Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 764-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-begor-de711-pkt-764-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Begor (APD-127) (namesake biography, construction/reclassification, service narrative through Korean service and 1954 Passage to Freedom, five battle stars; verbatim transcription via hazegray - live NHHC page serves 404; Wayback capture of the hazegray transcription verified 2026-09-29) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + namesake paragraph + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: originally DE-711, reclassified APD-127 on 17 July 1944 and converted to a high-speed transport during construction; launched 25 May 1944 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich., sponsored by Mrs. F. B. Begor (widow of the namesake); commissioned 14 March 1945, LCDR B. T. Brooks, USNR. Pacific Fleet: Pearl Harbor 30 May 1945; convoy escort among the Marshall, Caroline, and Philippine Islands June-August; Guam 17 August; departed 20 August with UDT-21 embarked; joined 3rd Fleet for the occupation of Japan; Sagami Wan 27 August; frogmen reconnoitered the occupation landing beaches 30 August; Yokosuka Naval Dock Yard demilitarization and dock surveys; departed for the United States 25 September, San Diego 21 October 1945. West-coast operations to June 1946, then Bikini Atoll as drone control vessel for the atomic bomb tests (Operation Crossroads); returned October; Far East cruises July 1947-February 1948 and August-December 1949. Two Korean tours: 7 December 1950-September 1951 (Hungnam Evacuation 9-24 December; UDTs and British Commandos landed behind enemy lines for reconnaissance and demolition) and 14 November 1952-12 August 1953 (patrol and UDT operations; post-Armistice prisoner-of-war exchange). July 1954-March 1955 Far East cruise including Vietnamese 'Passage to Freedom' 16 August-30 September. Five battle stars for Korean service. Spec block: dp. 1,450; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 13'; s. 24 k.; cpl. 256; a. 1 5"; cl. Crosley. Namesake: Lt. (j.g.) Fay Broughton Begor, MC, USNR (b. 15 October 1916, Moriah, N.Y.; M.D. McGill; KIA aboard a landing craft in the Pacific 9 September 1943; posthumous Navy Cross).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1955 (narrative); hull in service to 1962
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; wartime and postwar crew (cpl. 256 per DANFS); embarked UDT and troop detachments
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 (documented link-rot pattern); verbatim hazegray transcription cited via its Wayback capture (2024-12-01). DANFS entry ends with the 1954-55 cruise and battle-star total; decommissioning, redesignation, strike, and disposal post-date the entry and are carried from NavSource (ev-03). No laid-down date in DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-01
-
[3]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images (verbatim Naval Historical Center transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio): 'The Hungnam Evacuation, December 1950 - Final Embarkation & Demolition, 24 December 1950' photo captions naming this hull [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library event page, captions for photo nos. 80-G-424297, 80-G-K-11769/70/71 (also 80-G-426403 and NH 107583 per NavSource attribution)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official U.S. Navy photograph captions (Naval Historical Center Online Library, mirrored verbatim) document this hull at the demolition of Hungnam on the last day of the evacuation, 24 December 1950: 80-G-424297 - 'USS Begor (APD-127) stands offshore, ready to embark the last U.N. landing craft, as demolition charges wreck Hungnam's port facilities'; 80-G-K-11769, -K-11770, -K-11771 (color) - Begor and a motor launch standing by as demolition charges destroy the port facilities; NavSource additionally attributes photo NH 107583 to NHHC and 80-G-426403 to the National Archives for the same scene. All images 'Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-12-24
- Population
- Begor crew and embarked Navy demolition team, 24 December 1950
- Limitations
- Photo captions document the vessel's presence and role at Hungnam on 24 December 1950 - a service-history confirmation, not materials or asbestos evidence. Mirrored transcription cited because live NHHC Online Library pages under history.navy.mil have documented link rot.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-02
