USS Coronado (PF-38)

Evidence

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

1. [1]research packet 979-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-coronado-pf38-pkt-979-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Coronado (PF-38), Vol. II p. 189 (verbatim transcription, hazegray.org, via Wayback capture 2006-09-27 - live hazegray page not retrievable this session; live NHHC DANFS page not located) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Vol. II p. 189 entry, specifications block + service narrative (Wayback capture of hazegray transcription)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: launched 17 June 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. J. R. Crutchfield; commissioned 17 November 1943, Lieutenant Commander N. W. Sprow, USCG, in command. Sailed from San Diego 8 February 1944 for convoy escort to Noumea and Cairns en route to New Guinea (arrived 25 March); supported Manus landings; landings on Biak 28 May-17 June, Cape Sansapor 15-18 August, Morotai 15 September; sailed from Humboldt Bay 10 October 1944 for the Leyte operation; escort and patrol duty Leyte-New Guinea until 15 December; overhaul at Boston and refresher training in Casco Bay; Seattle 26 April 1945; underway for Alaska 7 June; received four Russian officers and 45 men aboard for training at Cold Bay 25 June; decommissioned 12 July 1945 and transferred to Russia under lend-lease; returned at Yokosuka 16 October 1949; in reserve until transferred to Japan under the Mutual Assistance Program 14 January 1953. Four battle stars for WWII service. Spec block: dp. 1,296; l. 304'; b. 38'; dr. 14'; s. 20 k.; cpl. 190; a. 2 3-inch; cl. Tacoma.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1943-1953

   Population

   Consolidated Steel construction trades (1943); U.S. Coast Guard crew (1943-45)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Spec-block complement 190 conflicts with NavSource's 214; spec-block armament '2 3-inch' conflicts with NavSource/Linder (three 3-inch/50 mounts) - carried in gaps. Archived Wayback copy cited because the live hazegray transcription is not retrievable and no live NHHC page for this hull was located (standing NHHC digitization gap for DANFS Vol. II entries).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-01

3. [3]NavSource Online: Frigate Photo Archive, Coronado (PF 38) ex-PG-146 - designation timeline, specifications, commanding officers, photo record [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource PF-38 page, designation/specification blocks + commanding-officer list + photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource record for this hull: originally authorized as patrol gunboat PG-146 (MC type T. S2-S2-AQ1); reclassified patrol frigate PF-38, 15 April 1943; laid down 6 May 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract at Consolidated Steel Corp., Los Angeles, CA; launched 17 June 1943; commissioned USS Coronado (PF-38) 17 November 1943; decommissioned 12 July 1945 'at Cold Harbor, Alaska' [sic - Cold Bay; see limitations]; transferred under Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union and reclassified EK-8, 13 July 1945; assigned to the Soviet Pacific Fleet 23 July 1945; participated in the landing at Seisin (Chongjin), Korea, 15 August 1945; returned to U.S. custody 16 October 1949 at Yokosuka and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet; transferred on loan under the Mutual Assistance Program to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and renamed Sugi (PF 285), 14 January 1953; JMSDF decommissioned 31 March 1969; returned to U.S. custody 9 July 1971; 'Fate unknown.' Commanding officers: LCDR Ned Weckesser Sprow, USCG (17 November 1943); LT E. H. Burt, Jr., USCGR (12 July 1945). Specifications: 1,430 t. (lt) / 2,415 t. (fl); 303'11" x 37'6" x 13'8"; 20.3 kts; complement 214; three 3"/50 dual-purpose mounts, two twin 40mm, nine 20mm, two depth-charge tracks, eight depth-charge projectors, one Hedgehog; propulsion: two 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500-ihp J. Hendy Iron Works engines, two shafts. National Archives photographs 80-G-1038202, -1038203, -1038205 date the hull to 22 August 1954 (JMSDF era).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1943-1971

   Population

   Consolidated Steel construction trades (1943); USCG crew (1943-45); Soviet crew (1945-49); JMSDF crew (1953-69)

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer-maintained photo/history archive - compiled, not primary; its dates are corroborated here by DANFS and the NHHC Project Hula monograph where they overlap. 'Cold Harbor, Alaska' is a NavSource transcription error for Cold Bay (the Project Hula transfer site); transfer dated 13 July 1945 vs DANFS 12 July - one-day conflict carried in gaps. 'Fate unknown' leaves final disposition undocumented at this source. Documents history/specs, not asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-02

