USS Bray (APD-139)

Evidence

7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).

1. [1]research packet ai-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-bray-apd139-pkt-ai-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Bray (DE-709) entry by Raymond A. Mann (13 December 2005; NHHC page published 2016) - namesake biography, spec block, service narrative, disposal - canonical NHHC text via Wayback 2025-02-21 capture; live page returns 404 (canonical URL confirmed extant in Wayback captures 2021-2025); earlier verbatim transcription via hazegray Wayback capture [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC DANFS bray-i.html via Wayback 2025-02-21 (spec block + narrative + namesake bio); hazegray de709.htm via Wayback 2013-03-24 (earlier transcription)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: laid down 27 January 1944 at Bay City, Mich., by Defoe Shipbuilding Co.; launched 15 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Mattie M. Bray; ferried down the Mississippi to New Orleans, delivered to the Navy 1 September 1944, commissioned 4 September 1944 (Comdr. James A. Heatherington III, USNR). Shakedown steamed through the hurricane that sank Warrington (DD-383); joined Escort Division 12, Atlantic Fleet; Norfolk-based destroyer/DE crew training with ASW patrols and New London submarine-training voyages from mid-January 1945; 19 March 1945 damage-control party saved the sinking Heroic (AMc-84) in Chesapeake Bay; April 1945 escorted bomb-damaged Franklin (CV-13) into New York. Entered Charleston Navy Yard late July 1945 for conversion to a high-speed transport; redesignated APD-139 on 16 July 1945; conversion completed late September; school-ship duty at Miami; arrived Green Cove Springs 7 December 1945; decommissioned 10 May 1946, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Struck 1 June 1960 in anticipation of sale to Ecuador as a floating power plant; sale failed; sunk as a target 26 March 1963. Spec block: dp 1,450; l. 306'0"; b. 37'0"; dr. 13'9"; s. 23.6 k (tl.); cpl. 221; a. 2 5", 6 40mm., 6 20mm., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.), 2 dct.; cl. Rudderow. Namesake: Cpl. Raymond Leon Bray, USMC, b. Greenville, Tex. 1 April 1918, KIA Gavutu 7 August 1942, posthumous Navy Cross. The earlier DANFS text (hazegray transcription) additionally records late-1944 ASW operations off Long Island, a collision with submarine Cuttlefish (SS-171) on 8 December, and repairs at Boston Navy Yard - details the 2016 entry omits; see gaps.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1963

   Population

   Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; crew (design complement 221); embarked troops up to 162 in APD configuration

   Limitations

   DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Yard periods (Boston Navy Yard repair; Charleston Navy Yard conversion) are documented as events; the work performed and materials involved are not described. The collision and Boston repair appear only in the earlier DANFS transcription. Mirror/Wayback citations used because the live NHHC page returns 404.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-01

3. [3]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Bray (APD-139) page and Destroyer Escort Photo Archive DE-709 page - registry chronology, DE and APD spec blocks, commanding-officer list, awards, photo captions (circa-1947 Green Cove Springs mothball-fleet photo naming this hull) [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net/archives/10/04/04139.htm (chronology + 'APD Specifications' block + photo 100413901) and navsource.org/archives/06/709.htm (DE chronology + spec block + CO list)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Registry chronology corroborating DANFS for this hull: laid down 27 January 1944 as Bray (DE-709), Rudderow class, at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; launched 15 April 1944; commissioned 4 September 1944 at Naval Station New Orleans; reclassified Crosley-class APD-139 on 16 July 1945 during conversion at Charleston Navy Yard; decommissioned 10 May 1946 at Green Cove Springs; laid up Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group; struck 1 June 1960; sunk as a target (APD page reads 27 March 1963; DE index reads 26 March 1963 - conflict carried). APD spec block: two Babcock & Wilcox 'D' Express-type boilers, 435 psi/750F; GE turbo-electric drive; 12,000 shp; 2 shafts; 23.6 kt trial; complement 12 officers + 192 enlisted; troops 12 officers + 150 enlisted; 4 LCVPs; one 5"/38, three twin 40mm, six 20mm, two depth-charge tracks (DE page reads '2 CE boilers' - maker conflict carried). Awards block lists only the American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal - no battle stars. A circa-1947 U.S. Navy photo documents this hull laid up at Green Cove Springs among six other APDs.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1963

   Population

   crew 12 officers + 192 enlisted; embarked troops up to 162

   Limitations

   NavSource is a private registry/photo-archive compilation - secondary, not an official source; dates corroborate DANFS and BGSU. Its own two spec blocks disagree on the boiler maker (B&W vs CE); neither is contract-verified. Establishes nothing about materials aboard.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-02

4. [4]Bowling Green State University, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, vessel record DE-0709 (USS BRAY) - builder registry, dimensions, rebuild and disposition entries [museum_official]

   Locator

   BGSU HCGL item 434653 - Vessel History / Rebuilds / Disposition fields

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Archival registry record for this hull: Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI, yard hull number 00282, steel hull, 306' x 36' x 13.75'; 'Converted to high speed transport at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC, July 15-September 15, 1945. Reclassified on July 16, 1945'; commissioned 4 September 1944; decommissioned 10 May 1946 and placed in Reserve Fleet; sunk as a target 26 March 1963.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1963

