Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]DANFS, Clarence K. Bronson (DD-668) (launch, commissioning, service narrative, decommissionings, battle stars; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for LT(jg) Clarence King Bronson, USNA class of 1910, early naval aviator killed at Naval Proving Ground Indianhead Md. 8 November 1916; launched 18 April 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., sponsored by Mrs. W. P. Richardson; commissioned 11 June 1943, Comdr. W. S. Veeder in command. Fletcher class; dp. 2,050; l. 376'6"; b. 39'8"; dr. 17'9"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 319; a. 5 5", 10 21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct. Pearl Harbor Nov 1943; TF 58 screening - Kwajalein, Truk/Saipan/Guam raids, Bismarck Archipelago (19-25 Mar 1944), Palau/Yap/Woleai; New Guinea landings Apr 1944; Majuro drydock May 1944; Marianas - Philippine Sea (19-20 Jun 1944, searchlight homing beacon); Guam invasion; Palaus Sep 1944; Formosa/Philippines raids; Leyte Gulf - Cape Engano 25 Oct 1944; Mindoro; Lingayen coverage; Tokyo strikes; Iwo Jima fire support/ASW patrol (Feb-Mar 1945); west coast overhaul; Pearl Harbor Jul 1945; Wake Island bombardment 8 Aug 1945; Sagami Wan 27 Aug 1945, occupation duty to 5 Dec; Charleston - decommissioned in reserve 16 Jul 1946. Recommissioned 7 Jun 1951; east coast/Caribbean training; TF 77/TF 99 Korean waters 3 Jul-10 Nov 1953; round-the-world cruise home, Narragansett Bay 15 Jan 1954; four years alternating training, NATO North Atlantic ops, engineering school ship, 6th Fleet Med cruises 1955 and 1957; 1958 experimental duty, Underwater Sound Laboratory; 1959 reserve training cruises from Charleston and Mayport; in commission in reserve at Orange, Tex. 11 Apr 1960; decommissioned 29 Jun 1960. Nine WWII battle stars, one Korean.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (complement 319)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and design specifications, not materials or asbestos content. No laid-down date is stated in the entry; post-1960 events (1967 Turkish transfer, 1973 striking) postdate the transcription's coverage. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (standing link-rot defect since batch-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-01
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[2]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, DD-668 USS Clarence K. Bronson - operational/building data block, yard-period photo captions, fate line (page read via Wayback capture 2024-06-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-668 page (navsource.org/archives/05/668.htm, Wayback capture 2024-06-16), 'Operational and Building Data' block + photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource index data for this hull: laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ, 9 December 1942; launched 18 April 1943; commissioned 11 June 1943; decommissioned 16 July 1946; recommissioned 7 June 1951; decommissioned 29 June 1960; stricken 1 February 1973; to Turkey 14 January 1967, renamed Istanbul; stricken and broken up for scrap 1987. Machinery listed as 60,000 shp General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 273; call sign NJDX. Photo captions document two yard periods: overhaul at Mare Island from 19 April to 22 June 1945 (NARA and Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum photographs, hull photographed off Mare Island 15 June 1945), and presence at Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1966 'in preparation for transfer to Turkey'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1987
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding trades 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers Apr-Jun 1945; Philadelphia Navy Yard workforce 1966; Turkish Navy crew 1967-1987
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compilation indexing official records and photographs, not a primary document; its laid-down date fills the gap left by DANFS (which omits it) and its disposal dates agree with NVR and other secondary sources. Yard-period dates rest on photo captions tied to NARA/museum photographs. Does not establish materials or asbestos content; the 1966 Philadelphia transfer-preparation work scope is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-02
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[3]Naval Vessel Register, CLARENCE K BRONSON (DD 668) ship detail page (NAVSEA official inventory) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR SHIPDETAILS DD-668 page: Vessel Status block (status, custodian Turkey, stricken 02/01/1973) + Milestone Dates
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NVR record for this hull: status 'Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale case number assigned'; custodian TURKEY; commission date 06/11/1943; decommission date 06/29/1960; stricken date 02/01/1973; status-change date 02/01/1973. Establishes that the hull remained on the U.S. Navy list (on foreign transfer to Turkey) until 1 February 1973, when it was stricken and sold outright.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Limitations
