Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet kt-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: verdict: **VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-formoe-de509-pkt-kt-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Formoe (DE-509) (namesake biography, builder, launch/commissioning, WWII Pacific service narrative, 1951 reactivation, Portuguese transfer; live NHHC page serves 404 - Wayback capture 2025-12-09 of the official page cited; verbatim transcription also at ibiblio HyperWar) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Formoe (DE-509)' - spec block + namesake biography + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 2 April 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. A. L. Bolshazy; commissioned 5 October 1944, Lt. Comdr. J. C. Spencer in command. Arrived Manus from the east coast 15 January 1945; entered Lingayen Gulf 10 February; six weeks of Philippine operations - guarding minecraft and exploding swept mines in Baler Bay and Casiguran Sound, Lingayen-Leyte escort; picket line off Panay covering landings 21-30 March; departed Subic Bay 18 April 1945 to stage at Morotai for the Borneo invasion; Tarakan 1 May - 3 to 30 May off Borneo as headquarters ship for Capt. Charles Gray, commander of all naval activities at Tarakan, driving off several Japanese air attacks and firing four separate shore bombardments; wide-ranging escort duty 2 June to war's end (Leyte, Hollandia, Ulithi, Manila, Okinawa); occupation duty at Manila, then escort for the flagship of Fleet Air Wing 1 - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo Bay; returned San Francisco 20 January 1946; decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego 27 May 1946. Recommissioned 27 June 1951; Newport, R.I. home port; Fleet Sonar School (Key West) training ship October-December and again the next autumn; departed Newport 13 September 1954 to rejoin the Pacific Fleet; Far East tours February-June 1955 and October 1955-March 1956 incl. hunter-killer operations and Hong Kong station ship; decommissioned at San Francisco 7 February 1957 and transferred the same day to Portugal under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program as Diogo-Cao. Two battle stars for World War II service. Spec block: 1,350 tons, 306 ft, beam 36 ft 8 in, draft 9 ft 5 in, 24 kt, complement 186; class John C. Butler.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1957
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 186 per DANFS spec block)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry predates the hull's 1968 striking, sale, and scrapping, so Portuguese-era end dates are absent. The DANFS narrative omits the keel-laying date (NavSource and navypedia supply January 1944 / 3 January 1944) and details the ship's own war history adds (Bermuda shakedown, Pacific transit legs, Enoree assist). Live NHHC page returns 404; Wayback capture of the official page cited; the ibiblio HyperWar transcription carries a typographical misread ('198 April' for 18 April 1945).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Formoe (DE 509) page - specifications block, building and operational data chronology, commanding-officer table, photo captions incl. a U.S. National Archives (San Bruno) image [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/509.htm - 'Specifications' + 'Building and Operational Data' blocks, CO table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building/operational chronology for this hull, adding detail beyond DANFS: keel laid 3 January 1944 at Federal Shipbuilding Corp., Port Newark N.J.; launched/christened 2 April 1944, sponsored by Mrs. A. L. Bolshazy of Greenbelt, Maryland (National President, Navy Wives Clubs of America); commissioned 5 October 1944 at the New York Navy Yard by Rear Admiral Kelly Monroe, Lcdr. J. C. Spencer in command; decommissioned 27 May 1946 at San Diego after 1 year and 7 2/3 months of service having steamed 63,876 miles; recommissioned 27 June 1951 at San Diego; departed San Diego 5 October 1951 for Newport, R.I., new home port; departed Newport 13 September 1954 for San Diego; decommissioned 7 February 1957 at San Francisco after 5 years and 4 months of service and transferred on loan the same day to Portugal under MDAP, renamed NRP Diogo Cao (F-333); struck from the NVR 1 October 1968 with 6 total years and 11 2/3 months of service; sold to Portugal December 1968. Specifications: 1,350 tons light / 1,745 full; 306 ft oa; beam 36 ft 10 in extreme; draft 11 ft limit; 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kts, 6,000 nm at 12 kt; armament 2x5"/38, 4x40mm, 10x20mm, 3x21" TT, Mk10 Hedgehog, 8 Mk6 depth-charge projectors, 2 Mk9 stern racks; complement 14 officers / 201 enlisted; call sign NKTG. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 2 stars, WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1968
- Population
- Crew 1944-1957 (listed complement 14 officers / 201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (volunteer photo-archive chronology) cross-checked against DANFS: consistent on all shared dates and adds the keel date, commissioning venue/officer, steaming figure, strike date, and Portuguese transfer details DANFS lacks. Conflicts with DANFS on beam (36'10" extreme vs 36'8") and complement (215 vs 186) - documented in gaps rather than silently reconciled. Documents dates, assignments, and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live navsource.org host unreachable via direct fetch this session; the navsource.net mirror served the same page and is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-02
-
