Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet km-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hissem-de400-pkt-km-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Hissem' (DE-400) entry (live NHHC page returns HTTP 404 as of 2026-09-28; verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio, corroborated by Wayback capture 2022-05-27 of the official NHHC page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Hissem' entry incl. spec block ('cl. Edsall', cpl. 186) and service narrative; canonical NHHC page https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hissem.html returned HTTP 404; Wayback capture https://web.archive.org/web/20220527000019/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hissem.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry 'Hissem' (DE-400): Edsall-class destroyer escort (spec block: dp. 1,200; l. 306'; b. 36'7"; dr. 8'7"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 2 40mm., 8 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (h.h.), 3 21" tt.; cl. Edsall). Namesake Ensign Joseph Metcalf Hissem (b. 31 Dec 1917, Mt. Carroll, Ill.; Naval Reserve 9 Jan 1941; Ensign 30 Aug 1941) killed with Torpedo Squadron 8 in the first attack at the Battle of Midway, 4-5 June 1942; posthumous Navy Cross and Purple Heart. Launched by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex., 26 December 1943; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth D. Hissem; commissioned 13 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. W. W. Low in command. Shakedown to Bermuda; via Charleston to New York, arrived 20 March 1944; first combat duty escorting convoy UGS-37 - departed Norfolk 23 March; Luftwaffe attack night of 11-12 April near Algiers (~35 bombers and torpedo planes), Hissem splashed one torpedo plane and damaged another; escort ship Holder torpedoed but made port. Seven convoy voyages June 1944 - 28 May 1945; March 1945 transported 500+ paratroopers - taken aboard in the Azores, transferred to SS Althone Castle, escorted to Liverpool. Sailed 20 June 1945 for the Pacific; Pearl Harbor 26 July; Eniwetok and Ulithi; arrived Tokyo 7 October 1945 for occupation duty; Guam 29 October - occupation troop transport, air-sea rescue, weather ship. Sailed for the U.S. 9 January 1946; San Pedro 25 January; Panama Canal to Philadelphia, arrived 11 February; after repairs steamed to Green Cove Springs, Fla., 23 March; decommissioned 15 June 1946. Brought out of reserve 1955; converted to radar picket ship at Boston Navy Yard; recommissioned at Boston 31 August 1956. Atlantic Barrier service (sea extension of the DEW line) out of Boston then Newport; Northern European and Mediterranean visits 1959 and 1962. 1963: command ship in the search for lost submarine Thresher 16-21 April; sonar school ship Key West; Thresher search 27-28 June; sailed 12 August for New Zealand, Operation Deep Freeze - navigational beacon and rescue ship for McMurdo Sound flights 19 September - 28 February 1964; returned to Atlantic Fleet via the Mediterranean 15 May. Transferred to Pacific Fleet early 1965; 5-month Pearl Harbor training; sailed for Vietnam 2 September; TF-115 Tonkin Gulf January - March 1966; Pearl Harbor repairs and training; sailed again 2 September, Subic Bay 23 September, operated off Southeast Asia into 1967. ibiblio transcription's bracketed note: '[Hissem was struck from the Navy list 1 June 1975 and sunk as a target off southern California 24 February 1982.]' One battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1982
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; ship's company 1944-46 and 1956-70 (design complement 186); 500+ embarked paratroopers (March 1945); occupation troops transported (1945-46)
- Limitations
- DANFS establishes identity, construction, service history, and awards; it contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC URL 404s (standing NHHC link-rot per Batch-01 report); the ibiblio transcription and the 2022-05-27 Wayback capture of the NHHC page were read directly and agree. The ibiblio transcription's bracketed struck/sunk note (1 June 1975 / 24 February 1982) does not appear in the archived NHHC live text - it is corroborated by NavSource and uboat.net and is carried with that provenance noted. DANFS gives no laid-down date and its narrative ends in 1967; the 15 May 1970 final decommissioning rests on secondary timelines (ev-02/ev-03).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Hissem (DE-400/DER-400) page - timeline and DoD photo captions (navsource.org/archives/06/400.htm) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-400/DER-400 timeline entries (keel laid 1943-10-06; decommissioned 1946-06-15; decommissioned 1970-05-15; struck NVR 1975-06-01; sunk 1982-02-24) and photo captions VIRIN DN-SC-82-09014/-09015 (1981-09-20 target-ship series with HMS Courageous)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive entry for DE-400/DER-400 (read via search-index snippet; direct fetch blocked in-session): timeline - keel laid 6 October 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; decommissioned 15 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years 5 months service; decommissioned (final) 15 May 1970 after 13 years 8 months service; struck from the NVR 1 June 1975 (16 years 1 month total service; on striking, the ship's bell was given to the city of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, birthplace of Ensign Hissem); sunk as target off California 24 February 1982. Photo captions: U.S. Navy photos VIRIN DN-SC-82-09014 and DN-SC-82-09015, 20 September 1981 - the decommissioned radar picket escort ex-Hissem (DER-400) at anchor as target ship while the British nuclear submarine HMS Courageous (S50) assessed Harpoon missile damage aboard during testing; 'She was finally sunk on 24 February 1982.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1982
