USS BREESE (DD-122)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]Naval History and Heritage Command, Hampton Roads Naval Museum, 'Ship's bell from the USS Breese (DD-122) on display' (2018-09-05), distributed by DVIDS, photo 4702935 [museum_official]

   Locator

   Caption paragraph 1 and image metadata

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Naval History and Heritage Command's Hampton Roads Naval Museum caption identifies USS Breese (DD-122) as a Wickes-class destroyer built by Newport News Shipbuilding and launched in 1918. The museum displays her bell and says the ship was scrapped in 1946. This supports correcting the inherited 'Hopkins' class label to Wickes.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Limitations

   This is a ship-identity and class correction, not an asbestos record. The older DANFS specifications block calls the subclass 'Lamberton'; the discrepancy is preserved in the report. 'Hopkins' is not a supported class attribution for DD-122.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-01

2. [2]U.S. Navy, Navy Filing Manual (1941), DD, DM, and DMS vessel lists [other_primary]

   Locator

   Vessel lists, printed pp. 208-209: DD122, DD249, DM18, DMS13

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The 1941 Navy Filing Manual lists DM18 Breese as ex-DD122 and lists Hopkins separately as DD249, then DMS13. These are different hulls.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1941

   Limitations

   Establishes designation continuity and excludes a Hopkins hull conflation; does not establish materials, asbestos content, or crew exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-02

3. [3]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Breese (Destroyer No. 122)' [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Specifications block and service narrative, paragraphs 1-6

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS gives DD-122's design complement as 122; records convoy-escort service at the close of World War I, initial decommissioning on 17 June 1922, conversion at Mare Island Navy Yard and redesignation DM-18 on 5 January 1931, recommissioning on 1 June 1931, reserve status beginning 12 November 1937 and recommissioning on 25 September 1939, wartime mine and patrol service, final decommissioning on 15 January 1946, sale on 16 May 1946, and ten World War II battle stars.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   Original destroyer design complement (122); commissioned crews 1918-1946

   Limitations

   DANFS is a history and specification summary, with no asbestos inventory. Its 'cl. Lamberton' label differs from the NHHC museum's Wickes label; 122 is the original destroyer specification, not a verified wartime roster. NARA's indexed 1939-45 log span ends 1945-06-30, but this does not override DANFS's 1946 decommissioning date.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-03

4. [4]Commanding Officer, USS Breese, action report of Pearl Harbor air raid, 9 December 1941, enclosure to CINCPAC Serial 0479 (15 February 1942), transcribed by NHHC [other_primary]

   Locator

   Commanding officer's report, paragraphs 2-3 and 10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NHHC's transcription of Breese's commanding officer's 9 December 1941 action report places DM-18 at berth D-3 in Pearl Harbor's Middle Loch on 7 December. The ship went to general quarters at 0755, opened machine-gun fire at 0757, and reported no casualties from enemy action. The contemporaneous report identifies an engineer officer and assistant engineer among officers aboard.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1941-12-07

   Population

   Crew aboard on 1941-12-07

   Limitations

   Contemporaneous operation and personnel context only. The report does not describe shipboard insulation, asbestos, maintenance exposure, or a crew total; engineering billets alone cannot establish such facts.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-04

5. [5]National Archives, Ship Plan Index and 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' [other_primary]

   Locator

   Ship Plan Index, BREESE rows; asbestos research guide, RG 19 GIB and Cartographic Branch sections: https://www.archives.gov/research/military/navy/guided-topics/asbestos

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA's Ship Plan Index lists Breese DM-18 in RG 19 Alphabetical Ship Drawings (catalog 53483822) and Breese DD-122 in RG 19 Microfilm (catalog 175668492). NARA's asbestos research guide identifies S39 insulation and lagging drawings, S48 piping drawings, and destroyer General Information Books as potentially useful record groups for a targeted examination.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Limitations

   The index confirms series entries only; the drawings and microfilm were not examined. NARA explicitly cautions that a record-series index does not itself establish asbestos on a ship. The adjacent 'BREEZE DM-18' Hull-series entry is a possible catalog spelling error and is not attributed to Breese without confirmation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-05

