Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet je-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: **VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-dale-dd290-pkt-je-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Dale III (DD-290) (builder, dates, service narrative, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Dale III', specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: Clemson-class destroyer; launched 19 November 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Squantum, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. A. J. Peters; commissioned 16 February 1920, Commander F. H. Roberts in command; 3 March-3 April 1920 aided radio compass recalibration in the 1st Naval District off New England; Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet service on the Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean (exercises, fleet maneuvers, reservist training, 5th Naval District radio compass work from Norfolk); 17 June 1924 sailed from Newport for courtesy visits to Germany, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, England, France, Spain, and Portugal; Gibraltar 21 September, then Mediterranean operations until June 1925; departed Gibraltar 2 July 1925, arrived New York 16 July; Destroyer Squadrons, Scouting Fleet on the Atlantic coast, Caribbean, and Canal Zone until arrival at Philadelphia 21 September 1929; decommissioned there 1 May 1930; sold 17 January 1931. Spec block: 1,190 t; 314'5" x 31'8" x 9'3"; 35 kt; complement 120; armament '4 4", 2 3", 4 21" tt'; cl. Clemson.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1931
- Population
- Bethlehem Squantum construction trades 1919-20; crew 1920-1930
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS omits the laid-down date and the stricken date (supplied by NavSource, ev-02). Live NHHC page returns 404 on both URL patterns tested; verbatim text cited via the hazegray/losthistory DANFS mirror - same standing NHHC link-rot as BATCH-01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History Destroyer Photo Index, USS Dale (DD-290) entry + reproduced NHHC photographs NH 55975, NH 55117, NH 93983, NH 98141, NH 43166, NH 43167 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-290 index page, Operational and Building Data block + photo captions + commanding officers list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Destroyer Photo Index record for this hull: Clemson class; laid down 28 July 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding, Squantum, Mass.; launched 19 November 1919; commissioned 16 February 1920; decommissioned 1 May 1930; stricken 22 October 1930; sold 17 January 1931; became MV Masaya, a banana carrier 1931-1942, then an Army freighter, a war loss from bombing on 28 March 1943. Machinery 26,500 shp geared turbines, 2 screws; 35 knots; crew 114; armament 4 x 4"/50, 1 x 3"/23AA, 12 x 21" tt. Reproduces official NHHC photographs including NH 43166/NH 43167 (Victory Destroyer Plant wet slips, ~18 November 1919, with material marked for Hull 370 = DD-290), NH 98141 (christening party, sponsor Mrs. Andrew J. Peters, 19 November 1919), NH 93983 (with Flusser DD-289 and Billingsley DD-293 at Venice, 1924-25), and NH 55975/NH 55117 (Philadelphia Navy Yard, June 1926, National Sesquicentennial exhibit). Command roster includes Lt. Cmdr. W. F. Halsey Jr. (July 1924-August 1925) and Cmdr. R. A. Spruance (November 1925-August 1928).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1943
- Population
- Crew and yard workers, 1919-1930
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run photographic-history archive, not an official repository; its laid-down date (1919-07-28) is not in DANFS and rests on this secondary source, though all overlapping dates match DANFS exactly; the stricken date (1930-10-22) is independently confirmed by the official FRUS record (ev-09). The NHHC photo captions it reproduces are official records. Command-roster detail is contributor-compiled and not corroborated by an official source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-02
-
[4]Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Dale (Destroyer # 290, later DD-290), 1920-1931' (ibiblio/HyperWar mirror of history.navy.mil) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHC Online Library page text + photo captions NH 55975, NH 55117, NH 93983, NH 98141, NH 43166, NH 43167
