Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Blakeley II (DD-150), Vol. I p. 130 (namesake, builder, dates, service narrative; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + service narrative (Vol. I, p. 130)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second ship named for Captain Johnston Blakeley; launched 19 September 1918 by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; sponsored by Mrs. C. A. Blakeley; commissioned 8 May 1919, Commander W. Brown, Jr., in command; Atlantic Fleet east-coast service to decommissioning 29 June 1922 at Philadelphia Navy Yard; out of commission at Philadelphia except 1932-37 Scouting Fleet service; recommissioned 16 October 1939 and joined the Neutrality Patrol; Caribbean patrol/convoy duty including February 1942 troop-convoy escort to Curacao; torpedoed by a German submarine off Martinique 25 May 1942 - 60 feet of bow carried away, six killed and 21 wounded; emergency repairs at Port de France, additional repairs at Port Castries (Santa Lucia) and San Juan, P.R., then Philadelphia, where she was refitted with the bow of stricken sister Taylor (DD-94) and thoroughly overhauled; returned to Caribbean Sea Frontier September 1942; TG 21.13 hunter-killer North Atlantic 1 January-23 February 1943; Bizerte convoy escort 24 March-11 May 1943; Caribbean until February 1945; submarine training duty out of New London 18 March-13 June 1945; decommissioned Philadelphia Navy Yard 21 July 1945; sold 30 November 1945; one battle star. Spec block: dp. 1154; l. 314'5"; b. 31'8"; dr. 9'; s. 35 k.; cpl. 122; a. 4 4", 2 3", 12 21" TT.; cl. Wickes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- William Cramp & Sons construction trades 1918-19; commissioning-era and wartime crews (design complement 122); 6 killed / 21 wounded in the 25 May 1942 torpedoing
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS does not state a laid-down date or a striking date and does not name the attacking submarine; transcription mirror cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-01
-
[2]Bureau of Ships, 'Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1942,' NAVSHIPS A (374), Navy Department, 15 September 1943 (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Section V, 'Vessels Damaged During First Year of War,' Destroyers table, p. 34
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips war-damage summary entry for this hull: 'BLAKELEY (DD150) 5/25/42, Martinique, Sub. Torp. - 1: Struck by submarine torpedo on port bow at frame 20. Bow forward of frame 30 demolished.' Documents a major structural reconstruction event (bow replacement and overhaul at Philadelphia Navy Yard, mid-1942) requiring shipyard work on this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Wartime crew at the time of the hit; Philadelphia Navy Yard repair workforce mid-1942
- Limitations
- Documents the damage event and its structural scope at frame level; does not describe repair materials, insulation, or asbestos content. No detailed standalone BuShips war-damage report number is listed for this hull in the summary (summary-level coverage only).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-02
-
[3]Photo 19-N-34074, USS Blakeley (DD-150) off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 5 September 1942, Bureau of Ships Collection, U.S. National Archives (NHHC Online Library record, HyperWar mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Photo data record 19-N-34074 (NARA BuShips Collection)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-held Bureau of Ships photograph caption documents this hull 'off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 5 September 1942, following installation of a new bow and general modernization' - contemporaneous official confirmation of the documented 1942 reconstruction yard period (new bow grafted from stricken sister USS Taylor (DD-94) per DANFS) plus a broader modernization scope.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Philadelphia Navy Yard workforce, mid-1942
- Limitations
- Photograph caption documents the yard event and its date; 'general modernization' scope is not itemized and no materials or insulation detail is given. Establishes a shipyard work period, not asbestos conditions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-03
-
[4]United States Navy Memorial, Lost at Sea Log - Blakeley (DD-150), date lost Monday, May 25, 1942, 'U-Boat Attack off Martinique' [museum_official]
- Locator
- Lost At Sea Log entries, Blakeley DD-150 page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Navy Memorial log names the six men killed in the 25 May 1942 torpedoing of this hull: Sea 1c Stephen Barbieri; Sea 1c William Baron; Matt 1c Charles Holmes; Matt 2c Oscar Reeves; Sea 2c Wayne Sutton; Sea 1c Michael Tancredi. Confirms the casualty figure of six killed recorded by DANFS and names the individual fatalities.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- The six named crewmen killed 25 May 1942; 21 wounded (unnamed)
- Limitations
- Memorial log documents fatalities only - it does not speak to materials, exposure, or the wounded. Rate abbreviations are transcribed as shown in the source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-04
-
