Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]Naval Vessel Register, SHIPSDETAIL DD-985 CUSHING (NAVSEA official inventory record; live page no longer serves the disposed hull - June 2011 Wayback capture) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail fields (status, dates, dimensions, builder, hull material)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR record for this hull: UIC 20617; class DD 963 (Spruance); award 15 Jan 1974; keel 27 Dec 1976; launch 17 Jun 1978; delivery 4 Sep 1979; commission 21 Sep 1979; decommission 21 Sep 2005; stricken 21 Sep 2005; status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise' with status-change date 14 Jul 2008; builder INGALLS SB CORP/MS; 563 ft overall / 529 ft waterline; 55 ft beam; full-load displacement 9,533 tons; hull material 'Steel hull, aluminum superstructure.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1974-2008
- Population
- Ingalls construction trades 1976-79; crew 1979-2005; inactive-ships custody 2005-2008
- Limitations
- Administrative inventory record - documents lifecycle dates, builder, dimensions, and disposal method, not materials or asbestos content. NVR keel date (27 Dec 1976) conflicts with NavSource and the Wikipedia infobox (2 Feb 1977) - carried in gaps; NVR is carried as the official inventory. Live NVR page serves only a generic frame for this disposed hull; the June 2011 Wayback capture is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-01
-
[2]Public Law 109-134, Naval Vessels Transfer Act of 2005 (109th Congress, S. 1886), 119 Stat. 2575, enacted 20 Dec 2005 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PL 109-134, Section 2(4), p. 119 STAT. 2575
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Federal statute naming this hull: Section 2(4) authorizes the President 'to transfer vessels to foreign recipients on a grant basis under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j), as follows: ... (4) TURKEY.-To the Government of Turkey, the SPRUANCE class destroyer ship CUSHING (DD-985).' The Act also authorized grant of FLETCHER (DD-992) to Pakistan and sale of O'BANNON (DD-987) to Turkey. Cushing's transfer was never executed - the hull remained in Navy custody at Pearl Harbor and was sunk as a target in July 2008 (NVR).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2005 (authorization); hull sunk 2008 without transfer
- Population
- Ship custody chain 2005-2008
- Limitations
- Authorization, not execution: the statute documents the planned disposition path only. The non-execution and Pearl Harbor layup rest on the NVR status line and secondary compilation (navysite.de, NavSource tow photograph dated 12 Feb 2007); no official cancellation document was located. Says nothing about materials or asbestos aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-02
-
[3]NHHC Archives, ZC Files C, 'Cushing (DD-985) | 1978-1979' [other_primary]
- Locator
- ZC Files C entry: 'Cushing (DD-985) | 1978-1979 | Christening & welcome Aboard brochures. Commissioning invitation.'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's archival finding aid identifies a USS Cushing (DD-985) collection covering 1978-1979, described as 'Christening & welcome Aboard brochures. Commissioning invitation.' Confirms a ship-specific official archival holding for the hull and identifies the likely primary-source lead for construction-period documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1978-1979
- Limitations
- The finding aid describes holdings but does not itself provide a hull-level asbestos inventory, exposure finding, crew total, or complete service chronology; the listed items were not retrieved or reviewed for this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-03
-
[4]U.S. Navy News Service release, 'Navy's Last Spruance-class Destroyer Decommissioned,' San Diego (NNS), 27 Sep 2005 (verbatim mirror at globalsecurity.org) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NNS release paragraphs 1-6 (decommissioning, career summary, Panama Canal transit, namesake)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy release for this hull: USS Cushing (DD 985), 'the last Spruance-class destroyer in service with the U.S. Navy,' decommissioned 21 Sep 2005 on the 26th anniversary of commissioning at San Diego; speakers included first CO Rear Adm. William C. Miller (Ret.) and final CO Cmdr. Steven A. Mucklow; 'during the ship's career, Cushing completed 10 deployments, four homeport changes and received multiple awards for excellence'; 'the destroyer was also the last U.S. warship to transit the Panama Canal while under U.S. control, in September 1979'; namesake Cmdr. William Barker Cushing, who destroyed CSS Albemarle in October 1864.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979-2005
- Population
- Ship's crew 1979-2005
- Limitations
- Navy News Service wire story mirrored on globalsecurity.org - the live navy.mil original predates the public archive (2005) and is unavailable; the mirror is verbatim. Documents service milestones, not materials or asbestos. Does not state crew size.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-04
-
[5]Official U.S. Navy photograph captions mirrored on NavSource: VIRIN 050328-N-2101W-007 (Yokosuka return, 28 Mar 2005, PH1 Alan Warner); VIRIN 050517-N-5686B-001 (farewell ceremony, Yokosuka, 17 May 2005, PH2 Crystal Brooks); VIRINs 050921-N-0899S-001/-002 (decommissioning, San Diego, 21 Sep 2005, JO3 Cynthia R. Smith) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-985 photo index, U.S. Navy photo caption blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy photo captions for this hull: (1) 28 Mar 2005 - 'the Spruance Class destroyer USS Cushing (DD 985) returns to her forward deployed operating base, Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, after a regularly scheduled underway period'; (2) 17 May 2005 - Carrier Group Five farewell ceremony for Cushing at Yokosuka, 'her forward deployed base of operations,' before her final cruise to San Diego 'where she will be the last Spruance-class destroyer to be decommissioned'; (3) 21 Sep 2005 - 'USS Cushing (DD 985), the last Spruance-class destroyer, is decommissioned on the ship's 26th anniversary.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2005