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-46, 1956-70; weapons-test personnel 1981-82
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive - timeline is consistent with DANFS (15 June 1946 decommissioning; 31 August 1956 recommissioning era) but supplies dates DANFS does not (laid down 6 Oct 1943; final decommissioning 15 May 1970; DER-400 designation period). Direct fetch of navsource.org was refused in-session; content was read via the search index's cached text, so verification is marked partial. Photo captions rest on official U.S. Navy imagery (VIRIN DN-SC-82-09014/-09015). Contains no asbestos or materials statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships, 'USS Hissem (DE 400)' entry; NavalCoverMuseum wiki, 'HISSEM DER 400' name/designation list and locy entries [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/1548 specification and service-event table; navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/HISSEM_DER_400 designation list ('Edsall Class Type FMR'; 'Reclassified Radar Picket Escort (DER) October 21 1955')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary corroboration of designation and disposal dates for this hull: uboat.net Allied Warships entry for 'USS Hissem (DE 400) - American Destroyer Escort of the Edsall class' reads 'Decommissioned 15 June 1946. Reclassified as DER-400 on 21 October 1955. Recommissioned 31 August 1956. Decommissioned 15 May 1970. Stricken 1 June 1975. Sunk as a target off the coast of California 24 February 1982' (also: ordered 7 Aug 1942; laid down 6 Oct 1943; launched 26 Nov 1943; commissioned 13 Jan 1944); NavalCoverMuseum HISSEM DER 400 page concurs - 'Reclassified Radar Picket Escort (DER) October 21 1955', 'Decommissioned May 15 1970', 'Stricken June 1 1975', 'Sunk February 24 1982 as target off California', and 'Launched November 26 1943'.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1982
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations, consistent with each other and with DANFS where overlap exists; they supply the DER-400 reclassification date (21 October 1955) and final decommissioning (15 May 1970) that DANFS omits, and they conflict with DANFS on launch date (26 November vs. 26 December 1943 - logged in the correction row and gaps). No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-03
-
[5]Cross-source reconciliation: NHHC live DANFS text (Wayback 2022-05-27) vs. ibiblio transcription; uboat.net and NavalCoverMuseum vs. DANFS launch date; NavSource/uboat corroboration of the bracketed struck/sunk note; registry john-c-butler-class.class.json member-list coverage [other_primary]
- Locator
- Wayback NHHC capture paragraph 'launched ... 26 December 1943' vs. uboat.net/NavalCoverMuseum '26 November 1943'; ibiblio bracketed note vs. NHHC live text (absent); NavSource timeline corroboration; john-c-butler-class.class.json member_vessels (DE-402-DE-424 Brown SB Houston listed; Edsall-block DE-382-DE-401 correctly outside that class)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved or logged: (a) Launch date - DANFS (both the live NHHC text, archived 2022-05-27, and the ibiblio transcription) reads '26 December 1943'; uboat.net and NavalCoverMuseum read '26 November 1943' - unresolved; DANFS is carried and the conflict is documented. (b) Struck/sunk bracketed note - present in the ibiblio DANFS transcription ('struck from the Navy list 1 June 1975 and sunk as a target off southern California 24 February 1982') but absent from the archived NHHC live text; both dates are independently corroborated by NavSource (struck NVR 1 June 1975; sunk 24 February 1982) and uboat.net, so the dates are carried with provenance noted. (c) Class membership - the DANFS spec block reads 'cl. Edsall' and all secondary sources agree (Edsall = the sole diesel-propelled destroyer-escort class, FMR plant). No Edsall-class profile exists in the registry; the john-c-butler-class profile correctly lists only the Brown-built JCB block DE-402 through DE-424 and omits the Brown-built Edsall block DE-382 through DE-401 to which this hull belongs - registry coverage note, logged in the batch report. (d) Complement - DANFS spec block cpl. 186 vs. secondary compilations 8 officers + 201 enlisted (209); DANFS design figure carried.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1982
- Limitations
