Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, Otterstetter (DE-244) (builder, dates, service narrative, DER conversion, striking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative + bracketed disposition note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 9 November 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 19 January 1943; commissioned 6 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. W. B. Porter in command. Atlantic convoy escort to Casablanca (Nov-Dec 1943, Feb 1944) and three Argentia-UK convoy voyages from 24 May 1944; sailed for the Pacific 16 July 1945; Saipan 29 August, Iwo Jima 1 September 1945; Japanese waters through 1945 (Tokyo 31 December); Jinsen, Okinawa, Sasebo, Shanghai early 1946; Charleston 15 May 1946; out of commission in reserve 21 September 1946 at Green Cove Springs (Florida Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet). Charleston Naval Shipyard began reactivation and conversion to radar picket destroyer escort 1 June 1951; reclassified DER-244 December 1951; recommissioned 6 June 1952; Escort Squadron Sixteen, Atlantic barrier picket duty from 4 December 1952; decommissioned 20 June 1960; struck from the Navy list 1 August 1974; sunk as a target off Puerto Rico 15 February 1976 (bracketed editorial note in DANFS). Design block: Edsall class, 1,200 t, 306 ft, 21 kt, complement 216.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1976
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 216); Charleston Naval Shipyard conversion workers 1951-52
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The bracketed striking/sinking note is the published-volume editorial update. DANFS out-of-commission date (21 September 1946) and DER reclassification date (December 1951) conflict with secondary sources - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-01
-
[2]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Index DE-244 USS Otterstetter (specifications block, building/operational data, commanding-officer roster) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-244 page, 'Otterstetter (DE244) Building and Operational Data' + specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compendium corroborating and extending the DANFS record: commissioned 6 August 1943 at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. dock, Houston; propulsion 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines with 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp, 2 screws, 21 kt (FMR type - diesel-electric, no boilers); decommissioned at Green Cove Springs 10 September 1946 (conflicts with DANFS 21 September); decommissioned finally 20 June 1960 at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Orange, Tex., custody to CO Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck 1 August 1974; sunk as target off Puerto Rico 15 February 1976. Commanding-officer roster 1943-1960 including LCDR W. B. Porter (commissioning) and LCDR J. P. Sullivan (recommissioning).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1976
- Population
- Crew rosters and command history
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary archive collating official sources - used for corroboration and detail, not as sole authority. Its decommissioning-date and reserve-berth entries conflict with DANFS (see gaps). Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-02
-
[3]DANFS specifications block (Edsall class) + NavSource propulsion block (FMR diesel-electric plant, no boilers) + Atlas shipyard dataset (Brown Shipbuilding not covered; era shipbuilding asbestos context) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NavSource specifications block (FMR plant); shipyards.json (builder absent)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a 1942-43 wartime-built Edsall-class escort would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - exhaust and muffler lagging on the diesel plant, machinery gaskets and packing, pipe and flange insulation on hot auxiliaries, deck covering, bulkhead insulation board, and electrical insulation. The class's Fairbanks-Morse geared diesel-electric plant (4 engines, 6,000 shp) carried no boilers, so the boiler-insulation pathway documented for steam-plant DE classes (Buckley TE, John C. Butler WGT) does not apply; residual inference rests on exhaust systems, machinery spaces, and habitability materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1960
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-46 and 1952-60
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific survey, specification, or abatement record names this hull. Diesel escorts carried less high-temperature insulation mass than steam-plant escorts; inference may overstate aboard quantities. Builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston is not in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-03
-