- Population
- Ship's crew, forward-deployed period 1998-2005
- Limitations
- Captions document forward-deployed basing at Yokosuka and the decommissioning event - not materials or asbestos. The hosting page (NavSource) is a volunteer-compiled secondary source; the captions themselves are official Navy releases identified by VIRIN.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-05
-
[6]NavSource Naval History compiled data page for USS Cushing (DD-985) - building/disposition data, commanding-officer roster, tow photograph [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-985 'Operational and Building Data' block, fate line, tow photo, CO list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compiled record for this hull: class Spruance 'As Built'; laid down by Litton Ingalls, Pascagoula, Miss. 'February 2 1977' (conflicts with NVR 27 Dec 1976 - conflict carried in gaps); launched 17 Jun 1978; commissioned 21 Sep 1979; decommissioned San Diego 21 Sep 2005; 'Fate: Sunk as a target during RIMPAC 2008, July 14 2008, north of Kauai, Hawaii'; photograph 'Under tow from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, February 12 2007'; notes 'This ship was built too late to be covered by the DANFS project'; compiled commanding-officer list 1979-2005.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1976-2008
- Population
- Crew 1979-2005
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary source - used only for the keel-date conflict flag, the post-decommissioning tow/sinking narrative, and the CO roster; its 2 Feb 1977 keel date is not carried over NVR. RIMPAC sinking details (exact position, firing units) are not official documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-06
-
[7]NHHC DANFS, Spruance I (DD-963), class and propulsion background [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Spruance DANFS design/propulsion paragraph and specification block (class complement 250 for DD-963)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NHHC describes the Spruance design as marking 'a first for the U.S. Navy by utilizing four General Electric LM2500 marine gas turbine power plants for the main propulsion, and three additional gas turbines, built by Detroit Diesel Allison division of General Motors, drove generators for her electrical power.' Cushing is a Spruance-class member, so this establishes propulsion context only: an all-gas-turbine plant with no boilers or steam propulsion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975 onward
- Population
- Spruance-class ships; not a DD-985 materials survey
- Limitations
- Class-level engineering information does not establish that asbestos-containing materials were or were not installed aboard DD-985, does not identify products or locations, and does not support an individual exposure or legal-eligibility finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-07
-
[8]NHHC, Naval Units in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Appendix B (participating units) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Appendix B units listing - CUSHING/DD-985 not present
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's Desert Shield/Desert Storm participating-units appendix does not list CUSHING DD-985. This hull is not recorded as a Southwest Asia participant; her Aug-Dec 1990 deployment (per secondary compilation) was a Western Pacific period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1990-1991
- Limitations
- Absence from the appendix supports, but does not alone prove, non-participation in Desert Shield/Desert Storm; the appendix is NHHC's official units list. Says nothing about materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-08
-
[9]EPA, 'Transport of Target Vessels for Ocean Disposal' - MPRSA general permit for Navy SINKEX program, 40 C.F.R. 229.2; EPA-Navy 'Determination and Agreement' (Jan 2014); EPA 'Disposal of Vessels at Sea' page [federal_register]
- Locator
- EPA program page, permit-requirements list; 40 C.F.R. 229.2; 2014 Determination & Agreement preamble
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The regulatory framework under which this hull's 2008 sinking proceeded: the MPRSA general permit (40 C.F.R. 229.2) requires that before sinking, qualified personnel at a Navy or certified facility remove 'to the maximum extent practicable all materials which may degrade the marine environment,' including emptying and flushing fuel tanks and lines and 'removing from the hulls other pollutants and all readily detachable material capable of creating debris or contributing to chemical pollution'; vessels sink at least 50 nm from land in at least 6,000 ft; the Navy reports each vessel, tonnage, location, and date to EPA annually. EPA program documentation names potential shipboard PCB materials as 'bulkhead insulation, wire and cable insulations, and felt and rubber gaskets,' and EPA's vessel-disposal page lists asbestos among vessel materials requiring removal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1999-2008 (framework); hull sunk 2008-07-14
- Population
- SINKEX preparation workforce 2007-08; regulatory chain Navy/EPA
- Limitations
