 event - three years after transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1944-1961
- Population
- French Navy crew (1944-61)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary source; French pennant sequence conflicts with NavSource/shipbuildinghistory (D353) and with the warsailors French-YMS compilation (D312, D30, M649, scrapped 12/06/1962) - variants logged in gaps and correction row ev-12. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-07
-
[9]Shipbuilding History (shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net), Yard Minesweepers (YMS and BYMS) page and Gibbs Gas Engine yard output table (shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/gibbs.htm) - both verified live 2026-10-05 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/gibbs.htm (YMS 63 row); shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/ym/ (class summary + YMS-63 row)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard output and class documentation for this hull: the Gibbs Gas Engine yard table lists 'YMS 63 | US Navy | Minesweeper | 278d | 136 | 2-Jun-42 | To France 1944 as Tiare (D 353/D 16/M 656/P 656), scrapped 1967'; the class page records 561 wooden-hulled minesweepers built 1942-45 by 35 boatyards (Mk. I two-stack group = YMS-1 through -134, which includes this hull), with about 30 boats transferred to the Free French Navy in 1944 - the program that carried this vessel to France. Yard history: Gibbs Gas Engine Works founded 1911 at the east end of Prudential Drive, Jacksonville; renamed Gibbs Corporation, concentrated on ship repair until 1957; sold to Aerojet-General 1992.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1967
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1941-42)
- Limitations
- Secondary yard-output compilation (Tim Colton); its 'D 353' follows NavSource's attribution, which conflicts with French-side compilations (D312 - see ev-07, ev-12). '278d' displacement convention differs from NavSource's 270 t. Gibbs Gas Engine Co. is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry - related_shipyards empty. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource YMS-63 spec block (two GM 8-268A diesels, two shafts - no steam plant); shipbuildinghistory Yard Minesweepers (YM) class summary (561 wooden-hulled boats, 35 boatyards); NavSource Auxiliary Minesweeper class index [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19063.htm specifications block; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/ym/ class summary; NavSource 11/19idx.htm class index
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A wooden-hulled, diesel-powered minesweeper completed June 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period were machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - and her wooden hull carried none of the structural thermal insulation of a steel-hulled steam ship; her asbestos-relevant footprint was correspondingly narrower.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1941-1967
- Population
- Gibbs construction trades (1941-42); US Navy crew (1942-44); French Navy crew (1944-61); French disposal workers (1960s)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for YMS-63, and no yard-level asbestos documentation exists for Gibbs Gas Engine (a small defunct Jacksonville yard with no NIOSH or survey record located). This inference therefore rests on Navy-wide era documentation (ev-10) alone - a weaker basis than a yard-anchored inference. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-09
-
[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 construction (1941-42) and US service era (1942-44).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- 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 standing defect across batches) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-10
-
[12]Batch-9144 search ledger (this record): NavSource; uboat.net; navypedia; shipbuildinghistory Gibbs and YM pages; NAVPERS 15,790 via HyperWar; NARA Special List 44 and online-logbook list; NHHC DANFS (no entry); NVR (pre-1987 exclusion); CourtListener opinion and docket indexes; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-yms-63-yms63-01 through sl-uss-yms-63-yms63-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located in the public sources searched: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS YMS-63 / D312 / Tiare was found. CAVEAT: the CourtListener sweep is only partially complete - one of four mandatory base queries ('USS YMS-63' opinion, limit 20) completed post-commit and returned 5 hits, all classified name collisions (OCR-noise matches in unrelated 2015 Texas appellate opinions; no vessel or asbestos reference). The remaining three base queries (exact-name docket; hull-number opinion; hull-number docket) stayed pacing-blocked on every attempt across ~60 minutes of spaced retries - the shared 58/hr fleet token bucket was drained by concurrent batch sessions, freeing once. Those three are logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as negative results; litigation status of this hull remains OPEN. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm marketing page naming this hull. No DANFS entry exists - DANFS covered commissioned ships with assigned names, and this craft was numbered but unnamed in US service. NVR carries no entry - ships disposed prior to 1987 are not in the register.
- 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 - and the litigation repository is a partial open gap: the exact-name opinion index returned only name-collision hits (no qualifying litigation), while the other three mandatory base queries were pacing-blocked (not run to a result), so no docket-index or hull-number result exists either way. US-service deck logs (RG 24, College Park), Gibbs yard work packages, and French disposal records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-11
-
[13]Designation cross-check: NavSource ('Tiare (D 353)' at transfer; reclassified D-16, M-656, P-656); navypedia ('D312 (ex-YMS63), 1947- Tiare; M656, 1951- P656'); warsailors French-YMS compilation ('YMS 63 - 02/10/1944: D 312 - 1947: renamed Tiare - 08/1948: D 30 - 1951: M 649'); shipbuildinghistory (follows NavSource 'D 353') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 11/19063.htm header; navypedia.org/ships/france/fr_mw_d201.htm D312 row; warsailors.com forum French-YMS compilation; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/gibbs.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource and shipbuildinghistory style this vessel 'Tiare (D 353)' at her 2 October 1944 transfer. French-side specialist compilations (navypedia; the warsailors French-YMS master list) record the transfer pennant as D312 and date the renaming to Tiare to 1947; in those compilations D353 belongs to Primevere (ex-YMS-31), a different Free French transfer. The consistent cross-source facts are: transfer to France on 2 October 1944; French career ending in the 1960s. The pennant sequence, the 1947 rename date, and disposal specifics (stricken 1961 vs scrapped 12 June 1962 vs scrapped 1967) remain unresolved across secondary sources.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-05
- Study period
- 1944-1967 (French designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating pennant attribution, not a material asbestos claim. All French-side designations rest on secondary compilations - no official French naval record was located. NavSource carried for display purposes with the conflict disclosed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-yms-63-yms63-12