Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet ip-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-otter-de210-pkt-ip-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Otter II (DE-210), Vol. 5 p.188 (1970) - verbatim transcription via losthistory.net/hazegray mirror; live NHHC page serves 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. 5 p.188 entry 'Otter', namesake paragraph + DE-210 specification block + service narrative + bracketed Bauer & Roberts addendum
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second ship of the name, honoring Lt. Bethel Veech Otter (USNA '37, Canopus AS-9 fire-control officer, Silver Star for the 5 January 1942 Mariveles action, killed on Corregidor 6 May 1942). Laid down 26 July 1943 by the Charleston Navy Yard; launched 23 October 1943, sponsored by Mrs. William M. Otter; commissioned 21 February 1944, Lt. Comdr. D. M. Kerr, USNR. Bermuda shakedown; Atlantic Fleet; escorted two carriers to Casablanca; 1944 U.S.-Mediterranean convoy escort without a loss. December 1944 formed a task group with three sister ships; 16 January 1945 the group sank U-248 without aircraft assistance, Otter playing 'a crucial role in the depth charge attack.' April 1945 the group joined a larger DE/escort-carrier barrier; after Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) was sunk, Otter assisted the rescue while others sank U-546. At war's end Otter was assigned to accept U-boat surrenders: she intercepted a U-boat east of Newfoundland, put a boarding party aboard, and escorted it - the second submarine to surrender - over a thousand miles to the U.S. East Coast. Pacific refit overtaken by war's end; assigned to Submarine Base New London for submarine training. Placed out of commission, in reserve, by directive dated January 1947, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed in Florida. One battle star. Stricken from the Navy Register 1 November 1969; sunk as a target off Puerto Rico 10 July 1970 (bracketed addendum citing Bauer & Roberts, Register of Ships, p.228). Spec block: 1,200 t; 306 ft; 37 ft beam; 12 ft 3 in draft; 24 kt; complement 216; 3x3in, 3x21in TT, 2 DCT, 8 DCP, 1 hedgehog.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (complement 216); New London submarine-training period crew 1945-47
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Spec block prints class 'EDSALL' (recurring DANFS boilerplate on DE entries); DE-210 is Buckley-class per NHHC class listings and navypedia. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404. The bracketed stricken/sunk addendum is the editors' citation to Bauer & Roberts, not NHHC narrative.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-01
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[3]Commander Task Group 22.8, 'Report of the Surrender of German Submarine U-805,' serial CCD62/A16/(Eve) 05, 18 May 1945 - USS OTTER (DE-210), flagship; transcription at uboatarchive.net [other_primary]
- Locator
- CTG 22.8 serial 05 letter + Enclosure (A) war-diary excerpt, entries of 11-15 May 1945
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Navy action report for this hull: USS Otter (DE-210) was flagship of Commander Task Group 22.8 (J. F. Bowling). On 11 May 1945 Otter and USS Varian stood out from Argentia, Newfoundland; at 0619-0800 on 12 May Otter made radar contact with and closed U-805 at 46-26N, 53-11W, and a boarding party of 20 men and 3 officers - volunteers from Otter and Varian, officer-in-charge an engineering officer - hoisted the U.S. ensign on the prize. 13 prisoners of war were taken aboard Otter; U-805 was escorted (Otter starboard beam, Varian port) toward the surrender rendezvous 43-30N, 70-00W off Casco Bay, arrived 15 May, and was handed to Navy authorities for Portsmouth, N.H.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-05-11 to 1945-05-15
- Population
- Otter and Varian boarding-party volunteers (20 enlisted, 3 officers); U-805 crew POWs processed aboard Otter
- Limitations
- Operational record only - no materials or asbestos content. Transcription hosted at uboatarchive.net (document image signatures visible); the underlying report is a U.S. Navy serial. DANFS's 'second to surrender' is narrative; this report is the contemporaneous record. The report text prints 'VARIAN (DE-796)' - a source typo; Varian is DE-798 (DE-796 is USS Major), hull number not reproduced in the finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-02
-
[4]Commander Task Group 22.8, 'Special Operation and Action Report,' serial CCD63/A16/(Eve) 04, 15 May 1945 - USS OTTER (DE-210), flagship; transcription at uboatarchive.net [other_primary]
- Locator
- CTG 22.8 serial 04 letter, paras. 1-2 (composition, rescue assignments), enclosure list item (E)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Navy action report for this hull: Task Group 22.8 (Otter flagship, with Hubbard DE-211, Hayter DE-212, Varian DE-798) departed Argentia 19 April 1945 to set a combined surface-and-air barrier with TG 22.3 and TG 22.4 at 43N-45W. On 24 April, after U-546 torpedoed and sank USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136), 'USS VARIAN and USS HUBBARD played a major role in the actual destruction of the U-boat on 24 April and USS HAYLER and USS OTTER conducted the rescue operations attendant to the torpedoing of the USS DAVIS.' Otter's own action report (USS Otter Secret ltr Serial 005 of 30 April 1945) is listed as Enclosure (E).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-04-19 to 1945-04-25
