Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 761-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-kline-apd-120-pkt-761-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Kline (APD-120) (Naval Historical Center page; verbatim Wayback capture 2004-03-01 - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Kline' entry, namesake biography + spec block + service narrative (Wayback capture of history.navy.mil/danfs/k4/kline.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Stanley Fly Kline (born 15 Nov 1901, Graterford, Pa.; USNR 1927; killed 8 Nov 1942 aboard HMS Hartland at Oran after freeing 42 trapped men; posthumous Silver Star). Spec block: dp 1,390; l. 306'; b. 37'; dr. 12'7"; s. 23.6 k.; cpl. 204; a. 1 5", 6 40mm, 6 20mm, 2 dct.; cl. Crosley. Kline (DE-687) launched 27 June 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., sponsored by Mrs. Hazel Kline; redesignated APD-120 on 17 July; commissioned 18 October 1944, Lt. B. F. Urban, USNR, in command. Rescued nine survivors of Navy dirigible K-34 on 6 Nov 1944; Bermuda shakedown; cleared Norfolk 24 Dec; Pearl Harbor 20 Jan 1945; trained underwater demolition teams; arrived off Okinawa 26 March, UDT cleared approaches; remained as radar/ASW picket, guns assisted in downing aircraft 1 and 6 April; departed 16 April; close fire support at Brunei Bay 10 June; UDT service at Balikpapan; departed Indonesian waters 7 July, arrived Oceanside, Calif. 5 August; Sasebo 20 September (underwater reconnaissance) and Nagasaki; San Diego 19 October; one Magic-Carpet cruise returning 110 veterans 19 November; Norfolk 5 December; Green Cove Springs 28 January; decommissioned 10 March 1947 into Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck 15 January 1966; sold 22 February to Nationalist China under MAP. Two battle stars for WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel Quincy construction trades 1944; wartime crew (design complement 204) plus embarked UDT personnel
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. It omits the laid-down date (officially 27 May 1944 per NAVSHIPS 250-012) and prints the MAP sale as '22 February' without repeating the year (implicitly 1966) while NavSource and other sources give 22 January 1966 - conflict carried unresolved. CO surname rendered 'Urban' here vs 'Uran' in the NavSource command roster. Mirror cited because the live NHHC page 404s.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels,' Vol. III (Auxiliary, District Craft and Unclassified Vessels), NAVSHIPS 250-012, 15 April 1945 (shipscribe.com scan of the Google-digitized official publication) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-012, Vol. III: APD characteristics table pp.298-299 (item 68 KLINE), APD machinery table (KLINE row), armament table (KLINE row), construction table ('Bethlehem S. B. Co., Quincy' row), and index entry 'Kline (ex-DE687) ... APD 120 ... 298'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips record naming this hull (line item 68, KLINE ex-DE687, APD 120): characteristics - 306 ft overall, 300 ft waterline, 37 ft extreme beam, 23.6 kt trial speed, 1,650 t (total displacement column) and 2,130 t (full-load column), complement 12 officers + 192 enlisted plus troop berthing 12 officers + 150 enlisted, 10-ton boom; machinery - 2 propellers, G.E. turbo-electric, 12,000 shp, 2 boilers of 'D' Express type at 435 psi/750 deg F full-power; armament - 1x5-in/38 cal. D.P., 3 twin mounts; construction - builder 'Bethlehem S. B. Co., Quincy, Mass.,' laid down 27 May 1944, launched 27 Jun 1944, commissioned 18 Oct 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (publication datum April 1945)
- Population
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding Quincy construction trades 1944; crew (official complement 12+192 plus troops 12+150)
- Limitations
- An official characteristics document, not a materials schedule - it lists machinery and dimensions, not insulation or asbestos content. The boiler type column reads '"D" Exp'; the Babcock & Wilcox manufacturer attribution comes from NavSource's rendering, not this table. Displacement figure (1,650 t trial / 2,130 t full) differs from DANFS's 1,390 - different measurement bases, not an error. Scanned-image OCR on a 1945 tabular page; row values cross-checked against the table headers but individual cells could warrant re-verification against the printed original.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Kline (APD-120) page 04120 (Gary P. Priolo, maintainer; updated 2023-12-15) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/10/04/04120.htm - ship data block, campaign table, photo captions, commanding-officer roster