[4]USS Formoe (DE-509) ship-submitted war history: forwarding letter DE509/A12(2-sm) Serial 11, U.S.S. FORMOE (DE 509) c/o Fleet Post Office San Francisco, 9 January 1946, Commanding Officer to the Commander in Chief (via the Fleet Home Town News Center and Commander Destroyers, Pacific Fleet), reference ALPAC 315, with enclosure 'Ship's History' (NavSource-hosted scan of the official document) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-509 page, 'Formoe History' section, image 06509wh.jpg (3-page scan)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own official war history survives as a photographic scan: a 9 January 1946 forwarding letter (Serial 11) signed by the commanding officer transmitting the ship's history under ALPAC 315, plus a multi-page 'Ship's History' narrative. Content corroborates and supplements the DANFS narrative: accepted command 5 October 1944 at the New York Navy Yard from Rear Admiral Monroe; three months shakedown at Bermuda during November 1944 and a brief New York Navy Yard availability; roughly one month of steady steaming from Panama via the Galapagos, Bora Bora, and Espiritu Santo to the Admiralty Islands; Seventh Fleet duty; Lingayen convoy escort; exploding swept mines; a mid-February emergency escort of the torpedo-damaged fleet oiler Enoree; Panay picket duty then a tanker escort to Mindoro (31 March) and a run to Tawi Tawi in the Sulu Sea; staging at Morotai for Borneo; Tarakan headquarters-ship duty under Capt. Charles Gray with air raids and shore bombardments; Subic-to-Okinawa convoy (departed 30 July, Buckner Bay arrival 6 August) carrying the 13th Air Force; Manila stay; 6 September departure with Task Force 74 (Rear Admiral Ingersoll) for Okinawa during the September typhoon period; China Sea operations with USS Nashville - Hong Kong 8 October-9 November, Shanghai (Christmas week) - escorting the Fleet Air Wing 1 flagship Morton Sound and later Curtiss; a wait in Tokyo Bay for a relief; return for inactive-reserve duty. Homeward-bound pennant noted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Wartime crew 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Image scan at legibility-limited resolution - the document's existence, date, addressees, and general narrative are verified and partially transcribed, but individual phrases are uncertain (e.g., a ship/place name in the Enoree assist passage) and verbatim transcription of every line was not performed; the original is a NARA-record type document (ship-submitted war histories; RG 38-family) and the hull's deck logs are the stronger retrieval target (see ev-04). Contains no materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-03
-
[5]National Archives, 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' index, Formoe (DE-509) entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA deck-log index entry 'Formoe (DE-509)' - 1956 (Jan-Dec) and 1957 (Jan-Feb) month links
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Archives' digitized deck-log index carries an entry for Formoe (DE-509) - Commission October 1944 / Decommission May 1946; Recommission June 1951 / Decommission February 1957 - with cataloged digitized deck-log coverage for all twelve months of 1956 and January-February 1957, the hull's final months in U.S. Navy service up to the Portuguese transfer. These are ship-specific primary records and a concrete retrieval lead for operational or maintenance research.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1956-1957 (digitized coverage)
- Population
- Formoe crew and shipboard operations, 1956-1957 coverage
- Limitations
- The index establishes the existence and month-level coverage of digitized deck logs; the log images themselves were not retrieved or reviewed for asbestos, repairs, maintenance, or exposure information. An index entry is not evidence that asbestos was present aboard the hull. (Corrected coverage: an earlier batch pass logged 'January-February 1957 and 1952 months' - the index actually lists all of 1956 plus January-February 1957.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels, 1 January 1945, construction roster entry 'FORMOE 2 DE509' (WGT design, Federal Shipbuilding, Newark, N.J., contract reported as 7 August 1942) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ships' Data 1945 vol. 1 construction roster, entry 'FORMOE 2 DE509' (image scan; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt corroborates hull 478 'Federal, Newark', laid 1/1944)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Bureau of Ships Ships' Data construction roster carries this hull as 'FORMOE 2, DE509' - confirming both the WGT design grouping and Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newark, N.J., as builder, and marking this hull as the second Navy ship of the name (the first, DE-58, went to the Royal Navy on launch as HMS Calder K.349 per NavSource). The roster records the contract date as 7 August 1942 per the prior batch session's read of the scanned table.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades
- Limitations
- The source PDF is an image-only scan (no text layer); the entry text and the 7 August 1942 contract date could not be re-verified by text extraction this session and are carried from the prior session's read with partial verification - builder, design group, and yard hull number 478 are independently confirmed by shipbuildinghistory, navypedia, and DANFS. The roster is a construction/contract index, not an asbestos survey or material specification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-05
-
[7]John C. Butler-class (WGT type) profile - BuShips design group 6: 2 'D' Express boilers 435 psi/750F, 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 24.3 kt (BuShips Ships' Data Jan 1945, shipscribe.com scan; navypedia block map: Babcock & Wilcox boilers for the DE-508-510 Federal block) + Atlas class profile litigation context (Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec, W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537, evaporator-insulation theory naming class sister DE-446) [other_primary]
- Locator