- Population
- Frederick C. Davis survivors rescued by Otter and Hayter; TG 22.8 crews
- Limitations
- Operational record only - no materials or asbestos content. The transcribed cover letter and endorsements name Otter's enclosure but do not reproduce it; Otter's own Serial 005 report is an unretrieved archival lead (NARA RG 38 records). 'HAYLER' is the report's spelling of Hayter (DE-212).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-03
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[5]DANFS DE-210 specification block (speed 24 kt, complement 216) + Buckley-class profile (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3; navypedia TE block map) + Atlas shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (tier 2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Buckley class profile (class-f/buckley-class.class.json) member row DE-210 + propulsion_summary; shipyards.json 'charleston-naval-shipyard' asbestos_products_documented and OSHA row
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class/yard inference: the Buckley class is the turbo-electric (TE) destroyer escort design - the only DE group besides the John C. Butler class with a full steam plant - 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750F feeding 2 GE steam turbine-generators and electric motors, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts. The navypedia per-block boiler map assigns Combustion Engineering boilers to DE-210's design group. A 1943-44 Charleston Navy Yard hull of this plant would have carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and steam-line insulation/lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. Charleston Naval Shipyard is an Atlas tier-2 yard with yard-level documented asbestos products (pipe insulation 5-50% asbestos, boiler coatings ~15% asbestos, gaskets, packing, spray-on insulation) and a 1988 OSHA asbestos-standard citation; no ship-specific asbestos record was located for any Buckley DE in the class-profile sweep.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; engineering crew 1944-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no source names DE-210 as carrying specific ACM products, and yard records document the yard, not this hull. Boiler-manufacturer assignment derives from the navypedia secondary-source block map, not a primary build document. Does not establish quantity, location, or crew exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep (authenticated): "USS Otter" type=o = 0 opinions; "USS Otter" type=r = 1 docket (Lozano v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 3:12-cv-00183, N.D. Cal. 2012 - foreclosure removal, non-asbestos name collision); "DE-210" type=o = 36 hits and type=r = 436 hits, all name/docket-number collisions; "Otter" asbestos type=o = 22 hits, all surname/word collisions [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API v4 results for queries '"USS Otter"' (o, r), '"DE-210"' (o, r), and '"Otter" asbestos' (o), 2026-09-28
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located: the exact-name opinion index returns zero; the sole exact-name docket hit is a 2012 real-property foreclosure removal (cause 28:1441, nature-of-suit 220) in which 'USS Otter' is incidental text, not a party or exposure allegation; the 36 'DE-210' opinion hits and 436 'DE-210' docket hits are reporter/docket-number and Spanish-language collisions; the 22 '"Otter" asbestos' opinion hits are surname and word collisions - none names the vessel or involves asbestos exposure aboard a Navy ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's indexed opinions and RECAP dockets only - it does not cover state-court filings, MDL-875 ship-list exhibits not indexed by vessel name, settled/undocketed claims, or VA/BVA claims. Absence of a located case is not proof no claim was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-05
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[7]Batch-4128 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; losthistory/hazegray DANFS mirror; NVR ship-detail page; uboatarchive.net CTG 22.8 reports; navsource.org photo archive; Atlas shipyards.json; Buckley class profile; CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-otter-de210-01 through sl-uss-otter-de210-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disposal record, museum disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Otter (DE-210) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was expended as a target and sunk off Vieques, Puerto Rico, 10 July 1970 - there is no extant structure to survey.
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam-plant DE is era-consistent with extensive ACM fit-out, and any such material likely went down with the hull in 1970. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otter-de210-06