Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet kn-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Straus (DE-408)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-straus-de408-pkt-kn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Straus (DE-408) (NHHC ship-history entry, published 2016-04-18; live page returns 404 - Wayback capture 2025-02-02 cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Straus (DE-408)', spec block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake David H. Straus, Jr., born in Houston, Tex., 13 August 1916; USNR V-6 storekeeper second class, transferred to Lexington (CV-2) 1941-10-13, ensign commission issued 1942-05-05, killed 1942-05-08 when Lexington was sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Hull: laid down 1943-11-18 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; launched 1943-12-30, sponsored by Mrs. David Straus; commissioned 1944-04-06, Lt. Comdr. D. A. Nienstedt. Spec line: 1,350 t; 306'; 36'7" beam; 13'4" draft; 24.3 kt; cpl. 222; 2x5", 4x40mm, 10x20mm, 8 dcp., 2 dct., 1 dcp. (hh.), 3x21" tt.; class John C. Butler. Service: Galveston trials to 1944-04-25; Bermuda shakedown; Boston post-shakedown overhaul 1944-05-28 to 06-09; Norfolk 06-11; escorted Mississinewa (AO-59) Aruba-Panama; sound-contact attack 06-24; canal transit 06-26; San Diego repairs 07-06 to 07-09; Pearl Harbor 07-16; Eniwetok 08-02; off Saipan 08-10 local ASW patrol, rescued two Army airmen 08-13; Eniwetok-Guam convoys to 09-14; 3d Fleet; TG 30.8 logistics for TF 38; captured three Japanese raft survivors 09-23; Ulithi station ship ComWesCarolines Patrol & Escort Group; Peleliu/Angaur screen with Escort Division 65 from 11-15; starshell illumination vs. infiltrating swimmers 11-18; 5th Fleet 1945-03; TG 50.8 Okinawa logistics to 06-26; Okinawa ASW patrol from 07-02; post-surrender Sasebo with TF 55 09-19/20; screened carriers off Kyushu; Sasebo until 10-15; arrived San Diego 1945-11-05 for inactivation; decommissioned 1947-01-15 to San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the Navy list 1966-05-01; 'used as a target in August 1973.' Three battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1941-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 222)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, build dates, service history, and design specs - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 (same link-rot pattern as Batch-01 records); verbatim text taken from the Wayback capture of the official NHHC page dated 2025-02-02. Decommissioning date conflicts with NavSource building data (11 Aug 1946) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Apr 1945), NAVSHIPS 250-010, ship-list entry no. 321 (book p. 321) and DE design-group table (book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 Vol. 1 ship-list entry 321 'STRAUS DE408' (book p. 321); DE design-group table row 6 WGT (book pp. 234-235)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips ship list entry for this hull, verbatim row: 'STRAUS(1) ... DE408 ... WGT ... Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex. ... $2,517,000 ... Aug. 7, 1942 ... Nov. 18, 1943 ... Dec. 30, 1943 ... Apr. 26, 1944 ... Mar. 31, 1944 ... Apr. 6, 1944.' Footnote 1 on the name reads 'Turbines built by Westinghouse' - a ship-specific machinery attribution. Dates agree with DANFS (keel 1943-11-18, launch 1943-12-30, commissioned 1944-04-06) and add the contract award date (1942-08-07) and contract price ($2,517,000). Design-group table row 6 (WGT): 306 ft oa / 300 ft wl; 36'7" beam; 1,350 t standard / 1,745 t full load; 24.3 kt trial speed; 2 screws; geared turbines 12,000 shp; 2 'D' express boilers, 435 psi / 750 deg F; 15 officers / 207 enlisted accommodations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44
- Limitations
- Scanned official publication; the two date columns reading Apr. 26, 1944 and Mar. 31, 1944 are delivery/acceptance-stage entries whose exact column meanings are not asserted. Turbine manufacturer is ship-specific per the footnote; boiler manufacturer is NOT stated in this source (navypedia block map supplies Combustion Engineering - secondary, noted separately). Documents machinery and dates, not materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-02
-
[4]USS Straus (DE-408), 'Factual War History of the U.S.S. Straus (DE-408)', Commanding Officer to Secretary of the Navy, File DE408/A12, Serial No. 176, 22 October 1945 (NavSource-hosted scan of the ship's official war-end history) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-408 archive, 'official War History' scan (06408wh.jpg), cover + 3 pp.
