Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) - NHHC online entry updated by Robert J. Cressman, 24 March 2023 (Wayback capture 2024-05-24; live NHHC page returns 404), with 1969 print entry (DANFS Vol. 2, p. 331) via losthistory.net/hazegray transcription [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS entry 'Edwin A. Howard (DE-346)' - spec block + service narrative (Wayback 2024-05-24); print entry DANFS (1969) Vol. 2, p. 331
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 15 November 1943 at Orange, Texas, by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd.; launched 25 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Julia W. Howard (mother of the late Cpl. Howard); commissioned 25 May 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Frederick Denfeld, D-V(G), USNR, in command. Spec block: John C. Butler class; 1,350 t; 306'0"; 36'8" beam; 9'5" mean draft; 24.0 kt; complement 186; armament 2x5in, 4x40mm, 10x20mm, 3x21in TT, 8 DCP, 1 Hedgehog, 2 DC tracks. Service: one Mediterranean convoy escort voyage Sep-Oct 1944; sailed from New York 10 November 1944 for the South Pacific; Hollandia to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, arriving 6 January 1945; reinforced Destroyer Squadron 49 on antisubmarine patrol, Leyte Gulf; convoy escort Palaus-San Pedro Bay and New Guinea-Leyte; Polloc Harbor 30 April 1945; convoy escort around Davao Gulf with bombardment of Samal Island targets; 10 June landing-craft convoy to Morotai; 26 June escorted MTB squadron and tender to Balikpapan, arriving 27 June; screened minesweepers and covered the landings; returned to Leyte 26 July; occupation duty Leyte-Ulithi-Okinawa-Japan; sailed from Samar 28 November 1945; out of commission in reserve 25 September 1946; stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 December 1972; disposed of by Navy sale 1 August 1973. One battle star for the Balikpapan Operation (26 June-10 July 1945). Namesake: Cpl. Edwin Alfred Howard, USMC, b. 6 July 1922 Phoenix, Ariz., enlisted 23 September 1941, killed 3 November 1942 at Guadalcanal, posthumous Silver Star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (DANFS complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, service history, and striking - not materials or asbestos content. Sale-date conflict: the 2023-updated NHHC entry reads 'disposed of, by Navy Sale, on 1 August 1973' while the 1969 print's Bauer & Roberts bracket reads 'sold on 12 September 1973' (NavSource agrees with 12 September) - carried in gaps. Commanding-officer surname spelled 'Denfeld' in NHHC vs 'Denfield' in the 1969 print. Live NHHC page 404s; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-01
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[2]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): building/operational data block, command roster, awards ribbons, hosted scan of the ship's official war history [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-346 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block + commanding-officer roster + war-history scan link (images/346/06346wh.jpg)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photo-archive data corroborating DANFS: keel laid 15 November 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; launched and christened 25 January 1944 (sponsor Mrs. Julia W. Howard); commissioned 25 May 1944, Lcdr F. Denfield, USNR; decommissioned 25 September 1946 'after 2 years and 4 months of service'; struck from the NVR 1 December 1972; sold for scrapping 12 September 1973. Spec block: John C. Butler class, WGT type; 1,350 t light / 1,745 full; 306' oa; 36'10" beam; 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws; 24 kt; 6,000 nm at 12 kt; complement 14 officers/201 enlisted. Command roster: Lcdr. Frederick Denfield (comm.) 25 May 1944 - 1945; Lt. Stuart L. Kadison to Mar 1946; Lcdr. John Edmund Tuttle to Jul 1946; Lt. Harley Melvin Shaffer (decomm. CO) to 25 Sep 1946. Awards ribbons: American Campaign; Asiatic-Pacific w/ 1 star; European-African-Middle Eastern; WWII Victory; Navy Occupation; Philippine Liberation. Hosts a scan of the ship-submitted official war history (06346wh.jpg).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Wartime and postwar crew 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; dates, roster, and captions are unverified against the underlying USN/NHHC/NARA originals. Complement (14/201 = 215) conflicts with DANFS 186 - carried in gaps. The hosted war-history scan is an image file (not text-indexed) and was not transcribed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-02
