Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet ey-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-de-haven-dd469-pkt-ey-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, De Haven I (DD-469) (specifications block, service narrative; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 28 June 1942 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Miss H. N. De Haven, granddaughter of Lieutenant De Haven; commissioned 21 September 1942, Commander C. E. Tolman in command. Sailed from Norfolk, reached Tongatabu 28 November 1942 escorting a troopship convoy to Guadalcanal; screened transports 7-14 December; operated from Espiritu Santo and Noumea patrolling the Southern Solomons against the 'Tokyo Express'; took part in two bombardments of Kolombangara Island during January 1943. On 1 February 1943, screening six LCTs and a seaplane tender establishing a beachhead at Marovo, Guadalcanal, she was attacked by six dive bombers while escorting two LCTs; splashed three planes but was hit by three bombs plus a near miss; the commanding officer was killed instantly; she sank about 2 miles east of Savo Island. 167 killed, 38 wounded. One battle star for WWII service. Spec block: dp. 2,050; 376'6" x 39'8"; dr. 17'9"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 273; armament 5x5", 10x21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. Fletcher.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1941-42; crew Sep 1942-Feb 1943
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The ibiblio transcription's biographical paragraph reads 'died at Philadelphia, Pa., 1 May 1965' - a transcription typo for 1865 (NavSource namesake text reads 1865); documented, not carried. Casualty figure here (167 killed/38 wounded) differs slightly from the BuPers postwar casualty report (168/40) and the 1943-02-05 loss report enumeration - documented in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-01
-
[3]E. A. Wilde Jr. (ed.), The U.S.S. DeHaven (DD-469) in World War II: Documents, Recollections and Photographs (Needham, MA, privately published, rev. 2001) - compilation of NARA primary documents: De Haven action report serial 022 of 1943-01-25 (Vila-Stanmore/Kula Gulf bombardment); COMDESRON 5/CTG 67.5 report with endorsements; loss-of-ship action report of 1943-02-05 by the senior unwounded survivor; USS Nicholas (DD-449) action report 1943-02-03; USS Fletcher war diary 1-2 Feb 1943; Ens. C.C. Williams oral history transcript 1943-05-22; muster roll of the crew 1943-02-01 with BuPers postwar casualty summary [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Wilde PDF pp.61-80 (CTG 67.5 report + endorsements), cover sheet + report pp.65-69 (loss report), pp.73+ (Nicholas report), p.137+ (muster roll w/ BuPers summary)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NARA-origin primary documents for this hull (Office of Naval Records and Library file stamps 46277, 47490 visible on covers). The 1943-02-05 loss report states De Haven was lost to enemy action about two miles southeast of Savo Island in 'latitude 9 degrees 9 minutes South, longitude 159 degrees 52 minutes East,' after three bomb hits and one near miss; the ship settled by the bow and sank about two minutes after the last hit; the word to abandon ship was never passed. Casualty enumeration in that report: officers 1 unwounded / 3 wounded / 9 missing (including probable deaths); enlisted 107 unwounded / 35 wounded / 157 missing. The muster-roll reconstruction (Report of Changes sheets + BuPers machine-generated casualty report, c.1946) lists 14 officers and 300 enlisted aboard, 10 officers + 158 enlisted killed, 3 officers + 37 enlisted wounded (168/40 totals). Ship's own serial 022 action report documents the 1943-01-24 Vila-Stanmore Plantation bombardment in company with Nicholas, Radford, O'Bannon and cruisers Nashville/Helena (TU 67.6.2, Capt. Briscoe).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-01-16 to 1943-02-05 (documents); c.1946 (BuPers casualty summary)
- Population
- Crew of USS De Haven (14 officers + 300 enlisted aboard at sinking); COMDESRON 5 / TG 67.5 staff; USS Nicholas and USS Fletcher crews (rescue)
- Limitations
- Privately compiled and hosted scan of NARA-source documents (secondary host, primary content); OCR text produced for this review. Action reports document combat operations and loss - they do not discuss insulation, materials, or asbestos (full-text OCR of the 178-page compilation contains zero 'asbestos' mentions). Casualty figures differ across the volume's own sources (loss report 9+157 missing; BuPers report 168 killed/40 wounded; DANFS 167/38) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-02
-
[4]Naval History and Heritage Command news release (Clifford Davis, NHHC), 'Expedition Reveals Thirteen Shipwrecks from WWII Battles off Guadalcanal,' DVIDS Story 545047, dated 2025-08-07; corroborating project page: Ocean Exploration Trust / Nautilus Live, 'New Details of USS DeHaven Shipwreck in Iron Bottom Sound' (2025-07-20) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DVIDS story 545047 vessel list + NHHC quote block; nautiluslive.org video page 2025-07-20
