Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet gj-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-adams-dd739-pkt-gj-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Adams III (DM-27) (builder, designation chain, dates, service narrative, striking and disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; verbatim mirror also at hazegray/losthistory dd739txt.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down as DD-739, an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, 20 March 1944 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; redesignated destroyer minelayer DM-27 on 20 July 1944 during construction; launched 23 July 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Maude Ryan Adams, widow of Lt. Samuel Adams (naval aviator killed at Midway); commissioned at Boston 10 October 1944, Comdr. Henry J. Armstrong in command. Specs block: 2,200 tons; 376'6" x 40'10" x 18'10"; 34 kt (trial); complement 363; 6x5", 8x40mm, 12x20mm, 80 mines; class Robert H. Smith. Yard periods documented: fitting out at Boston; post-shakedown availability at the Norfolk navy yard (December 1944); two Pearl Harbor Navy Yard periods (VF radar installation; main-deck plating strengthened, early 1945); emergency repairs at Kerama Retto alongside Endymion (ARL-9) after 1 April 1945 fantail bomb damage; permanent repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard 7 May to first week of July 1945. Postwar minesweeping Kagoshima, Ise Wan/Nagoya, Sasebo, Taiwan Strait, Shanghai; decommissioned December 1946; San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet ~23 years; redesignated fast minelayer MMD-27 7 February 1955 while in reserve; struck 1 December 1970; sold 16 December 1971 to Chow's Iron & Steel Co., Taiwan. One battle star for WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1971
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1944; wartime crew (complement 363); navy-yard workers at Boston, Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, and Mare Island; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-1971
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, designation chain, and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Decommissioning is dated only 'December' (1946 by narrative sequence; NavSource destroyer index reads 29 January 1947 - carried in gaps). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404. Kerama Retto repair alongside a repair ship is anchorage repair, not a shipyard availability.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-01
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[3]NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, 'Adams (MMD-27) ex-DM-27 ex-DD-739' - transcribed Secretary of the Navy Navy Unit Commendation citation; commissioning at Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown; commanding-officer roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/11/0827.htm (mine warfare archive entry; NUC citation block; CO roster)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Transcribed SecNav citation: 'For outstanding heroism in action while serving as Flagship of Mine Division EIGHT during operations for the seizure of enemy Japanese-held Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, from March 24 to April 1, 1945 ... fighting her guns valiantly to down seven planes and one probable. Severely damaged by a near miss when three enemy planes attacked on April 1 ...' All personnel attached March 24 to April 1, 1945 authorized the Navy Unit Commendation ribbon. NavSource also documents commissioning at Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, decommissioning December 1946 at San Diego, MMD-27 reclassification 7 February 1955, striking 1 December 1970, and sale for scrap 16 December 1971 to Chow Iron and Steel Co. of Taiwan, plus a commanding-officer roster (Armstrong to 7 May 1945; Clay to 20 Nov 1945; Christie to 20 Dec 1946; Price to 29 Jan 1947).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945 (action); citation transcription undated
- Population
- Crew attached 24 March - 1 April 1945 (NUC eligibility window)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic/archive transcription site, not the issuing authority - the NUC citation is a transcription of a SecNav document whose award-card primary was not directly retrieved; verification_status partial for that reason. The companion NavSource destroyer index (archives/05/739) conflicts with this page on decommissioning (29 Jan 1947) and the MMD redesignation (1 Jan 1969) - conflicts carried in gaps. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-02
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[4]DANFS specifications block (Robert H. Smith class; 34 kt trial) + class design data (Allen M. Sumner-class profile: 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 GE geared steam turbines, 60,000 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bath Iron Works record (era industrial-hygiene study; NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'bath-iron-works'; class profile allen-m-sumner-class
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer completed October 1944 on an Allen M. Sumner hull with a four-boiler steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2), including a 1942-era industrial-hygiene study of pipe-covering shop dust risk; documented navy-yard availabilities aboard this hull (Boston fitting-out, Norfolk post-shakedown, two Pearl Harbor periods, Mare Island battle-damage repair May-July 1945) are events in which era insulation would have been installed, disturbed, or renewed; NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1944; navy-yard workers 1944-1945; wartime crew 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos finding exists for this hull; this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. Yard-event asbestos scope is inference. NARA GIB and Maine Maritime Museum BIW-hull records not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-03
