Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet kl-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-calcaterra-de390-pkt-kl-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Calcaterra (DE-390) (namesake biography, builder, dates, service narrative, DER conversion, striking and sale; live NHHC page returns 404 - verbatim transcriptions via HyperWar/ibiblio and Tin Can Sailors destroyers.org, the latter citing DANFS April 2016) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake biography + specifications block + service narrative + bracketed disposal note (HyperWar/ibiblio de390.html; destroyers.org/ships/de-390 transcription citing DANFS April 2016)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Motor Machinist's Mate 1/c Herbert A. Calcaterra (b. 7 Apr 1920, Escalon, Calif.; enlisted 14 Dec 1939; commended 7 Jul 1942 for USS Pompano SS-181 service; Silver Star posthumous for 3-inch gun-crew gallantry in the 4 Sep 1942 action that fatally wounded him). Spec block: cl. Edsall, dp. 1,200, 306', 21 kt, cpl. 186, 3x3-in guns. Launched 16 Aug 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. G. M. Stites; commissioned 17 Nov 1943, Commander H. J. Wuensch, USCG, in command; reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Escorted US-Mediterranean convoys - eight round trips 13 Feb 1944-10 Jun 1945; depth-charged a suspected submarine contact and fired on two aircraft. Departed for the Pacific 9 Jul 1945; war ended before her Pearl Harbor arrival; passengers lifted to the west coast, then to the Atlantic; out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 1 May 1946. Reclassified DER-390 28 Oct 1954; converted to a radar picket ship at Norfolk; recommissioned 12 Sep 1955; based at Newport for North Atlantic DEW-extension picket duty; Atlantic/Caribbean exercises and a Europe cruise (Aug-Oct 1958); continued through 1960. Struck from the Navy list 2 Jul 1973 and sold 14 May 1974 (bracketed note).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; Coast Guard-manned wartime crew (USCG commanding officer; DANFS design complement 186); DER-era crews 1955-1973; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-1954
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The HyperWar transcription of the older edition reads 'launched 18 August 1943' and '9 July 1946' for the Pacific departure - both are transcription artifacts (the current edition, per the Tin Can Sailors transcription citing DANFS April 2016, reads 16 August 1943 and 9 July 1945; 1946 is impossible since she decommissioned 1 May 1946). Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim transcriptions cited instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for CALCATERRA, DE-390 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 238-239) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE roster row, CALCATERRA DE-390 (book pp. 238-239; shipscribe scan PDF p. 129)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull: CALCATERRA, official number DE-390, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,183,000 (footnoted cost-plus-fixed-fee); contract signed 7 Aug 1942; launched 16 Aug 1943; commissioned 17 Nov 1943. The roster's preliminary-examination/completion columns for the row OCR imperfectly (readings of 16/30 Nov 1943); the keel-laid column for this page block contains a 28 May 1943 entry consistent with NavSource's date but the scan's row alignment is uncertain.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1943
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. OCR'd from a scanned two-page spread; middle-column values for the row are partially garbled; keel-date cell alignment uncertain (28 May 1943 corroborated by NavSource and uboat.net).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 4 / FMR (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-4 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 127); roster row assigns DE-390 = FMR (PDF p. 129)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design-group table: design group 4 (symbol FMR - Fairbanks-Morse diesel reverse-gear drive) - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 21 kt; machinery 4 Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boilers 'None'; 2 diesel ship's-service generators (100 kW, A.C.); accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted; armament 3 x 3 in/50 cal. D.P. DE-390's roster row assigns it to this design group - documents that this hull's plant is a diesel drive with no boilers or steam system.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (publication)
- Population
- FMR-design crews (design accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the whole FMR group (85 hulls), not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type and accommodations, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; individual cell values partially garbled. NavSource's per-hull propulsion entry (4 FM diesels, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp) matches the design table.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-03
-
[5]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'The Long Blue Line: USS Durant - Coast Guard and Navy warship of World War II and Cold War' (Dr. Thomas H. Rennie and David May, 5 Oct 2021) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil Long Blue Line article (live page 403 to automated fetch; Wayback 2024-12-25 capture), paragraph on Durant's convoy operations
