Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet ki-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-french-de367-pkt-ki-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, French (DE-367) (namesake, builder, dates, service narrative, decommissioning; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS DE-367 entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Cpl. Neldon Theo French, USMC (b. 26 July 1918, Benton County, Tenn.; enlisted 9 Sept 1940; killed in action 9 Oct 1942 on Guadalcanal; posthumous Navy Cross for the Matanikau River defensive post; shared Presidential Unit Citation for the initial Guadalcanal landings). Specifications: 1,350 t; 306 ft; 36 ft 8 in beam; 9 ft 5 in draft; 24 kt; complement 186; armament 2x5in, 8 depth-charge projectors, 1 hedgehog, 2 depth-charge tracks; John C. Butler class. Launched 17 June 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. Alma M. French (mother of Cpl. French); commissioned 9 Oct 1944, Lt. Comdr. T. K. Dunstan, USNR, in command. Service: arrived San Diego 2 Jan 1945 for Pacific escort duty, ranging Ulithi-Eniwetok through April with calls at Pearl Harbor, Kossol Roads, Saipan, Iwo Jima; patrol and air-sea rescue from Kossol Roads from 6 May; bombarded Malakal and Arakabesan Islands 5 June; Okinawa calls 8-9 July; 24-27 July directed rescue of a grounded Army freighter at Helen Reef (lightened cargo; ATA-176 towed her off; escorted to Hollandia 31 July); 4-7 Aug took part in the search for survivors of USS Indianapolis (CA-35); arrived Okinawa 26 Aug; sailed 9 Sept to cover the Japan occupation landings; ferried occupation troops from Guam; screened carriers over Japan until 2 Jan 1946; decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego 29 May 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1918-1942 (namesake); 1944-1946 (ship's commissioned service)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (Orange, Tex., 1944); wartime crew (design complement 186 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. Entry as transcribed ends at decommissioning; strike and disposal dates come from NavSource/NVR-derived data (ev-02). Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited. DANFS complement figure (186) differs from class-level BuShips accommodations (15 officers/207 enlisted) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-01
-
[3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, DE-367 USS French - Building and Operational Data chronology (keel, launch, commissioning, decommission mileage, inactivation, NVR strike, sale) + 1972 mothball-fleet photograph [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-367 page - 'Building and Operational Data' block, CO table, and 1972 Napa River photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Chronology record for this hull: keel laid 1 May 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched and christened 17 June 1944 (sponsor Mrs. Alma M. French); commissioned 9 Oct 1944 by Cmdr. J.M.D. Knowles representing Commander Eighth Naval District (Lt. Comdr. T. K. Dunstan, USNR, in command); decommissioned at San Diego 29 May 1946 after 1 year 7.5 months and 73,569 miles steamed; inactivation completed 10 Jan 1947 and assigned Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 15 May 1972; sold for scrapping 20 Sept 1973. A 1972 photograph shows French mothballed among reserve ships in the Napa River at Mare Island. Commanding officers: Dunstan (Oct-Dec 1944), Lt. Comdr. R. C. Robbins Jr. (Dec 1944-Dec 1945), Lt. Comdr. E. M. Glenn (Dec 1945-Mar 1946), Lt.(jg) J. H. Crahan (Mar-May 1946, decommissioning CO).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Pacific Reserve Fleet custody 1946-1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary photo-archive compilation reproducing official-chronology data (NVR-derived strike date); the underlying NVR entry for this struck hull is not itself online. Strike/sale dates corroborated across NavSource, uboat.net, and the NavalCoverMuseum entry; no discrepancy located. Does not address materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + Navypedia WGT-class boiler-block map [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table row 6; navypedia.org us_de_tev_wgt boiler-block map
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: this hull is a John C. Butler-class (BuShips design group 6, WGT geared-turbine) destroyer escort - the official 1945 BuShips table records the group-6 plant as 2 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750F feeding two Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 24.3 kt; the Navypedia block map assigns Combustion Engineering boilers to the DE-339-372 block that contains DE-367. A superheated steam plant of this specification and build era would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and fireproofing.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (1944); commissioned-era crew
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record - neither source names DE-367's installed materials and no ship-specific survey exists. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven; does not establish quantity, locations, or present-day relevance (hull scrapped 1973).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-03
-
[5]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - pretrial order materials and exhibit list (ECF 738 att. 1) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 6100500, ECF 738 att. 1 (pretrial order + exhibit list)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation context: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name sister ship USS Brannon (DE-446, also John C. Butler class) and identify the Navy insulation-specification suite relied on in DE-era asbestos litigation - BuShips Manual ch.39 'Thermal Insulation' NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) (24 Aug 1945); Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' (15 Oct 1945); BuEng 'General Specifications for Machinery' S39-1 (3 Feb 1939) and Manual ch.13 'Instructions Relative to Heat Insulation' (1933/1939); BUMED Code-55 memo 'Occupational Health Issues for POM-80' (9 June 1977). The Jack materials recite the theory that evaporator/distiller insulation aboard DEs was Navy-specified in an asbestos era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2017 (litigation); 1933-1977 (spec suite dates)
