Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]DANFS, Duncan II (DD-485) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative, battle star; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org Wayback capture - live NHHC page not located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Duncan II (DD-485) entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 20 February 1942 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. D. C. Thayer; commissioned 16 April 1942, Lieutenant Commander Edmund B. Taylor in command; sailed from New York 20 June 1942 for the South Pacific, arrived Espiritu Santo 14 September; in Wasp's (CV-7) screen 15 September 1942 when the carrier was torpedoed - rescued survivors, transferring 701 officers and men to other ships and 18 wounded and 2 bodies to Espiritu Santo 16 September; screening TF 64 on 11 October 1942, charged alone toward the enemy force, hit a cruiser with salvos and fired two torpedoes at Furutaka before hits put her out of action; abandoned after power failed; McCalla (DD-488) rescued 195 men and attempted salvage; sank about 6 miles north of Savo Island 12 October 1942; received one battle star. Spec block: dp. 1,620; l. 348'4"; b. 36'1"; dr. 11'10"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 208; a. 4 5", 5 21" tt.; cl. Benson.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (complement 208)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The spec block's 'cl. Benson' label conflicts with NHHC Online Library's 'Gleaves class' and the Navy Department history's 'Livermore Class' - variance logged in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page could not be located (404).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-01
-
[2]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, USS Duncan (DD-485) page (verbatim NHHC page via ibiblio HyperWar mirror) - official narrative plus photo records NH 90494/97800/97801/90495 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library page narrative + photo captions NH 90494, NH 97800, NH 97801, NH 90495
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC ship page for this hull: 'USS Duncan, a 1630-ton Gleaves class destroyer built at Kearny, New Jersey, was commissioned in mid-April 1942'; narrative covers departure for the Pacific June 1942, Espiritu Santo arrival September 1942, presence at Wasp's torpedoing 15 September 1942, and the Battle of Cape Esperance in which 'her torpedoes and gunfire contributed to the fatal damage inflicted on the Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka' before she was 'repeatedly hit and set afire' and 'sank off Savo Island on 12 October 1942.' Builder completion photograph NH 90494 dated 15 April 1942 documents the hull at delivery.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Wartime crew; NHHC photo archive
- Limitations
- Official narrative and photo records document identity, builder, and loss - not materials or asbestos content. 'Gleaves class' label adopted here conflicts with the DANFS spec block's 'cl. Benson'; variance logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-02
-
[3]U.S. Navy press release, 'Expedition Reveals Thirteen Shipwrecks from WWII Battles off Guadalcanal' (Aug. 2025) - Ocean Exploration Trust / E/V Nautilus Iron Bottom Sound archaeological survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navy press release body (surveyed-vessel list paragraph)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The August 2025 E/V Nautilus expedition (Ocean Exploration Trust, with Dr. Robert Ballard) completed a 22-day archaeological survey of 13 Iron Bottom Sound wreck sites, documenting four ships for the first time and listing the identified vessels (USS New Orleans bow, USS Vincennes, Astoria, Quincy, Northampton, Laffey DD-459, DeHaven, Preston, Walke, HMAS Canberra, IJN Teruzuki, Yudachi, a landing barge). USS Duncan (DD-485) is not among the wrecks listed as surveyed or newly identified - no publicly confirmed located or surveyed wreck position for this hull exists in the sources checked.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2025-08
- Population
- Expedition personnel (2025); wreck is the resting place of crew lost 12 October 1942
- Limitations
- Absence from the published survey list does not prove the wreck was not imaged - only that no public identification has been announced. Wreck status affects feasibility of any materials survey; the row documents wreck status only, not materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-03
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Duncan (DD-485) (build data, machinery, casualty note) + Navypedia Bristol-group class table + Atlas shipyard dataset, Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. yard record (1944 Owens-Illinois industrial health survey) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-485 operational/building data block; navypedia Bristol-class member row DD-485; shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny', ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a Gleaves-class (1941-repeat 'Bristol' group) destroyer built at Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny, NJ, July 1941-April 1942 with four Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers and Westinghouse geared turbines (50,000 shp, twin screw) would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - peak Navy asbestos era. Builder yard documented at yard level: an Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944) recorded insulators cutting and fitting Johns-Manville Superex asbestos pipe covering and boiler insulation in confined spaces, with dust counts measured (Atlas shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny').