- Program-level framework, not a ship-specific record - establishes that asbestos and other hazardous materials were within the mandatory removal scope for this hull's SINKEX preparation, but no DD-985 prep inventory, manifest, or inspection record was located. The 2014 Determination & Agreement postdates the 2008 sinking (superseded the 1999 interpretive letter); the operative 2008 framework was the 40 C.F.R. 229.2 permit as interpreted in 1999.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-09
-
[10]NARA research guide 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence, ship general information books, specifications, engineering drawings); EPA vessel-materials guidance; Atlas shipyard dataset record 'ingalls-shipbuilding' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA asbestos research guide (RG 19 series list); DANFS Spruance spec block; shipyards.json record 'ingalls-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Spruance-class destroyer built 1976-79 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, sits in the Navy's transitional asbestos era - asbestos remained in approved naval use for insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and deck materials into the 1970s, and the builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset. As the Navy's first all-gas-turbine combatant class, the ship lacked the boiler/steam-plant insulation load of earlier destroyers, but period-typical asbestos use in piping, ventilation, accommodation-space, and machinery materials cannot be excluded absent the hull's material specifications (NARA RG19-era ship records are the archival lead; NARA's guide covers the 1941-1961 window that precedes this hull).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1976-2005
- Population
- Ingalls construction trades 1976-79; yard workers at later availabilities; crew 1979-2005
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific finding. The NARA guide's core coverage (1941-1961) predates this 1976-79 hull; later-period hull specifications are the unmet lead. This row contextualizes the risk window and does not assert any material was actually installed aboard DD-985.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-10
-
[11]Authenticated CourtListener v4 litigation sweep via cl-auth-search.py, 2026-09-28: type=o queries "USS Cushing", "Cushing DD-985", "DD-985", "USS Cushing" asbestos; type=r queries "USS Cushing", "DD-985", "Cushing DD-985", "USS Cushing" asbestos [court_record]
- Locator
- Authenticated helper diagnostics 2026-09-28; opinion hits individually classified via /opinions/?cluster= full text (Redman complaint OCR: no 'Cushing' in 27-page ECF No. 1)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos-litigation finding naming this hull was located. Opinion layer: "USS Cushing" returned 10 hits, all classified name collisions/non-vessel references - Cushing v. Tetter (D.R.I. 1979, Navy airman personnel suit); U.S. v. Motor Ship Hoyanger (W.D. Wash. 1967, U.S. Attorney Eugene G. Cushing); two Simonetta v. Viad Corp. opinions (Wash. App. 2007, marine-engineering expert Charles Cushing - asbestos case not naming the ship); Holdren v. Buffalo Pumps (D. Mass. 2009, same expert's affidavit - asbestos case not naming the ship); Chapin v. Webb (D. Conn. 1988, cites the airman case); Apple v. Motorola, O'Malley v. ICC, Illinois Bell v. ICC, Peck v. Bailey (Haw. 1867) - loose/personal-name matches. "Cushing DD-985" opinions: 2 Texas education cases (Cushing ISD) - collisions. "USS Cushing"+asbestos: 0 opinions, 0 dockets. "DD-985" alone tokenizes to unusable noise (424 opinions; 19,617 dockets). Docket layer: "USS Cushing" returned 327 loose hits - first page reviewed incl. Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03013; OCR-verified complaint contains no 'Cushing' - the docket token is a Charles R. Cushing expert declaration, not the vessel); Wai Ola Alliance v. U.S. Dep't of the Navy (D. Haw. 1:22-cv-00272) is the Red Hill fuel-facility environmental citizen suit - other litigation, not asbestos, not this vessel; remainder of first page is personal-name/bankruptcy noise. "Cushing DD-985" dockets: 369 loose hits, first-page review all noise. Deeper docket-text classification was halted when the helper reported the fleet-wide pacing budget spent.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- through 2026-09-28
- Population
- None located naming this hull
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage is not the full federal/state docket universe; RECAP docket-text indexing is OCR-dependent; and the deep classification of loose-match docket sets was interrupted by the fleet pacing stand-down - this is a partial negative finding, not proof no case exists. No merits-stage asbestos adjudication naming this hull was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-11
-
[12]Authoritative-source sweep for ship-specific asbestos records on USS Cushing (DD-985): NHHC DANFS (no DD-985 entry - hull built too late), NVR, PL 109-134, NHHC ZC finding aid, NNS release, official Navy photo captions, EPA SINKEX framework, CourtListener [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cushing-dd985-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials schedule, SINKEX prep inventory, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Cushing DD-985 was found in the authoritative public sources reviewed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- through 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1976-79 Ingalls-built hull sits in the transitional naval asbestos era, and hull-level material specifications (NARA-era ship records, builder records) were not retrieved. This row reports the completed sweep honestly rather than manufacturing a claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cushing-dd985-12