Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet io-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-jordan-de204-pkt-io-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Jordan (DE-204), NHHC canonical page (published 2016-04-13; live URL returns 404 to automated fetches - Wayback capture 2025-12-08 carries the full entry; verbatim transcription mirrored at HyperWar/ibiblio) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Jordan (DE-204)' - namesake biography, spec block, service narrative, disposition (HyperWar/ibiblio de204.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull. Namesake: Julian Bethune Jordan (b. 11 April 1904; USNA 1925), assistant engineering officer aboard USS Oklahoma (BB-37) from 4 August 1938, killed in the Pearl Harbor attack 7 December 1941. Spec block: Buckley class, 1,400 t, 306 ft, 36 ft 10 in beam, 9 ft 5 in draft, 24 kt, complement 186, 3x3in + 4x40mm + 10x20mm, 2 dct, 9 dcp. Laid down 5 June 1943 by the Charleston Navy Yard; launched 23 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Lucy H. Jordan, widow of Lt. Jordan; commissioned 17 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. F. C. Billing in command. After shakedown arrived New York mid-March 1944 for convoy-escort duty; sailed 17 April with a Gibraltar-bound convoy, arrived 1 May; returned to New York that month and made one more European voyage in June; training-ship duty at Quonset Point, R.I., July-August; arrived Port Everglades, Fla., 17 September for experimental exercises. After a yard period at Charleston, resumed sound experiments out of Port Everglades in early 1945; a further Mediterranean convoy-escort cruise in May 1945, returning to New York 10 June; submarine operations out of New London, Conn., and training exercises in Cuba through the summer (the entry attributes antisubmarine-warfare technological advances to these experiments). While on a training mission 18 September [1945] Jordan collided with merchant vessel SS John Sherman, necessitating immediate repairs; arrived Charleston 4 October and remained there until she decommissioned 19 December 1945; scrapped 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; USN crew 1943-45 (DANFS design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The narrative gives no year for the 18 September collision, but the surrounding sequence (May 1945 Mediterranean cruise, 10 June return, summer New London/Cuba exercises) fixes it in 1945 - corroborated by NavSource and the worldwar2warships day log; a secondary blog (thepeoplebeforeus.com) misdates it 1944 - logged in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404 to automated fetch (standing NHHC rot); canonical URL confirmed via Wayback capture 2025-12-08, verbatim text also at HyperWar/ibiblio.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for JORDAN, DE-204 (shipscribe.com scan; rendered page + tesseract OCR of book p. 249) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster row 178, JORDAN DE-204 (book p. 249; shipscribe scan PDF p. 134)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster row 178): JORDAN, official number DE-204, builder 'Navy Yard, Charleston', contract price $3,180,000; launch cell reads Aug. 23, 1943 and first-commission cell reads Dec. 17, 1943 - both concurring with DANFS; keel-laid cell partially legible in OCR, consistent with the DANFS June 1943 laying.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. Scan quality makes some cells partially legible: the contract-date cell could not be read cleanly (sibling Charleston TE rows carry 'June 8, 1942'); keel-laid date relied on DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-02
-
[4]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Jordan (DE-204) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): building/operational data block, specs, awards, CO roster, captioned photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/204.htm - building/operational data block, spec block, awards block, 'Jordan's Commanding Officers' table, photo captions 0620401-0620404
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 5 June 1943 by the Charleston Navy Yard; launched and christened 23 August 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Lucy H. Jordan, widow of Lt. Jordan); commissioned 17 December 1943, Lcdr. F. C. Billing in command; 18 September 1945 collided with merchant vessel SS John Sherman off Miami and was temporarily repaired at Miami, Fla.; decommissioned at Charleston, S.C., 19 December 1945 'after 2 years of service'; struck from the NVR 8 January 1946; sold and scrapped July 1947. Spec block: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3-in guns), 1,400 t light / 1,740 t full, 306 ft oa, 36 ft 9 in beam, 2 'D' Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt, 6,000 nm at 12 kt, complement 15 officers / 198 enlisted. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal (no battle stars shown). CO roster: Lcdr. Fred C. Billing USNR (commissioning CO) 17 Dec 1943 - 2 May 1944; Lcdr. Daniel Bontecou USNR 2 May 1944 - 31 Oct 1945. Photo captions: 23 August 1943 dual launch beside USS Thomason (DE-203) at Charleston Navy Yard; 3 May 1944 underway in the Atlantic after a 10-day Brooklyn yard period completed 2 May, steaming for Casco Bay (USN photo 80-G-229657, NARA College Park); a contributed caption notes Jordan 'was used for system testing for awhile' - consistent with DANFS's sound/radar experiment duty.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime crew 1943-45 (NavSource 15 officers/198 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained compiled archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap. The 'off Miami' collision location and Miami temporary repairs extend DANFS's account. Contributed captions and the CO roster are unverified against USN/NARA originals; the roster ends 31 Oct 1945 - the decommissioning-period CO is unlisted. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-03
-