- john-c-butler-class.class.json (class-f worktree) + navypedia us_de_tev_wgt boiler block map (B&W for DE-508-510) + CourtListener docket 6100500 (as cited in the class profile)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a WGT-type destroyer escort built January-October 1944 with two superheated 'D' Express boilers and geared steam turbines would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The class-profile litigation record (Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec, W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537, pretrial/exhibit-list level) names class sister USS Brannon (DE-446) and recites a Navy-specified insulation theory on a Griscom-Russell evaporator - with the same filings conceding insulation aboard 'could have included fiberglass, mineral wool or other non-asbestos insulation.' The Navy insulation-spec suite identified in that docket (BuShips Manual ch.39 NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) 1945; spec 32F3a asbestos insulating felt 1945; BuEng ch.13 1933/39) is the era-controlling documentation and an unretrieved archival lead.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1968
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Port Newark construction trades 1944; crew 1944-1957 (USN) and 1957-1968 (Portuguese Navy)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The DE-446 litigation material is allegation/exhibit-list level for a DIFFERENT hull and is class context, not evidence about DE-509; the spec documents themselves were not retrieved. Establishes no quantities, no locations, and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-06
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (tier 2): Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944; introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX 1990) + shipbuildinghistory.com Federal yard hull table (hull 478, column 'N' = Port Newark yard, DE 509 Formoe, delivered 10/5/44) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944); shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/federal.htm hull table row 478
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard context: the Atlas dataset documents Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. as a tier-2 asbestos-era yard, anchored by a wartime Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey (30 August-2 September 1944) documenting asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation work at Federal's Kearny yard - squarely inside this hull's January-October 1944 construction window. HOWEVER, Federal operated two WWII yards, and the shipbuildinghistory hull table places DE-509 (yard hull 478, column 'N') at the separate Port Newark facility, not Kearny - the survey is company-level context for the same builder in the same period, not documentation of the actual building site.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades, Kearny and Port Newark yards, 1944
- Limitations
- Yard-company-level documentation only - NOT a hull-specific finding, and site-mismatched (survey at Kearny; hull built at Port Newark per the shipbuildinghistory hull table). Yard product documentation is not evidence of installation aboard this specific hull; establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-07
-
[9]Batch-4350 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback capture of official page + ibiblio HyperWar transcription); NavSource operational data + ship's war-history scan; NARA digitized deck-log index; shipbuildinghistory Federal yard table; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 roster (shipscribe scan); NVR; web search (secondary/tertiary surfaces excluded); CourtListener name/hull sweeps (completed 2026-09-28) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-formoe-de509-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no hull survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or museum documentation exists for a hull transferred abroad in 1957, sold 1968, and scrapped circa 1970 - decades before Navy asbestos abatement programs and with no museum or MARAD custody phase. Web search returns only law-firm marketing list pages claiming asbestos aboard (asbestos-ships.com has a dedicated USS Formoe DE-509 page asserting crew 'inhaled the asbestos fibers'; freeasbestostesting.com and mesotheliomabook.com list DE-509) - banned source category, excluded. A completed CourtListener sweep (ev-09) found no qualifying asbestos case naming this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era insulation practice makes asbestos probable at the class level (see ev-06), but no source ties material to this hull. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches (exact ship name + hull designator), all hits per-item classified [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py authenticated queries 2026-09-28: 5 sweep queries completed (exact name type=o and type=r; bare name type=o and type=r; hull-number type=o) - all hits classified as collisions
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep COMPLETED 2026-09-28 via authenticated helper, with one mid-sweep pause for fleet pacing exhaustion (the prior batch session's two blocked docket queries were completed this session): 'USS Formoe' type=o = 0 results; 'USS Formoe' type=r = 0 results; 'Formoe' type=o = 41 results, ALL name collisions (State v. Formo Minn. 1988; Formosa Plastics matters; Hughes retiree Peter Formo; unrelated opinions - no vessel or asbestos context); 'DE-509' type=o = 11 results, ALL identifier collisions ('DE-509'/'DE 509' reciting PACER docket-entry numbers and unrelated citations in criminal, patent, and contract matters - e.g., People v. Sainz-Mantilla, Honeywell Int'l v. United States); 'Formoe' type=r = ~515 results, ALL surname collisions (bankruptcy and civil dockets for individuals named Formoe - e.g., Wayne Russell Formoe Bankr. D. Ariz., Formo v. Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins.). NO qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Coverage is exact-name + hull-number queries on CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket indexes; a case that names the ship only in an unindexed attachment or PACER-only filing would not surface. Zero qualifying hits at these surfaces is a real negative result but not proof no filing anywhere references the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-formoe-de509-09
