Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet ja-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-belknap-dd251-pkt-ja-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Belknap I (DD-251) - verbatim transcription (live NHHC DANFS page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'DD-251 Belknap', specification block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 14 January 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Miss Frances Georgiana Belknap, granddaughter of Admiral Belknap; commissioned 28 April 1919, Lt. Cmdr. S. Gassee in command. Eastern Mediterranean service, then Division 28 Atlantic Fleet; reserve at Charleston Navy Yard 1920; decommissioned 28 June 1922 at Philadelphia Navy Yard and laid up until 1940; converted to seaplane tender (reclassified AVD-8, 2 August 1940), recommissioned 22 November 1940; Patrol Wing 5, Hamilton, Bermuda; three Newport-Newfoundland-Iceland voyages May-September 1941; Reykjavik September 1941-May 1942; extensive overhaul at Charleston Navy Yard; Caribbean patrol August 1942-January 1943; hunter-killer groups with Bogue (CVE-9), Croatan (CVE-25), and Core (CVE-13) February 1943-January 1944; reclassified DD-251 14 November 1943; Presidential Unit Citation for TG 21.12 (Bogue group) service 20 April-20 June 1943; convoy duty February-June 1944; converted to high-speed transport (reclassified APD-34, 22 June 1944); Pacific September 1944; Leyte invasion screen 18-22 October; Lingayen Gulf shore bombardment and beach reconnaissance 3-11 January 1945; on 11 January a Japanese suicide plane crashed into the number two stack, crippling engines, killing 38 and wounding 49 (this mirror's transcription reads '7 men' - a transcription defect; the 38/49 figure is corroborated by the NARA photo caption at ev-02 and the Navy Memorial at ev-04); emergency repairs at Lingayen until 18 January; towed by Hidatsa (ATF-102) to Manus; arrived Philadelphia Navy Yard via the west coast 18 June; decommissioned 4 August 1945; sold 30 November 1945 for scrapping. Presidential Unit Citation plus three battle stars. Specification line: displacement 1,215; length 314'4"; beam 31'8"; draft 9'10"; speed 35 k.; complement 122; armament 4x4", 1x3", 12x21" torpedo tubes; class Clemson.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding (Fore River) construction trades 1918-19; Navy crew (design complement 122) across commission periods 1919-22 and 1940-45; embarked UDT 9 at Lingayen
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service history, and design specifications - it contains no materials or asbestos information. This transcription omits the keel-laying date (NavSource supplies 31 July 1918) and the striking date (NavSource supplies 13 August 1945). The mirror's casualty clause reads 'killing 7 men' where the corroborated DANFS figure is 38 - flagged here rather than silently reconciled. Cited via hazegray mirror because a live NHHC DANFS page for DD-251 was not located on 2026-09-27.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-01
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Belknap (DD-251/AVD-8/APD-34) - operational and building data, machinery block, and US National Archives photo captions incl. 80-G-359493 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-251 page 'Operational and Building Data' block; APD-34 archive page (navsource.net/archives/10/04/04034.htm) specifications block and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building data for this hull: laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, 31 July 1918; launched 14 January 1919; commissioned 28 April 1919; converted to seaplane tender AVD-8 2 August 1940; reclassified DD-251 1 December 1943 (conflicts with DANFS's 14 November 1943 - carried in gaps); converted to high-speed transport APD-34 22 June 1944; damaged beyond repair by kamikaze in Lingayen Gulf 11 January 1945; decommissioned 4 August 1945; stricken 13 August 1945; sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap. APD-34 archive page assigns her to Transport Division 102 (CDR. J. N. Hughes) and tabulates campaigns: TG 21.12 20 April-20 June 1943 (EAME); Leyte landings 10 October-29 November 1944; Lingayen Gulf landings 4-18 January 1945; Personnel Awards line reads '38 KIA, 49 WIA, 11 January 1945'. Machinery line (as built): 26,500 SHP, Curtis turbines, 2 screws, 35 knots, crew 114. National Archives photo captions corroborate the Lingayen damage: 80-G-359493 (Belknap entering drydock USS ABSD-2, Manus, 24 February 1945) states the 11 January suicide-plane crash into the number two stack 'crippled her engines and killed 38 men and wounded 49'; BS 69700 shows her at Charleston, S.C., 27 July 1944 immediately after APD conversion; 80-G-7448 shows AVD-8 alongside USS Albemarle at Argentia circa September 1941-May 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew and embarked UDT 9 personnel at Lingayen, January 1945
