Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Reeves I (DE-156) (Naval Historical Center page via Wayback capture 2012-11-03; live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Reeves' (I), specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down by Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., 7 February 1943; launched 23 April 1943; sponsored by Miss Mary Anne Reeves, niece of Chief Radioman Thomas J. Reeves; commissioned 9 June 1943, Lt. Comdr. Mathias S. Clark in command. First transatlantic escort run (slow convoy to Casablanca) from 16 August 1943; then 12 months of fast-tanker convoy escort New York-United Kingdom. 18 March 1944 rescued 83 of 84 crew of torpedoed SS Seakay; 19 March took torpedoed USS Donnell (DE-56) in tow. Completed last Atlantic escort 23 September 1944 and entered Philadelphia Navy Yard for conversion to a high-speed transport; redesignated APD-52 on 25 September; emerged 23 December 1944. Pacific: Ulithi 26 February 1945; Kerama Retto 26 March; 109 days of antisubmarine/antiaircraft screening for Operation Iceberg; detached 18 August; Japan repatriation duty of former POWs into October; supported U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey at Nagasaki. Returned to U.S., decommissioned 30 July 1946 at Green Cove Springs (Florida Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet); struck from Navy list 1 June 1960; transferred to Government of Ecuador for use as an electric generator plant. One battle star, WWII. Specifications block: dp. 1,740 (f.); 306 ft; beam 36'10"; draft 9'5" (mean); 24 kt; complement 186; 3x3", 2x40mm, 8x20mm, hedgehog, 3x21" tt; class Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime crew (design complement 186 as DE); Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion trades 1944
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity and service history, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS launch date (23 April 1943) conflicts with the building yard's official history and NavSource building data (22 April) - logged in gaps. DANFS namesake line styles Thomas J. Reeves 'Electrician's Mate, Third Class' though its own biography paragraph records him advanced to chief radioman - his wartime rating, Chief Radioman (CPO), is carried. Live NHHC page 404s; Wayback capture of the Naval Historical Center page is the citation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-01
-
[2]Norfolk Naval Shipyard official history page, 'USS Reeves & USS Fechteler' (nnsy1.navy.mil via Wayback capture 2007-07-22) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NNSY History page 'USS Reeves & USS Fechteler'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The building yard's own official U.S. Navy history page records for this hull: 'Keels laid 7 February 1943. Launched 22 April 1943' (Reeves and Fechteler, DE-157, together) and 'REEVES was altered to a high speed transport (APD-52) and saw active service during World War II.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1943
- Limitations
- Terse yard-history page; documents builder and key dates only, no materials or asbestos content. Its launch date (22 April 1943) conflicts with DANFS (23 April) - the discrepancy is logged rather than reconciled. Wayback capture cited; live nnsy1.navy.mil history pages are no longer reachable.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-02
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Reeves (DE-156/APD-52) building/operational data + NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive APD-52 page and specification block (NARA photos 80-G-1024335 and 80-G-338187 captioned) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/156.htm building data; navsource.net/archives/10/04/04052.htm APD spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled building/operational record for this hull: keel laid 7 February 1943 Norfolk Navy Yard; launched and christened 22 April 1943; commissioned 9 June 1943 at Berth 108, St. Helena Annex, Norfolk Navy Yard; APD conversion commenced 23 September 1944 at Philadelphia Navy Yard, completed 23 December 1944; reclassified APD-52 25 September 1944; decommissioned 30 July 1946 at Green Cove Springs after 3 years 1 2/3 months service; struck from the NVR 1 June 1960; transferred to Ecuador July 1961, hulk converted to floating power plant (final fate unknown). APD specification block: 12 officers/192 enlisted crew, troop accommodations 12 officers/150 enlisted, 4 LCVP, one 5"/38 DP mount, 2 'D' Express boilers 435 psi/750 F (block reads Combustion Engineering), GE turbo-electric drive 12,000 shp. Captioned NARA photographs document the hull off the Philadelphia Navy Yard 22 December 1944 (80-G-1024335) and liberated POWs aboard in Tokyo Bay 29 August 1945 after transfer from USS Benevolence AH-13 (80-G-338187).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Wartime and reserve-era crew; Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion trades 1944; Ecuadorian custody post-1961
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (NVR/DANFS-derived), not a contemporaneous record: internally inconsistent - the APD-52 page header reads '24 September 1944' for reclassification while its building-data timeline reads 25 September (DANFS: 25 September), and the APD page prose reads 'Struck from the Naval Register 1 June 1966' while its building data, DANFS, and the class profile read 1 June 1960 (typo logged). Boiler manufacturer (Combustion Engineering) conflicts with the navypedia block map used in the class profile (Babcock & Wilcox) - both secondary, logged. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-03
-
[4]Cabasug v. Crane Co., 989 F. Supp. 2d 1027 (D. Haw. 2013) - CourtListener opinion 8730557 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text, Ametek summary-judgment discussion at 1046-1047 (S&K replacement-parts analysis)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Sole 'USS Reeves' hit in the CourtListener opinion index. In this asbestos action the only Reeves reference is documentary: 'an invoice establishing that PHNS ordered from S&K a rotameter with asbestos gaskets for the USS Reeves' (Doc. No. 713-8). The plaintiff's exposure window was Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard 1973-2006, when the only commissioned USS Reeves was DLG-24/CG-24 (Leahy class, Pearl Harbor homeport) - a different hull from DE-156/APD-52, which was stricken 1 June 1960 and transferred to Ecuador. The court held the invoice unhelpful because the plaintiff never asserted work on rotameters and granted Ametek summary judgment on that record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2012-2013 (litigation); exposure window 1973-1986
