USS Howard D. Crow (DE-252)

Evidence

14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).

1. [1]research packet ju-packet.md (8 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-howard-d-crow-de252-pkt-ju-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Howard D. Crow (DE-252), July 2015 update (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division; verbatim transcription on the Tin Can Sailors ship page - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry 'Howard D. Crow' July 2015 - namesake biography, ship history, and disposition sections (destroyers.org/ships/de-252)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS (July 2015) record for this hull: laid down 6 February 1943 at Houston, Tex., by Brown Shipbuilding Co.; named Howard D. Crow (DE-252) 23 February 1943; launched 26 April 1943, sponsored by Miss Viola Elaine Warner (the late Ens. Crow's fiancee, recommended by his parents); commissioned at Houston 27 September 1943, Lt. Comdr. Donald T. Adams, USCG, in command. Coast Guard-manned: Galveston Bay drills 1-9 Oct 1943; New Orleans deperming; shakedown Bermuda 22 Oct-18 Nov; post-shakedown availability Charleston 20-30 Nov; NOB Norfolk 1 Dec - nucleus-crew training platform off York Spit Channel; TF-66 (Comdr. John Rountree, USCG); UGS-27 delayed section with Ricketts (DE-254) 15-20 Dec; Gibraltar turnover 1 Jan 1944; HMS Malcolm sortie with Pettit (DE-253) and Ricketts 2-3 Jan; GUS-26 New York section 23-24 Jan; New York Navy Yard drydock 29-30 Jan (sound gear); Bacchus relieved Adams 4 Feb; CU-15/TG 21.9 out 22 Feb (El Coston-Murfreesboro collision; Ricketts rescued 33); Lough Foyle 5 Mar; UC-15 home 22 Mar; Bayonne Naval Supply Depot availability; CU-20 out 6 Apr; 7 Apr motor-whaleboat loss while transferring a casualty to Marchand (DE-249) - Sea1c Anthony Alessi USCGR died, CEM Horace L. Thomas USCGR posthumous Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving Ens. Marvin T. Duncan USCG; CU-20 into Lough Foyle 17 Apr; UC-20 home 3 May; then CU-25/UCT-25, TCU-30, UCT-30, TCU-35 (incl. HMS Trouncer escort), CU-40, UC-40B, CU-46, UC-46A, CU-52 (Liverpool 7 Jan 1945), UC-52B. Nixon relieved Bacchus Feb 1945. 11 Feb 1945 screening CU-58: sonar contact 1639, 24 Mk.10 hedgehog projectiles from 1653 with at least one direct hit, depth charges, oil slick and air bubbles; Koiner (DE-331, Navy-manned) joined 1800 with three depth-charge patterns - contact classified 'non-sub'; DANFS records the victim 'was, most certainly, the German Type IXC submarine U-869 (Kapitanleutnant Hellmut Neuerburg).' Southampton 23 Feb; UC-58A home; CU-64 (Le Havre section 11 Apr); UC-64A Southampton 16 Apr; UC-64B twilight contact 19 Apr - five attacks; 22 Apr two hedgehog attacks (48 projectiles, 28 depth charges) no verifiable results. New York repairs/alterations increasing AA battery at war's end; CU-71/UC-71 final Atlantic cycle May-Jun; Pacific transfer via Bloodsworth Island bombardment exercises, Guantanamo-Culebra refresher, Panama Canal 7 Jul, San Diego 15-18 Jul, Pearl Harbor 25 Jul; school-ship and exercises incl. Sargo (SS-188); V-J Day alongside Pettit; Eniwetok 6 Sep; Tulagi 20 Sep; grounded on unmarked shoal off Tanambogo 5 Oct (all propeller blades bent; CO Lt. Frederick T. Carney USCGR dove to inspect); Russell Islands transport; AFDL-7 floating drydock Eniwetok (unsatisfactory screw repairs); ARDC-2 concrete floating drydock Pearl Harbor 11-20 