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942 (construction/service); 1944 (yard survey)
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-42; crew April-October 1942
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey postdates this hull's construction (1941-42) and documents the yard's product use, not material installed aboard DD-485. No insulation survey for this hull exists or is feasible (sunk in action, wreck unsurveyed). Does not quantify material, does not establish any individual's exposure, and makes no claim about the lost crew.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-04
-
[5]Batch-3467 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NHHC Online Library; Navy Department ships' history (Destroyer History Foundation transcription); NavSource; navy.mil Aug 2025 wreck-survey release; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-duncan-dd485-01 through sl-uss-duncan-dd485-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey exists or is feasible (sunk in action 1942; wreck not publicly confirmed located), no abatement or hazmat disclosure exists, and no qualifying asbestos case naming DD-485 was located in the searches run (see search_ledger). The ship's total service was roughly six months; she never underwent overhaul, refit, or scrapping, so no postwar disturbance/abatement records exist.
- 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 - a destroyer sunk with her 1942 fit intact retains era materials in the wreck. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-05
-
[6]Navy Department history of USS Duncan (DD-485), Office of Naval Records and Ships' Histories Section (verbatim transcription, Destroyer History Foundation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org USS Duncan 'History' page (source line: 'Office of Naval Records and Ships' Histories Section, Navy Department')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Navy Department narrative for this hull: commissioned at the New York Navy Yard 16 April 1942 under LCDR Edmund B. Taylor; shakedown and convoy escort (Hampton Roads-Guantanamo-Cristobal) June-August 1942; transited the Panama Canal and steamed with South Dakota, Lansdowne, and Lardner for Espiritu Santo via Tongatabu; joined Capt. Robert G. Tobin's Destroyer Squadron 12; battle narrative for Cape Esperance including abandonment about 0200 and failed salvage by a McCalla party under Ens. George B. Weems; Taylor's Navy Cross citation quoted. Also records that survivors were reassigned - Taylor to command Bennett (DD-473), XO LCdr. Louis Bryan to command Shubrick (DD-639) - and cites a NARA Bureau of Personnel casualty report for the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Population
- Construction trades at Federal Kearny 1941-42; crew and survivors 1942
- Limitations
- Documents service detail only - no materials or asbestos content. Transcription contains OCR-type errors (e.g., '31 July I941', 'By mid-April' for the Pacific transit) and names the sponsor 'Mrs. Dorothy Clark Taylor' against DANFS's 'Mrs. D. C. Thayer' - conflicts logged in gaps. Destroyer History Foundation is a private site; the transcribed text is attributed to the Navy Department.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-06
-
[7]Lannes v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (Vernon P. Lannes), No. 2:12-cv-01876-PA-AJW (C.D. Cal., filed 2012-03-05, terminated 2013-08-09); aff'd sub nom. Lannes ex rel. Estate of Lannes v. Flowserve U.S., Inc., 628 F. App'x 957 (9th Cir. 2015) (unpublished); plus MDL-875 tag-along complaint attachments (Miller et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems, N.D. Cal. 4:11-cv-02814 and 4:11-cv-02685) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 5844701 (C.D. Cal. 2:12-cv-01876; doc. 101 minutes caption the case 'Vernon P. Lannes'); 628 F. App'x 957 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2015, Nos. 13-56391/93/97) via exa.ai opinion library; MDL-875 docket 1245688, docs. 7328-3 and 7359-3
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener hit that is NOT this hull. Asbestos personal-injury litigation names 'USS Duncan': the Ninth Circuit memorandum recites that decedent Vernon P. Lannes was exposed to asbestos-laden gaskets, packing, and insulation 'when he worked on the USS Fletcher and the USS Duncan during his naval service,' and affirms summary judgment for defendants on O'Neil v. Crane bare-metal grounds (replacement-parts causation unproven; exposure allegation never adjudicated on the merits). The vessel cannot be DD-485: this hull sank in action on 12 October 1942, while Lannes's paired ship (USS Fletcher - DD-445, in service to 1969, or DD-992, from 1980) and the 2011-12 filing cohort place his service decades later; the 'USS Duncan' sued over is consistent only with DD-874 (Gearing class, 1945-1971) or FFG-10 (1980-1994). The MDL-875 hits are 'USS Duncan' references inside complaint ship lists filed as JPML tag-along exhibits - same collision class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1950s-60s service era (inferred); 2012-2015 (litigation)
