Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet hu-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED. Single, real Cannon-class DE-
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-breeman-de104-pkt-hu-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Breeman (DE-104) (namesake, builder, dates, hunter-killer service narrative, transfer; verbatim transcription on hazegray mirror - live NHHC page serves 404 under all tried URL patterns and the ibiblio HyperWar mirror lacks a DE-104 page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Breeman' - namesake biographical note + DE-104 specification block + service narrative (hazegray mirror at losthistory.net; identical text verified against a 2020 Wayback capture of hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de104.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 4 September 1943 by Dravo Corp., Wilmington, Del.; sponsored by Mrs. Marie Breeman Schellgell, niece of Chief Breeman; completed by Norfolk Navy Yard; commissioned 12 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. N. W. Hunter, USNR, in command. Spec block: dp. 1,240; l. 308'; b. 36'8"; dr. 11'8"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 3 21" TT.; cl. Cannon. Sailed 16 February 1944 with hunter-killer TG 21.16 for anti-submarine sweeps of the Atlantic convoy routes; the group departed Casablanca 12 March to search near the Cape Verde Islands and on 16 March the group sank U-801 at 16 deg 42' N, 30 deg 26' W; detached 24 March with Bronstein (DE-189) to Dakar for a gold cargo, arriving New York 3 April; departed 12 April for Bizerte as part of hunter-killer TF 60; returned May for overhaul and training, joined TG 22.10 at Bermuda, at sea until 25 August; propeller damage repaired at New York; torpedo training at the New London Submarine Base from 23 October; TG 22.2 hunter-killer ops November-December 1944; TG 23.4 weather-submarine search in the North Atlantic 16 February-17 March 1945; plane guard and escort for carrier training off New London and Quonset Point 9 May-17 August; same services to Mission Bay (CVE-59) off Port Everglades 11 August-2 October; pre-inactivation overhaul at New York Navy Yard from 2 October; sailed for Green Cove Springs, Fla., 13 November, arriving 16 November; placed out of commission in reserve 26 April 1946; transferred to China 29 October 1948; one WWII battle star. Namesake: Chief Turret Captain George Breeman (b. Passaic, N.J., 15 September 1880; enlisted 1902; Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism during the turret explosion on Kearsarge (BB-5); d. Passaic 10 April 1937).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1880-1937 (namesake); 1943-1948 USN
- Population
- Dravo Corp. Wilmington construction trades 1943; wartime crew (design complement 186); ROCN crew 1948/49-disposal
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Its group-level credit for U-801 predates the detailed attribution: uboat.net assigns the sinking (17 March, 16.42N 30.28W) to VC-6 aircraft from Block Island plus Corry and Bronstein - see ev-02. DANFS prints the Kearsarge explosion year as 1908; the event was 13 April 1906 per Medal of Honor records - carried in gaps. DANFS omits the laid-down date (20 March 1943 per NavSource/uboat.net). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 and ibiblio HyperWar lacks a DE-104 page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-01
-
[3]uboat.net U-801 fate entry (Blair vol. 2 p. 535 / Wynn / Niestle sourcing) + USS Breeman warship page 1457 [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/boats/u801.htm fate block + 16 Mar 1944 attack note; uboat.net/allies/warships/1457.html warship history block and notable-events list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- U-801 attribution and date detail on this hull's credited group action: DANFS records that 'the Group sank the German submarine U-801 in 16 deg 42' N, 30 deg 26' W' on 16 March 1944. uboat.net's fate entry records U-801 sunk on 17 March 1944 west of the Cape Verde Islands at 16.42N, 30.28W by a Fido homing torpedo from two Avenger and one Wildcat aircraft (VC-6, USN) of escort carrier Block Island and by depth charges and gunfire from the destroyer Corry and the destroyer escort Bronstein (10 dead, 47 survivors); an Avenger attack the previous day (16 March) had killed one man and wounded nine. Breeman is not individually credited by either source - DANFS attributes the sinking to the group; the specific credits go to the carrier aircraft and the other escorts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-03-16/17 (action)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary reference, not an official record. The correction concerns which units delivered the fatal attack and whether the sinking date was 16 or 17 March - the action, position, participants, and outcome are consistent with DANFS. No asbestos relevance; carried so the record does not silently propagate a hull-level credit DANFS itself does not make.