Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet hh-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: Akizuki (second of name; JDS Akizuki)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-akizuki-dd960-pkt-hh-packet-md
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[2]Naoyuki Agawa, 'Arleigh Burke and the Founding of the JMSDF,' chapter 5 of 'Friendship Across the Seas: The US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force' (Springer/Japan Library, 2023), pp. 75-95, Open Access - expressly based on Kaijo jieitai nijugonen shi, the official JMSDF 25-year history [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter section 'JS Akizuki' - funding/registry paragraph quoting the JMSDF 25-year history; ship profile paragraph (2350 t, 32 kt, 330 crew, Nagasaki build, delivered 1960-02-13, flagship 20+ years, reclassified end FY1984); delivery-ceremony paragraph (US flag raised/lowered, same-day handover); decommissioning-ceremony narrative (1993-12-07, Yokosuka)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Springer open-access chapter (Naoyuki Agawa, 'Arleigh Burke and the Founding of the JMSDF,' in 'Friendship Across the Seas,' Springer 2023, pp. 75-95), citing Kaijo jieitai nijugonen shi (the JMSDF's official 25-year history), documents this hull's funding and registry: 'JS Akizuki and JS Teruzuki were financed through the Offshore Procurement Program in the US Navy's construction budget for FY1957. Offshore procurement was a method in which the US government orders a vessel's construction from a shipyard in Japan and, when completed, provides it directly to the JMSDF. The contract was concluded at the end of March 1957... Based on the contract, the US Navy ordered construction from Mitsubishi's shipyards in Nagasaki and Kobe. Initially, these ships were registered as US Navy destroyers, and US Navy hull numbers were allocated: the Akizuki was DD-960, the Teruzuki was DD-961.' On the delivery ceremonies in February 1960: 'the shipyards first transferred the newly completed ships to the US Navy, which hoisted The Stars and Stripes. The US Navy, after lowering the US ensign, then handed the ships over to Japan.' On the ship itself: 'a destroyer with a standard displacement of 2350 tons, a top speed of 32 knots, and a complement of 330. Built at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki Shipyard, it was delivered to the JMSDF on February 13, 1960. As the JMSDF's first 2000-ton-class destroyer, it came well equipped with flagship facilities, serving as the fleet flagship for over 20 years. But its classification was changed to Service Ship at the end of fiscal year (FY) 1984.' The chapter describes the 1993-12-07 9:45 a.m. ensign-return ceremony aboard service ship JS Akizuki at Yoshikura Pier, JMSDF Yokosuka Base, ending 33 years of service, and records that 'the offshore procurement of JS Akizuki and JS Teruzuki was the first and last instance of this practice' due to Congressional opposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1957-1993
- Population
- JMSDF crew (330 complement, 1960-1993); Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard construction workforce (1958-1960)
- Limitations
- Published scholarly monograph (Springer, open access) explicitly citing the official JMSDF 25-year history - the strongest accessible source for the DD-960 registry fact, the FY1957 OSP funding, the Nagasaki build, delivery, flagship service, and 1993 retirement. It is still a secondary account: the underlying U.S.-side registry documentation (the DD-960 entry in period Navy vessel lists and any strike action) and the intergovernmental contract itself were not retrieved. Contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information - supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-01
-
[3]NavSource Online, Destroyer Photo Index 'DD-960 AKIZUKI / DD-961 TERUZUKI' (volunteer-compiled; fetched via navsource.net mirror 2026-09-28 - navsource.org host returned an error to automated fetch) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Index page operational/building data block, class line, fate line; photo-caption credits (Jane's 1961-62, Conway's 1947-82, JMSDF official photos)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Naval History destroyer index page 'DD-960 AKIZUKI / DD-961 TERUZUKI': 'CLASS - AKIZUKI (1959) - Modified FLETCHER'; displacement 2,890 tons (full); armament 3 x 5"/54, 4 x 3-in/50, 1 Mk.108 Weapon Alfa, 2 Hedgehog ASW mortars, 2 ASW torpedo racks, 4 x 21-in torpedo tubes, 2 depth-charge throwers, 2 depth-charge racks; crew 330. 'Paid for with funds of the United States Military Aid Program (MDAP) and became units of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force. Laid down by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki. Akizuki - Launched, June 26 1959, Commissioned February 13 1960, Decommissioned December 7 1993. Fate: Scrapped in 1993.' Photo credits include official JMSDF photographs and images sourced to Jane's Fighting Ships 1961-62 and 1969-70 editions and Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1958-1993
