Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Kenneth M. Willett (DE-354), 1968, Vol. 3, p. 622 (builder, dates, service narrative, striking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404); striking/disposal bracket from Bauer & Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy 1775-1990, p. 236 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. 3 p. 622 - namesake biography, specifications block, service narrative, Bauer & Roberts supplement
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 7 March 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. D. C. Willett; commissioned 19 July 1944 at Orange, Lt. Comdr. J. M. Stuart in command. Shakedown off Bermuda; Chesapeake Bay training ship 1-20 Oct 1944; CortDiv 82; Pacific with 7th Fleet - convoy escort Humboldt Bay-Leyte Gulf (seven trips 13 Dec 1944-25 Feb 1945); downed an enemy torpedo plane 1 Jan 1945; patrol/ASW duty Leyte Gulf, Mangarin Bay, Mindoro; escort runs to Ulithi and Okinawa; postwar convoy runs to Tokyo and Shanghai; Tsingtao/Yellow Sea operations Feb-Apr 1946; San Pedro 11 May 1946; decommissioned 24 October 1946, Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego. Recommissioned 25 May 1951; Naval Reserve training ship, 8th Naval District, New Orleans - 63 training cruises through 16 Oct 1958; decommissioned 26 February 1959 at Orange; Atlantic Reserve Fleet berth at Philadelphia. Bracketed supplement: stricken from the Navy Register 1 July 1972; sunk as target off Puerto Rico 6 March 1974.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (Orange, TX, 1944); wartime crew (design complement 186); Naval Reserve trainees aboard 1951-1959 (63 cruises)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, and service history - it contains no materials or asbestos information. The live NHHC page (history.navy.mil .../danfs/k/kenneth-m-willett-de-354.html) returns 404; the verbatim hazegray transcription of the 1968 printed DANFS is cited, with the post-1968 supplement from Bauer & Roberts p. 236. DANFS text does not state the keel-laying date (10 Jan 1944 carried from NavSource building data).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-01
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[2]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Kenneth M. Willett (DE 354) page - building/operational data, specification block (WGT), NHHC-sourced photographs incl. #L45-155.01.02, commanding-officer list, war-history image [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-354 page - 'Building and Operational Data' and 'Specifications' blocks; photo entry for 24 September 1944 (Boston Navy Yard)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building and operational data for this hull: keel laid 10 January 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched and christened 7 March 1944; commissioned 19 July 1944; decommissioned at San Pedro 24 October 1946; recommissioned at San Diego 25 May 1951 and assigned to Naval Reserve Training, 8th Naval District, New Orleans; decommissioned at Orange 26 February 1959; struck from the NVR 1 July 1972 with 10 years total service; sunk as target off Puerto Rico 6 March 1974. An NHHC photograph (#L45-155.01.02, 24 September 1944) documents a Boston Navy Yard availability 12-27 September 1944. Specification block confirms WGT type: 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt; complement 14 officers/201 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard workforce during the 12-27 Sept 1944 availability; ship's company
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run photographic archive, not a government repository - its building data reproduces official Navy records (here including an NHHC photo caption), but keel date and the yard-availability window rest on the archive's transcription, not a cited primary document page. No asbestos content. The complement figure (14/201) conflicts with the DANFS 186 - variance logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-02
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[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table row 6 (shipscribe.com scan); navypedia WGT-class boiler-block map (per Atlas class profile john-c-butler-class) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB 1945 v1 DE table group-6 row; john-c-butler-class.class.json member row DE-354 and class evidence ev-01/-05
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: DE-354 is a BuShips design-group-6 (WGT) destroyer escort - 2 'D' express boilers (435 psi / 750 F superheated; Combustion Engineering for the Consolidated-built DE-339-372 block, which includes this hull, per the navypedia boiler map in the class profile), 2 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 24 kt, built 1944 at Consolidated Steel, Orange. Peak-era steam-plant construction implies period-standard asbestos thermal insulation in fireroom and machinery spaces (boiler and turbine lagging, steam-line lagging) plus asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and insulating felts consistent with the Navy's wartime insulation-specification regime.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1959 (service); construction 1944
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades 1944; crews 1944-46, 1951-59
