Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet ke-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-oberrender-de344-pkt-ke-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Oberrender (DE-344) (NHHC page, live URL returns 404 - 2024-12-07 Wayback capture of the official entry cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (Wayback capture 2024-12-07)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 8 November 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; launched 18 January 1944; commissioned 11 May 1944, Lt. Comdr. Samuel Spencer in command; Bermuda shakedown; transited Panama Canal 1 August 1944; Pearl Harbor-Eniwetok convoy escort; escorted escort carriers for the Leyte invasion; damaged 10 November 1944 in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, 1,100 yards from USS Mount Hood (AE-11) when that ammunition ship exploded, and under repair there for the rest of November; escort/patrol duty Dutch East Indies and Philippines; on 9 May 1945 off Okinawa a kamikaze crashed the starboard side and its bomb penetrated the forward fireroom and exploded - 24 sailors killed, wounded, or missing; towed to Kerama Retto, beyond repair; decommissioned 11 July 1945; struck from the Navy List 25 July 1945; stripped hulk sunk by gunfire 6 November 1945; 3 battle stars. Spec block: 1,745 t; 306 ft; 36 ft 7 in; 13 ft 4 in; 24.3 kt; cpl. 222; cl. John C. Butler.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 222)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. '24 sailors killed, wounded, or missing' is a combined figure - the killed-only count (reported as 8-9 in secondary compilations) is not stated by DANFS and is carried in gaps. Live NHHC URL 404s; the 2024-12-07 Wayback capture of the official page is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-01
-
[3]NavSource Online, Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Oberrender (DE-344) - build/ops timeline and official photo captions (NARA photo 80-G-382879 / BuShips BS 132048; NHHC photo NH 95405 ex-Manus Naval Base war diary) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-344 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block + photo captions 0634402/0634403/0634404
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource archive page for this hull reproduces official-captioned photographs and a build/operational timeline consistent with DANFS, adding: post-shakedown availability at the Boston Navy Yard 2-14 July 1944 (departed for Norfolk 15 July, photographed in Boston Harbor in Measure 32/22D camouflage); sponsor Mrs. Muriel Elinor (Colthurst) Oberrender; commanding officer Lcdr. Samuel Spencer, USNR, in command 11 May 1944 - 11 Jul 1945; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 25 July 1945; hulk scuttled off Kerama Retto 6 November 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew; Boston Navy Yard trades during 2-14 Jul 1944 availability
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained photo archive, not an official repository; its timeline and spec block are secondary compilation, though the photo captions transcribe official NARA/NHHC material. Complement figure in its spec block (14 officers/201 enlisted) differs from DANFS cpl. 222 - carried in gaps. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-02
-
[4]National Archives Catalog (NextGen) holdings for USS Oberrender (DE-344): RG 24 WWII Casualty Reports 'Oberrender (DE-344)' NAID 124042642; RG 24 casualty file 'U.S.S. Oberrender DE-344' NAID 81554512; RG 38 WWII War Diaries monthly files (incl. 5/1-31/44 NAID 78452198 roll A986; 9/44 NAID 134368077 roll A1176; 10/44 NAID 78646949 roll A1227; 11/44 NAID 78695262 roll A1275; 12/44 NAID 139825341 roll A1365); RG 24 Muster Rolls 'Oberrender (DE-344), 5/11/44-7/11/45' NAID 192524023 roll 5584 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NextGen Catalog query 'oberrender' filtered to RG 38/RG 24 (NAIDs listed in citation_value)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA catalog confirms hull-specific record series exist for DE-344: the WWII casualty-report file and a related personnel casualty file (RG 24), a complete run of monthly war diaries covering the ship's commission through loss (RG 38), and muster rolls for the full commissioned period (RG 24). The November 1944 and May 1945 war diaries and the casualty reports are the primary documents most likely to contain compartment-by-compartment damage descriptions (forward fireroom hit) relevant to where insulated machinery spaces were breached.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew 1944-45 (documented in muster rolls and casualty files)
- Limitations
