Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet gk-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-blue-dd744-pkt-gk-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Blue II (DD-744) - canonical NHHC page (history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/blue-ii.html; live page returns 404, verbatim text verified via Wayback capture 2021-03-01 and Tin Can Sailors transcription labeled 'Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, June 2015') [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Blue II (DD-744)', specifications block + service narrative + closing awards line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second Blue; namesake LCDR John Stuart Blue (USNA 1925, navigator of Juneau CL-52, KIA 13 November 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal). Launched 28 November 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y.; co-sponsored by Mrs. J. S. Blue and Miss Eleanor Stuart Blue (widow and daughter of the namesake); commissioned 20 March 1944, Comdr. L. Ensey. Specs: 2,200 t; 376'6"; 40'10"; draft 19'; 34 kt; complement 345; 6x5-in, 10x21-in TT; Allen M. Sumner class. Service: TF 58 screening from Eniwetok July 1944 through the Volcano-Bonin-Yap, Palau, Philippine, Luzon, Formosa, China-coast, Honshu/Nansei Shoto raids, Iwo Jima assault, and Okinawa conquest; damaged by the 5 June 1945 typhoon off Okinawa, repaired at Leyte, joined 3rd Fleet home-island strikes 10 July-15 August; captured the 5,223-ton submarine I-400 off Honshu 27 August; Tokyo Bay 2 September; San Francisco 5 October 1945; Puget Sound Navy Yard overhaul to January 1946; DesDiv 92 China/Yellow Sea/Philippine/Marianas duty 1946; out of commission in reserve at San Diego 14 February 1947; recommissioned 14 May 1949 (DesDiv 72), overhaul at San Francisco Naval Shipyard June-September 1949, decommissioned San Diego 12 December 1949; recommissioned 15 September 1950 (DesDiv 131); TF 77 off Korea February-August 1951; San Francisco Naval Shipyard overhaul late 1951; TF 77 Korea April 1952; TG 95.20/TF 76 patrol and gunfire support September-October 1952; returned November 1952; 1953 deployment June-December; routine Pacific Fleet service thereafter (entry marked 'Updates pending for 1954-1971'). Decommissioned 27 January 1971; struck from the Navy list 1 February 1974; 'disposed of in a fleet training exercise on 28 April 1977.' Six battle stars World War II; six battle stars Korea.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1977
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel Staten Island construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crews (design complement 345)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Keel-laying date is not stated (secondary compilations give 30 June 1943; navypedia-derived class table reads January 1943 - conflict carried in gaps). Entry explicitly lacks post-1953 narrative ('Updates pending for 1954-1971'), so Vietnam-era operations are not DANFS-documented. The disposal sentence does not say 'sunk' or name the exercise; secondary sources describe a missile-exercise sinking off southern California. Live NHHC page returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-27; Wayback capture and verbatim transcriptions cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels 1945,' Vol. I (NAVSHIPS 250-010, 15 April 1945), List of Naval Vessels - shipscribe.com scan of the official BuShips publication [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1.pdf, List of Naval Vessels - Destroyers (DD) continued, printed book p.9 (PDF p.14), third column
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official BuShips April 1945 roster lists 'DD744 BLUE' in the Destroyers (DD) section under the 'No. 692 Class - Continued' column heading, between DD743 SOUTHERLAND and DD745 BRUSH - contemporaneous official confirmation of this hull's existence, hull number, and No. 692 (Allen M. Sumner) class assignment as of the April 1945 program state (OCR-verified on the scanned page this session).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945 edition (program state April 1945)
- Population
- Sumner-class program
- Limitations
- Roster establishes identity and class assignment only - the publication's design tables record characteristics, not materials, and no asbestos or insulation statement attaches to the DD-744 entry. OCR was run on a textless scan; the 'DD744 BLUE' cell renders cleanly at 300 dpi but the roster carries no further per-hull detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-02
-
[4]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018) [court_record]
- Locator
- Omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (OCR of scanned ECF 171; per class-profile verification, underlying exhibits not in RECAP index)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital bearing on this hull's class: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites that 'an engineering drawing for the insulation and lagging of forced draft blower turbines for the class of destroyers (DD 692, USS Allen M. Sumner class), within which the USS Harlan Dickson fell, specifies the use of amosite felts and asbestos cloths,' and quotes an expert report estimating 'a partial tally of the weight of the asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging products in the fire ... and engine rooms of a ship belonging to the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Gearing (DD 710) classes of destroyers is 30.3 tons.' USS Blue is a DD-692-class (Allen M. Sumner) hull, so the drawing covers the class design to which this hull was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-45 construction era; opinion 2018
- Population
- Sumner-class program; ship's force engineering personnel as a class
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recitals only - the drawing and expert report (McCloskey) were described, not adjudicated, and the underlying exhibits were not retrieved; the opinion treated related exposure conclusions as speculative. The 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally for fire/engine rooms of a Sumner/Gearing hull, not an inventory of this ship and not a classwide quantity. Establishes the class design called for asbestos insulation components; establishes nothing about this specific hull's as-built materials, quantities, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-03
-
[5]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 the Navy's shipboard asbestos program: extensive asbestos insulation use through the era with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s; standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. All Sumner hulls (built 1943-45, including this 1943-44 hull) fall inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975-1979 policy window; describes decades-long insulation persistence
- Population
- Navy ship workers and crews, program-wide
- Limitations
- Program-level context, not class- or hull-specific - does not establish asbestos aboard this ship. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; content via the product-page description (same limitation as prior batches).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-04
-