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific material schedule, survey, or contract document was located for DE-354. The boiler-builder block map is compilation-level. This row adds context, not a ship-specific finding; it establishes no quantities, no locations aboard, no remaining material, and no exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-03
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[4]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - exhibit list, ECF 738 att. 1 (identifications of the controlling era Navy insulation-specification suite) [court_record]
- Locator
- Jack v. Borg-Warner exhibit list, ECF 738.1 items Honeywell-160 through -167 (per class profile ev-john-c-butler-class-04)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Litigation materials in a case naming sister hull USS Brannon (DE-446, same class and same Consolidated/boiler block) identify the controlling Navy insulation-document suite for this era and class: 'Bureau of Ships Manual, Chapter 39, Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250000(39)' (24 Aug 1945); 'Navy Department Specification, Felt, Insulating, Asbestos, 32F3a' (15 Oct 1945); 'General Specifications for Machinery - Subsection S39-1, Bureau of Engineering' (3 Feb 1939); BuEng Manual ch.13 'Instructions Relative to Heat Insulation' (rev. 1933, repr. 1939); and a BUMED Code-55 memo on occupational health (9 Jun 1977). These documents establish that the era's Navy specifications called for asbestos insulating felt and regulated thermal insulation - the regime under which this hull was built in 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1933-1977 (documents); 1944 (this hull's construction)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Context/archival lead only: the Jack case concerns DE-446, not DE-354, and its materials are pretrial/exhibit-list level - allegation, not adjudicated fact. The underlying specification documents were not retrieved this session; the row records where hull-level asbestos specifications would be found.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-04
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[5]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 to automated fetch, HTTP 403; content via product-page description, per class profile ev-john-c-butler-class-06)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or as required for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. DE-354 left commission in 1959 - sixteen years before the first of these policies - so any original-era insulation aboard was never subject to a documented ship-level asbestos-management regime during her service life.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy period); ship decommissioned 1959
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not class- or hull-specific. Establishes the policy environment after the ship's active service; says nothing about what was aboard, and the ship's 1974 disposal predates modern hazmat-disposal documentation requirements.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-05
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[6]Laurent v. New Orleans City, No. 2:14-cv-02022-CJB-MBN (E.D. La.), Order & Reasons denying plaintiff's motion to remand, ECF No. 32 (Oct. 23, 2014, Barbier, J.) - RECAP document with OCR text [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 32 pp. 1-2 (factual recital naming USS KENNETH M. WILLETT in boiler rooms); pp. 6-8 (Horne affidavit: Navy specifications called for asbestos in CBS turbines)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal order names this hull: the court recites that decedent Frederick J. Laurent, who died of mesothelioma attributed to asbestos exposure, 'was a member of the United States Naval Reserve and worked aboard a number of naval vessels, including the USS KENNETH M. WILLETT, the USS HAAS, and the USS WOODSON in the boiler rooms' (quoting Rec. Doc. 28-1, p. 5). Plaintiff alleged GE and CBS (Westinghouse) manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing turbines and equipment to the Navy to which decedent was exposed while working aboard those vessels. The order also recites an affidavit (Rear Admiral Roger B. Horne Jr., Rec. Doc. 8) attesting that the Navy's own design specifications called for the use of asbestos in CBS's turbines and that Navy officers enforced compliance at the plant. DE-354 was the 8th Naval District Naval Reserve training ship homeported at New Orleans 1951-1959 - the same district and the reservist-boiler-room pathway the decedent's history describes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1950s Naval Reserve service window (exposure allegation); 2014-2015 (litigation)
- Population
- Frederick J. Laurent (U.S. Naval Reserve, boiler-room work aboard DE-354, Haas, Woodson; mesothelioma decedent)
- Limitations
- Removal-jurisdiction order: the exposure allegation is recited from plaintiff's materials (Rec. Doc. 28-1 and complaint Rec. Doc. 1-1), not adjudicated - no trial finding on exposure or causation; case terminated 2015-10-29 and no merits adjudication of the vessel allegations was located (later orders exist at 2015 WL 846567 and 2015 WL 5254723 - full text not retrieved). The Horne affidavit describes Navy asbestos specifications for CBS/Westinghouse turbines - defendant evidence supporting federal-officer removal, recited not adopted. Does not quantify asbestos aboard or identify which products aboard this hull were asbestos-containing. The two sister vessels named are also John C. Butler-class DEs (Haas DE-424, Woodson DE-359).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-06
