Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, Brownson II (DD-868) (verbatim transcription via hazegray.org mirror, Wayback capture; live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 at all located URL patterns) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, DD-868 specifications block + service narrative (hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd868txt.htm via Wayback)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: (DD-868: dp. 2,425; l. 390'6"; b. 40'10"; dr. 18'6"; s. 34.6 k.; cpl. 345; a. 6 5", 10 21" TT.; cl. Gearing). Launched 7 July 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y.; sponsored by Miss Caroline Brownson Hart, granddaughter of Admiral Brownson; commissioned 17 November 1945, Commander W. R. Cox in command. Shakedown in the Atlantic and Caribbean; reduced operational status at Bath, Maine for six months; Operation High Jump November 1946 - April 1947; Newport operations 1947; 2nd Fleet Caribbean exercises February 1948, then 6th Fleet Mediterranean; reserve cruises June 1948 - May 1949; Boston Naval Shipyard extensive modernization May 1949 - March 1950; collision with Charles H. Roan (DD-853) during night operations off Bermuda 8 November 1950; returned for repairs and further modernization, departing February 1951 for the Mediterranean; Operation Mainbrace (NATO) August 1952; 7th Fleet Far East tour departing Newport 2 August 1954 - January 1955; returned via Suez Canal, arriving Newport 14 March 1955.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1955 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel Staten Island construction trades 1945; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS design complement 345)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents specifications and service history, not materials or asbestos content. Entry text ends March 1955 - the remaining 21 years of service (FRAM I conversion, Vietnam combat tour, DESDEVGRU-2 testbed duty, decommissioning 1976) are absent from this source. DANFS reads 'joined the 9th Fleet in the Mediterranean' for February 1951 - a transcription error for the 6th Fleet carried as such here. DANFS says she 'returned to Boston' for collision repairs while the ship-association history and a contemporaneous Philadelphia Evening Bulletin photo place the bow-repair period at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (arrival 6 December 1950 with a Bermuda-fabricated temporary bow) - conflict carried in gaps. Laid-down date (13 February 1945) is absent from DANFS and carried from secondary compilation. Live NHHC page 404; verbatim mirror text cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-01
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[2]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr 1107042, decision date 2011-02-22, docket 09-37 497 (appeal from VA RO Nashville; Veterans Law Judge L.B. Cryan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Decision REMAND section ('in-service asbestos exposure aboard the USS Brownson' ... 'conceded'); INTRODUCTION (service dates May 1961 - April 1964)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decision naming this hull. The Veteran served on active duty May 1961 - April 1964 and 'asserts that he incurred a lung disorder as a result of in-service asbestos exposure aboard the USS Brownson'; the Board records that he 'served as a boilerman, an MOS that is more likely to be exposed to asbestos products' and states 'It is therefore conceded that the Veteran was exposed to asbestos during service.' September 2008 VA treatment records showed bilateral calcified pleural plaques consistent with previous asbestos exposure and CT findings consistent with asbestos exposure. The only commissioned USS Brownson during 1961-1964 was DD-868 (DD-518 was sunk in 1943). Disposition: REMANDED - the claims file contained no diagnosed current lung disability, a required element of service connection; the Board ordered a VA respiratory examination.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1961-1964 (exposure period); 2008-2011 (claim and decision)
- Population
- U.S. Navy veteran, boilerman aboard USS Brownson (DD-868), service May 1961 - April 1964
- Limitations
- Administrative adjudication at remand stage: VA conceded in-service asbestos exposure aboard this hull but granted nothing - the remand turns on the absence of a current diagnosed disability, and the claim's final outcome is not in this record. Concession rests on rating (boilerman) and shipboard service, not on a hull material survey; the decision names no asbestos product, manufacturer, compartment, or quantity. Does not establish exposure for any other person, legal eligibility, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-02
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[3]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr 1412622, decision date 2014-03-25, docket 01-10 048 (herbicide-exposure claim; quotes the VA 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Decision, findings of fact (personnel-file ship list) and VA Bulletin quotation (DD-868 Mekong Delta entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official VA record naming this hull: a veteran's personnel file showed service aboard USS Patterson (DE-1061), USS Brownson (DD-868) (transferred December 1970), USS Warrington (DD-843), and USS Myles C. Fox (DD-829). The decision quotes the VA herbicide ship list verbatim: 'The USS Brownson DD-868 operated on Song Nha Be and Ganh Rai Bay areas of Mekong River Delta during February 1967' - official confirmation that this hull operated in Vietnam's inland waterways during its 1966-67 Western Pacific deployment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1967-02 (documented Vietnam operations); 1970 (individual service); 2014 (decision)
- Population