- Population
- PHNS pipefitter/nuclear engineer 1973-2006 (not this hull's service window)
- Limitations
- Name collision: the Reeves named is the CG-24-era cruiser, not this hull - the document nonetheless evidences that asbestos-gasketed equipment was ordered for a Navy vessel named Reeves at PHNS. Summary-judgment-stage record; the reference is recited, not adjudicated; establishes nothing about this hull or its materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-04
-
[5]Smargisso v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., No. 3:23-cv-01414 (N.D. Cal., filed 2023-03-24, terminated 2025-01-15) - CourtListener RECAP docket 67091743 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener RECAP index for 3:23-cv-01414 (N.D. Cal.); SJ order Dkt. 176 background section (Ankiel service history)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos wrongful-death docket (28:1332; nature of suit 368 asbestos personal injury) in which 'USS Reeves' appears in indexed CourtListener docket text. The decedent's service per the court's 2024 summary-judgment order (Dkt. 176) was as a boiler technician aboard USS Hollister October 1975-April 1978 - a window in which the only commissioned USS Reeves was CG-24, and 29+ years after this hull's July 1946 decommissioning. The Reeves reference's document context was not retrievable from the index; it most plausibly names the cruiser CG-24.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2023-2025 (litigation)
- Population
- Unverified from index (decedent service aboard USS Hollister 1975-1978)
- Limitations
- Reference role unresolved - the matching document text was not surfaced in the search payload, so the correction rests on date logic: this hull cannot be a 1970s service/exposure site. Pleading/discovery-stage docket; unadjudicated as to any vessel; establishes nothing about this hull or its materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep: type=o '"USS Reeves" asbestos' (1 hit), type=r '"USS Reeves"' (2 hits), type=o '"APD-52"' (0 hits), type=o '"DE-156"' (47 hits, all 'DE 156' = docket-entry-156 boilerplate citations, none naming the vessel) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-reeves-apd52-04 through -06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Every 'USS Reeves' hit in the opinion and RECAP indexes resolves to the later cruiser DLG-24/CG-24 (name collision - see ev-04, ev-05); '"APD-52"' returned no results and '"DE-156"' returned only docket-entry-number ('DE 156') boilerplate collisions. No opinion or docket alleges exposure aboard DE-156/APD-52.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes published opinions and RECAP docket metadata - absence from the index does not prove no complaint ever named the hull (state-court filings and unindexed PACER documents are outside the sweep). A name match is not a case; classification is per the litigation-stage discipline.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-06
-
[7]DANFS specifications block (Buckley class, 24 kt, 186 complement) + NavSource DE/APD specification blocks (2 'D' Express boilers 435 psi/750 F, GE turbo-electric 12,000 shp) + Atlas Buckley-class profile (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3; no ship-specific asbestos record for any of 148 hulls) + NARA RG19 'General Information Books' archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NavSource 10/04/04052.htm spec block; class-f/buckley-class.class.json (member row DE-156, propulsion_summary, class_notes, gaps)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: this hull carried the Buckley-class turbo-electric plant - two 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750 F feeding GE turbine-generators at 12,000 shp - and 1943 Navy construction practice would have applied asbestos insulation and lagging to boilers and steam runs, asbestos gaskets and packing in machinery, and asbestos fireproofing. The September-December 1944 Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion to APD (troop berthing added, four LCVPs, rearmament with a 5"/38 mount) was a documented yard event whose asbestos scope is inference. The Buckley-class profile records no ship-specific asbestos documentation for any of the 148 hulls; NARA RG19 per-vessel General Information Books are the archival lead for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1943; Philadelphia Navy Yard conversion trades 1944; wartime crew
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific finding: nothing documents asbestos installed aboard or removed from this particular hull, and the conversion's asbestos scope is unverified. Boiler manufacturer attribution differs between secondary sources (NavSource APD block: Combustion Engineering; navypedia block map in the class profile: Babcock & Wilcox). Does not establish quantity, individual exposure, or present-day presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-07
-
[8]Batch-2439 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via Wayback), NNSY official history (via Wayback), NavSource building/operational archive, Naval Vessel Register, MARAD vessel history, CourtListener opinion and RECAP indexes [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-reeves-apd52-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum documentation, or docketed merits adjudication naming DE-156/APD-52 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull's disposal path - stricken 1960, transferred to Ecuador as a floating power plant - leaves no preserved-ship survey pathway.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2026-09-25
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 steam plant makes era-material presence plausible, but it is not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Ecuadorian-custody records were not reachable.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-reeves-apd52-08