Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet ju-packet.md (11 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-sellstrom-de255-pkt-ju-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Sellstrom (DE-255), April 2016 edition - verbatim transcription by Tin Can Sailors (destroyers.org); live NHHC page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- destroyers.org/ships/de-255 'Ship History' + 'Disposition' + namesake blocks (DANFS April 2016)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: first ship named for Ensign Edward Robert Sellstrom, USNR (born Gowrie, Iowa, 19 July 1916; Navy Cross for action of 20 February 1942 while in Fighter Squadron 3 aboard Lexington; killed in an airplane crash 21 June 1942). Laid down 16 March 1943 by the Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston, Tex.; launched 12 May 1943, sponsored by Miss Genevieve Dahl, fiancee of Ensign Sellstrom; commissioned 12 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. William L. Maloney, USCG, in command - a Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort. Shakedown Bermuda; Charleston Navy Yard 6 December 1943; Task Force 63 to Gibraltar January 1944; Casablanca; Brooklyn Navy Yard 23 February 1944 (repairs, alterations, ammunition); convoy UGS-36 to Bizerte - air attack 1 April 1944 (five twin-engined bombers; one merchant ship burned); GUS-36 return as flagship of Escort Division 23; UGS-43/GUS-43 May-July 1944; Boston Navy Yard Annex docked 11-23 July 1944; TCU-35 sections to Clyde, Loch Ewe, Lough Foyle; Londonderry 23-26 August; UCT-35 return; six further Atlantic convoys (Belfast, Liverpool, Plymouth, Southampton, Birkenhead, Le Havre). Caribbean June 1945; Charleston 17 June 1945; Panama Canal 27-29 June; San Francisco 7 July; Adak 19 July; Dutch Harbor availability 21-27 July; Alaskan convoy escort and northern Japan guardship duty; postwar Pacific December 1945-February 1946 (Tsingtao, Jinsen, Pearl Harbor); Panama Canal 17-20 March 1946 en route to drydocking at Charleston. 'In April 1946, Sellstrom was placed out of commission, in reserve.' On 1 November 1955 taken out of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for overhaul and conversion to a radar picket escort ship; redesignated DER-255; recommissioned 1 October 1956; radar picket lines and ocean weather station duty off Newfoundland, the east coast, and the Caribbean through the 1950s. 'Decommissioned in June 1960 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard'; struck from the Navy list 1 November 1965; April 1967 towed from Philadelphia to the Peck Iron Metal Works, Portsmouth, Va., for scrapping. One battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned wartime crew 1943-46; USN crew 1956-60; reserve-fleet caretakers
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Decommission dates/places conflict with NavSource on both commissions (1946 April vs. 13 June Green Cove Springs; 1960 Philadelphia vs. Orange, Tex. 24 June) - carried in gaps. Live NHHC page 404s; verbatim Tin Can Sailors transcription of the April 2016 edition cited; an older transcription (historycentral.com) reads '1 November 1956' for the reserve-fleet exit where this edition reads 1955 - also in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row 302 for SELLSTROM, DE-255 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 258-259) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster row 302, SELLSTROM DE-255 (book pp. 258-259; shipscribe scan PDF p. 139)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull: SELLSTROM, official number DE-255, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,921,000 (cost-plus-fixed-fee per the table's footnote marker); contract signed 18 January 1942; keel laid 16 March 1943; launched 12 May 1943; preliminary-completion date column reads 30 August 1943; acceptance and first commission both read 12 October 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1943
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. Page is an image scan read by OCR; the keel/launch/commission dates corroborate DANFS and NavSource exactly. The 'Aug. 30, 1943' middle-column figure (preliminary completion/acceptance column) is OCR-fragile and not relied on.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 4 / FMR (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-4 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 127)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design-group table: design group 4 (symbol FMR - Fairbanks-Morse diesel reverse-gear drive) - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 21 kt; machinery 4 Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boilers 'None'; 2 diesel ship's-service generators (100 kW, A.C.); accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted; armament 3 x 3 in/50 cal. D.P. Documents that the FMR design carried a diesel plant with no boilers or steam system.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (publication)
- Population
- FMR-design crews (design accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the whole FMR group (85 hulls), not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type and accommodations, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; individual cell values may be partially garbled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-03
-
