Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]DANFS, Sloat II (DE-245) (builder, dates, convoy and hunter-killer service narrative, Pacific transfer, inactivation, striking and sale; live NHHC page returns 404 - verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (HyperWar/ibiblio de245.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second ship named for Rear Admiral John Drake Sloat; Edsall-class escort ('cl. Edsall' in spec block: dp. 1,200; 306 ft; 21.2 k; cpl. 216). Laid down 21 November 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 21 January 1943, sponsored by Mrs. J. B. Deason; commissioned 16 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. E. E. Garcia in command. Shakedown Bermuda; post-shakedown yard availability at Charleston, S.C., 7-17 October 1943; New York-based convoy escort (UGS-22, UGS-23, UGS-24 to Casablanca, GUS-26, UGS-30, GUS-29) as a unit of Escort Division (CortDiv) 7; with UGS-36 attacked by the Luftwaffe 1 April 1944 about 56 miles west of Algiers (two aircraft downed, two damaged, one convoy ship damaged; Bizerte 3 April). Hunter-killer groups TG 22.4 (with USS Tripoli CVE-64) and TG 23.9 in the western Atlantic and Caribbean; North Atlantic U-boat hunting January-March 1945. Ordered to the Pacific Fleet 15 July 1945; San Diego 26 July; Pearl Harbor 7 August; supply runs to Saipan, Guam, Eniwetok, the Caroline Islands, Iwo Jima, and Shanghai 20 August 1945 - 1 May 1946. Returned to San Pedro 1 May 1946; routed to Charleston arriving 20 May; sailed to Green Cove Springs, Fla., 12 September 1946 for inactivation; 'placed in reserve, out of commission, in January 1947.' Struck from the Navy list 2 January 1971; sold to Peck Equipment Co., Portsmouth, Va., 5 April 1972 for scrap. One battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1972
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and reserve crew (DANFS design complement 216); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers 1947-1971
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Decommission date conflicts with secondary compilations (NavSource/Wikipedia read 6 August 1947) - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-01
-
[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels per-hull roster row for SLOAT, DE-245 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 260-261) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster entry 306, SLOAT DE-245 (book pp. 260-261; shipscribe scan PDF p. 140)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster entry 306): SLOAT, official number DE-245, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,921,000; contract signed 18 January 1942; keel laid 21 November 1942; launched 21 January 1943; ship delivered / date of preliminary acceptance 20 May 1943; date of completion and date of first commission 16 August 1943. All dates corroborate DANFS.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1942-43
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. OCR of a scanned table; the delivered/preliminary-acceptance column (20 May 1943) reads before the completion/commission columns and reflects yard delivery, not the DANFS commissioning event.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-02
-
[3]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, the Edsall class) - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 21 kt trial; machinery four Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boiler columns 'None'; diesel ship's-service generators; 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 cells partially garbled at 150-300 dpi.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-03
-
[4]Navypedia, 'FMR' destroyer escorts (EDSALL) (1943-1944) - class roster and technical-data table (compiled reference) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia FMR/Edsall-class page, roster table row DE245
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class roster: 85 Edsall-class (FMR) hulls completed by two builders - Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex. (47 hulls) and Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Tex. (DE-238 through DE-255 and DE-382 through DE-401, 38 hulls). DE-245 Sloat appears in the Brown block (yard no. 16), laid November 1942, launched 21 January 1943, commissioned August 1943, stricken January 1971 - matching DANFS and the BuShips roster.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Edsall-class construction and operating crews (85 hulls)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary reference (class-level): the builder blocks and hull count corroborate the per-hull BuShips roster. Not a materials or asbestos source - used for class enumeration and yard-block placement only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-04
-
[5]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Sloat (DE-245) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, flag hoist NGZU; Wayback capture 2024-12-22 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/245.htm building-and-operational-data block + photo captions (Wayback 2024-12-22 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 21 November 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 21 January 1943, sponsor Mrs. J. B. Deason; commissioned 16 August 1943, Lcdr. E. E. Garcia; decommissioned 6 August 1947 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 11 months of service; struck from the NVR 2 January 1971; sold 5 April 1972 to Peck Equipment Co., Portsmouth, Va. for scrapping. Complement 8 officers / 201 enlisted. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal with one star; WWII Victory Medal. A contributed photo caption documents a crewmember reporting aboard Sloat at the New York Navy Yard 4 May 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1972
- Population
- Wartime crew (NavSource complement 8 officers/201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap except the decommissioning month (NavSource 6 August 1947 vs. DANFS January 1947 - carried in gaps). Contributed photo captions are unattributed detail. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-05
-
[6]Class/era inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas diesel-escort precedent (cannon-class / john-c-butler-class profiles) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns); cf. cannon-class profile (same diesel-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1942-43 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.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1972
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-47; reserve-fleet maintenance 1947-1971
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-245 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-sloat-de245-06
-
[7]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Documented asbestos aboard a preserved Edsall-class sister hull of the same builder and contract block: the Galveston Daily News reported asbestos found in the 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 was laid down at the same Houston yard at the same $2,921,000 contract price four months before Sloat (keel July 1942). 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: a museum-hull lifecycle DE-245 never had (scrapped 1972). Documents asbestos aboard one Edsall-class ship as delivered/preserved; establishes nothing about DE-245's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-07
-
[8]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 away from asbestos thermal insulation beginning only in the early 1970s - DE-245 (built 1942-43, in service 1943-47) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction.
- 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; fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, not this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description/snippet. Says nothing about this specific hull or diesel-escort applications specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-08
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'USS Sloat' / 'DE-245' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results 2026-09-28: 'USS Sloat' type=o count=0, type=r count=0; 'DE-245' type=o count=20 (all ECF false positives); 'DE-245' type=r and 'Sloat asbestos' blocked by fleet pacing budget
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull in the sweeps completed. Opinion sweep '"USS Sloat"' (type=o): 0 hits. Docket sweep '"USS Sloat"' (type=r): 0 hits - no docketed case names the ship. Hull-number sweep '"DE-245"' (type=o): 20 hits, all unrelated matters - the string collides with 'DE ###' ECF document-entry citations inside unrelated opinions (Boca Raton Community Hospital v. Tenet Healthcare, Smart v. City of Miami Beach, Roberts v. Gordy, Hart v. Bayer, and similar); zero vessel or asbestos references among them.
- 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 'DE-245' docket sweep and the 'Sloat asbestos' supplemental opinion sweep could not be completed this session - the fleet-wide pacing budget was exhausted (see search_ledger sl-08, sl-09); retries are logged rather than inferred. The name 'Sloat' also collides with the namesake admiral and surname usage; unqualified 'Sloat' hits would require hull-disambiguation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sloat-de245-09
-
[10]Batch-4165 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. I (OCR); navypedia class roster; GAO product page; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; VA/BVA web search; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-05 through sl-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sloat-de245-01 through sl-uss-sloat-de245-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-245: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping in April 1972, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for sister hull Stewart (DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Sloat (DE-245) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull - 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 - 1942-43 escort construction falls inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and sister-hull DE-238 (same builder and contract block) carried documented asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24) and BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book) at NARA 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-sloat-de245-10