USS Chatelain (DE-149)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

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

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (with MIRROR caveat on source)

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Limitations

   qualifier: VERIFIED (with MIRROR caveat on source)

   Evidence ID

   uss-chatelain-de149-pkt-ig-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Chatelain (DE-149) (namesake, builder, dates, TG 22.3 service, U-515/U-546 sinkings, U-505 capture, awards; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: launched 21 April 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp. of Texas, Orange, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. L. T. Chatelain; commissioned 22 September 1943, Lt. Cmdr. J. L. Foley in command; Atlantic Fleet. Escorted two convoys to Londonderry and Gibraltar 20 November 1943-7 March 1944; assigned to the hunter-killer group around Guadalcanal (CVE-60). 9 April 1944: forced U-515 to the surface with two depth-charge attacks and joined in the sinking at 34°35'N, 19°18'W. 4 June 1944: sound contact, hedgehog barrage then depth charges holed U-505's outer hull and forced her to surface; the group's boarding operation achieved 'the first capture by Americans of an intact German submarine'; group awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. 24 April 1945: joined a 12-hour hunt for U-546 after it torpedoed 'Frederick C. David' [sic - Frederick C. Davis, DE-136]; U-546 sunk at 43°53'N, 40°07'W. Arrived Charleston, S.C., 20 November 1945; decommissioned in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 14 June 1946. Five battle stars plus the Presidential Unit Citation.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1946

   Population

   Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 186)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Carries no laid-down date and no post-reserve disposition (striking/sale) - those rely on secondary compilations. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-01

3. [3]U.S.S. Chatelain (DE-149) action report, 'Capture of U-505,' CO to Commander Task Group 22.3, dated 8 June 1944 (transcribed official report, uboatarchive.net); Commander TG 22.3 report serial 0021 to CominCh U.S. Atlantic Fleet [other_primary]

   Locator

   Chatelain report narrative sections 3-6 + enclosures; TG 22.3 report serial 0021, enclosure A list

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Contemporaneous U.S. Navy action reports name this hull: Chatelain, patrolling station G-1 of the TG 22.3 screen at 13 knots on course 000°T, obtained sonar contact ~1109Z 4 June 1944 at ~800 yards; fired a full hedgehog pattern at 1116Z (no detonations); regained contact and fired 14 Mk 8 depth charges at shallow setting at 1121Z; U-505 surfaced bow-first at 1122-30Z ~700 yards distant and was taken under fire by Chatelain, Jenks, Pillsbury and two fighters; Chatelain fired one torpedo that missed 50-100 yards ahead; survivors taken aboard Chatelain as POWs from 1135Z; capture position 21-30N, 19-10W (TG report adjusts track charts to 21-30N, 19-20W). TG 22.3 screen per enclosure list: Chatelain (DE-149), Pillsbury (DE-133), Pope (DE-134), Flaherty (DE-135), Jenks (DE-665).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1944

   Population

   Chatelain crew (~186); U-505 survivors recovered by Chatelain and Jenks (58 total per museum account, one German fatality); TG 22.3 crews

   Limitations

   Transcriptions of official Navy reports hosted on a third-party archive (uboatarchive.net); original documents are NARA RG 38 material but the transcription was verified page-complete. Documents combat action, not construction materials or asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-02

4. [4]Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), 'Capturing the U-505' official exhibit pages [museum_official]

   Locator

   griffinmsi.org U-505 exhibit pages: 'The Hunt Intensifies,' 'Attacking the U-505,' 'Saving U-505'

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Official museum record corroborates this hull's role: TG 22.3 (six ships under Capt. Dan Gallery) sailed from Norfolk 15 May 1944; on 4 June 1944 at 11:10 a.m. USS Chatelain reported the sonar contact; Chatelain's hedgehog salvo missed, then a depth-charge pattern forced U-505 to the surface; Chatelain and Jenks recovered 58 survivors while Pillsbury's nine-man boarding party under Lt. (j.g.) Albert L. David secured the submarine; U-505 has been exhibited at the museum since 1954.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1944; 1954-present

   Population

   TG 22.3 crews; museum visitors (U-505 exhibit)

   Limitations

   Museum interpretive record of the U-505 capture - documents this hull's combat role and the artifact's custody, not materials or asbestos content aboard either vessel.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-03

5. [5]NHHC photograph UA 466.01 (U.S. Navy photo, Naval History and Heritage Command collection; described via Wikimedia Commons file page) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Wikimedia Commons file page, 'Source: U.S. Navy photo UA 466.01' (NHHC collection)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official U.S. Navy photograph, NHHC collection accession UA 466.01: USS Chatelain (DE-149) attacking the surfaced German submarine U-515 in the Atlantic on 9 April 1944, photographed from a Grumman TBM Avenger of Composite Squadron 58 (VC-58) flying from USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60) - corroborates the DANFS account of the U-515 sinking.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1944