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHC-hosted photo-history page for this hull: 'a 1190-ton Clemson class destroyer, built at Squantum, Massachusetts as part of the Navy's World War I ship construction effort... commissioned in February 1920 and operated off the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean... Between June 1924 and July 1925, Dale served in northwestern European waters and in the Mediterranean Sea... Decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May 1930, USS Dale was sold for scrapping in January 1931.' Captions place the hull at the Philadelphia Navy Yard June 1926 and at Venice 1924-25, and document the christening (19 November 1919) at 'Bethlehem Steel Company's Victory Destroyer Plant, Squantum, Massachusetts' with builder's Hull 370 material photographed in the wet slips.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1931
- Population
- Crew and Squantum construction trades, 1919-1930
- Limitations
- Confirms class, builder, dates, and service outline - no materials or asbestos content. The page's 'sold for scrapping' framing is the sale's nominal purpose; the hull was in fact resold and converted to merchant service (ev-04), which this official page does not record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-03
-
[5]G. Hermon Gill, 'Royal Australian Navy 1942-1945' (Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 2 Navy vol. II, Australian War Memorial, 1968, p. 280; digitized in AWM official-history collection C1417143); J. R. Masterson, 'U.S. Army Transportation in the Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947' (U.S. Army Historical Division, 1949, pp. 29-31, App. 30 p. 4); L. Morton, 'The War in the Pacific: The Fall of the Philippines' (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1993, p. 398); NavSource DD-290 fate line; National Archives of Australia MP1587/1 files 156E & 476W (loss reports - unretrieved) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Gill p. 280 (Oro Bay operations); Masterson pp. 29-31 & Appendix 30 p. 4; Morton p. 398; NavSource DD-290 fate line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-Navy career documented by official diplomatic and war histories: stricken 22 October 1930 and sold for scrapping to Boston Iron and Metal Co. of Baltimore (sale agreement 14 January 1931); not scrapped - reduced to a hulk per London Treaty terms (machinery mutilated/landed) and resold to Standard Fruit and Steamship Co. of New Orleans under a Navy-approved contract modification dated 6 May 1931 (ev-09); re-engined with a new diesel power plant (secondary literature names Todd Shipyards, New Orleans), in service from 1933 as banana carrier MV Masaya (1,174 GRT, Lloyd's Register 1934-35). Early 1942: bareboat-chartered by the War Department as a proposed Corregidor blockade runner; departed New Orleans 2 March 1942 with sister conversions Matagalpa (ex-DD-295) and Teapa (ex-DD-287); too late to relieve Corregidor, entered the SWPA permanent local fleet 12 March 1942; bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft ~5 miles east of Oro Bay, New Guinea, 28 March 1943 supporting the Buna supply line (Operation Lilliput) - the same attack that sank the Dutch transport Bantam. Casualty figures vary: Pacific Wrecks research gives 10 killed + 1 died of wounds + 4 wounded; Australian memorial records name at least two merchant seamen lost.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1931-1943
- Population
- Merchant/Army Transport Service crews of Masaya, 1933-1943 (post-Navy - not used for eligibility)
- Limitations
- Post-Navy service is documented for completeness only - per batch rules, civilian and Army freighter service is NOT used to establish asbestos eligibility. Sources are official Australian/U.S. Army histories plus the FRUS diplomatic record (ev-09) and NavSource; the Todd New Orleans re-engining attribution rests on secondary literature (historyofwar.org; Warship International Q47/88 cited in the vessel's bibliography). Casualty counts differ between sources (10+1/4 vs. named individual memorial entries); one memorial page mistypes the year as 1942 - 28 March 1943 is carried per Gill and NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-04
-
[6]DANFS specifications block (cl. Clemson; 35 kt) + NavSource machinery line (geared steam turbines, 2 screws, 26,500 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record (documented period asbestos products at Bethlehem yards) + NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block (s. 35 k.; cl. Clemson); NavSource machinery line; shipyards.json record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Clemson-class destroyer built 1919-20 with a four-boiler geared steam-turbine plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation - boiler and steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and magnesia-type block insulation, which were commonly asbestos-containing in WWI-era naval construction. The Atlas yard dataset's 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record documents period asbestos products at the builder's corporate yards (85% magnesia block, Marinite, Transite, Aircell pipe covering, Unibestos, asbestos lagging, gaskets and packing). 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