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own war-end report to the Secretary of the Navy independently corroborates the DANFS narrative from the operator side: commissioned 6 April 1944 at Houston; Galveston drills; Bermuda shakedown; Navy Yard repairs and alterations; escorted Mississinewa (AO-59) and attacked a sound contact 24 June 1944; Pearl Harbor 16 July; Eniwetok 2 August; Saipan operations; convoy duty; TG 30.8 logistics; Peleliu/Palau screen; Ulithi; 5th Fleet Okinawa operations; Sasebo occupation-duty presence; arrival San Diego 5 November 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew
- Limitations
- 1945 operational history document - contains no materials or asbestos information. Hosted on NavSource (a volunteer archive) as a page-image scan; the scan is legible but small, and individual sentences were not independently transcribed word-for-word - the row asserts only corroboration of the operational outline, which matches DANFS. The Navy Yard repair/alteration period is corroborated; the yard's name is not read from this scan and is attributed to Boston Navy Yard via the NH 91911 photo caption instead (see ev-05).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-03
-
[5]Navypedia, 'WGT destroyer escorts (John C. Butler) (1943-1955)' member table + machinery block map [other_primary]
- Locator
- us_de_tev_wgt.htm member table row DE408 + machinery note 'DE339-372, 402-424: 2 sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 2 Combustion Engineering boilers'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Secondary compilation lists Straus (DE-408, yard no. 81) under Brown SB, Houston, laid 11/1943, launched 30.12.1943, commissioned 4/1944, stricken 5.1966 - all consistent with DANFS/BuShips. Its boiler-block map assigns 2 Combustion Engineering boilers to the DE-402-424 block that includes this hull (Babcock & Wilcox to DE-373-379, 438-452, 508-510, 531-554); Westinghouse geared turbines class-wide.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation - used only to supply the boiler-manufacturer detail (Combustion Engineering) that the primary sources do not state; this mapping is not verified against contract documents and is flagged as such wherever used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-04
-
[6]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Straus (DE-408) page: building/operational data; U.S. Naval Historical Center photo NH 91911 caption (Boston Navy Yard, June 1944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 06/408.htm specs block, building/operational data, photo NH 91911 caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photo caption (NH 91911, U.S. Naval Historical Center) documents this hull 'laying to off the Boston Navy Yard' 8 June 1944, 'in the yard from 01 to 08 June for post-shakedown repairs and alterations' - establishing a documented Boston Navy Yard availability period within the DANFS Boston overhaul window (28 May-9 June 1944). Building-data block adds 117,706 miles steamed over 2 years 9 months commissioned service and the Saipan campaign. Specs block: 2 'D' express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt, complement 14 officers/201 enlisted.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Wartime crew; Boston Navy Yard workers (post-shakedown availability, June 1944)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained archive; its dated building data conflicts with DANFS on the decommissioning event ('11 August 1946: Decommissioned' vs. DANFS 15 January 1947) - DANFS is carried and the conflict is in gaps. The 01-08 June yard window sits inside the DANFS 28 May-9 June Boston overhaul period and corroborates rather than conflicts with it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-05
-
[7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (1945) design group 6 row + WWII Navy insulation-standard suite (BuShips Manual ch. 39 Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250-000(39); Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos', Oct 1945) - the latter identified as archival leads via Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec exhibit materials (class-profile research) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 Vol. 1 DE design-group table row 6 (book pp. 234-235); spec titles per Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec exhibit list (class-profile finding)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: design group 6 (WGT) destroyer escorts carried a full high-pressure steam plant - 2 'D' express boilers at 435 psi / 750 deg F driving geared turbines at 12,000 shp. Naval vessels of this plant type and construction era used asbestos-containing insulation as standard on boiler casings and drums, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, flange and valve gaskets, machinery packing, insulation felts, fireproofing, and deck coverings; the Navy's own insulation specifications of the period (BuShips Manual ch. 39; asbestos insulating-felt spec 32F3a) are documented to exist via litigation exhibit lists in class-member litigation and are the archival leads for the actual standards text.