[5]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Sellstrom (DE-255) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, flag hoist NFTM; Wayback capture 2025-05-27 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/255.htm building-and-operational-data block + photo captions (Wayback 2025-05-27 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 16 March 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 12 May 1943, sponsor Miss Genevieve Dahl, fiancee of Ensign Sellstrom; commissioned 12 October 1943, Lcdr William L. Maloney, USCG, in command; decommissioned 13 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years 8 months of service; reclassified DER-255 on 21 October 1955; moved 1 November 1955 to the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y. for conversion to DER; recommissioned 1 October 1956 at the New York Naval Shipyard, Lcdr. W. H. Shaw, USN, in command, assigned to Newport, R.I. as a unit of Escort Squadron 18; decommissioned 24 June 1960 at the U.S. Naval Station, Orange, Tex. after 3 years 8 months of service, custody to CO, Texas Group, U.S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck from the NVR 1 November 1965 with a total of 6 years 4 months of service; sold April 1967 to Peck Iron & Metalworks, Portsmouth, Va. Awards displayed: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive); China Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one star; World War II Victory Medal. Complement 8 officers/201 enlisted. Photo captions place the ship off Boston near the Boston Navy Yard 24 July 1944 (NARA photo CP-DE-255 19-N-68621) and document USCG cutter-list photo USN-177791; a DER-255 underway photo notes the full-width amidships deckhouse and modified bridge added by the conversion; a 1957 photo shows the ship operating with a Lockheed WV-2.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Wartime USCG crew and 1956-60 USN crew (NavSource complement 8 officers/201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - its specific decommission dates/places (13 June 1946 Green Cove Springs; 24 June 1960 Orange, Tex., Texas Group custody) conflict with the DANFS narrative (April 1946; June 1960 Philadelphia Navy Yard) - carried in gaps. A third compiled source, the NavalCoverMuseum wiki, reads 'Decommissioned June 13 1946' (corroborating NavSource's 1946 date) and 'Decommissioned June 30 1960' (a third variant for the second decommissioning). Contributed photo captions are unattributed detail. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-04
-
[6]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS Sellstrom (DE 255) - commanding-officer listing and service chronology (compiled secondary reference) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1591.html, 'Commander' table + 'Notable events' convoy entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Compiled record corroborating the hull's Coast Guard manning through the whole first commission: 'USS Sellstrom was manned by the U.S. Coastguard during the Second World War until decommissioned in April 1946'; commander list reads Cdr. William L. Maloney, USCG (12 Oct 1943 - 4 May 1944); Lcdr. William L. Morrison, USCG (4 May 1944 - 10 Jul 1945); C. J. Schmidt, USCGR (from 10 Jul 1945). Convoy-event entries name Sellstrom as a unit of CortDiv 7 with ComCortDiv 7 embarked - documenting her in an escort-division flagship role consistent in kind with DANFS's 'flagship of Escort Division 23' passage, though the division numbers differ between the two sources.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- USCG/USCGR officers and crew, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/NavSource where they overlap. 'Decommissioned in April 1946' follows the DANFS account against NavSource's 13 June 1946 - the conflict is carried in gaps, not resolved. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-05
-
[7]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + documented 1955-56 DER conversion yard period + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for diesel-powered escorts [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns); cf. edsall-class sibling record ev-uss-edsall-de129-06 (same diesel-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1943 would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-powered escort - exhaust-system insulation and lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings on winches and windlass, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Because the FMR plant has no boilers or steam lines (SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row), the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply to this design. The 1955-56 DER conversion at the New York Naval Shipyard (documented by DANFS and NavSource) is a second asbestos-use-era construction period for this hull; its materials scope is not public.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet custody 1946-55; N.Y. Naval Shipyard conversion workforce 1955-56; USN crew 1956-60
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-255 or its DER conversion was located; this establishes era-consistent expectation for the type, not that any specific material went aboard this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. Builder yard (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Tex.) is not in the Atlas shipyards dataset - no yard-level asbestos documentation is attached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-06
-
[8]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (citation verified in batch-4037 uss-edsall-de129, accessed 2026-09-28) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Documented asbestos aboard a preserved Edsall-class sister hull built by the same yard: the Galveston Daily News reported asbestos in public areas of USS Stewart (DE-238) and USS Cavalla (SS-244) at Seawolf Park, with contractor Separation Systems Consultants approved to proceed with abatement; the Galveston Park Board cited U.S. Navy inspection recommendations that an asbestos survey be conducted. USS Stewart is a Brown Shipbuilding-built Edsall-class hull (DE-238) - same class and same builder as DE-255 - class-level corroboration that Edsall-class construction carried asbestos-containing material.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020