- 1919-1930
- Population
- Bethlehem Squantum construction trades 1919-20; crew 1920-1930
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific finding supports this row, and nothing here establishes that any particular material aboard this hull contained asbestos. Important weakenings: (1) the yard dataset's underlying asbestos findings derive mainly from Bethlehem's Sparrows Point (Baltimore) yard and ship-repair workforce, not the Squantum Victory Plant specifically - corporate-yard inference, not a Squantum-specific study; (2) the Navy stripped the propelling machinery before the 1931 sale and the merchant conversion substituted a diesel plant, so era-inferred machinery insulation would not have remained aboard post-1931. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-05
-
[7]National Park Service, 'The Boston Navy Yard in the First World War: The Ships and the Boats' (nps.gov); USNI Proceedings, 'Squantum, The Victory Plant' (February 1921 - existence verified via batch-3275 citation; automated fetch blocked HTTP 403) [nps]
- Locator
- nps.gov Boston Navy Yard WWI article; NavSource NH 43166/43167 captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder yard is documented by NPS: Bethlehem's Victory Destroyer Plant at Squantum, Quincy, Mass. was the adjacent companion yard to Fore River on the Neponset River/Dorchester Bay; both were Bethlehem-owned private yards working under Boston Navy Yard direction; together Fore River and Squantum built 71 destroyers for the Navy in WWI, most finished and commissioned after the November 1918 armistice (DD-290 among them - Hull 370 material photographed in the Squantum wet slips, NH 43166/43167). The yard was purpose-built for the WWI emergency destroyer program and closed in 1920.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1917-1920
- Population
- Squantum Victory Plant workforce (yard-level context)
- Limitations
- Documents the builder yard's existence, scale, and program context - not materials used aboard this hull, and no asbestos content. No industrial-hygiene or materials study of the Squantum yard was located; the 1921 USNI Proceedings yard account could not be fetched this session (HTTP 403) and is noted as an unverified corroborating lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-06
-
[8]Batch-3284 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live site and hazegray/losthistory mirror; NavSource destroyer index; NHC Online Library photo page; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP sweeps; NARA RG24 deck-log availability; NPS/NHL applicability; official war histories (Gill, Masterson, Morton); web sweep for hazmat/abatement/survey records naming the hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-dale-dd290-01 through sl-uss-dale-dd290-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Dale or DD-290 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated exact-phrase opinion search for 'USS Dale' returned one hit on 2026-09-27 - Robinson-Munoz v. United States, 819 F. Supp. 1136 (D.P.R. 1993), a 28 U.S.C. 2255 drug-case petition in which 'USS DALE' is the Leahy-class cruiser CG-19 (1963-1994) intercepting a smuggling vessel off Colombia in October 1990: NAME COLLISION, not this hull and not asbestos litigation. The RECAP docket sweep for 'USS Dale' returned three hits, none qualifying as to this hull (ev-08): the MDL-875 asbestos mega-docket (string match, hull attribution unretrievable - archival lead) and two non-asbestos dockets (Fishbeck v. Iran; Sloane v. 3M). Hull-number 'DD-290' sweeps returned 1 opinion (Harrison v. State DOT, Fla. App. 1977 - the string is that case's own docket number) and 22 dockets, all string collisions; no vessel reference (search_ledger sl-06). The hull left naval service 1 May 1930 - before the asbestos-litigation era - was stripped of machinery before sale, and was sunk in 1943, so no preserved-hull or museum-disclosure surface exists. Name-collision set identified: DD-4 (Bainbridge class, 1902-1919); DD-353 (Farragut class, 1935-1945, the hull appearing in veteran-facing asbestos lists); DLG-19/CG-19 (Leahy-class cruiser, 1963-1994, the hull in the sole opinion hit); merchant name Masaya is also a Nicaraguan city. None are this vessel.
