Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet kz-packet.md (4 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Robert I. Paine (DE-578, later DER-578 while in reserve).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-robert-i-paine-de578-pkt-kz-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Robert I. Paine (DE-578) (namesake, builder, dates, service narrative, striking; verbatim NHHC text via Wayback capture 2024-12-10 - live NHHC page serves 404; hazegray.org transcription corroborates) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Robert I. Paine (DE-578)', specifications block + service narrative (Wayback capture of history.navy.mil)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 5 November 1943 at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyards Inc., Hingham, Mass.; launched 30 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. John Paine; commissioned 26 February 1944, Lt. Comdr. Drayton Cochran. Atlantic Fleet service: screened Ranger (CV-4) and Card (CVE-11) to Casablanca; hunter-killer group on Block Island (CVE-21) - on 29 May 1944 U-549 sank Block Island and crippled Barr (DE-576); Robert I. Paine took on 279 survivors; Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686) and Ahrens (DE-575) sank U-549. Escorted GUF-11 Gibraltar to New York; convoy UGS-48 to Bizerte, assisted beating off Luftwaffe attack 1 August 1944; second Bizerte run; winter 1944-45 ASW Casco Bay-Halifax-Argentia; 12th Fleet Western Approaches March 1945, Liverpool 3 April; represented the United States at surrender of eight U-boats at Londonderry 14 May 1945. Arrived New York 1 June 1945, then Houston for radar-picket conversion; Caribbean training January 1946; exercises off Maine; Azores air-sea rescue duty from March 1946; four months laid up May 1946; fall overhaul; east-coast/Caribbean operations January 1947. Ordered to Reserve Fleet June 1947; arrived Charleston 4 September; decommissioned 21 November 1947; berthed Charleston Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet until struck from the Navy list 1 June 1968; redesignated DER-578 on 18 March 1949 and DE-578 on 1 December 1954. One battle star, World War II. Spec block: 1,720 t full load, 306 ft, beam 35 ft 10 in, draft 11 ft, 24 kt, complement 186.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1968
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 186); 279 Block Island survivors embarked 29-30 May 1944
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The online DANFS text ends at the 1968 striking - it carries no disposal sentence, so the 18 July 1969 sale is carried from secondary sources (ev-06). Live NHHC page returns 404; canonical text recovered via the 2024-12-10 Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-01
-
[3]USS Robert I. Paine (DE-578) 'Ship's History' - official war's-end report submitted by the ship, NARA-declassified (E.O. 13526, NDC NARA 31 Dec 2012), received Office of Public Information 10 Dec 1945, document no. 158305 (scan hosted by NavSource) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource scan 06578wh.jpg (single-page typed history, declassification stamp and received stamp visible)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous ship-submitted history for this hull: 'a unit of Escort Division Sixty-Six, was commissioned February 26, 1944 at Hingham, Massachusetts, and placed under the command of Lieut. Comdr. Drayton Cochran. She is named in honor of Robert I. Paine, a Marine private who lost his life in the landings on Guadalcanal.' Eighteen months Atlantic Fleet - convoy escort, 'Killer Group' assignments with baby flattops, support-group work with Royal and Royal Canadian Navy for convoys approaching the British Isles; two actions: 29 May 1944 Block Island sunk and Barr (DE-576) damaged, Paine rescued 279 survivors; 1 August 1944 Mediterranean convoy air attack near Algiers countered without damage; winter 1944-45 Task Group 22.9 hunting U-boats off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; 14 May 1945 represented the U.S. Navy at the formal surrender ceremonies of eight German U-boats at Lisahally, Northern Ireland; after V-E Day 'sent to Houston, Texas for conversion to a radar picket ship scheduled for subsequent duty in the Pacific war. VJ Day found her partially completed. At the present time, the Paine has been refitted and is ready again for honorable service in a peacetime Navy.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew 1944-45
- Limitations
- Primary source for service and the 1945 conversion window, but it says 'Guadalcanal' where DANFS says Tulagi (the 1st Raider Battalion landing of 7 Aug 1942 was Tulagi) - documented in gaps, not silently reconciled. Contains no materials or asbestos statement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan, OCR) + navypedia TE boiler-block map (DE563-578 = Foster Wheeler); Atlas buckley-class.class.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table (groups 2-3); navypedia us_de_te block map row DE563-578; class-f/buckley-class.class.json ev-buckley-class-01/02/04
