Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet li-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-henry-r-kenyon-de683-pkt-li-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683) (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription - live NHHC page returns 404 on both URL patterns) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683)' - namesake biography, spec block, service narrative, disposition
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Henry Russell Kenyon, Jr. (b. 4 Feb 1916, Bronxville, N.Y.; enlisted 5 Nov 1940; discharged 1941 for Aviation Cadet appointment; commissioned Ensign '4 August 1951' [sic - 1941, see limitations]; Torpedo Squadron 8 off USS Hornet at the Battle of Midway 4 June 1942; presumed dead 5 June 1942; posthumous Navy Cross). Spec block: Buckley class, 1,400 t, 306 ft, 37 ft beam, 9 ft 5 in draft, 24 kt, complement 186, 3x3in + 4x1.1in + 8x20mm + 2 dct + 8 dcp + 1 dcp (h.h.) + 3x21in tt. Service: launched by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., 30 October 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Verna Markham Kenyon, widow); commissioned 30 November 1943, Comdr. C. M. Lyons, Jr. in command; Bermuda shakedown; underway 26 January 1944 on Caribbean convoy-escort duty; returned to Boston 6 June (1944), trained in Casco Bay, torpedo tubes replaced by additional antiaircraft guns; five transatlantic voyages 'between 4 July 1944 and 30 August 1945' [sic - see limitations] escorting in the Atlantic and eastern Mediterranean; departed Norfolk 15 May (1945) via Panama Canal to the western Pacific; off Leyte 7 July; escort work Philippines/New Guinea/Okinawa to war's end; departed Manila 26 November; San Diego 17 December; decommissioned 3 February 1947; Pacific Reserve Fleet berthed at Mare Island, later Stockton; struck from the Navy list 1 December 1969; sold 22 October 1970.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1943; USN crew 1943-47 (design complement 186-215); Pacific Reserve Fleet caretaker personnel 1947-69
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. Two internal defects carried verbatim: (1) 'five transatlantic voyages between 4 July 1944 and 30 August 1945' is irreconcilable with the entry's own 15 May 1945 Pacific departure - the ship-submitted war history (ev-02) reads 'From July 4, 1944, to April 30, 1945, five trans-Atlantic crossings were made,' i.e., April 30, 1945; the printed/transcribed '30 August 1945' is treated as an error and logged in gaps. (2) 'commissioned Ensign 4 August 1951' is impossible (he was killed 1942) - NavSource biography reads 4 August 1941. Live NHHC page returns 404 on both URL patterns tried; verbatim transcription cited per house precedent.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-01
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[3]Ship-submitted official war history of USS Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683): CO letter DE 683/A12-1, Serial No. 175, dated 22 September 1945, Geo. F. Stearns, Jr. (CO) to the Secretary of the Navy, ref. ALPAC 202, enclosure 'History of the USS HENRY R. KENYON (DE-683)' - photographic facsimile hosted by NavSource; original an official USN record [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource-hosted scan 06683wh.jpg (single image: CO forwarding letter + enclosure), on the DE-683 page 'View the official War History' link
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Primary-source ship history (read directly from the scan): the ship was 'Built and commissioned in the Fore River, (Mass.) Ship Yard of the Bethlehem Steel Company' then 'moved to the Boston Navy Yard for fitting out'; four-week shakedown cruise to Bermuda with return to the Boston Navy Yard; underway 26 January 1944 to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a five-month Caribbean tour (ports in Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Martinique, Porto Rico), steaming into Boston Harbor 6 June 1944 'as the Normandy Invasion initiated the end of the Battle of Europe'; then assigned to an escort group - 'From July 4, 1944, to April 30, 1945, five trans-Atlantic crossings were made, taking the ship to Tunisia, Algeria, French Morocco, England, Scotland, and the Azores'; 15 May 1945 departed Norfolk via the Panama Canal, Galapagos Islands, Bora Bora (Society Islands), Manus (Admiralty Islands), and Hollandia, New Guinea, reporting to Commander Philippine Sea Frontier at Tolosa, Leyte, 7 July 1945; operated as Seventh Fleet ocean escort completing missions from the Philippine Islands Area to New Guinea and Okinawa; 'It was while en route from Okinawa on August 15, 1945, that the HENRY R. KENYON received the word that sounded peace in the Pacific'; at writing remained under ComPhilSeaFron on convoy escort and patrol duty.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (events); 1945-09-22 (document)
- Population
- USN crew 1943-45 (the signatory CO and embarked ship's company)
- Limitations
- Photographic facsimile hosted by a volunteer archive (NavSource) - the document text was read directly from the scan but not verified against the official original (Navy custody; NARA-series lead in ev-07). The letter itself contains a date error - it dates the VT-8 Midway loss 'July 2, 1942' (the action was 4-5 June 1942 per DANFS/namesake record). Resolves the DANFS '30 August 1945' crossing-window defect (ev-01) to April 30, 1945. Documents history and yard events, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-02