- Reconciles publication-level discrepancies among authoritative and secondary sources; none affects the identity or service timeline materially, and none of the underlying sources contains asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-04
-
[6]Consolidated era/design inference - DANFS spec block and service history (builder, construction dates, Boston Navy Yard conversion 1955-56) + secondary spec blocks for the FMR diesel plant (NavSource, uboat.net) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Hissem' spec block ('cl. Edsall'; s. 21 k.) and conversion narrative ('converted for use as a radar picket ship at Boston Navy Yard ... recommissioned at Boston 31 August 1956')
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull was built October 1943 - January 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston - a wartime contract yard - at the peak of WWII asbestos usage in naval construction. The Edsall class's FMR diesel plant (four Fairbanks-Morse engines, 6,000 shp, two shafts, 21 kt) had no boilers - unlike steam destroyer escorts - but era-typical asbestos applications still applied: exhaust and muffler lagging on the diesel plant, accommodation and fireproofing insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, deck tile, and brake linings. The 1955-56 radar-picket conversion at Boston Navy Yard added radar and communications equipment during a period when such yard work commonly involved thermal insulation and disturbance of existing materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; Boston Navy Yard conversion workforce 1955-56; ship's company 1944-46 and 1956-70
- Limitations
- Inference from construction era, builder yard, documented plant type, and yard periods - NOT a hull record. No survey, specification, material schedule, or abatement contract naming DE-400/DER-400 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation. Every listed application is 'typical of the type/era,' not 'installed on this hull.'
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-05
-
[7]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020 (previously verified for the registry's gato-class profile 2026-09-16, ev-gato-class-10)
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Classmate datapoint: the Galveston Daily News reported that asbestos had been found in the public areas of USS Cavalla (SS-244) and USS Stewart (DE-238) at Seawolf Park, Galveston, and that contractor Separation Systems Consultants received approval to proceed with abatement; both vessels remained closed during the work. Stewart (DE-238) is an Edsall-class destroyer escort - a built sister of this hull - so documented ACM aboard an Edsall-class hull exists at class level, though the Stewart finding is ship-specific to DE-238, not to DE-400.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020
- Population
- Museum staff/volunteers and Seawolf Park visitors; abatement crews (Stewart DE-238 only)
- Limitations
- Documents asbestos aboard Edsall-class sister USS Stewart (DE-238), a surviving museum hull - NOT aboard Hissem (DE-400). As a class-level datapoint it supports the era inference that Edsall-class construction used asbestos-containing materials; it establishes nothing about this hull's materials, and it predates/stands independent of the 1982 sinking of this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-06
-
[8]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at Navy yards and Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- Survey wartime; article 1946
- Population
- WWII shipyard pipe coverers and nearby trades (class context)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether Brown Shipbuilding was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. Per the Atlas shipyards record, C&EN (July 2026) reported a retraction call for this paper alleging understatement of asbestos hazards - noted for transparency; the amosite-standard finding is independently corroborated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-07
-
[9]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and emergency construction program under which this hull was built at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-08
-
[10]Basel Convention (1989/1992); IMO Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009, in force 26 June 2025); EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013 - regulatory timeline only [other_primary]
- Locator
- Basel Convention overview (adoption/entry-into-force dates); IMO HKC status; EU Reg. 1257/2013; sinking dates per ev-01/ev-02
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Disposal-context record: the hull was struck 1 June 1975, documented in U.S. Navy imagery at anchor off California as a Harpoon-missile target in September 1981, and sunk as a target off southern California 24 February 1982 - predating every modern regime governing hazardous-materials handling in end-of-life vessels: the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes (adopted 1989, in force 1992), the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (2013), and the IMO Hong Kong Convention (adopted 2009, entered into force 2025), under which inventory-of-hazardous-materials documentation for end-of-life ships became standard. No pre-sinking hazardous-materials survey, abatement record, or environmental review for this hull was located in the sources searched.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1982 sinking; 1992/2013/2025 regimes
