Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet ii-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-baron-de166-pkt-ii-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS Vol. I (1959; reprint with corrections 1970), 'Baron' entry, Naval History Division/GPO - text verified against the Internet Archive scan of the print edition (live NHHC page 404; hazegray mirror carries OCR date errors) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I, 'Baron' entry (A-B section, escort vessels); archive.org djvu text lines ~21863-21913
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: (DE-166; dp. 1240; l. 306'; b. 36'8"; dr. 11'8"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 3 21" TT.; cl. Cannon). Launched 9 May 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J., sponsored by Mrs. Anne P. Baron, widow of Lieutenant Commander Richard S. Baron (Navy Cross for recovering classified documents under bombardment at Cavite 10 Dec 1941; killed 15 Mar 1942, bombing of Cebu City); commissioned 5 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. D. McVicker, USNR, in command. Departed New York 8 Sep 1943 for the Pacific; Oct 1943-Aug 1944 convoy escort among South Central Pacific island groups; screen/fire support at Hollandia landings (21-24 Apr 1944), Truk-Satawan-Ponape raid (29 Apr-1 May), Saipan invasion (20 Jun-11 Jul), capture of Guam (22-29 Jul). Mare Island Navy Yard overhaul from 7 Sep 1944; early Nov 1944 reported to Commander, Submarine Training, Pacific - submarine training exercises off Pearl Harbor and Guam through May 1945; remainder of war in the Marshall Islands on hunter-killer, air-sea rescue, patrol, escort duties. Ordered 27 Aug 1945 to Maloelap, Wotje, Jaluit for Japanese garrison surrenders (completed by 6 Sep); at Wotje until 18 Sep supervising disarmament; San Diego 29 Sep; New York 14 Oct. Out of commission in reserve 26 Apr 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla.; transferred to Uruguay under MDAP 3 May 1952. Three battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1952
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime crew (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Print edition carries no keel-laying date (NavSource supplies 30 Nov 1942 - separate row). Widely mirrored hazegray transcription garbles dates ('1948' for 1943, '1962' for 1952) and the hull number ('DE-116') - the print scan controls; discrepancies logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-01
-
[3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Baron (DE 166) building/operational data and photo captions (US Navy photos incl. 20 Oct 1944 Mare Island plan views) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/166.htm - building/operational data block and CO table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: keel laid 30 November 1942 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Port Newark, N.J.; launched and christened 9 May 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Anne Pl. Baron); commissioned 5 July 1943, Lcdr. D. McVicker USNR; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. 26 April 1946 after 2 years and 9 2/3 months of service; struck from the NVR 14 May 1952; transferred to Uruguay under MDAP 3 May 1952, renamed ROU Uruguay (DE-1); NavSource dates the Uruguayan disposal 'struck and scrapped in 1990' (see limitations). Commanding officer list provided (McVicker; Stewart; Dickerson; Egan; Mulski; Wilson).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1995
- Population
- Construction trades 1942-43; USN crew 1943-46
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (volunteer photo archive) - keel date and the 14 May 1952 NVR strike are not in DANFS and rest on NavSource plus consistent secondary sources. NavSource's 'struck and scrapped in 1990' conflicts with documented Uruguayan press: the ship was sunk as a target 27 Feb 1995, not scrapped; carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Cannon class; 21 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset records 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (tier 2: USMC/Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny NJ, Aug 30-Sep 2 1944 - Johns-Manville Superex amosite pipe covering dominant at yard) and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (tier 2 asbestos-era yard); navypedia DET design table (4 GM 16-278A diesel-generator sets, electric drive, 6,000 shp, ~21 kt) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json records 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'; navypedia us_de_det.htm machinery table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Cannon-class destroyer escort built 1942-43 at Federal Shipbuilding's Kearny/Port Newark yard would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-electric ship - exhaust insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings, and deck coverings - but no boilers or steam-line lagging (DET = diesel-electric tandem plant, 4 GM 16-278A sets, electric drive, ~6,000 shp, 21 kt). The builder yard is independently documented: a U.S. Maritime Commission / Owens-Illinois industrial health survey of the Kearny yard (Aug 30-Sep 2, 1944) identifies Johns-Manville Superex amosite pipe covering as the dominant pipe insulation in use during wartime construction, with insulators cutting and fitting product in confined spaces - 13 months after this hull's delivery but squarely in the yard's wartime asbestos era. The Sep-Nov 1944 overhaul was performed at Mare Island Navy Yard, also a documented tier-2 asbestos-era yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1990
