Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet ai-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-cook-apd130-pkt-ai-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Cook II (APD-130) (construction, commissioning, WWII and postwar service through 1960; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page unavailable) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 26 August 1944 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich., sponsored by Mrs. A. F. Cook, mother of the two Marine namesakes (2LT Andrew F. Cook Jr., KIA Guadalcanal 4 Nov 1942; Sgt Dallas H. Cook, KIA Makin raid 18 Aug 1942, both posthumous Navy Cross); commissioned 25 April 1945, LCDR D. N. Hamilton, USNR, in command. Sailed from Norfolk 19 June 1945 to San Diego; arrived Tokyo 20 September 1945 carrying underwater demolition team men; transported troops to Okinawa; reconnoitered Hakodate before its occupation; returned via Yokohama, Guam, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor to San Diego 13 November 1945; out of commission in reserve 31 May 1946 at San Diego. Recommissioned 6 October 1953; entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for conversion to an APD flagship 28 November 1953-15 March 1954; flagship for Operation 'Passage to Freedom' (evacuation of refugees from North Vietnam) 21 January-19 May 1955; west-coast and WestPac operations through 1960. Specs block: dp. 1,450; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 13'; s. 24 k.; cpl. 256; cl. Crosley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; wartime and postwar crew (~204 ship's company + ~162 embarked troops)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The printed entry ends with 1960 operations and does not cover the 1960-69 Vietnam deployments (supplemented by NavSource and USNI). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-01
-
[3]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Cook (APD-130) (construction designation, awards, Vietnam campaign list, decommissioning/stricken, disposal, specifications) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-130 page - chronology block, campaign/awards table, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 7 May 1944 as Cook (DE-714), a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; launched 26 August 1944; redesignated a Crosley-class high-speed transport while under construction; commissioned USS Cook (APD-130) 25 April 1945, LCDR Drayton N. Hamilton, USNR. WWII Asiatic-Pacific assignment TransRon Twenty-Three / TransDiv One Hundred Eight; occupation service 4 September-18 October 1945; decommissioned 31 May 1946 San Diego, Pacific Reserve Fleet; recommissioned 6 October 1953, CDR Wendell C. Mackey. Vietnam campaign list: Advisory Campaign periods 1960-1965, Counteroffensive Phases II-V 1966-1968, Tet Counteroffensive, Tet 69/Counteroffensive, Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 (7 campaign stars; also Combat Action Ribbon x4 incl. 21 and 23 April 1965; Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation 29-31 July 1966; RVN Gallantry Cross unit citation). Decommissioned and struck 15 November 1969 at NOB San Diego; sold for scrapping 24 July 1970 to National Metal & Steel Corp., Terminal Island, CA. Specs: 1,400 t; 306' x 37' x 12'7"; 23.6 kt trial; complement 12-15 officers + 189-192 enlisted, troop accommodations 12 officers + 150 enlisted; propulsion two Combustion Engineering 'D' Express boilers, two GE turbines (turbo-electric drive), 12,000 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1970
- Population
- Construction trades at Defoe 1944-45; crew 1945-46 and 1953-69; embarked UDT/Marine recon detachments
- Limitations
- NavSource is a curated secondary compilation, not a primary document; its award/campaign table and specs are consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Documents operations and machinery, not materials or asbestos content. Does not state the LPR-130 redesignation on the captured page text; that designation is carried from USNI Naval History and the Naval Cover Museum.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-02
-
[4]Robert J. Cressman, 'Historic Fleets - A Cook With Plenty To Do,' Naval History 29(2), U.S. Naval Institute, April 2015 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Naval History 29(2) article body (construction paragraph, 1965 Tra Bong narrative, closing paragraphs) + Crosley-class specifications sidebar
