Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Coolbaugh (DE-217) (namesake biography, spec block, builder, dates, service narrative; live NHHC page returns 404 - verbatim text confirmed against the Wayback capture of the official history.navy.mil page and the HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (ibiblio de217.html; NHHC page via web.archive.org capture 2024-05-24)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Lt.(jg) Walter Wesley Coolbaugh (b. 1 August 1914, Ransom, Pa.; enlisted USNR 14 November 1940; Navy Cross at Coral Sea May 1942; killed in an aircraft accident 19 December 1942). Spec block: 1,400 tons, 306', beam 36'10", draft 9'5", 24 kt, complement 186, armament 3 x 3", 3 x 21" tt., 8 dcp., 1 dcp.(hh.), 2 dct., class Buckley. Launched 29 May 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. A. Coolbaugh; commissioned 15 October 1943, Lt. Cmdr. L. S. Kintberger in command. Pacific escort service from early 1944: Efate 8 February 1944; Solomons patrol/escort; Emirau Island invasion 9-16 April; 7th Fleet at Manus 10 October 1944; preinvasion Leyte air strikes from 18 October; screened escort carriers in the Battle off Samar 26 October and next day rescued 91 men thrown overboard when Suwanee (CVE-27) was damaged by kamikaze, escorting her to Manus; 19-27 November screened escort carriers covering Leyte Gulf convoys; Lingayen Gulf reinforcement screening January-February 1945; Ulithi-Iwo Jima ferry of relieved landing troops 28 February-4 March; patrol off Iwo Jima until 27 March; Hawaii escort/training services until arrival San Francisco 4 September 1945 'for overhaul and training on the west coast'; January 1946 homeport Newport, R.I.; 25 January aided in providing electric power for Block Island after a powerhouse fire; coastwise and Caribbean operations, plane guard for ASW exercises, schoolship for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West; midshipman training cruises to Ireland/England summers 1954 and 1956; permanently assigned to Fleet Sonar School Key West 22 August 1957; decommissioned 21 February 1960 at Saint Petersburg, Fla., 'and placed in service until 26 May, when she was placed out of service in reserve.' Three battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 186); Fleet Sonar School students and Naval Reserve trainees 1946-1960
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS omits the laid-down date (supplied by BuShips SDB 1945 row 63 and NavSource); the decommissioning year conflicts with NavSource's 1959 chronology (carried in gaps); the entry predates the 1972 striking and 1973 sale, which are documented by NavSource. Live NHHC page returns 404 (standing link rot, consistent with Batch-01 and batch-4132 findings); verbatim text verified against the Wayback capture of the official NHHC page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-01
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[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels alphabetical roster, row 63 - COOLBAUGH DE217 (shipscribe.com scan; page image read directly, book pp. 240-241, scan p. 130) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 book pp. 240-241 (Destroyer-Escort alphabetical roster, row 63); scan p. 130
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (row 63): COOLBAUGH - DE217 - TE (turbo-electric design group) - builder Navy Yard, Philadelphia - contract $3,180,000 dated 8 June 1942 - keel laid Feb. 22, 1943 - launched May 29, 1943 - first commission Oct. 15, 1943 - sponsor column 'COOLBAUGH'. Confirms the keel-laying date absent from DANFS and concurs with launch/commissioning dates across all sources.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction workforce 1943
- Limitations
- Roster row documents contract, builder, dates, and design group only - no materials or asbestos information (the SDB tables carry machinery and habitability data, not insulation schedules). The PDF has no text layer; the row was read from the rendered page image (300 dpi) plus tesseract OCR cross-check.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-02
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[3]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Coolbaugh (DE-217) page - building/operational data, specifications, commanding-officer succession, and U.S. Navy photo captions incl. NHHC photo NH 75610 and Mare Island yard photos DE-217 7191-45 / 7192-45 (Wayback capture 2024-06-24; live navsource.org fetch failed, navsource.net mirror identical) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource archives/06/217.htm 'Coolbaugh (DE 217) Building and Operational Data' block + photo caption entries + commanding-officer table (Wayback 2024-06-24)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource operational chronology for this hull: keel laid 22 February 1943 at Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched and christened 29 May 1943 (sponsor Mrs. A. Coolbaugh); commissioned 15 October 1943; January 1946 homeport change to