- NVR documents registry status and dates only - no materials, condition, or asbestos content. Live nvr.navy.mil page for this hull no longer renders vessel detail (NVR excludes vessels disposed before 1987); the 2024-08-22 Wayback capture of the official page is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-03
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; four-boiler steam plant) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Federal Shipbuilding-Kearny record (incl. Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of the yard, Aug. 30 - Sep. 2, 1944) + NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944); NavSource yard-period captions; NARA RG19 archival lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer with a four-boiler 60,000-shp geared steam-turbine plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. The builder yard (Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2) - including an Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of the yard, 30 Aug - 2 Sep 1944, documenting insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces. Repair/overhaul yards with documented hull presence (Mare Island 1945; Philadelphia Navy Yard 1966) are likewise documented asbestos-era yards in the Atlas dataset. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1967
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers 1945; Philadelphia yard workers 1966; crew 1943-60
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey postdates this hull's completed construction (commissioned June 1943) and documents yard practice, not materials aboard DD-668. Yard-level documentation for Mare Island and Philadelphia likewise describes those workplaces, not work performed on this hull. NARA GIB retrieval not performed. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-04
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[5]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 product page + report summary (published Oct. 18, 1979; publicly released Oct. 22, 1979)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level era context: GAO documented that the Navy's major asbestos use aboard ships was thermal insulation, that substitution of alternative materials did not begin until the early 1970s - after this hull had already left U.S. custody - that the October 1975 policy was remove-and-replace only when insulation was damaged or had to be removed for repairs, and that a one-time removal program was rejected on ~$2 billion estimated cost. Clarence K. Bronson was transferred to Turkey in January 1967 and stricken/sold in February 1973, before either removal policy existed; no Navy asbestos-removal program ever applied to this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979 (report); 1943-1973 (hull U.S. life)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews, program-wide (context)
- Limitations
- Program-level findings, not a survey of this hull; GAO fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (standing defect since batch-01); product-page description and published summary used. Does not establish what was aboard DD-668 or its condition at transfer or scrapping under Turkish control.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-05
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[6]Yates v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. et al., No. 5:12-cv-00752-FL (E.D.N.C.; 28:1332 Diversity-Asbestos Litigation; terminated 2015-12-18), Memorandum in Support of Motion in Limine, ECF No. 300 (filed 2015-03-31), attachments 5, 7, 9 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 5608234, ECF No. 300 attachments 5/7/9 (short descriptions verbatim); case caption and cause of action from docket metadata; exposure recital per ECF No. 410-era Daubert order text as excerpted in legal databases (vLex/exa.ai excerpts of the May-June 2015 orders)
- Finding type
- litigation_product_id
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation containing ship-specific product-identification exhibits for this hull: twelve docket documents in Yates contain 'USS Clarence K. Bronson' in indexed text, including three plaintiff-filed exhibits titled 'Exhibit 5 - USS Clarence K. Bronson material insp and equip list', 'Exhibit 7 - USS Clarence K Bronson ship equip list and insp report', and 'Exhibit 9 - USS Clarence K Bronson material insp and equip list' (attached to plaintiffs' memorandum supporting a motion in limine to exclude bankruptcy claim forms). Per the court's recital in its Daubert order, plaintiff Graham Yates alleged exposure to asbestos-containing dust 'from working with and around brakes ... as well as thermal insulation while decommissioning a ship during his time in the Navy' - the DD-668 exhibits are the shipboard arm of that allegation. Disposition described exactly: summary judgment was granted to the shipboard-equipment defendants (FMC, Foster Wheeler, GE, IMO Industries) in January 2014; the remaining brake-product claims against Ford and Honeywell ended after the June 2015 order excluding plaintiffs' causation experts, and the case terminated 18 December 2015 without trial.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- alleged exposure during Navy service incl. ship decommissioning (Bronson inactivated 1960); litigation 2012-2015