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[5]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-27 (opinion and RECAP docket indexes): '"USS Adams" asbestos' type=o; '"DM-27"' type=o; '"DD-739"' type=o; '"USS Adams" asbestos' type=r; '"DD-739"' type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-adams-dd739-09 through sl-uss-adams-dd739-13
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Exact-phrase opinion queries returned zero hits for '"USS Adams" asbestos' and '"DD-739"'; the ten '"DM-27"' opinion hits are all name collisions (Texas Attorney General opinions and education, customs, and German-foundation cases citing 'DM-27' as a statute, exhibit, or document number - none vessel-related). Docket-level queries returned zero '"DD-739"' hits and two '"USS Adams" asbestos' hits - both asbestos personal-injury removal dockets resolved on full-text review as name collisions with USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2), not this hull (see ev-uss-adams-dd739-05). A name match is not automatically a case; here no docketed asbestos case is verified to name DM-27/DD-739.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Negative finding is bounded by index coverage and name collision risk: 'USS Adams' is shared by earlier vessels (brig, frigate, screw gunboat) and by USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2 (commissioned 1960, decommissioned 1990 - also a Bath Iron Works hull, homeported Mayport, Fla.) - the litigation-era collision hull for any Cold-War-window claim - while 'Adams' is a common surname. A pleading naming a bare 'USS Adams' without hull number could exist unindexed. Absence of located litigation does not prove no sailor was exposed; it records that no docketed asbestos case naming this hull was found in CourtListener's opinion and RECAP indexes on 2026-09-27.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-04
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[6]Sullivan v. A. W. Chesterton, Inc., No. 2:18-cv-03622 (E.D. Pa.), Joinder of Removal Exhibit A (state complaint), ECF No. 16-1 (filed 2018-08-30); Westberry v. American Steel & Wire Corp., No. 3:10-cv-01179 (M.D. Fla.), Complaint, ECF No. 2 (filed 2010-12-23; terminated 2011-05-10) [court_record]
- Locator
- Sullivan ECF 16-1 pp.9-10 (paras. e, 7-8, 'USS Charles Adams' 1977-80, Philadelphia Navy Yard repair); Westberry ECF 2 pp.3-4 (1958-1969 Jacksonville Shipyard/Mayport employment; vessel list incl. 'USS Adams')
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Full-text review resolved both 'USS Adams' docket hits as name collisions, NOT this hull. Sullivan (E.D. Pa., asbestos P.I. removal): the complaint pleads the decedent 'was assigned to the USS Charles Adams' during '1977-January 10, 1980' and 'was present during the overhaul and repair of the USS Adams in Philadelphia for a full-year' - a service window a decade after DM-27 was stricken (1970-12-01) and years after she was scrapped (sold 1971-12-16); the referenced hull is USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2, in service 1960-1990 - itself a Bath Iron Works-built, Mayport-homeported ship, consistent with the complaint's BIW jurisdiction paragraph naming 'the USS Adams' among ships repaired at Philadelphia Navy Yard). Westberry (M.D. Fla., asbestos P.I. removal): the complaint pleads plaintiff electrician Carey Westberry's exposure aboard a vessel list ending 'USS Adams' while working at Jacksonville Shipyard/AeroJet-Gibbs and Mayport Naval Air Station 'from 1958-1969' - a window and situs in which DM-27 lay inactive in the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet (1946-1971), while USS Adams DDG-2 was in Atlantic Fleet service homeported at Mayport, adjacent to Jacksonville. Neither complaint names any hull number; attribution is by pleaded dates and locations, which exclude DM-27 in both cases.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1958-1980 (alleged exposure); 2010-2018 (litigation)
- Population
- Sullivan decedent (USN, 'USS Charles Adams' 1977-1980, lung cancer); Carey Westberry (shipyard electrician 1958-1969, mesothelioma) - both plead exposure aboard the DDG-2-era namesake or a Jacksonville-served vessel, not DM-27
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegations, unadjudicated on their own terms; classification as non-qualifying for DM-27 rests on pleaded service windows and vessel location, not on the complaints naming hull numbers (they do not). The Westberry list is a ship-work list, not a specific exposure-site finding even for DDG-2. Establishes nothing about materials aboard DM-27.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-05
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[7]Batch-3712 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live + HyperWar/ibiblio and hazegray/losthistory verbatim transcriptions; NavSource mine/destroyer archives; destroyerhistory.org; NHHC naval-aviation appendix; LOC/HAER; NVR; NARA RG19 GIB lead; CourtListener ship-name and hull-number sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-adams-dd739-01 through sl-uss-adams-dd739-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation specification, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated asbestos finding naming DM-27/DD-739 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger), and the CourtListener sweep located no qualifying asbestos case naming this hull (ev-04/05). The hull was sold for scrap abroad in December 1971, before any federal asbestos survey regime, after ~23 years inactive in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- A bounded search result, not proof that asbestos was absent aboard - 1944 steam-destroyer construction commonly used asbestos, but for this hull that remains era inference, not ship-proven. No physical survey exists (hull scrapped 1971-72, Taiwan). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-adams-dd739-06