Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet kj-packet.md (6 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: John L. Williamson; hull DE-370; destroyer escort, John C. Butler class [VIA-WP] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_L._Williamson
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-john-l-williamson-de370-pkt-kj-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, John L. Williamson (DE-370) (live NHHC page returns 404; text verified via Wayback capture 20210321030832 of the official page; verbatim transcription also carried at the hazegray mirror losthistory.net; no ibiblio/HyperWar transcription exists - the dafs/DE/de370.html link is commented out on the HyperWar ship page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative + transcriber's note (Wayback capture 20210321030832 of history.navy.mil/.../j/john-l-williamson-de-370.html; losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/escorts/de370.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 22 May 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched 29 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Sherman Register (sister of the namesake); commissioned 31 October 1944, Lt. Comdr. J. E. Allen in command. Spec block: dp. 1,350; l. 306'; b. 36'8"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; a. 2 5", 4 40mm., 10 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (h.h.), 3 21" tt.; class John C. Butler. Service: shakedown off Bermuda; arrived Boston 21 December 1944 (entry prints '1945' with [sic]); Pacific orders; underway 3 January 1945 via Panama Canal to San Diego (19 January), Pearl Harbor 28 January; sailed 2 March with a convoy for Iwo Jima via Eniwetok, arrived 20 March, four days antisubmarine patrol, Eniwetok 28 March; Majuro 5 April and three weeks of Marshall Islands operations - air strikes, shore bombardment, and loudspeaker surrender demands against bypassed garrisons, firing at Mili, Alu, and other islands and taking off prisoners and natives; departed Majuro 24 April, Ulithi picket duty from 29 April; departed 15 July with a large convoy for Okinawa, arrived 21 July, two days patrolling the transport area, returned Ulithi 27 July; one more Okinawa escort voyage in August; at anchor Ulithi at the surrender 15 August; sailed 22 August for Okinawa and Japan, arriving Wakayama 14 September to escort ships through the swept channel and aid occupation operations; screened flight operations off Japan and courier duty Wakayama-Yokosuka; sailed for the United States 2 January 1946; San Francisco 22 January 1946; decommissioned 14 June 1946 at San Diego; Pacific Reserve Fleet; transferred to Stockton, Calif., January 1947 'where she remains.' Transcriber's note (K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy 1775-1990, p. 236): stricken from the Navy Register 15 September 1970; sold 13 June 1973. Namesake Seaman First Class John Leon Williamson, USN (b. Ash, N.C., 5 November 1921), USS San Francisco (CA-38) antiaircraft gunner killed at his station 12 November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Navy Cross posthumously.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (narrative); 1970-1973 (register disposition)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction workforce 1944; wartime crew (DANFS spec complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, service history, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 (documented link-rot pattern); text verified via Wayback capture dated 2021-03-21 (11 captures, 2021-2025); hazegray mirror transcription concurs; no HyperWar/ibiblio transcription exists (the ships/DE page links to dafs/DE/de370.html only in an HTML comment). The entry predates the 1970 striking/1973 sale, which are carried in its transcriber's note citing the Bauer & Roberts register; the entry prints 'Boston 21 December 1945' with the transcriber's [sic; 1944].
