Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Fowler (DE-222) (NHHC; live page serves 404 - verbatim text via Wayback capture 2024-08-05) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Fowler (DE-222)' - specification block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 3 July 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. Robert L. Fowler III; commissioned 15 March 1944, Lt. Comdr. G. S. Forde, USNR, in command; named for LTJG Robert Ludlow Fowler III, killed aboard Duncan (DD-485) at Cape Esperance 11-12 October 1942 (posthumous Navy Cross). Six convoy-escort voyages New York/Norfolk/Boston to North Africa 22 May 1944-15 May 1945 supporting Italy and southern France operations; on the fifth voyage (1 February-16 March 1945) stood by a torpedoed merchantman into Gibraltar 17 February and, two days out of Oran on 28 February, attacked a sound contact and sank U-869 in coordination with a French escort. June 1945 target/escort for submarines training out of New London; September 1945 schoolship for the Naval Training Center at Miami; November 1945 plane guard for Charger (CVE-30) in Chesapeake Bay. Arrived Green Cove Springs 10 January 1946; decommissioned and placed in reserve 28 June 1946. One battle star for World War II. Spec block: dp. 1,400; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; cl. Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry predates striking (1965) and disposal (1966), so it does not carry those dates. Live NHHC page returns 404; the Wayback capture of the NHHC page is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-01
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[2]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Fowler (DE 222) - specifications, building/operational data, NARA-captioned photo series, commanding-officer list, ship-submitted war-history link [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE 222 page - 'Fowler (DE 222) Building and Operational Data' block, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational record for this hull: keel laid 5 April 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched/christened 3 July 1943; commissioned 15 March 1944; 21 July 1944 completed a nine-day yard availability at the New York Navy Yard (Brooklyn) and 22 July loaded ammunition at NAD Earle, N.J.; 23 July underway for Casco Bay refresher training (NARA photos 19-N-68762-66, 80-G-237715); 27 October 1945 Navy Day at Wilmington, Del.; decommissioned 28 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla.; struck from the NVR 1 July 1965; sold for scrapping 29 December 1966 to Peck Ironworks, Portsmouth, Va. Spec block: 2 'D' Express boilers, GE turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt, 6,000 nm at 12 kt, complement 15/198. An official ship-submitted war-history document exists (NavSource image 06222wh.jpg).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1966
- Population
- Wartime crew (15 officers / 198 enlisted per NavSource)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a reputable secondary compilation, not a government record; keel/stricken/sale dates and the July 1944 yard availability rest on it (and NARA photo captions it reproduces) rather than on a primary Navy document. Stricken date corroborated by the Atlas Buckley-class profile ('7.1965'); laid-down date is not stated in DANFS. Documents service events, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-02
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe scan) + Atlas buckley-class profile (navypedia boiler-block map) + Fleischer et al., J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946;28(1):9-16 + Atlas shipyards.json (philadelphia-naval-shipyard, brooklyn-navy-yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; navypedia us_de_te block map (DE-214-223 = B&W); shipyards.json philadelphia-naval-shipyard and brooklyn-navy-yard records
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference for this hull: Buckley is the turbo-electric (TE) destroyer escort design - BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3 specify two 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750 F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp; the navypedia boiler-block map assigns Babcock & Wilcox boilers to the Philadelphia Navy Yard block DE-214-223 including this hull. A full superheated steam plant of 1943-44 construction carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing - the configuration the WWII-era PHS pipe-covering survey (Fleischer et al., 1946) documented as asbestos work across anonymized naval and contract yards. Builder Philadelphia Naval Shipyard is an Atlas tier-3 yard with litigation-documented asbestos products (Eagle-Picher, Unibestos, Kaylo, Johns-Manville and others named in Taylor/Junge/Gross-type Pennsylvania opinions and a 2014 Merwitz verdict); the hull's one documented post-commissioning availability was at the New York Navy Yard (Brooklyn), also tier-3.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (construction/service); 1945-46 (PHS survey)
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; New York Navy Yard workers July 1944; crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - none of these sources names this hull's materials, and none establishes that asbestos was or remains aboard DE-222. Yard-level litigation records document conditions at the yards, not aboard this ship. No quantities, no exposure for any individual, no present-day material.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-03
-
[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch, HTTP 403; content via product-page description)
- 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. For this hull the policy context is post-service: Fowler was stricken in 1965 and sold for scrap in 1966, before the Navy's documented asbestos-management program existed - meaning no Navy asbestos-survey or abatement record for this hull should be expected to exist.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy window); ship disposed 1966-67
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not ship- or class-specific; establishes only why hull-specific records are unlikely for a ship disposed of in 1966-67. Does not speak to materials actually installed aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-04
-
[5]In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL-875 (JPML docket 1245688), Document 4841 - plaintiffs' Motion/Brief to Vacate Conditional Transfer Order re McCarty, et al., transferor W.D. Pa. No. 2:06-cv-625 (filed 2006-07-03) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener RECAP search hit on the MDL-875 JPML docket, doc 4841 (gov.uscourts.jpml.375294.4841.0)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The string 'USS Fowler' appears inside CourtListener's OCR-indexed text of a 207-page scanned brief filed on the JPML MDL-875 asbestos docket: a 3 July 2006 motion to vacate a conditional transfer order in McCarty et al. (W.D. Pa. 2:06-cv-625), an asbestos personal-injury case. The docket context confirms asbestos litigation, but the vessel's role in the filing - plaintiff's alleged exposure vessel, ship-list exhibit, or incidental reference - is not retrievable from public indexes: the PACER PDF is image-only and the OCR layer is search-indexed but not served as readable text.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2006 (filing); alleged exposure window unverified
- Population
- McCarty plaintiff(s), asbestos personal-injury litigation
- Limitations
- Unverified role - at best a pleading-stage allegation; establishes nothing about asbestos aboard this hull, product identity, quantities, or causation. Hull attribution to DE-222 is probable if genuine (DE-222 was the only USS Fowler) but unconfirmed. Document is a scanned image; full-text pull remains the open lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweeps: "USS Fowler" (opinions and RECAP dockets); "DE-222" (opinions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search results, queries sl-uss-fowler-de222-04 through -07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Hull-number sweep results are all name collisions: the 24 opinion hits for 'DE-222' match unrelated text (Puerto Rican appellate reports, Florida district cases, statute/docket fragments) - none references the destroyer escort and none is an asbestos case naming this hull. 'Fowler' as a surname is high-collision; no plaintiff-vessel match naming DE-222 was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Search-scope finding only - absence from CourtListener's indexed opinions/dockets does not prove no suit ever named the ship (unindexed state dockets and settled cases leave no trace).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-06
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[7]Batch-4141 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via Wayback), NavSource, ibiblio HyperWar spec page, NVR, NARA catalog, CourtListener opinion and RECAP sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fowler-de222-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure exists (ship scrapped 1966-67, before the Navy's asbestos program; no museum custodian); no published opinion or retrievable docket names DE-222 in an asbestos role; the sole docket-level hit (McCarty MDL-875 brief) is unverified as to the vessel's role and is carried as an archival lead only.
- 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 - the 1943-44 steam plant is class/era-consistent with asbestos content, and the ship's disposal predates any Navy documentation program. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fowler-de222-07