Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]DANFS, Swasey II (DE-248) (namesake biography, builder, dates, service narrative, striking and disposal; live NHHC page returns 404 - Wayback capture 2024-05-24 of the official page cited; ibiblio HyperWar has no de248 page and hazegray.org is unreachable) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (Wayback 2024-05-24 capture of history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/swasey-ii.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second ship named for Lt. Charles Swasey (appointed midshipman 28 September 1854; commissioned lieutenant 31 August 1861; served aboard Varuna against the steamer Governor Moore below New Orleans 24 April 1862; executive officer of Sciota, West Gulf Blockading Squadron; wounded near Donaldsonville, La., 4 October 1862, died the same day). Spec block: DE-248, dp. 1,200; l. 306'; b. 36'7"; dr. 12'3"; s. 21.2 k.; cpl. 216; a. 3 3", 6 40mm., 10 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.); cl. Edsall. Laid down 30 December 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 18 March 1943, sponsor Miss Catherine Stokes; commissioned 31 August 1943, Lt. H. M. Godsey, USNR, in command. Bermuda shakedown to 23 October 1943; Charleston Navy Yard availability; Norfolk yard work November 1943. TF 64 convoy UGS-25 to North Africa (arrived 10 December), GUS-24 return; on 3 January 1944 closed to within 20 yards of the burning Turner (DE-648) in New York Harbor, fighting the fire until the escort capsized and sank about 0750. Convoy UGS-31 to Gibraltar (arrived 13 February 1944), GUS-30 return to New York 8 March. TF 65 screen of UGS-37 (60 merchant ships, six LSTs) to Bizerte: night of 11-12 April 1944 roughly two dozen Do 217s and Ju 88s attacked off Algeria - a torpedo passed 15 feet off the port side, gunners splashed one bomber, ship maneuvered to evade a second torpedo; Holder (DE-401) torpedoed, no merchant ships damaged; Bizerte 13 April; GUS-37 to New York 11 May. TG 22.5 hunter-killer group (Croatan CVE-25, Escort Division 13) North Atlantic from 4 June; Casablanca 26 June; on 15 September with Frost (DE-144) searched for survivors of the hurricane-sunk Warrington (DD-383) - rescued two, recovered 30 bodies buried at sea. March-April 1945 central North Atlantic sweep: Stanton (DE-247) and Frost sank U-1235 (15 April) and U-880 (16 April), Swasey joined the U-880 search; at sea at VE Day. Charleston overhaul 1 June-1 July 1945 with antiaircraft batteries doubled for Pacific duty; Panama Canal transit 11 August; San Diego 14 August; Pearl Harbor 2 September; returned east with 100 passengers; Norfolk 28 September; inactivation yard period; Green Cove Springs 27 October, Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretaker status; decommissioned 15 January 1946; remained with the Reserve Fleet until struck from the Navy list 1 November 1972 and scrapped. One battle star for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 216); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers 1945/46-1972
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Decommissioning date conflict (15 January vs. 15 March 1946 in secondary sources) carried in gaps; an internal chronology inconsistency in the narrative (New York yard period dated 20 October vs. Norfolk return dated 11 October in adjacent sentences) is also carried in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404; Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-01
-
[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for SWASEY, DE-248 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 260-261) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster row 326, SWASEY DE-248 (book pp. 260-261; shipscribe scan PDF p. 140)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (roster no. 326): SWASEY, official number DE-248, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,921,000; contract signed 18 January 1942; keel laid 30 December 1942; launched 18 March 1943; date of preliminary completion 20 June 1943; first acceptance and commission 31 August 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., 1942-43
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. Scanned-page values verified by direct image read after OCR (cell-level digits corroborated; 'DE248' and '$2,921,000' confirmed visually).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-02
-
[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') - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, extreme beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; trial speed 21.2 kt; machinery 4 Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boilers 'None'; single-reduction gears by Fairbanks-Morse; 2 diesel ship's-service generators (100 kW, 450 V A.C.); fuel oil 1,950 barrels; total 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; the 'None' boiler cell and FMR machinery line verified by direct read of the scan.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-03
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Swasey (DE-248) page (FMR spec block, building/operational data, awards, commanding-officer table, NARA-numbered photo captions incl. 19-N-48141/48143/48144 launching views, 19-N-65679-82 New York Navy Yard 1944, 19-N-85117/85118 Charleston June-July 1945; ship-submitted official War History scan linked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/248.htm - spec block, building-and-operational-data block, CO table, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 30 December 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 18 March 1943, sponsor Miss Catherine Stokes; commissioned 31 August 1943 at Houston, Lt. H. M. Godsey, USNR; struck from the NVR 1 November 1972; sold for scrapping 30 January 1974. Awards: American Campaign Medal; European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal with one star; World War II Victory Medal. Call sign NYQD. Complement 8/201. Commanding-officer table: Lcdr. Hugh M. Godsey USNR (31 Aug 1943-31 May 1944), Lcdr. H. A. White USNR (31 May 1944-23 Oct 1945), Lt. H. T. McDonald USNR (23 Oct-17 Dec 1945), Lt.(jg) Lawrence L. May USNR (17 Dec 1945-15 Jan 1946). Photo captions document the ship in the New York Navy Yard 8-19 March 1944 undergoing drydocking and repairs (departed 19 March for Gravesend Bay ammunition onload), and at the Charleston Navy Yard through June 1945 (departed 2 July 1945 for Guantanamo refresher training). The page links a scan of the ship's official war history submitted at war's end (image-only, not text-retrievable).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1974
- Population
- Wartime crew; New York Navy Yard drydock trades March 1944; Charleston Navy Yard trades June 1945
