Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS (NHHC), Francovich (APD-116) 1945-1964 - modern expanded entry by Robert J. Cressman and James C. Sawruk (namesake bio; build; full commission narrative; disposal); live NHHC page serves 404, Wayback capture cited [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Francovich (APD-116) 1945-1964' - namesake bio, class block, commission narrative, disposal paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 19 April 1945 at Hingham, Mass., by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard; launched 5 June 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Mary F. Edmunds, sister of the namesake; class block - Crosley class, displacement 1,390, length 306', beam 37', draft 12'7", speed 24 kt, complement 204, troops 162, armament 1x5-inch, 6x40mm, 6x20mm, 2 depth-charge tracks. Commissioned 6 September 1945 (Lt. Cmdr. Malcolm Maclean, USNR). Service: Boston Naval Shipyard marine railway and trials 11-19 Sep 1945; Guantanamo Bay shakedown 27 Sep-25 Oct 1945 (Kingston, Jamaica port visit 20-21 Oct); Norfolk Naval Shipyard Dry Dock No. 3, 31 Oct-7 Nov 1945; Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet berthing from 18 Nov 1945, assisting inactivation of ships; placed out of commission in reserve 29 April 1946. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 April 1964; acquired for scrap by Portsmouth Salvage Co. of Norfolk, transferred to purchaser 4 June 1965, broken up subsequently. Namesake: AMM1c Albert Anthony Francovich, KIA 6 Sep 1942 as PBY plane captain (VP-11, BuNo 2450), posthumous Navy Cross.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945-1965
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1945; wartime/postwar crew (design complement 204); up to 162 embarked troops
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, service, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. The modern NHHC entry does not state a reclassification date; the 17 July 1945 redesignation is carried from NavSource/secondary compilations, and a 1963-DANFS mirror reading '17 July 1944' is a documented conflict in gaps. Disposal-date variant ('sold May 1965' secondary vs 'transferred to purchaser 4 June 1965' DANFS) also carried in gaps. Live NHHC URL returns 404; archived capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-01
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[2]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Francovich (APD-116) page - build/disposal chronology, redesignation date, commanding-officer roster, awards line (volunteer archive reproducing official records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-116 page - chronology block, CO table, awards line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource chronology for this hull: laid down 19 April 1945 as Francovich (DE-606), a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Co., Hingham MA; launched 5 June 1945; redesignated a Crosley-class high-speed transport 17 July 1945; commissioned USS Francovich (APD-116) 6 September 1945 (LCDR Malcolm R. MacLean, USNR); decommissioned 29 April 1946 at Green Cove Springs FL; laid up Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group; struck from the Naval Register 1 April 1964; sold for scrapping May 1965. Commanding officers: MacLean (to 31 Oct 1945), LT Harry K. Brill USNR (to 11 Jan 1946), LT Frank R. Huckbee [sic - DANFS reads Buckbee] USNR (to 29 Apr 1946). Awards: American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945-1965
- Population
- Crew Sep 1945-Apr 1946 (three successive COs)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive, not a federal record - it reproduces official chronology/spec data and is cited here as the best-located source for the 17 July 1945 redesignation date, which the modern DANFS entry omits. Confirms no combat service (no battle stars). Does not document materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-02
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[3]NavSource Crosley-class APD specifications block (propulsion, complement, troop spaces) + DANFS class designation; Crosley class = 51 Rudderow-class DE hulls reclassified to APD during construction (NavSource USS Crosley APD-87 page: 'Reclassified ... (APD-87), 17 July 1944, while under construction'; Wikipedia Crosley-class class overview: 51 of 53 completed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-116 'APD Specifications' block (identical to APD-87 class block); NavSource APD-87 chronology; Crosley-class overview
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference for this hull: Crosley-class APDs were Rudderow-class destroyer-escort hulls reclassified during construction (torpedo tubes and one 5-inch gun landed; enlarged troop deckhouse; four LCVP davits) while retaining the Rudderow TE steam plant - two Babcock & Wilcox 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750 deg F feeding two General Electric turbines in turbo-electric drive, 12,000 shp, two shafts. A high-pressure steam plant of this type and era carried period-standard asbestos insulation, steam-line lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, and fireproofing as routine construction materials; this hull was built and commissioned April-September 1945, squarely inside the asbestos era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945 (construction/commission); era class 1944-1946
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1945 (pipe coverers, insulators, machinist mates); crew during commission and inactivation work at Green Cove Springs 1945-46
- Limitations