[5]NARA, RG 181 'Naval Districts and Shore Establishments, Ship Commissioning Files - Sixth Naval District at Charleston, South Carolina,' 1942-1945, National Archives Identifier 2694599 (finding aid, NARA Atlanta) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov Atlanta finding aid, RG 181 NAID 2694599, Ship Commissioning Files 1942-1945, Box 4 row for DE-204 USS JORDAN
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA finding aid lists a commissioning file for this hull: Box 4, 'Destroyer Escort | DE-204 | USS JORDAN | 8/23/1943' - correspondence, invitations, and instructions relating to the commissioning of naval vessels at the Charleston Navy Yard. The adjacent entry lists DE-203 USS THOMASON with the same 8/23/1943 date, matching the dual-launch photo caption in NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943 (file); 2026 (finding aid accessed)
- Population
- Commissioning ceremony participants, Charleston Navy Yard 1943
- Limitations
- Finding aid only - establishes that a per-hull commissioning file exists in NARA Atlanta RG 181 holdings; contents not pulled or digitized. The date column is inconsistent across rows (Manning DE-199 reads 10/1/1943, its commissioning date; Jordan/Thomason read 8/23/1943, their launch date) - do not read the date as a commissioning date. Contains no materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 2 / TE (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-2 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 126)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design-group table: design group 2 (symbol TE - turbine-electric drive, 3-inch guns) - 2 shafts; GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp; 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 p.s.i., 750 deg. F superheat; 3 turbo ship's-service generators (200 kW, 450 V A.C.). Jordan's NavSource spec block matches this plant (2 'D' Express boilers, GE turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp). Documents that the TE design carried a full superheated steam plant, unlike the diesel DE groups (GMT/FMR/DET rows read 'None' in the boiler columns).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (publication)
- Population
- TE-design crews (design accommodations ~213-215)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the whole TE group, not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; some cells partially garbled in OCR - steam conditions and machinery row read cleanly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-05
-
[7]Navypedia, 'Buckley (TE) class destroyer escorts' - class roster and per-block boiler-manufacturer map (compiled reference; via class-f buckley-class profile) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia us_de_te.htm, member table row DE-204 + boiler-block map; class-f/buckley-class.class.json member row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class roster and boiler-block map: 148 Buckley (TE) hulls completed across eight builders; DE-204 falls in the Combustion Engineering boiler block (DE-155, 199-213, 633-644, 675-683, 693-705 per navypedia). Jordan's roster line concurs with DANFS/SDB on builder (Charleston Navy Yard), dates, and the 18 September 1945 collision disposition ('collision 18.9.1945, repair incomplete' per the class profile's member row).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Buckley-class construction and operating crews (148 hulls)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference (class-level): the boiler-manufacturer block map is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents; not a materials or asbestos source - used for class context only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-06
-
[8]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-2 machinery row (2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F; GE turbo-electric 12,000 shp) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for steam-powered escorts [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-2 row (2 'D' express boilers present) vs. diesel-group rows (boilers 'None'); cf. buckley-class profile ev-buckley-class-04 (same steam-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Buckley-class (TE) destroyer escort built at a Navy yard in 1943 with a full superheated steam plant would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a steam-powered escort - boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing on steam and feed systems, electrical insulation, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Unlike the diesel DE classes (Edsall/FMR, Cannon/DET, Evarts/GMT - whose SDB rows read 'None' in the boiler columns), the TE and WGT designs retained boilers and steam lines, so the largest asbestos categories of steam ships apply to this design.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; crew 1943-45; disposal-phase personnel 1945-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-204 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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-07
-
[9]Atlas shipyard dataset record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (shipyard-exposure-map/client/src/data/shipyards.json): Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, S.C., USN-operated 1901-1996, WWII peak employment 25,948, evidence tier 2 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (evidence rows incl. ev-charleston-naval-shipyard-06, -07, -osha-1988-100361849)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder-yard context: Charleston Navy Yard (later Charleston Naval Shipyard) built this hull in 1943 under a $3,180,000 contract (SDB 1945 row 178) and took her back for both the late-1944 yard period (DANFS) and the October-December 1945 post-collision lay-up. The Atlas yard dataset documents the yard at tier 2 with asbestos products documented (pipe insulation, boiler coatings, gaskets, packing, thermal insulation for steam systems, fireproofing, electrical insulation), a 1988 OSHA inspection listing a citation under the asbestos standard 29 CFR 1910.1001, and litigation verdicts against the yard era (e.g., $70.8M verdict for Navy machinist Robert Whalen, 2014). Yard-level documentation corroborates that the builder's wartime workforce worked amid documented asbestos products.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1901-1996 (yard); 1943-1945 (this hull's construction and yard periods)
