Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet fv-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-beatty-dd640-pkt-fv-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Beatty I (DD-640) (specifications block, service narrative, loss summary; verbatim hazegray transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; corroborated by HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' DD-640 spec page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Beatty I entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 20 December 1941 by Charleston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. Charles H. Drayton, daughter of Admiral Beatty; commissioned 7 May 1942, Lt. Comdr. F. C. Stelter, Jr., in command. Atlantic Fleet; east coast/Caribbean patrol to 8 October 1942; escorted Southern (Safi) Attack Force for the North African invasion 8-11 November 1942; three New York-Casablanca convoy round trips 12 December 1942-28 April 1943; Oran arrival 22 June 1943; invasion of Sicily 10-12 July 1943; Mediterranean convoy round trip 21 August-21 September; departed New York 2 October, joined Mediterranean-bound convoy at Britain 28 October (Convoy KMF-25A). Off Cape Bourgaroun, Algeria, 6 November 1943, German aircraft attacked; after fighting off several planes, Beatty was torpedoed, broke in two, and sank about three hours and 22 minutes later; eleven of the crew were lost and eight wounded. Three battle stars for World War II service. Spec block: Gleaves class; 1,630 tons; 348'3"; 36'1" beam; 37 kt; complement 276.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 276)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Casualty figure (11 lost/8 wounded) conflicts with NavSource/cover-museum '12 lost' and uboat.net '11 lost/7 wounded' - carried in gaps. Hit-to-sinking '3 hours 22 minutes' conflicts with the WDR-50 narrative timeline (~1813 hit, 2305 break-in-two, ~3h52m) - carried in gaps. Spec-block armament transcription differs between mirrors (hazegray '6 5-inch' vs historycentral '5 5-inch'; navypedia group listing shows 4 x 5-inch and 1 quintuple TT for DD-640 by 1943). Mirror transcription cited because live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-01
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[3]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 50: 'Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1944,' NAVSHIPS 50(374), 1 May 1945, Section 12 'USS BEATTY (DD640)' narrative pp. 52-55 (references: C.O. Beatty letters A9 of 12 and 22 November 1943); also hosted at NHHC online reading room [other_primary]
- Locator
- WDR-50 Section 12 (pp. 52-55) + Plate X; Section II discussion paras. 2-9, 2-21, 2-27 (Beatty among the compared cases)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Dedicated official loss narrative for this hull (class listed as BRISTOL (DD453); 1,630 tons; launched 20 December 1941): on 6 November 1943 escorting a convoy in the western Mediterranean, machinery plant in split condition, boilers Nos. 2 and 3 steaming; about 1813 a German aircraft torpedo detonated on the starboard side at about frame 124 in way of the after engineroom. The after engineroom flooded to the waterline immediately with no survivors from that space; the after fireroom filled with steam from broken steam lines (No. 4 boiler displaced ~2 feet), 6 survivors and 3 men lost there. Starboard shaft displaced inboard/upward, rupturing the forward engineroom's after bulkhead - that space flooded to the waterline within 10 minutes. All electrical power lost (1630-ton destroyers had no emergency diesel generators); attempts to relight boilers failed on contaminated fuel oil. Topside weight jettisoned; wounded transferred. At 2230 the ship was abandoned; at 2305 she broke in two at about frame 124 - the bow section capsized to port and sank, the stern sank bodily. Report assesses a torpedo warhead of ~470 lb German hexanite (~610 lb TNT equivalent) and credits the crew with 'an excellent damage control performance, but the situation was beyond control.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-11-06; report issued 1945-05-01
- Population
- Wartime crew at loss (abandonment/total casualties: see gaps); no survivors from after engineroom, 3 lost in after fireroom per narrative
- Limitations
- Documents the machinery plant (split boilers Nos. 2/3, after fireroom No. 4, forward plant), steam-line ruptures, and flooding sequence in detail - ship-specific engineering evidence, but no asbestos or insulation content is described; material composition is not a subject of the report. Narrative timeline (hit ~1813, abandoned 2230, broke in two 2305) conflicts with the '3 hours 22 minutes' hit-to-sinking figure in the NAVSHIPS A-2 summary table and DANFS - carried in gaps. ibiblio 'pbtb.tmp' path is a working scan URL; NHHC online-reading-room page for the same report is the stable alternate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-02
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[4]Bureau of Ships, 'Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, 8 December 1942 to 7 December 1943,' NAVSHIPS A-2(374), 10 March 1944, p. 12 table entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS A-2(374), Section III 'Ships Lost During Second Year of War,' destroyer table, p. 12
