Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 768-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-tatum-de789-pkt-768-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Tatum (DE-789) (namesake biography, builder, dates, specifications, service narrative, striking and disposal; verbatim NHHC text - live page serves 404, Wayback capture 2021-03-05 cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Tatum (DE-789)' - namesake biography, specifications block, and service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 22 April 1943 at Orange, Tex., by the Consolidated Steel Corp.; launched 7 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Cecile Cofield Tatum; commissioned 22 November 1943, Lt. Comdr. William C. D. Bellinger in command. Named for the sponsor's husband, a dental officer killed aboard Wasp (CV-7) on 15 September 1942 (posthumous Silver Star; DANFS prints the namesake 'Lawrence Aldridge Tatum' - other Navy records read 'Laurice A. Tatum'; discrepancy carried in gaps). Spec block: dp. 1,400; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 9'5" mean; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3-3", 4-1.1", 8-20mm., 3-21" tt., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.); cl. Buckley. Service: Bermuda shakedown; east-coast escort; convoy to England (Plymouth 19 Apr 1944, return 12 May); two North Africa voyages screening Kasaan Bay (CVE-69), Tulagi (CVE-72), Mission Bay (CVE-59) - Casablanca aircraft delivery, Oran, Bizerte escort of SS Cross Keys, screening HMS Hunter and HMS Stalker to Malta, 130 depth charges on a submarine contact 23 Jul (no kill), Alexandria; southern France invasion - landing-craft convoy commander embarked at Naples, convoy to Ajaccio staging, off St. Tropez dawn 15 Aug, Cape Camarat patrol, Corsica/Sardinia/France convoys through early autumn; homeward convoy arriving New York 11 Dec 1944. Conversion to high-speed transport began 12 Dec 1944 at Tompkinsville; redesignated APD-81 on 15 Dec 1944. Pacific: cleared Tompkinsville 6 Mar 1945, Pearl Harbor 12 Apr, Okinawa Hagushi 19 May; dusk 29 May four-plane kamikaze attack - dud bomb pierced hull and two longitudinal bulkheads lodging inboard of the executive officer's stateroom, director fire control and engine-room communications knocked out, essential equipment restored in 15 minutes; relieved by Walter C. Wann (DE-412); dud disarmed and dropped overboard; repairs at Kerama Retto; departed Okinawa 11 Jun escorting convoy to Ulithi, screened Briareus (AR-12) to San Pedro Bay, Leyte for permanent repairs; exercises with Texas (BB-35), Mississippi (BB-41), Gainard (DD-706), Barber (APD-57); escorted Idaho (BB-42) and Mississippi to Okinawa 18-21 Aug. Occupation duty: screened occupation officials Buckner Bay to Wakanoura Wan 9-11 Sep; POW evacuation to 19 Sep; Nagasaki evacuation-pool boats; Manila troopship convoy to Haiphong (2 Nov), Chinese 52d Army to Chinwangtao (12 Nov); passenger shuttle between Chinese ports until mid-Apr 1946. Departed Hong Kong 12 Apr 1946; San Pedro 9 May; Philadelphia 3 Jun; Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard inactivation overhaul by 5 Jul; towed to Green Cove Springs mid-Oct; out of commission 15 Nov 1946; reserve until stricken from the Navy list 1 Jun 1960; sold for scrap 8 May 1961 to Southern Scrap Metal Co., New Orleans, La. Two battle stars for WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Corp. construction trades, Orange, Tex., 1943; wartime crew (design complement 186); Frontier Base Tompkinsville conversion workers 1944-45; Charleston Navy Yard inactivation workers 1946; Southern Scrap Metal Co. scrapping workers 1961
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The DANFS text reads 'From 17 July until early autumn' for the southern-France convoy period - an apparent typographical slip (the preceding Malta sequence runs through 3 August; likely 17 August), carried in gaps rather than silently corrected. Namesake first name is printed 'Lawrence' in DANFS but 'Laurice' in other Navy/biographical records - carried in gaps. Mirror (Wayback) capture cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-01
-