[5]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-150 page (operational and building data: laid down, stricken, disposal dates; machinery data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-150 page, 'Operational and Building Data' + class data lines
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation building data for this hull filling fields DANFS does not state: laid down 26 March 1918 by Cramp, Philadelphia; decommissioned 29 June 1922; recommissioned 16 October 1939 and assigned to Neutrality Patrol; decommissioned 21 July 1945; stricken 13 August 1945; sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap. Machinery line: 24,200 SHP, Parsons-design turbines, 2 screws.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Crew 1919-1945
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not a primary register record - the laid-down and stricken dates rest on NavSource/class compilations (corroborated by Wikipedia citing standard references; uboat.net reads stricken 31 August 1945 - conflict carried in gaps). NavSource's brief chronology omits the 1932-37 Scouting Fleet commission that DANFS records; DANFS controls where they differ. The Naval Vessel Register does not cover a vessel disposed of in 1945.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-05
-
[6]DANFS spec block (35 kt speed; Wickes class) + NavSource machinery line for this hull (Parsons-design geared turbines, twin screws, 24,200 SHP); HyperWar ships list (26,000 h.p. geared turbines, twin screws) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; NavSource DD-150 machinery line; NARA RG 19 GIB (lead, not retrieved)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Wickes-class destroyer built 1918-19 with a four-boiler water-tube steam plant and twin-screw geared turbines would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging on boilers, steam lines, and turbines, plus asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and fireproofing - the standard materials envelope of Navy steamships of the era. The 1942 bow reconstruction and 'general modernization' at Philadelphia Navy Yard (ev-03) is a documented yard period in which insulation work plausibly occurred.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Cramp construction trades 1918-19; crew 1919-1945; Philadelphia Navy Yard workforce 1942
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific source documents asbestos content aboard this hull. The ship predates the peak WWII asbestos-insulation era; WWI-era marine steam plants nonetheless used asbestos lagging as standard practice. No materials schedule for the 1918-19 Cramp build or the 1942 Philadelphia reconstruction was located. NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material records are an untapped archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-06
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches (type=o opinions): "USS Blakeley"; "Blakeley" "DD-150"; "USS Blakely"; "Blakeley" asbestos (7 hits, all surname noise); type=r docket query attempted, blocked by fleet pacing [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-blakeley-dd150-04 through sl-uss-blakeley-dd150-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. Authenticated CourtListener opinion searches for "USS Blakeley" and "Blakeley" "DD-150" returned zero hits; the collision spelling "USS Blakely" (Knox-class frigate DE-1072/FF-1072, in service 1970-1991, a different ship) also returned zero opinion hits; a broad "Blakeley"+asbestos opinion query returned 7 hits, all attorney/party surname matches screened to zero ship references. The type=r docket-level query was attempted repeatedly and blocked by the fleet pacing limiter (logged in the search ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26 (sweep date); alleged exposure windows would span 1919-1945
- Limitations
- Opinion-layer coverage only - the RECAP docket query was blocked by fleet pacing and remains an open check (a pleading that never produced an indexed opinion would not appear in the completed sweeps). Absence of located litigation is a sweep result, not proof none exists. Collision handled: 'Blakely' hits would presumptively refer to DE-1072/FF-1072 or the common surname, not this hull, absent a hull number.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-07
-
[8]Batch-3156 search ledger (this record): NARA catalog and series scope for DD-150 deck logs and BuShips records; asbestos-marketing page screen; shipyard dataset cross-check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-blakeley-dd150-01 through sl-uss-blakeley-dd150-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos record located in public sources: no hull survey, no abatement or demolition record (the hull was scrapped 1945-46, predating asbestos documentation regimes), no qualifying litigation (see ev-07). NARA archival leads not yet retrieved: Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (deck logs for the 1939-45 commission), BuShips correspondence/records for the 1942 bow reconstruction, and RG 19 General Information Books material schedules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-consistent materials are expected on a 1919 steam-plant hull, but expectation is not documentation. Item-level NARA retrieval was not performed; deck-log digitization status for this hull is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blakeley-dd150-08