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official BuShips loss summary table entry: 'BEATTY (DD640) DD423-type | 11/6/43 | Northwest African Waters | Air. Torp - 1 | Broke in two | Struck by German aircraft torpedo starboard side, frame 124. Structural damage severe. After engine and boiler rooms flooded immediately. Forward engine room flooded slowly. Progressive flooding aft resulted in increased list. Finally broke in two and sank, 3 hours and 22 minutes after hit.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-11-06
- Population
- n/a - loss record
- Limitations
- Summary-level record corroborating loss mechanics and the '3 hours 22 minutes' figure that DANFS repeats; the dedicated WDR-50 narrative gives a longer timeline (~1813 hit, 2305 break-in-two) - discrepancy carried in gaps. No materials/asbestos content. 'DD423-type' is BuShips shorthand for the 1,630-ton Gleaves design family.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-03
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[5]Consolidated era/yard inference - DANFS spec block (Gleaves class, 4 superheated boilers, 50,000 shp) + BuShips Ships' Data 1945 machinery data for the class (575 psi/700 F boilers; per Atlas class profile benson-gleaves-class) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Charleston Naval Shipyard record (tier 2); NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; class profile benson-gleaves-class (ev-02/03 machinery data); shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard'; NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Gleaves-class (1941-repeat 'Bristol' group) destroyer built at Charleston Navy Yard 1941-42 with four Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers and ~50,000-shp geared steam turbines (Westinghouse per NavSource machinery line) would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2), with yard-level asbestos products including magnesia pipe insulation (5-50% asbestos), boiler external coatings (~15% asbestos), spray-on insulation for ship interiors, gaskets, and packing. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; crew 1942-43
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No ship-specific asbestos document names DD-640. Establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual. The hull sank November 1943, so no postwar-disturbance or abatement event exists for this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-04
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[6]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
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-640's construction (1941-42) and entire commissioned service (1942-43) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-05
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[7]CourtListener RECAP sweep: 'USS Beatty' (type=o) 0 hits; (type=r) 4 asbestos dockets - In re Asbestos Products Liability Litig. (MDL-875, tag-along notice), Lyautey v. Alfa Laval 1:10-cv-22891 (S.D. Fla., removal notices), Glaze v. Air & Liquid Systems 1:20-cv-00374 (D. Del., R&R), Stevens v. CBS Corp. 3:11-cv-06073 (W.D. Wash., MSJ order) - all resolved as DD-756 name collisions or unverified; Glaze R&R text expressly places plaintiff aboard 'the USS Beatty in Tampa, Florida' 1970-1973 (DD-756's Naval Reserve training era). Hull-number queries 'DD-640' blocked by fleet pacing - pending. [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search 'USS Beatty' type=o (count 0) and type=r (count 4), 2026-09-27; Glaze v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., No. 1:20-cv-00374 (D. Del.), Report and Recommendations (facts section, 1970-73 Tampa service)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. 'USS Beatty' is a documented name-collision: the second Beatty (DD-756) was in commission 1945-1972 and is the plausible referent of postwar-era exposure allegations - the Glaze (D. Del. 2020) report-and-recommendation recites plaintiff's service 'on the USS Beatty in Tampa, Florida' 1970-1973 as a machinist's mate, which postdates DD-640's 1943 sinking by twenty-seven years; Stevens (W.D. Wash. 2011) plaintiff's Navy service ran 1954-1974, likewise impossible for this hull. MDL-875 tag-along and Lyautey removal-notice references could not be resolved to a specific hull within the session - treated as unverified, not qualifying.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep); alleged exposures 1954-1986 window in located hits - all postdate this hull
- Population
- n/a - negative finding for DD-640; colliding claims involve DD-756 plaintiffs (Glaze: USN machinist's mate 1966-1986)
- Limitations
- Search limited to RECAP-indexed text via authenticated API v4; 'DD-640' exact hull-number queries (both types) were blocked by fleet-wide pacing and remain pending - a coverage gap. Absence of located litigation does not prove no claim ever named this hull; non-indexed dockets, settled cases, and un-digitized records are outside coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-beatty-dd640-06