Nov; Hawaiian Sea Frontier Weather Station B (arrived 29 Nov); evaporator failure - Midway water 8 Dec, Pearl 16 Dec; towed disabled LCI(L)-29, transferred to Moreno (ATF-87); San Pedro 27 Dec; second Panama transit 13 Jan 1946; New York 20 Jan; Green Cove Springs 15 Mar; decommissioned 22 May 1946, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. October 1946 tow casualty: collision with a Jacksonville bridge flooded machinery spaces; ATA-210 to Charleston, inactivated 31 Mar 1947, repairs and supplementary main-engine overhaul into 1948; ATA-209 to Mayport Feb 1948. Recommissioned Mayport 6 Jul 1951 (Comdr. Lewis E. Davis Jr.); Newport then Key West Sonar School training ship (19 Jan 1952); Boston Naval Shipyard overhauls (Apr-Jun 1952; Apr-Jun 1954) and Hurricane Edna repairs (Sep-Oct 1954); LantFlEx 1-55 off Labrador; Battle Efficiency 'E' 1954-55; Midshipman Cruise Baker (Edinburgh, Copenhagen) 1955; New York Naval Shipyard overhaul Oct 1956-29 Jan 1957; homeport Key West 1 Sep 1957; 1957 NATO fall exercises (Tromso, Le Havre, Dunkerque); communications ship for Jupiter nose-cone recovery off Puerto Rico 14-18 May 1958. Naval Reserve training ship: Galveston homeport 1 Nov 1958 ('in service', Select Reserve ASW Force); Galveston overhaul 1 Nov 1958-26 Mar 1959; Berlin-crisis mobilization - reserve complement flown to Charleston, met ship 1 Oct 1961; DesDiv 101/Key West; Guantanamo refresher; back to Galveston Jul 1962 - 'in commission, in reserve' 30 Jul, ResDesRon 34 NRT Group I 1 Aug; Todd Shipyard Corp., Galveston annual overhaul 1 Oct-15 Dec 1962; ResDesDiv 343 eff. 10 Dec; reserve cruises Gulf/Caribbean 1963-64 incl. New York World's Fair; 'in service, in reserve, Group II' eff. 1 Jul 1965 (Lt. Merton A. Pearson OinC; with Walton DE-361); pre-overhaul alongside Everglades (AD-24) lengthened by Hurricane Betsy; Rawls Brothers' Division of Jacksonville Shipyards overhaul late 1965-20 Mar 1966 (stretched 3 to 5 months on supply problems and 'the inability of the engineering plant to function as designed at full power'; Navy's Boiler Technical Laboratory consulted; all 3-inch gun mounts and fire-control director repaired; supplies stripped from the Orange Reserve Fleet, $119,000 savings); Arcadia (AD-23), Yellowstone (AD-27), Cascade (AD-16), Everglades availabilities 1966-68; exercises with Haynesworth (DD-700), Hyman (DD-732), Tweedy (DE-532), Calcaterra (DER-390), Sea Poacher (SS-406), Quillback (SS-424), Trutta (SS-421); Avondale Shipyard repair availability Jul 1967 (no. 3 generator bearings); Charleston Naval Shipyard InSurv 28-29 Mar 1968; Livingston Shipyard, Orange, drydocking 23-24 May 1968; final Guantanamo cycle Jun 1968. Depth-charge exercises 13 Sep 1968; moored U.S. Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Orange, 14 Sep; simultaneously decommissioned and stricken from the NVR 23 Sep 1968, accepted by the Inactive Ship Facility, Orange the same day. Disposal: AsstSecNav Frank Sanders authorized use as a target to destruction 26 Jan 1970; earmarked 11 Mar for Second Fleet exercises (Virginia capes or Caribbean, May-Jun 1970); fleet tug Kiowa (ATF-72) CO reported her 'unacceptable' 27 Apr; ex-Darby (DE-218) offered instead; recommended disposal via Defense Surplus Sales Office; acquired by Coastal Pools, Inc., Beaumont, Tex.; Lone Star Towing Co. tug Cochise towed her out of naval custody 18 Sep 1970.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1970

