USS William Seiverling (DE-441)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]DANFS, William Seiverling (DE-441) (NHHC live page, published 2015-11-02; header/spec block misprint 'DE-411', narrative reads DE-441) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC DANFS entry 'William Seiverling' - spec block + service narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: laid down 2 December 1943 at Newark, N.J., by Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched 7 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Grace Seiverling; commissioned at the New York Navy Yard 1 June 1944, Lt. Comdr. Charles F. Adams, Jr., in command; namesake Pvt. William Frank Seiverling, Jr., USMC (Navy Cross posthumous; killed 1 November 1942 at the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal). Spec block: 1,350 t, 306 ft, 36 ft 7 in beam, 13 ft 4 in mean draft, 24.3 kt (trial), complement 222; cl. John C. Butler. Service: shakedown Bermuda; post-shakedown availability New York Navy Yard to 8 Aug 1944; Panama Canal 25 Aug; Pearl Harbor 17 Sep; hunter-killer with Corregidor (CVE-58) from 1 Nov; TG 12.4 (Tulagi, CVE-72) to Ulithi 2 Dec; Lingayen Gulf support Jan 1945; Iwo Jima (TU 50.7.3) Feb-Mar; Okinawa from 21 Mar (TG 52.1; TU 50.7.3); main-propulsion repairs Ulithi 3-15 May; 24-25 May kamikaze attacks (Bates DE-68 sunk nearby; she claimed three kills, no damage); TG 30.7 patrols; 3d Fleet replenishment screen July; Salamaua (CVE-96) group Aug; Luzon patrols to 15 Aug; Tokyo Bay/Sagami Wan 2 Sep (surrender); occupation duty; Manila; San Pedro arrival (text reads '26 November' against a '3 December' Manila departure - internal inconsistency); in commission in reserve Dec 1945; decommissioned 21 March 1947. Recommissioned San Diego 27 December 1950 (Lt. Comdr. Walter C. Cole), CortRon 9; Korea Jul-Nov 1951 incl. 8 Sep Wonsan inner-harbor shore-battery action - three hits, one below the waterline at the No. 2 fireroom; Sasebo repairs; second Korea deployment 17 Oct 1952-9 Jun 1953; Long Beach Naval Shipyard overhaul Jan-26 Mar 1954; third and fourth WestPac deployments (lend-lease custody at Maizuru Jun-Jul 1955); final deployment SW Pacific/Taiwan Strait, return 18 Feb 1957; decommissioned San Diego 27 September 1957; Pacific Reserve Fleet; stricken 1 December 1972; sold 20 September 1973 to Levin Metals Corp., San Jose, Calif., for scrapping. Four WWII and three Korean battle stars.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1973

   Population

   Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime and Korean-era crew (DANFS design complement 222); Long Beach Naval Shipyard overhaul workforce Jan-Mar 1954

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and design specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Internal date inconsistency: Manila departure reads '3 December' while San Pedro arrival reads '26 November' - the ship's own 15 Nov 1945 history letter (ev-02) reads departed Manila 3 November, arrived Pearl Harbor 17 November, so the November departure is carried. NHHC page header and spec block misprint the hull number as 'DE-411' (DE-411 was USS Stafford) - the narrative and every other source read DE-441.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-01

2. [2]USS William Seiverling (DE-441), Commanding Officer to Secretary of the Navy (Attn: Public Information Office), 'Brief Ship's History,' DE441/A12-1 Serial 250, 15 November 1945, with Enclosure (A) 'Brief History of U.S.S. William Seiverling (DE-441)' (signed F. W. Larson, USNR; scan hosted at NavSource) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DE-441 page, image 06441wh.jpg - letter face + Enclosure (A), 3-panel scan; paragraphs 1-11

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Contemporaneous ship-generated history (written 15 Nov 1945 while homeward bound): commissioned 1 June 1944 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; shakedown Bermuda Jun-Jul; departed the U.S. 11 Sep 1944 via Panama Canal after a short San Diego stay; Pearl Harbor 17 Sep; first active assignment a Hunter-Killer Group hunting submarines near the Hawaiian Islands; TG 12.4 (Tulagi CVE-72) to Ulithi via Eniwetok; hunter-killer missions in the Southwest Pacific Area incl. the invasion of Luzon Jan 1945 and invasion of Iwo Jima Feb 1945; at Ulithi 16 Mar 1945 Francis W. Larson, USNR, relieved Charles F. Adams Jr. as CO; from 16 Mar to end of Jun 1945 with the four vessels of Escort Division SEVENTY (William Seiverling DE-441, Ulvert M. Moore DE-442, Kendall C. Campbell DE-443, Goss DE-444) as an antisubmarine hunter-killer unit off Okinawa; 'During the night of May 24th and the morning of May 25th the ship was under direct attack by at least nine enemy planes. The ship's gunners destroyed three of them and scored numerous hits on others; all were destroyed or driven off without damage to the ship or injury to the crew'; Jun-Jul operated with the THIRD Fleet, escorting the logistic support group; August 1945 with CortDiv 70 joined Salamaua (CVE-96) hunter-killer group protecting sea-lanes to Okinawa; anchored in Sagami Wan 2 Sep after escorting the THIRD Fleet to Tokyo Bay; remained Tokyo Bay area until ordered to Manila as escort for an LST group (ordered 24 Oct); 'set sail from Manila, homeward bound, on the 3rd of November arriving in Pearl Harbor on the 17th of November, under orders to proceed to San Diego to be placed in an inactive status early in December 1945'; awards: Asiatic-Pacific Theater Medal 4 stars (Luzon, Iwo Jima, Okinawa Gunto, Third Fleet Strikes on Japanese Mainland), Philippine Liberation Medal 1 star, American Theater and WWII Victory Medals.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1944-1945

