Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, John Q. Roberts (APD-94) (1968, Vol. 3, p.543; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org, captured by Wayback 2024-12-09 - live NHHC page serves 404 and hazegray.org is unreachable) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (transcribed by Michael Hansen for the DANFS Online Project)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 15 November 1943 as DE-235 by Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.; launched 11 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Deany Roberts Garner, mother of the namesake; reclassified APD-94 17 June 1944; commissioned 8 March 1945, Lt. Comdr. R. N. Bavier, Jr., in command. Specs as APD-94: dp. 1,390; l. 306'; b. 37'; dr. 12'7"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 204; a. 1 5", 6 40mm; cl. Crosley. Caribbean shakedown; amphibious training Hampton Roads April 1945; departed Norfolk 7 May; Pearl Harbor 31 May; underwater demolition team training; Leyte Gulf 13 June; convoy escort and fleet maneuvers in the Philippines preparatory to the invasion of Japan; departed Leyte 20 August for Okinawa escort; Okinawa-Japan escort duties; at Yokosuka during the Tokyo Bay surrender ceremonies 2 September; occupation troop/personnel transport in Japan; departed Nagoya 17 December 1945 via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor for San Pedro, arrived 6 January 1946; sailed 25 January for Norfolk, then Green Cove Springs, Florida, arrived 17 March; decommissioned 30 May 1946; Atlantic Reserve Fleet; sold for scrap 29 December 1960 to B. P. Diamond Construction Co., Inc., Savannah, Ga. Namesake: Ens. John Quincy Roberts (b. Boaz, Ala., 2 September 1914), VS-6 pilot off Enterprise (CV-6) at Midway, MIA 5 June 1942, posthumous Navy Cross.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction and conversion workforce 1943-45; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 204 as APD)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, service history, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 (documented NHHC link-rot pattern) and hazegray.org is unreachable; verbatim Wayback capture of the hazegray transcription cited. Sale date conflicts with NavSource (29 vs 16 December; see gaps); DANFS carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Index DE-235 - APD-94 USS John Q. Roberts (compiled building/operational data, spec block) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-235 page: specifications block + 'Operational and Building Data' chronology
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: Rudderow class; dp. 1,450 t.; 306' x 36'10" x 13'9"; armament 2x5"/38AA, 4x40mm, 10x20mm, 3x21"TT, 1 hedgehog, 8 DCT, 2 DC racks (as-designed DE fit); machinery 12,000 shp, GE turbines with electric drive, 2 screws; speed 24 kts; crew 186. Building data: laid down by Charleston Navy Yard 15 November 1943; launched 11 February 1944; 'Reclassified APD-94 and converted while still under construction'; commissioned 8 March 1945; decommissioned 30 May 1946; stricken 1 June 1960; sold 16 December (year reads 1961 on the page - see gaps) and broken up. No photographs of this ship are held in the index.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction/conversion workforce 1943-45; wartime crew; Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-1960
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation citing official records - not itself an official record. Specs reflect the as-designed DE fit, not the completed APD configuration (DANFS carries the APD figures: 1,390 t., 1x5", 6x40mm, cpl. 204). Crew figure 186 conflicts with DANFS 204; sale date conflicts on day (16 vs 29) and year (page reads 1961 vs DANFS 1960); both carried in gaps. 'Converted while still under construction' establishes the APD conversion occurred during the Charleston build period - it does not name the conversion yard explicitly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-02
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[3]NavSource/DANFS propulsion specs (TEV turbo-electric: GE turbines, electric drive, 12,000 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Charleston Naval Shipyard record (yard tier 2; litigation-documented asbestos gaskets, packing, and pump/valve thermal insulation per Pace v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., 4th Cir. No. 14-2416 (2016); WWII peak employment 25,948 in 1943) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specs block; shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (tier 2; products_documented periods ~1971-mid-1980s per Pace v. Air & Liquid Systems citations)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Rudderow/Crosley-class (TEV) steam escort built and converted to APD configuration at the Charleston Navy Yard over November 1943-March 1945 would have carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and steam-line insulation/lagging, turbine lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, and compartment fire insulation - including the troop-berthing spaces added in the conversion. Builder Charleston Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level (tier 2) with asbestos gaskets, packing, and thermal insulation litigation-identified in yard use; the dated product identifications in that record run approximately 1971 through the mid-1980s and therefore establish asbestos-era yard practice rather than a wartime product record covering this hull's 1943-45 build window.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction and conversion trades 1943-45; crew 1945-46
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - not a ship-specific finding. The yard's litigation record documents asbestos products in yard use during 1970s-80s shop/shipboard work; it does not name DE-235/APD-94, does not date to the wartime build window, does not establish which products went aboard this hull, and establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-03
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[4]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 WWII pipe-covering operations at Navy and Navy-contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era 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 existence verified via NCBI efetch in-session; the amosite quotation is carried from the sibling uss-kirwin-de229 record's verified extraction - 1946 full text not re-verified in this session. (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-04
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[5]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 1943-45 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 in-session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-05
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[6]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 the Rudderow/Crosley design family of the same build era.