4. [4]Richard A. Russell, Project HULA: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan (Naval Historical Center, Washington DC, 1997), pp. 22-25, appendix - verbatim NHHC monograph via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror (live history.navy.mil copy not located) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Project HULA monograph pp. 22-25 (frigate class background + Coronado passage) and appendix (Coronado = EK-8)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official NHHC monograph names this hull in a dedicated passage (pp. 24-25): 'The transfer of the frigate Coronado (PF 38) typified that of the other frigates.' After Southwest Pacific duty, Coronado 'put in at Boston, Massachusetts, on 24 January 1945. There, the ship received an overhaul of her main engines and boilers, incorporated numerous alterations and "changed the electrical equipment and armament to conform with the new allowance"' - equipment installed only the previous month was removed; inspected by representatives of Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet, 26-28 March; departed for Seattle via the Canal Zone 28 March in Escort Division 25 (Long Beach PF-34 flagship, Ogden PF-39, San Pedro PF-37, Glendale PF-36, Belfast PF-35, Coronado). Moored at the Lake Union Lumber Company Pier, Seattle, 30 April-16 May, where Pacific Electric Company contractors completed post-voyage repairs: reinstalled the attack plotter and sonar range recorder and painted the ship above the waterline; allowance-list reconciliation ran into June. Underway for Kodiak 7 June; arrived Cold Bay 14 June. Decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet navy 12 July 1945 as EK-8 (per the monograph's appendix, which resolves the EK-6/EK-8 designation conflict); three days later the first ten frigates departed Cold Bay for Petropavlovsk. LT E. H. Burt, USCGR, commanded Coronado at transfer. The monograph also records the class context: Maritime Commission contract of 8 December 1942 for 69 frigates derived from the British River class via Gibbs & Cox; 18 ordered from Consolidated Steel, Wilmington; deliveries 'in shockingly incomplete condition' (quoting Morison); chronic problems with the class's triple-expansion reciprocating engines; 27 of the transferred frigates returned by the Soviet navy in October-November 1949.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1945

   Population

   USCG crew and yard/contractor workers at the Boston overhaul and Lake Union pier repairs (1945); Soviet trainees (June-July 1945)

   Limitations

   Authoritative official history of the Project Hula phase; documents a ship-specific engine-and-boiler overhaul event at Boston (January-March 1945) and contractor repairs at Seattle (April-May 1945) but names no facility at Boston and states nothing about asbestos materials - the asbestos scope of that machinery work is inference only, not documented. HyperWar/ibiblio is a verbatim mirror of the Naval Historical Center publication (ISBN 0-945274-35-1), cited because no live NHHC-hosted copy was located.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-03

5. [5]Bruce Linder, 'The First USS Coronado,' Field Guide to Coronado History (Coronado Historical Association) [museum_official]

   Locator

   Field Guide to Coronado History PDF, 'The First USS Coronado' (single-page guide, Coronado Historical Association)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Coronado Historical Association field guide for this hull: a Navy ship manned by a 190-member Coast Guard crew under LCDR N. W. Sprow, USCG; Tacoma class 'near copies of the British River-class frigate,' 96 ships named for small American cities; provided anti-aircraft defense to amphibious groups in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and was credited with one aircraft shot down; after a short yard period sailed for Cold Bay in June 1945 for Project HULA; decommissioned 12 July 1945 and transferred to the Soviet Navy as EK-8; three days later led the first ten transferred frigates to Petropavlovsk (27 patrol frigates transferred that summer); returned to U.S. custody 16 October 1949; laid up at Yokosuka about three years; transferred to Japan in January 1953 - first to the Maritime Safety Agency, then among the first units of Destroyer Squadron 2, JMSDF; renamed Sugi (PF-285); patrolled East Asian waters and trained JMSDF crews from Yokosuka and Kure.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1943-1971

   Population

   USCG crew (1943-45); JMSDF crew (1953-69)

   Limitations

   Local historical-society publication by a named naval historian - reputable secondary, not primary. Its closing dates conflict with NavSource: the guide reads 'returned ... to the United States in 1962 and finally scrapped in 1970,' while NavSource reads JMSDF decommission 31 March 1969 and return to U.S. custody 9 July 1971 - the Linder dates appear compressed/incorrect and the conflict is carried in gaps. Documents service history, not asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-04

6. [6]Japanese specialist vessel-registry list, 'JMSDF escort ship Kusu class' (airportworld.sakura.ne.jp, Japanese-language), Sugi entry; corroborated in outline by navypedia.org KUSU class page (PF5 -> PF285, September 1957) [other_primary]

