Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet im-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: USS Coffman DE-191 → VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-coffman-de191-pkt-im-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Coffman (DE-191) (namesake, specifications block, builder, dates, service narrative, striking; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org - live NHHC page 404, Wayback capture 2024-08-31) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative (hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de191.htm via Wayback 2024-08-31)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Vice Admiral DeWitt Coffman (born Mount Jackson, Va., 28 November 1854; U.S. Naval Academy 1876; served in Terror during the Spanish-American War; Navy DSM as Commander, Battleship Force 2, Atlantic Fleet, World War I; retired Rear Admiral 1918, advanced to Vice Admiral on the retired list 1930; died Jamestown, R.I., 1932). Specifications: Cannon class; 1,240 tons; 306 ft; 21 kt; complement 186; armament 3 x 3-inch, 3 x 21-inch torpedo tubes, 8 depth-charge projectors, 1 hedgehog, 2 depth-charge tracks. Launched 28 November 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J.; sponsored by Miss F. Liggett; commissioned 27 December 1943, Lt. Cmdr. W. H. Putnam, USNR. Service: one convoy-escort voyage to Bizerte, Tunisia (12 April-3 May 1944); submarine training target (10 June-10 July); hunter-killer group formed around Card (CVE-11) - training patrols and a Casablanca voyage covering several convoys; February 1945 search south of Iceland for a reported German weather ship; screening carriers for air training out of Quonset Point, R.I.; April 1945 ordered with her division to a search along the Virginia coast, and on 30 April 1945 she, with Thomas (DE-102), Bostwick (DE-103), and Natchez (PF-2), sank the U-boat at 36 deg 34 min N, 74 deg 00 min W (DANFS text reads 'U-548'; modern attribution reads U-879 - see limitations). Reported to Green Cove Springs, Fla., 15 November 1945; decommissioned there 30 April 1946; removed from the sale list and placed in reserve after the outbreak of the Korean war. One battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS identifies the 30 April 1945 sinking as U-548; the contemporary-attribution identification carried by uboat.net and modern references is U-879 (Kptlt. Erwin Manchen) - the conflict is carried in gaps, not silently reconciled. DANFS does not state the keel-laying date (NavSource supplies it). Verbatim transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; hazegray mirror direct fetch unreachable - Wayback capture 2024-08-31 used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coffman-de191-01
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[3]NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Coffman (DE 191) building and operational data + inactive-fleet photo documentation (Wayback capture 2024-08-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 06/191.htm 'Building and Operational Data' block + photo captions Coffman-0619104/05/07 (Philadelphia inactive basin, winter 1972 - 25 May 1973)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building and operational data for this hull: keel laid 9 September 1943 at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Port Newark, N.J.; launched and christened 28 November 1943; commissioned at the New York Navy Yard 27 December 1943; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 30 April 1946; struck from the NVR 1 July 1972; sold for scrapping 17 August 1973. Photo captions document Coffman in the Inactive Ship Basin/Inactive Ship Facility at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in winter 1972-spring 1973 and on 25 May 1973 (with Oswald DE-767, Melvin R. Nawman DE-416, Tabberer DE-418, Raymond DE-341, and Angler IXSS-240).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Green Cove Springs and Philadelphia reserve-fleet caretaker/maintenance personnel 1946-1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a curated secondary photo-archive/reference compilation, not a primary document; dates carried are consistent with DANFS where they overlap. It supplies the keel-laying date DANFS lacks and documents the Philadelphia reserve-fleet custody DANFS omits. Documents disposition, not materials or asbestos content; breaking yard/buyer not named.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coffman-de191-02
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[4]NavSource specifications block (DET diesel-electric tandem drive; 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesels, 6,000 shp, 2 screws) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Federal Shipbuilding-Kearny record (tier 2; incl. Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of the yard, Aug. 30 - Sep. 2, 1944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 06/191.htm specifications block; shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Cannon-class (DET-design) destroyer escort built 1943 with a diesel-electric plant - four GM 16-278A diesel-generator sets, electric drive, no boilers or steam system - would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-electric ship: exhaust insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, winch/windlass brake linings, and deck coverings, rather than the boiler/turbine lagging of steam ships. The builder yard (Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny/Port Newark, N.J.) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2), including a contemporaneous Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of the yard (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944) recording insulators cutting and fitting Johns-Manville Superex asbestos pipe covering and boiler insulation in confined spaces during wartime peak production.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-73