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USNI Naval History article for this hull provides details absent from DANFS: SecNav Frank Knox approved the dual-brothers naming 20 April 1944; ship fitted out and commissioned at the Naval Frontier Base, Burrwood, Louisiana, 25 April 1945; on 23 April 1965 Cook's landing boats were ambushed by Viet Cong at the Tra Bong River mouth - EN2 Richard H. Langford and TM3 William R. Fuhrman killed, Marine Cpl Lowell H. Merrell died of wounds; 28 January 1962 Cook's embarked UDT rescued 25 survivors of the broken tanker SS Stanvac Sumatra; reclassified amphibious transport (small) LPR-130 on 1 January 1969; returned to San Diego 24 September 1969; decommissioned 15 November 1969; towed 24 July 1970 by tug Pacific Genie to National Metal and Steel Corp. CORRECTION: the article twice prints the construction hull number as 'DE-719' - DE-719 was a different Defoe-built Rudderow hull completed as USS Weiss (APD-135); NavSource, the Naval Cover Museum, and the Crosley-class roster all record Cook as DE-714, which this record carries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1942-1970
- Population
- Crew and embarked UDT/Marine detachments 1945-1969
- Limitations
- Published secondary article (NHHC-affiliated historian) - documents service history, not materials or asbestos. Live USNI page returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; content verified via the 10 Sep 2024 Wayback capture. Article's 'DE-719' is an error; article gives 'two Meritorious Unit Commendations and five engagement stars' vs NavSource's single MUC + seven campaign stars - award-count discrepancy carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-03
-
[5]Department of Veterans Affairs, 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' (the VA ships list), entry: 'USS Cook (APD-130) [High Speed Transport] conducted tactical beach surveys with crew members ashore along Vietnam coast during June and July 1966' [other_primary]
- Locator
- VA ships list, 'Ships with crew members going ashore in Vietnam' category, alphabetical entry for USS Cook (APD-130)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Ship-specific federal benefits record: the VA's Agent Orange ships list names this hull - USS Cook (APD-130) conducted tactical beach surveys with crew members ashore along the Vietnam coast during June and July 1966, placing crew aboard during qualifying inshore operations for herbicide-exposure presumption purposes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1966 (operations); list entry as compiled by VA
- Population
- Crew aboard Cook (APD-130), June-July 1966
- Limitations
- Herbicide (Agent Orange) presumption list, NOT asbestos documentation - it evidences that the ship put crew ashore in Vietnam (consistent with APD beach-survey/recon missions) and that VA used official ship records to evaluate this hull. Establishes nothing about asbestos materials aboard. The public list page aggregates to va.gov; the verbatim entry text is carried from the published VA ships-list document (mirrored at tf116.org/pdf/Vietnam_Ship_List.pdf and dd729.com).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-04
-
[6]Bert C. Brennan, 'Fighting Ships from Bay City,' Inland Seas, July 1945 (republished by the National Museum of the Great Lakes) - contemporaneous account of the Defoe Shipbuilding DE/APD program [other_primary]
- Locator
- NMGL republication of the July 1945 Inland Seas article (Defoe yard description, DE/APD program paragraphs)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous (July 1945) account of Cook's builder during her construction: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, employed ~4,000 and by mid-1945 had produced 17 destroyer escorts plus 'auxiliary personnel destroyers (APD)' among ~135 wartime hulls; describes the Defoe DE/APD as powered by 'steam turbo-electric drive, oil fired express type boilers' with 5.6 miles of pipe and ~105 miles of electrical conductor; documents the 'upside-down and roll-over' build method and the delivery route down the Mississippi to New Orleans 'where the ship is refitted, handed over to the Navy and commissioned' - the pattern Cook followed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding workforce (~4,000 employees, 1941-45)
- Limitations
- Program-level journalism contemporary with construction - documents the builder, machinery type, and delivery pattern, not materials; contains no asbestos statement. Defoe Shipbuilding is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset (37 yard_ids checked) - the missing yard is carried in gaps rather than mapped.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-05
-