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned crew 1943-46; USN/USNR crew and Naval Reserve trainees 1951-68 (design complement 186-216)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. The July 2015 text is carried verbatim by the Tin Can Sailors ship page (destroyers.org), an association site hosting the official text; the live NHHC page returns 404 (standing rot). The disposal narrative's 'unacceptable for target' finding explains why the hull was sold rather than expended - the hull was scrapped, not sunk; 1968-era DANFS reads 'sold in October 1970' vs the 18 Sep 1970 tow date - carried in gaps. The 'Boiler Technical Laboratory' quote is verbatim DANFS for the 1965-66 overhaul; it implies boiler/exhaust-side consultation on a diesel ship but does not establish any material content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-01

3. [3]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, cutter history page 'USS Howard D. Crow (DE-252)' (official USCG publication, PDF, 9 pp., 2008; live uscg.mil page returns 403 to automated fetches - Wayback capture cited) [other_primary]

   Locator

   USCG Historian's Office webcutters PDF, spec block + history pp. 1-8 + source list p. 9 (Wayback capture 2011-08-22)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official USCG Historian's Office record for this hull: namesake biography (Howard Daniel Crow, born Alvarado, Tex., 2 Feb 1918; USNR apprentice seaman Dallas 29 Aug 1940; training USS Quincy CA-39 Oct-Nov 1940; midshipman 16 Dec 1940; Naval Reserve Midshipman's School Northwestern; commissioned ensign 14 Mar 1941; USS Maryland BB-46 29 Mar 1941; died of wounds received in action at Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941, battle station in the ship's 5th Division, Maryland moored inboard of Oklahoma BB-37). Spec block: Edsall class; 1,253 t standard / '1,102 t full load' (sic - almost certainly a misprint for 1,590; cf. BuShips group table); 306 ft oa; beam 36'7"; draft 10'5" full load; machinery '2-shaft Fairbanks Morse diesels, 6,000 bhp'; range 10,800 nm at 12 kt; 21 kt; complement 186; armament 3-3"/50, 2-40mm, 8-20mm, 3-21" tt, 2 dct, 8 dcp, 1 hedgehog. WWII narrative matches the July-2015 DANFS text (same underlying ship-history file); adds the explicit closeout 'All of her Coast Guard crew had been removed by the time of her decommissioning' (22 May 1946, decomm. CO Lt. B. H. Kelmer USCG). Source list: Ship History File, USCG Historian's Office; DANFS; Robert Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (1982); The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts Vol. V (1949).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   USCG crew 1943-46; namesake Ens. Howard D. Crow USNR (USS Maryland BB-46, killed 7 Dec 1941)

   Limitations

   Official USCG record but covers only the Coast Guard-manned era (to May 1946); the full-load displacement figure '1,102' is a misprint (class standard 1,590 t per BuShips) - noted rather than reconciled. Range 10,800 nm conflicts with NavSource's 9,100 nm - carried in gaps. Documents service history, not materials or asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-02

4. [4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for CROW, HOWARD D., DE-252 (shipscribe.com scan; book pp. 240-241) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v1 roster row 70, CROW HOWARD D. DE-252 (book pp. 240-241; shipscribe scan PDF p. 130)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster row 70): CROW, HOWARD D., official number DE-252, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,921,000 (cost-plus-fixed-fee); contract signed 18 January 1942; keel laid 6 February 1943; ship launched 26 April 1943; contract date of completion 30 July 1943; date of preliminary acceptance 27 September 1943; date of first commission 27 September 1943.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1942-43

   Limitations

   Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. Dates concur with DANFS and NavSource (laid down 6 Feb 1943, launched 26 Apr 1943, commissioned 27 Sep 1943).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-03

5. [5]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Howard D. Crow (DE 252) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): spec block, building/operational data block, commanding-officer roster, captioned U.S. Navy photographs, awards ribbons [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net/archives/06/252.htm - specifications block, 'Building and Operational Data' block, commanding-officers table, photo captions 0625201-0625215