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official USCG Historian source naming this hull: USS Durant (DE-389) made eight roundtrip convoy-escort voyages mid-February 1944 to mid-June 1945 'along with Coast Guard-manned DEs Vance, Calcaterra, Chambers, and Merrill.' Confirms this hull's wartime crew was Coast Guard (consistent with her USCG commissioning CO, Cmdr. H. J. Wuensch, USCG - DANFS) and places her in the Coast Guard-manned escort division operating on the same Mediterranean convoy cycle DANFS records (eight round trips Feb 1944-Jun 1945). Context source: the Coast Guard commissioned thirty Fairbanks-Morse-type DEs in autumn 1943, formed into five escort divisions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Coast Guard wartime crew, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Documents manning and convoy service, not materials or asbestos content. The article is about sister hull Durant (DE-389); the Calcaterra reference is a squadron-roster mention. Coast Guard manning ended at decommissioning - DER-era service 1955-1973 was Navy-manned.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-04
-
[6]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Calcaterra (DE-390) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, flag hoist NHVB / 'Hazel Creek'; Wayback capture 2024-08-03 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/390.htm building-and-operational-data block + awards block + specifications (Wayback 2024-08-03 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 28 May 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 16 Aug 1943, sponsor Mrs. G. M. Stites; commissioned 17 Nov 1943 at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. dock, Houston, Cmdr. H. J. Wuensch, USCG; decommissioned 1 May 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla.; reclassified DER-390 28 Oct 1954 with conversion commenced at Norfolk Naval Shipyard; recommissioned 12 Sep 1955 at Norfolk, assigned to Newport, R.I. as a radar picket of the North American Continental Air Defense System; operated out of Dunedin, New Zealand for Operation Deep Freeze 26 Aug 1965-28 Apr 1966 and again 21 Aug 1967-3 May 1968 (each circumnavigating); homeport changed to Key West, Fla. June 1966 as a unit of Destroyer Division 601 operating as a Sonar School Ship; decommissioned and struck from the NVR 2 Jul 1973; sold for scrapping 14 May 1974. Awards block: Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation; American Campaign Medal; European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Antarctica Service Ribbon; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Specs: Edsall class FMR, complement 8/201.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Coast Guard-manned wartime crew (NavSource complement 8 officers/201 enlisted); DER crews 1955-1973
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap. Contributed photo captions are unattributed detail. No asbestos or materials information. NavSource's namesake caption mistypes the hull number as 'DE 398' (DE-390 is the hull).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-05
-
[7]USS Calcaterra (DE/DER-390) veteran-maintained ship history, usscalcaterra.net 'HISTORY OF U.S.S. CALCATERRA' page [other_primary]
- Locator
- usscalcaterra.net/calhist.html (DE-390 and DER-390 sections, ports-of-call lists)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Veteran-maintained ship history adding DER-era detail unattributed to primary sources: recommissioned 12 Sep 1955 by Rear Admiral Lealand S. Parks (Commander Norfolk Navy Base) with LCDR Robert A. Seelinger first post-conversion CO; shakedown at Guantanamo Bay; picket duty on the GIUK Barrier then the 'Southern Tip' station 1956-1965; Spring Board and Quick Kick VII exercises 1965; Deep Freeze deployments out of Dunedin, N.Z. with circumnavigation (ports incl. Panama, Lima, Hobart, Perth, Aden, Beirut, Marseilles, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Portsmouth on 1965-66; Panama, Pearl Harbor, Pago Pago, Campbell Island, Fremantle, Lourenco Marques, Montevideo, Rio, Recife, Port of Spain on 1967-68); returned to Key West 3 May 1968. Also asserts the namesake's mother Mrs. Gladys Sikes of Stoneyford, Calif. was sponsor, sixteen transatlantic convoy runs, and San Diego at war's end - items conflicting with or exceeding DANFS/NavSource (carried in gaps).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1955-1968
- Population
- DER-era crew 1955-1968
- Limitations
- Unattributed compiled history - useful color and leads, not authoritative; several claims conflict with DANFS (convoy count, position at war's end) or with NavSource (sponsor name Stites vs. Sikes) and are carried in gaps rather than adopted. No materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-06
-
[8]Brown Shipbuilding era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + Norfolk Naval Shipyard DER-conversion yard period + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for diesel-powered escorts [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns) + p. 238-239 roster row (DE-390 = FMR); cf. uss-edsall-de129 ev-06 (same diesel-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1943 would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-powered escort - exhaust-system insulation and lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings on winches and windlass, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Because the FMR plant has no boilers or steam lines (SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row; DE-390's roster row assigns FMR), the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply to this design. The 1954-55 radar-picket conversion at Norfolk Naval Shipyard was a major yard period inside the documented asbestos-use era - added electronics spaces, mast/antenna work, and habitability changes are documented DER-conversion features generally, but the conversion scope for this hull is not public.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; Coast Guard crew 1943-46; Norfolk Naval Shipyard conversion trades 1954-55; DER crews 1955-73
