Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS Vol. I p.178, Burns I (DD-171) entry (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I p.178, Burns I entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 4 July 1918 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco; sponsored by Miss Alice H. Palmer; commissioned 7 August 1919, Commander W. H. Lee in command. Destroyer Force, Pacific until March 1920, then tender for the NC Seaplane Division; reclassified DM-11 15 March 1921; assigned Mine Force, Pacific 5 May; conversion/overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard from July 1921, completed at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Mine Squadron 2, Pacific Fleet, in Hawaiian waters; 1925 Australia/New Zealand cruise; Naval Reserve training cruises summers 1926-1928; mining and gunnery practice and high-speed submarine-target duty through November 1929. Arrived San Diego 26 November 1929; decommissioned 2 June 1930; towed to Mare Island 11 June 1930 for use as a barracks ship; scrapped and material sold 22 April 1932. Specs block: dp. 1191; 314'5" x 31'8" x 9'2"; 33.8 kt; cpl. 107; 4x4", 2x3", 12x21" TT; class Little.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1932
- Population
- Union Iron Works construction trades 1918-19; crews 1919-1930 (design complement 107)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, dates, and service history - it contains no materials or asbestos information and does not establish what insulation was installed, disturbed, or removed aboard this hull. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (same pattern as Batch-01 records).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-01
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[2]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index DD-171 / DM-11 USS Burns + NavSource Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive DM-11 (11/0811.htm) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 05/171.htm operational/building data block; 11/0811.htm Burns (DM-11) data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building/disposition record for this hull: class Wickes (Little variant - Bethlehem design, Union Iron Works); laid down 15 April 1918; launched 4 July 1918; commissioned 7 August 1919; designated DD-171 on 17 July 1920 (the Navy-wide alphanumeric hull-symbol assignment); converted to light minelayer DM-11 effective 15 March 1921; decommissioned 2 June 1930 at San Diego; towed to Mare Island Navy Yard 11 June 1930 as a barracks ship; struck from the Navy Register 18 November 1930; sold for scrap 22 April 1932. Machinery: 24,200 shp geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 103 (as built) / 122 (1921 configuration).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1932
- Population
- Crews 1919-1930; Mare Island barracks-ship custodial complement 1930-1932
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-edited photographic archive - authoritative secondary, not a primary document. Its destroyer page carries 'Reclassified DM-11 July 20 1920' while its own DM-11 mine-warfare page and DANFS both read 15 March 1921 - the July 1920 date conflates the hull-symbol assignment; 15 March 1921 carried per DANFS. Struck 18 November 1930 vs. 30 November in other secondary compilations - conflict carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-02
-
[3]NHHC Online Library photo data, NH 56649 (sea trials, Santa Barbara Channel, 25 July 1919) + NH 104566-A (DM-11 at Honolulu, c.1923-24) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library picture-data pages for NH 56649 and NH 104566-A (ibiblio mirror)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC photographic record corroborates this hull's existence and configuration: NH 56649 shows USS Burns (Destroyer No. 171) making 22.5 knots on sea trials in the Santa Barbara Channel 25 July 1919; NH 104566-A shows her as DM-11 (still wearing destroyer bow number 171 with Mine Force insignia) in Honolulu Harbor circa 1923-24, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Olaf M. Hustvedt.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1919; 1923-1924
- Limitations
- Photograph captions only - corroborate dates, configuration, and the destroyer-number-while-DM practice; no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-03
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[4]DANFS specifications block (class Little/Wickes, 4 water-tube boilers, geared steam turbines, 1918-19 construction) + Wickes-class design record (Friedman, U.S. Destroyers; Gardiner & Gray, Conway's 1906-1921, as cited in secondary compilations) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specs block; class design history (Friedman pp.39-45, 401-403; Gardiner & Gray p.124 per secondary citation)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a 1918-19 Wickes-class (Bethlehem-design 'Little') destroyer with a four water-tube boiler, geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging, flange and valve gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The Bethlehem-design units used Yarrow boilers that deteriorated early; the type's early retirement (Burns decommissioned 1930, scrapped 1932) is consistent with the documented blanket retirement of Yarrow-boilered flush-deckers in 1930-31.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1932
- Population
- Union Iron Works construction trades 1918-19; Mare Island conversion/overhaul yard workers 1921; crews 1919-1930
- Limitations
- Class/design and era inference only - no ship-specific material list, insulation specification, or survey for this hull was located. The early-retirement mechanism (Yarrow boiler wear) is documented at class level in secondary compilations (Friedman; Conway's) and is not itself an asbestos finding. Establishes era-consistent probability, nothing more.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-04
-
[5]NARA RG24 (Entry 118, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations) + RG19 Bureau of Ships records - archival leads for hull-level material/conversion records [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy (RG24 Entry 118, NAID 581208; pre-1941 logs at Archives I)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-level paper records plausibly exist but were not retrieved: NARA RG24 Entry 118 holds pre-1941 Navy logbooks (Burns's 1919-1930 deck logs fall in this series; pre-1941 logs are held by Archives I, Washington DC, and only selectively digitized). RG19 Bureau of Ships records and the Mare Island yard files for the 1921 DM-11 conversion could contain material specifications. No digitized Burns deck log or conversion file was located in the National Archives Catalog.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1919-1932 (records); 2026 (search)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - nothing retrieved or read. Deck logs record events, not material specifications; RG19/yard records are the more promising lead for a hull-level material list but require on-site or reproduction request.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-05
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[6]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep: opinion queries "USS Burns", "DD-171", "DM-11" Burns; RECAP docket queries "USS Burns", "DD-171" [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-burns-dd171-05 (opinions) and sl-uss-burns-dd171-06 (dockets)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep found no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull: opinion-index queries "USS Burns", "DD-171", and "DM-11"+Burns each returned zero results; a RECAP docket query for "USS Burns" returned zero. The RECAP "DD-171" query returned 7 dockets - all reviewed and classified as name collisions (incidental 'DD-171' strings in document text/OCR of unrelated matters: employment discrimination, civil rights, age discrimination, bankruptcy, and criminal cases); none references a vessel, the Navy, or asbestos. The common surname 'Burns' and the second same-name hull (USS Burns DD-588, Fletcher class, in service 1943-1974) produced no hits on the exact-name query either.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Negative litigation finding only. Absence of a docketed case is expected for a hull scrapped in 1932 - decades before asbestos litigation - and does not establish that no exposure occurred; it establishes only that no indexed court record names this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-06
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[7]Batch-3176 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource destroyer/mine-warfare archives; NHHC photo data; NARA logbook/RG19 leads; CourtListener ship-name and hull-number sweep; shipyard dataset cross-check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-burns-dd171-01 through sl-uss-burns-dd171-07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or material list naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The outcome is expected for a vessel scrapped in 1932 - roughly five decades before shipboard asbestos documentation or litigation practice - and is reported as a negative finding, not as evidence of absence.
- 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 - the WWI-era steam plant makes era-consistent asbestos probable at class/design level (ev-04). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility; the 1932 scrapping foreclosed the modern documentation channels.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burns-dd171-07