Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet 750-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-bivin-de536-pkt-750-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Bivin (DE-536) (builder, dates, service narrative, striking and disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; corroborated by hazegray.org DANFS mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specification block + service narrative + bracketed post-entry disposition note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 7 December 1943 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. Ella Florence Bivin; commissioned 31 October 1944, Lt. Comdr. M. Kelly in command; departed Boston 1 February 1945 for the Pacific Fleet, arriving Seeadler Harbor, Manus, 20 March; escorted a convoy from Kossol Roads (Palau) to Leyte, then patrolled and escorted convoys in the Philippines; August-November 1945 escorted convoys Philippines-Okinawa with one Hong Kong trip; returned to San Pedro 17 December 1945 and reported to the 19th Fleet; out of commission in reserve 15 January 1947; struck from the Navy list 30 June 1968; sunk as a target off Southern California 17 July 1969. Spec block: 1,350 t, 306 ft, 36'8" beam, 13'4" draft, 24 kt, complement 186, two 5-inch guns, John C. Butler class. Namesake S1c Vernard Eugene Bivin, posthumous Navy Cross, killed aboard USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) at Cape Esperance 12 October 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1969
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry omits the keel-laying date (carried from NavSource's NVR-derived chronology; see gaps). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; hazegray.org mirror carries identical text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-01
-
[3]NHHC Modern Biographical Files, John Forrest Floberg biographical file (official Navy biographical summary; history.navy.mil content/dam PDF mirrored in the Naval Historical Foundation's Floberg package) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Floberg biographical file, service chronology paragraph (XO designation Aug 1945; command Oct 1945-Mar 1946)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy's official biographical file for John Forrest Floberg records that in August 1945 he was designated Executive Officer of USS Bivin (DE-536), assumed command in October 1945 with promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and remained in command until March 1946 - independently corroborating the hull's late-war and immediate postwar commissioned service window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- Ship's officers/crew, Oct 1945-Mar 1946
- Limitations
- Personnel record only - corroborates the ship's identity and command chronology; contains no materials, condition, or asbestos information. The NHHC-hosted PDF URL returned 404 to automated fetch on 2026-09-28 though the content is indexed; the identical document is hosted in the Naval Historical Foundation's public Floberg package.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (NAVSHIPS 250-010, Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + Atlas shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard' (tier 3; John Crane gasket litigation at the builder yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, row 6; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull is a John C. Butler-class (BuShips design group 6, WGT) destroyer escort built at the Boston Navy Yard 1943-44; the group-6 steam plant per BuShips Ships' Data 1945 is two 'D' express boilers (435 psi/750 deg F) with Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, two shafts. A steam plant of this vintage carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, and packing. Builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (boston-naval-shipyard, tier 3) including litigation identifying John Crane gasket/sealing materials at the yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - the ship-specific history for this hull (ev-01, ev-02) contains no materials data, and no ship-specific asbestos record was located (ev-05, ev-06). The boiler-make assignment for the DE-531-554 block (Babcock & Wilcox per the navypedia block map) is a secondary compilation unverified against contract documents. Establishes era-typical applications, not presence aboard this hull, quantities, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-03
-
[5]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537, exhibit list ECF 738 att. 1 (class-level litigation naming sister hull USS Brannon, DE-446) [court_record]
- Locator
- Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738.1 exhibit list (insulation-spec entries); class profile ev-john-c-butler-class-04
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation materials for sister hull USS Brannon (DE-446, John C. Butler class) identify the era's controlling Navy insulation documentation suite: 'Bureau of Ships Manual, Chapter 39, Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250000(39), dated 24 August 1945'; 'Navy Department Specification, Felt, Insulating, Asbestos, 32F3a, dated 15 October 1945'; BuEng Manual ch. 13 'Instructions Relative to Heat Insulation' (rev. 1933/repr. 1939); and a 1977 BUMED memo on occupational health. These are the correct primary targets for class-level material documentation for all WGT hulls including this one.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1933-1977 (documents); litigation 2017-2019
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Exhibit-list identifications from litigation concerning a different hull (DE-446) - the underlying spec documents were not retrieved in this session, and nothing in them is ship-specific to DE-536. Context/archival lead only; establishes the era spec framework, not installation aboard this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches, 2026-09-28: "USS Bivin" type=o (0 results); "USS Bivin" type=r RECAP (0 results); "DE-536" type=o (8 results, all name collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-bivin-de536-03 through sl-uss-bivin-de536-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation naming this hull was located. Exact-name searches for 'USS Bivin' returned zero opinions and zero RECAP dockets. The hull-number query 'DE-536' returned eight opinions, none of which is an asbestos or naval-vessel exposure case - all are name collisions on case identity (the token appears as an exhibit/form/document number in tax, immigration, criminal, insurance, and commercial matters): Powell v. Carey International (S.D. Fla. 2008); Fillingham v. United States (5th Cir. 2017); United States v. Montarico Johnson (7th Cir. 2014); Rodriguez Galicia v. Gonzales (7th Cir. 2005); Ernst & Young v. Depositors Economic Protection Corp. (1st Cir. 1995); Golden Door Jewelry Creations v. Lloyds Underwriters (S.D. Fla. 1991); Interocean Shipping Co. v. National Shipping and Trading Corp. (2d Cir. 1975); Cobb v. Callan Court Co. (5th Cir. 1960).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (search date)
- Limitations
- Collision classification is at case-metadata level (case names, courts, dates, matter types); opinion full texts were not retrieved this session due to fleet-wide CourtListener pacing limits. No index covers every jurisdiction - absence of a located docket does not prove no filing ever existed, and state-court and PACER-only matters are under-covered.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-05
-
[7]Batch-4368 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (via transcription mirrors), NHHC officer biographical file, NavSource archive, hazegray Boston Naval Shipyard production record, shipscribe BuShips Ships' Data 1945, Atlas shipyards dataset, CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-bivin-de536-01 through sl-uss-bivin-de536-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, product inventory, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Bivin / DE-536 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sunk as a target off Southern California on 17 July 1969 - no extant fabric exists to survey, and no pre-sinking materials-removal documentation was located.
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam-plant hull of this class is era-consistent with asbestos applications (ev-03), but nothing here is ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. NARA holdings (deck logs, Boston Navy Yard work records) were not searched this session and remain archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bivin-de536-06