Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet mi-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-elrod-ffg55-pkt-mi-packet-md
-
[2]Naval Vessel Register detail page, ELROD (FFG 55) - Wayback capture 2016-10-24 (NVR record last updated 2015-09-21); live nvr.navy.mil detail page no longer returns a record for this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship-detail table for FFG 55, Wayback capture 2016-10-24
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NVR record for this hull: UIC 21236; class FFG 7; builder Bath Iron Wks Corp; award 05/22/1981, keel 11/21/1983, launched 05/12/1984, delivered 05/10/1985, commissioned 05/18/1985, decommissioned 01/30/2015, stricken 01/30/2015; status 'Stricken, to be disposed of' (status change date 01/30/2015), maintenance category X; berth and custodian NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance Office, Philadelphia, PA; 453 ft overall, 4,100 tons full load; steel hull, aluminum superstructure; propulsion type gas turbines, 1 propeller; accommodations 19 officers / 200 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1981-2016
- Population
- Ship's company (design complement ~219 accommodations) 1985-2015; Bath Iron Works construction trades 1983-1985
- Limitations
- Registry data documents identity, dates, dimensions, and custody - not materials or asbestos content. Record current to its 2015-09-21 NVR update; the live NVR detail page now returns no record (stricken hulls no longer displayed), so post-2016 status confirmation relies on secondary listings and a 2017 official photograph.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-01
-
[3]NHHC ship command-operation report, USS Elrod (FFG-55), CY1985 (CO submission to Director of Naval History, 15 May 1986); NHHC also holds Elrod reports for 1986, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 in the same archive [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC CY1985 command history, Enclosure (1) Historical Narrative items b-e; CY1995 report 'Command Composition and Organization'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous command history for this hull: nucleus crew reported to Pre-commissioning Unit Elrod at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, 7 January 1985; Bath Iron Works delivered the ship to the Navy 10 May 1985; commissioning ceremony at Bath Iron Works 18 May 1985, Cmdr. Richard Warren Moore assuming command. Narrative identifies the namesake as Maj. Henry Talmadge Elrod, USMC, Medal of Honor (posthumous) for the Battle of Wake Island, and records the ship's motto 'War Ready to Preserve Peace.' The CY1995 report describes Elrod as 'a Flight IV design of the Oliver Hazard Perry class.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1985-1986
- Population
- Pre-commissioning and plankowner crew, Bath, 1985
- Limitations
- Documents construction/commissioning and class flight - not materials or asbestos. The scanned 1985 report's OCR reads 'December 1942' for the Wake Island action; the correct date is December 1941 per Marine Corps History Division (flagged as a source transcription artifact).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-02
-
[4]DVIDS/U.S. Navy release 'USS Elrod is decommissioned' (Ens. Mary C. Senoyuit, USS Elrod Public Affairs), 2015-01-30; corroborating DVIDS photo 170824-N-LV331-002 documents ex-Elrod at the Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, 2017-08-24 [other_primary]
- Locator
- DVIDS news release 153146 (2015-01-30); DVIDS image 3708043 (170824-N-LV331-002)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official decommissioning record: USS Elrod (FFG 55) decommissioned 30 January 2015 at Naval Station Norfolk (Cmdr. Brad Stallings, final CO); christened and launched 12 May 1984 in Bath, Maine, the 45th Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate; commissioned 18 May 1985; homeported Charleston, S.C. before shifting to Norfolk in 1995; five Persian Gulf deployments; 2004 Operation Active Endeavor; final deployment 2014 to the Sixth Fleet (Operation Active Endeavor, safe passage of M/V Morning Glory, assist to USS Bataan's rescue of 282 persons in distress, embarked MQ-8B Fire Scout). The ship 'is slated to be offered in foreign military sales.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1985-2015 (service summary); 2017 (inactive-berth photo)
- Population
- Final crew, 2014-2015
- Limitations
- Documents service milestones and decommissioning - not materials or asbestos. Foreign-military-sales statement is a 2015 intent, not an executed transfer (see ev-04, ev-05). Secondary reporting gives 19 career deployments and ~2 million nautical miles; not carried as verified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-03