- Population
- Vernon P. Lannes (U.S. Navy veteran, decedent; service aboard USS Fletcher and a later USS Duncan); Jeffrey Lannes and Kristi Johnson (estate plaintiffs)
- Limitations
- Hull attribution is unadjudicated in the indexed text - the complaint does not print hull numbers, so the identification of the sued vessel as DD-874 or FFG-10 rests on era analysis (DD-485 sank in 1942, well before any plaintiff in the 2011-12 cohort could have served aboard; the decedent's Minnesota family cohort is 1930s-era). Posture is pleading allegation recited in an unpublished appellate memorandum - never a finding. Establishes nothing about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-07
-
[8]CourtListener sweep for this hull, 2026-09-27 (queries: "USS Duncan", "U.S.S. Duncan", "aboard the Duncan", "DD-485" against type=o opinion and type=r RECAP docket indexes) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-duncan-dd485-09 through sl-uss-duncan-dd485-15
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Full sweep outcome for this hull's name and hull number: (1) 'USS Duncan' opinions - 1 hit, People v. Miller, 196 Cal. App. 3d 307 (1987), a cocaine-possession appeal whose 'USS Duncan' mention is incidental (not asbestos, not ship materials); (2) 'U.S.S. Duncan' opinions - 0 hits; (3) 'aboard the Duncan' opinions - 1 hit, Dunlap v. G. & C. Towing, Inc. (4th Cir. 1980), a Jones Act case about the motor vessel Duncan Bruce on the Kanawha River - name collision; (4) 'DD-485' opinions - 1 hit, Pensacola Assoc. v. Biggs Sporting Goods, 353 So. 2d 944 (Fla. DCA 1978), where DD-485 is the court's own docket number - identifier collision; (5) 'USS Duncan' dockets - 2 hits, Lannes (see ev-07, collision) and the MDL-875 master docket (tag-along exhibits, collision); (6) 'DD-485' dockets - 6 hits, all identifier collisions inside unrelated dockets (patent, ADA, voting, insurance, securities, RICO cases). No qualifying asbestos case names DD-485.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's indexed opinion and RECAP docket text only; unindexed state-court and PACER content is outside coverage. Absence of located litigation naming DD-485 does not prove none exists; each surviving hit was classified at its less-final stage. 'Duncan' collisions are expected given three later hulls (DD-46, DD-874/DDR-874, FFG-10) and the common surname.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-08
-
[9]Archival leads identified but not retrieved: NARA Bureau of Personnel casualty report for DD-485 (cited by the Destroyer History Foundation); NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) General Information Books per-vessel material specifications; NHHC ships' histories source file for the Duncan narrative [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA casualty-report citation on https://destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussduncan/ (image caption); RG19 GIB series is the standard per-vessel spec source flagged in prior batches
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Three archival leads could deepen this record: (1) the NARA Bureau of Personnel casualty report for DD-485 cited as the source of the casualty table on the Destroyer History Foundation's Duncan page - would resolve the 48-vs-50 death-toll conflict and the 194-vs-195 survivor variance; (2) NARA RG 19 General Information Books, which hold per-vessel material specifications - the standard route to hull-level insulation specs for a wartime destroyer; (3) the NHHC ships' histories source file underlying the Navy Department narrative transcribed by DHF. None was retrieved (no spend authorized for physical archives).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942 (records)
- Population
- Crew lost with the ship and survivors (BuPers report); construction trades (GIB)
- Limitations
- Leads only - contents unverified. A casualty report would settle personnel figures, not asbestos content; a GIB would document specified materials as designed, still not an exposure finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-duncan-dd485-09