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic archive reproducing official operational data and NARA photo captions - reliable for dates/specs but not an official site; used for the keel, strike, and casualty corroboration that DANFS omits or mistypes in the mirror. Contains no asbestos or materials information. The '7 of her crew were lost' line on this page conflicts with the 38-KIA figure carried in its own APD-34 archive page and the NARA caption - discrepancy documented in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-02
-
[4]Presidential Unit Citation to USS Bogue and escort vessels (SECNAV citation text, James Forrestal) naming USS Belknap in Task Group 21.12, 20 April-20 June 1943 - NavSource transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-251 page, SECNAV citation text block (mid-page)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official award text: 'The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to the UNITED STATES SHIP BOGUE with her Embarked Planes and Escort Vessels constituting the Five Task Groups listed below' - 'For outstanding performance in combat against enemy submarines in the Atlantic Area from April 20, 1943, to July 3, 1944.' The first listed group reads 'United States Ships Bogue, Lea, Greene, Belknap, Osmond Ingram, George E. Badger, and VC-9 from April 20 to June 20, 1943' - placing this hull, then AVD-8, inside the cited hunter-killer group for the 20 April-20 June 1943 window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Belknap crew attached to TG 21.12, April-June 1943
- Limitations
- Documents the award and this hull's unit membership only - no materials, exposure, or casualty information. Citation text transcribed by NavSource from the Secretary of the Navy award letter; consistent with DANFS's PUC sentence for the same group and period.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-03
-
[5]United States Navy Memorial, Navy Log entry 'Belknap' (APD-34) - Lost-at-Sea roster and casualty narrative [museum_official]
- Locator
- navylog.navymemorial.org/belknap - ship designation APD-34, 'Date Lost' field, lost-at-sea log
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Congressionally chartered U.S. Navy Memorial's Navy Log entry for Belknap (APD-34): 'Air Attack at Lingayen Gulf ... she trained all her guns on an attacking suicide plane which crashed into Belknap's number two stack. This crippled her engines, killed 38 men and wounded 49.' The entry carries a lost-at-sea roster of named crew (28 sailors listed on the first page). Corroborates the 38 KIA / 49 WIA figure against the hazegray DANFS mirror's '7 men' transcription defect.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-01
- Population
- Belknap crew and embarked personnel lost in the 11 January 1945 attack
- Limitations
- The Navy Memorial entry dates the attack 'Friday, January 12, 1945' while DANFS, NavSource, and the NARA photo caption all read 11 January - the discrepancy is carried in gaps and 11 January is adopted. The roster is a memorial log of the lost, not a crew list; it contains no materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-04
-
[6]UDT-SEAL Association historical archive (navyfrogmen.com), 'Fifties Frogs' vol. 19 no. 3 - wartime cruise history of Underwater Demolition Team NINE, reproducing the team's own narrative [museum_official]
- Locator
- navyfrogmen.com Fifties Frogs vol. 19 no. 3, UDT-9 history section; corroborating roster at the crew memorial listing UDT-9 dead aboard 12 January 1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The UDT-9 cruise history documents embarkation aboard this hull: Demolition Team NINE (17 officers, 81 enlisted as organized at Fort Pierce, Fla., 20 May 1944) transferred from USS Brooks (APD-10) to USS Belknap (APD-34) at Hollandia, New Guinea, on 1 November 1944; re-embarked at Noumea 25 November after ship repairs; and was aboard at Lingayen Gulf when the ship was hit - team losses eight dead, three missing, and thirteen wounded, with nearly all equipment destroyed (survivors transferred to USS Sands, APD-13).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- UDT-9 personnel embarked aboard Belknap, November 1944-January 1945