- Population
- Weapons-test personnel and target-hull preparation crews (1981-82, class context)
- Limitations
- Regulatory timeline only - no source documents what materials were aboard or removed before this hull's 1982 sinking. The absence of a contemporaneous inventory regime means any asbestos-containing material aboard was most plausibly handled under 1970s-80s Navy target-hull preparation practice with no surviving public record located; nothing in this row establishes that asbestos was present or that any exposure occurred.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 search, 2026-09-28: "USS Hissem" type=o (0); "Hissem" type=o (62 - surname collisions); "DER-400" type=o (0); "DE-400" type=o (60 - doc-number collisions); "Hissem" type=r (51 - surname collisions); "DE-400" type=r (223 - token collisions incl. one asbestos docket McCabe v. Aerojet Rocketdyne, S.D. Fla. 0:22-cv-62148, non-vessel match); "DER-400" type=r (3 - collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger row sl-uss-hissem-de400-04 - per-query tallies and collision classification
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in CourtListener (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-28). Opinion search: "USS Hissem" 0 hits; "Hissem" 62 hits - all surname collisions (the Hissem v. Guran line of Ohio cases, Commonwealth v. Hissem, insurance/probate matters), zero ship or asbestos mentions in the returned set; "DER-400" 0 hits; "DE-400" 60 hits - all document/exhibit-number collisions (Puerto Rico appellate and misc. federal opinions), none vessel-related. Docket (type=r) search: "Hissem" 51 hits - all surname collisions (personal bankruptcies, insurance, trademark); "DE-400" 223 hits - all docket-text token collisions, including one asbestos-nature docket (McCabe, Sr. v. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc., S.D. Fla. 0:22-cv-62148, premises-asbestos removal case) in which 'DE-400' is a docket/exhibit label, not the vessel; "DER-400" 3 hits - exhibit-number collisions (patent, copyright, bankruptcy). No case - asbestos or otherwise - was found in which USS Hissem, DE-400, or DER-400 is named as a vessel, exposure site, or subject.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located docket does not prove no exposure occurred and does not defeat any future claim - it establishes only that no CourtListener-indexed opinion or docket names this hull as of 2026-09-28. Coverage limits: CourtListener indexes are incomplete for state-court pleadings and unreported matters; MDL-875 transfer dockets are not text-searchable at hull level in all cases; 'Hissem' is a surname with heavy collision load (bankruptcy-dominated), which can bury low-signal hits - per-hit review of the returned sets found none vessel-related. The DE-400/DER-400 tokens collide with exhibit and document numbering, likewise reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-10
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Navy deck logs), RG 19 (Bureau of Ships); U.S. Defense Imagery VIRIN DN-SC-82-09014/-09015; Library of Congress Veterans History Project, loc.gov/item/afc2001001.84301 [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy ; https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; loc.gov item afc2001001.84301 (service summary page - 'Service Unit/Ship: USS Hissem (DE 400)', Signalman Second Class, 1943-1946)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 deck logs for USS Hissem's commissioned periods (January 1944 - June 1946; August 1956 - May 1970), series 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' at Archives II, College Park - digitization status unverified (catalog is JS-gated, not queryable in-session); (b) NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) records for the 1955-56 Boston Navy Yard radar-picket conversion work package - the likeliest repository of ship-specific materials documentation for this hull - plus the February 1946 Philadelphia repair availability and 1966 Pearl Harbor repairs; (c) builder records for Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston (the yard is absent from the Atlas shipyards dataset - carried in gaps); (d) DoD imagery VIRIN DN-SC-82-09014/-09015 (Defense Imagery) for the September 1981 target-ship documentation; (e) Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Paul Glenn Summerville Collection (AFC/2001/001/84301) - signalman second class, USS Hissem (DE-400), service 1943-1946, Cape Bengut (the UGS-37 Algiers action); interview content unsurveyed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1982 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for DE-400/DER-400 is unknown until surveyed in person. The LOC item confirms a veteran's service aboard this hull (official catalog record) but its interview content was not reviewed and may contain no materials detail. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hissem-de400-11