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[4]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): building/operational data block, specifications, command roster, namesake biography, awards ribbons, NHHC photo credit [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-683 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block, specifications block, commanding-officers table, namesake biography
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photo-archive data corroborating and extending DANFS: keel laid 29 September 1943 by Bethlehem Steel (Fore River Yard) Shipyard, Inc., Quincy, Mass. (a laydown date DANFS does not state); launched and christened 30 October 1943; commissioned at the builder's yard 30 November 1943; decommissioned at San Diego 3 February 1947 'after 3 years and 2 months of service having steamed 108,619 miles'; inactivation completed 31 March 1947, assigned to Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the NVR 1 December 1969; sold 22 October 1970, scrapped. Spec block: Buckley class TE type ('2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws'), 1,400 t light / 1,740 t full, 24 kt, 6,000 nm at 12 kt, complement 15 officers/198 enlisted, as-built armament (3x3in/50, twin 40mm Mk1, 8x20mm, 3x21in TT, Hedgehog Mk10, 8 Mk6 dcp, 2 Mk9 dct). Command roster: Cmdr. Charles M. Lyons, Jr. (30 Nov 1943 - 8 Jun 1944), Lcdr. Arthur D. Berliss, Jr. (8 Jun 1944 - 4 Jan 1945), Lcdr. George F. Stearns, Jr. (4 Jan 1945 - 23 Nov 1945), Lcdr. Alan Ray (23 Nov 1945 - 1946). Namesake biography: Ensign commission 4 August 1941 (corrects DANFS '1951'); VT-8 aboard USS Hornet (CV-8), MIA 4 June 1942, presumed dead 5 June 1943. Awards ribbons: American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific, European-African-Middle Eastern, WWII Victory, Philippine Liberation. NHHC photo credit NH 79815.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- USN crew 1943-47; Pacific Reserve Fleet caretaker personnel 1947-69
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; dates, roster, mileage, and awards are unverified against the underlying USN/NHHC/NARA originals. The data block lists the as-built torpedo fit although DANFS records the tubes replaced by AA guns in mid-1944 - consistent with an as-built specification block. Its 'San Diego Group' reserve-fleet assignment and DANFS's Mare Island/Stockton berthings are sequential states, not contradictions. Nothing on materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-03
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[5]NavSource DE-683 specifications block (Buckley class, TE type) + BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3 (via Atlas class-f buckley-class profile) + navypedia TE per-block boiler map (Combustion Engineering for DE-675-683) + Atlas shipyards.json records (fore-river-shipyard, bethlehem-shipbuilding, boston-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard); NARA RG 19 archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-683 spec block; BuShips SDB 1945 v1 pp. 234-235 (per buckley-class profile ev-buckley-class-01); navypedia us_de_te boiler-block map; shipyards.json yard_ids 'fore-river-shipyard', 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (all resolve)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the Buckley class is the turbo-electric (TE) destroyer escort design - one of only two DE classes (with the WGT Butler class) carrying a full steam plant. BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3 document 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp; the navypedia per-block boiler map assigns Combustion Engineering boilers to the DE-675-683 block including this hull. A 1943 steam-driven combatant would have carried era-standard asbestos applications: boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder-site context: Fore River Shipyard, Quincy (Atlas tier-3 record) documents product categories including boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing materials, gaskets, packing, electrical components, asbestos wire insulation, asbestos cement, and asbestos-containing paint, with litigation documentation (Oliver v. General Electric, D. Md. - Fore River pipefitter's/drafting apprentice 1967-70) postdating this hull's construction; the bethlehem-shipbuilding record (tier 3, product names incl. 85% Magnesia block, Marinite board, Transite, Unibestos) is largely sourced to Bethlehem's Baltimore/Sparrows Point works rather than Quincy - carried as builder-company context only. Boston Navy Yard fitting-out (per ev-02) is a documented yard event of undocumented material scope. The 1947-69 reserve-fleet layup and 1970 scrapping are undocumented material windows.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1943; Boston Navy Yard fitting-out workforce 1943-44; USN crew 1943-47; Pacific Reserve Fleet caretaker personnel 1947-69; 1970 scrapping workforce
