Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
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[1]research packet kp-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-pkt-kp-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Leland E. Thomas (DE-420) - verbatim NHHC page via Wayback capture 2024-05-24 (live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-28) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS entry 'Leland E. Thomas (DE-420)', spec block + full narrative (Wayback capture 2024-05-24)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: spec block (John C. Butler class; 1,350 t; 306 ft; 24 kt; complement 186); laid down 21 January 1944 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 28 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Benjamin E. Thomas; commissioned 19 June 1944, Lt. Comdr. Leslie E. Rosenberg in command. Namesake paragraph: 2d Lt. Leland Evan Thomas, USMCR (born Ontario, Oreg., 20 September 1918), a Marine scout-bomber pilot awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, killed in action at Guadalcanal 18 September 1942. Fitting out at Galveston, shakedown off Bermuda, Boston Navy Yard availability August 1944, Atlantic hunter-killer operations, convoy escort to Naples (4 October 1944), escort of store ship Polaris (AF-11) to Cristobal (16 November), then Escort Division 76 to the southwest Pacific: Manus, Leyte Gulf/Hollandia convoys, Mangarin Bay defense, Sulu Sea patrols, Philippine sea frontier escort, Davao Gulf 3d Resupply Echelon and Attack Unit operations (Falisay Point bombardment 19 May, Luayan Point shelling with Flusser DD-368 1 June, Balut Island landing), Balikpapan support, Subic Bay-Okinawa convoys through 15 August 1945; arrived San Pedro 17 December 1945; 'decommissioned 3 May 1946 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet Group at San Diego'; one battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; wartime crew (design complement 186 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and design specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Its 'decommissioned 3 May 1946' date conflicts with NavSource's internally consistent chronology (decommissioned 15 January 1947 at San Pedro; towed to San Diego 3 May 1947) and cannot be reconciled with the continuous commissioned-command chain ending 15 January 1947 - the DANFS date appears to conflate the San Diego tow date; conflict carried in gaps. Live NHHC URL returned 404; verbatim text cited via Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-01
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[3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Leland E. Thomas (DE 420) page - building/operational data, commanding-officer chain, and BuShips/NARA photo captions (Wayback capture 2023-12-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-420 page: 'Building and Operational Data' block, commanding-officers table, and 8 November 1944 New York Harbor photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-specific operational record: keel laid 21 January 1944 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; launched/christened 28 February 1944; commissioned 19 June 1944 (Lcdr. Leslie E. Rosenberg). Drydocking and post-voyage repairs at the New York Navy Yard 24 October-7 November 1944, then reprovisioning at Pier 36, Brooklyn Navy Yard Annex (BuShips photo BS 77807 caption). Decommissioned 15 January 1947 at San Pedro, Cal. after 2 years 7 months of service (90,986 miles steamed); inactivation completed 28 March 1947 at San Pedro (Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet); towed to San Diego 3 May 1947 (19th Fleet inactive storage); struck from the NVR 1 December 1972; sold for scrapping 11 September 1973. Commanding-officer chain runs continuously to Lt. Virgil M. Meaden, 'Decomm. CO,' 12 November 1946-15 January 1947 - corroborating the January 1947 decommissioning over the DANFS '3 May 1946' reading.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Wartime crew; New York Navy Yard and Boston Navy Yard workers during documented 1944 availabilities
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive, not an official repository; its operational chronology appears drawn from NARA/BuShips photo records and commissioning data and is internally consistent (CO chain, mileage, in-service duration). Establishes yard touchpoints and dates, not materials or asbestos content. Live navsource.org blocks automated fetch; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-02
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[4]Class-level anchors: BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol.1 design-group-6 (WGT) row (shipscribe.com scan); Navypedia WGT boiler-block map; Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC (W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537) pretrial materials naming sister hull USS Brannon (DE-446) and identifying the era insulation-spec suite (NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) ch.39; spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' 1945; BuEng ch.13; BUMED 1977 memo) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB1945v1 pp.234-235 group-6 row; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt boiler-block map; Jack ECF 738 att.1 (pretrial order + exhibit list)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference only: a WGT-class steam plant (two 'D' Express boilers, two geared turbines, 12,000 shp) built into a 1944 hull implies period-standard asbestos applications - boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, insulating felts, evaporator/distiller insulation. Per the navypedia WGT block map, DE-402 through DE-424 (which includes this hull) carried Combustion Engineering boilers. The class's only located litigation record (Jack materials naming DE-446) documents the theory that DE evaporator insulation was Navy-specified and asbestos-era; those materials are pretrial/exhibit-list level on a different hull and are cited here solely as the lead to the era spec suite.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; wartime crew 1944-1947
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - not a ship-specific finding. Nothing in the cited materials names DE-420; the Jack record does not adjudicate exposure even for DE-446. Establishes no quantity, no individual exposure, and no present-day condition (hull scrapped 1973).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-03
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[5]This record's search ledger (NHHC DANFS live + Wayback; NavSource via Wayback; HyperWar; hazegray; NVR; CourtListener sweep) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, material schedule, museum/donation hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Leland E. Thomas / DE-420 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1973, foreclosing present-day survey channels.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the ship was built in the peak asbestos era and the era inference (ev-03) stands as context only. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leland-e-thomas-de420-04