Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet jn-packet.md (6 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-benham-dd397-pkt-jn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Benham II (DD-397) (specifications block + service narrative; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription, dafs/DD/dd397.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 16 April 1938 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. A. I. Dorr; commissioned 2 February 1939, Lt. Cmdr. T. F. Darden in command (specs block: displacement 1,500; length 341'4"; beam 35'; draft 17'2"; 36.6 kt; complement 251; 4 x 5-inch guns, 16 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; Benham class). Atlantic Fleet service incl. Newfoundland patrol 1939 and Gulf of Mexico; arrived Pearl Harbor 14 April 1940; escorted Enterprise (CV-6) delivering Marine planes to Midway 28 November - 8 December 1941 (thus absent from the Pearl Harbor attack); Enterprise and Saratoga task forces off Hawaii; TF 16 for the Doolittle raid (8-25 April 1942); Battle of Midway (3-6 June) - rescued 720 Yorktown (CV-5) survivors and 188 from Hammann (DD-412); Guadalcanal/Tulagi landings (7-9 August); Eastern Solomons (23-25 August); TF 64 from 15 October; Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 14-15 November - torpedoed forward at 0038 on 15 November, lost her bow, abandoned at 1637, survivors picked up by Gwin (DD-433), which sank the hulk by shellfire at 1938. Five battle stars for 11 months of WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1936-38; wartime crew (design complement 251)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The original DANFS text gives no laid-down or stricken date and does not identify the firing Japanese vessel. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (BATCH-01 standing defect).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-benham-dd397-01
-
[3]DANFS (revised text), Benham II (DD-397) - verbatim transcription hosted by the Destroyer History Foundation, sourced to the Naval Historical Center / DANFS [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/goldplater/ussbenham/ DANFS History transcription (laid-down sentence; yard periods; loss narrative)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Revised DANFS record for this hull: laid down 1 September 1936 at Kearny, N.J., by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; commissioned at the New York Navy Yard 2 February 1939. Yard/repair periods documented: fitting out in New York; overhaul and minor alterations at the New York Navy Yard July 1939; starboard propeller replaced at the Boston Navy Yard October 1939; alterations and additions at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard April 1940 (improved sonar, splinter shields on after gun mounts, anti-magnetic-mine degaussing cables); minor repairs at Noumea November 1942. Loss narrative: hit by a torpedo on the starboard side during the destroyer melee off Savo Island (text times the hit at 2338 on 14 November), blowing off the bow back to gun mount number one; one man washed overboard (later rescued by Meade, DD-602); hull slowly split in half; crew transferred to Gwin late on the 15th; the two floating sections sunk by 5-inch gunfire off the south coast of Guadalcanal at 1938. Entire crew survived the sinking. Five battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1936-1942
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1936-38; New York Navy Yard 1939; Boston Navy Yard 1939; Pearl Harbor Navy Yard 1940; wartime crew
- Limitations
- Transcription on a private historical-foundation site of the official revised DANFS text (source credit: Naval Historical Center/DANFS); the live NHHC URL could not be located (404s across all tested paths). The narrative prints the sinking as '1938 on 14 November 1942' while also stating the crew transferred 'late on the 15th' - internally inconsistent; original DANFS and the BuShips war-damage summary date the loss 15 November, which is the date carried. Documents service and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-benham-dd397-02
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[4]Bureau of Ships, NAVSHIPS A (374), 'Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1942' (Preliminary Design Section, Navy Department, 15 September 1943) - BENHAM (DD397) entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS A (374), Section IV (Vessels Lost During First Year of War), Benham (DD397) entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips war-damage summary entry for this hull: 'BENHAM (DD397) - 11/15/42 - Guadalcanal - DD Torp. - 1 - Sunk by gunfire from GWIN. Struck on starboard bow about frame 6 by destroyer torpedo. Bow destroyed forward of frame 14. Flexural vibration resulted in buckling of shell plating and longitudinals at frame 75. Began to break up. Sunk by own forces.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-11-15
- Population
- Wartime crew at loss (crew evacuated; per revised DANFS all hands survived)
- Limitations
- Official loss record; documents damage geometry and disposition, not materials or asbestos content. Confirms the hull was abandoned and scuttled (not salvaged) - so no postwar abatement, museum, or survey record can exist for this hull. Does not name the firing Japanese vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-benham-dd397-03
-
[5]Benham-class design data (destroyerhistory.org general-information block, sourced to the Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book for USS Benham, USS Ellet and USS Lang; Friedman; Bauer & Roberts) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Federal Shipbuilding-Kearny record (1944 Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Benham-class general-information block (footnote 1: BuC&R GIB for Benham/Ellet/Lang); shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Benham-class destroyer built 1936-38 with a geared steam-turbine plant (50,000 shp, 2 shafts; boiler count is disputed in secondary sources - see gaps) would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing, plus deck coverings. The builder yard (Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset, including a 1944 Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey naming the insulation product lines in use at the yard (Johns-Manville Superex pipe covering ~15% amosite; Owens-Illinois Kaylo; W.R. Grace Monokote; Garlock gaskets). The class general-information block is itself sourced to the BuC&R General Information Book covering USS Benham (NARA RG19) - an archival lead for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1936-1942
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1936-38; crew 1939-42
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey postdates this hull's April 1938 launch by six years and documents yard practice, not materials aboard DD-397. The BuC&R GIB was not retrieved; whether it itemizes insulation materials is unverified. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-benham-dd397-04
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[6]Batch-3382 search ledger (this record): DANFS original + revised transcriptions; BuShips NAVSHIPS A(374) war-damage summary; NavSource (via Wayback); Atlas shipyard dataset; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-benham-dd397-01 through sl-uss-benham-dd397-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-397: the hull is a 1942 war loss that was never salvaged, so no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, or museum hazmat disclosure can exist; the CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweep was blocked by the fleet pacing limiter at research time and is logged as blocked in the search ledger (a negative litigation finding is therefore conditional on completing that sweep - see BATCH-3382-REPORT.md); and the only ship-level material-specification lead (BuC&R General Information Book, NARA RG19) was not retrieved.
- 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 - a 1936-38 steam destroyer of this class would be expected to carry era-standard insulated fit (ev-04), but that expectation is class/era inference, not a ship-specific documentation finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-benham-dd397-05