Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS (NHHC online entry), Barber (DE-161) - live URL returns 404; verbatim Wayback capture 2019-02-07 cited [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS online entry 'Barber (DE-161)' - specifications block and full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC DANFS record for this hull: named for brothers Malcolm John, LeRoy Kenneth, and Randolph Harold Barber, all killed aboard Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941. Laid down 27 April 1943 at Portsmouth, Va., by the Norfolk Navy Yard; launched 24 May 1943; sponsor Mrs. Peter Thomas Barber (the brothers' mother) could not attend the launching, so christening was held at commissioning on 10 October 1943, Lt. Eugene T. B. Sullivan in command. Shakedown off Bermuda; Atlantic convoy duty from December 1943 - escorted troopships to Panama and the crippled HMNZS Leander to Boston; Christmas Day 1943 departure escorting a 95-merchantman convoy to Casablanca; Strait of Gibraltar patrol; New York-Norfolk escort Feb-Mar 1944; hunter-killer group around Croatan (CVE-26) from 24 March - U-488 sunk with other escorts 26 April; two more North Africa crossings. Entered Philadelphia Navy Yard 9 October 1944 for conversion to high-speed transport; reclassified APD-57 23 October 1944; conversion complete January 1945; departed Philadelphia 17 January; one month as school ship for crews of uncommissioned APDs; departed Norfolk 22 February for the Pacific; Pearl Harbor 26 March 1945; Maui training with underwater demolition teams; Ulithi 30 April; Hagushi Anchorage, Okinawa, 10 May; assisted kamikaze-damaged Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) 11-12 May; radar picket duty; pursued two midget submarines 20 May ('probable kill' assessed on one); rescue-ship watch when Twiggs (DD-591) sank 16 June - helped rescue 188 survivors; released from Okinawa 4 July; Saipan/Guam convoy; rescued 11-man B-29 crew 9 July; screened Texas (BB-35) and Mississippi (BB-41) 8-10 August; escorted Mississippi and Idaho (BB-42) to Okinawa 21 August; Subic Bay then TransDiv 20 occupation lift to Wakanoura Bay, Honshu, 7 October; Nagoya channel entrance control; departed for home 21 November via Sasebo, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, Panama; pre-inactivation overhaul; decommissioned 22 May 1946, berthed with the reserve fleet at Green Cove Springs, Fla., for more than two decades; name struck from the Navy list 27 November 1968; sold to the government of Mexico 22 December 1969. Three battle stars for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1969
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime crew (design complement 186); embarked UDTs and troops 1945; Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion workers 1944-45; Green Cove Springs inactivation/reserve workers 1946 and periodic maintenance 1946-1969
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, dates, and operations - it makes no statement about construction materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC URL returns HTTP 404 (standing NHHC link rot noted since BATCH-01); the verbatim Wayback capture is cited. Launch date here reads 24 May 1943 - print-era DANFS transcription (hazegray/losthistory mirror) reads 20 May and NavSource building data reads 30 May; conflict carried in gaps. A U.S. Navy photo dated 20 May 1943 (NHS-112-C) shows the hull still on the building ways, consistent with the 24 May launch.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-01
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[2]DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) official photo page, VIRIN 211112-N-N2259-341, 'NNSY Ships Played Pivotal Role in Defending Pearl Harbor Attack' (Norfolk Naval Shipyard, posted 2021-12-07; photo by shipyard historian Marcus W. Robbins collection) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DVIDS image 6968015 caption block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy/shipyard-sourced record for this hull: 'The NNSY-built destroyer escort USS Barber (DE-161), shown here in May 1943 prior to its launching, was named for the three Barber brothers who died at their battle stations when USS Oklahoma (BB-37) sank at Pearl Harbor. The ship was sponsored by their mother, Mrs. Peter Barber.' Confirms Norfolk Naval Shipyard as builder, the May 1943 pre-launch timeframe, and the namesake.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943; page posted 2021
- Population
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard construction trades 1943
- Limitations
- Photo-caption record only - corroborates builder, namesake, and pre-launch status in May 1943; contains no material or asbestos information and does not fix the launch day.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-02