- Population
- Museum staff/volunteers and Seawolf Park visitors; abatement crews
- Limitations
- Evidence about a sister hull (DE-238), NOT this hull: same class and builder but a museum-hull lifecycle DE-255 never had (DE-255 was scrapped 1967). Documents asbestos aboard one Edsall-class ship as delivered/preserved; establishes nothing about DE-255's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DE-255 (built 1943, DER conversion 1955-56) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction and conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description. Says nothing about this specific hull or any diesel-escort application specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-08
-
[10]NARA National Archives Catalog - digitized Navy deck logs for 'Sellstrom (DE/DER-225)' [sic - hull-number typo for 255; commission Oct 1943 / decommission June 1960 matches this hull] [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online, 'S' list, Sellstrom (DE/DER-225) entry; monthly catalog ids e.g. 284598574 (Oct 1956), 216726050 (Jan 1960), 216726566 (Jun 1960)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Deck logs for the hull's entire second commission are digitized in the National Archives Catalog: October 1956 through June 1960 (the full DER-255 radar-picket period, e.g., October 1956 = catalog id 284598574, June 1960 = catalog id 216726566). World War II-era logs (1943-1946) are NOT in the digitized list. The June 1960 log could document the final decommissioning site (Philadelphia vs. Orange, Tex. - see gaps) and the October-November 1956 logs the post-conversion shakedown; none have been surveyed for materials or exposure content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1956-1960
- Population
- DER-255 crew 1956-1960 (deck-log subjects)
- Limitations
- Existence of the digitized logs is verified from the NARA deck-log index page; log CONTENT is unsurveyed - this is a retrieval lead, not a finding. The catalog entry's hull number reads 'DE/DER-225', a NARA title typo; commission/decommission dates on the entry match DE-255 exactly. Deck logs record operational events, not insulation schedules - asbestos mentions are possible but unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'USS Sellstrom' / 'Sellstrom' / 'DE-255' / 'DER-255' / 'Sellstrom asbestos' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results 2026-09-28: 'USS Sellstrom' type=o count=0, type=r count=0; 'DER-255' type=o count=0; 'DE-255' type=o count=18 (all ECF/term false positives); 'Sellstrom asbestos' type=o count=0
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion sweep '"USS Sellstrom"' (type=o): 0 hits. Docket sweep '"USS Sellstrom"' (type=r): 0 hits. Designation sweep '"DER-255"' (type=o): 0 hits. Hull-number sweep '"DE-255"' (type=o): 18 hits, all false positives - ECF document-entry citations ('[DE 241]', '(DE 280)', '[DE-208]' pattern) and unrelated term collisions inside non-maritime cases (Boca Raton Community Hospital v. Tenet, Smart v. City of Miami Beach, Appalachian Regional Healthcare v. Coventry, Winn-Dixie v. Dolgencorp, Goldstein v. MCI Worldcom, Perrin v. Aluminum Co. of America, Miami Exporting Co. v. Bank of the United States (Ohio 1833), and similar); zero vessel or asbestos references among them. Supplemental '"Sellstrom asbestos"' (type=o): 0 hits - no asbestos opinion contains the name.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is the CourtListener opinion + RECAP docket indexes only; state-court dockets not mirrored, PACER-only filings, and settled/undocketed claims are outside it. 'No result' does not prove no claim was ever filed - it proves no indexed opinion or docket names the hull. The hull number collides with ECF document-entry numbering ('DE-255' citations), and 'Sellstrom' collides with the surname.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-10
-
[12]Batch-4176 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcriptions; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR); GAO product page; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; VA/BVA web search; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-04 through sl-10) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sellstrom-de255-01 through sl-uss-sellstrom-de255-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-255/DER-255: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was scrapped in 1967, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for sister hull Stewart (DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Sellstrom (DE-255) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull (asbestos-ships.com, freeasbestostesting.com, shepardlawfirm.com) - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard - 1943 escort construction and the 1955-56 DER conversion both fall inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and sister-hull DE-238 carried documented asbestos. Digitized DER-era deck logs (NARA, ev-09), WWII deck logs (RG 24, Archives II), and BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book) are unsurveyed leads. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present aboard; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sellstrom-de255-11