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Photo-archive detail corroborating and extending DANFS: spec block - Edsall class, FMR type (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive, 3-inch guns); 1,200 t light / 1,590 full; 306 ft oa; 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp, 2 screws; 21 kt; 9,100 nm at 12 kt; complement 8 officers / 201 enlisted; flag hoist NDVF ('Berry Creek'). Building/operational data adds: keel laid 6 Feb 1943; named Howard D. Crow (DE-252) 23 Feb 1943; launched/christened 26 Apr 1943; commissioned Houston 27 Sep 1943; decommissioned Green Cove Springs 22 May 1946 'after 2 years and 8 months of service'; recommissioned Mayport 6 Jul 1951 (Cmdr. Lewis E. Davis Jr., Escort Squadron 14, Newport); homeport Key West 1 Sep 1957 (Destroyer Division 601); September 1958 decommissioned, 'in service' Select Reserve ASW Force, Reserve Escort Squadron 4, NRT 8th Naval District Galveston; reactivated for the Berlin Crisis at U.S. Naval Station Charleston 2 Oct 1961 (81 Selected Reserve crewmembers aboard; DesDiv 601, Key West); deactivated at the U.S. Navy Pier, Pelican Island, Galveston 1 Aug 1962 (Lcdr. W. P. Shepard USNR); decommissioned and placed 'in service' at Pelican Island 4 Jul 1965 (Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34 / ResDesDiv 343; Lt. M. A. Pearson USN OinC); taken out of service at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Orange, Tex., 23 Sep 1968, struck from the NVR with '19 years and 10 and a half months of service', custody to CO Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; sold for scrapping to Coastal Pools, Inc., Beaumont, Tex., 18 Sep 1970. CO roster: USCG throughout the commissioned WWII career (Adams -> Bacchus -> Nixon -> Carney -> Kelmer, decomm. CO), USN/USNR thereafter (Davis, Collins, Ely, Miller, Wiedman, Childs, Shepard, Sassone, Pearson OinC, Gabryelski OinC). Awards ribbons: American Campaign; Asiatic-Pacific; European-Africa-Middle East; WWII Victory; National Defense w/ 1 star. Captioned USN photos: NARA 19-N-76715 (off Bayonne 2 Apr 1944, BuShips 19-LCM collection, Box 425), 80-G-1010089 (Feb 1957, Measure US-27), NHHC USN 1039389 (off Key West 13 Dec 1961), Wright Langley Collection MM00039629x (Key West change-of-command, late 1950s, Florida Keys Public Libraries).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1970

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG crew 1943-46; USN/USNR crew 1951-68; Naval Reserve trainees 1958-68

   Limitations

   Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; dates, roster, and photo captions are unverified against the underlying USN/NHHC/NARA originals. Its spec block diverges from DANFS/USCG (complement 8/201 vs 186; beam 36'10" extreme vs 36'7"; range 9,100 nm vs 10,800 nm) - divergences carried in gaps. Nothing on materials aboard.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-04

6. [6]DANFS, Howard D. Crow (DE-252), 1968 edition (Vol. 3, p. 379; verbatim hazegray transcription, transcribed by Michael Hansen) + K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy 1775-1990, p. 225 (bracketed disposition note) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   hazegray DANFS transcription de252.htm - spec block + narrative + bracketed Bauer & Roberts disposition note

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The 1968 DANFS entry for this hull: spec block - Edsall class; dp. 1,200 t; l. 306'; b. 36'7"; dr. 8'7"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3x3", 2x40mm, 8x20mm, 3x21" tt., 2 dct., 8 hedge charge projectors, 1 hedge hog (transcription wording). Condensed narrative consistent with the July-2015 text: Bermuda shakedown; Norfolk convoy duty 1 Dec 1943; first convoy 15 Dec to Casablanca, New York return 24 Jan 1944; '10 arduous escort voyages to British ports'; at New York at German surrender 8 May 1945; Caribbean refresher; Guantanamo to Pacific 2 Jul; Pearl Harbor 25 Jul; western Pacific weather-reporting duty; Midway 13 Dec 1945; Green Cove Springs 15 Mar 1946; decommissioned 22 May 1946; recommissioned 6 Jul 1951 'with a Navy crew'; Key West Sonar School; Newport 1952; 6 years ASW training/exercises/overhauls; 1957 NATO exercises (~50 ships, a dozen countries); 1958 communications ship for Jupiter nose-cone recovery off Puerto Rico; Galveston reserve training ship Sept 1958; Berlin-crisis return to active service Aug 1961 (Guantanamo refresher; Atlantic/Caribbean ops to Aug 1962); reserve training duty at Galveston from 1 Aug 1962 'through 1963 into 1967'. Bracketed Bauer & Roberts note: stricken from the Navy Register 23 September 1968; sold in October 1970.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1970