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Cannon class; 21 kt; diesel-electric DET design per class profile) + Bureau of Ships Ships' Data 1945 Vol. I DET-design roster grouping (shipscribe.com SDB1945v1.pdf) + Atlas class profile cannon-class [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; SDB1945v1.pdf DET roster grouping DE-99-113; class-c cannon-class.class.json evidence rows ev-cannon-class-01/-02
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: DE-104 sits in the April 1945 BuShips roster's DET-design (Cannon-class) block DE-99 through DE-113, built by Dravo Corp., Wilmington. A Cannon-class destroyer escort built 1943 with a diesel-electric plant (four GM 16-278A diesel-generator sets, electric drive, 6,000 shp, ~21 kt) 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 lagging.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945 construction/era
- Population
- Dravo Corp. Wilmington construction trades 1943; wartime crew 1943-46
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No material schedule, insulation specification, or hull survey for DE-104 is public; 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. Builder Dravo Corp. Wilmington is not in the Atlas shipyard dataset - no yard-level asbestos tier exists for it (carried in gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-03
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DE-104's entire 1943 construction and 1943-46 USN service fall inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program scope)
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only; not hull-specific. GAO full text returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches - content via product-page description (standing limitation shared with batch-01 records). Does not establish that any particular material was installed aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-04
-
[6]DANFS transfer entry + navypedia TAI HO escort-destroyers page (Taiwan) + NavSource DE-104 photo archive index (wayback capture) + NTU-hosted ROCN history pages for Taitsang (de24taichang.htm) and Taihu (de25taihu.htm) + NavalCoverMuseum names/designations page [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia tai_es_taiho.htm member table (Tai Hu ex-Breeman, Dravo Wilmington, deleted 1975) and us_de_det.htm DE-104 row; NavSource archives/06/104.htm date lines via 2023 wayback capture; NTU homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~yingshao/de24taichang.htm and de25taihu.htm via wayback captures; navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/BREEMAN_DE_104; uboat.net/allies/warships/1457.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-USN disposition of this hull: transferred to the Republic of China Navy 29 October 1948 per DANFS, NavSource, and uboat.net; stricken from the US Navy list 22 December 1948. The ROCN identity conflicts across sources: navypedia's TAI HO-class escort-destroyer table lists 太湖 [Tai Hu] (ex-Breeman) with pennant DE-24, deleted 1975; Wikipedia's infobox gives ROCS Taihu (太湖) (DE-24) citing Jane's Fighting Ships 1972-73 and Miramar; NavalCoverMuseum and the Wikipedia ROCN fleet list give TAI HU F-25; NavSource instead records renaming as 'T'ai Chong (F-24)'; and the NTU-hosted Chinese-language ROCN history page identifies 太倉軍艦 (Tai Tsang, pennant 24) as ex-USS Breeman DE-104 - its header carries an obvious 'DE-103' typo but the body text consistently reads Breeman DE-104 (that page's sister entry identifies Tai Hu as ex-Bostwick DE-103). Escaped to Taiwan with Nationalist forces 1949 (ROCN-side source: formal handover ceremony 26 December 1948 at Norfolk, departed 11 January 1949, arrived Zuoying 21 March 1949). Out of ROCN service in the early-mid 1970s: stricken December 1972 per NavSource, NavalCoverMuseum, and Wikipedia, with the hulk reported used as fill in pier-ramp construction (NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum); deleted 1975 per navypedia; NTU page reads '1972 除役' (decommissioned 1972). A 12 May 1954 incident in which the ROCN ship participated in the seizure of the Polish freighter Prezydent Gottwald appears in the English Wikipedia entry sourced to an NCCU master's thesis - ROC-era operational detail, thinly documented in Western sources.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1948-1970s