- Limitations
- Association-published team history - a veterans' archive reproducing the team's wartime narrative, not an official Navy record; corroborates the UDT component inside the 38 KIA/49 WIA total and places the team aboard from November 1944. Its chronology dates the hit 'the next day' after 11 January reconnaissance - consistent with the Navy Memorial's 12 January dating; the discrepancy is logged in gaps. No materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-05
-
[7]NavSource APD-34 specification block (conversion-era machinery: 2 Westinghouse turbines, 2 White-Forster boilers 250 psi, 2 propellers; armament 3x3"/50, 2x40mm, 5x20mm; troop accommodations 3 officers/144 enlisted) + Clemson-class design data (4 boilers 300 psi saturated steam, 2 geared turbines, 27,600 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset records for bethlehem-shipbuilding, charleston-naval-shipyard, philadelphia-naval-shipyard [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-34 archive page specifications block; Clemson-class design data; shipyards.json records 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'charleston-naval-shipyard', 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: DD-251 was a Clemson-class flush-deck destroyer built 1918-19 with a four-boiler, 300-psi saturated-steam geared-turbine plant (NavSource building data: 26,500 shp, Curtis turbines, 2 screws; class design 27,600 shp, 35 kt); APD conversion reduced the plant to two White-Forster boilers with Westinghouse turbines per NavSource's APD-34 specification block. Period Navy steam construction used asbestos boiler and steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing as standard practice, and the Atlas shipyard dataset documents asbestos products at the builder corporation (bethlehem-shipbuilding, Quincy - tier 3: 85% magnesia block, Marinite, Transite pipe covering, Aircell, Armabestos, Limpet spray, Unibestos, Raybestos cloth, gaskets and packing, compressed asbestos sheet, asbestos welding blankets/rods) and at the overhaul navy yards (charleston-naval-shipyard tier 2: magnesia pipe insulation, asbestos cement, spray-on insulation, gaskets, packing, fireproofing; philadelphia-naval-shipyard tier 3: Eagle-Picher Super 60, Thermasil, Unibestos, Kaylo, Garlock asbestos gaskets/packing, Johns-Manville pipe insulation). NARA RG19 'General Information Books' (vessels 1900-45) are the archival lead for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1918-19; conversion-yard trades 1940 and 1944; crew 1919-22 and 1940-45
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos documentation was located for this hull (see ev-09 negative finding). The yard datasets document asbestos environments at the builder and overhaul yards across the yards' whole histories, not installation aboard DD-251; several product records postdate this hull. Boiler/turbine provenance rests on NavSource class and building data, not a ship-specific source. The 1940 AVD-8 and 1944 APD-34 conversions (yards undocumented - see gaps) would have disturbed or renewed insulation per era practice, but the scope is not documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-06
-
[8]NARA Guide to Federal Records, Record Group 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships) - 'Publications concerning naval vessels (General Information Books), 1900-45' [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG19 guide, textual records list ('General Information Books, 1900-45'); NDC entry lists RG19 UD 1052-B1-A 'Ship General Information Books [Item S-68]'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA RG19 holds Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' for naval vessels covering 1900-45 - per-vessel publications of record that typically carry machinery, piping, and fittings specifications. A GIB volume for DD-251, if extant in the series, is the likeliest surviving hull-level source for as-built insulation/materials specification. RG24 deck logs for DD-251/AVD-8/APD-34 are a further lead. Not digitized; not retrieved.