Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet lq-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Cates; hull DE-763; DE; Cannon-class destroyer escort.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-cates-de763-pkt-lq-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Cates (DE-763) (namesake, builder, dates, convoy service, French transfer; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for William Finnie Cates, Seaman Second Class USNR, born 30 April 1916 at Drummonds, Tenn., killed in action 12 November 1942 aboard USS San Francisco (CA-38) when a Japanese torpedo plane he kept under fire while refusing to leave his station crashed aboard the ship - Navy Cross posthumous. Launched 10 October 1943 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Fla., sponsored by Mrs. P. Dyer; commissioned 16 December 1943, Lt. G. A. Prouse, USNR, in command; reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Escorted two troop convoys to Ireland and Wales 27 February-1 May 1944; five tanker convoy voyages from New York to Ireland, Great Britain, and France through the rest of 1944; Casco Bay training, Boston-Scotland convoy, repairs at Earle, N.J., and a 2.5-week antisubmarine sweep in early 1945; tanker convoy to Liverpool departing New York 24 April 1945; then Cuban waters, Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor (arrived 31 July, training and overhaul), Eniwetok (30 August), and six months of convoy escort in the Philippines, Japan, and Okinawa to 18 February 1946; then San Pedro, Norfolk, and Green Cove Springs, Fla. (arrived 22 April), training reservists until decommissioned there 28 March 1947; transferred to France under the Military Assistance Program 11 November 1950 as Soudanais.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1950
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; wartime and reserve-training crew 1943-1947 (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents namesake, service history, and specifications (1,240 t; 306 ft; 21 kt; cpl. 186; Cannon class), not materials or asbestos content. Entry omits a laid-down date; the printed '28 May 1946' New York return is internally inconsistent (contextually 1945 - carried in gaps); the antisubmarine sweep is described 'along the northwest coast' as printed. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cates-de763-01
-
[3]Navypedia, French Cannon-group escorts (Senegalais/Arabe) member table + DET-type (Cannon-class) member table, us_de_det.htm [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia fr_es_cannon.htm member-table row 'Soudanais (ex-DE763 Cates) F722'; us_de_det.htm member-table row DE-763 + machinery spec line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposition record for this hull beyond the DANFS cutoff: Soudanais (ex-DE763 Cates), pennant F722, Tampa Shipbuilding, laid down 3.1943, launched 10.10.1943, commissioned 12/1943, to France 11.1950 - stricken 1959. DET member-table row: DE-763 Cates, Tampa yard no. 96, laid down 3.1943, launched 10.10.1943, commissioned 12/1943, to France 11.1950 (Soudanais). Machinery line for the DET design: 4 General Motors diesel-generators, electric motors, 6,000 hp, 21 knots, diesel oil 320 t, endurance 11,500 nm at 11 knots.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- French Navy crew 1950-1959
- Limitations
- Secondary reference work, not an official record - used for the laid-down month, the French name/pennant, and the 1959 French stricken date, which DANFS (a 1960s snapshot reading 'she serves in the French Navy as Soudanais') does not carry. Consistent with DANFS on launch and transfer dates; post-USN material history under French custody undocumented; no asbestos content information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cates-de763-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Cannon class; 21 kt) + navypedia DET machinery spec + Atlas shipyard dataset, Tampa Bay Shipbuilding record (tier-3 asbestos-era yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; navypedia us_de_det.htm machinery line; shipyards.json record 'tampa-bay-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Cannon-class (DET-design) destroyer escort built 1943 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; the DET plant is four GM diesel-generator sets with electric drive (6,000 shp), not a steam plant. Builder Tampa Shipbuilding is documented as a tier-3 asbestos-era yard in the Atlas dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1959
- Population
- Tampa Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; crew 1943-47; French Navy crew 1950-59
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. 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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cates-de763-03
-
[5]East Carolina University, U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation Collection: Jim Will Spry Papers, 1934-1953 (bulk 1944-1946), finding aid 0677-082 - crew papers and photographs of a radioman who served aboard USS Cates (DE-763) 1944-1946 [other_primary]
- Locator
- ECU finding aid 0677-082 (Box 1 folder a items 8-9; Box 1 folder b items 1, 3)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Located archival collection documenting service aboard this hull: the Jim Will Spry Papers (East Carolina University) hold photographic prints, ephemera, a 26 August 1945 'Sacred Order of the Golden Dragon' card, and a 1 March 1946 rate card for USNR Radioman 3rd Class Jim Will Spry, who served aboard USS Cates (DE-763) in the Atlantic and Pacific - a primary-source lead for crew-era conditions aboard this hull. NARA deck logs for DE-763 are a further unretrieved lead.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew 1944-1946 (collection scope)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - collection contents were not reviewed for asbestos or material references, and a crewman's personal papers are unlikely to document hull materials. Does not establish any exposure fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cates-de763-04
-
[6]Batch-4521 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; navypedia DET + French escort member tables; NavSource and uboat.net secondary compilations; ECU finding aid; CourtListener exact-name, hull-number, and French-name queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cates-de763-04 through sl-uss-cates-de763-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-763: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (none expected to exist - the hull was scrapped in French custody in 1959, decades before abatement-record regimes), and no qualifying asbestos litigation names the vessel; CourtListener 'DE-763' hits are all identifier collisions in unrelated dockets and opinions, and exact-name and French-name queries returned no results.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era materials would have been installed at construction; scrapping in France in 1959 leaves no survey trail to recover. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cates-de763-05