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers Sep-Nov 1944; USN crew 1943-46; Uruguayan crew 1952-90
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 Kearny survey postdates this hull's construction by ~13 months; it documents yard practice, not this ship's fitout. The diesel-electric plant means the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-03
-
[5]Vision Maritima (Uruguay), 'El final del Destructor ROU Uruguay: A 30 anos de su hundimiento' (2025-02-24); Teledoce (Uruguay), 'El Falkor localizo el barco Destructor ROU Uruguay (DE-1)' (2025-08-29); pilot memoir pilotoviejo.com 'El hundimiento del DE1 ROU Uruguay' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- visionmaritima.com.uy article (2025-02-24); teledoce.com article (2025-08-29); pilotoviejo.com memoir
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-USN disposition for this hull: as ROU Uruguay (DE-1) she served the Armada Nacional 1952-1990 alongside sister DE-2 Artigas (ex-USS Bronstein DE-189). Retired after low scrap bids, she was disposed of as a target: on 27 February 1995, ~140 nautical miles off Laguna del Sauce/Cabo Santa Maria (Rocha coast), she survived three hours of frigate gunnery and was finally sunk by three 57-mm rocket hits from a Beechcraft B-200T of the Aviacion Naval, sinking in 11 minutes in >1,000 m of water - the first sinking by a Uruguayan naval aircraft. Her exact wreck position was unknown until 29 August 2025, when R/V Falkor's ROV SuBastian located the hull intact on the seabed at ~1,150-1,160 m during a live-broadcast deep-sea survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1952-2025
- Population
- Uruguayan Navy crew 1952-1990; disposal/exercise participants Feb 1995; Falkor science team Aug 2025
- Limitations
- Press and memoir accounts, not official records; the sinking narrative is consistent across three independent Uruguayan sources and the wreck locate is documented by Teledoce with Schmidt Ocean Institute's Falkor. 'Served until 1990' conflicts with an unsourced secondary claim of a ~1980 decommissioning - carried in gaps. The intact sunken hull means no scrapping/abatement exposure event occurred at disposal, but also that materials aboard were never inventoried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 searches (authenticated, fleet-paced): 'USS Baron' type=o (0 hits); 'USS Baron' type=r (0 dockets); 'DE-166' type=o (42 hits, all collisions); 'DE-166' type=r (627 dockets, all collisions); 'Baron' asbestos type=o (463 hits, 0 qualifying) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search endpoint, queries as cited; Lee v. Certainteed opinion 7315084 (doc-entry cite pattern visible in returned snippet)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-28): 'USS Baron' (type=o) returned 0 hits and (type=r) returned 0 dockets - no published opinion or indexed docket names the vessel. 'DE-166' (type=o) returned 42 hits, all identifier collisions: 'DE 166' Document Entry citations and Puerto Rico/Florida docket-number strings in unrelated matters; the only asbestos-defendant case in the set, Lee v. Certainteed Corp., 123 F. Supp. 3d 780 (E.D.N.C. 2015), matches on docket-entry cites ('(DE 151) ... (DE 166)') - classified non-qualifying. 'DE-166' (type=r) returned 627 dockets - the same document-entry string inside filing text across unrelated civil/criminal matters; none vessel-related. 'Baron' + asbestos (type=o) returned 463 hits dominated by Baron & Budd, P.C. (the asbestos plaintiffs' firm named in hundreds of captions and committee disputes) and surname 'Baron' parties - no qualifying hit naming this hull. Classification: no qualifying asbestos litigation for DE-166 located; collisions are surname/law-firm/docket-number, not another hull (DE-166 is the only post-1920 U.S. Navy ship named Baron).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- litigation index through 2026-09-28
- Population
- No vessel-identified plaintiffs located
- Limitations
- Sweep result, not a merits finding: type=o coverage supports 'no published opinion names this hull', and type=r found no indexed docket text naming it - but pleadings that were never filed into RECAP-indexed federal dockets (state-court complaints, MDL-875 claimant lists not naming the hull in searchable text) would not surface. Uruguayan-service claims (1952-1990) would not appear in U.S. court indexes at all.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-05
-
[7]Batch-4078 search ledger (this record): DANFS GPO print scan; NavSource; Uruguayan press; Atlas shipyard dataset; CourtListener exact-name, hull-number, and surname sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-baron-de166-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-166: no hull ACM survey (impossible - hull sunk intact 1995, wreck at ~1,160 m), no abatement or hazmat disclosure (no scrapping event ever occurred), no material schedule, and no qualifying asbestos case names the vessel in CourtListener opinion or docket indexes. The only documentation bearing on asbestos aboard this hull is class/era inference (DET diesel-electric design) and builder/overhaul yard records (Federal Kearny 1944 industrial health survey; Mare Island 1944 overhaul window).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era materials would have been standard at build; it means no source located documents them for this hull. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. NARA RG 19 construction records / any DE-166 General Information Book remain unsurveyed archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-baron-de166-06