   Population

   Wartime crew 1944-45

   Limitations

   The underlying document is an official record (CO-to-SecNav correspondence), but the cited host is a volunteer-run photo archive (NavSource); originals are NHHC/NARA holdings. Conflicts with DANFS on the Manila departure (letter: 3 November; DANFS text: '3 December' + '26 November' San Pedro arrival) and on the occupation-departure window (letter: Tokyo Bay area until ordered 24 Oct; DANFS: departed Yokosuka 17 Oct, Manila 25 Oct). Documents operations and awards, not materials; no asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-02

3. [3]Naval Historical Center, 'U.S. Navy Ships: Sunk & Damaged in Action during the Korean Conflict (Partial)' (FAQ faq82-4; Wayback capture - live FAQ path retired) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHC FAQ faq82-4, 'Damaged in action' list, 8 September 1951 entry

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC official damaged-ships list records: 'USS William Seiverling (DE-441) fireroom flooded after being hit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 8 September 1951' - corroborates the DANFS account of the Wonsan inner-harbor action and documents battle damage to the No. 2 fireroom (machinery space) followed by a Sasebo repair period.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1951

   Population

   Crew aboard during the Wonsan action; Sasebo repair workforce Sep-Nov 1951

   Limitations

   Documents a combat-damage event and its repair period, not materials or asbestos content. A flooded fireroom on a steam escort is an exposure-relevant event category (machinery-space damage and repair), but this source establishes nothing about asbestos aboard. Wayback capture cited because the NHHC FAQ path is retired.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-03

4. [4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan), group 6 row [other_primary]

   Locator

   BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1, DE design-group table, group 6 row

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Official BuShips design reference for this hull's design group: design group 6 (WGT, geared-turbine drive) - 306 ft oa, 1,350 t standard, 24.3 kt, 2 shafts, 12,000 shp, 2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F; accommodations 15 officers/207 enlisted.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1945

   Population

   Design accommodations 15 officers/207 enlisted

   Limitations

   Design-group reference, not hull-specific; documents machinery plant and accommodations, not materials or asbestos content. Carried identically in the John C. Butler class profile (ev-john-c-butler-class-01).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-04

5. [5]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (30 Aug-2 Sep 1944; introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX 1990 - per Atlas shipyards.json 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' record); navypedia WGT boiler-block map (secondary) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Atlas shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny', evidence ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944; ToxicDocs scan; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt block map

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design and builder-yard inference: this hull was under construction at Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock's Kearny yard Dec 1943-Jun 1944; three months after her 1 June 1944 commissioning, an Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of that yard (30 Aug-2 Sep 1944, while sister hulls DE-442 through DE-452 were still building) documented insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts measured during cutting and fitting. A WGT geared-turbine steam escort built in that program would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; boiler-block attribution for DE-438-452 is Babcock & Wilcox per the navypedia WGT map (unverified against contract records).

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1944 (construction/survey window)

   Population

   Federal Kearny construction trades 1943-44 (insulators and pipefitters per the survey); crew 1944-57

   Limitations

   Yard-level and class-level inference only - the survey verifies asbestos products in use at the builder yard during the construction program; it does not name DE-441, does not establish what was installed aboard this hull, and does not address crew exposure. The survey was conducted by a manufacturer (Owens-Illinois) with commercial interest in the findings. No ship-specific finding may be drawn from this row.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-05

6. [6]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - pretrial order/exhibit-list materials naming USS Brannon (DE-446) [court_record]

   Locator

   Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738.1 pp. 12, 26-27 + exhibit list items Honeywell-160 through -167 (per Atlas class profile ev-john-c-butler-class-03/-04)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Sister-hull litigation context (class level only): pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec name USS Brannon (DE-446 - same John C. Butler class and same Federal Newark building block as this hull) 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' while 'on the USS BRANNON this could have included fiberglass, mineral wool or other non-asbestos insulation.' The docket's exhibit list identifies the era's controlling Navy insulation-spec suite (BuShips Manual ch.39 Thermal Insulation NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) 1945; Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' Oct 1945; BuEng ch.13 1933/39; BUMED Code-55 memo 9 Jun 1977).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   Service era WWII/postwar; litigation 2017-2019

