Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet fu-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-cowie-dd632-pkt-fu-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Cowie (DD-632) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative, conversion, striking; verbatim transcription via hazegray mirror - live NHHC page and live hazegray page both unreachable; Wayback capture cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (hazegray.org mirror, Wayback capture 2024-12-09)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 27 September 1941 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. C. R. Robinson (daughter of Rear Admiral Cowie); commissioned 1 June 1942, LCDR C. J. Whiting in command; Atlantic Fleet. Escorted Chenango (CVE-28) New York-Norfolk Oct 1942; antisubmarine patrol off Cape Hatteras; TF 34 North Africa landings, screening transports off Safi 8-13 November 1942; two convoy escorts to Casablanca Dec 1942-Apr 1943; Sicily invasion - contacted HMS Seraph 9 July, guided Scoglitti landings 9-13 July, fire support broke up German tank counterattack vs. 180th RCT 11 July; Bizerte patrol; screened Philadelphia for Palermo landings 28 July; Cape Milazzo sweep; New York overhaul after Belfast convoy (5-30 September 1943); 18 transatlantic voyages to UK and Mediterranean ports; entered Boston Navy Yard 5 May 1945 for conversion to highspeed minesweeper; reclassified DMS-39 30 May 1945; minesweeping exercises Norfolk; San Diego 3 August; Okinawa 27 September; swept mines Yellow Sea and off Kobe and Wakayama; departed Yokosuka 25 March 1946; out of commission in reserve 21 April 1947, San Diego; reclassified DD-632 15 July 1955; three battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 261); conversion-yard workers 1945
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Spec block labels the hull 'cl. Benson' while the class boundary to Gleaves/Bristol-group is disputed across references - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because live NHHC and live hazegray pages are unreachable (hazegray 404/unreachable, NHHC 404); wording follows the transcription.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cowie-dd632-01
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[3]NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, Cowie (DD-632) ex-DMS-39 ex-DD-632, operational/building data + photo captions (navsource.org destroyer index page 05/632.htm also consulted) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/11/0939.htm operational/building data block + photo captions; navsource.org/archives/05/632.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Operational data for this hull: laid down by Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts 18 March 1941; launched 27 September 1941; commissioned USS Cowie (DD-632) 1 June 1942; reclassified/converted to High Speed Minesweeper DMS-39 30 May 1945; out of commission in reserve 21 April 1947, Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego Group (destroyer-index page reads 'Decommissioned April 27 1947'); Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists the plan for decommissioning and placing in reserve as January 1947; reclassified destroyer DD-632 15 July 1955; struck from the Navy Register 1 December 1970; sold for scrap 22 February 1972; photographed leaving San Francisco Bay under tow March 1972 to a breaker's yard in the Far East. Namesake documented: RADM Thomas Jefferson Cowie, Paymaster General and Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (appointed 1 July 1910), Navy Cross for WWI Liberty Loan service, died 16 July 1936. Call sign NUDA (DMS page; destroyer page reads NXUR). Commanding officers: LCDR Charles J. Whiting (1942-06-01 to 1943-08-25), CDR Ralph C. Johnson (to Jan 1945), LCDR Thomas M. Foster (to Oct 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1972
- Population
- Pacific Reserve Fleet caretakers 1947-1970; scrapping workers 1972
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not an official record - consistent with DANFS on launch/commission/conversion dates but carries the decommissioning day (27 vs 21 April 1947) and call-sign (NXUR vs NUDA) conflicts noted in gaps. Documents dates and disposition only; no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cowie-dd632-02
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[4]HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' DMS-39 Cowie spec block (Ellyson-class fast minesweeper ex-Gleaves: 4 boilers, geared turbines twin screws, 50,000 h.p.) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record + Benson/Gleaves class profile (benson-gleaves-class) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar DMS-39 spec block; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard'; class profile benson-gleaves-class
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Bristol-group Gleaves-class repeat built 1941-42 with a four-boiler, ~50,000-shp geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, boiler and steam-line lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck coverings, and compartment insulation. The 5 May-24 June 1945 Boston Navy Yard conversion to DMS-39 was a machinery-space yard period of the type documented to disturb such material; builder Boston Navy Yard is documented in the Atlas yard dataset (yard-level era asbestos context). After 1947 the hull sat in reserve until 1970 striking and 1972 scrapping - no postwar abatement program era applies.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1972
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction and conversion trades 1941-42 and 1945; crew 1942-47; reserve-fleet caretakers
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No survey, work package, or material schedule for DD-632 was located; establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual. The 50,000-shp figure is the DANFS-type value; a NavSource page reads 60,000 shp and BuShips Ships' Data 1945 reads 47,000 shp for the class lead - discrepancy carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cowie-dd632-03
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[5]NARA Catalog file unit 'USS COWIE - War History', Record Group 38 (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), series 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' (naId 4697018), microfilm roll A2043, micro serial 156642; digitized via Fold3 (fold3.com/image/302078826) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov naId 77635877; series naId 4697018; Fold3 publication 750 (US WWII War Diaries)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A hull-specific archival holding is verified in the National Archives Catalog: 'USS COWIE - War History,' a contemporaneous operational history of this vessel filed in RG 38's WWII war diaries series, scanned to microfilm roll A2043 with at least four page images exposed in the catalog. Unretrieved - content not reviewed. Navy deck logs for this era are held by Archives II (College Park) in the Navy deck-log series but are not catalog digitized for this period; NARA RG 19 Boston Navy Yard records may hold 1945 conversion work-package detail.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1946 (records); catalog record accessed 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- File-unit title and catalog metadata verified; document content not reviewed - an operational war history is unlikely to state insulation materials. Establishes existence of ship-specific archival records, not asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cowie-dd632-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep, exact-name and hull-designator queries (see search_ledger sl-05 through sl-08) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cowie-dd632-05 through sl-uss-cowie-dd632-06e
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep complete for this hull, all queries 2026-09-27: exact-name "USS Cowie" returned 0 results at both the opinion layer (type=o) and the docket layer (type=r, document_count 0) - no federal opinion or docket names this vessel. Hull-designator sweeps classified: "DD-632" produced 1 docket hit (Madoff SIPA liquidation, Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 08-01789 - 'DD-632' appears in exhibit identifiers; name collision, not the ship); "DMS-39" produced 8 docket hits, all identifier collisions (docket-clerk initials '[DMS], #39' in E.D. Wash. bankruptcy entries, magistrate-judge initials 'DMS' in case 3:18-mj-00308-DMS, a 'DMS Settlement' in the Emerald Oil bankruptcy); the surname cross-check "Cowie"+asbestos returned 114 dockets including two qualifying asbestos cases where Cowie is the PLAINTIFF surname - COWIE v. FOSTER WHEELER COMPANY (E.D. Pa. 2:10-cv-50291, 2010) and COWIE v. UNITED STATES LINES INC. REORGANIZATION TRUST (E.D. Pa. 2:10-cv-37204, 2010) - neither contains 'USS Cowie' in indexed document text (the exact-name document_count was 0), so they classify as surname collisions, not litigation naming this hull. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Cowie (DD-632/DMS-39) was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Negative findings cover RECAP-indexed text and the opinion corpus only; non-indexed dockets, un-digitized complaints, and sealed records are outside coverage - absence of located litigation does not prove none exists. The two Cowie-surname asbestos dockets were classified without opening complaint PDFs (fleet-paced budget); their indexed text contains no 'USS Cowie' phrase, but a complaint phrasing the vessel otherwise (e.g., 'the Cowie') could evade the exact-name net.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cowie-dd632-05