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive corroborating and extending the official record: laid down 27 May 1944 as DE-687 (Rudderow-class) at Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, MA; launched 27 June 1944; redesignated Crosley-class high-speed transport 17 July 1944; commissioned 18 October 1944 at Quincy, LT. Benjamin F. Uran, USNR, in command. TransDiv 103 (CDR W. S. Parsons); campaigns Okinawa Gunto 26 Mar-15 Apr 1945, Brunei Bay 10 Jun, Balikpapan 21 Jun-10 Jul; occupation service 2-27 Sep 1945. Photo captions: port-side damage at Saipan 20 Apr 1945 when USS LST-1002's anchor caught her side while maneuvering through the nets; crew scoreboard crediting a G4M 'Betty' 26 Jun 1945 (in addition to the two April assists in DANFS); laid up with USS Earheart (APD-113), USS Burke (APD-65), USS Hubbard (APD-53) at Green Cove Springs Sept 1960. CO roster: Uran to 29 Mar 1946; LCDR J. W. Roddy to 9 Jul 1946; LCDR C. H. Witten to 10 Mar 1947. Decommissioned 10 Mar 1947 Green Cove Springs; struck 15 Jan 1966; sold to Republic of China 22 January 1966 under MAP; ROCS Shou Shan PF-37, renumbered PF-893 then PF-837; ROC decommission/struck 16 Mar 1997; sunk by air-strike exercise 18 Oct 2000. The page's miscellaneous section (04120c.htm) hosts scans of two ship-produced primary documents: the 'Official Ships History 1944-45' (the ship-submitted war history) and the 'USS Kline Smooth Log 1944-45' (deck log), plus the 1944 commissioning program.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-2000
- Population
- Construction trades 1944; crew 1944-1947; embarked UDT; ROC Navy crew 1966-1997
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; campaign table, photo captions, and CO roster are unverified against underlying official records. CO surname 'Uran' conflicts with DANFS 'Urban'. Sale date '22 January 1966' conflicts with DANFS '22 February' - carried unresolved. Where NavSource and NAVSHIPS 250-012 overlap (spec block, dates), the official document controls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-03
-
[5]NAVSHIPS 250-012 machinery table (this hull: 2 'D' Express boilers, 435 psi/750 deg F, G.E. turbo-electric, 12,000 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Fore River Shipyard record (tier 3, litigation-documented) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-012 Vol. III machinery table (KLINE row, item 68); shipyards.json records 'fore-river-shipyard' and 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Crosley-class high-speed transport built 1944 on a Rudderow-class DE hull with a two-boiler steam plant ('D' Express type, 435 psi/750 deg F; G.E. turbo-electric drive, 12,000 shp - official machinery table) would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Bethlehem Steel's Quincy yard (Fore River Shipyard) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3; litigation naming a Fore River pipefitter's apprentice, Oliver v. General Electric, D. Md. 1:16-cv-01057). NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Fore River construction trades 1944; crew 1944-1947
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos record exists for this hull. NAVSHIPS documents the machinery plant but says nothing about insulating materials. The Fore River litigation record is yard-level and postdates this hull's 1944 build; it does not establish materials aboard APD-120. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced), 2026-09-29 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kline-apd120-05 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep, all queries via the authenticated helper: exact-name '"USS Kline"' (type=o) returned 0 results - no opinion naming this vessel in the opinion index; the same query on the RECAP-docket index (type=r) returned 0 results. Hull-number query '"APD-120"' (type=o) returned 0 results. Hull-number query '"DE-687"' (type=o) returned 6 hits, all string collisions on metadata review - bankruptcy (In re Oxford Development, 8th Cir. 1995; R-G Financial Corp. v. Garcia, Bankr. D.P.R. 2006), civil fraud (Harbaugh v. Greslin, S.D. Fla. 2006), tax (White v. Commissioner, 7th Cir. 1985), insurance coverage (Lincoln Electric v. St. Paul, 6th Cir. 2000), and a military-vehicle bid protest (Am General v. United States, Fed. Cl. 2014); 'DE-687' matches as a docket-entry/exhibit/page fragment in each - none vessel-, maritime-, or asbestos-related. No qualifying litigation names this hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Opinion and RECAP-docket indexes were swept for the exact name and both hull numbers; RECAP coverage of federal dockets is incomplete and state-court dockets sit outside the index entirely - absence of hits is a finding about indexed public dockets, not proof no claims exist. The six DE-687 hits were classified from caption/court/docket-number metadata; full opinion texts were not pulled (fleet pacing budget).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-05
-