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The wreck of USS De Haven (DD-469) exists and has been archaeologically surveyed: an Ocean Exploration Trust expedition aboard E/V Nautilus completed a high-resolution archaeological survey of 13 Iron Bottom Sound wreck sites (22-day mission concluding ~2025-08-01); USS DeHaven (DD 469) is named among the vessels surveyed in high resolution. OET's project record describes a Norbit multibeam sonar survey plus ROV Hercules/Atalanta visual survey of the 106-meter wreck on 2025-07-08, documenting propellers, artillery and torpedo mounts, torpedo warheads remaining around the wreckage, the ship's bell, and the aft torpedo mount now pointing skyward - 'a change from the horizontal position seen in the 1992 survey.' Dr. Robert Ballard (OET president) referenced discovering wrecks in Iron Bottom Sound 'over 34 years ago.' NHHC personnel (Frank Thompson, Collection Management Division) represented the Navy aboard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1992 (earlier survey); 2025-07/08 (OET high-resolution survey)
- Population
- Wreck site (war grave); expedition personnel
- Limitations
- Establishes the wreck's existence, location in Iron Bottom Sound, and 2025 condition - an archaeological documentation event, not an asbestos or materials survey; nothing in either source addresses ACM, insulation, or hazardous material aboard the wreck. The 1992 survey is referenced within OET's own material; a separate published citation for the 1992 Ballard discovery was not located in this sweep. Wreck remains a war grave under U.S. Navy stewardship; the release's 'DeHaven' spelling variant is noted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-03
-
[5]Destroyer History Foundation ship pages for USS De Haven (DD-469): main page, 'The 469' (construction/narrative), specifications page (Bath hull no. 195), loss account (Navy Department Ships Data Section source), NavSource photographic history via Wayback capture 2025-01-08 [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussdehaven/ + index.asp?pid=46908 (specifications); web.archive.org navsource.org/archives/05/469.htm capture 2025-01-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Reputable secondary documentation for this hull: laid down 27 September 1941 and launched 28 June 1942 at Bath Iron Works (builder's hull number 195), commissioned at Boston 21 September 1942; first Fletcher-class destroyer lost in WWII - in commission 133 days, the second-shortest U.S. destroyer career of the war (after USS Meredith DD-726); last American destroyer lost in the Guadalcanal campaign. Assigned January 1943 with Fletcher, Radford, Nicholas and O'Bannon to Capt. R. P. Briscoe's 'Cactus Striking Force' (TG 67.5) operating from Purvis Bay. NavSource (via Wayback) corroborates build dates, adds fitted specs (2,924 tons full load; 38 kt; 4x40mm + 6x20mm AA as built), and carries a wartime photo of LCT-181 transferring survivors to USS Fletcher.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Population
- Crew and construction workforce
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation sourcing official records (NARA, BuPers, Navy Dept. releases) - used here for build-date and context detail that DANFS omits (the laid-down date 1941-09-27 and Bath hull no. 195). No asbestos or materials content. NavSource was unreachable live (connection failure both schemes); the 2025-01-08 Wayback capture was used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-04
-
[6]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 35 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bath Iron Works record (yard_id bath-iron-works): 1942 Drinker Harvard industrial-hygiene study of pipe-covering shop dust (PMID 21016030), OSHA 1987 inspection record, Austin v. Raybestos-Manhattan litigation record; NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json record 'bath-iron-works' (PMID 21016030; OSHA Inspection 101450294); NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-42 with a four-Babcock-&-Wilcox-boiler, 60,000-shp geared-steam-turbine plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Bath Iron Works is Atlas-documented at yard level (tier 2) including Dr. Philip Drinker's 1942 Harvard study documenting 'fairly serious dust risk' at roughly ten times the safe threshold in pipe-covering shops - conducted while this hull was actually under construction at Bath (laid down 1941-09-27; launched 1942-06-28; commissioned 1942-09-21). 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
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1941-42; crew 1942-43
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1942 Drinker study documents yard shop practice (pipe-covering work) during this hull's build window, not materials installed aboard DD-469. No BuShips material schedule for this hull located; NARA GIB retrieval not performed. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-05
-