- Population
- JMSDF crew (330)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary index, not an official record - used for cross-check and detail (armament/sensor fit, photo provenance). Dates agree with the Springer/JMSDF-history account and Japanese-language sources. 'Modified FLETCHER' is index shorthand for the design lineage: Japanese sources record that the US initially proposed construction of a modestly improved Fletcher-type hull but ultimately funded only - planning, design, and construction were all Japanese - so 'Fletcher-derived' reads as a proposal artifact, not an actual Fletcher-class variant. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-02
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[4]Takeda et al./Japan workers'-compensation analysis (PMID 41536830, 'Significant risk of developing asbestos-related diseases in Japan's industries: An analysis of workers' compensation' - shipyard workers among highest ARD risk; asbestos imported into the 2000s) + Japan Ship Technology Research Association (JSTRA) 'Manual on Proper Handling of Asbestos in Ships,' 3rd rev. (regulatory chronology) + Japanese-language class sources citing the JMSDF 25-year history (plant spec and refit chronology) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed abstract 41536830 (industry-level findings); JSTRA manual 3rd rev. foreword/regulatory history (https://www.jstra.jp/PDF/e62b27f469816ecf445fa7659db0fbdf213b1e60.pdf); refit chronology per ja.wikipedia Akizuki-class/ship articles citing the JMSDF 25-year history and JMSDF ship-history compilations
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference only: the hull carried a high-pressure steam plant - 2 Mitsubishi CE-type water-tube boilers (40 kgf/cm2, 450 deg C) and 2 Mitsubishi Escher Wyss-type impulse steam turbines, 45,000 PS, 2 shafts, 32 kt - completed in a Japanese shipyard in 1958-60, a type and era for which asbestos boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, and fireproofing were standard practice in naval construction worldwide. Peer-reviewed occupational-health literature documents that Japan imported and used asbestos well into the 2000s (prohibition phased 2004-2012) and that within Japanese manufacturing, shipyard workers are among the occupations at highest risk of asbestos-related disease. The Japanese ship-asbestos regulatory chronology (per the Japan Ship Technology Research Association manual, 3rd rev.) - SOLAS amendment banning new ACM installation (2002), Asbestos Hazard Prevention Rules (2005), partial application to steel ships (2009), full application (2011) - postdates this hull's entire 1958-1993 life, so no survey, inventory, or regulated-abatement record for this vessel was ever legally required to exist. Documented refit events on the hull whose asbestos scope is inference, not record: March 1968 stern refit (VDS installed; depth-charge racks/throwers removed), April 1978 special refit (Mk.108 Weapon Alfa and Mk.2 torpedo racks removed; Type-71 Bofors rocket launcher and triple short-torpedo tubes added), March 1985 service-ship conversion (ASU-7010), 1989 refit (No.3 5-inch gun removed; towed-array sonar TASS installed; trials duty thereafter).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1958-1994
- Population
- Mitsubishi Nagasaki construction and outfitting workforce (1958-1960); JMSDF crew 1960-1993 (engineering spaces especially); refit yard workforces 1968/1978/1985/1989; scrapping workforce 1993-94
- Limitations
- Industry/era-level material combined with this hull's documented steam plant - establishes that asbestos-containing thermal insulation, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing were era-standard practice in a 1958-60 Japanese naval steam build, NOT that any survey, specification, or record confirms asbestos aboard this specific hull. No JMSDF materials schedule, insulation specification, survey, or abatement record was located; JMSDF technical documentation is not public at the level that would settle it. Does not establish quantity, location, condition, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-03
-