- Population
- ROCN crew 1948/49-1970s; Taiwan disposal workers
- Limitations
- US-side dates (transfer 1948-10-29, stricken 1948-12-22) are DANFS/NVR-documented; every ROCN-side detail rests on secondary compilations that conflict on the rename (Tai Hu vs Tai Tsang), pennant (DE-24 vs F-24/F-25), and disposal year/path (1972/1975; pier-fill report). No material, overhaul, hazmat, or scrapping documentation exists in any located source - the post-1948 material history is undocumented. NavSource and NTU pages fetched via Wayback captures (direct fetches failed).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-05
-
[7]In re Dravo LLC - Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc. (Pa. Super. 2023, 307 A.3d 146, J-A15029-23; rev'd Pa. May 22, 2026, Nos. 33-34 WAP 2024, J-79A/79B-2025) [court_record]
- Locator
- Pa. Super. opinion J-A15029-23 pp.2-3 (Undisputed Facts paras. 4-7); Pa. Sup. Ct. opinion J-79A/79B-2025 (decided May 22, 2026; argued Oct 7, 2025), conclusion section
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-level asbestos-litigation context: this hull's builder, Dravo Corporation, is the subject of a stipulated record in Pennsylvania asbestos litigation - Dravo was 'involved in a number of businesses involving heavy industry,' including 'manufacturing watercraft and industrial heating equipment and providing construction and engineering services in steel mills, chemical plants, and other industrial settings,' and 'since at least the early 1990s, Dravo had been sued in a number of lawsuits that sought damages due to alleged bodily injury caused by exposure to asbestos, where the exposure typically occurred during its operations from the 1940s through the 1980s' (Stipulation of Undisputed Facts as recited by the Superior Court). Disposition: trial court (C.C.P. Allegheny, Oct 5, 2022) granted summary judgment to parent Carmeuse Lime; Superior Court reversed and remanded (Dec 19, 2023); the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court on May 22, 2026, holding the equitable remedy of veil piercing unavailable for claims time-barred against the dissolved LLC.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s-1980s (alleged exposure window); 2020-2026 (litigation)
- Population
- Dravo Corp. workforce and asbestos claimants (builder-wide)
- Limitations
- Builder-level context only - does not name DE-104 or any vessel, does not tie the alleged exposures to the Wilmington, Del., yard specifically (Dravo also ran the Pittsburgh/Neville Island yard and non-shipbuilding operations), and adjudicates successor liability and claim timeliness, not any shipboard exposure question. A merits-level procedural bar, not evidence about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-06
-
[8]Batch-3970 search ledger (this record): losthistory/hazegray DANFS transcription; NVR; NavSource/wayback; navypedia DET and Taiwan pages; NTU-hosted ROCN pages; NavalCoverMuseum; uboat.net fate entries and warship page; CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket queries; Atlas shipyards dataset; PA courts official opinions; GAO product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-breeman-de104-01 through sl-uss-breeman-de104-18
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-104: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, material schedule, museum hazmat disclosure, or donation-condition document exists (the hull left US custody in 1948 and was disposed under the ROC flag - no museum pathway). No qualifying asbestos litigation names the vessel: CourtListener exact-phrase 'USS Breeman' returned zero opinions; 'Breeman' returned 28 opinions and 108 RECAP dockets, all surname/party collisions (Breeman v. Tabolt 1936; bankruptcy-party names; Breeman v. Consolidated Rail Corp.) with no vessel or asbestos content; 'Breeman' + asbestos returned zero opinions; 'Breeman' + 'DE-104' returned zero opinions and zero dockets; 'DE-104' alone returned 61 opinions and 1,397 dockets, all federal/state docket-entry-number ('DE 104'/'DE#104') string collisions in unrelated civil and criminal matters. Law-firm asbestos-ship listicles enumerate the hull but are excluded per batch source rules.
- 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 could have been installed and later removed under foreign custody with no surviving public documentation; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-breeman-de104-07