- U.S. Navy veteran aboard DD-868 (transferred December 1970); crew during February 1967 Mekong Delta operations
- Limitations
- Herbicide (Agent Orange) claim context - the decision establishes the ship's February 1967 operating location and one veteran's 1970 presence aboard; it contains no asbestos information and adjudicates no asbestos exposure. The quoted ship-list entry is the VA's own compilation from Navy deck logs and histories.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-03
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[4]Goodrich v. John Crane, Inc. / Air & Liquid Systems Corp. et al., Civil No. 4:17cv9 (E.D. Va.), Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171 (2018-09-28); index confirmations at vLex for companion ECF 154/157 decisions of 2018-08-24 and 2018-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009, Omnibus Opinion and Order (ECF 171); class-profile evidence ev-gearing-class-04/-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published omnibus opinion in an asbestos product-liability case (Navy machinist plaintiff) recites class-level engineering evidence for Sumner/Gearing-class destroyers: a class engineering drawing specifying amosite asbestos felts and asbestos cloths on forced-draft blower turbines, and an expert's partial tally of approximately 30.3 tons of asbestos thermal insulation/lagging in fire and engine rooms of Sumner/Gearing destroyers. USS Brownson (DD-868) is a completed member of the Gearing class to which this class-level evidence refers.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1970s (design period); 2017-2018 (litigation)
- Population
- Navy engineering-space crews and shipyard trades, Sumner/Gearing destroyers (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level litigation recital, not a finding for this hull: the drawing and tonnage figures are evidence recited in the opinion for other vessels of the class (the plaintiff's exposure ships), unadjudicated as classwide quantities, and never attributed to DD-868 specifically. Docket confirmed via CourtListener (4:17-cv-00009) and vLex index; the ECF 171 full text was not re-extracted this session (CourtListener fleet pacing limit) - the recital description follows the Gearing class profile's documented reading. Class membership justifies research priority only; it never becomes a ship finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-04
-
[5]ibiblio HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' DD-868 page (compiled from DANFS) + Atlas shipyard dataset records for Boston Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio DD-868 specifications block (machinery line); shipyards.json 'boston-naval-shipyard' and 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard' records; south-pole.com USS Brownson association history (yard-period list)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DD-868 is a Gearing-class destroyer built 1945 with a high-pressure superheated steam plant - 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers feeding General Electric geared turbines, 60,000 shp on two shafts. A plant of this type and build era would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Repeated documented yard periods (Boston NSY Sep 1947 - Jan 1948; Boston NSY modernization May 1949 - Mar 1950; collision bow-repair/modernization Nov 1950 - Feb 1951 at Philadelphia NSY per photographic and association records; Boston NSY overhaul 1961; Boston NSY FRAM Mk I conversion Jun 1963 - spring 1964; Boston NSY sonar overhaul 1967-68) are the classic insulation-disturbance windows; both naval shipyards have documented asbestos records in the Atlas yard dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1976
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel Staten Island construction trades 1945; Boston and Philadelphia naval-shipyard trades across six documented availabilities; crew during yard periods
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - the ship-specific findings for this hull are ev-uss-brownson-dd868-02 (VA concession of in-service exposure) and ev-uss-brownson-dd868-06 (negative finding on hull-level material records). No BuShips material schedule, hull insulation plan, or ACM survey for DD-868 was located; this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. Yard list from association history and DANFS; asbestos scope of each yard period is inference, not documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-05
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[6]USS Brownson Association ship history hosted at south-pole.com (association-compiled chronology, Wayback capture 2011-10-31) + Tin Can Sailors (National Association of Destroyer Veterans) destroyer history, The Tin Can Sailor, April 2001 (destroyers.org/ships/dd-868) [other_primary]
- Locator
- south-pole.com/brownson.htm association chronology (Wayback 2011-10-31); destroyers.org/ships/dd-868 TCS history (The Tin Can Sailor, April 2001); navsource.org/archives/05/868.htm operational data block and Philadelphia Evening Bulletin photo caption (6 December 1950 arrival, temporary bow)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-1955 service detail not covered by DANFS (entry ends 1955): second round-the-world cruise 1956 (transited Suez hours before the Anglo-French action; two months in the Red Sea); joined Destroyer Development Group Two October 1958 as the first ship fitted with an operational variable-depth sonar (removed during FRAM); Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul 1961, then Operation LANTFLEX 4-61; Cuban quarantine October 1962; FRAM Mk I conversion at Boston Naval Shipyard June 1963, rejoining the fleet April 1964 with DASH drone-helicopter outfitting February 1965 (NavSource: 'Completed FRAM upgrade May 1964'); Mediterranean August - December 1964; Northern Europe goodwill cruise 1965; Destroyer School assignment July 1966; world cruise October 1966 - April 1967 with Vietnam combat service (Yankee Station plane guard for Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) from 21 November 1966; I Corps naval gunfire support; first 20 days of February 1967 on the gunline off the Saigon River mouth area, 3,200+ rounds fired - consistent with the VA ship-list Mekong Delta entry); Boston overhaul 1967 - June 1968 (SQQ-23X/PAIR prototype sonar testbed for DESDEVGRU-2); Mediterranean June 1972; homeport shift to Mayport, Florida August 1973; final six-month Middle East Force deployment April - October 1975 (Dakar, Accra hosting Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, Cape of Good Hope, Mombasa); decommissioned and stricken 30 September 1976; sold for scrap 10 June 1977 to North American Smelting Co., Bordentown, NJ.