   Population

   USCG crew 1943-46; USN crew 1951-68

   Limitations

   Earlier DANFS edition, superseded in detail by the July-2015 text - retained as an independent cross-check and for its bracketed disposition note. 'Sold in October 1970' vs the 18 Sep 1970 tow-out documented in the 2015 text and NavSource - variance carried in gaps. '8 hedge charge projectors; 1 hedge hog' is transcription wording for 8 depth-charge projectors + 1 Hedgehog (cf. NavSource/BuShips). Documents service history, not materials.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-05

7. [7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 4 / FMR (shipscribe.com scan; book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-4 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 127)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Official BuShips design-group table: design group 4 (symbol FMR - 'Fairbanks Morse diesel reverse gear drive') - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in molded; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 19 t per inch immersion; trial speed 21.2 kt; machinery line reads 2 propellers, 'F. M. diesel model 38D8-1/8', 6,000 shp; the boiler and steam-condition columns read 'None'; main reduction gears single, F.M. manufacture; ship's-service generators 2 x 100 kW diesel (450 V A.C.) and 2 x 40 kW (120 V D.C.); fuel oil ~1,950 barrels; accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted; main armament 3 x 3 in/50 cal. D.P. Documents that the FMR design carried a diesel plant with no boilers or steam system (the four-engine fit is per NavSource's spec block, not this table).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1945 (publication)

   Population

   FMR-design crews (design accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted)

   Limitations

   Class/design documentation for the whole FMR group (85 hulls), not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type and accommodations, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; individual cell values can be partially garbled.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-06

8. [8]Era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for diesel-powered escorts (cannon-class profile ev-cannon-class-03; uss-edsall-de129 ev-06; uss-marchand-de249 ev-06) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns); cf. cannon-class profile ev-cannon-class-03 and uss-edsall-de129 ev-06 / uss-marchand-de249 ev-06 (same diesel-DE application set)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1942-43 would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-powered escort - exhaust-system insulation and lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings on winches and windlass, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Because the FMR plant has no boilers or steam lines (SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row, boiler columns 'None'), the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply to this design. Documented yard-period events aboard this hull (post-shakedown availability Charleston 1943; New York Navy Yard drydock 1944; New York Navy Yard and Bayonne annex availabilities 1944-45; Boston Naval Shipyard overhauls 1952/1954; New York Naval Shipyard overhaul 1956-57; Todd Shipyard Galveston 1962; Rawls Brothers Jacksonville 1965-66; Avondale 1967; Livingston Shipyard Orange drydock 1968; Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility Orange 1968-70) are documented events in this hull's history, but no work order, repair record, or material schedule was located.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1942-1970

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46 and 1951-68; reserve-fleet/inactive-facility maintenance 1946-51, 1968-70

   Limitations

   Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-252 was located; this establishes era-consistent expectation for the type, not that any specific material went aboard this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. Builder yard (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Tex.) is not in the Atlas shipyards dataset - no yard-level asbestos documentation is attached.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-07

9. [9]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (citation carried from uss-edsall-de129 ev-07 / uss-marchand-de249 ev-07, verified there 2026-09-28; direct fetch returns HTTP 429) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020

   Finding type

   abatement_record

   Finding

   Documented asbestos aboard a preserved Edsall-class sister hull built by the same yard: the Galveston Daily News reported asbestos in public areas of USS Stewart (DE-238) and USS Cavalla (SS-244) at Seawolf Park, with contractor Separation Systems Consultants approved to proceed with abatement; the Galveston Park Board cited U.S. Navy inspection recommendations that an asbestos survey be conducted. USS Stewart is a Brown Shipbuilding-built Edsall-class hull (DE-238) - the same class and same builder as DE-252 - class-and-builder corroboration that this shipbuilding program carried asbestos-containing material.