   Population

   Machinist's mate aboard USS Brannon DE-446 (other hull)

   Limitations

   About another hull (DE-446), carried as class context only. Pleading/exhibit-list level: the evaporator-insulation material is expert-testimony recital, not adjudicated fact, and the document itself concedes non-asbestos insulation was possible aboard DE-446. Establishes the litigation theory and document suite, not exposure aboard this or any hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-06

7. [7]CourtListener API v4 sweep via fleet-paced authenticated helper (cl-auth-search.py), 2026-09-28 [court_record]

   Locator

   CourtListener search API v4 type=o and type=r; queries enumerated in search_ledger sl-05 through sl-07

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener sweep: exact-name queries '"USS William Seiverling"' and '"William Seiverling"' returned zero opinion and zero RECAP-docket results. Surname query '"Seiverling"' (opinions) returned ~267 hits, all person-name collisions - overwhelmingly prisoner civil-rights actions naming a Pennsylvania corrections official (Thomas Seiverling) plus state criminal/dependency cases; none asbestos-related or vessel-related in the pages reviewed. Hull-number query '"DE-441"' (opinions) returned 11 hits, all reporter/citation-fragment collisions (e.g., Riley v. Kennedy U.S. 2008; United States v. Lopez-Vanegas 11th Cir. 2007) with no vessel or asbestos content. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull or hull number located in the indexes searched.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   2026-09-28 (index sweep)

   Population

   n/a

   Limitations

   Index-level sweep: RECAP docket-text coverage is partial (PACEL-level docket metadata and OCR'd filing text only); a ship named in a scanned pleading body or state-court filing not captured in RECAP would not appear. The '"Seiverling"' RECAP-docket query and the '"DE-441"' RECAP-docket query were pending at record close due to fleet pacing - see search_ledger rows sl-06/sl-07 for status; opinion-index results are complete. Absence of a located hit does not prove no litigation exists.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-07

8. [8]This record's search ledger [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-william-seiverling-de441-01 through -10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation naming the hull was found in the public sources searched. The hull was sold for scrapping 20 September 1973 (Levin Metals Corp., San Jose), so no museum-era or present-day survey exists or is possible.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   2026-09-28

   Population

   n/a

   Limitations

   Absence of a located record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 steam-powered destroyer escort is a peak-era asbestos application by design class (ev-05), and asbestos exposure aboard cannot be ruled out; it is simply undocumented at ship level. NARA and BuShips spec records remain unretrieved (ev-09).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-08

9. [9]NARA RG 19 (BuShips records) / RG 24 (deck logs) / Navy disposal records - identified leads, retrieval pending [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA RG 19/RG 24; Jack v. Borg-Warner exhibit list (ev-06)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA RG 19 BuShips contract specifications and 'General Information Books' covering DE-441's construction at Federal Kearny; (2) NARA RG 24 deck logs 1944-57 (incl. the 8 Sep 1951 fireroom-hit damage and 1954 Long Beach overhaul periods); (3) Navy disposal/sale file for the 20 Sep 1973 Levin Metals scrapping sale (hull predates NVR pre-1987 disposal coverage; Navy-disposed, so no MARAD custody card expected); (4) the Navy insulation-spec suite identified in the Jack exhibit list - BuShips Manual ch.39 NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) (1945), Navy spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' (1945), BuEng Manual ch.13 (1933/39), BUMED Code-55 memo (1977) - the correct next pull for class-level material confirmation.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1943-1973 (records); pending retrieval

   Population

   n/a

   Limitations

   Leads only - none retrieved this session; NARA catalog spot check did not surface a digitized DE-441 item set. Existence of a per-hull 'General Information Book' for DE-441 is expected for the class/era but unverified.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-09

10. [10]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

    Program-level context for era exposure pathways aboard steam escorts generally: GAO documented that Navy policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period or battle-damage repair disturbed it. For this hull, documented disturbance events include the Sep-Nov 1951 Sasebo repair period after the No. 2 fireroom hit (ev-03) and the Jan-Mar 1954 Long Beach Naval Shipyard overhaul (ev-01).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    1979 (report); policy 1975-79

    Population

    Navy shipyard workers (program-level)

    Limitations

    Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; the report's fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk. Establishes that era insulation typically remained aboard unless disturbed - it does not document what was aboard this hull or whether the 1951/1954 repairs disturbed ACM. gao.gov blocks automated full-text fetch (HTTP 403); content via product-page description.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-william-seiverling-de441-10