Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
-
[1]research packet kj-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: Williams; hull DE-372; destroyer escort, John C. Butler class (DANFS header: dp. 1,350; l. 306'; 24 k.; cl. John C. Butler) [MIRROR] https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DE/de372.html
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-williams-de372-pkt-kj-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Williams III (DE-372) (namesake, builder, dates, escort service, typhoon damage, decommission/reserve/striking, target sinking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; canonical page verified via Wayback capture 2025-12-09, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/williams-iii.html) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (Williams III)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: third USS Williams, honoring Rear Admiral George Washington Williams; laid down 5 June 1944 at Orange, Tex., by Consolidated Steel Corp.; launched 22 August 1944 (sponsor Mrs. E. Willoughby Middleton); commissioned 11 November 1944, Lt. Comdr. L. F. Loutrel in command; shakedown Great Sound, Bermuda; post-shakedown availability at Boston; escort duty across the western Pacific 1945 (Panama transit, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Espiritu Santo, Lunga Point, Noumea, Ulithi, Manus, Guam, Eniwetok, Leyte, Tinian, Okinawa); on the night of 29 September 1945 caught in a severe tropical hurricane returning to Guam - a breaking wave nearly rolled the ship over, one man swept overboard and lost, topside structural damage and minor flooding, permanently repaired at Guam; decommissioned at San Diego 4 June 1946; inactivated and placed in reserve 7 October 1946; never saw further service; struck from the Navy list 1 July 1967; stripped to a hulk, towed to sea from San Diego, and sunk as a target by shellfire and missiles from ships and aircraft on 29 June 1968. Specs: 1,350 t, 306', beam 36'8", 24 kt, complement 186; class John C. Butler.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1968
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1944; wartime crew (design complement 186); reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-67; target-stripping/tow personnel 1967-68
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Complement figure (186) conflicts with secondary compilations (14 officers + 201 enlisted) - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; canonical URL verified via Wayback capture dated 2025-12-09.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-williams-de372-01
-
[3]DANFS specifications block (John C. Butler class; 24 kt) + BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 design-group-6 row (shipscribe.com scan) + Navypedia WGT boiler-block map (CE boilers for DE-339-372) + class-level litigation record (Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec, W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; BuShips SDB 1945 v1 group-6 row; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt boiler-block map (DE-372 in the CE-boiler block); CourtListener docket 6100500 (Jack v. Borg-Warner, class-level)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DE-372 is a John C. Butler-class (BuShips design group 6, WGT geared-turbine type) destroyer escort built in 1944 - peak asbestos-era construction - with a steam plant: per the class boiler-block map, DE-339 through DE-372 carried 2 Combustion Engineering 'D'-type express boilers (435 psi/750 deg F) with Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 24.3 kt design speed. Steam ships of this era carried asbestos in boiler and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Class-level litigation context: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec (W.D. Wash., naming sister USS Brannon DE-446) recite the theory that evaporator/distiller insulation aboard this class was Navy-specified and asbestos-era (BuShips Manual ch.39 NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) 1945; spec 32F3a asbestos-felt 1945) - pleading/exhibit-list level, for a different hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1968
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1944; crew 1944-46; reserve caretakers 1946-67
- Limitations
- Class/era and boiler-block inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No BuShips material schedule, GIB entry, deck log, or litigation record names DE-372's installed materials. The Jack materials are unadjudicated allegations concerning DE-446, not this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-williams-de372-02
-
[4]East Carolina University, Joyner Library, ECU Manuscript Collection #564-008 - Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Collection: Louis F. Loutrel Jr. Papers (1944-1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ECU Manuscript Collection #564-008 finding aid (scope and arrangement; custodial history)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- University archive holds primary material for this hull: the USS Williams (DE-372) war diary covering 27 September - 4 October 1945 (the typhoon period - weather transmissions from Radio Guam, damage descriptions, and Loutrel's damage-control recommendations), the ship's roster dated 11 November 1944, and clippings. Donor: Capt. Louis F. Loutrel Jr., USNR (Ret), the ship's commissioning CO.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Ship's company named in the 11 November 1944 roster
- Limitations
- Archive contents are war diary/roster/clippings - not a material or asbestos record; the war diary's damage descriptions may bear on spaces repaired after the 29 September 1945 typhoon but do not document insulation content. Finding aid's statement that Williams 'was decommissioned 11 November 1946' conflicts with DANFS (decommissioned 4 June 1946; reserve placement 7 October 1946) - DANFS carried; conflict noted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-williams-de372-03
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-28: exact-name and hull-number queries, opinion (type=o) and docket/RECAP (type=r) indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-williams-de372-03 through sl-uss-williams-de372-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep completed for this hull; no qualifying asbestos litigation located. "USS Williams" asbestos (opinions): 0 results. "USS Williams" (opinions): 1 hit - Williams v. United States Steel, 877 F. Supp. 1240 (N.D. Ind. 1995), a labor case in which 'USS' is United States Steel Corp., a name collision. "DE-372" (opinions): 10 hits, all identifier collisions - 'DE 372' appears as a docket-entry/document citation (e.g., 'motions for final order of forfeiture (DE 640, 644)' pattern), a Puerto Rico opinion citation, and unrelated civil/criminal dockets (Sierra Club v. Van Antwerp; United States v. Coffman; Lee v. Flathead County; JTR Enterprises; etc.) - none vessel-related, none asbestos. "USS Williams" (dockets): 1 hit - Edward Williams v. Fairfax County Government (4th Cir. 24-1636), an employment appeal, name collision. "DE-372" (dockets): 340 hits, all 'DE 372' = docket-entry-372 cross-references inside PACER docket text (e.g., 'NOTICE of Compliance with DE 372'), pure identifier noise.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- A negative sweep does not prove no litigation exists: CourtListener coverage is incomplete for state trial courts and settled/unreported matters, and MDL-875 complaints naming the hull could exist outside indexed text. High-collision name (USS Williams DD-108 was a different WWI-era hull; 'USS' collides with United States Steel; 'DE-372' collides with docket-entry numbering). One variant query '"Williams (DE-372)"' was throttled out of this session - see search ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-williams-de372-04
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[6]Batch-4278 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (live 404; verified transcription + Wayback capture), NPS NRHP check, ECU archive finding aid, CourtListener exact-name/hull-number sweep, Atlas shipyard dataset check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-williams-de372-01 through sl-uss-williams-de372-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-372: no hull ACM survey, no museum or NHL record exists (the hull was stripped and sunk as a target off San Diego in 1968 - it cannot have the museum-documented findings of Slater, The Sullivans, or Laffey), no abatement contract or hazmat disclosure was located for the 1967-68 stripping, and no qualifying asbestos case names the vessel. The only asbestos-marketing listings of DE-372 are law-firm/mesothelioma-site ship lists (excluded per sourcing 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 - a 1944 steam-plant escort is a class/era presumption candidate, not a documented one. The hulk's wreck-site condition and any pre-sinking hazardous-material removal are undocumented. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-williams-de372-05