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Index DE-370 USS John L. Williamson (compiled building/operational data, spec block, awards) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/370.htm spec block + building/operational data + awards ribbon bar
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: John C. Butler class, type WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5" guns); displacement 1,350 t light / 1,745 t full; length 300' wl / 306' oa; beam 36'10" extreme; draft 11'0" limit; propulsion 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws; 24 kts; range 6,000 nm @ 12 kt; complement 14 officers/201 enlisted; armament 2x1 5"/38, 2x2 40mm, 10x20mm, 3x21" TT, 1 Mk10 hedgehog, 8 Mk6 DCP, 2 Mk9 stern racks; call sign N-H-U-C. Building/operational data: keel laid Consolidated Steel Corp. Orange TX 22 May 1944; launched/christened 29 Aug 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Sherman Register; commissioned at City Dock, Orange 31 Oct 1944 (Lcdr. J. E. Allen); decommissioned San Diego 14 Jun 1946 'after 1 year and 8 1/2 months of service having steamed 64,052 miles'; inactivation completed 20 Sep 1946, Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the NVR 15 Sep 1970; sold for scrapping 13 Jun 1973. Awards ribbon bar: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 stars; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Crew 1944-46 (NavSource figure 215 total)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation citing official records - not itself an official record. Complement (14/201, 215 total) conflicts with DANFS (186) and the class BOGP design table (196 + flag) - variance carried in gaps; dimension figures differ from DANFS (beam 36'10" vs 36'8", draft 11'0" limit vs 9'5") - likely design vs. limit conventions, documented not reconciled. Documents service/specs, not materials or asbestos content. Page content verified via search-index text and a linked image asset; direct page fetch is refused by the site's security filter to automated requests.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-02
-
[4]'Ship's History' of USS John L. Williamson (DE-370) - contemporaneous ship-produced document on NS-4 letterhead (5-page typescript, received-stamped by the Ship's History Section, Office of Naval History; accession-style stamp 157307); scanned image hosted on NavSource [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource scan navsource.net/archives/06/images/370/06370wh.jpg (NS-4 'SHIP'S HISTORY USS JOHN L. WILLIAMSON (DE 370)', five typescript pages)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A contemporaneous ship-produced 'Ship's History' for this hull survives as a scanned five-page typescript on NavSource, written aboard and covering commissioning through the homeward transit. It independently corroborates and adds detail to the DANFS arc: commissioning at Orange 31 October 1944 under Lt. Comdr. J. E. Allen, USNR, 'of Essex, Connecticut'; fitting out and testing at Galveston; departure for Bermuda shakedown 15 November (arrived 20th); completion 19 December and 'Boston Navy Yard' post-shakedown availability; underway 3 January 1945 for the Pacific, rendezvousing with USS Tyrrell (AKA-80) in Chesapeake Bay and escorting her to the Canal Zone; reported to CincPac 10 January, transited the Canal, San Diego; Pearl Harbor 28 January (ComDesPac); February duties out of Pearl including escorting carriers Tripoli (CVE-64) and Shipley Bay (CVE-85) during flight exercises (21 February: picked up Ensign C. R. Johnson uninjured after his plane went off Shipley Bay's bow); convoy escort to Eniwetok/Iwo Jima area in March; Marshall Islands strike/support operations into April; Ulithi patrol duty May-June (underway exercises 17-19 June with USS Cecil J. Doyle, DE-368; 21 June submarine search with USS McDonough, DD-351); 7 July rendezvous with USS Cavalla (SS-244) and escort of the submarine to Guam; 15 July convoy escort to Okinawa with Damon Cummings (DE-643) and Vammen (DE-644), arriving 21 July, then escorting six ships from Kerama Retto to Buckner Bay; convoy escort Ulithi-Okinawa with DEs Parker and McGinty 4-11 August; word of the Japanese surrender received entering Ulithi 15 August; departed 22 August with CortDiv 86 for Okinawa; 11 September joined USS Thaddeus Parker escorting five LSTs to Wakayama (arrived 14th); four weeks escorting ships through the swept channel; 18 September typhoon (75 mph) at the Wakayama anchorage; 14 October departed Wakanoura Bay with DEs Cockrell and Parker as escort for carriers Suwannee, Siboney, and Santee, 'a special search group' (16 October: took an aircraft-propeller casualty off Suwannee to hospital ship USS Hope); Yokosuka Naval Base 18 October; 24 October departed with DEs French and Cockrell escorting carriers Siboney and Puget Sound for air coverage of the Nagoya occupation landings; courier duty (mail, passengers, light freight) Yokosuka-Wakayama-Nagoya from 30 October; 19 November Lt. Comdr. J. E. Allen relieved by Lt. Comdr. C. B. Shaw, USNR, of Memphis, Tennessee; courier runs through December; at anchor Wakayama from 27 December until departing for home 2 January 1946 with CortDiv 37.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-10-31 through 1946-01-02 (narrative coverage)
- Population
- Crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Crew-produced morale/history document on Office of Naval History letterhead, not an official operational record - informal narrative; hosted as a single multi-panel image scan (no OCR text), so verification is visual and some words are partially legible. Contains no materials or asbestos content; corroborates the service narrative, command change, and ship associations only. A few vessel name spellings in the typescript are ambiguous (e.g., a DE numbered 589 rendered 'TISMAN' - likely Tisdale); only clearly legible ship names are asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-03
-