[4]DANFS conversion entry (Charleston Naval Shipyard reactivation/DER conversion 1951-52) + Atlas shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (tier 2, asbestos products documented incl. pipe insulation, spray-on insulation, gaskets, packing) + NARA-held Booklet of General Plans for DER-244 (Charleston NSY, 18 July 1952) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative (reactivation paragraph); shipyards.json 'charleston-naval-shipyard'; BGP existence reported via Model Monkey product page citing NARA College Park scan (researcher R. Davis)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented hull-level material-disturbance event at an asbestos-documented yard: Charleston Naval Shipyard performed this hull's reactivation and radar-picket (DER) conversion June 1951 - June 1952 - a full conversion availability involving radar/electronics installation and superstructure work at a yard where the Atlas dataset documents asbestos products (pipe insulation, spray-on insulation, gaskets, packing). The official Navy Booklet of General Plans for DER-244 was prepared by Charleston Naval Shipyard, dated 18 July 1952, and is held at the National Archives (archival lead for hull-level conversion drawings).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1951-1952
- Population
- Charleston Naval Shipyard conversion workforce 1951-52; ship's company recommissioning crew
- Limitations
- The event is ship-specific and verified (DANFS); the asbestos scope of this hull's specific work package is yard-level inference, not hull documentation - no asbestos removal record, work package, or hazardous-materials disclosure for Otterstetter's conversion was located. Does not establish that ACM aboard was disturbed, added, or removed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-04
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. Relevant to this hull's reserve-fleet years (1960-1974) and to the absence of any abatement record before her 1976 target sinking.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; the GAO fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk - not Charleston or the reserve-fleet berthing sites for this hull. Full text blocked to automated fetch (HTTP 403); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep: 'USS Otterstetter' (type=o), 'Otterstetter' (type=o and type=r), 'DE-244'/'DER-244' hull-number queries (type=o) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search index (authenticated), queries run 2026-09-28
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. 'USS Otterstetter' returns zero opinion hits. 'Otterstetter' returns 21 opinion hits and 31 docket hits - all reviewed as person-name collisions (the surname recurs in Minnesota litigation, the namesake's home state: e.g., State ex rel. Otterstetter v. McManus, Otterstetter v. Steenerson Bros. Lumber Co., bankruptcy and criminal dockets against individuals, a pelvic-mesh MDL plaintiff); none name the vessel or allege asbestos exposure aboard it. Hull-number queries 'DE-244' (20 opinion hits) and 'DER-244' (2 opinion hits) return only reporter/docket-number citation noise; none ship-specific.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage is not exhaustive (PACER dockets and state-court filings are only partly indexed); absence of an indexed opinion does not prove no pleading ever named the ship. Collision review was by case name/court/metadata, not full-text of every hit.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-06
-
[7]NARA holdings for this hull: Bureau of Naval Personnel muster rolls 'Otterstetter (DE-244), 8/6/43-9/1/46' (National Archives Identifier 192377565, via DPLA); deck logs in the series 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAC 594258); Booklet of General Plans DER-244 (Charleston NSY, 18 July 1952, NARA College Park) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DPLA record for NAC ID 192377565; NAC series 594258; BGP reported via Model Monkey citing NARA scan
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Unmined primary records exist for this hull: NARA holds her wartime muster rolls and the DER-conversion Booklet of General Plans drawn by Charleston Naval Shipyard; deck logs for 1941-1978 are in the NAC series under digitization. These are the leads for crew-level and material-level detail (the BGP would show spaces and finishes as converted; deck logs record yard availability and work particulars).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Crew muster rolls 1943-46
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - contents not reviewed; muster rolls and deck logs rarely itemize asbestos, and the BGP drawing set documents arrangement, not material composition. No digitized Otterstetter deck log was confirmed in the National Archives Catalog as of access date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-07
-
[8]Batch-4164 search ledger (this record): DANFS via HyperWar transcription; NavSource DE-244 index; NARA/DPLA muster-roll record; CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep; Atlas shipyards.json cross-check; GAO HRD-80-2 program record [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-otterstetter-de244-01 through sl-uss-otterstetter-de244-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, shipyard work package, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated/pleaded asbestos case naming DE-244/DER-244 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull is a 1976 target wreck off Puerto Rico, so no museum-condition or donation-condition hazmat pathway exists.
- 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 wartime escort's original materials and 1952 conversion-era materials are undocumented either way. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Sources searched are official/authoritative; non-indexed records (NARA textual, PACER) may hold more.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-otterstetter-de244-08