Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, 'Frament' (DE-677/APD-77) (Naval Historical Center; 2004 Wayback capture of history.navy.mil - live NHHC page serves 404; verbatim transcription also at ibiblio HyperWar) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + service narrative (wayback 2004-03-13 capture; ibiblio apd77.html transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Paul Stanley Frament, USNR (died 19 November 1942 of Guadalcanal wounds; posthumous Silver Star). Specs as DE-677: 1,400 t, 306 ft, 37 ft beam, 9'5" draft, 24 kt, complement 186, 3x 3-inch guns, 3x 21-inch torpedo tubes, 8 depth-charge projectors, hedgehog, 2 depth-charge tracks; class Buckley. Launched 28 June 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Edward A. Frament (namesake's mother); commissioned 15 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. S. T. McAdam, Jr., USNR; reclassified APD-77 on 15 December 1944. Service: Atlantic convoy escort from 19 October 1943 (New York/Curacao/Londonderry); six convoys to Northern Ireland, one to Cherbourg, one to Gibraltar through 3 December 1944 when conversion began; post-conversion training both coasts; Pearl Harbor 3 April 1945 for underwater-demolition-team training duty; convoy escort to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Leyte (May); Okinawa outer patrol screen from 29 May; on 10 June 1945 rescued the entire crew of USS William D. Porter (DD-579) sunk by a suicide plane; Philippines training July; Yellow Sea minesweeper support at war's end; occupation duty until sailing from Shanghai 1 January 1946; out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 30 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 1 June 1960 and sold to Ecuador as a power hulk July 1961 (bracketed note). One battle star for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1943; wartime crew (design complement 186); embarked troops/UDT after APD conversion
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, and service history - it contains no materials or asbestos information. It gives no laid-down date, does not record the 15 November 1944 collision with Italian submarine Luigi Settembrini, and does not name the conversion yard. Its bracketed 'struck ... on 1 June 1960' conflicts with NavSource/uboat.net's 1 January 1960 - conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-01
-
[2]uboat.net Allied Warships, 'USS Frament (DE 677)' warship entry (build data, commanding officers, event timeline); corroborating NavSource DE-677/APD-77 entries (navsource.org/archives/06/677.htm and /10/04/04077.htm; fetch blocked to automated tools, index text reviewed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net warship page 1380 (data block, commands table, notable events 16 Nov 1943 and 15 Nov 1944); uboat.net Luigi Settembrini loss entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation record filling gaps DANFS leaves: ordered 29 October 1942; keel laid 1 May 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Corp. (Fore River yard), Quincy; decommissioned 3 December 1944 for conversion and recommissioned March 1945 as APD-77; stricken 1 January 1960. Wartime event DANFS omits: at ~0223 on 15 November 1944 Frament, escorting Italian submarine Luigi Settembrini (en route Bermuda for ASW training), mistakenly rammed and sank her in position 36 deg 11'N, 19 deg 45'W, about 685 miles west of Gibraltar - 42 Italians and 3 American liaison personnel lost; survivors rescued by Frament (14 per the warship entry; 8 per the companion Settembrini boat entry - internal source discrepancy noted). USS Scott (DE-214) sent to assist the damaged escort. Commanding officers 1943-45 listed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1961
- Population
- Wartime crew; Italian submarine crew and US liaison team (Settembrini loss)
- Limitations
- uboat.net/NavSource are reputable secondary compilations, not official records - dates not in DANFS (laid down 1 May 1943; 3 December 1944 decommissioning; March 1945 recommissioning; 1 January 1960 striking) rest on these sources; the striking date conflicts with DANFS's 1 June 1960 bracketed note. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-02
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe scan) + navypedia 'Buckley (TE) class' boiler-block map (DE-675-683 = Combustion Engineering); Atlas Buckley-class profile (class-f worktree) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; navypedia us_de_te boiler-block map; buckley-class.class.json member row DE-677
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the Buckley class is the turbo-electric destroyer-escort design - one of only two DE classes with a full steam plant. BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3 document two 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750 degF superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp (23.6 kt); the navypedia block map assigns the Quincy DE-675-683 block Combustion Engineering boilers. A 1943 steam plant of this specification implies period-standard asbestos boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; the December 1944 - March 1945 APD conversion (troop accommodations, LCVP davits, revised armament) would have disturbed existing lagging and installed era materials in modified spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Bethlehem Quincy, 1943); conversion-yard trades (yard undocumented); crew 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific material schedule, asbestos survey, or abatement record located for DE-677/APD-77. The boiler-manufacturer block map is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-03
-
[4]Atlas shipyard dataset, 'fore-river-shipyard' and 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' yard records (shipyard-exposure-map/client/src/data/shipyards.json) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json records yard_id 'fore-river-shipyard' and 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' (city Quincy, MA)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder-yard context: the Atlas dataset documents asbestos products at the builder's yard level - 'fore-river-shipyard' (Quincy, MA; Bethlehem Steel operator; tier 3; documented products incl. boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing, gaskets, packing, asbestos wire insulation, cement, paint; litigation-documented pipefitter exposure) and 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' (tier 3; documented products incl. magnesia block, Marinite, Transite, Aircell, Unibestos, lagging, gaskets, packing). Frament was built at Bethlehem's Quincy/Fore River yard in 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1943
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation only - establishes that asbestos products were used at the builder's yard during the era, not that any specific material was installed aboard this hull. Does not establish exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-04
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 search ledger (this record): opinion index and RECAP docket index queries for the vessel name and hull numbers [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-frament-apd77-06 and -07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation naming this hull located: opinion-index queries for 'USS Frament'/'U.S.S. Frament' returned zero results; RECAP docket queries for 'Frament' + asbestos returned 8 dockets, all surname name-collisions - the string 'Frament' appears only in bankruptcy-case creditor/service mailing lists (In re Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany N.D.N.Y. 23-10244; Diocese of Syracuse N.D.N.Y. 20-30663; Diocese of Rochester W.D.N.Y. 2-19-20905; Boy Scouts of America D. Del. 20-10343; W.R. Grace D. Del. 01-01139; Motors Liquidation S.D.N.Y. 09-50026; Sears Holdings S.D.N.Y. 18-23538; Bell BCI v. United States Fed. Cl. 1:03-cv-01613); opinion-index hull-number queries 'DE-677'/'APD-77' returned 7 opinions, all non-vessel substring collisions (criminal, Social Security, freight, land-patent cases). None names the vessel or alleges shipboard exposure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of located litigation does not prove no claim was ever filed - state-court filings and non-digitized dockets are outside coverage. The 8 collisions are classified non-qualifying on indexed text; individual RECAP documents were not opened.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-05
-
[6]This record's search ledger: NHHC DANFS, ibiblio HyperWar, uboat.net, NavSource, NVR, NPS, shipyards.json, CourtListener, open web [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-frament-apd77-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-677/APD-77 in any source searched: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, material schedule, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case names this hull. Non-authoritative marketing/SEO pages (law-firm ship lists) enumerate DE-677 but carry no primary documentation and were excluded. The Buckley class profile reached the same result class-wide: no ship-specific asbestos record located for any of the 148 hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 steam-plant escort is era-consistent with standard insulation practice; it establishes only that no public ship-specific record was found. NARA RG 19 contract files and BuShips specifications are undigitized leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-06
-
[7]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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; content via product-page description)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy from 1975 removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades on in-service ships unless a yard period disturbed it.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific - and of limited applicability to this vessel, which was decommissioned to reserve in 1946 and stricken/sold before the documented policy period (1975-79) began. Included as program context for the era's fleet asbestos posture only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-frament-apd77-07