Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Bailey III (Destroyer No. 269)' (R.J. Cressman, updated 2024-01-25) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Specification block and service narrative, paragraphs covering 1918-1922
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC DANFS (revised entry by Robert J. Cressman, updated 25 January 2024) identifies Bailey III (Destroyer No. 269) as a Clemson-class destroyer: laid down 1 June 1918 at Squantum, Mass., by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 5 February 1919, sponsored by Miss Rosalie Fellows Bailey; commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 27 June 1919, Cmdr. Alexander Sharp in command. Specification block: displacement 1,215; length 314'4.5"; beam 30'11.5"; draft 10'3.25" (full load, aft); speed 34.5 knots (trial); complement 109; armament 4 4-inch, 1 3-inch, 3 Lewis machine guns, 12 21-inch torpedo tubes. After fitting out at Boston she joined the Pacific Fleet via Newport, Guantanamo, and Panama, reaching San Diego 13 October 1919; 1920 operations off southern California and the Mexican Pacific seaboard (Manzanillo, Mazatlan) with two upkeep/repair periods at Mare Island Navy Yard; designated DD-269 on 17 July 1920; major overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard April-June 1921 followed by Pacific Northwest port visits; decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego 15 June 1922.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, yard periods, and service events, not materials or asbestos content. This entry's 1 June 1918 keel date conflicts with the contemporaneous 1920 Bureau of C&R GIB and NavSource (3 June 1918) - carried in gaps; the record carries the GIB date. The complement of 109 conflicts with the GIB's designed 120, NavSource's 114, and the print DANFS's 122 - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-01
-
[2]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Bailey III (Destroyer No. 269)' (revised 2024) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Service narrative, paragraphs covering 1939-1945
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC DANFS records the reactivation and transfer: recommissioned at the Destroyer Base, San Diego, on 6 November 1939 (Lt. Cmdr. Henry E. Richter); Mare Island Navy Yard 9 December 1939 to 18 January 1940, where Cmdr. Edward H. Jones assumed command and the concurrent post of Commander, Destroyer Division 72; Panama transit 16 February 1940 and new base at Galveston, Texas; West Gulf Patrol with four patrols off Tampico and Vera Cruz between 7 March and 13 May 1940; engine repairs at Galveston 14 May-25 June; three reservist training cruises (two to Guantanamo, one in the Southern Drill Grounds) July-September 1940; New York Navy Yard through much of October 1940; arrived Halifax 21 November 1940; embarked a British Indoctrinal Unit 24 November; decommissioned and turned over to the Royal Navy 26 November 1940 in the destroyers-for-bases exchange, renamed Reading (pendant G.71); name stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 8 January 1941. As HMS Reading: 5th 'Town' Flotilla; Plymouth via Belfast 17 December 1940; Liverpool convoy escort; 8th Escort Group from May 1941 incl. troop convoy WS 9B (Clyde to the Middle East via the Cape) in late June 1941; Newfoundland Escort Force from July 1941; refit at Liverpool September 1941-February 1942; Thames dockyard 20 May-September 1942; aircraft target vessel for RNAS Fearn, Scotland, from October 1942 to July 1945; handed to shipbreakers at Rosyth July 1945 with scrapping completed at Inverkeithing by 24 July 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- DANFS documents the 1939-40 reactivation, transfer, Royal Navy service, two documented refit periods (Liverpool and Thames dockyard), and disposal - not the material scope of the refits, repair work, or shipbreaking, and no asbestos information. The revised text supersedes the older print DANFS recommissioning date of 30 September 1939 (carried in gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-02
-
[3]Bureau of Construction and Repair, 'General Information Including Description and Tests of Electric Auxiliaries - Torpedo Boat Destroyers Nos. 251 to 295' (U.S.S. Belknap Class), Finished Plan No. 41 (GPO, 1920; Restricted; NARA Bureau of Ships files 50734), excerpt via Destroyer History Foundation [other_primary]
- Locator
- GIB title page (scope list Nos. 251-295); 'Historical Data' table Bailey row (p.3); 'Designed Complement' section X-3 (p.2, recapitulation total 120); machinery section (p.75, Curtis turbines; p.76, Yarrow boilers)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official 1920 Bureau of Construction and Repair publication whose title page expressly covers 'Torpedo Boat Destroyers Nos. 251 to 295 - U.S.S. Belknap Class' (Finished Plan No. 41, GPO 1920, originally Restricted). Its 'Historical Data' table lists Bailey, No. 269: keel laid 3 June 1918 (dittoed under Greene's 'June 3, 1918'), launched 5 February 1919, official trial 18 June 1919, delivered and commissioned 27 June 1919, christened by Miss Rosalie Fellows Bailey - under the heading 'Vessels built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy, Mass., contract signed December 6, 1917.' Group sections applying to this hull document Curtis-type geared turbines (HP and IP turbines in tandem connected to the outboard pinion; LP and astern turbines in one casing to the inboard pinions, driving one main gear per shaft), twin manganese-bronze propellers, four Yarrow oil-burning water-tube boilers (265 psi designed working pressure, two per boiler room, four smokepipes), and a designed complement of 120 (6 officers; seaman branch 45; artificer 8; engine-room force 51; special 3; commissary 2; messmen 5).