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-janssen-de396-pkt-km-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Janssen (DE-396) (namesake biography, builder, dates, service narrative, striking and sale; live NHHC page returns 404 on all URL variants - verbatim transcription via the hazegray DANFS mirror at losthistory.net) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative + transcriber's bracketed note (losthistory.net hazegray mirror of hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de396.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Lt. (j.g.) Ralph Wille Janssen, killed 26 October 1942 when USS Porter (DD-356) was torpedoed during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands; laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex., 4 August 1943; launched 10 October 1943 per the DANFS transcription (conflicts with BuShips SDB 1945 and NavSource, which read 4 October - carried in gaps); sponsored by Mrs. Alfred Janssen, stepmother; commissioned 18 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. H. E. Cross in command. Departed Galveston 11 January 1944 for Bermuda shakedown; joined escort carrier Bogue (CVE-9) hunter-killer group 27 February; patrols between the United States and the Azores, North African port rest, Norfolk return 2 May; North Atlantic convoy routes; New York 24 September 1944 for training; December emergency patrol off Maine; early 1945 antisubmarine-team training Casco Bay and Bermuda; offensive operations 28 March, two weeks of Atlantic barrier patrol; rejoined Bogue group 16 April; 24 April - after Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) was torpedoed and sunk - Janssen and other escorts sank U-546 with over 40 depth charges in three attacks. Arrived New York 11 May; Norfolk antiaircraft-mount installation; Caribbean training June; Pearl Harbor via Panama Canal and California 21 August; ferried 100 returning veterans to San Pedro 9 September; Charleston 25 September; departed 24 October for Green Cove Springs; decommissioned 12 April 1946; Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed at Philadelphia, Pa. One battle star plus shared Presidential Unit Citation for the Bogue task groups' antisubmarine work 1943-44. Transcriber's note (Bauer & Roberts p.226): stricken 1 July 1972, sold 15 October 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 186); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers 1946-1972
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The transcription's 'launched 10 October 1943' conflicts with the contemporaneous BuShips roster and NavSource (4 October) - carried in gaps, 4 October used elsewhere in this record. The narrative omits the 20 August 1944 U-1229 survivor rescue documented by the USS Slater museum episode. Live NHHC DANFS pages return 404 (standing link rot); verbatim mirror transcription cited instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for JANSSEN, DE-396 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR + direct page-image read of book pp. 248-249) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 alphabetical DE roster, line 171 JANSSEN DE-396 (book pp. 248-249; shipscribe scan PDF p. 134)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster line 171): JANSSEN, official number DE-396, group design FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price of hull and machinery $2,183,000 (cost plus fixed fee); contract signed 7 August 1942; keel laid 4 August 1943; ship launched 4 October 1943; contract date of completion 20 January 1944; date of preliminary acceptance 16 December 1943; date of first commission 18 December 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1943
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. The roster's 4 October 1943 launch date is the contemporaneous-source reading and is carried over the DANFS transcription's '10 October'.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 4 / FMR (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of 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 for this hull's design group: design group 4 (symbol FMR - Fairbanks-Morse diesel reverse-gear drive) - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 21 kt; machinery 4 Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boilers 'None'; 2 diesel ship's-service generators (100 kW, A.C.); accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted; armament 3 x 3 in/50 cal. D.P. Documents that the FMR design carried a diesel plant with no boilers or steam system.
- 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 partially garbled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-03
-
[5]Navypedia, 'FMR' destroyer escorts (EDSALL) (1943-1944) - class roster and technical-data table (compiled reference) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia FMR/Edsall-class page, roster table (DE-396 within the Brown Shipbuilding DE-382..DE-401 block)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class roster: 85 Edsall-class (FMR) hulls completed by two builders - Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex. (DE-129 through DE-152 and DE-316 through DE-338, 47 hulls) and Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Tex. (DE-238 through DE-255 and DE-382 through DE-401, 38 hulls). DE-396 Janssen falls in the second Brown Shipbuilding block (DE-382 through DE-401). The class was the only WWII destroyer-escort class in which every ordered ship completed as a USN destroyer escort.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Edsall-class construction and operating crews (85 hulls)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference (class-level): the builder blocks and hull count corroborate the per-hull BuShips roster. Not a materials or asbestos source - used for class enumeration and builder-block placement only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-04
-
[6]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Janssen (DE-396) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, commanding-officer roster, photo captions, flag hoist NTYB; Wayback capture 2025-05-13 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/396.htm building-and-operational-data block, awards block, CO roster, and photo captions (Wayback 2025-05-13 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 4 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 4 October 1943, sponsor Mrs. Alfred Janssen, stepmother; commissioned 18 December 1943 at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Dock, Houston, by Captain DeWitt Redgrave Jr., Lcdr. H. E. Cross in command; decommissioned 12 April 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years 4 months service; struck from the NVR 1 July 1972; sold for scrapping 15 October 1973. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive); Presidential Unit Citation; American Campaign Medal; European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal with one star; WWII Victory Medal. Complement 8/201. Commanding officers: Lcdr. Harold E. Cross (18 Dec 1943-25 Sep 1944); Lcdr. Rupert Dexter Hawley (25 Sep 1944-28 Mar 1945); Lcdr. Sydney G. Rubinow (28 Mar 1945-13 Jan 1946); Lt. Thomas B. Morgan Jr. (13 Jan-12 Apr 1946, decommissioning CO). Photo captions document a ten-day New York Navy Yard availability completed 1 May 1944 (departure 0700, ammunition loading off Fort Lafayette, HF/DF calibration in Lower New York Bay, then Norfolk in company with Willis DE-395), the ship at Charleston, S.C. October 1945, and the hull at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (undated).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Wartime crew (NavSource complement 8 officers/201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap except that NavSource's 4 October launch matches the contemporaneous BuShips roster against DANFS's '10 October'. Contributed photo captions are unattributed detail. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-05