   Locator

   airportworld Kusu-class list, Sugi entry (PF285): '1943.11.17 竣工 ... 1953.01.14 貸与 1962.08.28 供与 1965.03.31 保管船（YAC-13）に区分変更 1969.03.31 除籍 1971.07.09 返還'

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Japanese-side registry timeline for this hull (as JDS Sugi): completed 17 November 1943 (as USS Coronado PF-38); loaned to Japan 14 January 1953; served in the Safety Security Force / JMSDF as Sugi (PF-5, renumbered PF-285 on 1 September 1957 when the Kusu class moved to the 28x block); the 1953 loan was converted to a permanent grant (供与) on 28 August 1962 - the same grant date shown for all 18 Kusu-class hulls; reclassified from escort ship to storage ship (保管船) YAC-13 on 31 March 1965; struck from the JMSDF register (除籍) 31 March 1969; returned to U.S. custody (返還) 9 July 1971.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1953-1971

   Population

   JMSDF crew (1953-65); YAC-13 storage-ship period (1965-69)

   Limitations

   Compiled specialist database (Japanese-language hobbyist registry site), not an official JMSDF publication - the dates are registry-consistent across all 18 Kusu-class hulls and corroborated in outline by navypedia, and resolve the '1962' figure in Linder (a loan-to-grant conversion, not a return). The registry list ends at the 1971 return; it does not document the final disposal. Documents status history, not asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-05

7. [7]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (two 3-drum express boilers; two 5,500-ihp J. Hendy Iron Works engines); NHHC Project Hula class context (triple-expansion reciprocating engines; Maritime Commission type T. S2-S2-AQ1 derived from the British River class); DANFS spec block; GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation (see ev-07) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource specifications block; Project Hula pp. 22-24 (class design/engine context); DANFS spec block; shipyards.json (no entry for Consolidated Steel - see gaps)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   A Maritime Commission-type steam frigate laid down 6 May 1943 with two 3-drum boilers and triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era: era-standard applications aboard a steam vessel of this type and period were boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging between boiler and engine rooms, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and insulation felts. Built at a commercial contract yard (Consolidated Steel, Wilmington) under Maritime Commission contract during the period of joint Navy-Maritime Commission safety requirements for contract shipyards (1943).

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1943-1971

   Population

   Consolidated Steel construction trades (1943); USCG engineering crew (1943-45); Soviet and JMSDF engineering crews (1945-69); Boston-overhaul and Seattle-repair workers (1945)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for PF-38. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution. The documented January 1945 Boston overhaul of 'main engines and boilers' (ev-03) is a machinery work event consistent with disturbance of era insulation materials, but no source documents asbestos scope or content for it.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-06

8. [8]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

   GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's entire construction (1943) and U.S. service era (1943-45), and most of her foreign-service life.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   1979

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-04) - content via product-page description.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-07

9. [9]Batch-8442 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (hazegray/Wayback); NavSource; NHHC Project Hula monograph; Coronado Historical Association field guide; CourtListener API v4 (see ledger for per-query results); NARA digitized-logs list; GAO product page; secondary web sweep [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-coronado-pf38-01 through -14; matched documents verified via RECAP/Internet Archive copies (Cannon complaint, Hassebrock doc-149, Prewett doc-50, Redman complaint OCR, Hammell doc-82-5 OCR)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   CourtListener 4-query base sweep complete via the authenticated helper - zero qualifying asbestos litigation for this hull. (1) Exact-name opinion: 2 hits, both non-qualifying (Piersall v. Winter, D.D.C. 2007 - Navy civilian-employment; Tri-State Motor Transit Co. v. United States, Fed. Cl. 1997 - Tucker Act carrier contract). (2) Exact-name docket: 8 hits - the 4 asbestos-coded dockets each resolve by document-level verification to a later same-name ship: Hassebrock v. Air & Liquid Systems (W.D. Wash. 2014) recites plaintiff inspecting 'the USS Denver, the USS Coronado and the USS Plainview,' vessels 'originally constructed at Lockheed Shipbuilding's premises,' 1967-1970 - that hull is AGF-11 (ex-LPD-11, Lockheed Seattle); Prewett v. Goulds Pumps (W.D. Wash. 2009; its MDL 875 doc-5934 hit is the same remand order) recites boilermaker work aboard 'the USS Coronado and the USS Nashville' at Lockheed Shipyard 1964-1967 - likewise AGF-11/LPD-11 new construction, Foster Wheeler boilers; Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (N.D. Cal. 2008) lists 'USS Coronado' in a Norfolk Naval Shipyard jobsite table dated 1966-1984 among Cold War combatants - AGF-11; Hammell v. Air & Liquid Systems (D.N.J. 2014) match is a Westlaw printout of the Prewett order filed as an exhibit - derivative of the same AGF-11 passage. Non-asbestos hits: Cannon v. Austal USA (S.D. Cal. 2015) expressly pleads 'the vessel classified as an LCS 4 known as the USS Coronado' - a 2013 deck injury at Mobile; Piersall v. Johnson - same matter as the opinion hit; Strege v. Nuclear Missile Rosatom (E.D. Mich. 2024) - pro se name collision. (3) 'PF-38' opinion: 4 hits, all name collisions (pharmaceutical, environmental, contract-board, patent matters - 'PF-38' as exhibit/part identifier). (4) 'PF-38' docket: count 55, first page all non-vessel collisions; overflow authorized one asbestos-qualified variant - see sl-14. No hit names PF-38, PG-146, EK-8, or JDS Sugi; no docket contains a trial finding of exposure aboard any Coronado - every mention is pleading-stage at most and resolves to AGF-11 or LCS-4.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-04