   Population

   Charleston Navy Yard conversion workforce, July-September 1945

   Limitations

   University archival registry documents build identity, conversion window, and disposition - not materials or asbestos content. Its conversion-end date (15 September) differs from DANFS ('late September' / earlier transcription 18 September); carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-03

5. [5]National Archives research guide 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessels up through 1961' (RG 19 Bureau of Ships series) + Crosley-class conversion pattern (Pacific War Online Encyclopedia; USS Slater museum 'Modifications of Destroyer Escorts'; destroyerhistory.org Rudderow-class data) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA asbestos guide (RG19 record-series sections); pwencycl.kgbudge.com Crosley-class table; ussslater.org DE-modifications page; navsource.net APD-139 spec block

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/class design and archival-framework documentation: the Crosley class comprises Rudderow (TEV) destroyer-escort hulls converted to high-speed transports - torpedo tubes and one 5-inch gun replaced by four LCVP davits and an enlarged troop deckhouse, DE machinery plant retained (2-shaft GE turbo-electric, 12,000 shp, two 'D' express-type boilers, 435 psi/750F). Bray is the unique class member converted on an in-service hull (10 months in commission as DE-709) rather than during construction. A 1944-45 steam-plant escort/transport of this design era-typically carried asbestos boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; NARA's own research guide frames asbestos documentation for Navy vessels of this era as residing in BuShips (RG 19) specifications, Qualified Products Lists, General Information Books, and shipyard correspondence - for this hull, a Charleston Navy Yard conversion work package would be the hull-level record.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   1944-1946

   Population

   Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; Boston Navy Yard repair trades Dec 1944-45; Charleston Navy Yard conversion trades Jul-Sep 1945; crew 1944-46

   Limitations

   Class/era and design inference only - NOT a ship-specific finding. No hull material schedule, conversion work package, or survey located (NARA RG19 GIBs are the archival lead; not retrieved). Does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, or exposure aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-04

6. [6]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated batch pipeline, 2026-09-25): exact-name sweeps "USS Bray" (0 opinions, 0 dockets), hull-number sweeps "DE-709" (8 opinions, 34 dockets) and "APD-139" (0 opinions, 1 docket), asbestos-qualified sweep "Bray"+asbestos/ship/vessel (86 opinions) - all name collisions [court_record]

   Locator

   CourtListener v4 search endpoint, type=o and type=r; query set logged in search_ledger sl-uss-bray-apd139-11; /tmp/bray-cl/*.json raw result files

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Litigation sweep for this hull, all indexes clean: "USS Bray" returned zero hits on both opinion and RECAP docket indexes. "DE-709" returned 8 opinions (all string-fragment collisions - reporter pagination '*709', LEXIS-cite fragments, address/docket strings; none asbestos, none vessel-related) and 34 docket hits (all 'DE ###' docket-entry cross-references inside unrelated litigation - PPI MDL, foreclosure, criminal, and bankruptcy dockets; two 'Bray' surname creditor entries in the Colonial BancGroup bankruptcy matrix are parties, not the vessel). "APD-139" returned 0 opinions and 1 docket (Sims v. Wingate Management Co., N.D. Ga. 1:22-cv-01696 - a premises personal-injury case where 'APD' is Atlanta Police Department context; collision). The asbestos-qualified query '"Bray" asbestos ship OR vessel' returned 86 opinion hits, all surname collisions on review: parties (Malvin L. Bray; Bray Sheet Metal Company), counsel (Brayton Purcell LLP; Daina Bray), and a judge (W. Lowell Bray Jr.) - zero vessel-proximate mentions of 'Bray' near ship/vessel/Navy terms. No opinion or docket names this vessel; no asbestos litigation was located.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   2026-09-25 (sweep date)

   Limitations

   A no-hit sweep does not prove the hull never appeared in litigation: unindexed state-court filings and non-digitized records fall outside coverage, and bulk docket hits were triaged by case metadata (suit nature, parties, captions) rather than full-text review of every document in every docket. Nothing here establishes or defeats an exposure claim.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-05

7. [7]Batch-2420 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live + Wayback capture; hazegray earlier transcription; NavSource registry pages; BGSU HCGL; NVR probe; NARA asbestos guide/RG19 leads; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 image-only scans; CourtListener opinion and docket sweeps (exact name + both hull numbers + asbestos-qualified); marketing-list sweep (simmonsfirm.com, mesotheliomahelp.org list 'USS Bray' - banned source, presence only) [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-bray-apd139-01 through sl-uss-bray-apd139-11

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Bray, DE-709, or APD-139 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sunk as a target in March 1963 after the failed Ecuador floating-power-plant sale - a disposal that generated no hazmat documentation in the public record; no surveyable artifact exists.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-25

   Study period

   2026-09-25

   Limitations

   Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45 steam-plant escort/transport is era-consistent with ACM, and seventeen years of mothball lay-up plus an undocumented target sinking left no modern documentation. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-bray-apd139-06