-
[5]P.L. 113-276, Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2013, §102(b) (128 Stat. 2989-2990, signed 2014-12-18) [other_primary]
- Locator
- 128 Stat. 2989-2990, §102(b)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Statute names this hull by hull number: the President is authorized to transfer USS ELROD (FFG-55) - with USS TAYLOR (FFG-50), USS GARY (FFG-51), and USS CARR (FFG-52) - to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office on a sale basis under Arms Export Control Act §21. Never executed as to Elrod: Taiwan took only Taylor and Gary, and the transfer authority expired three years after enactment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2014-2017 (authority window)
- Limitations
- Authorization only, not a transfer; establishes the hull's statutory disposition pathway, not its material condition. Any future transfer/scrapping would generate hazmat-preparation documentation not yet public.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-04
-
[6]Congressional Record 168(158) pt.1, p. S5606 (2022-09-29), draft 'Transfer of Excess Oliver Hazard Perry-Class Guided-Missile Frigates to Egypt' text naming ex-USS CARR (FFG-52) and ex-USS ELROD (FFG-55); parallel House amendment text, 117th Congress [other_primary]
- Locator
- Cong. Rec. S5606-S5608 (2022-09-29); amendments-rules.house.gov 117-54 amendment file; enactment verified absent from P.L. 117-263, 118-31, 118-159
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Draft statutory text would have authorized grant transfer of ex-Elrod to Egypt under Foreign Assistance Act §516, conditioned on CAATSA/human-rights certifications. The provision was NOT enacted: full-text search of the enacted NDAAs P.L. 117-263 (FY2023), P.L. 118-31 (FY2024), and P.L. 118-159 (FY2025) returns no 'Elrod' mention. The hull remains U.S.-held at Philadelphia.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2022-2023
- Limitations
- Proposed legislation, not law - recorded to keep the disposition trail complete and to prevent a false 'transferred to Egypt' statement. No transfer, scrapping, or donation has been executed as of this research date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-05
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[7]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (1979-10-18), incl. Navy enclosure to CNO Ser 4542/318054 of 5 Jan 1979 - Attachment 1 'List of U.S. Navy Ships Delivered Since 1973 or Under Construction (Ship Class, Name and Hull Number and Status of Thermal Insulation)' [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 pp. 1-6 (conclusions, Navy enclosure) and Attachment 1 table (FFG block)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level record framing this hull's construction era: Navy thermal-insulation product specifications were changed in 1973 to specify asbestos-free materials and the no-asbestos policy promulgated by NAVSEAINST 5100.2 (24 Oct 1975), but 'asbestos materials had already been purchased and in some cases installed in ships under construction... some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978.' The Navy attachment lists the guided-missile-frigate block FFG-7 through FFG-23 - every Perry hull then in service or building - as carrying 'Asbestos-free thermal insulation': the class was designed and built under the asbestos-free specifications from the lead ship. Elrod (keel 1983, delivered 1985) postdates that regime by seven years. Counterweight in the same letter: 'all ships presently in service contain some quantity of asbestos' via applications lacking designated substitutes - 'gaskets and pipe hanger liners,' brake/clutch linings, electrical resistors/cables - the Navy's stated view that 'it is nearly impossible to build a Navy ship free of the mineral.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1971-1979 (policy record); report issued 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (Long Beach, Norfolk fieldwork); fleet-wide context
- Limitations