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[4]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Begor (LPR-127) ex-(APD-127) (construction designation, chronology, occupation/China service dates, JTF-1 task-unit assignment, Korean campaign table, commanding-officer roster, disposition, specifications) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-127 page - chronology block, awards/occupation table, Korean War campaign table, specifications block, commanding-officers table, photo captions (incl. ex-ship moored at Mare Island Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 6 March 1944 as Begor (DE-711), a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; launched 25 May 1944; redesignated a Crosley-class high-speed transport while under construction; commissioned 14 March 1945, LCDR Benjamin T. Brooks, USNR. WWII assignment TransDiv One Hundred Six, CAPT F. W. Schmidt, USN; Navy Occupation service 2-30 September 1945 and China service across four periods (24 July 1947-5 March 1948; 14 June-19 July 1949; 5 August-27 September 1949; 6 November-2 December 1949); assigned to Joint Task Force 1, Task Unit 1.1.3 (Technical Group - Drone Boat Unit) for Operation Crossroads, Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Korean War campaign table: Communist China Aggression (13-24 December 1950); First UN Counter Offensive (1 March-7 April 1951); Communist China Spring Offensive (27 April-9 May, 28 May-14 June, 25 June-11 July 1951); Third Korean Winter (15 December 1952-16 April 1953 periods); Korea Summer-Fall 1953 (7-17 May, 12 July, 27 July 1953). Decommissioned 1959 (chronology bullet reads 13 May 1959; commanding-officer roster shows LCDR Kleber in command to 20 July 1959 and 'Decommissioned 20 July 1959 - 20 November 1961'); laid up Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group; recommissioned 20 November 1961 (LCDR Sumner Gurney, USN); decommissioned 13 July 1962; designation changed to Amphibious Transport, Small (LPR-127) 1 January 1969; struck from the Naval Register 15 May 1975; sold for scrapping 6 December 1976 for $60,000 to National Metal & Steel Corp., Terminal Island, CA. Specs: 1,630 t (lt) / 2,130 t (fl); 306' x 37' x 12'7"; 23.6 kt trial; complement 12 officers + 192 enlisted plus troop accommodations 12 officers/150 enlisted; propulsion two 'Babcox and Wilcox' [Babcock & Wilcox] 'D' Express boilers (435 psi, 750 F), two GE turbines (turbo-electric drive), 12,000 shp, two shafts; armament one 5"/38 DP, three twin 40mm, six single 20mm, two depth-charge tracks; four LCVP.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1976
- Population
- Defoe construction trades 1944-45; crew 1945-59 and 1961-62; embarked UDT/commando detachments; National Metal & Steel scrapping workforce 1976-77
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation citing official records, NHHC/NARA photo captions, and the DANFS text - not itself a primary document. The 1959 decommissioning date is internally inconsistent on the page (bullet 13 May vs. roster/disposition 20 July; 20 July is corroborated by the DANFS-derived narrative) - conflict carried in gaps. Post-1959 events are outside DANFS coverage; the strike and sale dates rest on this compilation of Naval Register data (the online NVR does not cover pre-1987 disposals). Documents operations and machinery, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-03
-
[5]Bert C. Brennan, 'Fighting Ships from Bay City,' Inland Seas, July 1945 (republished by the National Museum of the Great Lakes) - contemporaneous account of the Defoe Shipbuilding DE/APD program during this hull's construction window [other_primary]
- Locator
- NMGL republication of the July 1945 Inland Seas article (Defoe yard description, DE/APD program paragraphs, delivery-route narrative)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous (July 1945) account of this hull's builder during her construction period: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, employed ~4,000 and by mid-1945 had produced seventeen destroyer escorts plus 'auxiliary personnel destroyers (APD)' among ~135 wartime hulls; describes the Defoe DE/APD as powered by 'steam turbo-electric drive, oil fired express type boilers' with 5.6 miles of pipe, ~105 miles of single-conductor wire, 2,010 valves, 2,650 pipe flanges, and 9,018 pipe fittings; documents the 'roll-over' inverted-build method and the delivery route down the Mississippi to New Orleans 'where the ship is refitted, handed over to the Navy and commissioned' - the pattern consistent with this hull's commissioning (location not stated in DANFS).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding workforce (~4,000 employees, 1941-45); Booth civilian delivery crews
- Limitations
- Program-level journalism contemporary with construction - documents the builder, machinery type, build method, and delivery/commissioning pattern for the Defoe DE/APD program, not this hull individually and not materials; contains no asbestos statement. Defoe Shipbuilding is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset (37 yard_ids checked) - the missing yard is carried in gaps rather than mapped.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-04
-
[6]NavSource APD-127 propulsion block (2 'Babcox and Wilcox' [Babcock & Wilcox] 'D' Express boilers, 435 psi/750 F; 2 GE turbines, turbo-electric drive; 12,000 shp) + USS Begor Association history (reads 'Combustion Engineering DR boilers'; conversion topside description) + contemporaneous Defoe program account (NMGL, July 1945: steam turbo-electric drive, oil-fired express boilers) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-127 specifications block; USS Begor Association history page via Wayback (2018 capture); NMGL Inland Seas July 1945