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1955-1977
- Population
- Crew 1955-1976; Boston/Philadelphia yard trades 1961-68 conversions
- Limitations
- Veteran-association and volunteer-archive compilations - not official Navy publications; cited to fill the DANFS coverage gap (1955-1976) with the corroboration noted (VA ship list, NavSource operational data, collision photo record). No asbestos or materials content. The 1950-51 repair yard is given here as Philadelphia (with Bermuda drydock first), conflicting with DANFS's 'Boston' - conflict logged in gaps. Association text gives commissioning 16 November 1945 vs DANFS 17 November; DANFS controls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-06
-
[7]NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' listing for Brownson (DD-868): digitized years 1945, 1946, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970; series 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAIL 594258; RG 24 Entry 118) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov deck-logs availability list, 'Brownson (DD-868)' entry (years 1945, 1946, 1966-1970)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA holds and has partially digitized this hull's deck logs (1945-46 and 1966-70 covering the Operation Highjump and Vietnam gunline periods); logs for 1947-1965 and 1971-1976 are held undigitized at Archives II. NHHC hosts digitized Vietnam-era command histories but no Brownson file was located in the command-operation-reports collection. NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' (per-vessel material specifications) are the standard archival lead for hull-level construction material data and were not retrieved.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1976 (holdings span)
- Population
- Crew, documented per log year
- Limitations
- Holdings lead only - deck logs record navigation, drills, and personnel, not material inventories; asbestos content is not expected in log text. Logs corroborate the service record rather than evidence materials aboard. No retrieval performed (no spend authorized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-07
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweeps, authenticated and fleet-paced (cl-auth-search.py), 2026-09-28 [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs: type=o "USS Brownson" (count 0); type=o "Brownson" asbestos (count 28, all collisions); type=o/type=r "DD-868" and "USS Brownson" - pacing-blocked (exit 2, fleet budget)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search: '"USS Brownson"' returned 0 results. '"Brownson" asbestos' returned 28 opinion hits - all name collisions (e.g., law firm Stich Angell Kreidler Brownson & Ballou and party surnames in Minnesota asbestos insurance litigation); none ship-related. Hull-number query '"DD-868"' (opinions) and all RECAP/docket-type queries could not be executed - the shared fleet CourtListener budget (114/hr) was saturated by other sessions throughout this research window; every attempt returned the pacing stand-down signal, which is honored rather than retried into a ban.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Opinion sweep is complete and negative for this exact ship name, but the RECAP docket layer was not searched - MDL-875 (E.D. Pa.) complaint lists and remand dockets naming DD-868 could exist below opinion level. The VA adjudication record (ev-02) is the only ship-specific asbestos-exposure document located. Absence of indexed opinions does not establish absence of litigation; unindexed state-court and PACER-only filings are outside the sweep.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-08
-
[9]Batch-3833 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404; hazegray Wayback mirror used); ibiblio HyperWar; NVR detail page; VA BVA decisions; NARA deck-log availability; MARAD vessel-history DB; NavSource; destroyers.org (TCS); south-pole.com association history; Goodrich v. Air & Liquid docket (E.D. Va.) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-brownson-dd868-01 through sl-uss-brownson-dd868-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-level asbestos-material documentation located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, insulation schedule, donation/disposal-condition hazmat record, or merits-adjudicated tort finding naming DD-868 exists in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The single ship-specific asbestos document is the 2011 BVA remand (ev-02). Competitor/law-firm pages asserting 'equipment manifest' claims for DD-868 (e.g., a 'BUSHIPS' manifest on navyshipexposure.com) offer no primary documents and were excluded.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the ship's era, plant type, FRAM-era overhaul history, and the conceded in-service exposure in ev-02 are all consistent with period-standard ACM. Does not establish or defeat any individual claim. The 1977 scrapping predates modern disposal-hazmat disclosure practice.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-brownson-dd868-09