- Population
- John C. Butler-class crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Names a different hull (DE-446) - class context only, not evidence about materials aboard DE-367. The Jack record is pretrial/exhibit-list level (unadjudicated allegations and proposed testimony); the spec documents it identifies were retrieved by reference only, not read. Documented in the class profile's evidence rows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-04
-
[6]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 9828426, Docket 94-15 783 (23 Sept 1998) - service connection for asbestos-related lung disease [other_primary]
- Locator
- BVA decision, Findings of Fact 1-3 + factual-background recitals (service card, 1993-94 testimony)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-workforce claims context: a BVA adjudication describes a veteran employed at Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Tex., 1942-1946 - the yard that built this hull - as a Driller (IV) in the boilermaker department operating compressed-air drills on steel plates/hulls. The Board found as fact that he was NOT exposed to asbestos in that yard employment, and instead service-connected his asbestos-related lung disease to his subsequent Navy service aboard unnamed vessels where 'asbestos coated pipes throughout the ships on which he served' and he 'slept aboard ship within one foot of the asbestos.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1946 (exposure period); 1993-1998 (adjudication)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange workforce 1942-46 (one claimant); WWII shipboard sailors
- Limitations
- Does not name this hull or any vessel; documents the era claims environment around this builder's wartime workforce and adjudicated recognition of shipboard asbestos pipe insulation. The yard finding is negative - it does not establish asbestos conditions at the Orange yard, only that the claim was litigated there. Administrative benefits adjudication, not tort litigation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-05
-
[7]NARA holdings framework: RG 24 Entry 118 (U.S. Navy Ship Deck Logs, 1941+, Archives II College Park) and RG 19 (BuShips 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 Entry 118 (NAID 581208); RG 19 BuShips records
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for this hull: deck logs for DE-367's commissioned period (Oct 1944 - May 1946) should exist in NARA RG 24 Entry 118 at Archives II (digitization status for this hull unverified - the NARA catalog could not be queried by script); BuShips General Information Books in RG 19 may hold this hull's material specifications; Pacific Reserve Fleet inactivation/preservation records (1946-47 San Diego; later Napa River/Mare Island berthing) may document insulation condition at lay-up.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1973 (records coverage)
- Limitations
- Leads only - no underlying document was retrieved or read; existence of a DE-367 General Information Book is presumed from the BuShips series, not confirmed. No asbestos content is implied by these citations.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep 2026-09-28 (authenticated, fleet-paced): "USS French" type=o and type=r; "USS French" asbestos type=o; "DE-367" type=o and type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-french-de367-04, -05, -09, -10, -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation naming this hull. Opinion search: "USS French" = 0 results; "USS French" asbestos = 0 results; "DE-367" = 17 results, all name collisions - 'DE-367' appears in opinions as a PACER docket-entry/exhibit number in unrelated cases (Medicaid, insurance, criminal, land condemnation, divorce, airline, pharmaceutical patent). RECAP docket search: "USS French" = 0 dockets (document_count 0); "DE-367" = 172 docket hits, all the same PACER docket-entry-number collision pattern (Giuffre v. Maxwell, criminal dockets, tire product-liability, etc.) - none naval or asbestos-related. Classification: no qualifying asbestos litigation, no other litigation, all hits name collisions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (sweep date)
- Limitations
- An empty index result does not prove no litigation ever existed - RECAP coverage is partial, settled/sealed cases may be absent, and state-court filings are largely outside the index. 'French' is a high-collision surname; the exact-name queries returned zero rather than noisy hits, so no collision-filtering ambiguity remains for the ship name. 'DE-367' collides with PACER docket-entry numbering by design - documented as collisions, not litigation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-07
-
[9]Batch-4272 search ledger (this record): DANFS (HyperWar transcription; NHHC live 404); NavSource DE-367 page; CourtListener sweep; NARA deck-log index; Atlas shipyard dataset; BVA docket 94-15 783 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-french-de367-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-367: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS French or DE-367 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Consistent with a hull scrapped in 1973, before modern end-of-life hazmat documentation regimes existed.
- 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 - it records only that the public sources itemized in the ledger contain none. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present aboard; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-french-de367-08