[7]NavSource APD-130 propulsion block (2 Combustion Engineering 'D' Express boilers; 2 GE turbines, turbo-electric drive; 12,000 shp) + DANFS Mare Island conversion record + Crosley-class design data [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-130 specifications block; DANFS service narrative (1953-54 yard period); Atlas shipyards.json record 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Crosley-class high-speed transport completed April 1945 on a Rudderow-class destroyer-escort hull, with a turbo-electric steam plant (two oil-fired express boilers, two GE turbines), would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler insulation, turbine lagging, steam-line and pipe lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck coverings, and bulkhead insulation. Documented naval-shipyard availabilities where era insulation work would have occurred: Mare Island NSY flagship conversion 28 November 1953-15 March 1954 (DANFS); Mare Island is a documented asbestos-era yard in the Atlas shipyard dataset (ACM products incl. Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Careytemp, packing and gaskets documented at yard level; documented mesothelioma litigation among yard workers). NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' and Defoe build records are archival leads for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1944-1970
- Population
- Defoe construction trades 1944-45; Mare Island NSY workers 1953-54; crew and embarked troops 1945-69
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos row exists in this record. Yard-level ACM documentation at Mare Island does not establish that asbestos work was performed on this hull during the 1953-54 availability. Crosley-class members used both B&W and CE 'D' Express boilers by builder; NavSource lists CE for this hull. NARA GIB and Defoe material schedules not retrieved. A crew-compiled association history reports a January-March 1964 Mare Island overhaul - plausible but unverified by an authoritative source; carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-06
-
[8]Batch-2417 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 sweeps for "USS Cook", "APD-130", "LPR-130" (opinion and docket indexes); Defoe/yard asbestos-litigation lead check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cook-apd130-04 through -06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located: CourtListener opinion searches for exact name "USS Cook" and hull number "APD-130" each returned zero hits; "LPR-130" returned 2 opinion hits, both Puerto Rico Supreme Court cases where 'LPR' is a Laws of Puerto Rico citation - identifier collisions, non-vessel. The "APD-130" docket sweep returned 1 hit (Sims v. Wingate Management Company, N.D. Ga. 1:22-cv-01696, premises personal-injury) where 'APD' is an Atlanta Police Department reference - identifier collision, non-vessel, non-asbestos. The "USS Cook" docket-index sweep could not be completed - the shared fleet quota was paced for the full session; logged as a blocked gap rather than retried into a ban. Residual collision hazards noted: a second, later USS Cook (Knox-class frigate DE-1083/FF-1083, in commission 1971-1992) shares the name, and 'Cook' is a common surname - any future 'USS Cook' litigation hit requires hull-number or service-window confirmation before attribution to APD-130.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- Absence of located litigation does not prove absence of exposure or of asbestos aboard. Public court indexes do not cover non-indexed state-court filings, settled cases, or asbestos trust claims. The RECAP/docket layer for the exact ship name is an open sweep (fleet pacing) - the opinion layer covering both name and hull number is complete at zero qualifying hits; the residual uncovered layer is stated rather than assumed away.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-07
-
[9]National Archives Catalog, file unit 'Cook (APD-130) - January 1964' (NARA ID 220441761) and companion monthly file units, RG 24 deck logs, digitized under the VA Blue Water Navy Deck Log Project (image series APD-130_BWN00075398/BWN00075389) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Catalog file units for 'Cook (APD-130)' - e.g., January 1964 (ID 220441761), October 1964 (ID 220442889); VA_Batch_0032 image series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized deck logs for this hull exist in the National Archives Catalog: monthly file units 'Cook (APD-130)' at the National Archives at College Park (RG 24), scanned by the Veterans Benefits Administration under the Blue Water Navy Deck Log Project - e.g., the January 1964 file unit (NARA ID 220441761) and October 1964 (NARA ID 220442889) contain page images of the ship's daily deck logs. Deck logs could resolve pending detail questions (e.g., the reported Jan-Mar 1964 Mare Island overhaul) and document yard periods underway/moored locations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1960s deck-log coverage
- Population
- Crew aboard Cook (APD-130), logged months
- Limitations
- Archival lead, not yet reviewed: deck logs record operational/positional entries, not materials inventories - they can document where the hull was (e.g., moored at Mare Island) but are unlikely to name asbestos. The retrieved catalog entries confirm digitization and availability; page-level review was not performed for this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cook-apd130-08