   Population

   Chatelain crew; VC-58 aircrew

   Limitations

   Photographic documentation of a combat event - not materials or asbestos content. NHHC live pages currently fail; provenance is documented on the Commons file page (NHHC collection, accession UA 466.01).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-04

6. [6]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Index DE-149 (building/operational data; U.S. Navy photo captions incl. New York Navy Yard yard-period photos; disposal data) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DE-149 'Building and Operational Data' block + photo captions (USN photos F644C5346, F644C7229)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Compiled ship-record data for this hull: keel laid 25 January 1943 at Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched/christened 21 April 1943; commissioned 22 September 1943; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 14 June 1946 'after 2 years and 8⅔ months of service'; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 August 1973; sold for scrapping to Union Minerals and Alloy Corp., New York, N.Y., 11 June 1974 for $51,122.00; removed from U.S. Navy custody 24 June 1974. U.S. Navy photo captions document the ship in a yard period at the New York Navy Yard 30 December 1943 and lying off the New York Navy Yard 8 May 1944; Navy Day at Key West 27 October 1945.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1974

   Population

   Construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46

   Limitations

   NavSource is a secondary compiled index, not an official record - its keel-laying date and disposal entries are the only public source located for those facts (DANFS omits them); underlying NVR/Navy status-card sources not directly verified. Its 'in company with USS Pope, sank U-515 and U-68' line conflates a group aircraft kill (U-68) with Chatelain's documented U-515 attack - see gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-05

7. [7]NARA Catalog file units for USS Chatelain: War History (NAID 77631561); War Diaries 3/1944-9/1945 (NAIDs 78390435, 139964048, 140046234, 77464994, 83573632, others); muster rolls 'Chatelain (DE-149), 9/22/43-6/1/46' (NAID 125679156, microfilm roll 1030, digitized via Ancestry partnership) [other_primary]

   Locator

   catalog.archives.gov records search 'Chatelain': NAIDs 77631561, 78390435, 83573632, 139964048, 77464994, 140046234, 125679156

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The National Archives catalog holds ship-specific record units for this hull spanning the entire commissioned period: a War History file unit, monthly War Diary file units for at least March 1944 through September 1945, and muster rolls covering 22 September 1943 - 1 June 1946. The muster rolls (crew lists) are digitized and identify individual crew by name/rating - the population record for any future exposure-claim research. Deck logs for this hull are expected in RG 24 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1992' (NAID 594258) but digitized status for DE-149 was not confirmed.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1946

   Population

   Wartime crew (muster rolls by name/rating)

   Limitations

   Archival leads only - records describe operations and crew, not materials or asbestos content; unit contents not individually reviewed; deck-log coverage for this hull unverified.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-06

8. [8]NavSource DE-149 specifications block (Edsall class, FMR type: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesels, 4 diesel generators, 6,000 shp, 2 screws) + era naval-shipbuilding practice [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DE-149 specifications block; era-construction context per GAO HRD-80-2 and Buckley/Slater class profiles

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1943 carried a diesel-geared plant - four Fairbanks-Morse diesels with diesel generators, no boilers and no steam system - so era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-electric escort apply: engine and exhaust/muffler insulation, compressed-asbestos-sheet gaskets, valve and machinery packing, electrical cable insulation, joiner and bulkhead board, brake linings on winches and windlass, and deck coverings. Ships built at Consolidated Steel's Orange, Texas yard in 1943 were constructed in the period when asbestos supply was reserved for shipbuilding.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1974

   Population

   Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-73; scrapping workers 1974

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The diesel plant means the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line lagging) do not apply to this hull. Does not quantify material, does not establish any individual's exposure, and does not establish that any specific product aboard contained asbestos.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-07

9. [9]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 to automated fetch, HTTP 403; content via product-page description)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   GAO documented that Navy asbestos-management policy began in 1975 (removal only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). This hull spent 1946-1973 in the reserve fleet and was sold for scrap in June 1974 - before any such policy existed - so no pre-disposal asbestos survey or abatement requirement applied to it.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1979 (report); 1975-1979 (policy period)

   Population

   Navy shipyard and scrapping workers (program context)

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation, not ship-specific; establishes only that no federal asbestos program governed this hull's 1974 disposal. Does not speak to material aboard the hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-chatelain-de149-08

10. [10]Batch-4059 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; contemporaneous action reports (uboatarchive.net); Griffin MSI official pages; NHHC photo UA 466.01; NavSource DE-149; NARA catalog units; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; VA BVA text search [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-chatelain-de149-01 through sl-uss-chatelain-de149-08

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-149: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming the ship was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was never preserved, was stricken in 1973 and scrapped in 1974 - before the Navy's asbestos-management program existed (GAO HRD-80-2) - so no disposal-era survey was generated either.

    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 combatant is era-consistent with standard ACM applications; it establishes only that no public hull-specific documentation was located. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-chatelain-de149-09