[6]NavSource FRAM program index table (secondary compilation): '744 | Blue | San Francisco | 01/61'; corroborated by NavSource DD-744 operational data ('Completed FRAM upgrade January 1961') and Tin Can Sailors crew recollections placing the work at Hunters Point (San Francisco Naval Shipyard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/helpers/fram.htm FRAM index, DD-744 row; navsource.org/archives/05/744.htm operational data block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Modernization event (secondary-source documented): this hull completed a FRAM II conversion at San Francisco in January 1961 - a multi-month pre-substitution-era yard period that, under era practice documented in GAO HRD-80-2, would have disturbed original machinery-space insulation in worked spaces. Asbestos-disturbance scope for this specific yard period is inference; no FRAM work package or insulation record for this hull was located.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1960-1961
- Population
- San Francisco Naval Shipyard (Hunters Point) yard workers and ship's force, 1960-61
- Limitations
- Yard event is documented only by secondary compilations (NavSource FRAM table and DD-744 operational data; crew recollections) - not by DANFS, which marks this period 'Updates pending.' Asbestos scope is class/era inference, not hull documentation; FRAM II conversion scope aboard this hull is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-05
-
[7]DANFS specifications block (Allen M. Sumner class; 34 kt; 60,000 h.p. high-pressure superheated boilers, geared turbines, twin screws - HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy' DD-744 page) + class technical data [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-45' DD-744 entry (machinery summary); class technical data per Sumner class profile
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Sumner-class destroyer built 1943-44 with a four-boiler, 60,000-shp superheated steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation and lagging on boilers, turbines, and steam lines, plus gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck/bulkhead coverings - consistent with the Goodrich-recited class drawing (ev-03) but independent of it.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- Bethlehem Staten Island construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-71
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific material schedule or survey was located for this hull; this row adds context, not a ship-specific finding. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweeps: opinion search "USS Blue" (2 hits, both non-asbestos); opinion/docket searches "DD-744" and "USS Blue" dockets - see limitations and this record's search ledger [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search type=o q="USS Blue" -> 2 hits (clusters 8665978, 473685)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep result: opinion full-text search for the exact phrase "USS Blue" returned two hits - United States v. Barunas, 23 M.J. 71 (C.M.A. 1986), a court-martial cocaine opinion in which the matched text is 'USS BLUE-BACK (SS 581)' - the submarine Blueback, a substring collision, not this hull (opinion text verified via API full text); and United States v. Walker, 796 F.2d 43 (4th Cir. 1986), the Walker-family espionage appeal (non-asbestos). The hull-number opinion search 'DD-744' returned zero hits. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Blue (DD-744) was located in the opinion index.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- sweep date 2026-09-27
- Population
- Unverified
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is index-limited: RECAP docket text and unindexed complaints are only partially searchable, and the shared fleet rate budget interrupted the docket-level queries ("USS Blue" and "DD-744" docket searches were queued repeatedly but the fleet-wide pace limiter was spent - see search ledger). A name match is not evidence of exposure; absence of a located case does not prove no sailor ever filed. Exposure allegations against Navy vessels often name the ship only in unindexed complaint exhibits.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-07
-
[9]Archival leads: NARA deck logs for DD-744 (association site confirms NARA-catalog scans exist); NARA RG 19 BuShips General Information Books (per-hull material specifications); NHHC command operations reports (sister-ship reports reference this hull; none located for it); Staten Island Shipbuilding Company Collection, Staten Island Museum (~204 cu. ft. of builder plans) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog (RG 24 deck logs, RG 19 GIB); history.navy.mil command-operation-reports (Passumpsic 1968, indexed snippet); sssmcatalog SISCO collection description (Staten Island Museum)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Unretrieved primary repositories bearing on this hull's material history: (1) NARA deck logs for DD-744 - a defunct USS Blue DD-744 association site (Wayback 2019) stated deck-log scans were available through NARA's online catalog; (2) NARA RG 19 BuShips 'General Information Books,' which hold per-vessel material specifications and could resolve the class/era inference to hull level; (3) NHHC-hosted command operations reports - no DD-744 report was located, but the 1968 USS Passumpsic (AO-107) report's indexed text records 'UNREP USS BLUE (DD 744)' during WestPac operations (URL now 404s; indexed snippet only); (4) the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company Collection at the Staten Island Museum holds ~7,000 builder plans that may include this hull's construction drawings.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Limitations
- Leads only - nothing retrieved; each would require dedicated archival work. The association-site and NHHC indexed-snippet observations are pointers, not citable content. A retrieved GIB or builder specification could raise or lower the documentation level; absence of these records is not evidence about the hull either way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-08
-
[10]This record's search ledger (DANFS/NHHC live + Wayback; BuShips NAVSHIPS 250-010 scan; NavSource operational data and FRAM index; Tin Can Sailors; Wikipedia; hullnumber.com; CourtListener opinion sweep; shipyards.json yard registry) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-blue-dd744-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation was located for this hull in any source searched: no hull survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, insulation-material record, or docketed case names USS Blue (DD-744). The hull's 1977 sinking forecloses museum-phase ACM documentation of the kind available for sister ship Laffey (DD-724, friable asbestos remediated during 2009 drydock). 'No qualifying ship-specific record located' is recorded as a result, not papered over.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1977
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence: undigitized NARA series (deck logs, RG 19 GIBs, FRAM work packages) and litigation complaint exhibits could still hold hull-level material. The record's asbestos picture remains class/era inference and must not be read as ship-specific.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-blue-dd744-09