Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet kz-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Ahrens (DE-575). Designation: destroyer escort. Class: Buckley
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ahrens-de575-pkt-kz-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Ahrens (DE-575) (namesake biography, builder, dates, service narrative, striking; live NHHC page returns 404 - verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (HyperWar/ibiblio de575.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Private First Class Edward Henry Ahrens, USMC (b. 4 November 1919, Dayton, Ky.), 1st Raider Battalion, killed 8 August 1942 at Tulagi after singlehandedly stopping a Japanese infiltration of the Raiders' flank - posthumous Navy Cross and share of the 1st Marine Division Presidential Unit Citation. Laid down 5 November 1943 at Hingham, Mass., by Bethlehem Steel Corp.; launched 21 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Marie Ahrens, mother of PFC Ahrens; commissioned 12 February 1944, Lt. Comdr. Morgan H. Hains in command. Shakedown Bermuda; further training Casco Bay. Joined hunter/killer TG 21.11 built around escort carrier Block Island (CVE-21) at Norfolk 22 April 1944, operating Atlantic and Caribbean. On 29 May 1944 a German U-boat (U-549) torpedoed and sank Block Island and Barr (DE-576); Ahrens rescued 673 officers and men in 40 minutes and assisted Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686) in locating U-549, which Elmore sank with two hedgehog attacks. After repairs at the New York Navy Yard she took transatlantic convoy-escort duty from 23 July 1944; on 13 October 1944, after a merchant ship collided with a gasoline tanker, Ahrens and Holton (DE-703) rescued survivors and extinguished the fires. Sailed with TG 27.7 on 15 December 1944 for the 7th Fleet via the Panama Canal: Manus 23 January 1945, Leyte 9 February 1945, then TG 75.2 ocean-escort duty for the Philippine Sea Frontier through 25 August 1945 (Hollandia, Manila, Subic Bay, Kossol Roads, Ulithi, Okinawa). Late August 1945: occupation-force support in China and Korea - Jinsen, Chinwangtao, Hong Kong. Departed for home 4 November 1945 via Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and the Panama Canal Zone, reaching Boston 15 December 1945; preinactivation overhaul, then Green Cove Springs, Fla., early 1946. Decommissioned there 24 June 1946; struck from the Navy list 1 April 1965. Two battle stars for World War II service. Specs block: dp. 1,740; l. 306'; b. 37'; dr. 13'6"; s. 23.6 k.; cpl. 213; a. 3 3", 4 40mm., 10 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp.; cl. Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 213); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers, Green Cove Springs, 1946-1965
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 for both 'ahrens.html' and 'ahrens-de-575.html' (standing link rot, matches Batch-01 findings); verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited. DANFS's '4 November' 1945 departure reads '5 November' in the Wikipedia derivative - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for AHRENS, DE-575 (shipscribe.com scan; tesseract OCR + visual read of book pp. 236-237) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster row 4, AHRENS DE-575 (book pp. 236-237; shipscribe scan PDF p. 128)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster row 4): AHRENS, official number DE575, design group TE; builder 'Bethlehem Steel Co., Hingham, Mass.'; contract price $2,596,000; contract signed 7 August 1942 ('do.' ditto of roster row 1); keel laid 5 November 1943; launched 21 December 1943; 'date of completion' column reads 9 April 1944; date of first commission 12 February 1944. Keel, launch, and commission dates concur with DANFS and NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard construction trades 1943-44
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, group, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. The 'completion' column reads Apr. 9, 1944 while the commission column reads Feb. 12, 1944 - the column semantics are ambiguous in the printed table (possibly builder's-completion vs. delivery); carried as printed, not reconciled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 2 / TE (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-2 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 127)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design-group table: design group 2 (symbol TE - turbine-electric drive, 3-inch guns) - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, 37 ft beam, 1,400 t standard / 1,740 t full load, 23.6 kt; 2 shafts; GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp; 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 p.s.i., 750 deg. F superheat. Design-group symbols per the table: GMT=1, TE=2, TEV=3, FMR=4, DET=5, WGT=6. Documents that the TE design - the plant this hull's roster row assigns to DE-575 - carried a full superheated steam plant, unlike the diesel DE groups (GMT/FMR/DET rows read 'None' in the boiler columns).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (publication)
- Population
- TE-design crews (design accommodations ~213)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the whole TE group, not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; dimensions/steam-condition cells read cleanly for group 2.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-03
-
[5]Navypedia, 'Buckley (TE) class destroyer escorts' - class roster and per-block boiler-manufacturer map (compiled reference) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia us_de_te.htm, member table row DE-575 + boiler-block map
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class roster and boiler-block map: 148 Buckley (TE) hulls completed across eight builders; DE-575 falls in the Bethlehem-Hingham block DE-563-578, whose boiler manufacturer is mapped as Foster Wheeler per navypedia (block map: Foster Wheeler for DE51-98, 563-578, 665-673). The class roster's DE-575 line (builder Bethlehem Hingham; laid down 1943-11; launched 1943-12-21; commissioned 1944-02; stricken 4.1965) concurs with DANFS/SDB/NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Buckley-class construction and operating crews (148 hulls)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference (class-level): the boiler-manufacturer block map is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents; not a materials or asbestos source - used for class context only. Class-roster data carried via the batch class-f buckley-class profile (accessed 2026-09-16), which parsed this page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-04
-
[6]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Ahrens (DE-575) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, flag hoist NTPI; Wayback capture 2024-07-25 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/575.htm specifications block + building-and-operational data + photo captions (Wayback 2024-07-25 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 5 November 1943 by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Co., Hingham, Mass.; launched and christened 21 December 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Marie Ahrens); commissioned at Hingham 12 February 1944, 'Lcdr. Morgan H. Harris, USNR' in command; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. 24 June 1946 after 2 years and 4 months of service; struck from the NVR 1 April 1965; sold 20 January 1967, scrapped. Specs concur with DANFS/SDB: TE plant, 2 'D' Express boilers, GE turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp; 24 kts; 6,000 nm at 12 kt; complement 15/198. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive); American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 2 stars; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal; Philippine Liberation Ribbon. Photo caption: BuShips photo 80-G-266487, 13 May 1944 Atlantic, measure 22, photographed from USS Bogue (CVE-9). First ship named in the namesake's honor.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Wartime crew (complement 15 officers/198 enlisted); breakers 1967
