Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Snowden (DE-246) (namesake, builder, dates, convoy and hunter-killer service, reserve/NRTS periods, striking and target sinking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 7 December 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Houston, Tex.; launched 19 February 1943; commissioned 23 August 1943; Atlantic convoy escort (UGS-24, UGS-31, UGS-30) then TG 21.15 hunter-killer group built around Croatan (CVE-25) - shared depth-charge kill of U-488 with Frost (DE-144) and Barber (DE-161) 28 April 1944; radar contact on U-490 (sunk by Frost, 60 survivors recovered) 12 June 1944; U-154 debris recovery 3 July 1944; screened Croatan while Stanton (DE-247) and Frost sank U-1235 15-16 April 1945; two-week Brooklyn Navy Yard stop from 14 May 1945; Pearl Harbor 14 August-11 September 1945; Norfolk overhaul and inactivation from 28 September 1945; in reserve, out of commission, Green Cove Springs from March 1946; active service 6 June 1951; NATO exercises 1952 and 1957; Group I Naval Reserve Training Ship February 1960; decommissioned August 1960 and placed in service as Group II NRTS at Philadelphia; recommissioned 2 October 1961 at Key West; decommissioned again 1962 and resumed Group II NRTS status; ordered to prepare for inactivation and striking 20 August 1968; stricken 23 September 1968; sunk as a target 27 June 1969. Three WWII battle stars. DANFS specs: 1,200 t; 306 ft; 36 ft 7 in; 8 ft 7 in draft; 21.2 kt; complement 216.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1969
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 216); Naval Reserve trainees 1960-68
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Sinking location not stated ('off Newport, R.I.' is secondary-compilation only). 'Norfolk' overhaul and 'Philadelphia' berthing are city references - naval-shipyard attribution for those availabilities is inference, not a DANFS statement. Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-01
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[2]NHHC 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' photo-index page, DE-246 USS Snowden (verbatim transcription - HyperWar mirror of NHHC series) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC photo-index page for DE-246 (specifications list)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC photo-index record for this hull: Edsall-class destroyer escort; machinery described as 'Geared-diesel engines, Fairbanks Morse reverse gear drive'; displacement 1,490 tons; complement 216; built at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston; commissioned 23 August 1943. Establishes this hull's propulsion type - diesel, not steam - which delimits which asbestos application categories apply (no boilers or steam-system lagging).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1969
- Population
- crew and construction trades (machinery-space occupants)
- Limitations
- Machinery line is a type description, not a materials list; it does not state asbestos content aboard. Displacement (1,490 t) differs from the DANFS 1,200 t figure - different loading condition conventions; both documented, neither silently reconciled. Mirror transcription of an NHHC series page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-02
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[3]DANFS specifications block (Edsall class; 1942-43 Brown Shipbuilding build) + NHHC photo-index machinery line (geared-diesel, Fairbanks-Morse) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NHHC photo-index machinery line; shipyards.json check (Brown Shipbuilding absent)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: an Edsall-class destroyer escort built December 1942-August 1943 at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston - during the period when asbestos was standard in naval construction and reserved for war use - would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a geared-diesel ship: exhaust-system and engine-space insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings (winches/windlass), deck coverings, and bulkhead/living-space insulation and fireproofing. The diesel plant means the largest steam-ship asbestos categories (boiler and steam-line lagging) do not apply. Builder Brown Shipbuilding is NOT a record in the Atlas shipyard dataset - yard-level asbestos documentation for this builder is absent.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1968
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-68
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule, material specification, or asbestos survey names this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure; the diesel propulsion profile materially narrows (does not eliminate) plausible applications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-03
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[4]The (Galveston) Daily News, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement' (2020-07-27, Keri Heath) + Galveston Naval Museum (Cavalla Historical Foundation) financial document ('Removed and mitigated asbestos in the USS [Stewart]') [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article 2020-07-27 (paywalled; verified via search-result text); galvestonnavalmuseum.com financial-statement PDF
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Class-sibling abatement record: USS Stewart (DE-238) - an Edsall-class destroyer escort built by the same yard (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, laid down July 1942, five months before DE-246's December 1942 keel) - underwent documented professional asbestos abatement at Seawolf Park, Galveston, in 2020-21: 'abatement of the asbestos found in the public areas of the USS Stewart and USS Cavalla' by Separation Systems Consultants, after a U.S. Navy inspection recommended an asbestos survey; the museum's financial records confirm 'Removed and mitigated asbestos in the USS [Stewart]'. Demonstrates that original-era asbestos-containing material persisted aboard a sibling Edsall-class hull of the same builder into museum service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020-2021
- Population
- Museum abatement crews 2020-21 (Stewart); visitors/staff pre-abatement
- Limitations
