Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet lf-packet.md (10 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-william-c-cole-de641-pkt-lf-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, William C. Cole (DE-641) - verbatim transcription via hazegray.org, retrieved through Wayback capture 2024-12-09 (live NHHC page history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/william-c-cole*.html returns 404; hazegray.org fails DNS resolution from this machine 2026-09-29) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + DE-286 rename note + specification block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Vice Admiral William Carey Cole (b. 23 August 1868, Chicago; d. 28 May 1935, Mare Island Naval Hospital) - Naval Academy 1889, Navy Cross for commanding Nevada in WWI, Commander Scouting Fleet (vice admiral) 1929-30, Commandant 12th Naval District. Earlier name assignment: William C. Cole (DE-286), slated for construction at Hingham, Mass., renamed Sutton 18 September 1943. DE-641 spec block: dp. 1400; 306'0"; b. 37'0"; dr. 9'5"; s. 23.5 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 4 1.1", 10 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.); cl. Buckley. Laid down 5 September 1943 at San Francisco by Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched 29 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. William C. Cole (widow); commissioned 12 May 1944, Lt. Clay Harrold in command. Service: shakedown San Diego, post-shakedown availability at builder's yard, departed west coast 19 July 1944; Pearl Harbor training; Majuro/Pearl Harbor/Marshalls convoy escort Aug-Sep; Copahee to Manus 15 September; ComSoPac duty 25 September; CortDiv 73 Purvis Bay; Guadalcanal/Bougainville/New Caledonia escort into Feb 1945; Com5thFlt 23 February; PhibRon 4 screening Lunga Point Mar; CarDiv 22 screen and TransRon 18 escort to Okinawa, arriving off the beachhead by midday - GQ during air raids 1-4 April, assisted in downing two planes; TransDiv 42/56 escort cycles Okinawa-Saipan-Ulithi April; picket station off Yap, then escort for West Virginia and Tuscaloosa to Okinawa 17 May; 24-25 May kamikaze attacks - 'Oscar' crashed within a few feet of starboard beam (wingtip bent a torpedo-mount 'spoon'), 'Tony' crashed about 1,000 yards beyond; damage repaired at San Pedro Bay from 10 June; Lingayen/Okinawa/Saipan escort cycles June; Saipan/Guam patrol July; Tinian patrol until relieved 17 August; Iwo Jima air-sea rescue Aug-Oct; yard availability Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton; spring 1946 Far East (Shanghai, Okinawa, Tsingtao); returned to San Diego 28 July; Far East tour ComNavFE 10 March-31 August 1947 (Sasebo, Pusan, Yokosuka, Wakayama, Kagoshima); local San Diego ops; decommissioned and placed in reserve 13 March 1948; inactivated 28 April 1948; struck from Navy list 1 March 1972; sold 20 November 1972 to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland, Oreg., and subsequently scrapped. One battle star for the capture and occupation of Okinawa.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 186); reserve-fleet caretakers 1948-72
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 and hazegray.org does not resolve from this machine (2026-09-29); the Wayback capture is of the hazegray transcription, not the NHHC page itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-01
-
[3]"Ship's History of U.S.S. William C. Cole (DE-641)" - the ship's own war-history submission, scanned document hosted by NavSource (06641wh.jpg) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-641 page, 'View the official War History' scan (06641wh.jpg), panels 1-8
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-authored war history for this hull (primary document scan): cover letter DE(TE)641/A9-11, Serial No. 192, 10 November 1945 (routing stamp 19 Nov 1945), from the Commanding Officer to the Secretary of the Navy (Public Information Office), transmitting 'History of U.S.S. WILLIAM C. COLE (DE-641), Period of 12 May 1944 to 1 November 1945' in accordance with reference ALPAC 202-45; signed T. B. M. Porter, Jr. Enclosure (A) narrative states the ship 'was placed in commission in the United States Navy on 12 May 1944 at the Bethlehem Steel Ship[yards], San Francisco, California' and that 'Lieutenant Clay HARROLD, DV(G), USNR assumed Command ... in accordance with orders from the Chief of Naval Personnel'; includes a full officer and enlisted muster and a chronological narrative of commissioning, shakedown, escort operations, the Okinawa screening and 24-25 May air attacks, and post-surrender air-sea rescue duty at Iwo Jima.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew
- Limitations
- Primary document hosted by a volunteer-run photo archive (NavSource); text read from the image scan - portions are faint and only corroborated passages are relied on. Contains no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-02
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[4]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS William C. Cole (DE-641) - building/operational data, specification block, awards list, commanding-officer roster, captioned photo archive [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 06/641 page: building/operational data block; specifications; commanding-officer table; captions for images 0664103-0664105
