Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet crew-manus-a-packet.md (9 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Major
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-major-de796-pkt-crew-manus-a-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Major (DE-796) (namesake biography, builder, dates, convoy/Pacific service, decommissioning, striking and sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Ens. Charles Nance Major, USNR, killed 26 February 1942 when the Standard Oil tanker SS R.P. Resor, on which he served as Armed Guard, was torpedoed by U-578 off Manasquan, N.J. Laid down by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex., 16 August 1943; launched 23 October 1943, sponsored by Ens. Margaret Roper Major, the namesake's widow; commissioned at Orange 12 February 1944, Lt. Comdr. O. W. Goepner in command. Shakedown off Bermuda; Caribbean Sea Frontier convoy escort (Cuba-Trinidad); TF 61 convoy escort to Bizerte (UGS-47) and Plymouth, England, and a further North Africa run, returning to Boston 29 December 1944, then submarine training target ship out of New London. Departed for the Pacific 21 February 1945; Philippine Sea Frontier duty out of Leyte Gulf (antisubmarine patrol, passenger/mail runs, convoy escort incl. Hollandia-Leyte and an Okinawa run); August 1945 escorted LSTs to Japan; anchored near USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay 1 September 1945 and witnessed the surrender ceremony 2 September. Decommissioned at Long Beach 13 March 1948; Pacific Reserve Fleet, berthed Stockton, Calif. Bracketed addendum: stricken from the Navy Register 1 December 1972; sold 27 November 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (standing NHHC link rot). Spec block for this entry: dp. 1,400; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; cl. Buckley - the class/era significance of the steam plant is in ev-03, not this row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-01
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[3]Office of Naval Records and History, Ships' Histories Section, Navy Department, 'HISTORY OF USS MAJOR (DE 796)' (stencilled April 1947, restencilled July 1951; digitized manuscript, East Carolina Manuscript Collection #564-004-b1-fa, Joyner Library, ECU) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ECU Digital Collections item 35954, 3-page manuscript; collection #564-004
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy Department narrative history of this hull, beyond DANFS detail: 10-day fitting-out at Galveston after commissioning; ~1-month Bermuda shakedown; 'ten days' availability in Charleston Navy Yard, Boston' before reporting to Commander Caribbean Sea Frontier at Guantanamo; TF 61 organization (flagship USCGC Campbell; Escort Divisions 5 and 56); convoy legs Norfolk-Bizerte, Plymouth (LST/LCI escort), and Oran, Algeria; rescue of Lt. Hermongildo Acosta, U.S. Army guerrilla leader on Mindanao, and six companions from an overturned canoe off northern Mindanao (adrift four days); July 1945 Okinawa convoy escort with USS Knox (DE-580) and USS Earl V. Johnson (DE-702) during the USS Underhill (DE-682) loss period, three nights of Buckner Bay air raids, and typhoon sortie; LSTs carrying Gen. MacArthur's automobile and staff equipment landed at Yokohama, Major anchored near Missouri for the 2 September surrender; overhaul at San Diego late 1945; 'By Directive dated November 1947, USS MAJOR (DE 796) was placed out of commission, in reserve' attached to the Pacific Reserve Fleet; Navy Occupation Service Medal, Pacific, 2-6 September 1945. Post-1951 addendum: stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 December 1972; sold to Levin Metals Corporation, San Jose, California, 27 November 1973 for $40,666.00 and scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Wartime crew; shipyard availability workers (Boston area yard period, 1944; San Diego overhaul, late 1945)
- Limitations
- Official ship-history manuscript, not materials documentation - contains no asbestos or material-content information. Statistics block conflicts with DANFS (1,275 t / beam 36' / complement 220 vs. DANFS 1,400 t / 36'10" / 186) - DANFS figures carried, conflicts logged in gaps. 'Charleston Navy Yard, Boston' is internally contradictory (Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston vs. Charleston Naval Shipyard, S.C.) - carried in gaps. PDF: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/encore/ncgre000/00000036/00035954/00035954.pdf
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-02
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[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + Buckley-class profile (class-f worktree) incl. navypedia per-block boiler map [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; class-f buckley-class.class.json member row DE-796 and ev-buckley-class-01/-02/-04
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: DE-796 is a Buckley-class (TE, turbo-electric) destroyer escort - one of only two DE classes with a full steam plant. BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3: 306 ft oa, 1,400-1,450 t standard, 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750 degF superheat, GE turbo-electric machinery 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, ~23.6 kt. A 1943-44 steam plant of this type would have carried era-standard asbestos applications: boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, deck coverings, and electrical insulation. Navypedia's per-block boiler map assigns Babcock & Wilcox boilers to the DE-789-800 block (Consolidated Steel, Orange).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-48; reserve-fleet caretakers 1948-73; Levin Metals scrapping workers 1973-74
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding: no ship-specific asbestos record exists for DE-796. Does not establish quantities, locations, or any individual's exposure. The navypedia boiler-block map is a secondary compilation unverified against contract documents. Builder yard (Consolidated Steel, Orange, Tex.) is not in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-03
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[5]Batch-4537 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; ONR official history (ECU #564-004); CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweeps; MARAD Vessel History Database; Atlas shipyard dataset; general web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-major-de796-01 through sl-uss-major-de796-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-796: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or remediation contract, no disposal hazmat manifest, no published exposure claim, and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger and ev-05). The hull was sold for scrapping in November 1973 - before federal asbestos-NESHAP record-keeping for demolition - and no Levin Metals shipbreaking documentation was located.
