Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
-
[1]research packet 769-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-runels-de793-pkt-769-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Runels' (DE-793/APD-85) entry - verbatim text via Wayback capture (2012-10-24) of the Naval Historical Center page history.navy.mil/danfs/r9/runels.htm; current live NHHC URL structure returns 404; identical transcription mirrored at hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de793.htm [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Runels', full text incl. specifications block (Wayback capture 2012-10-24)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Ensign Donald Steven Runels (killed aboard Northampton CA-26 at Tassafaronga, 30 November 1942); laid down 7 June 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched 4 September 1943 (sponsor Mrs. D. S. Runels); commissioned 3 January 1944 (Lt. Comdr. H. G. Claudius); CortDiv 47, shakedown Bermuda, TF 67 transoceanic convoy duty from Brooklyn (UK convoy 25 March-11 May 1944; Casablanca); TG 80.6 escort/patrol off western North Africa from Mers-el-Kebir 10 July; Operation Dragoon transport screen from 15 August 1944 and two months of troop/supply escort; Bastia-Marseille LST protection November-December; arrived New York 18 January 1945; redesignated APD-85 on 24 January; conversion completed 8 April; departed for the Pacific 28 April; Pearl Harbor to Eniwetok convoy 9 June; Okinawa 4 July, Hagushi Anchorage patrol, Leyte-Okinawa convoy escort 14 July-6 August, radar picket to cessation of hostilities; TF 31, Sagami Wan 27 August; seven months occupation duty (POW evacuation, Iwo Jima-Tokyo transport, Izu demilitarization, mobile HQ Director of Port Activities Empire Area); departed 9 April 1946, Philadelphia 31 May, Charleston July, Mayport January 1947; decommissioned 10 February 1947, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck from the Navy list 1 June 1960; 'two years later' sold for scrap to Portsmouth Salvage Co., Portsmouth, Va.; one battle star for World War II. Design block: 1,400 tons, 306 ft, 36 ft 10 in beam, 13 ft 6 in draft, 24 knots, complement 213, class Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (Orange, TX, 1943-44); wartime and occupation-era crew (design complement 213)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and design specifications - it contains no materials or asbestos information. Text verified against a 2012 Wayback capture of the official NHHC page; the live history.navy.mil DANFS page for this hull returns 404 under current URL structure, so the archived official text (not a secondary source) is cited. 'Two years later' sale phrasing conflicts with NavSource's 10 July 1961 date - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-runels-de793-01
-
[3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Runels (DE-793/APD-85) page (navsource.net/archives/06/793.htm) and companion APD page (navsource.net/archives/10/04/04085.htm) - compiled build/operational data, specification block, and commanding-officer list from official records [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-793/APD-85 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block, specifications block, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 7 June 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; launched/christened 4 September 1943; commissioned 3 January 1944; 'Reclassified and converted APD 85 at New York' 24 January 1945; decommissioned 10 February 1947 at Mayport, Fla.; struck from the NVR 1 June 1960; sold for scrapping to the Portsmouth Salvage Co., Portsmouth, Va., 10 July 1961. Specification block: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3-inch guns); 1,400 tons light / 1,740 full; 2 'D' Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kts; complement 15/198; armament 3 x 3"/50, 40mm and 20mm AA, 3 x 21" torpedo tubes, Hedgehog, depth-charge projectors/tracks. Commanding officers: LCDR H. G. Claudius (comm.) to 28 Feb 1945; LT B. Hamlin to 26 Sep 1945; LCDR C. P. Sheppard to 20 Jan 1947; LTjg J. P. Strickland (decomm.).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-47; Mayport reserve-fleet caretakers 1947-60; Portsmouth Salvage scrapping crew 1961
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive of official data (NVR, DANFS, NHHC photos), not an official publication - dates corroborate DANFS except the sale date (10 July 1961 vs DANFS 'two years later') and a reclassification date of 15 December 1944 carried by uboat.net and secondary compilations (apparently the order date; DANFS's 24 January 1945 redesignation is controlling in this record). No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-runels-de793-02
-
[4]Buckley-class class profile (buckley-class.class.json, class-f worktree - navypedia TE block map and BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3) + NavSource DE-793 specification block (TE plant, 2 'D' Express boilers) [other_primary]
- Locator
- buckley-class.class.json member row DE-793 + propulsion_summary/class_notes; NavSource DE-793 spec block; DANFS conversion dates
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: Runels was a Buckley-class (TE) destroyer escort - the only DE group besides the John C. Butler class with a full steam plant (two 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750 deg F per BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3, feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp). A steam warship built June 1943-January 1944, during the federal asbestos-reserve period for shipbuilding, would have carried era-standard asbestos in boiler and steam-line insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and accommodation insulation. Her ten-week conversion to a high-speed transport at New York (18 January-8 April 1945, documented in DANFS) is a yard event at which existing insulation would have been disturbed and new material installed - asbestos scope inference only.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (1943-44); wartime crew; New York conversion yard workers (1945); scrapping crew (1961)
- Limitations
- Class/design and era inference only - no hull-specific material schedule, survey, or yard work package exists in the sources searched. Boiler-manufacturer attribution for this hull (Babcock & Wilcox per the navypedia block map carried in the class profile) is unverified against contract documents. Does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, condition, or individual exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-runels-de793-03
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (opinion index type=o; RECAP docket index type=r), executed via fleet-authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-runels-de793-03 through sl-uss-runels-de793-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Exact-phrase 'USS Runels': 0 opinions, 0 dockets. Surname 'Runels': 57 opinions and 63 dockets - all name collisions (criminal, bankruptcy, civil-rights, copyright matters; none maritime, naval, or asbestos). 'DE-793': 10 opinion hits - all reporter page-number/token collisions (*793 pagination, 'De' surnames); no vessel reference. 'APD-85': 0 opinions, 6 docket hits - all unrelated token matches. The 'DE-793' RECAP docket query was deferred by the fleet pacer after the opinion sweep returned only collisions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Index coverage is not exhaustive - pleadings and dockets not captured by CourtListener/RECAP would not appear; absence of a docketed case does not prove no claim was ever filed, and does not bear on asbestos presence aboard the hull. The deferred 'DE-793' docket query is carried in the search ledger as blocked-by-pacing, not as a result.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-runels-de793-04
-
[6]Batch-4534 search ledger (this record): archived NHHC DANFS page + hazegray mirror; NavSource DE-793/APD-85 pages; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP sweeps; Atlas shipyards.json yard dataset; Buckley-class profile; NVR coverage check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-runels-de793-01 through sl-uss-runels-de793-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-793/APD-85: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum documentation, or docketed case naming the vessel was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1961-62, predating modern ACM documentation norms, and left no museum or designation record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 steam-plant warship is era-consistent with extensive ACM. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Scrapping-yard records for Portsmouth Salvage Co. were not located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-runels-de793-05