Newport, R.I. as a unit of Escort Squadron 10; documented Mare Island Navy Yard overhaul 4 September - 17 November 1945 (U.S. Navy plan-view photos DE-217 7191-45 and 7192-45 dated 15 November 1945, caption text 'Coolbaugh was in overhaul at the yard from 4 September to 17 November 1945'); photo record shows original 3"/50 fit replaced by 5"/38 guns in a 1945 conversion; 22 August 1957 homeport change to Key West, Fla. as a unit of Escort Squadron 12 assigned to the Fleet Sonar School; 21 February 1959 decommissioned and placed 'in service' at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center, Bayboro Harbor, St. Petersburg, Fla., Lt. S. T. Counts, USN, as Officer in Charge (followed by OinCs Stark, Case, and Kinsley 'Decomm. OinC' through 26 May 1960); 26 May 1960 placed 'out of service' at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Orange, Tex., 'after 16 years and 7 months of service'; 1 July 1972 struck from the NVR; 17 August 1973 sold for scrapping. Specifications read 2 'D' Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws - concurring with the BuShips group-2 TE design row.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Postwar crew; Naval Reserve trainees at Bayboro Harbor NRT center 1959-1960; Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility caretakers, Orange, Tex. 1960-1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive compiling official captions and ship data - its decommissioning date (21 February 1959) conflicts with DANFS (1960); the NavSource chronology is internally consistent (four successive OinCs February 1959 - May 1960, consistent with an 'in service' Naval Reserve training period) and is documented here alongside the DANFS date, with the conflict carried in gaps rather than silently reconciled. Photo captions and CO succession are its strongest elements; spec block (boiler type, complement 15/198) is secondary. Buyer of the 1973 scrapping sale not named.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-03
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[4]Spiro v. Burnham LLC et al., No. 1:25-cv-10605 (D. Mass.), Judge Julia E. Kobick - CourtListener docket id 69734930, PACER case id 281975, federal docket opened 13 March 2025, ongoing (last filing 19 August 2026); docket-sheet entries cross-read on the DocketBird mirror [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 69734930 (metadata verified via API v4); DocketBird docket sheet entries incl. ECF 1, 14, 46, 56, 58, 63, 91, 93-102
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull at pleading stage. Per contemporaneous press recital of the complaint (mesothelioma.net, 11 April 2025, and a second independent legal-news recital), plaintiffs Robert L. Spiro and Nancy Spiro allege he served in the U.S. Navy as a machinist mate aboard USS Coolbaugh approximately 1957-1959 and aboard USS Newman K. Perry approximately 1959-1960, with later civilian heating-products exposure c. 1976-1979; the suit also alleges a Metropolitan Life conspiracy claim. The federal docket is verified on the CourtListener/PACER index: filed in Massachusetts state court (February 2025 per press), removed to D. Mass. (federal docket opened 13 March 2025; '[1] Notice of Removal' referenced at ECF 14; state-court record transmitted at ECF 46); defendants include Burnham LLC, Foster Wheeler Energy Corp., General Electric Co., Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (successor to Buffalo Pumps), ITT LLC, Elliot Co., Gardner Denver, Spirax Sarco, IMO Industries, Warren Pumps, NIBCO, A.W. Chesterton, Alfa Laval, Metropolitan Life, and others. Robert L. Spiro died during pendency (Suggestion of Death, ECF 56, filed 24 June 2025); Nancy Spiro continues as plaintiff (amended complaint, ECF 58). The case was transferred to the court's asbestos docket (order 7 October 2025 granting ECF 63), referred to ADR 21 May 2026, and remains pending; multiple defendants have been dismissed without prejudice on 'Allegation of No Product Identification' grounds, and the plaintiff filed a written disagreement with Foster Wheeler Energy Corp.'s no-product-ID allegation (ECF 91, 20 April 2026).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1957-1959 (alleged exposure aboard this hull); 2025-2026 (litigation)
- Population
- Robert L. Spiro (USN machinist mate, alleged aboard DE-217 c. 1957-1959); Nancy Spiro (loss of consortium)
- Limitations
- PLEADING-STAGE ALLEGATION, not a finding: the exposure-aboard-Coolbaugh claim is an unadjudicated complaint allegation, and the vessel names reach the record through two press recitals of the complaint, not through the complaint text itself - ECF 1 (complaint) and ECF 58 (amended complaint) were not pulled this session (RECAP document fetch remained a retry lead). The docket's existence, parties, judge, and posture are independently verified (CourtListener + DocketBird docket sheet); which defendants' products are tied to which vessel is undetermined, and several defendants have exited on no-product-ID grounds. Establishment of causation, materials aboard, or any admissible exposure finding is nowhere in the record; a defense no-product-ID win would be a merits-negative for that defendant, not exposure evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-04