   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

   Limitations

   Evidence about a sister hull (DE-238), NOT this hull: a museum-hull lifecycle DE-252 never had (DE-252 was scrapped from 1970). Documents asbestos aboard one Edsall-class, Brown-built ship as delivered/preserved; establishes nothing about DE-252's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure. Direct fetch of the article returns HTTP 429 to automated requests; the citation and content description are carried from the verified batch-4037 record (uss-edsall-de129 ev-07, accessed 2026-09-28).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-08

10. [10]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 blocked, HTTP 403)

    Finding type

    gov_survey

    Finding

    GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DE-252 (built 1943) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction, and its 1950s-60s overhaul cycle falls inside the era of continuing asbestos use in ship work.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    1979

    Population

    Navy shipyard workers

    Limitations

    Program-level era context only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description. Says nothing about this specific hull or any diesel-escort application specifically.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-09

11. [11]Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json): yard-level asbestos records for the yards at which DANFS documents DE-252 availabilities/overhauls - 'boston-naval-shipyard' (tier 3), 'brooklyn-navy-yard' (New York Naval Shipyard, tier 3), 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (tier 2), 'todd-shipyards' (tier 2), 'avondale-shipyard' (tier 2), 'pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard' (tier 1) [other_primary]

    Locator

    shipyards.json records 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'brooklyn-navy-yard', 'charleston-naval-shipyard', 'todd-shipyards', 'avondale-shipyard', 'pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard' (yard_ids; per-yard evidence rows)

    Finding type

    environmental_record

    Finding

    The yards at which DANFS documents this hull receiving work are documented asbestos environments at yard level in the Atlas dataset: post-shakedown availability and 1946-48 repair/inactivation at Charleston (Charleston Naval Shipyard - fiber measurement and OSHA/litigation records); New York Navy Yard drydock Jan 1944 and availabilities 1944-45 plus the 1956-57 overhaul (New York Naval Shipyard - WWII-era industrial-hygiene survey of pipe-covering operations, OSHA records); Boston availabilities/overhauls 1944, 1952, 1954 (Boston Naval Shipyard - litigation product-ID records); annual overhaul at Todd Shipyard Corp., Galveston, Oct-Dec 1962 (Todd Shipyards - litigation and OSHA-regulatory records); Avondale Shipyard repair availability Jul 1967 (Avondale - litigation and NIOSH HHE records); concrete floating dry dock ARDC-2 at Pearl Harbor Nov 1945 (Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard - cohort mesothelioma and environmental records). The hull's documented presence for yard work at these sites is ship-specific (DANFS); the asbestos documentation attached is yard-level only.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    1943-1968 (availability periods); yard documentation periods per dataset

    Population

    Yard workers at the documented work sites; ship's force and yard-interface personnel during availabilities

    Limitations

    Yard-level documentation - establishes that documented work sites contained asbestos hazards during periods the ship was present; it does NOT establish that asbestos was installed in, disturbed on, or removed from this specific hull at any of them, and identifies no products aboard DE-252. Non-dataset yards in the hull's record (Brown Shipbuilding Houston - builder; Naval Supply Depot Bayonne; Rawls Brothers/Jacksonville Shipyards; Livingston Shipyard Orange; Merrill Stevens Drydock; Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility Orange) carry no linked yard-level record.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-10

12. [12]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for exact name and hull number via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) - per search_ledger [court_record]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-05 through sl-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-09

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    CourtListener sweep: exact-name opinion query '"Howard D. Crow"' (type=o) returned 0 results - no opinion naming the vessel by its full name located; '"USS Howard D. Crow"' (type=o) returned 0 results (verified earlier in the session; also bounded by construction - it is a superphrase of the 0-result '"Howard D. Crow"' query); '"USS Crow"' (type=o) returned 0 results, clearing the collision channel vs. minesweeper USS Crow AM-142/AMS-7/MSC-34. Hull-number opinion query '"DE-252"' (type=o) returned 20 hits, all string collisions on review - Puerto Rican Spanish-language 'de 252' date/quantity fragments, docket and citation numerals, unrelated entity strings; none references a vessel, naval service, or asbestos (0 of 20 rows mention navy/vessel/ship/asbestos). RECAP docket index: '"Howard D. Crow"' (type=r) returned 1 hit - 'Howard D. Crow and Evelyn v. Crow' (Bankr. D.N.J. ch. 7, filed 1991-03-28, terminated 1991-08-02, docket 91-31740), a personal bankruptcy case for a same-named individual - name collision, not vessel litigation; '"DE-252"' (type=r) returned 311 hits, all PACER docket-entry-number collisions ('DE 252' = docket entry 252) - sampled case names (20+ reviewed) are unrelated commercial, criminal, and insurance matters; 0 of 30 first-page rows mention navy/vessel/ship/asbestos/USS. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    2026-09-28