- 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 1943-44 steam-powered hull is consistent with era-standard ACM by design inference (ev-03). This row records that no ship-specific documentation was located; it establishes nothing about materials aboard and does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, type=o opinions and type=r dockets), exact-name and hull-number queries for USS Major / DE-796 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener v4 search results, 2026-09-29; collision classifications per row sl-uss-major-de796-06/-07/-08/-09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep, 2026-09-29 (cl-auth-search.py, authenticated), all four quadrants run: opinions "USS Major"/"U.S.S. Major" = 1 hit, University Support Services, Inc. v. Galvin, 32 Va. Cir. 47 (Fairfax County Cir. Ct. 1993), an education-funding contract dispute - NAME COLLISION. Opinions "DE-796"/"DE 796" = 5 hits, all identifier collisions in unrelated matters (Elnashar v. DOJ/FBI, 8th Cir. 2006; Jeune v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 11th Cir. 2016; Pueblo Interes del Menor ESMR, P.R. 2013; Tennessee v. Skelton, Tenn. Crim. App. 2001; Colon Padilla v. Sec. de Hacienda, P.R. 1962) - none vessel-related, none asbestos. Docket index "USS Major"/"U.S.S. Major" = 1 hit, In re PVR L.P. Securities Litigation (E.D. Pa. 2013) - NAME COLLISION, securities class action. Docket index "DE-796"/"DE 796" = 40 hits (14 unique matters) - all identifier collisions ('DE' as defendant-exhibit/docket-entry fragments in criminal, bankruptcy, and prisoner matters); keyword scan of full result set found zero asbestos or vessel context. No qualifying asbestos docket or opinion naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Search coverage is limited to CourtListener's indexed corpus; state trial filings and unindexed dockets are outside it. 'Major' is a high-collision term and 'DE-796' collides with defendant-exhibit numbering in docket text; all hits were individually classified as collisions, none qualifying. No litigation stage is asserted because no qualifying case was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-05
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[7]East Carolina University, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina Manuscript Collection #564-004 - Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Collection: USS Major (DE-796) Records (1945-1972; 0.5 cu.ft.) [museum_official]
- Locator
- ECU finding aid #564-004; container list box 1 folder a; digitized item digital.lib.ecu.edu/35954
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- University archive holds the USS Major (DE-796) records collection: the ONR official history (digitized, reviewed as ev-02), issues of the ship's wartime weekly paper 'The Capstan Times' (1945), photographs, and clippings. NARA holdings standard for a WWII DE - deck logs (RG 24, Logs of U.S. Naval Ships and Stations) and war diary/action reports (RG 38) at Archives II, College Park - are the unsearched primary leads for any hull-level material, repair, or availability detail, including the undocumented San Diego overhaul scope.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945-1972 (collection range)
- Limitations
- Collection contents beyond the digitized ONR history are not digitized and were not reviewed; no indication any item addresses asbestos or materials. NARA deck-log/war-diary holdings for DE-796 were not verified in the catalog this session (catalog API not machine-reachable); lead logged from the standard RG 24/RG 38 WWII DE holding pattern, not from a confirmed NAID.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-major-de796-06