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[3]Secretaria de Marina-Armada de Mexico, 'Buques Escuela de la Secretaria de Marina-Armada de Mexico' (official naval-history publication, Unidad de Historia y Cultura Naval), section 'Transportes Coahuila y Chihuahua' [other_primary]
- Locator
- SEMAR PDF pp. 87-88, 'Transportes Coahuila y Chihuahua' narrative and characteristics table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Mexican Navy record for this hull's post-USN service: the transport Coahuila performed transport duties and made cadet training voyages for the Heroica Escuela Naval Militar, the first in 1974 designated 'Norteamerica 74' - Veracruz to Norfolk, Annapolis, and New Orleans, also calling at Tampico, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, and Coatzacoalcos. Section characteristics table (Coahuila/Chihuahua): 1,400 tons (2,130 full load), 93.3 m length, 20 kt / 13 kt cruising, 2,500 nm at 15 kt, two GE turbo-electric sets at 12,000 shp, two Foster-Wheeler type-'D' boilers with integral superheater ('Dos Foster-Weeler, tipo D con recalentador integral'), one 4-inch/38 Mk 30 gun, six 20 mm, crew 204 plus 162 troops.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1969-2001 (Mexican service; documented voyage 1974)
- Population
- Mexican Navy crews and embarked naval-academy cadets, 1970s
- Limitations
- Official operator-nation source confirming extended Mexican service of this hull as transport Coahuila into the mid-1970s; does not state acquisition or disposal dates and contains no asbestos or material-content information. The boiler-manufacturer attribution (Foster Wheeler) conflicts with the class-profile navypedia per-block map (Babcock & Wilcox for the DE-161 build block) and with the NavSource class spec block (Combustion Engineering) - unresolved, carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-03
-
[4]NavSource Naval History, USS Barber (APD-57) ex DE-161 pages (Amphibious Photo Archive 10/04/04057 and Destroyer Escort Photo Archive 06/161): building/operational data, specifications, campaign credits, commanding-officer roster, Mexican disposition detail [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/04/04057 (APD-57 page: specifications, campaign tables) and 06/161 (DE-161 page: building and operational data, photo captions incl. U.S. Navy photo NHS-112-C dated 20 May 1943 showing hull under construction)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compilation for this hull: keel laid 27 April 1943 at Norfolk Navy Yard; launched (DE page building data reads 30 May 1943; APD page reads 20 May 1943); christened and commissioned 10 October 1943, Lt. Eugene T. B. Sullivan; reclassified APD-57 23 October 1944, converted at Philadelphia Navy Yard; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs (DE page 22 May 1946; APD page 22 March 1946 - internal inconsistency); struck from the Naval Register 27 November 1968; transferred to Mexico 17 February 1969 as ARM Coahuila (B-07); sold to Mexico 22 December 1969; renamed Vincente Guerrero (E-21) at a later date; struck from the Mexican Naval Register 16 July 2001; final disposition 'fate unknown'. Campaign credits: TG 21.15 and sinking of U-488 26 April 1944; Okinawa Gunto operation 10 May-30 June 1945; occupation service Far East 4 October-18 November 1945; three battle stars. APD class spec block: 2 'D' Express boilers 435 psi/750 F (block reads Combustion Engineering), 2 GE turbines turbo-electric 12,000 shp; ship's company 12 officers/192 enlisted plus troop accommodations 12 officers/150 enlisted; 4 LCVPs; one 5"/38.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-2001
- Population
- Wartime and reserve-era crew; Mexican Navy crews 1969-2001
- Limitations
- NavSource is a non-government photo archive compiling official photographs, DANFS text, and contributor data - a reputable secondary compilation, not a .gov record. Its internally inconsistent launch (20 vs 30 May) and decommission (22 March vs 22 May) dates are carried in gaps, with DANFS values controlling (24 May 1943 launch per NHHC online; 22 May 1946 decommissioning). The 17 February 1969 'transfer' and 16 July 2001 Mexican strike rest on contributor data; NHHC DANFS records only the 22 December 1969 sale. The APD specification block is Charles Lawrence-class-level text shared across pages, not hull-specific.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-04