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1900-1945 (series coverage)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - existence of a DD-251 GIB volume within the 1900-45 series is inferred from series coverage, not confirmed by a catalog pull; contents (and whether insulation is specified by material) are unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches, 2026-09-27: q='"USS Belknap"' type=o (2 hits, both non-qualifying); q='"USS Belknap"' type=r (2 asbestos PI dockets, both resolved to CG-26 name collisions); q='"DD-251" asbestos' type=o (0); q='"Belknap" asbestos' type=o (52 surname/party collisions, no naval-vessel reference); q='"Belknap" "DD-251" OR "APD-34" OR "AVD-8"' type=r (5,662 - query degraded to surname noise, control only). Raw result JSONs committed alongside this record. [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-belknap-dd251-06 and -07; raw JSONs cl-uss-belknap-opinion.json, cl-uss-belknap-docket.json, cl-dd251-asb-opinion.json, cl-belknap-asb-opinion.json, cl-belknap-hull-docket.json; Haddock declaration OCR extract cl-deliberali-haddock-decl-8.0.ocr.txt
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated, fleet-paced helper only, 2026-09-27) - no qualifying asbestos litigation found for DD-251. (1) Exact 'USS Belknap' opinion search: 2 hits, United States v. Chapple, 36 M.J. 410 (CMA 1993) and United States v. Clark, 16 M.J. 239 (CMA 1983), U.S. Court of Military Appeals courts-martial whose ship references belong to the CG-26 era (in commission 1964-1995) - name collisions, not asbestos cases. (2) Exact 'USS Belknap' docket search: 2 hits, both asbestos personal-injury removals - Deliberai v. Allen-Bradley Co., No. 2:18-cv-02682 (E.D. Pa. filed 2018) and Siegfried v. 3M Co., No. 2:18-cv-01575 (C.D. Cal. filed 2018) - but document-level resolution shows the match in each enters through the defense removal declaration of James M. Haddock, USN (Ret.), whose service biography recalls 'preparing the fire-damaged USS Belknap (CG-26) for tow back to the states' while serving aboard USS Ready (PG-87), 1974-76 (OCR-verified; RECAP docs paed.544375.8.0 and cacd.702384.51.0) - the explicitly hull-numbered CG-26 cruiser, not an allegation of exposure aboard this hull. Siegfried's plaintiff exposure window (Long Beach Naval Shipyard 1969-1996, per the Batch-01 verified record of the same filing) independently excludes DD-251, scrapped 1945-46. (3) 'DD-251' + asbestos opinions: 0. (4) 'Belknap' + asbestos opinions: 52 hits, all surname/party-name collisions with no naval-vessel reference in result metadata. (5) Combined 'Belknap' + hull-number RECAP query: degraded to 5,662 surname collisions - control only. Classification: no qualifying asbestos litigation; all hits resolve to name collision or noise.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep discipline: every hit resolved to document level before attribution - the two asbestos dockets matched only on a defense declarant's service biography naming 'USS Belknap (CG-26)', a removal-stage defense filing by the declarant, not a plaintiff exposure allegation; even read as vessel references they name the later hull. CourtListener covers participating jurisdictions only; RECAP full-text OCR can miss hull references (this hull's matches were themselves recoverable only via OCR of scanned declarations), and state-court dockets outside RECAP - including the Philadelphia CCP source filings for Deliberai - are not covered. No qualifying hit is consistent with scrapping in 1945-46, a generation before asbestos litigation, but does not prove no suit was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-08
-
[10]Batch-3250 search ledger (this record): DANFS (hazegray verbatim transcription); NavSource destroyer + APD archives and NARA photo captions; U.S. Navy Memorial Navy Log; NARA RG19 guide; Atlas shipyard dataset; CourtListener name and hull sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-belknap-dd251-01 through -07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement or shipbreaking disclosure, materials inventory, or museum hazmat record for DD-251/AVD-8/APD-34 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The outcome is consistent with the record environment - the hull was built before federal asbestos record-keeping and scrapped 1945-46, a generation before shipbreaking disclosure regimes, and no hull survives to survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-standard construction makes asbestos content likely at class level, but it is not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-belknap-dd251-09