Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, Cotten (DD-669) (builder, sponsor, dates, service narrative, battle stars; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 12 June 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. L. A. Cotten, widow of Captain Lyman Atkinson Cotten; commissioned 24 July 1943, Lt. Cmdr. F. T. Sloat in command. Departed Norfolk 9 October 1943 for Pearl Harbor; screened escort carriers for the Gilbert Islands invasion (Tarawa) November 1943; TF 58 operations January-May 1944 (Marshalls strikes, Truk raid, Emirau, Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai, Hollandia, Truk-Satawan-Ponape); brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor, then Marianas (Saipan strikes; Battle of the Philippine Sea 19-20 June, splashed a dive bomber making a run on Enterprise CV-6); western Carolines and TF 38 strikes October 1944 (Okinawa, northern Luzon, Formosa); Leyte Gulf - fought off six attacks on escort carriers during the Surigao Strait phase 24-26 October; Luzon November; survived the 18 December 1944 typhoon that damaged the 3d Fleet and repaired storm damage at Ulithi; Luzon invasion support January 1945 (Formosa, Luzon, Camranh Bay, Hong Kong, Canton, Nansei Shoto); Iwo Jima February-March 1945 including fire-support duty off the island until 28 March and a 14-15 March sweep with Dortch (DD-670) that sank two picket boats; overhaul and training on the west coast; Wake Island raid 6 August; Tokyo Bay 3 September; occupation duty to 5 December; San Diego 22 December; New York 17 January 1946; placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, S.C., 15 July 1946. Recommissioned 3 July 1951; Caribbean operations and plane guard at Mayport; Newport homeport; western Pacific tour with Korea patrol from 18 May 1953, completing a round-the-world cruise 15 January 1954; 6th Fleet Mediterranean tour 28 July-28 November 1955; Red Sea/Indian Ocean/Africa operations 1957 (Trinidad, Freetown, Mombasa, Karachi, Aden, Massawa, Capetown); Mediterranean September-November 1957; final Mediterranean/Red Sea/Persian Gulf tour March-November 1959; decommissioned and placed in reserve at Norfolk, Va., 2 May 1960. Nine battle stars for World War II and one for Korean service. Specifications block: Fletcher class; 2,050 t; 376'6" x 39'8" x 17'9"; 35 k; cpl. 336; 5 5"/38, 10 21" tt, 6 dcp, 2 dct.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. No laid-down date, striking date, or post-1960 disposition appears in the DANFS entry (written while the ship was extant) - those come from the NHHC Online Library page (ev-02) and NavSource (ev-03). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-01
-
[2]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Cotten (DD-669), 1943-1975' (Naval Historical Center ship page + photo captions; verbatim mirror - live NHHC page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library ship page narrative + photo captions NH 104618-104620, NH 104392/104395-KN/104396-KN, USN 1046239
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Naval Historical Center Online Library record for this hull: built at Kearny, New Jersey; in commission July 1943; 1943-45 Pacific service narrative consistent with DANFS; 'Following a shipyard overhaul on the U.S. West Coast, Cotten returned to the western Pacific war zone' in 1945; decommissioned mid-July 1946 and laid up in mothballs at Charleston, S.C.; recommissioned early July 1951 for Atlantic then round-the-world/Korea service; Mediterranean deployments 1955, 1957, 1959 (1957 and 1959 also off Africa and in the Persian Gulf); out of commission May 1960; 'remained in the Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1974. She was sold for scrapping in July 1975.' Photo captions: NH 104619/NH 104618 New York area circa July 1943 (censored radar); NH 104620 off New York City 14 August 1943; NH 104395-KN/104396-KN/104392 alongside USS Sanborn (APA-193) circa 1945; USN 1046239 San Diego harbor circa mid-1953.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- West Coast shipyard workers (1945 overhaul, yard unnamed); reserve fleet custody 1946-51, 1960-74; scrapping workforce 1975
- Limitations
- NHHC confirms stricken month (December 1974) and sale month (July 1975) but gives no day-level dates or buyer; the 1945 'U.S. West Coast' overhaul is documented but the yard is not named - carried in gaps. Documents custody and history, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-02
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-669 USS Cotten - Operational and Building Data [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/669.htm, 'Operational and Building Data' block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled operational record for this hull: laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny, N.J., 8 February 1943; launched 12 June 1943; commissioned 24 July 1943; decommissioned 15 July 1946; recommissioned 3 July 1951; decommissioned 2 May 1960; stricken 1 December 1974; sold 31 July 1975 to Consolidated Steel, Brownsville, TX, for $147,999 and broken up for scrap.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Limitations
- NavSource is a reputable volunteer-compiled secondary reference, not a primary source. Its launch/commission/decommission dates match DANFS and its month-level stricken/sale dates match NHHC; the laid-down day, the exact stricken/sale days, the buyer, and the sale price are uncorroborated by an official record in this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-03
-
[4]Fletcher-class machinery data (4 B&W boilers, 2-shaft GE turbines; NPS NHL nomination for sister ship USS Kidd DD-661) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Federal Shipbuilding-Kearny record (incl. Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of the yard, Aug. 30 - Sep. 2, 1944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NPS NHL nomination 83000502 (DD-661), item 7 (machinery data); shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built February-July 1943 with a four-boiler steam 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 - including a 1944 Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey documenting insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation at the yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; crew 1943-60
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey postdates this hull's delivery (July 1943) by more than a year and documents yard practice, not materials aboard DD-669. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-04
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-669's construction (1943), both commissionings, and her entire service life (1943-60) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep 2026-09-27: "USS Cotten" opinion = 0 results; "USS Cotten" docket (RECAP) = 0 results; "DD-669" opinion = 0 results; "DD-669" docket = 1 result, The New York Times Company v. Microsoft Corporation, 1:23-cv-11195 (S.D.N.Y.) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results, 2026-09-27
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Verified name collision: the sole CourtListener 'DD-669' docket hit is The New York Times Company v. Microsoft Corporation (S.D.N.Y., 17:501 Copyright Infringement) - a copyright action where the string matches exhibit pagination, not the destroyer. No qualifying asbestos litigation, no other litigation, and no docket naming USS Cotten or DD-669 was located in opinion or RECAP search.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Search-index result only; a CourtListener absence does not prove no case exists (unindexed state dockets, settled matters, and cases naming the ship only in unindexed filings are not covered). Variant-spelling queries ('U.S.S. Cotten', 'aboard the Cotten') were attempted but blocked by fleet pacing at session end - see search_ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-06
-
[7]Batch-3644 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (ibiblio/HyperWar); NHHC Online Library page; NavSource operational data; Naval Vessel Register (no detail entry - pre-1987 disposal); CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; Atlas shipyard dataset; NARA deck-log series [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cotten-dd669-01 through sl-uss-cotten-dd669-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-669: no hull ACM survey, no abatement record, no museum hazmat disclosure (the hull was scrapped 1975, so no museum-phase documentation exists), and no asbestos litigation names this hull in the searched repositories.
- 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-standard applications are documented at class/era level (ev-04, ev-05). Scrapping-era (1975, Consolidated Steel, Brownsville, TX) asbestos handling is undocumented in the sources checked. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cotten-dd669-07