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[3]DANFS/NavSource spec blocks (John C. Butler WGT class; 2 'D' express boilers + 2 geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 24 kt) + Atlas class profile john-c-butler-class.class.json (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design-group 6; navypedia boiler block map: DE-339-372 = Combustion Engineering boilers) [other_primary]
- Locator
- john-c-butler-class.class.json propulsion_summary + member row DE-346; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt member table; destroyerhistory.org/destroyers/orange yard history
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a WGT steam escort built at Consolidated Steel, Orange, in 1943-44: the class carried a full steam plant - 2 superheated 'D' express boilers (the DE-339-372 block maps to Combustion Engineering units per the class profile's navypedia block map) feeding Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp - so the period-standard asbestos categories apply at class level: boiler casing and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder-yard context: the Orange yard expanded under Navy contract in 1940 and completed 12 Fletcher-class destroyers, 102 destroyer escorts, and 27 Gearing-class destroyers with a peak workforce of about 20,000 (Destroyer History Foundation yard history). The yard is not in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset (carried in gaps).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a ship-specific finding. Establishes no asbestos quantity, location, or exposure aboard this hull. Boiler-builder attribution per block map is a secondary compilation unverified against contract documents.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-03
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[4]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP dockets type=r) for exact name 'USS Edwin A. Howard' / 'Edwin A. Howard' and hull number 'DE-346' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-05 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep complete: exact-name opinion query '"USS Edwin A. Howard"' (type=o) returned 0 results; '"Edwin A. Howard"' (type=o) returned 1 hit - Davis v. Howard (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1893), a creditors'-bill case naming a person Edwin A. Howard in an 1887 conveyance, a name collision predating the ship by five decades. Hull-number query '"DE-346"' (type=o) returned 19 hits, all string collisions on review (PACER docket-entry strings '[DE-346]', Spanish 'de 346' fragments, reporter text) - none vessel- or asbestos-related. RECAP-docket queries: '"USS Edwin A. Howard"' (type=r) returned 0 results; '"DE-346"' (type=r) returned 163 dockets, all 'DE# 346' PACER entry-number references in unrelated cases (criminal, labor, civil - incl. exhibit-numbering strings in Giuffre v. Maxwell, S.D.N.Y.) - none vessel- or asbestos-related. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Both indexes swept for exact name and hull number; all hits reviewed and classified as string/name collisions. The sweep does not cover state-court records, asbestos trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions. 'Edwin A. Howard' also names the ship's namesake Marine, and 'DE-346' collides with PACER docket-entry numbering - any future hit requires collision classification rather than automatic vessel attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-04
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[5]Batch-4249 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + Wayback capture + hazegray/HyperWar mirrors, NavSource, Atlas shipyard dataset, Internet Archive builder plans, VA Board of Veterans' Appeals archive (va.gov), CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation naming this hull was found in the public sources searched. No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull was sold for scrap in 1973 and was never a museum, memorial, or reserve-fleet long-term asset. Marketing/law-firm ship-list pages naming DE-346 (asbestos-ships.com, freeasbestostesting.com, shepardlawfirm.com) were located but are non-authoritative lead-gen sources and are excluded per batch rules - logged in the report, not cited as evidence.