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[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort design-group table, group 2 (TE) row (shipscribe.com scan, book pp. 234-235, scan p. 127) + navypedia us_de_te per-block boiler-manufacturer map + Atlas shipyards.json records 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard' (tier 3) and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (tier 2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 book pp. 234-235 group-2 TE row (scan p. 127); navypedia us_de_te block map DE214-223 = Babcock & Wilcox (via class-f buckley-class profile); shipyards.json 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard' and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era propulsion and builder-yard inference: DE-217 is a Buckley-class TE destroyer escort - one of only two WWII destroyer-escort designs carrying a full superheated steam plant (the other, John C. Butler/WGT). BuShips design-group row: 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi / 750F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp on 2 shafts; navypedia's per-block boiler-manufacturer map assigns Babcock & Wilcox boilers to the DE-214-223 block that includes this hull (unverified against contract documents). A 1943 steam-plant escort of this design would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation: boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, plus era-standard deck coverings, electrical insulation, and fireproofing. Builder-yard context: the Atlas dataset documents Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at tier 3 - named asbestos products identified in published appellate opinions covering 1941-1984 work (Eagle-Picher Super 60, Onecote cement, Thermasil, Unibestos, Cary block, Kaylo, Garlock gaskets/packing, Johns-Manville pipe insulation, and others; Taylor v. Celotex, Junge v. Garlock, Gross v. Johns-Manville), a 2014 shipfitter mesothelioma verdict (Merwitz, $7.25M), and a 1989 OSHA health inspection with a 90-percent bulk asbestos result; Mare Island Naval Shipyard (site of this hull's documented September-November 1945 overhaul) is documented at tier 2 (Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Careytemp, and packing/gasket products; Collins v. Plant Insulation; the Navy/Vallejo disposal-and-reuse EIS).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (build + overhaul); yard documentation spans 1941-1996
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard trades 1943 (WWII peak employment ~47,700); Mare Island yard workers 1945; crew 1943-1960
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - not a ship-specific finding. The BuShips row documents the design group this hull belongs to, not this hull's material schedule (NARA RG19 General Information Books are the archival lead). Yard-level product identification documents the facilities' asbestos environment, not this hull's contents; the 1943 build and 1945 overhaul fall inside the yards' documented periods, but no source ties a specific asbestos product to DE-217. Boiler manufacturer attribution rests on navypedia's block map, unverified against contract documents.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-05
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[6]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
- Navy program-level context: GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use and its protection posture - standing policy removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it; substitution did not begin until the early 1970s. Relevant to DE-217 only as era context: the hull was built inside the documented asbestos-use era (1943) and its one documented Navy-yard overhaul (Mare Island, Sept-Nov 1945, incl. 5"/38 rearmament per NavSource) is the kind of maintenance event that disturbed original insulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973 (hull era); 1979 (report)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level era context, not ship-specific: DE-217 was stricken 1972 and sold 1973, so the 1975-79 policy window postdates the hull; carried strictly as Navy asbestos-policy context for the build/overhaul era. gao.gov blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403) - product-page description used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-06
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[7]NARA, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978 (series; National Archives Identifier 594258) + RG 19 BuShips construction records / General Information Books + RG 38 ship war diaries [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov deck-log program pages; NavSource archives/06/217.htm war-history image link
