Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Donaldson (DE-44) (namesake, builder, dates, Pacific service narrative, sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Lt. (j.g.) Trose Emmett Donaldson, USNR, Navy Cross for heroism at Cavite December 1941, killed in action 9 April 1942 while commanding an Army tug, posthumous Distinguished Service Cross; laid down for transfer to Great Britain as BDE-44, launched 1 August 1943 by Puget Sound Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Donaldson; retained by the Navy; commissioned 1 December 1943, Lt. H. L. Plage, USNR, in command; arrived Pearl Harbor 9 February 1944, Marshall Islands invasion support, Roi convoy screen, Eniwetok escort; flagship for Commander Escort Division 49 during submarine training 23 April-4 June 1944; hunter-killer group with Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) in the Marshalls-Marianas 5 July-9 August 1944; Western Garrison Force escort for the Palau assault, patrolling off Peleliu and Angaur 20-22 September; with Crowley (DE-303) helped control the fire aboard SS Don Marquis at Manus 26 September; Russell Islands escort runs to 21 November; 3d Fleet logistics-group escort from Ulithi; survived the typhoon of 18 December 1944 losing three men overboard, damage repaired at Ulithi 24 December-12 January 1945; supported Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations and final strikes on Japan; detached 31 August 1945 to a Yellow Sea logistics unit for the occupation of Jinsen, Korea; arrived San Francisco 8 October 1945; decommissioned 5 December 1945; sold 2 July 1946; seven battle stars. Specifications block: Evarts class, 1,140 tons, 289'5" x 35'1" x 8'3", 21 kt, complement 156, three 3" guns.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 156)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS omits the laid-down date and the Naval Vessel Register strike date for this hull (both supplied by NavSource, ev-02). Mirror transcription (hazegray/losthistory.net, transcribed by Yves Hubert) cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-01
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[2]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Donaldson (DE 44) page - building/operational data compiled from official records (keel date as BDE-44, NVR strike date, buyer identity), photo captions incl. NHHC photo NH 79823, commanding-officer table, GMT class type [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-44 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block + photo captions + CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building and operational data for this hull: keel laid 12 January 1943 as BDE-44 (British destroyer escort, Lend-Lease) by the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton; launched and christened 1 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Donaldson, retained by the Navy; commissioned 1 December 1943, Lt. H. L. Plage, USNR; decommissioned 5 December 1945 at San Francisco after 2 years of service; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 19 December 1945; sold for scrapping 2 July 1946 to National Metal & Steel Corp., Terminal Island, Los Angeles. Class type listed as GMT (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, short hull, 3-inch guns); propulsion 4 GM Model 16-278A diesels with electric drive, 6,000 shp, 2 screws; complement listed 15 officers / 183 enlisted; speed 19 kt. CO table: Lt./Lcdr. Henry L. Plage to 2 March 1944, then Lcdr. Henry G. Hartmann to decommissioning.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1943; crew 1943-45; National Metal & Steel shipbreakers 1946
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled naval history archive, not an official record - its dates corroborate and extend DANFS (keel date, NVR strike date, buyer identity, all absent from the DANFS entry). Its complement (198) and speed (19 kt) figures conflict with the DANFS specifications block (156; 21 kt) - carried in gaps rather than silently reconciled. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-02
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[3]Ship's own War History letter, U.S.S. DONALDSON (DE-44), serial DE44/A12-1/SSW Ser 050, 1 October 1945 - the official history the ship submitted to the Secretary of the Navy at war's end (scan hosted by NavSource; reviewed for this record) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-44 page 'War History' link (images/044/06044wh.jpg); letterhead DE44/A12-1/SSW Ser 050, dated 1 October 1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship-submitted War History corroborates the DANFS narrative and adds ship-level detail: commissioned 1 December 1943 at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Lt. Henry L. Plage in command; shakedown in the San Diego area followed by post-shakedown availability in the San Francisco area before sailing for Pearl Harbor; a repair period at Pearl Harbor entered 4 April 1944; ComCortDiv 49 pennant aboard 28 April-4 June 1944 (shifted to Crowley DE-303); five-day overhaul at Pearl Harbor from 15 August 1944; rescue of Ensign J. Chester, USNR, from the water on 9 July 1944 during the hunter-killer sweep; typhoon of 18 December 1944 with three men overboard and damage, Ulithi repairs 24 December-12 January 1945; Balikpapan, Borneo invasion support 28 June-7 July 1945 under temporary Seventh Fleet operational control; Yellow Sea operating area 4-15 September 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew 1943-45
- Limitations
- Primary-source document image reviewed as a scan; legibility limits fine-grain transcription of some unit names and dates - the broad narrative agrees with DANFS. The letter records operations and availabilities, not materials; contains no asbestos information. Hosted by NavSource as a scan of the official submission.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-03