- 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 - 1919-era steam-ship construction commonly used asbestos, but for this hull that remains era inference, not ship-proven. CourtListener coverage is complete for the standard sweep: name queries and hull-number queries all returned (opinion = one CG-19 collision; name dockets = one unresolvable asbestos-MDL string match plus two non-asbestos collisions; hull-number queries = 23 string collisions, no vessel reference). Residual risk is low because the hull's 1920-1930 Navy window predates asbestos litigation by decades and same-name hits attach to later hulls (DD-353, CG-19). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-07
-
[9]CourtListener RECAP docket index, 'USS Dale' exact-phrase search (2026-09-27): MDL-875 (asbestos MDL, JPML); Fishbeck v. Iran, 1:18-cv-02248 (D.D.C.); Sloane v. 3M, 2:21-cv-02893 (D.S.C.) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener RECAP search results, 'USS Dale' type=r, 3 hits (2026-09-27)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation-sweep detail: the string 'USS Dale' appears in three indexed dockets. (1) MDL-875, In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI) - the asbestos MDL; the matching document and which Dale hull (DD-290, DD-353, or CG-19) it references are not retrievable from the public index: an asbestos-surface hit whose attribution to this hull is unverified and unlikely given this hull's 1920-1930 service window. (2) Fishbeck v. Iran (D.D.C., FSIA terrorism damages case) and (3) Sloane v. 3M (D.S.C., AFFF firefighting-foam products case against 3M/Chemguard/Kidde-Fenwal/DuPont et al.) are non-asbestos litigation in which 'USS Dale' appears as a service/duty-station reference - almost certainly the later same-name hulls DD-353 or CG-19.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2008-2023 (docket activity); vessel references unattributed
- Population
- Unverified from index
- Limitations
- Index-level match only - the specific MDL-875 document containing 'USS Dale' was not pulled, so the reference's role (plaintiff service list, exhibit, order appendix) and hull attribution are unresolved. Classified down per litigation-stage discipline: an index string match is not an allegation about this hull. None of the three hits establishes exposure aboard DD-290, asbestos presence, product identity, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-08
-
[10]Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1932, Vol. II, Document 39: Secretary of State Stimson to British Ambassador Lindsay, July 15, 1932 (disposal and merchant conversion of four ex-destroyers; London Treaty compliance) [other_primary]
- Locator
- FRUS 1932 vol. II doc. 39, paras. 3-8 and 10-14 (sale, conversion terms, hulk-reduction dates, Nicaraguan-flag issue, assurances)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official U.S. diplomatic record naming this hull: 'the Worden, Putnam, Osborne and Dale were stricken from the Navy list on October 22, 1930, and after being stripped of their ordnance and other equipment were sold to the Boston Iron and Metal Company, Inc., of 313 Hanover Street, Baltimore, for purposes of scrapping' under a sale agreement dated January 14, 1931 (sale catalogue No. 365-B, January 10, 1931). A supplementary agreement of May 6, 1931 authorized Dale and Osborne to be 'reduced to the condition of hulks' under London Treaty requirements - mutilation beyond repair of propeller shafts, thrust blocks, turbine gearing or main propelling motors, and turbines or cylinders of main engines; removal of propeller brackets; removal/landing of guns, fire-control gear, ammunition, and torpedo equipment - and Dale and Osborne were 'reduced to hulks' prior to July 29, 1931, with Navy inspection confirming treaty compliance. The sale terms contained no bar to the purchaser reengining the hulks; they were then diesel-reengined for Standard Fruit and Steamship Co. of New Orleans. Two of the four conversions flew an unauthorized Nicaraguan flag (Washington Treaty Art. 18 issue resolved by retransfer to U.S. registry); the U.S. assured the treaty parties the ex-destroyers would never be used for naval purposes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1930-1932
- Population
- Boston Iron & Metal and conversion-yard workers on the ex-hull, 1931
- Limitations
- Official government record confirming - stronger than the secondary literature - the stricken date, the treaty-required machinery mutilation/landing, the nominal scrapping sale to Boston Iron & Metal, and the Navy-sanctioned hulk conversion for Standard Fruit. Does not address materials or asbestos content; the treaty schedule lists machinery mutilation requirements, not insulation handling. DANFS/NavSource 'sold January 17, 1931' vs the sale-agreement date January 14, 1931 - agreement vs consummation, carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dale-dd290-09