[7]Batch-4464 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (Wayback capture), NAVSHIPS 250-012, NavSource, UDT-SEAL Museum catalog, Florida Memory state archive, NARA catalog, Atlas yard dataset, general web search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kline-apd120-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull was transferred to the Republic of China in 1966 and sunk as a target in 2000. The only general-web hit pairing this hull with 'asbestos' is a law-firm marketing list (simmonsfirm.com ship index) - an excluded source class under batch rules, not evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 steam-plant build is era-consistent with asbestos materials, and the hull no longer exists in recoverable form so no present-day survey is possible. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-06
-
[8]NARA Record Groups 19 and 24 (BuShips vessel specifications / General Information Books; WWII-era deck logs); Military Assistance Program transfer records; Green Cove Springs inactivation records [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov (RG 19, RG 24); Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet administrative records; MAP/DSA transfer files
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA RG 19 BuShips contract specifications and 'General Information Books' covering DE-687/APD-120's construction at Bethlehem/Quincy - the per-vessel materials path used for other hulls; (2) NARA RG 24 deck logs 1944-47; (3) Green Cove Springs inactivation/mothballing work-package records 1946-47 (reserve-fleet preservation); (4) MAP transfer documentation for the 1966 sale to Nationalist China; (5) ROC Navy records 1966-1997 (maintenance, any modernization or abatement in foreign service).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these holdings were pulled or digitized; contents unknown. They establish nothing about materials aboard. NARA catalog API not retrievable via automated fetch in this session (JS-rendered service).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-07
-
[9]National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum Association online catalog, item 2001.0134.2 - 'B&W photo of USS Kline with UDT 11 aboard' [museum_official]
- Locator
- navysealmuseum.pastperfectonline.com item 2001.0134.2
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum catalog record documents a photograph of this hull with Underwater Demolition Team 11 embarked - consistent with the DANFS narrative of UDT training at Pearl Harbor and UDT operations at Okinawa, Brunei Bay, and Balikpapan.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- UDT-11 personnel embarked aboard USS Kline
- Limitations
- Confirms UDT embarkation via a cataloged photo; contains no material or asbestos information. The catalog's pasted biographical caption repeats the erroneous 'APD-119' redesignation - the correct number is APD-120 (see ev-10).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-08
-
[10]Florida Memory (State Archives of Florida), Steinmetz collection photo JJS0454 - 'Naval ships mothballed at Green Cove Springs, Florida' (Joseph Janney Steinmetz, c. 1946) [other_primary]
- Locator
- floridamemory.com item 245412 (image JJS0454); ship identification per NavSource caption of same photograph (100412032)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- State-archive photograph documents this hull (nearest ship in frame, identified via NavSource captioning of the same image) moored in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida, with USS John P. Gray (APD-74) astern - photographic corroboration of the 1947-1966 reserve-fleet layup recorded by DANFS.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- c. 1946-1966
- Population
- Skeleton/caretaker and reserve-fleet personnel, Green Cove Springs 1947-1966
- Limitations
- A photographic record of the mooring, not a condition or materials survey; the Florida Memory catalog record itself does not name the vessel (identification via NavSource caption of the identical frame). No information about preservation method, materials retained aboard, or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-09
-
[11]DANFS 'redesignated APD-120 on 17 July' (Kline entry) vs NavSource APD-119 page (USS Beverly W. Reid, ex-DE-722, redesignated APD-119 the same day, 17 July 1944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS Kline entry (redesignated APD-120); navsource.net 04119.htm (Beverly W. Reid = APD-119, ex-DE-722, redesignated 17 Jul 1944)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-number correction: this vessel is APD-120. Secondary sources - including the Wikipedia article's narrative text and the UDT-SEAL Museum's online catalog caption - print 'redesignated APD-119 on 17 July 1944' for Kline. APD-119 is a different Crosley-class ship, USS Beverly W. Reid (ex-DE-722, Dravo/Consolidated Steel), redesignated the same day, which explains the transposition. The batch packet's 2026-09-27 identity correction (Kline = APD-120, Crosley-class, ex-DE-687) matches DANFS.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Correction documents a known secondary-source transposition; it does not bear on materials or asbestos. The Wikipedia infobox itself reads APD-120 - the error is confined to the article's narrative sentence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kline-apd120-10