Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet if-packet.md (9 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS J.R.Y. Blakely; hull DE-140; type: Edsall-class destroyer escort — http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DE/de140.html ("cl. Edsall")
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-pkt-if-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, J.R.Y. Blakely (DE-140) - builder, dates, specifications block, full service narrative, disposition (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake biography + specifications block + service narrative + bracketed disposition note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex., 7 March 1943; sponsored by Miss Mary Young Blakely, niece of Rear Admiral Blakely; commissioned 16 August 1943, Comdr. J. H. Forshew in command. Shakedown out of Bermuda September 1943; three Casablanca convoy round trips October 1943 - March 1944; hunter-killer operations with Core (CVE-13) group (30 March - 30 May 1944), Wake Island (CVE-65) group (from 15 June 1944 - including the 2 August 1944 U-804 action in which Fiske (DE-143) was torpedoed and sunk, Blakely making depth-charge attacks then screening the carrier), and Mission Bay (CVE-59) group (from 8 September 1944 - Fessenden's (DE-142) depth charges sank cargo submarine U-1062 on 30 September after Blakely, Fessenden and Douglas L. Howard (DE-138) prosecuted the contact; then Bahia and Capetown, arriving New York 27 November 1944); Caribbean training and Mayport tactics December 1944 - March 1945; Mission Bay barrier patrols north of the Azores departing 27 March 1945, returning New York 14 May 1945; Panama Canal 19 July 1945, San Diego 20 July, Pearl Harbor at the 15 August cessation of hostilities; western-Pacific escort and island-occupation duty to 23 January 1946; New York 15 February 1946; decommissioned 14 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla., Atlantic Reserve Fleet, later Texas Group. Bracketed note: struck from the Navy list 2 January 1971 and sold 22 August 1973. Spec block: 1,200 t, 306', 36'7" beam, 8'7" draft, 21 kt, complement 186, Edsall class; armament 3 x 3", 2 x 40mm, 8 x 20mm, 2 depth charge tracks, 8 depth charge projectors, 1 hedgehog projector, 3 x 21" torpedo tubes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1973
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1942-43; wartime crew (DANFS complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content - contains no asbestos information. Live NHHC page returns 404 (site-wide outage noted in prior batches); verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited. DANFS text proper omits a laid-down date (hazegray mirror carries '16 December 1942' in editorial brackets); the bracketed 'sold 22 August 1973' reconciles with NavSource's custody-removal date (see gaps). Transcription reads '14 June 9146' - an obvious OCR typo for 1946.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS J.R.Y. Blakely (DE-140) - specifications block, dated building/operational data, disposal detail [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-140 page, specifications block + 'Building and Operational Data' + awards block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compilation corroborating and extending the DANFS record: specifications FMR type (4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp, 2 screws, 21 kts; 9,100 nm @ 12 kt; complement 8 officers/201 enlisted). Dated entries: keel laid 16 December 1942 at Consolidated Steel, Orange, Tex.; launched/christened 7 March 1943, sponsor Miss Mary Young Blakely; commissioned 16 August 1943, Cdr J. H. Forshew in command; decommissioned 14 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2.8 years of service; Green Cove Springs closed completely 30 June 1962, Blakely moved to Orange, Tex. (Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet - the city that built her); struck from the NVR 2 January 1971; bidding for scrap opened 2 March 1973; sold for scrapping 16 March 1973 to the Luria Bros. Scrap Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; removed from U.S. Navy custody 22 August 1973. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), American Campaign Medal, European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal. Call sign N-F-E-X; voice call 'Eagle Pass'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1973
- Population
- Crew and reserve-fleet/disposal workers (index-level)
- Limitations
- Secondary archival compilation - used as corroborating index data and disposal detail, not as authority over DANFS. Contains no asbestos information. Its finer disposal sequence (contract sale 16 March 1973 vs custody removal 22 August 1973) reconciles the DANFS bracketed 'sold 22 August 1973' - carried in gaps. Complement figure (8/201=209) conflicts with DANFS spec block (186).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-02
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[4]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Tim Colton compilation), Consolidated Steel Corp. Orange TX yard table - row for hull 263, DE-140 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Consolidated Orange yard table, row hull #263 (J. R. Y. Blakely, DE-140)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-yard table entry for this hull: Consolidated yard hull 263, original name 'J. R. Y. Blakely', U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-140, 1,200 tons; contract dated 10 January 1942; keel laid 16 December 1942; launched 7 March 1943; delivered 16 August 1943 (81 days on the ways, 162 days in the water, 243 days total); disposition 'scrapped'. Corroborates DANFS launch/commissioning dates and supplies the laid-down date DANFS omits (uboat.net's identical dates independently corroborate).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange yard workforce 1942-43