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads unsurveyed: deck logs for DE-217's commissioned years (October 1943 - February 1959/60) fall within NARA's Navy logbook series (1941-1978 holdings; digitization status of Coolbaugh's monthly log units unverified). Deck logs would document operations, yard periods, and repairs - not material schedules. NARA RG 19 General Information Books (per-vessel material specifications) are the parallel lead for hull-level material data. NavSource links a scan of the 'official War History of USS Coolbaugh as submitted by the ship' at war's end (image 06217wh.jpg); WWII war diaries are RG 38 holdings.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1960 (records coverage)
- Population
- Crew 1943-1960 (records); researchers
- Limitations
- Lead only - no retrieval performed; the NARA catalog API returned only the JS application shell to scripted queries, so per-unit digitization status is unverified. Deck logs document operations, not asbestos content; whether any log or GIB names insulating materials for this hull is unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-07
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweeps via fleet-paced authenticated helper (cl-auth-search.py): dockets endpoint verified Spiro v. Burnham LLC (docket 69734930); opinion and docket name sweeps for 'USS Coolbaugh' / 'Coolbaugh' / 'DE-217' blocked repeatedly by fleet pacing budget [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 results 2026-09-28: dockets/?court=mad&docket_number=1:25-cv-10605 -> docket 69734930 (hit); type=o 'USS Coolbaugh'/'Coolbaugh'/'DE-217' and type=r 'USS Coolbaugh' attempts -> helper exit 2 (fleet pacer), see search_ledger sl-05 through sl-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Partial sweep only. VERIFIED: dockets API returned exactly one Coolbaugh-related docket - Spiro v. Burnham LLC, 1:25-cv-10605 (D. Mass.) - the qualifying asbestos action carried at ev-04. NOT COMPLETED: opinion-type sweeps 'USS Coolbaugh', 'Coolbaugh', and 'DE-217', and the 'USS Coolbaugh'/'Coolbaugh' docket-type sweeps - the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing budget (~114 req/hr shared across concurrent batch sessions) stood the helper down on every spaced retry; carried as a coverage limitation, not a result. Collision expectations for when the sweep runs: 'Coolbaugh' is an uncommon surname but collides with Coolbaugh Township (Monroe County, Pa.) land-use litigation and unrelated Coolbaugh parties; 'DE-217' collides with ECF document-entry numbering. The docket query used is not equivalent to a full-text vessel-name sweep - pleadings naming the hull inside unindexed documents would not surface.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Coverage is the verified dockets-endpoint hit plus unexecuted sweeps: opinion-index and docket-index name coverage for this ship is UNVERIFIED this session; state-court dockets, PACER-only filings, and settled/undocketed claims sit outside the sweep in any case. Absence of additional located cases is not evidence none exist; the pending Spiro action (ev-04) is itself proof that hull-naming allegations may not surface in opinion text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-coolbaugh-de217-08
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[9]Batch-4135 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback of official NHHC page + HyperWar/ibiblio; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (page-image + OCR read); NavSource (Wayback); navypedia block map; Atlas shipyards.json; GAO product page; NARA deck-log program; general web + litigation sweep; CourtListener (see sl-05 through sl-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-coolbaugh-de217-01 through sl-uss-coolbaugh-de217-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying hull-material asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, insulation specification, or materials schedule for DE-217 was found in the public sources searched, and none can be generated - the hull was sold for scrapping 17 August 1973, predating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for preserved escorts (e.g., USS Slater DE-766, USS Stewart DE-238). The only 'asbestos' web hits naming USS Coolbaugh outside the Spiro coverage are law-firm marketing listicles enumerating every WWII hull (shepardlawfirm.com 'USS Coolbaugh | DE 217' vessel page; asbestos-ships.com) - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules. What exists instead: one live pleading-stage asbestos case naming the hull (ev-04), a documented Navy-yard overhaul at an asbestos-documented yard (Mare Island, ev-03/ev-05), and class/era steam-plant inference (ev-05).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located hull-material record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 Navy-yard steam-plant escort is era-consistent with ACM, and the pending Spiro litigation (ev-04) alleges exposure aboard this very hull. 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-coolbaugh-de217-09