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey documents yard practice months after this hull's December 1943 delivery and names no vessel; 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-coffman-de191-03
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[5]uboat.net Allied Warships record, USS Coffman (DE 191) (warship data + wartime history); companion DANFS entry for USS Thomas (DE-102), ibiblio/HyperWar transcription (de102.html) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1467.html warship data block + History section; uboat.net/boats/u879.htm Fate block (Niestle attribution; residual-uncertainty note); ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DE/de102.html (Thomas entry, 29-30 April 1945 narrative)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net record for this hull corroborates construction data (ordered 18 January 1942; laid down 9 September 1943; launched 28 November 1943; commissioned 27 December 1943; end of service 30 April 1946; stricken 1 July 1972; sold 17 August 1973 to be broken up) and identifies the 30 April 1945 kill as U-879 - 'she, with USS Thomas (DE 102), USS Bostwick (DE 103) and USS Natchez (PF 2), sank U-879 in 36 deg 34 min N., 74 deg 00 min W' - correcting the DANFS text's 'U-548'. The companion DANFS entry for Thomas describes the same action: escorting a Key West-to-New York convoy east of Cape Henry (DANFS text 'convoy KN 32'; modern secondary accounts 'KN-382') on the night of 29 April 1945, Natchez made sonar contact and sighted a snorkel; Thomas, Bostwick, and Coffman went to her assistance; Coffman made three attacks; Thomas unleashed a creeping barrage; Bostwick fired depth charges; a huge underwater explosion followed. Per uboat.net's U-879 record (attribution per Axel Niestle, January 1990): U-879, Type IXC/40 under Kptlt. Erwin Manchen, was sunk 30 April 1945 in that position 'by depth charges from the US patrol frigate USS Natchez and the US destroyer escorts USS Coffmann [sic], USS Bostwick and USS Thomas. 52 dead (all hands lost).' uboat.net notes residual uncertainty: U-857 operated in the same area, and the 19 April 1945 kill by Buckley (DE-51) and Reuben James (DE-153) - previously assessed as U-879 - probably actually took U-548; the two boats' fates appear swapped in the postwar assessment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1973
- Population
- Coffman/Thomas/Bostwick/Natchez crews, convoy escort action April 1945
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary reference (uboat.net is the standard U-boat/Allied-warship compilation); the postwar attribution reassessment underlying 'U-879' is carried as the modern identification without separately pulling the primary analysis. Convoy designation differs between sources ('KN 32' in the Thomas DANFS text vs 'KN-382' in modern accounts) - noted rather than reconciled. Documents an action, not materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coffman-de191-04
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[6]Batch-4106 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription via hazegray/Wayback; NavSource operational data; Atlas shipyard dataset (federal-shipbuilding-kearny); Cannon-class profile; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-coffman-de191-06 through sl-uss-coffman-de191-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-191: no hull ACM survey, no abatement disclosure, no museum/preservation-phase hazmat record (the hull was scrapped in 1973), and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in CourtListener. Exact-name queries 'USS Coffman' (opinions and dockets) and 'aboard the Coffman' returned zero results; 'DE-191' hits (54 opinions, 585 dockets) are identifier collisions - 'DE 191' is a federal docket-entry number, not a ship reference (verified by context extraction: e.g., 'motion for attorneys' fees (DE 191)'); 'Coffman' + asbestos returns 101 opinions all plaintiff-surname cases (e.g., Carolyn Coffman v. Armstrong International; Coffman v. Keene Corp.) verified to contain no naval/vessel/shipyard reference; the asbestos-filtered 'DE-191' docket refinement (14 hits incl. genuine asbestos dockets) resolves the string to docket-entry numbering, not a ship list. The scrapped-hull disposition forecloses the survey/abatement-document pathway that produced ship-specific records for preserved sister hulls (e.g., USS Slater DE-766, USS Laffey DD-724).
- 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 would have been present per the class/era inference and destroyed unrecorded at breaking in 1973. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coffman-de191-05