Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, Cushing IV (DD-797) (specifications block, construction, service narrative, battle stars; verbatim transcription of the official NHHC DANFS page via 2010 Wayback capture - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Cushing IV', specifications block + service narrative + battle-star note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 30 September 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y.; sponsored by Miss K. A. Cushing; commissioned 17 January 1944, Commander L. F. Volk in command. Sailed from Norfolk 5 May 1944 for San Diego/Pearl Harbor training, Eniwetok convoy escort, Bremerton antisubmarine-equipment modernization; joined 5th Fleet at Eniwetok 24 August for the Palau invasion; carrier screening for Mindanao/Samar/Cebu/Negros strikes; Angaur ground support 17 September; Formosa/Manila/northern Luzon raids with aviator rescues; AA fire downed at least one plane during the heavy 24 October attacks in the Battle for Leyte Gulf; TF 38 Luzon strikes 10 December, weathered the 18 December typhoon and rescued survivors; 1-28 January 1945 strikes on Formosa, Indo-China, China coast, Philippines; TF 58 home-islands strikes as radar picket directing fighter interceptions; preinvasion strikes on Iwo Jima and Okinawa plus Okinawa softening-up bombardment and radar-picket fighter direction; Leyte replenishment in June; Tokyo-area strikes to war's end; Sagami Wan 27 August 1945 as harbor entrance control vessel for occupation forces; Bremerton 20 November 1945; out of commission in reserve at Long Beach 3 February 1947. Recommissioned 17 August 1951; Atlantic Fleet via Norfolk 30 November; TF 77 off Korea as plane guard from 7 January 1953, bombarded Hodo Pando 2-3 June, round-the-world cruise (Manila, Singapore, Colombo, Aden, Piraeus, Genoa, Cannes, Algiers) returning 22 August; 1954 Mediterranean; transferred to Pacific Fleet, Long Beach 26 January 1955; Far East tours 1955, 1956, 1957-58, 1959-60 (plane guard, hunter-killer exercises with TF 77, Taiwan Straits patrols, People-to-People ports); home port Charleston October 1960; out of commission in reserve at Norfolk 8 November 1960. Six battle stars WWII, two Korean Conflict. Spec block: dp. 2,050; l. 376'6"; b. 39'8"; dr. 17'9"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 320; a. 5 5", 10 21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. Fletcher.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel (Staten Island) construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 320)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The transcription ends with the Korean-service battle-star note and does not mention the 1961 Brazil transfer - DANFS vol. II predates/omits it, so transfer and disposition rest on ev-02/ev-03. Live NHHC page returns 404; 2010 Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-01
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-797 USS Cushing (operational and building data block; Wayback capture 2024-05-25 - live navsource.org unreachable during session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-797 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block; photo captions (1951 Terminal Island recommissioning; 1961 Lobster War formation); commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building record for this hull: built by Bethlehem Steel, Mariners Harbor, NY (YN 8042); contracted 14 June 1942 (NOBs 236); laid down 3 May 1943; launched 30 September 1943; commissioned 17 January 1944; decommissioned 3 February 1947; recommissioned 17 August 1951 (photo-documented at Terminal Island Naval Base, Los Angeles, in a joint ceremony with USS Prichett DD-561 and USS Cowell DD-547); decommissioned 8 November 1960; stricken 1 August 1973; 'To Brazil July 20 1961, renamed Paraná (D-29)'; fate 'Stricken and broken up for scrap, February 1982'. Commanding-officer list corroborates the commissionings (CDR Louis Frank Volk 17 Jan 1944 - 18 May 1945; recommissioning CDR Charles Conway Hartigan Jr. from 17 Aug 1951; final CO CDR William T. O'Reilly to 8 Nov 1960).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1942-1982
- Population
- Construction yard 1943-44; U.S. crew 1944-1960; Brazilian crew 1961-1982
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled photo-history site (secondary compilation), but its chronology agrees with DANFS where they overlap and with the Brazilian NGB record on the transfer. Its 'broken up February 1982' conflicts with NGB's 4 April 1982 decommissioning - likely sale-for-scrap vs. decommissioning; carried in gaps. Stricken 1 August 1973 conflicts with NGB's 8 January 1973 U.S.-list removal; also carried in gaps. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-02
-
[3]Navios de Guerra Brasileiros (NGB), 'CT Paraná - D 29 (1961-1982)' (Brazilian-custody record for ex-USS Cushing DD-797, incl. transfer instrument, characteristics at incorporation, commanders, and 1982 decommissioning) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NGB P034 page - 'Datas', 'Características', and 'Histórico' sections incl. 1961 transfer paragraph, 1973 acquisition note, 1982 decommissioning paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Brazilian-custody record for this hull: CT Paraná D-29, ex-USS Cushing DD-797, fourth Brazilian warship named for Paraná state; built by Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Co., Staten Island; transferred on an initial five-year loan and incorporated at the Norfolk Naval Arsenal (Arsenal de Marinha de Norfolk), Portsmouth, Virginia, 20 July 1961, under Aviso do MM no. 1187 of 23/06/1961; first Brazilian CO Capitão-de-Fragata Roberto Coutinho Coimbra. Service: UNITAS III (1962), DRAGÃO I (1964), UNITAS VII (1966), ASPIRANTEX 67, SPRINGBOARD 69/VERITAS II and UNITAS X (1969), UNITAS XII (1971), F.028 (1972, repatriation honors for D. Pedro I), ASPIRANTEX/79, 4th Naval District patrol (1980). On 8 January 1973 the ship was removed from the U.S. Navy unit list and definitively acquired by Brazil. Decommissioned 4 April 1982 at Ilha de Mocanguê, Niterói, in a joint disarmament ceremony with CT Pernambuco (D-30) - nearly 21 years, 1,000+ days at sea, 350,000 miles. Characteristics at Brazilian incorporation corroborate the plant: 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers (39.8 kg/cm2, 454 C), 2 GE steam turbines, 60,000 shp, 2 shafts; crew 310.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1961-1982