- Holdings verified at catalog level; contents not retrieved (microfilm/Fold3; war diaries digitized on Fold3 per secondary citations). Catalog entries describe records, not their content - no asbestos, insulation, or material-condition statement is yet extracted. Retrieval not performed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + Navypedia John C. Butler (WGT) boiler-block map + Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec exhibit list (W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537, ECF 738 att. 1) spec identifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table (group 6/WGT row); navypedia us_de_tev_wgt block map; Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738 att. 1
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DE-344 is BuShips design group 6 (WGT geared-turbine) - 306 ft, 1,350 t standard, 24.3 kt, 2 shafts, 12,000 shp, two 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F (Combustion Engineering per the navypedia block map for DE-339-372), accommodations 15 officers/207 enlisted. A steam plant of this type built at peak WWII asbestos use would have carried era-standard asbestos applications: fireroom and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and evaporator/distiller insulation - the last specifically litigated for sister ship USS Brannon (DE-446) under Navy insulation specs NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) and asbestos-felt spec 32F3a.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943-44; engineering/fireroom crew 1944-45
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No material schedule, survey, or shipyard record for DE-344 itself was located; the boiler-maker attribution rests on a secondary block map, and the Navy spec suite is identified via a litigation exhibit list, not retrieved text. Establishes no quantity and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-04
-
[6]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - praecipe/pretrial order materials and exhibit list, ECF 738 att. 1 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 6100500, ECF 738 att. 1 (exhibit list and praecipe recitals)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation landscape: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name USS Brannon (DE-446), a John C. Butler-class sister of this hull, and recite the theory that asbestos insulation on a Griscom-Russell evaporator was installed per Navy specifications (the same filing concedes insulation aboard DE-446 'could have included fiberglass, mineral wool' - non-asbestos alternatives). The exhibit list identifies the controlling era spec suite: BuShips Manual ch. 39 Thermal Insulation NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) (24 Aug 1945); Navy Dept. spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' (15 Oct 1945); BuEng General Specs for Machinery S39-1 (3 Feb 1939); BuEng Manual ch. 13 heat insulation (1933/1939); and a BUMED Code-55 POM-80 memo.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2017-2018 (litigation); WWII-era exposure theory
- Population
- Sister-ship crew/decedent (DE-446) - not this hull
- Limitations
- This docket does NOT name DE-344 - it is included as class/era context showing how DE asbestos claims were litigated and which Navy specs they invoked. Pleading/exhibit-list level even for DE-446: no adjudicated exposure finding, and the filing itself concedes non-asbestos insulation was possible aboard that hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-05
-
[7]Batch-4247 CourtListener sweep (this record's search_ledger): opinion search 'Oberrender' (12 hits, all surname collisions) and 'DE-344' (11 hits, all reporter/docket token collisions incl. Hise v. Garlock removal-jurisdiction order verified full-text as non-ship); RECAP docket search 'Oberrender' (31 hits, all pages reviewed, all surname collisions); 'DE-344' docket search (422 hits - docket-entry-number 'D.E. 344' collisions) and narrowed 'DE-344 asbestos' docket search (2 hits, both docket-number collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-oberrender-de344-04 through sl-uss-oberrender-de344-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Oberrender or DE-344 located in CourtListener opinion or RECAP docket indexes. Every 'Oberrender' hit (12 opinions; all 31 dockets, all pages) is a person-surname collision (probate estates, bankruptcy, pharmaceutical-MDL and civil dockets); every 'DE-344' hit is a reporter-cite or docket-entry-number collision (incl. the 2 hits in the narrowed 'DE-344 asbestos' docket query); none involves the vessel or naval asbestos exposure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- No docket or opinion naming the vessel surfaced in any reviewed index. Absence of located litigation does not prove no claim was ever filed - state-court, settled unreported, and non-indexed claims are outside CourtListener coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-oberrender-de344-06