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[4]DANFS specifications block (Evarts class; GMT diesel-electric plant per NavSource class type) + Atlas shipyard dataset record 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' (tier 1; peer-reviewed airborne-asbestos studies incl. amosite/chrysotile exposure during WWII-era construction and overhaul) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NavSource class type (GMT designation); shipyards.json record 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: an Evarts-class (GMT) destroyer escort built January-December 1943 would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-electric ship - exhaust insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings on winches and windlass, fireproofing, and deck coverings - but, having no boilers or steam propulsion, not boiler or steam-line lagging. Builder Puget Sound Navy Yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 1), including peer-reviewed studies of airborne amosite/chrysotile exposure during WWII-era shipyard work; the hull was built, fitted out, and commissioned at that yard in 1943.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1943; crew 1943-45; shipbreakers 1946
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The diesel-electric plant means the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply; nothing here quantifies material aboard or establishes any individual's exposure. Yard-level documentation characterizes the workplace, not materials installed on this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-04
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[5]Beaurman-White v. General Electric Company, No. 3:08-cv-00230 (N.D. Cal., filed 2008-01-14, terminated 2013-11-22) - Diversity-Asbestos Litigation / 368 P.I.: Asbestos; complaint for survival wrongful death names 'USS Donaldson' in indexed docket text [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 4171222 (3:08-cv-00230 N.D. Cal.), complaint docket entry 1
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener RECAP index returns one docket matching 'USS Donaldson': an asbestos personal-injury/wrongful-death action (Brayton Purcell plaintiffs vs. General Electric Co. and Electric Boat Corp., Judge Breyer, N.D. Cal.). 'USS Donaldson' appears in indexed text of the 37-page complaint (docket entry 1, filed 2008-01-14). Given the plaintiff-suit posture, the vessel reference is within the decedent's alleged exposure history - a pleading allegation, not an adjudicated finding.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2008-2013 (litigation)
- Population
- Navy veteran decedent and family plaintiffs (per complaint caption); exposure period unverified from index
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage reference only: a complaint's vessel list is an allegation, not a finding; the docket metadata does not show whether DE-44 was alleged as an exposure site or appears in a longer list, and the merits outcome (terminated 2013) is not visible in the public index. Does not establish asbestos aboard this hull, exposure of any individual, product identity, quantities, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-05
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[6]Batch-4330 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; NavSource DE-44 archive page; ship-submitted War History scan; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; web sweep for asbestos/mesothelioma claims naming the ship [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-donaldson-de44-01 through sl-uss-donaldson-de44-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-44 beyond the single pleading-stage complaint reference (ev-05): no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract, no museum hazmat disclosure (the hull was scrapped in 1946 and no museum custody ever existed), and no adjudicated asbestos finding naming the vessel. CourtListener 'USS Donaldson' returned zero opinions; the one docket hit is an unadjudicated complaint. The published asbestos appeal Donaldson v. National Marine, Inc., 101 Cal. App. 4th 552 (2002), aff'd on jurisdictional grounds 35 Cal. 4th 503 (2005), is a name collision - 'Donaldson' is the plaintiff's surname (decedent Albert Pavolini); no vessel named Donaldson appears in the opinions. Web results naming 'USS Donaldson DE-44' are law-firm marketing list pages, excluded under the sourcing rules.
- 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 - 1943 naval construction is era-consistent with asbestos use, and the documented tier-1 builder yard is consistent with it. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-06
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[7]Archival leads: NARA RG 24 deck logs for DE-44 (1943-1945); NHHC-held photography incl. photo NH 79823 (ship at sea 1945, courtesy Donald M. McPherson 1974); original NVR/BuShips records of construction and disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-44 page photo-credit block (NH 79823); NARA Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (RG 24)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Undigitized primary material exists for this hull: NARA RG 24 holds the ship's deck logs (1943-1945); NHHC holds construction-period and wartime photography (NavSource captions NH 79823); NARA WWII deck logs for this hull are not in the digitized public batches reviewed (digitization has prioritized Vietnam-era logs). The ship-submitted War History scan was retrieved and is carried separately (ev-03).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew 1943-45
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - deck logs and photo records were not retrieved, and none is expected to address asbestos or materials content. Deck logs record operations, not hull materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donaldson-de44-07