    Limitations

    Both indexes swept for the full name and bare hull number: opinions 0/20-collisions; RECAP 1 name-collision (same-named bankruptcy debtor) and 311 PACER-entry collisions; '"USS Crow"' collision-check (minesweeper AM-142/AMS-7/MSC-34 shares the Crow name) returned 0. RECAP '"USS Howard D. Crow"' remained pacing-blocked at drafting - bounded: any hit must contain 'Howard D. Crow', whose RECAP sweep returned only the same-named bankruptcy docket, so at most that non-qualifying row could appear (search_ledger sl-09). The sweep does not cover state-court records, trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-11

13. [13]Batch-4173 search ledger (this record): DANFS July-2015 text via Tin Can Sailors; DANFS 1968 vol. 3 via hazegray; USCG Historian's Office cutter PDF via Wayback; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (roster row 70 + design-group-4 table, OCR); NavSource archive page; Atlas shipyard dataset; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener API v4; Destroyer History Foundation Edsall-class page; general web sweep [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-01 through sl-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-14

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-252: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping in September 1970 and was never a museum, memorial, or post-1970s hazmat-disclosure-era asset (a planned target-to-destruction use in 1970 was cancelled when the tug's CO reported the hulk 'unacceptable'). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Howard D. Crow (DE-252) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    2026-09-28

    Limitations

    Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard - 1943 escort construction falls inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and same-builder same-class sister hull DE-238 carried documented asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24), BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book), the USCG Historian's Ship History File, and the 1946-68 overhaul work packages at NARA are unsurveyed leads. 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-howard-d-crow-de252-12

14. [14]NARA RG 19 (BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books) and RG 24 (deck logs) for DE-252; USCG Historian's Office Ship History File for this cutter and The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts Vol. V (1949); NHHC/NARA photographs 19-N-76715, 80-G-1010089, USN 1039389; Wright Langley Collection MM00039629x (Florida Keys Public Libraries); ship-submitted war history if held - all undigitized or not located online [other_primary]

    Locator

    NARA RG 19/RG 24 entry series (undigitized); USCG Historian's Office Ship History File (cited in the USCG cutter PDF source list); photo numbers per NavSource captions

    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-252's Brown Shipbuilding construction, and RG 24 deck logs cover the 1943-46 commissioned period and postwar commissioning; (2) the USCG Historian's Office Ship History File (cited in its own source list) and The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts Vol. V (March 1949) are official USCG holdings describing this cutter's WWII service; (3) captioned photographs - NARA 19-N-76715 (off Bayonne, 2 April 1944, BuShips 19-LCM collection Box 425), 80-G-1010089 (February 1957), NHHC USN 1039389 (off Key West, 13 December 1961), Wright Langley MM00039629x (Key West change of command, late 1950s) - are primary images whose original files may carry outfit detail; (4) overhaul work packages for Boston Naval Shipyard 1952/1954, New York Naval Shipyard 1956-57, Todd Galveston 1962, Rawls Brothers 1965-66, Avondale 1967, and the 1968-70 inactivation file at the Orange facility are the most likely repositories of any material-level record; (5) the ship-submitted official war history, if held, is a primary record of equipment and operations.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    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 a JavaScript-only shell to programmatic fetches (standing access limitation, same as prior batches); DE-252 is absent from the published digitized Navy deck-log inventory (WWII-era logs held at Archives II, College Park).

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-howard-d-crow-de252-13