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), destroyer-escort design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + GAO HRD-80-2 program context [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 DE design-group table (shipscribe scan); class-f/buckley-class.class.json background; GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch, HTTP 403 - content via product-page description)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: a 1943 wartime-built Buckley-class (TE) destroyer escort with a full steam plant - two 'D' Express boilers at 435 psi/750 F feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3) - would have carried period-standard asbestos applications: boiler and steam-line insulation, pipe lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings. The October 1944-January 1945 APD conversion at Philadelphia Navy Yard - a yard whose Atlas dataset entry documents tier-3 asbestos product use - added troop berthing and landing-craft weight in a documented re-work period, but its material scope is undocumented. GAO HRD-80-2 records that Navy policy removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or needed for repairs (1975 policy, modified 1979): this hull left U.S. custody in December 1969, before any systematic substitution program - so original-era materials plausibly remained aboard into Mexican service.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-2001
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1943; Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion workers 1944-45; wartime crew; Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet maintenance 1946-1969; Mexican Navy crews and yard workers 1969-2001
- Limitations
- Class/era and design-plant inference only - establishes no ship-specific asbestos content, no quantities, and no exposure for any individual aboard this hull. No BuShips material schedule, ship-specific specification, asbestos survey, or abatement record for DE-161/APD-57 was located; NARA RG 19 contract files and per-vessel General Information Books are the archival lead. Mexican-era refits (1969-2001) are undocumented - original materials may have been replaced by non-U.S. work.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-26: opinion search "USS Barber" asbestos (0 results); RECAP docket search "USS Barber" (with and without asbestos: 2 dockets, 5 documents); opinion search "DE-161" (49 results, all docket-entry-number noise); opinion search "APD-57" (1 result, 1913 contract case - OCR collision); RECAP docket search "APD-57" (1 docket, Epps v. City and County of Denver civil-rights class action - Aurora Police Department noise, no vessel or asbestos nexus) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-barber-apd57-06 through -08; Lyautey complaint PDF text layer, ship-list paragraphs
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation and no litigation of any kind naming this hull was located. Classification of hits: the two RECAP dockets matching "USS Barber" - IN RE: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL No. 875 (J.P.M.L.) and Lyautey v. Alfa Laval, Inc., 1:10-cv-22891 (S.D. Fla., removed to MDL-875) - resolve on document review to 'USS Barber County' (LST-1095) entries inside the plaintiff's ship list, a name collision with this record's hull. Verified by pulling the 96-page Lyautey complaint PDF (RECAP gov.uscourts.flsd.362992.33.1): every 'Barber' string in the document is 'USS Barber County'. All 49 "DE-161" opinion hits are '(DE 161)' docket-entry-number citations, not vessel references; the single "APD-57" opinion hit is a 1913 Arkansas contract case (OCR noise) and the single "APD-57" docket hit is a Colorado civil-rights class action (Aurora Police Department noise) - neither references the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26 (index coverage: opinions and RECAP dockets)
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes published opinions and RECAP dockets; state-court filings and asbestos-trust claims outside those indexes are not covered, so absence of a hit does not prove no claim was ever filed. The collision is classified, not ignored: 'USS Barber County' (LST-1095, a different hull) is the only 'Barber' vessel reference located in the indexed record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-06
-
[7]Batch-2443 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback), print-DANFS mirror, NavSource DE-161/APD-57 pages, DVIDS/NNSY photo, SEMAR official book, CourtListener name and hull sweeps, NVR, NARA leads, VA BVA search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-barber-apd57-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no hull insulation survey, no abatement or remediation contract, no product-identification document, no museum hazmat disclosure (the hull was sold to Mexico and its post-2001 fate is unreported - no preservation record exists), and no litigation naming the vessel in the sources searched (see search_ledger). This is consistent with the class-profile finding that no ship-specific asbestos record has been located for any of the 148 Buckley-class hulls. A VA Board of Veterans' Appeals full-text search returned no decision naming DE-161/APD-57.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 steam-plant escort is era-consistent with standard asbestos applications, and the hull passed to Mexico with no surviving survey trail. Does not establish or defeat any claim of individual exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-barber-apd57-07