- Population
- Graham Yates (plaintiff, mesothelioma dx 2012-08-13, deceased during litigation) and Becky Yates (consortium)
- Limitations
- Pleading/discovery-stage record: the exhibits prove that ship-specific material-inspection and equipment-list documents for DD-668 exist and were filed in federal asbestos litigation, but their contents are not in RECAP (is_available: false) and were not retrievable - product names and any asbestos identifications inside them are unverified. The shipboard-equipment claims were adjudicated adversely to plaintiffs at summary judgment - a merits-level negative for this plaintiff, not exposure evidence. No court made a finding of exposure aboard this hull. The exhibits' author/provenance (e.g., records-derived vs. survey-derived equipment list) is not established by the docket text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-06
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[7]Davis v. General Electric Co., No. 3:08-cv-00228 (N.D. Cal., 28:1332 Diversity-Asbestos/Product Liability, terminated 2016-06-13), Complaint ECF No. 1 (102 pp., multi-plaintiff: John L. Davis, William Larsen, James Pierce Sr., Robert Schoelzel, et al.; Brayton Purcell LLP) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket index: Davis v. GE ECF No. 1 (gov.uscourts.cand.199308.1.0)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos multi-plaintiff complaint in which the string 'DD-668' appears in indexed CourtListener RECAP text (102-page complaint filed 2008-01-14). If the string refers to hull DD-668 it is unambiguous - hull numbers do not collide - and the complaint's per-plaintiff ship/service allegations are the plausible location, but the match context is not visible in public index snippets and the document was not retrieved.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2008-2016 (litigation)
- Population
- Asbestos PI plaintiffs (multiple) - any service aboard this hull unverified
- Limitations
- Indexed-text match only; whether DD-668 appears as an alleged exposure vessel, a list entry, or an identifier artifact is unresolved. At most this would be an unadjudicated pleading-stage allegation; it establishes nothing about exposure aboard this hull, asbestos presence, product identity, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-07
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[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep: "USS Clarence K. Bronson" (type=o, type=r); "DD-668" (type=o, type=r); "Bronson" (type=r, classification sample) - 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search results, query set of 2026-09-27 (search_ledger rows sl-06 through sl-09)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull, classified: "USS Clarence K. Bronson" opinions = 0; "DD-668" opinions = 0. "USS Clarence K. Bronson" dockets = 1 (Yates v. Air & Liquid Systems, E.D.N.C. - qualifying, carried at ev-06). "DD-668" dockets = 5: Yates (same qualifying docket) and Davis v. GE (unresolved - ev-07); three clear non-vessel collisions (Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., S.D.N.Y. bankruptcy; Energy Future Holdings Corp., D. Del. bankruptcy; United States v. Anderson, D. Colo. interpleader - in-document identifier matches). Bare "Bronson" docket index is a name-collision set (14,000+ dockets, overwhelmingly unrelated persons) and is not vessel-informative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Search-index classification; the one qualifying docket contains no adjudicated exposure finding (claims resolved at summary judgment / expert exclusion). No published opinion naming this hull exists in the corpus. Absence of further public records does not prove absence of asbestos aboard and does not establish or defeat any claim of legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-08
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[9]Batch-3643 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + mirrors; NavSource; NVR; Atlas shipyard dataset; GAO; CourtListener name + hull-number queries; web check for ship-specific asbestos documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-01 through sl-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull ACM survey, abatement contract, inactivation/overhaul hazmat record, transfer-condition disclosure, or Turkish-side material record was located for DD-668 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Open-web results for the hull are exclusively law-firm marketing pages and competitor SEO pages with no underlying primary documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era inference makes original-era insulation likely but unproven for this hull, and the Yates exhibits show litigation-purpose equipment documentation exists outside public repositories. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-clarence-k-bronson-dd668-09