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard trades and production workforce (WWII peak employment 25,948)
- Limitations
- Builder-yard context only - documents the yard's asbestos environment, not this hull's materials. Yard litigation (Whalen and related) concerns shipyard-worker exposure at the facility generally; it does not establish that asbestos went aboard DE-204 or expose any specific worker to this hull. Yard was never Superfund-listed (EPA site ID SC0170022560 per the dataset).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-08
-
[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-204 (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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 sweeps (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for exact name 'USS Jordan' and hull number 'DE-204' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-jordan-de204-08, -09, -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep: exact-name query '"USS Jordan"' (type=o) returned 0 results - no opinion naming this vessel located in the opinion index. Hull-number query '"DE-204"' (type=o) returned 33 hits, all string collisions on manual review of case names/snippets - Puerto Rican Spanish-language case text ('...de emergencia...', 'de 2020'-style fragments), bankruptcy/docket numerals, and unrelated litigation (MacNeal v. Equinamics Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2008; Wichman v. Shabino S.D. 2014; Cobra Acquisitions v. Municipio De Naguabo P.R. App. 2025; ASC Utah v. Wolf Mountain Utah 2013; multiple P.R. COVID administrative opinions) - none references a vessel, naval service, or asbestos. RECAP-docket search '"USS Jordan"' (type=r) could not be completed: the fleet pacing budget stood the helper down on every spaced attempt across the session, plus one server-side read timeout. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in the completed sweeps.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Opinion index swept for both name (0 hits) and hull number (33 hits, all collisions); the docket index sweep is UNVERIFIED - blocked by fleet pacing, carried as a retry lead in search_ledger sl-10. The sweep does not cover state-court records, PACER-only filings, settled/undocketed claims, or trust claims. 'Jordan' is a common surname (heavy collision surface) and 'DE-204' collides with ECF/document-entry numbering - any future hit needs collision classification rather than automatic attribution. 'No result' does not prove no claim was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-10
-
[12]Batch-4121 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + HyperWar/hazegray mirrors, NVR, NavSource, BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR), navypedia class page, NARA RG 181 finding aid, Atlas shipyard dataset + class profile, GAO product page, CourtListener API v4, general web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-jordan-de204-01 through sl-uss-jordan-de204-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-204: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping in July 1947, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for preserved escorts (e.g., USS Slater DE-766, USS Stewart DE-238). The hull's entire commissioned career ran December 1943 - December 1945 and it never entered a reserve fleet - the collision damage was never repaired - narrowing every exposure window. The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Jordan (DE-204) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull (asbestos-ships.com vessel page, which also misdates the commissioning to 19 December 1943; shepardlawfirm.com name lists) - 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 Navy-yard construction falls inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and the TE plant carried the steam-system categories most associated with shipboard asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24), BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book for DE-204), the Sixth Naval District commissioning file (RG 181, NARA Atlanta - located at finding-aid level, ev-04), and the collision damage/repair survey records are unsurveyed paper 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-jordan-de204-11
-
[13]NARA RG 24 (deck logs) for DE-204 (1943-45); RG 19 BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books for DE-204 at Charleston Navy Yard; RG 181 Sixth Naval District commissioning file, Box 4 (NAID 2694599 - located at finding-aid level, ev-04); collision damage report and Board of Inspection and Survey / repair records for the 18 September 1945 SS John Sherman collision and the October-December 1945 Charleston lay-up; USN photo 80-G-229657 original at NARA College Park - all undigitized or not located online [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 181 NAID 2694599 Box 4 (Atlanta); RG 24/RG 19 entry series (Archives II, undigitized); INSURV/damage-report series
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA Atlanta RG 181 holds the ship's commissioning file (finding aid names DE-204 at Box 4 - the only per-hull paper record positively located in a public inventory); (2) RG 24 deck logs cover the 1943-45 service including the collision; (3) the collision damage survey and Charleston lay-up/disposal correspondence document material condition at disposal; (4) RG 19 BuShips records may hold a per-vessel General Information Book for DE-204; (5) USN photo 80-G-229657 (3 May 1944 Atlantic underway) is a cited NARA original.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947 (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 an SPA shell to programmatic fetches (same standing limitation as prior batches); the RG 181 entry is a web-published finding aid, not a digitized record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-jordan-de204-12