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous official build/design record naming this hull. The historical-data table's keel date (3 June 1918) conflicts with the 2024-revised NHHC DANFS (1 June) - the contemporaneous record is carried and the conflict is in gaps. The excerpted pages contain no insulation or lagging specification and never use the word asbestos; boiler/turbine facts are design data, not material findings. The DHF scan is a 14-page excerpt; per-ship and section pages beyond the excerpt are in NARA RG 19 Entry P 9 (not retrieved).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-03
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Bailey (DD-269) building/operational data (26,500 shp; Curtis turbines; yard hull no. 349) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bethlehem Shipbuilding record (yard tier 3, documented asbestos products) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-269 page, 'As Built' and 'Operational and Building Data' blocks; shipyards.json records 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard', 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard', 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'brooklyn-navy-yard'; machinery per ev-03 GIB
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: DD-269's as-built plant is documented by the 1920 GIB (ev-03) as four Yarrow oil-burning water-tube boilers feeding Curtis-type geared steam turbines - the steam plant type for which period Navy construction standardly specified asbestos boiler and steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. The Atlas shipyard dataset independently documents asbestos products at the builder (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, tier 3: 85% magnesia block, Marinite board, Transite pipe covering, Aircell pipe covering, Armabestos block, limpet spray, Unibestos, Raybestos cloth, asbestos lagging, gaskets and packing, welding blankets and rods) and Navy-period repair yards (Mare Island tier 2; Puget Sound tier 1; Boston and New York Navy Yards tier 3).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific finding. The GIB excerpt contains no insulation specification, and yard-level product documentation is not hull-level proof. Does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard DD-269, nor quantity, location, or exposure. Bethlehem's yard dataset row documents corporate/yard-level products (with Quincy among its operations) - it does not enumerate the Squantum Victory Plant specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-04
-
[5]National Archives, Special List 44 (Named Vessels deck-log index), Bailey (DD-269) entries [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 alphabetical named-vessels table, two Bailey (DD-269) rows
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 (named-vessels deck-log index) lists two deck-log runs for Bailey (DD-269): 27 June 1919 - 15 June 1922 and 6 November 1939 - 26 November 1940. The run boundaries corroborate every commission and decommission date for this hull, and the second run's 6 November 1939 start independently corroborates the recommissioning date in the revised NHHC entry and NavSource against the older print DANFS's 30 September 1939.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Index establishes that deck logs for this hull exist in NARA custody and corroborates date boundaries; the logs themselves were not reviewed and their content (which may include repair and machinery-period detail) is unknown. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-05
-
[6]National Archives, Ship Plan Index, BAILEY DD-269 entries (RG 19 Alphabetical Ship Drawings NAID 53483745; RG 19 Microfilm NAID 175668344) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Plan Index table, BAILEY DD-269 rows (NAIDs 53483745, 175668344)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Ship Plan Index lists BAILEY DD-269 under RG 19 Alphabetical Ship Drawings (NAID 53483745) and RG 19 Microfilm of Ship Engineering Drawings (NAID 175668344) - hull-level engineering drawings for this ship exist in NARA custody. NARA's asbestos research guide identifies S39 (Insulation and Lagging) and S48 (Piping) as the drawing codes relevant to asbestos research. Whether DD-269's drawing set includes S39/S48 sheets is unknown; drawings not retrieved.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Index-level finding: drawing custody is confirmed for this hull, content is not. No drawing sheet was retrieved; whether insulation or lagging drawings exist for DD-269 is unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-06
-
[7]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (research guide) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Guide sections: Beginning Research; Bureau of Ships correspondence; General Information Books; Cartographic Branch drawings (S39/S48); Board of Inspection and Survey reports