[3]NavSource Online, Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Tatum (DE-789/APD-81) - building/operations data block, commanding-officer list, official US Navy photo captions; companion APD page navsource.org/archives/10/04/04081.htm [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/789.htm building/operations data block + photo captions; navsource.org/archives/10/04/04081.htm APD page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compilation corroborating and supplementing DANFS: keel laid by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; launched/christened 7 Aug 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Cecile Cofield Tatum (Lcdr. Tatum's widow); commissioned 22 Nov 1943, Lcdr. William C. P. Bellinger (USNA '33); photo captions document a post-shakedown availability at Boston Navy Yard from 17 January 1944 (Measure 32, Design 11D camouflage) and escort duty with Borum (DE-790) screening Kasaan Bay (CVE-69) on 25 Feb 1944; conversion to APD commenced at Frontier Base Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y., 12 Dec 1944, reclassified APD-81 15 Dec 1944, conversion completed 6 Mar 1945; Asiatic-Pacific service with Transport Division 108; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 15 Nov 1946 and laid up in the Atlantic Fleet Reserve Group there; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 Jun 1960; sold for scrapping 8 May 1961 to Southern Scrap Metal Co., New Orleans, La. Commanding officers: Lcdr. Bellinger (22 Nov 1943 - Oct 1944); Lcdr./Cmdr. William Charles Howes, USNR (to Feb 1946); Lcdr. Almer Paul Colvin, USN (to decommissioning).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard workers Jan 1944; Frontier Base Tompkinsville conversion workers Dec 1944-Mar 1945
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (photo archive and data block), not an official record - used to corroborate DANFS and for details DANFS omits (conversion facility name, conversion completion date, Boston Navy Yard availability, unit assignment, commanding officers). NavSource's APD page prints the laid-down date as 21 April 1943 vs. 22 April in DANFS and NavSource's own DE page - carried in gaps. Does not document materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan) + navypedia TE block map + GAO HRD-80-2 era context [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 DE design-group table; navypedia us_de_te member table (DE-789 row); gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the Buckley (TE) class is one of only two destroyer-escort classes with a full steam plant - BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3 carry 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750 deg F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 23.6 kt; the navypedia per-block boiler map assigns Babcock & Wilcox boilers to the DE-789-800 (Consolidated, Orange) block, which includes this hull. At class level this implies period-standard asbestos applications for a 1943 steam ship: boiler insulation and lagging, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, plus exhaust insulation, electrical insulation, brake linings, and deck coverings; documented Navy asbestos-use era per GAO HRD-80-2 program record.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1943; crew 1943-46; yard workers at documented availabilities
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding: no contract specification, material schedule, or survey names this hull's materials. Boiler-manufacturer block attribution is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-03
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[5]Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas, 'United States Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility' (Orange, Tex. WWII Navy shipbuilding) and 'Shipbuilding' entries [other_primary]
- Locator
- tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/united-states-naval-inactive-ship-maintenance-facility; tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/shipbuilding; tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/borel-v-fibreboard-paper-products-corporation
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder-yard context for the construction site: the Navy established a supervisor-of-shipbuilding office at Orange, Tex., on 24 August 1940; three Orange yards (Consolidated Western Steel Corp., Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Weaver Shipyards) held Navy contracts and produced more than 300 vessels during WWII, with peak yard employment above 22,000 workers; the first vessel, USS Aulick, was completed 2 March 1942. This hull was built at the Consolidated Steel yard in 1943. The Orange-area shipyard/refinery workforce later generated landmark asbestos litigation (Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp., 493 F.2d 1076 (5th Cir. 1973) - an Orange-area industrial insulator's case establishing the asbestos manufacturers' duty to warn) - regional context only; no located source ties that litigation to this yard or this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940-1945; 1973 (Borel)
- Population
- Orange, Tex. wartime shipyard workforce (~22,000 peak across three yards)
- Limitations