- Establishes class/era asbestos-free THERMAL insulation and era residual-ACM categories - not a hull-level materials inventory; the attachment's Perry block stops at FFG-23 (FFG-55 was not yet ordered). Does not establish which non-insulation applications aboard FFG-55, if any, contained asbestos, nor present-day presence. gao.gov 403s automated fetches (standing defect); quotes verified from the Wayback capture of the full PDF.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweeps, 2026-09-29: type=o and type=r queries "USS Elrod", "FFG-55", "FFG 55", "aboard the Elrod", "Elrod asbestos" [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener type=o hits: opinion 821245 (Runyon), 7305644 (Montgomery), 7323651 (Runyon §2255); type=r hits: docket_ids incl. 4800021/41528601/41529159 (Voss), 8135592 (Runyon), 4332936 (Wilhelmsen), 67534813 (Peiffer), 6170988 (Atchley), 16753994 (Washington), 15908534 (KAR)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Opinion index: 3 hits, all non-asbestos - United States v. Runyon, 707 F.3d 475 (4th Cir. 2013) and its §2255 follow-up Runyon v. United States (E.D. Va. 2017) are a murder-for-hire prosecution in which the USS Elrod appears only as the victim's duty station (Lt. Cory Voss was serving aboard when murdered); United States v. Montgomery (W.D. Tenn. 2014) merely quotes the Runyon passage. Hull-number queries ("FFG-55", "FFG 55"): zero hits. Docket index: 9 hits - three RECAP copies of United States v. Voss and the Runyon appellate/habeas dockets (same criminal matter); Wilhelmsen Premier Marine Fuels v. UBS Provedores (S.D.N.Y. 2007, admiralty contract); In re Peiffer (4th Cir. 2023, death-penalty habeas collateral); Atchley v. AstraZeneca (D.D.C. 2017, Anti-Terrorism Act); State of Washington v. Dep't of State (W.D. Wash. 2020, APA); KAR v. Iran (D.D.C. 2019, FSIA/terrorism). None alleges asbestos exposure aboard or names FFG-55 as an exposure site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29 (sweep); underlying dockets 2007-2023
- Limitations
- Negative finding on the indexed corpus only: pre-RECAP state dockets, MDL-875 pleading text not naming the hull in indexed fields, and unreported settlements are not captured. A name-hit on the ship's duty station (Runyon) is not exposure evidence and is classified as other litigation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-07
-
[9]NHHC Elrod command reports (Flight IV Perry-class design, gas-turbine plant) + GAO HRD-80-2 era frame + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bath Iron Works record; NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications as archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC CY1985/CY1995 command reports (propulsion/armament blocks); GAO HRD-80-2 Attachment 1; shipyards.json 'bath-iron-works'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Design/era inference, negative-leaning: a Flight IV Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate built 1983-85 with two GE LM2500 gas turbines and no boilers or steam plant - the steam-era asbestos pathway (boiler lagging, steam-line insulation) does not exist on this design; class thermal insulation is documented asbestos-free from the lead ship (ev-06). Plausible residual era ACM categories, unverified for this hull, are the non-insulation applications the Navy listed as lacking designated substitutes as of 1979: gaskets, pipe hanger liners, brake/clutch linings, electrical components, adhesives/deck coverings. Builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset. NARA RG19 General Information Books (per-vessel material specifications) are the archival lead for a definitive hull-level statement.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1983-2015
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1983-85; crew 1985-2015 (design complement ~219)
- Limitations
- Class/design inference only - no ship-specific finding. Establishes what is plausible, not what is proven aboard FFG-55; NARA GIB retrieval not performed; does not establish or defeat exposure or eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-08
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[10]Batch-4653 search ledger (this record): NVR (live + Wayback captures); NHHC DANFS/ship pages and command-operation reports; DVIDS; govinfo/congress.gov statutory texts; GAO HRD-80-2; CourtListener opinion and docket sweeps; AustLII AAT sister-hull scuttling decisions [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-elrod-ffg55-01 through sl-uss-elrod-ffg55-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract, no museum or donation hazmat disclosure, and no docketed asbestos case naming USS Elrod or FFG-55 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The sister-hull record checked (ex-HMAS Adelaide scuttling, AATA 212/702/789, 2010) documents hazardous-material adjudication on an FFG-7-design hull but contains no asbestos findings - the tribunal's orders concern PCBs in wiring, canvas, insulation generally, and red lead paint.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record does not prove absence of asbestos: this is a 1985 hull whose thermal insulation is class-documented asbestos-free but whose non-insulation components are unsurveyed; the hull is intact in Navy custody, so a pre-disposal hazmat certification may yet be generated. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-elrod-ffg55-09