[7]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-469's construction (1941-42) and entire commissioned service (1942-1943) 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-de-haven-dd469-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py), 2026-09-27: type=o opinions '"USS De Haven" OR "USS DeHaven"' = 0 hits; type=r dockets same query = 1 hit [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API v4 (type=o count=0; type=r count=1 -> docket_id 6117034); aggregator pages: shepardlawfirm.com, navyshipexposure.com, asbx.org (all DD-727)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS De Haven DD-469 located. Authenticated CourtListener opinion search for 'USS De Haven' / 'USS DeHaven' returned 0 published opinions. The docket layer returned exactly one hit - Wayne Yocum v. CBS Corporation, C.D. Cal. 2:17-cv-01061 - which resolves as a name collision on the second ship of the name (see ev-08): plaintiff Wayne Yocum served in the Navy 1965-1975, more than two decades after DD-469 sank, and DD-727 (in commission 1944-1973) was the only commissioned USS De Haven during his service window. Every law-firm/aggregator 'USS De Haven' asbestos page located in independent search likewise targets DD-727 - consistent with DD-469's 133-day wartime career ending in combat loss, which left no decades-long service era to generate veterans' claims.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep covers indexed opinion text and indexed docket text only. A 0-opinion / collision-only docket result does not prove no filing ever named the hull; unindexed references or pre-digital state filings are possible. The collision rule is documented: any future 'De Haven' hit must be attributed to DD-727 unless the exposure window fits 1942-09-21 through 1943-02-01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-07
-
[9]Wayne Yocum v. CBS Corporation (fka Westinghouse Electric Corp.) et al., No. 2:17-cv-01061-SJO-AJW (C.D. Cal., filed 2017-02-09; removed from L.A. Superior BC630115; remanded to state court 2017-08-21); appellate posture Wayne Yocum v. CBS Corp., 9th Cir. No. 17-56344 (unpublished memorandum, 2018-12-10, reversing the remand) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 6117034 (C.D. Cal. 2:17-cv-01061); 9th Cir. memorandum No. 17-56344; service window 1965-75 per Goldberg Segalla case-tracker summary of the remand order
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- NAME COLLISION resolved: the sole CourtListener docket hit for 'USS De Haven' is qualifying asbestos litigation (Kazan McClain plaintiff firm; defendants incl. CBS/Westinghouse, Foster Wheeler, GE, IMO Industries, SYD Carpenter Marine Contractor) in which the ship name appears in indexed docket text - but the hull named is DD-727, not DD-469. Plaintiff Wayne Yocum served in the U.S. Navy 1965-1975 and was diagnosed with mesothelioma (died 2017-02-05); his alleged exposure centered on Westinghouse insulation during training on the A1W naval nuclear prototype. DD-469 had been sunk for 22 years when Yocum enlisted; the only commissioned USS De Haven during 1965-1975 was DD-727 (Allen M. Sumner-class, 1944-1973). Classified down per litigation-stage discipline: the ship-name reference is pleading-level docket text, the merits never adjudicated exposure aboard any De Haven, and the appellate ruling resolved federal-officer-removal jurisdiction only.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1965-1975 (alleged exposure window); 2017-2018 (litigation)
- Population
- Wayne Yocum (USN 1965-1975, mesothelioma; d. 2017-02-05) and spouse Tina Yocum
- Limitations
- Not evidence about this hull - carried to document the name-collision disposition so the hit is not silently absorbed or misattributed. The 'USS De Haven' reference sits in indexed docket text (pleading-stage removal artifact); the precise document containing the reference was not retrieved (docket-entry fetch throttled). No adjudication of exposure aboard DD-727 either; the case returned to state court on jurisdiction grounds and the Ninth Circuit reversed the remand on federal-officer-removal analysis only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-08
-
[10]Batch-3452 search ledger (this record): DANFS via ibiblio + hazegray mirrors (NHHC live 404); NavSource via Wayback; destroyerhistory.org incl. Wilde NARA-document compilation (178 pp. OCR'd); NHHC/DVIDS + OET 2025 wreck survey; CourtListener opinion + docket sweep (1 hit resolved as DD-727 name collision); GAO HRD-80-2; NARA RG19/RG24 leads; Naval Vessel Register; law-firm/aggregator pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-de-haven-dd469-01 through sl-uss-de-haven-dd469-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, or hazmat disclosure exists for DD-469 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sunk in combat on 1943-02-01, so the documentation channels that produce ship-specific asbestos records for other hulls - postwar overhauls, mothballing, museum preservation, scrapping contracts - never existed for this vessel. The ship's NARA documentary record (action reports, muster roll, BuPers casualty report, war diary entries in companion ships) is extensive but contains no materials/asbestos content (verified by full-text OCR of the 178-page Wilde compilation). The surviving documentary evidence concerns construction, operations, combat loss, casualties, and wreck archaeology.
- 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-05, ev-06). The hull exists as a surveyed wreck in Iron Bottom Sound, but no materials/hazmat survey of the wreck is published. 'No ship-specific asbestos documentation' is a first-class finding here, not a silence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-de-haven-dd469-09