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive whose spec blocks reproduce official BuShips characteristics data and whose photo captions reproduce NARA/NHHC caption cards; corroborative secondary material, not a primary source. Its building-data block reads decommissioned 15 March 1946 while its own commanding-officer table ends 15 January 1946 (the DANFS date) - conflict carried in gaps. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-04
-
[5]Era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for diesel-powered escorts (cf. cannon-class and edsall DE-129 records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns); cf. ev-uss-edsall-de129-06 (same FMR application set for the class lead)
- 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
- 1942-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet maintenance 1946-72
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-248 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-swasey-de248-05
-
[6]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (live fetch verified 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 that after mechanics preparing work in a machinery space aboard USS Stewart (DE-238) recommended an asbestos survey (October 2019), an environmental firm's survey found a potential asbestos hazard in the boiler-room area and public areas; remediation company Separation Systems Consultants received approval to proceed with abatement, and the Galveston Park Board cited U.S. Navy inspection recommendations that a survey be conducted. USS Stewart is a Brown Shipbuilding-built Edsall-class (FMR) hull (DE-238) - same class and same builder as DE-248 - 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
- 2019-2020
- 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-248 never had (DE-248 was scrapped 1974). Documents asbestos aboard one Edsall-class ship as preserved; establishes nothing about DE-248's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure. The article's 'boiler room' phrasing is loose - the FMR design has no boilers; the survey covered a machinery space and public areas.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-06
-
[7]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-248 (built 1942-43) 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. 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-swasey-de248-07
-
[8]NARA, Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978 (National Archives Identifier 594258), RG 24 / Archives II College Park; ship-submitted WWII war history (NavSource scan, NARA-origin document) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online (vessel list - DE-248 absent); navsource.net/archives/06/248.htm war-history scan link (images/248/06248wh.jpg)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads: deck logs for this hull's 1943-46 commission should exist in NARA series 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAID 594258) at Archives II, College Park - the hull is absent from NARA's published digitized deck-log vessel list. Separately, the ship's own war-history report submitted at war's end survives as an image-only scan linked from the NavSource page (a NARA-origin document). BuShips construction correspondence and any General Information Book for the hull (RG 19) are unsurveyed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Crew 1943-46
- Limitations
- Deck logs and the war history record operations and personnel, not materials; they are leads for corroborating yard availabilities and dates, not asbestos sources. The war-history scan is not text-retrievable in this session; RG 19 GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-08
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps for 'USS Swasey' / 'DE-248' / 'Swasey asbestos' (via fleet-paced authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 2026-09-28: 'USS Swasey' type=o count=0, type=r count=0; 'DE-248' type=o count=14 (all ECF false positives); 'Swasey asbestos' type=o count=4 (no vessel content)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion sweep '"USS Swasey"' (type=o): 0 hits. Hull-number sweep '"DE-248"' (type=o): 14 hits, all ECF document-entry-number false positives and unrelated case text ('[DE 207]', 'DE # 238'-style docket citations inside criminal, civil-rights, admiralty, and insurance opinions - e.g., United States v. Scotton, United States v. Jackson, Hargus v. Ferocious & Impetuous, Lanier v. Fair); zero vessel or asbestos references among them. Docket sweep '"USS Swasey"' (type=r): 0 hits - no docketed case names the ship. Supplemental 'Swasey asbestos' (type=o): 4 hits, none containing 'Swasey' in returned case names, attorneys, or snippets (full-text term collisions only - HSBC Bank USA v. Kirkland Townsend, Simmons v. Monarch Machine Tool, Treadeau v. Wausau Area Contractors, In re NYSE Specialists Securities Litigation) - non-qualifying.
- 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. DE-248's out-of-service date (1946) predates the asbestos-litigation era, and the common name collides with DD-273/HMS Rockingham (sunk 1944-09-27) and with 'DE ###' ECF numbering.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-swasey-de248-09
-
[10]Batch-4168 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback capture of the NHHC page; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR + direct image read); GAO product page; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; VA/BVA web search; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps (see sl-04 through sl-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-swasey-de248-01 through sl-uss-swasey-de248-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-248 in the non-litigation sources searched, and no opinion or docket names the ship on CourtListener ('"USS Swasey"' type=o = 0, type=r = 0; '"DE-248"' = 14 ECF false positives; 'Swasey asbestos' = 4 full-text collisions - see ev-09): no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it was sold for scrapping 30 January 1974, pre-dating the museum-donation and hazmat-disclosure era that produced records for sister hull Stewart (DE-238). The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Swasey (DE-248) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull (shepardlawfirm.com, gorilaw.com, freeasbestostesting.com, duboselawfirm.com, asbx.org, mesotheliomahelp.org) - 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) carried documented asbestos. The completed litigation sweep (ev-09) covers the opinion + RECAP docket indexes only - settled, undocketed, or PACER-only claims are outside it, so 'no qualifying litigation' means no indexed case names the hull, not that none was ever filed. 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-swasey-de248-10