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap and add the disposal date. Contributed photo captions and the namesake biography (credited to Find-A-Grave material) are unattributed detail. Commanding-officer name reads 'Harris' here vs. 'Hains' in DANFS - conflict carried in gaps. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-05
-
[7]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-2 machinery row (2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F; GE turbo-electric 12,000 shp) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for steam-powered escorts [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-2 row (2 'D' express boilers present) vs. diesel-group rows (boilers 'None'); cf. buckley-class profile ev-buckley-class-04 (same steam-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Buckley-class (TE) destroyer escort built at a commercial wartime yard in 1943-44 with a full superheated steam plant would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a steam-powered escort - boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing on steam and feed systems, electrical insulation, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Unlike the diesel DE classes (Edsall/FMR, Cannon/DET, Evarts/GMT - whose SDB rows read 'None' in the boiler columns), the TE and WGT designs retained boilers and steam lines, so the largest asbestos categories of steam ships apply to this design.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-46; reserve-fleet maintenance 1946-65
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-575 was located; this establishes era-consistent expectation for the type, not that any specific material went aboard this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-06
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyard-exposure-map/client/src/data/shipyards.json, 37 yard_ids): 'brooklyn-navy-yard' = New York Naval Shipyard (evidence tier 3, products incl. Kaylo/Owens-Illinois insulation); no 'bethlehem-hingham' entry exists - the dataset's 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record is the Quincy/Fore River corporate site, a different yard from the Hingham builder [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json records 'brooklyn-navy-yard' and 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'; DANFS repair narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder/repair-yard context: the builder, Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard (Hingham, Mass.), is NOT an entry in the Atlas yard dataset - the nearest dataset record, 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' (Quincy, MA / Fore River corporate record), is a different site and is therefore NOT carried in related_shipyards. The documented repair yard IS in the dataset: DANFS places this hull's post-collision repairs (June-July 1944, after the 29 May U-549 action) at the New York Navy Yard = dataset 'brooklyn-navy-yard' (New York Naval Shipyard), a tier-3 documented asbestos-products yard. Yard-level documentation corroborates that repair-period workers at that facility worked amid documented asbestos products; the builder yard's asbestos environment is undocumented in the dataset.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- New York Navy Yard repair trades, June-July 1944; Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1943-44
- Limitations
- Yard context only - documents the repair yard's environment, not this hull's materials, and does not establish that asbestos went aboard DE-575 during the repair or expose any specific worker. The Boston preinactivation-overhaul site (Dec 1945 - early 1946) is unnamed in DANFS - Boston Naval Shipyard attribution would be inference and is carried in gaps, not asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-07
-
[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 the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DE-575 (built 1943-44) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description. Says nothing about this specific hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 opinion sweep for 'USS Ahrens' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py); hull-number and docket sweeps blocked by fleet pacing budget [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results 2026-09-28: 'USS Ahrens' type=o count=0; 'DE-575' type=o and 'USS Ahrens' type=r attempted, blocked by fleet pacer (see search_ledger sl-05 through sl-07)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Opinion sweep '"USS Ahrens"' (type=o): 0 hits - no published opinion indexed on CourtListener names the ship. Hull-number sweep '"DE-575"' and docket sweep '"USS Ahrens"' (type=r) could not be completed this session: the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing budget (~114 requests/hr shared across batch sessions) stood the helper down; carried as a coverage limitation, not a result.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Partial sweep only. 'USS Ahrens' opinion coverage is complete (0 hits); the hull-number and docket sweeps are UNVERIFIED - 'DE-575' is also an ECF document-entry-number format ('DE 575', '(DE-575)') that produces heavy false-positive load on sibling hulls, and the surname 'Ahrens' collides with unrelated parties. Sweep coverage is the CourtListener opinion index only; state-court dockets, PACER-only filings, and settled/undocketed claims are outside it. 'No result' does not prove no claim was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-09
-
[11]Batch-4386 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource archive page (Wayback); BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR + visual); navypedia class page; GAO product page; NVR shell check; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-05 through sl-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ahrens-de575-01 through sl-uss-ahrens-de575-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-575: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping 20 January 1967, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for preserved escorts (e.g., USS Slater DE-766, USS Stewart DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Ahrens (DE-575) in general web search are law-firm marketing pages that enumerate every WWII hull (shepardlawfirm.com vessel page; freeasbestostesting.com and mesotheliomahope.com name lists) - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard - 1943-44 Bethlehem-Hingham construction falls inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and the TE plant carried the steam-system categories most associated with shipboard asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24), any WWII war diary (RG 38), and BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book for DE-575) at NARA are unsurveyed leads. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present aboard; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ahrens-de575-10