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[7]Batch-4258 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription, NavSource archive page, NVR, NARA catalog API, CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP-docket sweeps, general web sweep for ship-name + asbestos/abatement/survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific record located outside litigation: no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract, no museum or donation-condition hazmat disclosure, and no government survey naming this hull. Litigation naming the hull DOES exist (ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-06: Laurent v. New Orleans City) as a pleading-stage exposure allegation recited in a published removal order - no adjudicated exposure or causation finding was located. The ship was never a museum and was disposed by target sinking in 1974, so the museum-disclosure and donation channels that produce ship-specific records for surviving hulls do not exist here.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of located non-litigation records does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the class/era inference for a 1944 steam plant stands, and the Laurent pleading independently alleges boiler-room service aboard this hull. The negative finding covers the survey/abatement/disclosure channels only; it does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The 1974 sinking forecloses any present-day hull survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-07
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[8]CourtListener API v4 search - opinion index (type=o) and RECAP dockets (type=r), authenticated via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- sl-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-06/-07/-08/-08b; Laurent doc 32 (docket 5231505) plain_text pp.1-2
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull (executed): '"USS Kenneth M. Willett"' and '"Kenneth M. Willett"' in the opinion index (type=o) each returned 0 results - no reporter-indexed opinion names this hull. '"DE-354"' (type=o) returned 6 hits, all string collisions ('DE 354' document/docket references in non-vessel cases). RECAP-docket (type=r): '"USS Kenneth M. Willett"' returned 1 hit - Laurent v. New Orleans City, 2:14-cv-02022 (E.D. La.), 'P.I.: Asbestos' removal docket; docket-entry 32 (Order & Reasons, Oct. 23, 2014) contains the exact vessel name in its factual recital - qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull (see ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-06). '"Kenneth M. Willett"' (type=r) returned the same Laurent docket plus a person-name collision (In re Kenneth M. Willett, Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2005). '"DE-354"' (type=r) returned 187 docket hits - page-1 review collision-dominated, no asbestos-nature or vessel-name cases; deeper pagination not exhausted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (search)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Opinion index (type=o) is fully swept (0 hits); RECAP name queries are fully reviewed. The hull-number docket query is not fully paginated (187 hits, page-1 only reviewed). Laurent is classified at the LEAST-FINAL stage: a removal order reciting a pleading-stage allegation - recital, not adjudication; the later 2015 orders were not retrieved. The docket-text match and the order's recital together establish that this hull is named in qualifying asbestos litigation; they do not establish exposure, product identity, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-08
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[9]NARA record groups for DE-354: RG 19 (BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books), RG 24 (deck logs 1944-1959), the archival original of the ship's war-end war-history report (NavSource scan 06354wh.jpg), and NHHC photo holdings L45-155.01.02 (Boston Navy Yard, 24 Sep 1944) and file UA-282 (Melvin C. Keehner Collection, 21 Sep 1953) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 19 / RG 24; war-history original per NavSource scan images/354/06354wh.jpg; NHHC photos L45-155.01.02 and UA-282 per NavSource captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-level material documentation for DE-354, if any exists, would sit in NARA RG 19 BuShips records (contract specifications and General Information Books for Consolidated Steel hull DE-354) and in the Navy insulation-spec suite identified via the Jack exhibit list (NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) ch. 39; Spec 32F3a). Deck logs (RG 24, spanning both commissions 1944-46 and 1951-59) and the war-history original would document yard availabilities (incl. the documented Boston Navy Yard period 12-27 Sep 1944) and operating tempo relevant to maintenance-disturbance pathways.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1974 (records); 2026-09-28 (search)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - existence and content of hull-specific documents are unverified until retrieved; no claim about asbestos aboard is made from these leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kenneth-m-willett-de354-09