-
[7]USS Slater (Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, Albany, N.Y.), 'DE Classified' Episode 26 - USS Janssen, 'Dancin' JANSSEN and the Capture of a Spy' by John Epp (audio episode + published transcript with bibliography) [museum_official]
- Locator
- ussslater.org/de-classified-janssen (episode page, transcript PDF at /s/Ep-26-Janssen-Script.pdf)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum-produced service history of this hull supplying operational detail absent from the DANFS narrative: Janssen joined Escort Division 51 within TG 21.11 around Bogue; 9 March 1944 depth-charge attack on U-575 (sunk by other group elements 13 March); S2c Thomas E. Polk lost overboard 15 March 1944, the ship's lone wartime personnel casualty; May 1944 investigated flotsam of sunken Japanese submarine I-52 with USS Haverfield (DE-393); 20 August 1944 (third patrol, TG 22.3) rescued all 42 survivors of U-1229 in two life-raft groups between 1606-1620, including Abwehr agent Oskar Mantel - the 'spy' of the episode title - with one submariner dying of immersion and buried at sea; Operation Teardrop barrier patrol April 1945; attack on U-546 after Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) sank, Janssen forced to retire after expending all deep-water depth-charge pistols.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (events); episode production circa 2023-2025
- Population
- Wartime crew 1943-46
- Limitations
- Museum production, not a contemporaneous record - a researched popular-history episode with transcript and bibliography; corroborates and supplements DANFS but is a secondary source for detail claims. Contains no asbestos or materials information. The 'spy rescue' narrative is museum retelling; underlying interrogation reports are archival leads, not verified here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-06
-
[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; batch-4037 uss-edsall-de129 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 (same diesel-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1943 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), the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply to this design.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet maintenance 1946-72
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-396 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-janssen-de396-07
-
[9]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (URL re-verified live, HTTP 200, 2026-09-28) [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) - class-level corroboration that Edsall-class construction by this same builder 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-396 never had (DE-396 was scrapped 1973). Documents asbestos aboard one Brown-built Edsall-class ship as delivered/preserved; establishes nothing about DE-396's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-08
-
[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-396 (built 1943) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction.
- 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-janssen-de396-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'USS Janssen' / 'DE-396' / 'Janssen asbestos' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results 2026-09-28: 'USS Janssen' type=o count=0, type=r count=0; 'DE-396' type=o count=12 (all false positives); 'Janssen asbestos' type=o count=157 (all name collisions)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion sweep '"USS Janssen"' (type=o): 0 hits. Docket sweep '"USS Janssen"' (type=r): 0 hits - no docketed case names the ship. Hull-number sweep '"DE-396"' (type=o): 12 hits, all reporter/docket-number false positives (e.g., Boca Raton Community Hospital v. Tenet Healthcare, In re New River Boat Club, Wesbrook v. Ulrich, McHargue v. Pennwalt, Harris v. Holder, Fields v. Wells, Cunningham v. United States, Schering v. FDA, Brown v. Biglin, Blas v. Colon, Hughes v. Farmers National Bank, Hartford Protection Insurance v. Harmer) - zero vessel or asbestos references. Supplemental 'Janssen asbestos' (type=o): 157 hits, all name collisions - Janssen Pharmaceuticals defendants (Coleson, Czimmer, Ehrenfelt, and related J&J product-liability cases), the 'Edward J. Janssens' respondents inside In re Johns-Manville, attorney 'Janssen Keenan & Ciardi P.C.', and surname mentions inside unrelated asbestos opinions; none reference a vessel or Navy service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is the CourtListener opinion + RECAP docket indexes only; state-court dockets not mirrored, PACER-only filings, and settled/undocketed claims are outside it. 'No result' does not prove no claim was ever filed - it proves no indexed opinion or docket names the hull. 'Janssen' is a high-collision surname (Janssen Pharmaceuticals litigation dominates); any future 'Janssen' hit must be hull-disambiguated. 'DE-396' collides with reporter/docket numbering.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-janssen-de396-10
-
[12]Batch-4295 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (page-image read + OCR); NVR detail lookup; USS Slater museum episode; VA/BVA web search; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-04 through sl-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-janssen-de396-01 through sl-uss-janssen-de396-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-396: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping 15 October 1973, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for sister hull Stewart (DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Janssen (DE-396) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull (asbestos-ships.com, elslaw.com, shepardlawfirm.com, mesotheliomahelp.org) - 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 sister hull DE-238 carried documented asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24) and BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book) 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-janssen-de396-11