Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Spangenberg (DE-223) (namesake biography, spec block, builder, dates, service narrative, reserve and disposal; verbatim text verified against the official NHHC page's Wayback capture 2025-12-09 - live history.navy.mil page returns 404; HyperWar index page misspells the name 'Spangenburg') [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (NHHC page via Wayback capture 2025-12-09; HyperWar/ibiblio transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Gunner's Mate Third Class Kenneth Jerome Spangenberg (b. 14 May 1922, Allentown, Pa.; enlisted 11 September 1940 at Philadelphia; USS San Francisco CA-38; died of wounds from the night action of 12-13 November 1942 off Savo Island; posthumous Navy Cross). Laid down 5 April 1943 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched 3 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Gussie Spangenberg; commissioned 15 April 1944, Lt. Thomas H. P. Whitney in command. Shakedown Bermuda; joined CortDiv 66 July 1944; convoy UGS 48 to the Mediterranean - on 1 August 1944 at 0100 about 20 German bombers attacked off Bizerte and Spangenberg laid a protective smoke screen, her only Luftwaffe engagement; convoy UGS 55 September-October 1944; killer-group antisubmarine duty with Task Unit 27.1.2 out of Argentia, Newfoundland, November 1944-February 1945 (one depth-charge attack, no kill); March 1945 Boston availability; Londonderry/Milford Haven escort-group duty under British control April-May 1945; returned to New York 1 June 1945 and converted to a radar picket destroyer escort; Navy Day at Port Arthur, Tex.; Guantanamo refresher November 1945; 18 months of east-coast training; May-June 1947 carried Naval Research Laboratory scientists south of the equator for a solar-eclipse expedition; reported to Charleston 18 July 1947 for inactivation; berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet nearly 18 years; redesignated DER-223 March 1949, reverted to DE-223 1 December 1954 (both in reserve - never recommissioned); struck from the Navy list 1 November 1965; hulk sold 4 October 1966 to the North American Smelting Co. of Wilmington, Del., for scrapping. Spec block: dp. 1,400; l. 306'0"; b. 37'0"; dr. 13'6"; s. 23.6 k. (tl.); cpl. 213; a. 3 3", 6 40mm.; cl. Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1966
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 213); Charleston reserve-fleet caretakers 1947-66
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, honors context, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. It gives no decommissioning date (NavSource/secondary carry 18 October 1947). The NHHC transcription twice reads 'Argentina, Newfoundland' for Argentia - an official-transcription typo, carried as Argentia. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-01
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[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels alphabetical roster - SPANGENBERG DE223 row (shipscribe.com scan, OCR transcription); corroborated by the DANFS Vol. 1 hull index ('DE 223 SPANGENBERG Keel laid 4/5/43, Commissioned 4/15/44, Lt. T. H. P. Whitney commanding') [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 Destroyer-Escort alphabetical roster, SPANGENBERG DE223 row (roster no. 311, S-surname page); scan p. ~140 of the shipscribe PDF (book pagination not recoverable from OCR alone)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull: SPANGENBERG - DE223 - TE (turbo-electric) design - builder Navy Yard, Philadelphia - contract price $3,180,000 - contract signed June 8, 1942 - keel laid April 5, 1943 - launched July 3, 1943 - commissioned April 15, 1944 - roster ref 311. The design/builder/contract cells sit in the Philadelphia Navy Yard TE block (adjacent rows SOLAR DE-221 and FOWLER DE-222 read TE / Navy Yard, Philadelphia / $3,180,000 / June 8, 1942).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44
- Limitations
- OCR transcription of a scanned two-page roster table; this row's design, builder, and contract-date cells are dittoed/blank in the scan and read from the adjacent Philadelphia-NY TE block rows - contract unit price $3,180,000 is visible on the row itself. Documents construction contract facts, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-02
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[3]BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. I DE design-group table (group 2/3 TE rows) + navypedia us_de_te boiler block map (DE-214-223 = Babcock & Wilcox) + Atlas shipyard dataset 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard' (tier 3) + GAO HRD-80-2 program context [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 book pp. 234-235 group-2/3 TE design rows (scan pp. ~126-127); navypedia us_de_te block map via class-f buckley-class profile; shipyards.json 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard'; GAO HRD-80-2 product page (full text HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a steam-driven destroyer escort: the Buckley TE design carried two superheated 'D' express-type boilers (435 psi/750F) feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp - one of the three WWII DE design types with a full steam plant (TE Buckley, TEV Rudderow, WGT John C. Butler); the Evarts (GMT), Cannon (DET), and Edsall (FMR) classes were diesel-powered. Period-standard asbestos applications for such a plant include boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, electrical insulation, deck coverings, and accommodation insulation. Builder Philadelphia Navy Yard is a tier-3 yard in the Atlas dataset with named-product asbestos documentation (Unibestos, Kaylo, Garlock gaskets/packing, Johns-Manville pipe insulation, etc.) from litigation and OSHA records. GAO HRD-80-2 documents that Navy-wide asbestos substitution did not begin until the early 1970s - after this hull was scrapped (sold 1966).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-47; New York conversion workers 1945; Charleston inactivation/reserve workers 1947-66; North American Smelting scrapping workers 1966-67