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's shipboard-asbestos research guide states that documenting asbestos in U.S. Navy materiel from 1941-1961 requires vessel-specific research, and maps the relevant record series: RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence filed by hull designation (this hull: 'DD269'), destroyer General Information Books (RG 19 Entry P 9 - the series to which the 1920 DD-251-295 GIB of ev-03 belongs), hull-arranged ship engineering drawings including S39 Insulation/Lagging and S48 Piping codes, and RG 38 Board of Inspection and Survey material-inspection reports (Entry P 1-D).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- This is a repository guide, not a Bailey record. It establishes where to research possible material evidence, not that any record or asbestos product exists for this hull. Its stated scope covers 1941-1961 materiel; DD-269's build predates the guide window and its U.S. Navy service ended 26 November 1940.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-07
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches, type=o and type=r, q="USS Bailey"; raw responses preserved in research/cl-uss-bailey-opinion.json and research/cl-uss-bailey-docket.json [court_record]
- Locator
- Search responses count=0 (type=o and type=r); search ledger sl-10, sl-11, sl-12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener v4 searches for the exact phrase 'USS Bailey' returned count 0 in both the opinion index (type=o) and the RECAP docket index (type=r) on 27 September 2026. No hit was available to classify as qualifying asbestos litigation, other litigation, or name collision. The 'DD-269' hull-number queries (opinion and docket) were blocked when the shared fleet pacing limiter denied request tokens before any HTTP request was made; those queries remain pending.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Exact-name queries only, and CourtListener indexing is incomplete - most asbestos complaints appear in RECAP dockets rather than published opinions, and many ship-name references live only inside documents not indexed for docket search. The 'DD-269' hull-number queries could not be run before the fleet pacing limiter denied tokens. 'Bailey' is a high-collision surname and 'HMS Reading' a high-collision phrase, so any future hits require careful disambiguation. This does not prove absence of asbestos litigation naming this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-08
-
[9]Documented source review: NHHC Bailey III DANFS (live); 1920 Bureau of C&R GIB for destroyers 251-295 (DHF excerpt); NavSource DD-269; NARA Special List 44; NARA Ship Plan Index; NARA asbestos research guide [other_primary]
- Locator
- Sources listed in search_ledger sl-uss-bailey-dd269-01 through sl-uss-bailey-dd269-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: the reviewed NHHC DANFS revised entry, the 1920 Bureau of C&R GIB excerpt naming this hull, NavSource building/photo data, and the NARA index/guide pages contain no asbestos survey, abatement or shipbreaking disclosure, materials inventory, or product identification for DD-269. The outcome is consistent with the record environment - the hull was built before federal asbestos record-keeping regimes and scrapped in 1945, a generation before shipbreaking disclosure requirements, and no hull survives to survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- A bounded negative finding for documents actually reviewed, not proof that Bailey contained no asbestos or that no ship-specific record exists elsewhere. RG 19 correspondence/drawings/GIB full text, RG 38 inspection reports, deck logs, UK National Archives files for HMS Reading, and the NAVSEA FOIA reading room (HTTP 403 to automated fetch) remain unreviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-09
-
[10]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index, USS Bailey (DD-269) page - building/operational data block and photo captions (incl. USNHC wet-slip and bow-damage photographs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-269 page: 'Operational and Building Data' block; photo captions 'Victory Destroyer Plant ... wet slips' and 'damaged bow after colliding with Swasey (DD-273)'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource's DD-269 photo captions document two ship-specific events beyond the DANFS narrative: a U.S. Naval Historical Center photograph of the Bethlehem Squantum 'Victory Destroyer Plant' wet slips shows Bailey (builder's hull no. 349) fitting out in the center between 27 April and 3 May 1919, with Greene (DD-266), Ballard (DD-267), and Shubrick (DD-268) completing outdoors; and a photograph shows Bailey moored with a damaged bow at San Diego after colliding with Swasey (DD-273) during maneuvers on 23 September 1920. NavSource's building/operational data give the yard hull number, the 8 January 1941 striking, and 'Sold 24 July 1945 and broken up at Inverkeithing.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- NavSource is a reputable non-official compilation; its captions reproduce official NHHC/NHC photographs. The 23 September 1920 collision documents a bow-repair event, but the caption does not state a repair yard or scope, and DANFS's two 1920 Mare Island repair periods are not tied to it by any reviewed source - no material or asbestos finding is drawn from either photograph.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bailey-dd269-10