[5]The Mainichi (English), 'Nagasaki court orders Mitsubishi Heavy to pay damages for shipyard workers' lung diseases' (2022-11-09), reporting Nagasaki District Court 2022-11-07 ruling; Mainichi/Yomiuri reporting of Fukuoka High Court rulings 2025-09-11 and 2025-06-10; Nagasaki District Court judgment summary via saibankan-map.jp (19-group action, duty-of-care finding from April 1960) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Mainichi English article (2022-11-09) - Nagasaki District Court ruling text summary; mainichi.jp article 2025-09-12 (Fukuoka HC third-suit appeal ruling); yomiuri.co.jp 2025-06-11 (Fukuoka HC fourth-suit reversal); saibankan-map.jp judgment summary
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-yard litigation context (Japanese courts, reported in reputable press): the Nagasaki District Court ruled on 2022-11-07 that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was liable for lung disease among subcontract workers at its Nagasaki Shipyard - the third class action on the yard's dust exposure - ordering ~122 million yen to 20 plaintiffs; the 18 workers had worked at the shipyard between 1955 and 2014 in trades including welding, assembly, and thermal insulation construction, and the court found the company's dust-exposure countermeasures 'insufficient until around 1990.' On appeal (reported 2025-09-11), the Fukuoka High Court broadened the ruling, recognizing causation for all 35 plaintiffs and ordering ~230 million yen. A separate fourth-round suit ended differently: the Fukuoka High Court on 2025-06-10 reversed a Nagasaki District Court award, finding no diagnosable pneumoconiosis on CT review. A district-court judgment summary for a related Nagasaki Shipyard action (19 worker groups) found MHI owed a duty of care to direct and subcontract workers from at least April 1960 (the pneumoconiosis-law implementation date) - a window that brackets this hull's July 1958 - February 1960 construction. Complaints in these actions plead dust and asbestos (funjin / asubesuto) exposure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1955-2025 (adjudicated exposure window; rulings 2022-2025)
- Population
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard direct and subcontract construction workforce (1955-2014 adjudicated window; this hull built 1958-60)
- Limitations
- Yard-level adjudications at the builder facility - these rulings concern workers' dust/asbestos exposure at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard during a period (1955-2014) that includes this hull's construction window, and the judgment summary fixes the duty-of-care onset at April 1960, inside that window. They do not name this hull, do not describe materials installed aboard it, and are Japanese civil compensation rulings accessed through press reporting, not US asbestos dockets - litigation-stage discipline: these are adjudicated merits rulings about the yard, not about exposure aboard DD-960.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-04
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[6]Batch-3881 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS site search; NVR scope note; JMSDF mod.go.jp equipment/list pages; Springer chapter (ev-01); NavSource index (ev-02); PubMed shipyard-ARD literature; Japanese court rulings via press; JSTRA manual; CourtListener API v4 (see ledger sl-10 completed / sl-14 blocked for outcome) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-akizuki-dd960-01 through sl-uss-akizuki-dd960-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, insulation specification, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated finding naming Akizuki, DD-960, DD-161, or ASU-7010 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation surface: CourtListener API v4 opinion searches for 'Akizuki' and 'DD-960' each returned zero results; the docket (type=r) search for 'Akizuki' returned 12 hits, all name collisions - 'Akizuki' is a Japanese surname (Akizuki v. 3M Company, filed 2025-08-26, two docket entries; the remaining hits - Lee v. Spectranetics, Goldsworthy v. Tudor-Saliba, Andersen v. Stability AI, Warren v. Hedgpeth, FTC v. Direct Marketing Concepts, Sweigert v. Goodman, Alencar v. Aetna, Botta v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, et al. - match the string in party/attorney text; none is maritime or asbestos and none names the vessel). The remaining surfaces ('DD-960' docket; 'USS Akizuki' opinion and docket) were blocked by the fleet-wide pacing budget - logged as blocked, not treated as clean. US-official coverage is structurally absent: DANFS does not cover JMSDF hulls; the Naval Vessel Register excludes ships disposed of prior to 1987; the current JMSDF mod.go.jp equipment pages cover the modern (post-2010) Akizuki class only. The hull was scrapped in Japan in 1993-94, before Japan's ship-asbestos survey/abatement regime existed (2005 rules onward) and long before ship-recycling inventory requirements - no documentary surface on which a materials record for this hull would ever have been required to exist in public.