- 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 - era materials would have been present per class-level specification practice, but nothing hull-specific documents them. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-05
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[6]Consolidated Steel Co., Orange, Texas - 'USA - DE-339 - DE-372 John C Butler Class Booklet of General Plans' dated 29 September 1944 (Internet Archive scan, 12 sheets, 300 dpi); NARA RG 19/RG 24 series; NavSource-hosted war-history scan [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org item dejohncbutlerbogp1944v2 (12 JPEG sheets + PDF); navsource.net images/346/06346wh.jpg; NARA RG 19/RG 24 (undigitized)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) the builder's own Booklet of General Plans for DE-339 through DE-372 - the block containing this hull - survives as a 12-sheet scan (dimensions/data, outboard and inboard profiles, decks, midship section) published by Consolidated Steel, Orange, 29 September 1944; (2) the ship's official war history submitted at war's end exists as a NavSource-hosted scan (06346wh.jpg), a primary facsimile whose original is in official custody; (3) NARA RG 19 BuShips contract specifications/General Information Books and RG 24 deck logs cover this hull's 1943-46 construction and service; (4) disposal/scrapping records for the 1973 Navy sale (MARAD/NVR disposal file) are unlocated online.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (records); 2026 (lead status)
- Limitations
- Leads only - the general-plans sheets are image scans not text-indexed (OCR not applicable to plan drawings), the war-history scan was not transcribed, and the NARA series are undigitized. None was pulled; contents establish nothing about materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-06
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[7]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 9828426 (decision 23 September 1998, docket 94-15 783, on appeal from VA RO Houston, Texas) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BVA decision text, Findings of Fact 1-2 + 'Factual Background' (SSA employment record 1942-44/1946; fellow-employee letters Sept 1996; ship names in July 1995 hearing testimony)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Adjudicated VA record involving this hull's builder yard during its construction window: a veteran employed by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas, 1942-1946 as a driller in the boilermaker department (drilling/reaming exterior hull plates - 'did not work inside the ships') was found by the Board NOT to have been exposed to asbestos during that employment (two fellow-employee letters corroborated no asbestos in the exterior-shell work area at that construction stage); the Board granted service connection for asbestos-related lung disease on the basis of his exposure aboard Navy vessels (ships named in testimony: USS Prince William and AN-37 Teakwood plus a WWI-era destroyer - not this hull). The decision is an adjudicated yard-level record for Consolidated Steel Orange covering exactly this hull's build window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1946 (exposure period); 1993-1998 (adjudication)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange boilermaker-dept. driller 1942-1946 (single veteran); WWII Navy shipboard exposure
- Limitations
- Single-claimant adjudication, not a yard-wide finding: the negative yard-exposure finding is fact-specific to exterior drilling work and does not generalize to inside-hull trades (insulators, pipefitters) at the same yard. Names other vessels, not DE-346 - this row is builder-yard/era context only and establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-07
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[8]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - praecipe/pretrial order materials, ECF 738 att. 1 (class-profile record for sister hull USS Brannon DE-446) [court_record]
- Locator
- Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738 att. 1 pp. 12, 26-27 + exhibit list (Honeywell items 160-167); john-c-butler-class.class.json ev-03/-04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation context for the John C. Butler class: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name USS Brannon (DE-446, a Consolidated-built sister hull) and recite a theory that a Griscom-Russell evaporator was supplied to the Navy per specifications and that insulation installed aboard was Navy-specified, with the era document suite identified (BuShips Manual ch. 39 'Thermal Insulation' NAVSHIPS 250-000(39), 1945; Navy Dept Specification 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos,' Oct 1945; BuEng Manual ch. 13; BUMED Code-55 memo 1977). The same specification regime governed this hull's class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- WWII/postwar service era; litigation 2017-2019
- Population
- Machinist's mate aboard USS Brannon (DE-446) - different hull
- Limitations
- Allegation/exhibit-list-level material for a DIFFERENT hull (DE-446) - class context only, not evidence for DE-346. The same expert materials concede the insulation aboard DE-446 'could have included fiberglass, mineral wool or other non-asbestos insulation.' The spec documents were identified from an exhibit list, not retrieved. Establishes no exposure and no product aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-08
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[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. DE-346 was stricken in 1972 and sold for scrap in 1973 - before this policy regime took effect - so the hull's material state was governed by construction-era and reserve-fleet practice, and no post-1975 in-service abatement cycle applies to this vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program review population)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not class- or hull-specific; establishes policy context for the era, not the presence or condition of material aboard this hull. GAO full text returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; product-page description used (same standing limitation as prior batches).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-edwin-a-howard-de346-09