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Buckley-class (TE) destroyer escort built 1943-44 carried a full steam plant - two 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750F superheat (Foster Wheeler for the DE-563-578 block per navypedia) feeding GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp - one of only two DE designs with a steam plant and therefore the most asbestos-relevant DE machinery type: boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings typical of 1943-44 construction.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades 1943-44; Brown Shipbuilding conversion workers 1945; crew 1944-47
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No member-level asbestos record exists for any Buckley hull in the class profile's sweep; the boiler-manufacturer block map is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents. Establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-03
-
[5]Batch-4389 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback; ship's war's-end history scan; NavSource archive; NVR; Atlas shipyard dataset; NARA deck-log series lead; CourtListener sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-578: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure, no museum/owner documentation (hull scrapped 1969-70, no preserved artifact), and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming the vessel was located in the CourtListener sweep. Consistent with the Buckley-class profile, which located no ship-specific asbestos record for any of the 148 built-to-design hulls.
- 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 - 1943-44 construction-era materials are well documented at class level; NARA RG 19 contract files, General Information Books, and the yard-period records for the 1945 Houston conversion are undigitized. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (opinions type=o; RECAP dockets type=r) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-05/-06 (per-query results)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull: exact-name opinion query "USS Robert I. Paine" returned 0 results; no qualifying asbestos litigation, no name-collision opinion, and no docket naming the vessel was located on the queries completed (see search_ledger for per-query results).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage bounded by fleet pacing budget - RECAP docket expansion and the unadorned 'Robert I. Paine' name query remained subject to retry; a complaint alleging exposure aboard the hull could exist undigitized or under different naming (e.g., 'Paine', 'DE-578' without 'USS'). Absence of located litigation is not proof none was filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-05
-
[7]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Robert I. Paine (DE 578) page (secondary compilation hosting NARA-sourced photographs and the war-history scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/578.htm - 'Building and Operational Data' block, spec block, photo captions, CO roster; war-history scan at images/578/06578wh.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled building/operational data and NARA photo references for this hull: keel laid 5 Nov 1943 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Co.; launched/christened 30 Dec 1943; commissioned at Hingham 26 Feb 1944; '18 March 1945: Redesignated DER 578, converted by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.'; decommissioned at Charleston 21 Nov 1947; redesignated DE-578 1 Dec 1954; struck from the NVR 1 Jun 1968; '18 July 1969: Sold, scrapped.' Photo captions cite NARA images 80-G-230391 and 80-G-230393 (10 May 1944 refueling alongside Ranger, bow damage from a 24 Apr 1944 collision with tanker Canyon Creek) and CP-DE-578 / 19-N-67405 (1 Jul 1944 departing New York Navy Yard); spec block reads complement 15 officers / 198 enlisted; commanding-officer roster lists Lcdr. Drayton Cochran (to 28 Nov 1945), Lcdr. Aubrey Delos Engle, Lcdr. Kenneth Steen (decomm.).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1969; page updated 2023-02-18
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding conversion workers 1945; crew 1944-47
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation citing NARA-held photographs - the compilation layer is not itself authoritative. Its '18 March 1945' DER line conflicts with DANFS's '18 March 1949' (formal redesignation); the physical conversion occurred in 1945 per the ship's war history, so NavSource most likely conflates conversion year with designation date - documented in gaps. The 18 July 1969 sale has no named buyer in any source searched; complement figure (213) conflicts with DANFS (186).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-robert-i-paine-de578-06