- Design-level inference only - no ship-specific material list, survey, or order for this hull is located; nothing here is 'documented aboard this hull.' The Crosley class had no ship-specific asbestos record located in the searched sources; the same is true for the analogous Buckley-class DE class profile in this dataset ('no ship-specific asbestos record located for any Buckley DE'). Turbine-electric DEs/APDs had smaller steam systems than geared-turbine destroyers but were not asbestos-free designs.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-03
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[4]DANFS (1963-era short entry), Francovich APD-116, via historycentral.com verbatim mirror - 'The name Francovich was assigned to DE-379 on 31 May 1944, canceled on 6 June 1944' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- historycentral mirror of the 1963 DANFS Francovich entry - name-assignment sentence and class block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Designation correction for the VERIFY inventory: the 1963 DANFS entry records that the name Francovich was assigned to DE-379 on 31 May 1944 and the assignment was cancelled on 6 June 1944; DE-379 was a John C. Butler-class destroyer-escort contract cancelled in 1944 before construction - it never existed as a ship and is not an alias of this hull. The physical vessel in this record is the Rudderow-contract DE-606, laid down 19 April 1945 and completed as Crosley-class APD-116; canonical designation APD-116, consolidated as one vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (designations)
- Limitations
- The mirror transcription reads 'reclassified 17 July 1944' for APD-116 - inconsistent with a 19 April 1945 laydown as DE-606 and with NavSource/Wikipedia (17 July 1945); treated as a print/transcription error and carried in gaps, not asserted. The same mirror truncates 'enlisted 8 March 1939' vs the modern NHHC entry's 8 March 1938 enlistment - modern NHHC carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-05
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[5]Batch-4421 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live + Wayback capture; NavSource APD-116; 1963-DANFS mirror; Crosley-class pages; NARA catalog; VA BVA decision index; commercial asbestos listicles reviewed and excluded [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-francovich-de606-01 through sl-uss-francovich-de606-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed court case naming Francovich (DE-606/APD-116) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1965 by Portsmouth Salvage Co., Norfolk - predating OSHA (1970) and the NESHAP asbestos standards - so no regulatory abatement record would be expected to exist. A commercial law-firm site (freeasbestostesting.com) lists 'Francovich (DE-606)' on a destroyer-escort asbestos listicle - excluded source class, logged in the batch report.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1945 steam combatant is consistent with retained era materials through her scrapping. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-04
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[6]NARA records referenced in DANFS captions: U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships Photographs 19-LCM Box 145 (launch, 5 June 1945) and BS 85929 (fitting out, 5 July 1945), NARA Still Pictures, College Park; RG 24 deck logs for the September 1945-April 1946 commission period [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS captions (19-LCM Box 145; BS 85929); NARA catalog search returned no digitized hits
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for this hull: two Bureau of Ships photographs held at NARA Still Pictures, College Park (19-LCM Box 145 - launch 5 June 1945; BS 85929 - outfitting dock 5 July 1945) are the located official imagery. The unsearched primaries most likely to hold material-relevant content are the RG 24 deck logs for her September 1945-April 1946 commission and the BuShips General Information Book / booklet of general plans for this hull (per-vessel material specifications); the Portsmouth Salvage Co. disposal file (1965) is the likeliest primary for scrapping specifics. NARA catalog API returned no digitized item records for this hull on this date.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945; 1965
- Limitations
- Lead only - none of these records was retrieved; no asbestos content is claimed for them. Deck-log and GIB coverage of this hull is probable per standard NARA holdings practice but unverified item-by-item.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-06
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[7]CourtListener API v4 search sweep via authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py: executed queries "USS Francovich" OR "U.S.S. Francovich" (type=o) and "Francovich" asbestos (type=o) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-francovich-de606-04, sl-05 (executed, count=0); sl-08 (blocked)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull, partially executed on 2026-09-29: the executed opinion queries returned zero results - no published opinion names USS Francovich, and no opinion pairs 'Francovich' with asbestos. Queued queries "APD-116" (type=o), "Francovich" (type=r docket index), and "DE-606" (type=o) could not be executed: the fleet-wide pacing budget was momentarily spent on repeated spaced attempts over ~45 minutes (helper exit 2), and retries were stopped per the limiter's guidance rather than pushed into a throttle.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Partial sweep only: the two completed queries are the highest-yield ones for a rare name, but the docket-index (type=r) search was never run, so an unopinionated asbestos docket naming this hull cannot be excluded. Litigation status is unverified-in-part, not confirmed negative. Re-run the three blocked queries when the pacing budget frees.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-francovich-de606-07