   Study period

   2026-10-04

   Limitations

   Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - it means none was found in the public sources searched. Deck logs (NARA RG 24), Consolidated Steel construction records, Maritime Commission contract files, the 1945 Boston overhaul work package, Soviet-era (EK-8) and JMSDF (Sugi) maintenance records, and Japanese disposal records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-coronado-pf38-08

10. [10]Disposition/designation cross-check: NavSource designation history; NHHC Project Hula appendix (EK-8 confirmed); Linder field guide (conflicting closing dates); DANFS spec block vs NavSource spec block [other_primary]

    Locator

    NavSource designation block; Project Hula appendix p. 39; Linder field guide closing paragraphs; DANFS spec block; airportworld Kusu-class registry list (Sugi entry); navypedia KUSU class page

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Source conflicts reconciled where possible: (1) Soviet designation EK-8 confirmed by the NHHC Project Hula appendix - a circulating EK-6 variant is not supported (EK-6 was Glendale PF-36 per the same appendix). (2) Transfer date 12 July 1945 per DANFS and Project Hula vs 13 July per NavSource - DANFS/NHHC carried. (3) NavSource's 'Cold Harbor, Alaska' is a transcription error for Cold Bay. (4) JMSDF pennant RESOLVED: Sugi served as PF-5 (1953-57) and was renumbered PF-285 on 1 September 1957 when the Kusu class moved to the 28x block - the 'PF-5' variant circulating in secondary sources is her genuine first pennant, not an error (secondary compiled sources: navypedia, Japanese Kusu-class registry list). (5) Linder's 'returned ... to the United States in 1962' RESOLVED as a compression error: the Japanese registry list shows the 1953 loan converted to a permanent grant (供与) on 28 August 1962 - the ship became Japanese property in 1962, not returned; the grant date is uniform across all 18 Kusu-class hulls. (6) Her last JMSDF years were as storage ship YAC-13 from 31 March 1965, struck 31 March 1969 - NavSource's 'decommissioned 31 March 1969' corresponds to the registry striking (除籍). (7) Frigates transferred: Linder reads 'Twenty-seven patrol frigates were transferred to the Soviet Navy that summer'; the NHHC monograph's appendix lists 28 transferred frigates and its narrative records 27 returned in October-November 1949 (Belfast PF-35 reported a total loss from storm damage) - the NHHC figures are internally consistent and carried. (8) Final disposition remains unverified: NavSource 'Fate unknown' after return to U.S. custody 9 July 1971; secondary sources describe allocation to Japan for use as a target ship and a sinking off Nojimazaki on 10 August 1971 (traced to a Japanese naval-database entry not directly verified); navypedia reads 'discarded 3.1970'; Linder reads 'scrapped in 1970.'

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-04

    Study period

    1945-1971

    Limitations

    Conflicts documented rather than silently reconciled. The 'EK-6' variant and the Linder closing dates appear in secondary/compiled sources; primary records not located to resolve the 1971 disposal. The PF-5/PF-285 and YAC-13/grant resolutions rest on compiled specialist databases (navypedia, Japanese registry list) - consistent with official JMSDF registry practice but not official publications themselves. Verification partial.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-coronado-pf38-09