Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet hr-packet.md (9 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-courtney-de1021-pkt-hr-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Courtney (DE-1021) (builder, sponsor, commissioning, service narrative through 1960, namesake biography; verbatim transcription - no dedicated live NHHC page located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specification block + service narrative (print volume transcription ends 1960)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Maj. Henry A. Courtney Jr., USMCR (b. 6 Jan 1916, Duluth, Minn.; 2d Lt. USMCR Feb 1940; Guadalcanal company commander 1942, shared 1st MarDiv PUC; killed leading a night attack on Sugar Loaf Hill, Okinawa, 15 May 1945; posthumous Medal of Honor). Ship launched 2 November 1955 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.; sponsored by Mrs. H. A. Courtney; commissioned 24 September 1956, Lt. Comdr. C. W. Coe in command; reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Joined Escort Squadron 10 at Newport 26 April 1957; ASW/convoy-escort exercises British West Indies; NATO maneuvers Irish Sea (Milford Haven, Plymouth, Brest); April-May 1958 Reykjavik/Bodo Norwegian-Navy exercises, Antwerp, Argentia; 7 Aug-30 Sep 1958 Atlantic squadron cruise with Rio de Janeiro call 15-19 Sep; South American ports Feb-Mar 1959 (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile); NATO exercises Aug-Sep 1959; east-coast exercises first half 1960; Operation UNITAS Aug-Dec 1960. Spec block: 1,280 tons; 314'6" x 36'9"; draft 9'3"; 25 kt; cpl. 170; armament listed as 'Classified'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1954-1960 (DANFS narrative coverage)
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1954-56; crew (design complement 170) 1956-1973
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content; the published entry ends at Dec 1960 and does not record laying down, decommissioning, striking, or disposal. No dedicated live NHHC DANFS page located for this hull; verbatim hazegray transcription cited via Wayback capture of 2024-12-03.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-01
-
[3]Defense Nuclear Agency technical report DNA-6039F, 'Operation ARGUS 1958' (Kaman Tempo KT-82-004(R), 30 April 1982, 138 pp; Nuclear Test Personnel Review series; DTIC AD-A122341) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DNA-6039F report documentation page + Introduction (Task Force 88 ship list); operations narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DoD Nuclear Test Personnel Review report names this hull as one of the nine ships of Task Force 88: 'the destroyer escorts USS Courtney (DE 1021) and USS Hammerberg (DE-1015)' alongside Tarawa (CVS-40), Bearss (DD-654), Warrington (DD-843), Neosho (AO-143), Salamonie (AO-26), Norton Sound (AVM-1), and Albemarle (AV-5) - approximately 4,500 men. In late August-early September 1958 TF-88 secretly conducted three high-altitude nuclear detonations in the South Atlantic, launching X-17a missiles from Norton Sound; after the final shot 6 September the task force departed for Rio de Janeiro - consistent with the DANFS 15-19 Sep Rio call. Courtney's duties were picket/screening station and plane guard for Tarawa flight operations, per the report's operations narrative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1958 (operation); 1982 (report)
- Population
- USS Courtney crew, Aug-Sep 1958 South Atlantic deployment (TF-88 total ~4,500)
- Limitations
- Establishes ship-specific participation in a radiation-test operation (NTPR covers TF-88 participants as atomic veterans for dose reconstruction); it is NOT asbestos evidence - the report does not address shipboard materials or ACM. The report itself notes some TF-88 records, including film records, were later missing or destroyed, complicating dose reconstruction. Confirms the nature of the Aug-Sep 1958 cruise that DANFS describes only as convoy-escort duties.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-02
-
[4]Hale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. et al., No. 3:22-cv-00853 (N.D. Cal.), asbestos personal-injury removal docket (notice of removal filed 2022-02-09 from San Francisco Superior CGC-21-276981; defendants incl. Foster Wheeler LLC, Flowserve US, Crosby Valve, Elliott Company) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket index for 3:22-cv-00853 (N.D. Cal.); RECAP doc 1-1 removal exhibits
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos removal docket in which the string 'USS Courtney' appears in indexed CourtListener RECAP document text (the 54-page removal-exhibit package). Docket metadata confirms an asbestos personal-injury case, but whether the underlying complaint names this hull as a plaintiff exposure site - or the string appears in a list/exhibit reference - is unverified: RECAP full-text retrieval was not performed (each fetch is a metered request and the fleet pacing budget was contended this session).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2022 (litigation)
- Population
- Unverified from index
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage removal artifact only; unadjudicated, and the vessel's role in the allegations is unresolved from the public index. Does not establish exposure aboard this hull, asbestos presence, product identity, quantities, or legal eligibility. Hull attribution to DE-1021 (the only USS Courtney) is probable if the reference is vessel-related, but unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-03
-
[5]DANFS specifications block (Dealey class; 25 kt; cpl. 170) + postwar naval construction practice; class machinery particulars from secondary compilations (NavSource/class references) - unverified against primary sources [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specification block (DE-1021); shipyards.json queried - 'defoe' absent
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Dealey-class destroyer escort built 1954-56 with a geared steam-turbine plant would have carried era-standard asbestos applications - boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Defoe Shipbuilding Co. (Bay City, Mich.) is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset, so no yard-level asbestos record is carried.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1954-1973
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1954-56; crew 1956-1973
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos evidence was located for DE-1021. The steam-plant particulars (Foster-Wheeler boilers, De Laval geared turbine, ~20,000 shp) rest on secondary class compilations; the DANFS spec block for this class publishes only dimensions, speed, and complement (armament 'Classified'). Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep: exact-name and hull-number queries, opinion and docket indexes (see search_ledger sl-uss-courtney-de1021-04, -05) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-courtney-de1021-04 and sl-uss-courtney-de1021-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this vessel was located in published opinions: 'USS Courtney' opinion search returned 0 results; 'DE-1021' opinion search returned 2 identifier collisions in unrelated dockets (antitrust MDL and a copyright appeal - neither vessel-related). In the docket index, 'USS Courtney' matched at least one asbestos-PI removal docket (Hale v. Air & Liquid Systems, N.D. Cal. 3:22-cv-00853 - carried as archival lead ev-03); full docket-result count could not be re-confirmed after output truncation because the fleet pacing budget was contended for the remainder of the session.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- A name match is not an asbestos finding: all qualifying-candidate references are pleading-stage at best. Absence of litigation in the index does not establish absence of exposure or of claims filed in venues not indexed by CourtListener.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-05
-
[7]Batch-3953 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NVR (no record - pre-1987 disposal); DNA-6039F NTPR report; Atlas shipyard dataset; secondary compilations as leads [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-courtney-de1021-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-1021: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (the hull was sold for scrap June 1974 - no museum or extant hull exists to survey), no qualifying published litigation, and the builder (Defoe Shipbuilding) is absent from the Atlas yard dataset. Ship-specific holdings that could resolve this - NARA RG19 General Information Books, deck logs, and command operation reports - were identified as archival leads but not retrieved.
- 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 - a 1954-56 steam-driven escort is an era-typical asbestos environment; this finding means 'not documented ship-specifically', nothing more. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-courtney-de1021-06