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation of yard records - corroborating index data, not an official record; used to fix the laid-down date (absent from the DANFS text) and the contract/hull-number assignment. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-03
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[5]Destroyer History Foundation, 'Edsall-class destroyer escorts in World War II' (sources: Bauer & Roberts, Friedman, Whitley, DESA, Global Security) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Edsall class page, General Information + FMR paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class record establishing propulsion type: in the Edsall class 'diesels were again fitted in a Buckley hull - this time a Fairbanks Morse design for submarines with a compact single reduction gear transmission - the FMR (Fairbanks Morse diesel with reversible gear drive) type,' 6,000 shp, 'regarded as the most successful of the 6,000 shp classes'; design complement 15 officers/201 enlisted; Edsall-class hulls built at Consolidated (Orange) and Brown Shipbuilding (Houston).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (class service)
- Population
- Edsall-class crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level reference, not a hull record - establishes the diesel (non-steam) plant, which attenuates boiler/steam-line asbestos inference for this class. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-04
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[6]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (18 Oct 1979), incl. enclosed CNO letter Ser 4542/318054 (5 Jan 1979), Enclosure I [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 report body (Navy's policy on use of asbestos) + CNO letter Enclosure I paragraphs on specification changes and non-insulation applications
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Navy-era asbestos context: the CNO letter states asbestos was the Navy's major use aboard ships as thermal insulation; insulation product specifications were changed to asbestos-free only in 1971-73 (formal no-asbestos policy NAVSEAINST 5100.2 issued 24 Oct 1975), and ships were still being delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978; asbestos also served in 'other applications, such as pipe hanger liners, gaskets, etc.' and per the report body in clutches and electric cables. The post-1975 policy replaced asbestos insulation only when damaged or removed for repairs, leaving an estimated 30-50% untouched over a ship's life; a one-time fleet removal (~$2 billion) was rejected. A vessel built in 1942-43, out of commission in 1946 and scrapped in 1973-74 was constructed, operated, laid up, and disposed of entirely inside the pre-policy era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979 (report); policy era 1971-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and fleet (program-level)
- Limitations
- Program-level era evidence - does not name or inspect this hull; the letter's Attachment 1 insulation-status table covers only ships delivered since 1973 or under construction, so this hull appears nowhere in it. Establishes standard-practice era context, not asbestos presence aboard DE-140. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch in prior batches; report text verified via the Justia GAO mirror (gao.justia.com).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-05
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[7]The Daily News (Galveston), 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement' (27 Jul 2020, Keri Heath); Galveston Naval Museum / Cavalla Historical Foundation public document listing asbestos removal among USS Stewart restoration work [museum_official]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article dated 27 July 2020 (asbestos abatement, public areas of USS Stewart and USS Cavalla); galvestonnavalmuseum.com foundation document
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Class corroboration on a preserved sister hull: USS Stewart (DE-238, Edsall class - the only preserved classmate; built by Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, commissioned May 1943) had documented asbestos in her public areas at Seawolf Park, Galveston, professionally abated by Separation Systems Consultants beginning July 2020 after U.S. Navy inspections recommended an asbestos survey; the Cavalla Historical Foundation's public planning/financial document lists 'removed and mitigated asbestos in the USS Stewart' among restoration work. Demonstrates that as-built era asbestos-containing material was present aboard an Edsall-class destroyer escort into the museum era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020 (abatement); 1943 construction era
- Population
- Museum visitors/staff and abatement workers, USS Stewart (sister hull)
- Limitations