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-390 was located; this establishes era-consistent expectation for the type, not that any specific material went aboard this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. Builder yard (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston) is not in the Atlas shipyards dataset - no yard-level asbestos documentation attaches; Norfolk Naval Shipyard (DER conversion) is in the dataset.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-07
-
[9]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (as cited in the batch-4037 Edsall record; accessed 2026-09-28) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Documented asbestos aboard a preserved Edsall-class sister hull built by the SAME yard: the Galveston Daily News reported asbestos in public areas of USS Stewart (DE-238) and USS Cavalla (SS-244) at Seawolf Park, with contractor Separation Systems Consultants approved to proceed with abatement; the Galveston Park Board cited U.S. Navy inspection recommendations that an asbestos survey be conducted. USS Stewart (DE-238) is a Brown Shipbuilding-built Edsall-class hull - class- and builder-level corroboration that Edsall-class construction at this yard carried asbestos-containing material.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020
- Population
- Museum staff/volunteers and Seawolf Park visitors; abatement crews (sister hull)
- Limitations
- Evidence about a sister hull (DE-238), NOT this hull: a museum-hull lifecycle DE-390 never had (DE-390 was scrapped 1974). Documents asbestos aboard one Brown-built Edsall-class ship as delivered/preserved; establishes nothing about DE-390's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-08
-
[10]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-390 (built 1943, DER conversion 1954-55 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, in service through 1973) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction and overhaul.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description. Says nothing about this specific hull or any diesel-escort or DER-conversion application specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'USS Calcaterra' / 'DE-390' / 'DER-390' / 'Calcaterra asbestos' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results 2026-09-28: 'USS Calcaterra' type=o count=0, type=r count=0; 'DE-390' type=o count=8 (all ECF false positives); 'DER-390' type=o count=0; 'Calcaterra asbestos' not completed (blocked)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion sweep '"USS Calcaterra"' (type=o): 0 hits. Docket sweep '"USS Calcaterra"' (type=r): 0 hits - no docketed case names the ship. Hull-number sweep '"DE-390"' (type=o): 8 hits, all ECF document-entry-number false positives ('(DE# 390, 7/23/10)' in Boca Raton Community Hospital v. Tenet; 'DE 382/DE 381' references in Neumont v. Monroe County; unrelated-token matches in Howell, Great American Insurance, API v. EPA, Armor Screen, Arena, and a 1944 Puerto Rico mandamus opinion) - zero vessel or asbestos references. Hull-number sweep '"DER-390"' (type=o): 0 hits. Supplemental 'Calcaterra asbestos' sweep: fleet pacing budget spent across repeated spaced retries - logged as blocked in sl-07 rather than retried into a ban.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is the CourtListener opinion + RECAP docket indexes only; state-court dockets not mirrored, PACER-only filings, and settled/undocketed claims are outside it. 'No result' does not prove no claim was ever filed - it proves no indexed opinion or docket names the hull. 'Calcaterra' is a rare surname with a single-hull name lineage - collision risk is low; the DE-390 hull-number string collides with ECF document-entry numbering as expected. The supplemental unquoted sweep did not run before session end (fleet throttle) - residual coverage gap noted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-10
-
[12]Batch-4289 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcriptions; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR); USCG Historian's Office; GAO product page; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; VA/BVA web search; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-04 through sl-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-calcaterra-de390-01 through sl-uss-calcaterra-de390-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-390/DER-390: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or docketed asbestos claim naming this hull was located - it was sold for scrapping in May 1974, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for sister hull Stewart (DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Calcaterra in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull (e.g., asbestos-ships.com, which additionally propagates the erroneous 'August 18' launch date) - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard - 1943 escort construction and the 1954-55 DER conversion fall inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and same-yard sister-hull DE-238 carried documented asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24), BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book), and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard DER conversion work package at NARA are unsurveyed leads. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present aboard; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-calcaterra-de390-11