- 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 different DE class; the underlying spec documents were not retrieved in this session, and nothing in this row is specific to DE-235/APD-94. Retrieval pending - treat as research lead only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-06
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[7]NARA Record Group 19, Alphabetical Series of Ship Engineering Drawings - Crosley-class Booklet of General Plans (APD-117/118/119, Consolidated Steel Co., Orange, Texas, 25 April 1945, digitized); NARA RG24 deck logs for DE-235/APD-94 (1945-46) not located in digitized form; RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications unexamined [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org item apdcrosleybogp1945 (NARA RG19 provenance noted in item metadata); NARA catalog API not retrievable in-session
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class-level design drawings for APD-94's completed class survive in NARA RG19's Alphabetical Series: a 1945 Crosley-class BOGP covering sister high-speed transports APD-117/118/119 is digitized at archive.org - directly class-relevant since APD-94 is a Crosley-class unit (Rudderow-class hulls completed as APDs). General-arrangement drawings of this series occasionally carry material/insulation callouts; per-vessel General Information Books and 1945-46 deck logs for this hull were not located in digitized form and are unexamined.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Class-level plan documentation and unexamined NARA holdings only - establishes nothing about materials aboard DE-235/APD-94, and the surviving BOGP covers a different builder's hulls (Consolidated Steel, Orange TX vs. Charleston Navy Yard). BOGP sheets are arrangement drawings; whether any sheet specifies insulation fiber content is unverified. Deck-log existence is presumed from standard RG24 holdings for commissioned vessels, not confirmed per-hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-07
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[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for 'USS John Q. Roberts', 'John Q. Roberts', 'DE-235', 'APD-94' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-03 through sl-uss-john-q-roberts-de235-06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep: exact-name opinion query '"USS John Q. Roberts"' (type=o) returned 0 results - no published opinion names this vessel. Broad-name query '"John Q. Roberts"' (type=o) returned 1 hit: Gowen v. Arnold (Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 1930) - a patent-appeals decision rendered 13+ years before this hull was laid down; name collision (person reference), not the vessel. Bare hull-number query '"DE-235" OR "APD-94"' (type=o) returned 25 hits - all reviewed results are tokenization noise (Puerto Rico Spanish-language decisions matching the 'De'-prefixed tokens, unrelated federal dockets matching pin-cite/docket-number fragments, and surname parties e.g. Roberts v. Gordy). RECAP docket sweep '"John Q. Roberts" OR "APD-94" OR "DE-235"' (type=r) returned 338 dockets; all 20 reviewed top results are surname parties or tokenization noise (e.g., 'John Q. Roberts and Stephanie A. Roberts' bankruptcy, M.D. Ga. 2014; unrelated federal civil/criminal dockets matching hull-number strings). Classification: no qualifying asbestos litigation, no other litigation naming the vessel; all located hits are name collisions or tokenization noise.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (index state)
- Limitations
- Coverage is search-index level, not a PACER-level docket inspection: a pleading could name the hull inside a document that index text does not expose; docket review covered the 20 top-ranked of 338 hits - deep-tail collisions possible but unlikely to name the vessel. 'John Roberts' is a high-collision name (incl. the Chief Justice) - the exact-phrase 'USS' prefix is the qualifying discriminator; broad-name hits still require classification, not automatic attribution. 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-q-roberts-de235-08