- 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 1958-60 Japanese steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation at construction and across her documented refits, and Japan's asbestos regulation postdates the hull entirely, so the documentary vacuum is structural, not exculpatory. The hull never had a US crew or USN operating history, so US-docket silence carries near-zero probative weight either way; Japanese litigation/industrial-records surfaces were not exhaustively searchable in this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-05
-
[7]NARA Guide to Federal Records record-group descriptions (RG 330/334/469); JACAR repository scope; JMSDF official-history citations within the Springer chapter (ev-01) [other_primary]
- Locator
- JACAR repository (jacar.go.jp); NARA record-group guide; JMSDF 25-year history as cited
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required): (1) Kaijo jieitai nijugonen shi / 50-nen shi, the official JMSDF institutional histories that Agawa cites - primary basis for the DD-960 registry fact, the March 1957 intergovernmental contract terms ($18.68M total per Japanese sources: two 2,300-ton destroyers, delivery to US by March 1960, US paid 90% on progress), and the ship's full service record; (2) JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, jacar.go.jp) holds JMOD records - the plausible repository for the 1957 offshore-procurement contract, acceptance/delivery instruments for DD-960, and any 1960 US-registry paperwork; (3) NARA: RG 330/334/469 (Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Assistance Advisory Group Japan, ICA/USAID predecessor records) for the FY1957 OSP line item and transfer documentation; (4) 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels' (NAVSHIPS 250-000 series) 1960-61 editions - would show whether DD-960 was ever carried in USN tabulations; (5) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard construction records for the hull (builder's trials, outfitting and insulation schedules) - held privately, where the Nagasaki pneumoconiosis case files suggest surviving yard documentation exists; (6) Japanese shipbreaking records for the 1993-94 scrapping.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1957-1994 records
- Limitations
- Repository mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether any of these holdings contain a materials or insulation schedule for this specific hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-06
-
[8]GlobalSecurity.org 'DD-960'/'DD-961' pages (name/dates swapped) vs Springer chapter ev-01 (citing JMSDF 25-year history), NavSource index ev-02, and Japanese-language class table; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JDS_Akizuki infobox 'Kobe' vs Nagasaki sources; ships-worktrees hull-list master-hull-list.json 'ship_class: Hopkins' entries for DD-960/961/962 [other_primary]
- Locator
- globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-960.htm (titled Teruzuki, carrying Akizuki dates) and dd-961.htm (titled Akizuki, carrying Teruzuki dates); en.wiki infobox builder field; master-hull-list.json entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Correction of secondary-source defects found during research: (1) GlobalSecurity.org carries a name-swap - its page 'dd-960.htm' is titled 'DD-960 Teruzuki' while its text gives Akizuki's dates (laid down 31 July 1958, launched 26 June 1959), and 'dd-961.htm' is titled 'DD-961 Akizuki' while giving Teruzuki's dates; the DD-960=Akizuki / DD-961=Teruzuki pairing in the Springer chapter (citing the official JMSDF history), NavSource, and Japanese-language sources controls. (2) English Wikipedia's JDS Akizuki infobox says 'laid down by Mitsubishi at Kobe' - Nagasaki is documented by the Springer chapter, NavSource, and all Japanese-language sources (the Kobe yard, Shin-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, built sister ship Teruzuki); en.wiki's body text citing the US ordering also has the yards associated correctly in context. (3) The fleet master-hull-list label 'Hopkins' for DD-960 is uncorroborated by any located source - no USN 'Hopkins' class exists for this hull number; the correct class is Akizuki (JMSDF, first generation).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- source defects observed 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Documentation defects in secondary sources, not interpretation - the name/number pairing, builder yard, and class label are fixed by the official-history-backed account and multiple consistent secondary sources. 'Hopkins' may be a fleet-list placeholder or carryover error for the MDAP hull block; flagged, not asserted further. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-akizuki-dd960-07