- Population
- Brazilian Navy crew 1961-1982 (complement 310 at incorporation); Arsenal de Marinha de Norfolk transfer personnel 1961
- Limitations
- NGB is a private Brazilian naval-history compilation (secondary, but the standard Brazilian-custody reference) citing the transfer instrument (Aviso do MM no. 1187). Its U.S.-side dates conflict with DANFS/NavSource at day level - launch reads '30 de dezembro 1943' (vs 30 September), U.S. incorporation '14 de janeiro 1944' (vs 17 January), U.S.-list removal 8 January 1973 (vs NavSource 1 August) - carried in gaps, not silently reconciled. No asbestos, survey, or material-history content; the Brazilian-era material record is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-03
-
[4]Destroyer History Foundation (destroyerhistory.org), 'Destroyer Squadron 53' and 'DesRon 53 - Uncle Beany's Squadron' pages [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org DesRon 53 page - squadron composition list and Jarrett flag-shift narrative; 'Uncle Beany's Squadron' roster (Cushing DD-797, 6 stars, CO Cdr L. F. Volk, comm. 1/17/44)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Squadron record for this hull: USS Cushing (DD-797) was a unit of Destroyer Squadron 53, Destroyer Division 105 - with Colahan (DD-658, initial flagship), Halsey Powell (DD-686), Uhlmann (DD-687), and Benham (DD-796), all Bethlehem Staten Island-built square-bridge Fletchers commissioned October 1943-January 1944 (DesDiv 106: Twining, Yarnall, Stockham, Wedderburn, Bethlehem San Francisco). Under Captain Harry B. Jarrett the squadron fought in the Marianas, Palau, Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa operations; on 12 November 1944 Jarrett shifted his flag to the designated flagship USS Cushing, making this hull the DesRon 53 flagship through the fast-carrier operations closing the Pacific war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- DesRon 53 crews 1944-45; squadron staff embarked aboard Cushing from 12 November 1944
- Limitations
- Unit-history documentation (Destroyer History Foundation, secondary host using NARA imagery and squadron records) - documents the hull's wartime assignment and flagship role, not materials or asbestos content. The flagship shift (12 Nov 1944) postdates the 24 October Leyte Gulf attacks narrated in DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-04
-
[5]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 35 kt) + Fletcher class profile (class-c/fletcher-class.class.json, navypedia + BuShips Ships Data 1945 design tables) + NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead; builder yard ABSENT from Atlas shipyard dataset (37 yard_ids verified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; fletcher-class.class.json class_notes and evidence rows; shipyards.json yard_id list (37 entries, no Staten Island/Bethlehem-Mar-Harbor entry)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1943-44 with the class-standard four-boiler/60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - asbestos-relevant facts are strongly class-determined for the 175-hull class (identical machinery plant, single design era). Unlike the Federal-Kearny-built DD-445 record, the builder yard here (Bethlehem Steel, Mariners Harbor/Staten Island) is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset, so no yard-level corroboration (industrial-hygiene survey or dataset entry) exists for this hull's construction site. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel (Mariners Harbor) construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-1960
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No BuShips material schedule or insulation spec located for the Fletcher class or this hull; the absence of the builder yard from the Atlas dataset removes the yard-level corroboration available to some sister-hull records. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-05
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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-797's construction (1943-44) and entire U.S. commissioned service (1944-1960) inside the documented asbestos-use era. The ship's Brazilian-era service (1961-1982) straddles the documented substitution transition, but any Brazilian-side material changes are undocumented.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- 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. Says nothing about the Brazilian Navy's practices.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-06
-
[7]Batch-280 search ledger (this record): DANFS (Wayback NHHC capture); NavSource DD-797 (Wayback capture); destroyerhistory.org DesRon 53; NGB naval.com.br Paraná D-29; HyperWar DD-797 specs; USS Cushing Association DD-797 page (empty); GAO HRD-80-2; CourtListener API/HTML/Atom (blocked); site-restricted CourtListener search (name collisions only); law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules); NARA RG19 (not digitized); NVR (out of scope) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cushing-dd797-01 through sl-uss-cushing-dd797-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming this vessel was located in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was transferred to Brazil in 1961, stricken from the U.S. list in 1973, and scrapped in Brazil in 1982 - before modern asbestos documentation practice and under foreign custody - so the museum-disclosure and U.S.-disposal channels that produced ship-specific records for preserved/scrapped-domestic hulls do not exist here. The only litigation-surface references located are (a) name collisions with defense expert Dr. Charles R. Cushing in MDL-875 dockets and (b) excluded law-firm marketing pages listing this hull among Navy ships 'likely' to have contained asbestos - neither is evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2026-09-19
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-standard applications are documented at class/era level (ev-05, ev-06). The CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweep is incomplete (API HTTP 429, 125/day; HTML/Atom HTTP 403) and is logged as a gap rather than a clean negative. The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; whether original 1943-44 insulation survived the 1951 reactivation and Brazilian-era refits is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd797-07