Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet fy-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-bennion-dd662-pkt-fy-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Bennion (DD-662) entry - namesake biography, construction, WWII service narrative, awards (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry for DD-662, namesake paragraph + specification block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Captain Mervyn Sharp Bennion, commanding officer of USS West Virginia (BB-48), killed in action at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. DD-662 launched 4 July 1943 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. M. S. Bennion (the captain's widow); commissioned 14 December 1943, Commander J. W. Cooper in command. Departed Philadelphia 3 March 1944 escorting Bataan (CVL-29); Pearl Harbor 22 March; fighter-director and radar-picket ship during Saipan (15 June-24 July 1944), Tinian (24 July-2 August), Palaus (2-29 September), Leyte (18 October-18 November - slight damage from shore battery), Mindoro (13-17 December), Lingayen Gulf (7-20 January 1945), Iwo Jima (18 February-12 March), Okinawa (26 March-8 June - slight damage from a suicide-plane near miss), and Third Fleet raids on Japan (18-29 July). Returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard 27 October 1945; out of commission in reserve at Long Beach 20 June 1946. Presidential Unit Citation for Okinawa (1 April-1 June 1945) and eight battle stars. Spec block: 2,050 tons; 376'5" x 39'7" x 17'9"; 35 knots; complement 329; five 5-inch guns, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Fletcher.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction workforce 1943; wartime crew (design complement 329)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service, and awards - not materials or asbestos content. Entry predates the 1971 striking and 1973 disposal. Live NHHC page returns 404 (standing defect per BATCH-01-REPORT); verbatim ibiblio/HyperWar transcription cited. The DANFS narrative does not give a laid-down date (19 March 1943 comes from NavSource) and says nothing about events between the July 1945 Third Fleet raids and the October 1945 return.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index page for USS Bennion (DD-662) - operational/building data, machinery block, CO roster, disposal record (Wayback capture 2024-05-27; live navsource.org does not answer automated fetch) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-662 destroyer index page - 'Operational and Building Data', 'Machinery', 'Commanding Officers' sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 19 March 1943 by Boston Navy Yard; launched 4 July 1943; commissioned 14 December 1943; decommissioned 20 June 1946; stricken 15 April 1971; sold 30 May 1973 to Levin Metals, San Jose, CA, for $91,336 and broken up for scrap at Terminal Island. Machinery block prints 60,000 SHP with Allis-Chalmers turbines and 2 screws, 38 knots, crew 273. Commanding-officer roster: CDR Joshua Winfred Cooper 14 Dec 1943 - 24 Dec 1944 (later RADM); CDR Robert Henderson Holmes 24 Dec 1944 - 8 Nov 1945. Christening-photo caption names sponsor Mrs. Louise C. Bennion of Salt Lake City (the captain's widow). Call sign NZDQ.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Reserve-fleet custodial personnel 1946-1971; Levin Metals scrapping workforce, Terminal Island, 1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archival compilation, not a primary government source - dates concur with DANFS where they overlap, and the disposal line (stricken 1971-04-15; sale 1973-05-30) is consistent across NavSource, NavalCoverMuseum, and Wikipedia. Turbine-builder attribution (Allis-Chalmers vs the class-design GE sets) and crew figure (273 vs DANFS 329) conflict carried in gaps. No asbestos, materials, or abatement information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-02
-
[4]Admiral James L. Holloway III, USN (Ret.), 'Second Salvo at Surigao Strait,' Naval History Magazine 24(5), U.S. Naval Institute (October 2010) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Naval History Magazine, October 2010 issue - narrative of the torpedo attack
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- First-person account by the then-LTJG officer in charge of Bennion's Mark 37 main-battery director (later Chief of Naval Operations): at Surigao Strait on 25 October 1944, in a three-destroyer column, Bennion made first visual contact with the Japanese battleships and launched a five-torpedo salvo at the battleship Yamashiro at about 6,000 yards; the article reassesses after-action records to credit Bennion's torpedoes with hits on Yamashiro - a contribution 'not recognized until 2010.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-10-25 (action); 2010 (publication)
- Population
- Wartime crew, October 1944 (aboard during Surigao Strait action)
- Limitations
- Postwar first-person reassessment by a participant, published by the U.S. Naval Institute; the torpedo-attribution claim is the author's reasoned reconstruction (historic kill-credit attribution for Yamashiro involves multiple destroyers and battleship gunfire). Service-history context only - no asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-03
-
[5]USS Bennion (DD-662) Presidential Unit Citation text, Secretary of the Navy (James Forrestal) for the President - Destroyer History Foundation transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussbennion_puc - full citation text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Full PUC citation text: 'For extraordinary heroism in action as a Fighter Direction ship on Radar Picket duty during the Okinawa Campaign, April 1, to June 1, 1945... with her own fierce gun fire downed thirteen hostile planes, shared the destruction of others and routed many more; and she rendered valiant service in preventing the Japanese from striking in force the Naval Forces off the Okinawa Beachhead.' Confirms the award scope DANFS summarizes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-04-01 to 1945-06-01