- Context only - documents the scale and Navy-contract status of the Orange wartime yard, not asbestos use at the yard, aboard this hull, or exposure of any individual. Borel's enumerated work sites do not name Consolidated Steel in the opinion text; the yard/hull linkage is expressly not established. Consolidated Steel Corp. (Orange) is not a yard_id in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset, so no yard-tier asbestos documentation attaches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated helper): exact-name and hull-number queries for this vessel [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-tatum-de789-02 through sl-uss-tatum-de789-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep produced no qualifying hit naming this hull: "USS Tatum" = 0 dockets, 0 opinions; "U.S.S. Tatum" = 0 dockets, 0 opinions; "DE-789" = 28 dockets and 5 opinions, all string collisions (docket-entry numbers, Bates/exhibit identifiers, and unrelated text in non-asbestos litigation - e.g., criminal, civil-rights, product, and Puerto Rico cases); "APD-81" = 4 dockets and 0 opinions, all collisions ('APD' as Albuquerque/Amsterdam/Asheville police-department references and exhibit numbering). Broad surname query "Tatum" asbestos = 92 opinions; top-20 review shows surname and law-firm-name collisions (e.g., Wright, Robinson, Osthimer & Tatum counsel string; Tatum v. Medical University), none naming the vessel. Surname collisions exist in abundance (e.g., Tatum v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 152 (2009) - a veteran claimant, not the ship). No asbestos opinion or docket naming USS Tatum, DE-789, or APD-81 was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket indexes only - state-court dockets, unreported federal pleadings, and non-indexed filings are outside coverage, so absence of a located docket does not prove no case was ever filed. String-collision hits were classified by case caption and nature-of-suit review, not by full-text review of every collision document. The broad "Tatum" asbestos docket query and a Navy-qualified surname query could not be executed - the fleet-wide pacing budget was repeatedly exhausted during the session; carried as a coverage limitation, not a result.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-05
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[7]Batch-4530 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (Wayback capture), NavSource archive, TSHA Handbook entries, CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries, VA BVA decisions (name collision only) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-tatum-de789-01 through sl-uss-tatum-de789-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-789/APD-81: no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract or yard hazmat disclosure tied to this hull, no museum documentation (the hull was scrapped in 1961 and never preserved), no qualifying litigation naming the vessel, and no VA Board decision located that recites service aboard this hull (va.gov 'Tatum' hits are the unrelated Tatum v. Shinseki veterans-law precedent).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - it records that the public sources searched hold no ship-specific asbestos documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-06
-
[8]NARA / Navy archival holdings (unretrieved leads): RG 24 deck logs; RG 38 WWII war diaries and action reports; RG 19 BuShips contract/specification records; Boston Navy Yard, Frontier Base Tompkinsville, and Charleston Naval Shipyard work-order records; Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet custody records; Southern Scrap Metal Co. disposal records [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24/RG 38/RG 19 series (National Archives, College Park); NISMF/reserve-fleet records; disposal records
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Undigitized archival leads for hull-level material documentation: NARA RG 24 deck logs for DE-789 (1943-45) and APD-81 (1945-46); NARA RG 38 war diaries/action reports for the ship's WWII operations; NARA RG 19 BuShips records (General Information Books and contract files) which may hold per-vessel material specifications for the Consolidated Steel build; Boston Navy Yard, Frontier Base Tompkinsville, and Charleston Naval Shipyard work-order records covering the three documented availabilities (Jan 1944 post-shakedown; Dec 1944-Mar 1945 APD conversion; Jul 1946 inactivation overhaul); Green Cove Springs Atlantic Reserve Fleet custody records 1946-1960; Southern Scrap Metal Co. scrapping records 1961.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1961
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these series was retrieved or reviewed; NARA catalog API could not be queried from this environment, so specific item-level holdings for this hull were not confirmed. These records may or may not contain asbestos-relevant material specifications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-tatum-de789-07