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-47 (design complement 222)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-level material schedule, insulation list, or hull book for DE-408 was located, and this row does not establish asbestos presence aboard this specific hull. The BuShips 1945 design table confirms the steam plant but names no insulation materials. The spec suite (NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) ch. 39; spec 32F3a) is identified but unretrieved this session - carried as archival lead. NARA RG 19 General Information Books / contract plans are the lead for hull-specific material data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-06
-
[8]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 (pretrial/exhibit-list materials naming USS Brannon, DE-446) [court_record]
- Locator
- W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537 praecipe/exhibit-list materials (per class-profile research 2026-09-16)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation landscape: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name class member USS Brannon (DE-446) and recite that 'Griscom-Russell supplied the Navy with the evaporator on Mr. Jack's ship in conformity to detailed precise specifications... without insulation,' with proposed testimony that 'asbestos was a critical material during WWII when the Navy installed the distiller on Mr. Jack's ship.' This is the same John C. Butler-class design group 6 plant family as DE-408.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2017 (litigation); WWII-era installation allegations
- Population
- Class-member crew (DE-446 context)
- Limitations
- Pleading/exhibit-list-stage material concerning a different hull (DE-446) - included only to show the class's litigation posture and the insulation-spec document suite it surfaced. Unadjudicated; establishes nothing about DE-408, and no asbestos finding attaches to any Butler-class hull from this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 sweep for USS Straus / DE-408 (opinion and RECAP docket indexes, via authenticated fleet helper) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-straus-de408-06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Exact-name queries returned zero hits in both indexes: 'USS Straus' opinions = 0 results; 'USS Straus' RECAP dockets = 0 results. Hull-number query 'DE-408' in the docket index returned 128 hits, all identifier collisions - 'DE 408' is PACER docket-entry numbering (e.g., 'motion for leave to file surreply [DE 408]'); case names are unrelated civil/trademark/securities matters (ADT v. Alarm Protection, SEC v. Utsick, Giuffre v. Maxwell estate, etc.) with zero references to a vessel, the Navy, or asbestos. The 'DE-408' opinion-index query could not be completed - sustained fleet-wide pacing contention (all retries returned 'budget momentarily spent' across ~2 hours).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located docket does not prove no filing ever named the vessel - complaints naming only the hull number without 'USS Straus' in indexed text would evade the exact-name queries, and the 'DE-408' opinion-index query remains uncompleted due to fleet throttle. What is established: no published opinion and no indexed RECAP docket names 'USS Straus', and no docket hit connects 'DE-408' to this vessel. No litigation finding attaches to this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-08
-
[10]Batch-4308 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live + Wayback; ibiblio/HyperWar + hazegray DANFS mirrors; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (shipscribe); navypedia WGT; NavSource DE-408 archive incl. official war history; CourtListener opinion/RECAP; web survey for ship-specific asbestos documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-straus-de408-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, disposal/environmental record, or (subject to the CourtListener sweep result in ev-08) qualifying litigation naming DE-408 was found in the public sources searched. Straus appears on multiple law-firm/lead-generation asbestos ship lists (asbestos-ships.com, mesobook.com, shepardlawfirm.com, freeasbestostesting.com); all are uncited list-presence pages, excluded as non-authoritative per 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 public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull's 1943-44 WGT steam plant is exactly the era/design that carried asbestos, and the record's class/era row states that as inference only. No surviving hull exists (sunk as target 1973), so no present-day survey is possible; hull-specific material data would come only from NARA-era records not located here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-straus-de408-09