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Crosley-class high-speed transport completed March 1945 on a Rudderow-class destroyer-escort hull, with a turbo-electric steam plant (two oil-fired express-type boilers, two GE turbines, 12,000 shp), would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler insulation, turbine lagging, steam-line and pipe lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck coverings, and bulkhead insulation. The APD conversion during construction (topside bulkheads extended, troop berthing spaces added, davits and LCVPs fitted - per the ship association's account) is an additional period insulation-installation context. No documented naval-shipyard repair availability for this hull was located (the only naval-yard presence documented is an undated photo of the ex-ship moored at the Mare Island inactive-ship facility - storage, not a work availability). NARA RG19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' and Defoe build records are archival leads for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1976
- Population
- Defoe construction trades 1944-45; crew and embarked troops 1945-62
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos row exists in this record. Boiler manufacturer conflicts between compilations (NavSource 'Babcock & Wilcox D Express' vs. ship-association 'Combustion Engineering DR') - both are 'D'-type express boilers; conflict carried in gaps. The association history is a veterans' compilation, not an official record. NARA GIB and Defoe material schedules not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-05
-
[7]Batch-4492 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 sweeps for "USS Begor", "Begor", "Begor" + asbestos, "DE-711", "APD-127" across opinion and RECAP docket indexes - see search_ledger for per-query disposition [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-begor-de711-06 through -12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No adjudicated or clearly qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Opinion index: "USS Begor" = 0 hits; "Begor" = 14 hits, all surname collisions (a N.Y. workers'-comp claimant; suits naming Equifax CEO Mark Begor; incidental mentions) - none vessel-related; "DE-711" = 12 hits, all statute/serial-number collisions; "APD-127" = 0 hits. Docket index: "USS Begor" = 1 hit (MDL-875 tag-along attachment - see ev-07); "Begor" + asbestos = 10 hits (MDL-875 tag-along notices plus Begor-surname collisions incl. pro se complaints naming Equifax CEO Mark Begor and bankruptcy claim registers); "Begor" = 195 hits, all surname collisions; "DE-711" = 65 hits, all form/exhibit-number collisions; "APD-127" = 1 hit (police-report number in a landlord-tenant case - collision).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of located litigation does not prove absence of exposure or of asbestos aboard. Public court indexes omit non-indexed state-court filings, settled cases, bankruptcy trust claims, and matters resolved without a filed opinion. 'Begor' is a working surname (Equifax CEO Mark Begor generates many modern collisions) - hull-number or service-window confirmation is required before any future hit is attributed to this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-06
-
[8]In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL No. 875 (J.P.M.L. docket 1245688), Notice of Potential Tag-Along doc. 6716-4 (filed 2011-02-09) - bundles complaint and docket sheet for Carter et al v. A.W. Chesterton Co. et al, N.D. Cal. 3:10-cv-05959 (state filing CGC-10-275695) [court_record]
- Locator
- MDL-875 docket 1245688, document entry 6716, attachment 4 (2011-02-09); underlying case N.D. Cal. 3:10-cv-05959-TEH
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The string 'USS Begor' appears inside a 41-page RECAP attachment to an MDL-875 notice of potential tag-along filed 2011-02-09 by counsel for Rockwell Automation, Inc. The attachment packages complaint and docket materials for two Northern District of California asbestos cases (3:10-cv-05958 and 3:10-cv-05959, the latter Carter et al v. A.W. Chesterton Co. et al, removed from San Francisco Superior). A vessel name surfacing inside an asbestos complaint bundle most plausibly reflects the complaint's exposure-vessel list, but the mention's role - pleaded exposure site versus incidental list or service-history reference - could not be verified from the search index (the document's stored text snippet shows only the docket-sheet face page; the attachment page itself returns 403 to automated fetch).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2010-2011 (litigation); exposure window unverified
- Population
- Unverified - Carter plaintiff(s), U.S. Navy service window not established from index
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage material only, classified at the less-final stage: even if 'USS Begor' is the complaint's exposure-site allegation, a complaint alleges - it does not adjudicate - exposure aboard this hull. No merits disposition regarding this vessel was located. Retrieval of the full attachment text via the underlying N.D. Cal. docket (3:10-cv-05959, PACER) is the open archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-begor-de711-07