[5]Consolidated Steel Co., Orange, Texas - 'USA - DE-339 - DE-372 John C. Butler Class Booklet of General Plans' (booklet dated 29 September 1944; digitized drawing set, archive.org item dejohncbutlerbogp1944v2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org item dejohncbutlerbogp1944v2 (12 sheets; dimensions & data and midship/type cross-sections reviewed in the sibling DE-343 session for this same booklet)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The class's own builder-produced Booklet of General Plans survives digitized: drawn by Consolidated Steel Co. of Orange, Texas - this hull's own builder - dated 29 September 1944, and explicitly covering hulls DE-339 through DE-372, the block containing DE-370. The 12-sheet set comprises cover, title page, dimensions & data, outboard and inboard profiles, bridges, superstructure/main/first-platform/second-platform/hold deck plans, and midship & type cross-section sketches. Per the examination recorded in the sibling DE-343/DE-351 records (same builder block, same sheets), the dimensions & data sheet carries the design figures and the cross-sections carry compartment labels (aft fireroom B-3, forward engine room B-2, boiler uptake, etc.); the sheets examined are general-arrangement drawings with no insulation-material callouts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange design/build workforce
- Limitations
- Class/block-level design drawings covering this hull's builder block - not a hull-specific document (the booklet names the DE-339-372 range, not DE-370 individually). Sheet examination was performed in sibling sessions for the identical booklet; sheets reviewed showed arrangement and dimensions only, and whether any of the 12 sheets specifies insulation fiber content is unverified - the remaining sheets were not exhaustively reviewed for material notes. Digitized from a redistributed PDF (300 dpi JPGs), not NARA-direct; provenance is the builder's drawing set.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-04
-
[6]NavSource/BOGP propulsion specs (WGT: 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbines, 12,000 shp) + BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design group 6 (per Atlas john-c-butler-class profile ev-01: 306 ft oa, 1,350 t, 24.3 kt, 12,000 shp, 2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F) + navypedia WGT block map (Combustion Engineering boilers for DE-339-372, including this hull) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; class profile ev-01 (BuShips SDB 1945 group-6 row); navypedia WGT block map (DE-339-372 CE boilers); destroyerhistory.org/destroyers/orange/ (yard scope)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull is a BuShips design-group-6 (WGT) steam escort - one of only two DE classes with a full steam plant - built May-October 1944 at Consolidated Steel's Orange, Texas yard (Navy-expanded 1940; 102 DEs built there between the Fletcher and Gearing programs per Destroyer History Foundation). A superheated-steam plant (2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F, Combustion Engineering for the DE-339-372 block; Westinghouse geared turbines) and ship construction of that era would have carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and steam-line insulation/lagging, turbine lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, and compartment fire insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades 1944; crew 1944-46; Boston Navy Yard post-shakedown availability workforce Dec 1944-Jan 1945
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - not a ship-specific finding. Consolidated Steel Orange is not in the Atlas shipyard dataset and no dated asbestos-product record for that yard was located; the inference rests on ship type, plant, and build era, not a wartime yard product record. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-05
-
[7]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
- PubMed record PMID 21016030; article pp. 9-16 (pipe covering material section)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of wartime pipe-covering operations at Navy and 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 naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era and type.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- survey ~1944-45; published 1946
- Population
- WWII pipe coverers and insulators at Navy and contract yards (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. Citation re-verified via NCBI efetch this session; the amosite quotation is carried from sibling records' verified extraction - the 1946 full text was not re-verified in this session (PubMed carries no abstract). (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-06
-
[8]Corn, J.K., and Starr, J., 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' Am J Ind Med 11(3):359-373 (1987), PMID 3555021, DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 3555021, abstract
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical review documenting 'the extensive use of asbestos as a fireproofing and insulating material in shipbuilding in the 1940s, when World War II industrial expansion brought about a hitherto unprecedented rise in the amount of asbestos utilized' - the era context for this hull's 1944 construction, and the policy analysis linking wartime decisions to postwar shipyard-worker asbestos disease.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s shipbuilding era (published 1987)
- Population
- WWII-era shipbuilding workers (era context)
- Limitations
- Era/industry-level historical review; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. Citation and abstract verified via NCBI efetch this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-07
-
[9]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - praecipe/pretrial order materials, ECF 738 att. 1 (as cataloged in the Atlas john-c-butler-class profile, ev-03/-04) [court_record]
- Locator
- Class profile ev-john-c-butler-class-03/-04 citing Jack ECF 738.1 pp. 12, 26-27 + exhibit list