- Sister-hull record, NOT ship-specific to DE-246: a same-class/same-builder finding corroborates the era inference but cannot establish materials aboard this hull, which was sunk in 1969 and never passed through museum custody. Scope of the Stewart work was public areas; no survey document or ACM inventory is public.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-04
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[5]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 and its 1975/1979 insulation-removal and substitution policies - the program-level backdrop for a hull built in 1942-43 and retained in service through 1968, spanning the whole period before substitution began in the early 1970s.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - Snowden did have a documented Norfolk inactivation overhaul (1945) though the facility is inferred, not named. Does not establish what was installed aboard or retained on this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-05
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[6]Robbins v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, No. 8:23-cv-01723 (M.D. Fla., filed 2023-08-03), asbestos personal-injury docket (nature of suit 368 P.I.: Asbestos); matching RECAP documents: Second Amended Complaint (ECF 37, 2024-03-13), Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures (ECF 77, 2024-05-24), Redco Answer (ECF 40) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener RECAP docket 8:23-cv-01723 (M.D. Fla.); docket_id 67661649
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos personal-injury docket in which 'USS Snowden' appears in indexed CourtListener docket text. Plaintiff Ward Robbins sued rotating-equipment/boiler manufacturers typical of Navy-veteran asbestos cases (Air & Liquid/Buffalo Pumps; Alfa Laval/DeLaval; Cleaver-Brooks; DCO/Dana-Victor Gasket; Foster Wheeler; General Electric; Grinnell; Paramount/CBS-Westinghouse; Redco/Crane). Whether the complaint or disclosures list USS Snowden as an alleged exposure vessel - versus another kind of reference - is not retrievable from the public index snippet.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2023-2024 (litigation)
- Population
- Unverified from index (plaintiff Ward Robbins; asbestos P.I.)
- Limitations
- Docket-text index match only; unverified role for the vessel. Even if the pleading names the ship, a complaint vessel list is an allegation, not an adjudicated finding - establishes no exposure, no asbestos presence, no product identity aboard this hull. Resolution requires RECAP document full text (not pulled - CourtListener access restricted to the fleet search helper). DE-246 was the only commissioned USS Snowden, so any genuine 1943-68 service reference resolves to this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-06
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[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated helper, fleet-paced): opinions "USS Snowden" = 0; opinions "DE-246" = 18 all identifier collisions; dockets "USS Snowden" = 2 (Robbins asbestos docket + NYT v. Microsoft copyright - incidental exhibit text); dockets "DE-246" = 353, docket-entry-number noise ('DE 246' filings citations), no asbestos/vessel context in review [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-snowden-de246-03 through sl-uss-snowden-de246-06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Exact-name and hull-number litigation sweep: no published opinion names USS Snowden or DE-246 as a vessel; all 18 'DE-246' opinion hits are PACER docket-entry citations ('[DE-246]') or unrelated references in non-naval cases (insurance, civil rights, bankruptcy, criminal). The only asbestos-case docket indexing the vessel name is Robbins v. Air & Liquid Systems (ev-06) - role unverified, archival lead. No adjudicated or pleading-stage exposure finding naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is CourtListener's opinion + RECAP indexes; state-court filings, PACER-only records, VA BVA decisions, and trust claims are outside it. A negative sweep means no qualifying record located in these indexes, not that none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-07
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[8]Batch-4166 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC transcription; NHHC ship photo index; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; Galveston museum/abatement coverage; Atlas shipyard dataset check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-snowden-de246-01 through sl-uss-snowden-de246-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-246: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure exists in the public record, and none can exist post-1969 (hull sunk as target 27 June 1969; never a museum or NDRF asset). The Naval Vessel Register does not carry pre-1987 disposals. No published opinion or verified pleading names this hull as an exposure site.
- 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 - era materials would have gone down with the hull at sinking. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-08
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[9]NARA, Records of the Bureau of Ships (RG 19): ship plans and booklets of general plans; Ship General Information Books 1921-61 (Accession 61A2191); Specification Development Files Pertaining To Ships And Ships' Machinery 1942-65 (Accession 62A3207). Sister-hull digitization precedent: DE-238 USS Stewart Booklet of General Plans (1958) circulated from NARA RG19 [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov ship-plans and RG19 guides; archive.org de238bogp1958 item page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival pathway for hull-level material specifications: NARA RG 19 holds per-vessel booklets of general plans, ship engineering drawings, and Ship General Information Books spanning 1921-61 (covering DE-246's era) plus specification development files 1942-65. A same-class Booklet of General Plans (DE-238, 1958 revision) exists in circulation - indicating Edsall-class plan sets survive and may itemize insulation materials by hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1968 (record coverage)
- Limitations
- Lead only - no DE-246 document was retrieved; these holdings are not digitized online and may or may not contain per-hull insulation schedules naming this vessel. Class plan sets (e.g., DE-238's 1958 booklet) would reflect later configuration, not necessarily as-built 1943 materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-snowden-de246-09