- Sister-hull finding, not a DE-140 record - establishes asbestos aboard DE-238 (Brown Shipbuilding build, not Consolidated), corroborating class/era inference only; establishes nothing about DE-140's specific materials. The Daily News article page rate-limited (HTTP 429) on direct fetch; content verified via web-search index capture plus the museum's own published document (galvestonnavalmuseum.com PDF).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-06
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[8]Era/yard inference keyed to DANFS dates, NavSource spec block and disposal data, shipbuildinghistory.com Consolidated Orange yard table, Destroyer History Foundation class record, GAO HRD-80-2 era policy, and documented sister-hull abatement (USS Stewart DE-238, 2020) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS narrative dates; NavSource spec/disposal blocks; shipbuildinghistory yard table; HRD-80-2 policy dates; galvnews.com Stewart abatement
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for a 1942-43 wartime escort: built inside the Navy's asbestos-standard era (per GAO HRD-80-2), a diesel-plant Edsall-class hull would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing applications - exhaust-system lagging, machinery and flange gaskets, packing, electrical cable insulation, deck coverings, brake linings, and bulkhead fireproofing - though NOT the boiler/steam-line thermal insulation typical of steam destroyers. Yard events: post-shakedown return to Charleston (22 September 1943) and 'pre-inactivation overhaul' (February-March 1946) name no facility in DANFS, so no shipyard relationship is asserted. Builder Consolidated Steel Corp. (Orange, Tex.) is absent from the Atlas yard dataset; disposal to Luria Bros. Scrap Co. (1973) predates the Navy asbestos-removal policy (NAVSEAINST 5100.2, Oct 1975) and the asbestos NESHAP.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1974
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet and disposal workers 1946-1973
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder/yard inference only - no ship-specific finding. The Stewart abatement documents asbestos aboard a sister hull (different builder), not DE-140. Yard-tier status was not applicable here (builder yard absent from dataset); whether era materials remained aboard through 25 years of reserve-fleet layup into the 1973 scrapping is undocumented. Absence of the builder yard from the dataset is a dataset coverage gap, not evidence of low risk.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-07
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[9]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (see limitations_note for per-query classification) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API results, queries logged in search_ledger rows sl-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-06/07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep returned no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull: exact-name queries "J. R. Y. Blakely" (opinions) and "J.R.Y. Blakely" (RECAP dockets) each returned zero results; hull-number query "DE-140" (opinions) returned 74 hits, all name collisions on page-1 review (docket/exhibit token matches - zero vessel, Navy, or asbestos references). Remaining queries ("DE-140" dockets, "USS Blakely", "Blakely"+asbestos) were blocked by fleet pacing budget and are disclosed in the search ledger. Hull-attribution rule for any future hits: 'USS Blakely' alone is ambiguous - this hull (DE-140, RADM John Russell Young Blakely, in commission 1943-46) shares the surname with USS Blakely (DE-1072, Knox class, named for CAPT Johnston Blakely, 1970-1991), and 'Blakely' is a common litigation surname (the Blakely v. Washington sentencing line); attribution requires the 'J.R.Y.' initials, hull number DE-140, or a 1943-46 service window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (sweep)
- Population
- Navy veterans 1943-1946 (hypothetical exposure population)
- Limitations
- A zero-result sweep is not proof no case exists - CourtListener coverage is incomplete for state trial courts and older dockets, and RECAP coverage is docket-driven. Residual blocked queries are disclosed, not silently dropped.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-08
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[10]Batch-4050 search ledger (this record): DANFS/HyperWar + hazegray mirrors; NavSource; shipbuildinghistory.com Consolidated Orange yard table; uboat.net; Destroyer History Foundation; GAO HRD-80-2; Galveston Daily News + Galveston Naval Museum (sister-hull Stewart abatement); CourtListener sweep; NVR detail-page check; va.gov/vetapp BVA text search; web-indexed asbestos-ship aggregators (lead-screening only) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-01 through sl-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-140: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, scrapping/disposal hazmat record, museum documentation, BVA decision, or docketed case naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1973-74, before disclosure-era surveys existed; a lead-gen 'asbestos-ships' aggregator page lists this hull but is excluded per source policy (marketing site, not citable).
- 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 - a 1943 hull scrapped in 1973-74 predates disclosure-era surveys entirely, so non-location is expected rather than exculpatory. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-j-r-y-blakely-de140-09