- Population
- Ship's company, Okinawa radar-picket duty April-June 1945
- Limitations
- Transcription hosted by the Destroyer History Foundation (a reputable destroyer-history organization), not a government site; consistent with DANFS's award summary. Award documentation - no asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-04
-
[6]Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945 - Naval Historical Center listing compiled from CINCPAC/CINCPOA A16-3/FF12 Serial 0395 (11 February 1946), Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan [other_primary]
- Locator
- Destroyers (DD) section of the CINCPAC-derived list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official list of Allied ships present in Tokyo Bay for the 2 September 1945 surrender ceremony does not include USS Bennion (DD-662) - the destroyer section runs from Ault (DD-698) through Yarnell (DD-541) with no DD-662. This corrects the occasional secondary-source association of Bennion with the surrender scene by way of her Pearl Harbor namesake connection; DANFS itself makes no surrender-presence claim.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-09-02
- Limitations
- The list covers ships physically present in Tokyo Bay for the ceremony; ships operating with Third Fleet offshore or elsewhere in Japanese waters on that date are not 'present' for this purpose. Absence from the list does not bear on her July-August 1945 operations with Third Fleet. Transcription hosted at usswestvirginia.org (USS West Virginia memorial association site) sourced to the CINCPAC report - same compilation previously published by the Naval Historical Center (faq69-1).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-05
-
[7]DANFS specification block (Fletcher class) + Fletcher-class profile machinery data (4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 geared steam-turbine sets, 60,000 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record (yard-level asbestos litigation documentation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specification block; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard'; Fletcher class profile (class-c worktree)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built at Boston Navy Yard in 1943 with a four-boiler 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and steam-line lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The builder yard, Boston Naval Shipyard, is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3), including litigation identifying asbestos gasket and sealing-material products used at the yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; crew 1943-1946; reserve-fleet custodial 1946-1971; scrapping workforce 1973
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No ship-specific record establishes asbestos products aboard DD-662. Yard-level litigation documentation attests yard conditions, not materials aboard any one hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-06
-
[8]U.S. General Accounting Office, HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page abstract, gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO reports Navy-wide that thermal insulation was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships and that the Navy did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing this hull's 1943 construction and entire 1943-1946 commissioned service squarely inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979 (report); Navy-wide practice described spans earlier decades
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers, 1970s (report population; not this hull's population)
- Limitations
- gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; the finding is drawn from the GAO product-page abstract, not the full PDF text (standing defect per BATCH-01-REPORT). The report's fieldwork covers Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards in the 1970s and does not name USS Bennion or the Fletcher class. Navy-wide institutional context only; establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-07
-
[9]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (guided research topic) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA guided research topic, opening + Bureau of Ships correspondence sections
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA describes the use of asbestos in U.S. Navy materiel during 1941-1961 as a frequently requested research topic and outlines the record series relevant to documenting whether a particular naval ship carried asbestos material. Bennion's entire commissioned service (December 1943 - June 1946) falls within the guide's stated window. The guide's own worked example is a Fletcher-class destroyer (USS Kidd, DD-661 - the hull immediately preceding Bennion in the numbering block), filed under hull code 'DD661' with class correspondence under 'DD445 Class'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1961 (guide scope); this hull's service 1943-1946
- Population
- WWII-era Navy personnel and shipyard workers (guide's subject population)
- Limitations
- Era-level Navy materiel context and research guidance only. The guide does not identify asbestos aboard Bennion, the Fletcher class, or Boston Navy Yard output; it cannot establish a product, quantity, location, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-08
-