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No ship-specific asbestos record was located for this hull (ev-06). Does not quantify material, does not establish any individual's exposure, does not establish what existed at scrapping. The Oliver litigation documents the Fore River yard two decades after this hull's 1943 build; the Bethlehem product list is largely non-Quincy-sourced. NARA retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 search sweep (authenticated fleet helper cl-auth-search.py), 2026-09-29 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-05 through -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation - and no litigation of any kind - naming this vessel located. Exact-name searches '"USS Henry R. Kenyon"' returned 0 opinion results and 0 RECAP-docket results. Hull-number opinion search '"DE-683"' returned 7 results, all string collisions on review: United States v. Dorman (D.C. Cir. 2017, criminal), United States v. Taylor (N.D. Ind. 2004, criminal), Glaros v. Perse (1st Cir. 1980, maritime tort), Vitro Corp. v. Hall Chemical (6th Cir. 1961, patent/trade secret), Marchan v. Pedro (P.R. Supreme Court 1931 - predates this hull's 1943 construction, dispositive of string-collision matching), Scripps-Howard Radio v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 1951, broadcast), Insurance Co. of North America v. Newtowne Mfg. (1st Cir. 1951, insurance) - none references a vessel, naval service, or asbestos; match text is interior reporter/docket strings (snippets returned empty; classification on case metadata). The '"DE-683"' RECAP-docket query was pending the fleet-wide pacing budget at drafting - see search_ledger sl-09.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Opinion index swept for both name and hull number; docket index swept for the exact name (0 results); the hull-number docket query was pending the shared pacing budget at drafting - see search_ledger for final status. Absence of a located opinion or docket does not prove no filing ever named the ship; state-court records, trust claims, and unindexed dockets are outside coverage. 'Kenyon' is a surname and college name - any future hit needs collision classification rather than automatic attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-05
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[7]Batch-4460 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (live 404; ibiblio HyperWar verbatim), ship-submitted war history facsimile, NavSource DE archive, NVR, NARA catalog, Atlas shipyard dataset, Atlas class profile, CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, material schedule, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683) was found in the public sources searched. No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull was sold in 1970 and scrapped, never a museum, memorial, or other custodial asset. The only hull-level material-adjacent record located is the ship-submitted war history (ev-02), which documents yard events (Fore River build, Boston Navy Yard fitting-out) but no materials.
- 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 1943 steam-driven combatant is era-consistent with asbestos use, and the fitting-out, reserve-fleet layup (1947-69), and 1970 scrapping are documented disturbance windows of undocumented scope. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The scrapping buyer/yard is unrecorded in sources reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-06
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[8]NARA RG 19 (BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books) and RG 24 (deck logs) for DE-683; Boston Navy Yard fitting-out work orders (1943-44); Pacific Reserve Fleet inactivation records (San Diego, 1947); the 1970 disposal/sale file (DPC/DSA records); the war-history original (CO letter DE 683/A12-1, Ser. 175, 22 Sep 1945) in official custody - all undigitized or not located online [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 19/RG 24 entry series; Boston Navy Yard job records; Pacific Reserve Fleet records; defense-property disposal records (undigitized)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA RG 19 holds BuShips per-vessel specifications and ships-data books covering DE-683's construction at Bethlehem Fore River, and RG 24 deck logs cover the 1943-47 commissioned period; (2) Boston Navy Yard fitting-out work orders (per the war history, the ship moved there after commissioning) may document material scope; (3) Pacific Reserve Fleet inactivation/mothball records (San Diego Group assignment per NavSource; Mare Island and Stockton berthings per DANFS) document preservation-state material condition; (4) the 1970 disposal file would identify the scrapping buyer/yard not recorded in public sources; (5) the war-history letter's original (file DE 683/A12-1, Serial 175) is in Navy custody - the NavSource scan is a facsimile.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1970 (records); 2026 (lead status)
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these holdings were pulled or digitized; contents unknown. They establish nothing about materials aboard. NARA catalog returns an SPA shell to programmatic fetches (same standing limitation as prior batches).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henry-r-kenyon-de683-07