6. [6]National Archives, Special List 44, Named Vessels, Breese rows [other_primary]

   Locator

   Breese (DM-18, DD-122), three date-range rows

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA Special List 44 indexes Breese (DM-18, DD-122) deck-log date spans beginning 23 October 1918, 1 June 1931, and 25 September 1939. The listed 1939 span stops at 30 June 1945; the index does not resolve the ship's later service through January 1946.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-1945 (indexed holdings)

   Limitations

   Index metadata identifies log holdings, not asbestos findings. Its second span ends 13 November 1937, while DANFS says the ship entered reserve on 12 November; this one-day discrepancy is unresolved and does not change the documented 1939 recommissioning.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-06

7. [7]Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, OPNAVINST 5100.19F, shipboard occupational safety and health asbestos chapter (2019) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Asbestos chapter, applicability and pre-1980 thermal-system-insulation protocol

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   The Navy's later shipboard asbestos instruction directs ships with keels laid before 1980 to use a presumptive asbestos thermal-system-insulation work protocol unless specific documentation shows a material is free of asbestos. Breese is within the historical construction era but had been disposed of decades before this instruction; the rule supplies only class/era screening context here.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   2019 policy; earlier construction era

   Population

   Navy ships built before 1980 (policy scope, not Breese crew)

   Limitations

   A 2019 precautionary Navy-wide policy is not a Wickes-class material specification, a retrospective survey, or proof of asbestos on Breese, any named product, a work location, dose, or individual exposure. The ship left Navy service in 1946. This row does not determine an asbestos evidence tier or establish a ship-specific finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-07

8. [8]Naval History and Heritage Command, photograph NH 56567, 'USS BREESE (DD-122)' [other_primary]

   Locator

   Photograph title and caption

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NHHC photograph NH 56567 is captioned as the double launching of USS Breese (DD-122) and USS Gamble (DD-123) at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia, on 11 May 1918.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-05-11

   Limitations

   The photograph caption verifies launch date and builder, not a keel-laying date or any asbestos-containing material.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-08

9. [9]Batch-3129 primary-source search ledger: NHHC/DANFS, Pearl Harbor action report, NARA Ship Plan Index and Special List 44, NAVSEA asbestos reading-room index [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger sl-uss-breese-dd122-01 through sl-uss-breese-dd122-05

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying Breese-specific asbestos record was located in the public NHHC/DANFS history, NHHC action report, NARA indexes, or NAVSEA asbestos reading-room index searched for this batch. No examined source identifies asbestos material, a product, a location, or an exposed individual aboard DD-122/DM-18.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   2026-09-26 source sweep

   Limitations

   This is a bounded negative search result, not proof that the ship contained no asbestos. Indexed NARA drawings and unpublished work packages were not inspected; absence of an indexed public hit does not resolve material content, exposure, causation, or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-breese-dd122-09

10. [10]CourtListener authenticated search API v4, exact-name and DD-122 opinion/RECAP docket sweeps, 2026-09-26; hit-by-hit classification in BATCH-3129-REPORT.md [court_record]

    Locator

    search_ledger sl-uss-breese-dd122-06 through sl-uss-breese-dd122-11; report CourtListener hit table

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    Authenticated CourtListener API v4 searches found zero opinions for exact 'USS Breese' and 'DD-122', zero RECAP dockets for exact 'USS Breese', and 18 RECAP docket results for 'DD-122'. Two docket hits use DD-122 as a sealed exhibit number in unrelated New York delivery-platform litigation; the other 16 are unrelated litigation records without a visible Breese vessel nexus in returned metadata. Supplemental 'DM-18' AND Breese searches returned zero opinions and zero dockets. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Breese DD-122/DM-18 was located in these indexed searches.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-26

    Study period

    2026-09-26 search

    Limitations

    This is a bounded indexed-search result, not proof no lawsuit exists. The 18 DD-122 hits were classified using returned docket metadata and RECAP descriptions, not full-text merits adjudication. No pleading allegation, discovery evidence, trial finding, or judgment about Breese was located or elevated. The supplemental DM-18 search requires Breese as an additional term, so designation-only references without that name would not be found by it.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-breese-dd122-10