[10]National Archives asbestos research guide - record series for hull-level material documentation (RG 19 Entry P 9 Destroyer/DE/Frigate General Information Books [Item S-68], 1907-1961; RG 38 Entry P 1-D Destroyer/DE/Frigate InSurv material inspection reports, 1940-1978; RG 19 correspondence filed under hull code 'DD662', class code 'DD445 Class', and public-yard 'NY' code for Boston Navy Yard) + NARA WWII War Diary holdings for USS Bennion (e.g., 'USS BENNION - War Diary, 8/1-31/44', micro serial 85823) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA guided research topic, GIB + InSurv + correspondence sections; DPLA item bd3e8095e21c343e66b8a4aab4854851 (war diary index record)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA identifies record series capable of holding hull-specific material specifications for this destroyer: RG 19 Entry P 9 destroyer General Information Books (deck-by-deck space/systems arrangement, can list insulation and machinery materials; series 1907-1961 covers this 1943 hull), RG 38 Entry P 1-D Board of Inspection and Survey destroyer material reports (1940-1978, covering her pre-commissioning trials and 1946 inactivation survey if extant), and Bureau of Ships correspondence filed by hull designation ('DD662'), by class ('DD445 Class'), and by builder yard code (public 'NY' series for Boston Navy Yard). WWII war diaries and deck logs for the hull are in the NARA catalog (war diary example indexed via DPLA; Navy deck-log series digitization in progress per archives.gov). None retrieved in this pass.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- record series spans 1907-1978; war diary 1944
- Limitations
- Series-level descriptions only; NARA cautions GIB coverage is incomplete by hull, and no Bennion-specific volume or report was inspected or established to survive. Research leads, not evidence of any material aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-09
-
[11]Naval Sea Systems Command, Standard Item 009-10, 'Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM); control' (FY24 issue, dated 25 October 2022) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSEA FY24 Standard Items package, item 009-10
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- NAVSEA's current repair standard instructs that shipboard materials including insulation, lagging, gaskets, deck tile, underlayment, cabling, and mastic be treated as potential asbestos-containing material until reliable testing establishes otherwise - the material categories a hull-level record would need to address.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2022 (standard); not this hull's era
- Limitations
- A modern precautionary repair standard issued roughly 50 years after this hull was scrapped; identifies material categories for research, not products documented aboard this hull. navsea.navy.mil returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; document identity verified via indexed text, content not directly inspected this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep, 2026-09-27 (cl-auth-search.py path, fleet-paced): exact-phrase opinion queries "USS Bennion", "U.S.S. Bennion", "aboard the Bennion" all returned count=0; "DD-662" opinions count=0; "Bennion"+asbestos opinions returned 5 hits, all name collisions; "USS Bennion" dockets count=0; "DD-662" dockets returned 3 hits, all non-vessel collisions [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 responses, 2026-09-27 (see search_ledger sl-uss-bennion-dd662-10)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation - and no litigation of any kind - naming this hull was located in CourtListener's opinion and RECAP docket indexes. All hits are non-vessel name collisions: the five "Bennion"+asbestos opinion hits are Utah/Texas/Montana matters where 'Bennion' is a party name (incl. Allen v. United States, D. Utah 1984 - the downwinders radiation case, where 'Bennion' is a plaintiff surname); the three "DD-662" docket hits (Madray v. Publix Super Markets, S.D. Fla.; United States v. Anderson, D. Colo.; Madoff SIPA, Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) carry 'DD-662' as a form or document-fragment string. No hit names a ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage limits: public opinion and RECAP indexes do not comprehensively cover pre-electronic-filing state court records or pre-PACER federal filings; this hull's service (1943-1946), 25-year reserve layup, and 1973 scrapping all predate the digitized-litigation era, and she left no museum or preserved-hull afterlife to generate modern claims. Absence of a hit does not prove no litigation naming this hull exists anywhere. Collision hits were classified from captions; opinion full text not individually re-inspected. Fleet pacing delayed the sweep ~1 hour into the session; all seven queries then executed cleanly (HTTP 200).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-11
-
[13]Batch-3637 search ledger (this record): DANFS (ibiblio mirror; live NHHC 404), NavSource (Wayback capture), USNI Naval History Magazine, Destroyer History Foundation, CINCPAC Tokyo Bay list, NARA asbestos research guide, GAO HRD-80-2, NAVSEA Standard Item 009-10, Naval Vessel Register, CourtListener opinion and RECAP indexes, Atlas shipyards.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-bennion-dd662-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no asbestos survey, material specification, sampling result, abatement contract, museum or hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming DD-662 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped at Terminal Island in 1973, before hazmat-disclosure regimes and the asbestos-litigation era, and left no museum or preserved-hull afterlife to generate modern ACM documentation.
- 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 - the ship's 1943 four-boiler steam plant and wartime maintenance cycle are era-consistent with period insulation practice, but no hull-level material record was retrieved. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-bennion-dd662-12