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos finding for this hull exists in the record; the ship-specific rows are ev-01 (DANFS history), ev-02 (BuShips roster), and the negative-finding rows. Boiler-manufacturer attribution (B&W) is navypedia-sourced, unverified against contract documents. Does not establish presence, quantity, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-03
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[4]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 - description-level use only)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Navy program-level context: GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use and its protection posture - standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - i.e., original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. This hull was stricken 1965 and sold for scrap 1966, before those policies operated.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy period)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not ship- or class-specific; predates the policies it describes. Does not establish materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-04
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[5]NARA, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978 (series) + RG 19 BuShips construction/contract records + Booklet of General Plans [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov Navy deck-log program pages; NARA RG 19/RG 24 series descriptions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads unsurveyed: deck logs for DE-223's commissioned years (April 1944 - October 1947) fall within NARA's Navy logbook series (1941-1978 holdings; digitization status of Spangenberg's monthly log units unverified). RG 19 Bureau of Ships construction records and the ship's Booklet of General Plans / contract specifications (contract signed June 8, 1942 per the SDB roster) are the undigitized leads most likely to hold hull-level material specifications for this Philadelphia-built TE unit.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- Lead only - none of these holdings was retrieved or searched for this record; the NARA catalog API was not script-accessible at research time and deck-log digitization status for this hull is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-05
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[6]CourtListener API v4 sweeps via fleet-paced authenticated helper (cl-auth-search.py): opinion and RECAP docket indexes for exact name, surname, and both hull designations [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-spangenberg-de223-05 through sl-uss-spangenberg-de223-09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep, 2026-09-28: NO qualifying asbestos litigation or opinion naming this hull located. Opinion index: "USS Spangenberg" - 0 hits; "Spangenberg" - 998 surname collisions (estate, malpractice, criminal, insurance matters; none ship-related); "Spangenberg asbestos" - 17 BM25-noise hits, none ship-related; "DE-223" - 19 hits, all federal docket-entry-number citations ('[DE 223]' etc.) and unrelated Puerto Rico matters; "DER-223" - 2 hits, both Vasquez v. Astrue (9th Cir. SSA disability appeal) identifier fragments. RECAP docket index: "USS Spangenberg" - 0 hits; "Spangenberg" - 1,237 hits, all surname collisions (personal bankruptcies, Symantec v. Spangenberg, Dietz v. Spangenberg, etc.; none ship-related). Only one U.S. Navy ship has borne this name - no collision hull exists.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (index coverage varies)
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes opinions and RECAP dockets only - state-court filings, MDL-875 member-case complaints not individually indexed, and unindexed districts are not covered. A clean sweep means no indexed case names this hull; it does not prove no suit was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-06
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[7]Batch-4142 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback of the official NHHC page + HyperWar/ibiblio; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 roster; NavSource via Wayback; NVR; CourtListener sweeps; Atlas yard dataset; class-f buckley-class profile [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-spangenberg-de223-01 through sl-uss-spangenberg-de223-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying hull-material asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, insulation specification, materials schedule, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Spangenberg / DE-223 / DER-223 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped 1966-67, so no present-day survey is possible.
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam-plant destroyer escort is consistent with retained era materials, but the ship was scrapped before public hazmat documentation regimes existed. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spangenberg-de223-07