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name USS Charles E. Brannon (DE-446) - a John C. Butler-class sister hull, though a Federal Shipbuilding (Newark) boat in the Babcock & Wilcox boiler block rather than this hull's Consolidated/Combustion-Engineering block - and recite the DE-era exposure theory: that a Griscom-Russell evaporator installed per Navy specifications was insulated after delivery, that 'asbestos was a critical material during WWII when the Navy installed the distiller on Mr. Jack's ship,' while conceding the insulation aboard Brannon 'could have included fiberglass, mineral wool or other non-asbestos insulation.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- service era WWII/postwar; litigation 2017-2019
- Population
- Machinist's mate aboard USS Brannon DE-446 (sister hull)
- Limitations
- Pretrial-order/exhibit-list level material about a same-class sister hull, not DE-370: allegation/expert-recital stage, never adjudicated, and the quoted material itself concedes non-asbestos insulation was possible aboard DE-446. Documents that DE-class evaporator insulation was litigation-contested; establishes nothing about this hull's materials or any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-08
-
[10]Navy insulation-spec suite identified as controlling era documents in destroyer-escort asbestos litigation: Bureau of Ships Manual ch.39 Thermal Insulation NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) (24 Aug 1945); Navy Department Specification 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' (Oct 1945); BuEng Manual ch.13 - per Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec (W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537) exhibit-list recital, as cataloged in the Atlas john-c-butler-class class profile [other_primary]
- Locator
- john-c-butler-class.class.json class_notes + evidence rows citing Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec exhibit list (ECF 738 att. 1)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The era's controlling Navy insulation specifications - including an explicitly asbestos-named felt spec - are identified in DE-class litigation exhibit lists and cataloged in this dataset's John C. Butler-class profile. These are the correct next-pull targets for class-level asbestos specification documentation applicable to this hull's design family.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (spec dates)
- Limitations
- Identified secondhand via class-level research and a litigation exhibit list for a sister hull; the underlying spec documents were not retrieved in this session, and nothing in this row is specific to DE-370. Retrieval pending - treat as research lead only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-09
-
[11]This record's search ledger [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation located for DE-370: no hull survey, abatement contract, disposal-condition hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming this hull was found in any repository searched. The hull was sold for scrapping 13 June 1973 - no surviving structure or museum file exists, and the sale predates modern shipbreaking hazmat documentation. NARA catalog returned a JS application shell (no digitized deck log or General Information Book located); archive.org returned only name-collision items (a NACA report-series item 'DE 370' among them); BVA public search index requires a key and was not retrievable in-session. 'No ship-specific record located' is itself reported as the finding.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of located record does not prove absence of asbestos or of claims - it is the honest state of public documentation. No hazmat-clearance or condition record for the 1973 sale/scrapping was located in any searched source, and the scrapping yard/buyer is undocumented. Non-digitized NARA holdings (RG19 per-vessel General Information Books, RG24 deck logs) remain unexamined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for 'USS John L. Williamson', 'John L. Williamson', 'DE-370' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-05 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion-index sweep completed under fleet pacing: the exact-phrase query 'USS John L. Williamson' returned ZERO hits in the opinion index (clean negative); the bare-hull query '"DE-370"' returned 11 opinions, every one a collision with no vessel/asbestos/Navy context in case name, parties, or snippet (docket-entry-number and citation-string matches: e.g., Morales Rosario v. Ex-Parte P.R. App. 2024; Jacobs Constructors v. NPS Energy 3d Cir. 2001; Golden Door Jewelry v. Lloyds S.D. Fla. 1990); and the unquoted name-variant query 'John L. Williamson' returned 12 opinions, all person-name collisions with no vessel/asbestos/Navy context (e.g., John L. Williamson v. City of Austin Tex. App. 1999 - a person; City of Wichita v. Williamson Kan. App. 2018; United States v. Williamson C.M.A. 1957; and 19th-century Tennessee/North Carolina reports where John L. Williamson was counsel or party). The RECAP docket query could not be executed - the shared fleet request budget was spent at every attempt; a site-scoped web-index sweep of courtlistener.com for the ship name returned only unrelated asbestos matters (Williamson v. Ford - mechanic/textile exposure, E.D.N.C.; Avondale DE-vessel removal litigation; MDL-875 and state-court items). No qualifying asbestos litigation - or any litigation - naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (index state)
- Limitations
- Coverage is index-level and near-complete on the opinion side: a pleading could name the hull inside a document that index text does not expose; the RECAP docket query was never executed (fleet pacing), so docket coverage rests on the site-scoped web-index sweep alone. 'DE-370' collides with docket-entry-number strings and a NACA technical-report series; 'John L. Williamson' is a common personal name - all 12 name-variant hits classified as collisions by case name, parties, and snippet. The sweep does not cover state-court records, bankruptcy trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions. Absence of a located case does not prove no claim was ever filed or settled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-l-williamson-de370-11