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Volunteer-compiled record for this hull: keel laid 5 September 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Corp., San Francisco; launched/christened 29 December 1943 (sponsor Mrs. William C. Cole); commissioned 12 May 1944; '24 May 1945: The Japanese attack U.S. positions and ships at Okinawa, kamikazes strike William C. Cole, Sims (APD 50), and LCS(L) 121'; decommissioned at San Diego 28 April 1948; struck from the NVR 1 March 1972; sold for scrapping to Zidell Exploration Inc., Portland, 20 November 1972. Spec block: TE type (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns), 1,400/1,740 t, 306 ft oa, 2 'D' Express boilers + GE turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt, complement 15/198; call sign NKXR; awards include Combat Action Ribbon, China Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific with 1 star, Navy Occupation Service Medal. CO roster: Harrold (12 May 1944-14 Jul 1945), Porter (Jul-Nov 1945), Bennett (Nov 1945-Jun 1946), Heimark (Jun 1946-Jun 1947), Drew (Jun 1947-28 Apr 1948). Photo captions: 18 and 23 May 1944 San Francisco Bay (Bethlehem Steel and NAS Alameda official photographs).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Construction trades 1943-44; scrappers 1972-73
- Limitations
- Secondary volunteer compilation - useful corroboration and lead source, but the compiled dates are not independently primary-verified; its 'decommissioned 28 April 1948' reads the DANFS inactivation-completion date as the decommissioning date (conflict carried in gaps), and 'kamikazes strike' overstates the near-miss damage described in DANFS. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-03
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[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (design groups 2-3) + navypedia TE block map for boiler attribution [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; navypedia us_de_te member table (DE-633-644 block)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: the Buckley (TE) destroyer escort is one of only two DE designs with a full steam plant - two 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery of 12,000 shp (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 groups 2-3). Per navypedia's per-block boiler-manufacturer map, DE-633-644 hulls carried Combustion Engineering boilers. A 1943-44 wartime steam ship of this description would have carried era-standard asbestos applications: boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-48; reserve-fleet caretakers 1948-72
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. BuShips table documents design conditions, not materials; the boiler-manufacturer attribution is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-04
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: a 1975 standing policy removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. William C. Cole spent 1948-1972 in the reserve fleet and was sold and scrapped in 1972-73, before these policies applied - so the program context bears on disposal-era disturbance at the scrapping yard rather than on any documented condition aboard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not ship-specific; the report's fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk naval shipyards, and its policies postdate this hull's disposal. Full text blocked to automated fetch (HTTP 403); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-05
-
[7]Batch-4434 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS verbatim (hazegray via Wayback), ship's war-history scan, NavSource photo archive, NVR lookup, NARA catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-william-c-cole-de641-01 through sl-uss-william-c-cole-de641-05
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-641: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or materials documentation names the vessel in the sources searched (DANFS, ship's own war-history submission, NavSource photo/letter archive, NVR; NARA catalog blocked at the API layer - see search_ledger).
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam-plant hull scrapped in 1972-73 is era-consistent with retained ACM, and disposal-era records (scrapping-yard practices at Zidell, Portland) are undocumented. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep via fleet-authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py: exact-name 'USS William C. Cole' and bare-name 'William C. Cole' opinion/docket queries plus hull-number 'DE-641' queries [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-william-c-cole-de641-06 through sl-uss-william-c-cole-de641-09 and sl-uss-william-c-cole-de641-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming DE-641 located in CourtListener indexes: the exact-name opinion query 'USS William C. Cole' returned zero results; the docket-level query 'William C. Cole' returned 37 hits, all personal-name collisions (chiefly bankruptcy dockets for individuals named William C. Cole) with no vessel or asbestos connection; the hull-number opinion query 'DE-641' returned 8 hits, all identifier collisions in non-vessel cases (Kaseman v. District of Columbia, D.C. Cir. 2006; Johnson v. Trigg, 7th Cir. 1994; United States v. Reed, 11th Cir. 1983; Rodriguez v. Ramos, P.R. 1952; Woolf v. Schaeffer, N.Y. Sup. 1903; Continental Can v. Horton, 8th Cir. 1957; Faulkner v. Gibbs, 9th Cir. 1952; Granados Navedo v. Rodriguez Estrada, P.R. 1989); and the bare-name opinion query 'William C. Cole' returned 82 hits whose first-page results are all person-name collisions (a Pennsylvania attorney, a Tennessee chancellor, and various litigants of that name) with no vessel or asbestos reference. A class-level sweep for the Buckley class profile (2026-09-16) likewise located no asbestos docket naming any of the 148 class hulls.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- A finding about indexed public dockets only, not proof that no claims exist - pleading-stage complaints naming the hull in unindexed filings would not appear; the 'DE-641' RECAP docket query remained pacing-blocked at commit (see search_ledger sl-11), and deeper pages of the 82 bare-name opinion hits were not individually reviewed (first page all person-name collisions; exact-name query zero).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-c-cole-de641-07
