Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet ft-packet.md (9 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Erben (DD-631)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-erben-dd631-pkt-ft-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Erben (DD-631) (specifications block, service narrative, battle stars; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; NHHC canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/erben.html verified via Wayback capture 2025-12-09) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: DD-631, Fletcher class, 2,060 tons, 376'6" x 39'7" x 17'9", 35 kt, complement 273, 5x5" guns, 10x21" torpedo tubes. Launched 21 March 1943 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. C. B. G. Gaillard, daughter of Rear Admiral Erben; commissioned 28 May 1943, Cmdr. J. H. Nevins, Jr. WWII Pacific: Gilberts/Marshalls screening and bombardments, Hollandia, Marianas and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Leyte landings escort, Okinawa operations, strikes and bombardments on Japan (sank two luggers off Kamaishi 9 August 1945); decommissioned in reserve 31 May 1946. Recommissioned 19 May 1951; two Korean War tours (TF 77 screen, Songjin-Chongjin and coastal bombardments); four further Far East cruises on Taiwan Patrol; decommissioned in reserve 27 June 1958. Six WWII and four Korean battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1958
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1942-43; wartime and Korean-era crew (design complement 273)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry ends at the 1958 reserve placement and does not cover the 1963 Korean transfer or later disposition - post-USN events are carried from NavSource (ev-02). Live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-27; verbatim hazegray transcription cited and the canonical NHHC URL verified via a December 2025 Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, USS Erben (DD-631) page - operational/building data and post-USN disposition (accessed via Wayback capture 2025-05-27; navsource.org DNS unresolvable at research time) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-631 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block + 'Fate' line; NARA photo credit line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building data for this hull: laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath ME, 28 October 1942; launched 21 March 1943; commissioned 28 May 1943; decommissioned 31 May 1946; recommissioned 19 May 1951; decommissioned 27 June 1958; stricken 2 June 1975; to South Korea 16 May 1963, renamed Chung Mu; stationary training vessel since 1983; 'reported to have been broken up.' The page also carries NARA photo 19-N-79578 showing this hull at Mare Island 8 February 1945, corroborating the late-1944/early-1945 west-coast overhaul in the DANFS narrative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1993
- Population
- Crew 1943-1958; ROK Navy crew 1963-c.1993
- Limitations
- NavSource is a photographic-history compilation, not a primary register; its stricken/transfer dates are standard secondary-source data consistent across compilations (Wikipedia, navypedia). The US stricken date (2 June 1975) postdates the Korean transfer (16 May 1963) - consistent with loan-then-sale transfer mechanics, but the transfer instrument is not documented in the sources reached. ROK-service specifics (DD-911 renumbering 1979-80, 1993 decommissioning/scrapping, War Memorial gun display) rest on Wikipedia/navypedia and are carried in gaps, not as verified record fields.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bath Iron Works record (1942 Drinker Harvard industrial-health study, PMID 21016030; OSHA inspection 101450294, 1987) + NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json record 'bath-iron-works' (ev-bath-iron-works-01, -02); NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1942-43 with a four-boiler/60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2): a 1942 Harvard study (Drinker) recorded a 'fairly serious dust risk' in pipe-covering shops at the yard, and OSHA's 1987 inspection recorded asbestos-standard citations with bulk and personal sampling results. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1993
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-1958; ROK Navy crew 1963-c.1993
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1942 yard study documents yard practice during this hull's construction window but not materials installed aboard DD-631; the OSHA record postdates construction by four decades. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-03
-
[5]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 that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-631's construction (1942-43) and entire commissioned USN service (1943-1958) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- 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 report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 search, authenticated via fleet helper: "USS Erben" (type=o opinions) - 0 results; "DD-631" (type=o), "USS Erben"/"DD-631" (type=r dockets) - fleet-wide request budget spent, queries not completed [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint via cl-auth-search.py, 2026-09-27
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep: a CourtListener opinion search for the exact phrase "USS Erben" returned zero results - no opinion naming this vessel was indexed. 'Erben' is an uncommon name and collision risk is low. The hull-number opinion query and both docket-index queries were attempted but interrupted by fleet-wide API pacing (helper-enforced ~114/hr shared budget); they are logged as blocked in the search ledger, not as negative results.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- A zero-result opinion search is not proof no litigation exists - unindexed opinions, docket-only filings, and settled cases are invisible to this sweep, and the docket-index (type=r) portion did not complete. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull is evidenced by this record; hull-number collision with case citations to 'DD' docket fragments is minimal for this distinctive name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-05
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[7]Batch-3604 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror + NHHC Wayback capture; NavSource via Wayback; destroyerhistory.org; GAO HRD-80-2; CourtListener (partial - fleet pacing); NARA RG19 (not digitized); law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-erben-dd631-01 through sl-uss-erben-dd631-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, or hazmat disclosure located for DD-631 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull left U.S. custody in 1963 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and was reported broken up in Korea circa 1993, so neither the museum-disclosure channel nor domestic scrapping-contract documentation exists for this hull. No qualifying litigation record naming the vessel was located in the opinion index.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-standard applications are documented at class/era level (ev-03, ev-04). The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; Korean-service maintenance/material history (1963-1993) is entirely undocumented in the sources reached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-erben-dd631-06