Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet hc-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-dyess-dd880-pkt-hc-packet-md
-
[2]Board of Veterans' Appeals decision, Citation Nr. 1109502, Docket No. 09-39 721 (decided 2011-03-10; appeal from VA RO St. Petersburg) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BVA decision text: Findings of Fact para. 2 and 6; Reasons and Bases (nine-ship assignment list; 'five of those ships have been reported as being ships which contained asbestos or asbestos products'); Conclusion of Law
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Final VA administrative adjudication naming this hull. Finding of fact 2: the veteran (USN December 1960 - March 1983) 'served aboard the USS Little Rock (CLG-4), the USS Koelsch (DE 1049), the USS Gearing (DD 710), the USS Charles P. Cecil (DD 835), and the USS Dyess (DD 880). All five ships were known to have contained asbestos or asbestos-related products.' Private medical records showed asbestosis with asbestos bodies in lung tissue; the veteran died January 2008 of complications of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the appellant's favor, the Board granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- Service December 1960 - March 1983; decision 2011-03-10
- Population
- Navy veteran aboard nine ships incl. USS Dyess (DD-880), 1960-1983; surviving-spouse appellant
- Limitations
- Merits-level administrative adjudication for this claimant, but non-precedential and resolved on reasonable doubt; the asbestos-content finding rests on the ships being 'reported' as containing asbestos (decision's own wording) rather than hull-level product identification. Names five ships jointly - does not isolate exposure aboard DD-880, identify products or spaces aboard, or quantify material. Does not speak to litigation eligibility or causation for any other claimant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-01
-
[3]Estate of Robert J. Dion v. Anchor Packing Co. et al., No. 2:10-cv-64681 (E.D. Pa., MDL-875; filed Milwaukee County 2009, removed, transferred), GE Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 79-1 (filed 2011-03-23) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF 79-1 pp. 5-6 (¶ on naval-service allegation and Ex. C service records) and p. 8 (maritime-jurisdiction recital 'on the USS Dyess and USS O'Hare')
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull. GE's summary-judgment memorandum recites that plaintiff alleged decedent Robert J. Dion's mesothelioma 'was caused by exposure to asbestos during his naval service from February 13, 1946 to December 11, 1947,' and that 'military records produced in response to third party discovery show that Mr. Dion served aboard the USS Dyess and USS O'Hare from 1946-1947' (citing Ex. C, Notice of Separation from US Naval Service). The complaint also alleged occupational asbestos exposure as a machine operator; the motion argues plaintiff offered no product-identification or exposure evidence against GE.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- Alleged exposure 1946-1947; litigation 2009-2011+
- Population
- Robert J. Dion (USN aboard DD-880 and DD-889 1946-1947; later machine operator; mesothelioma diagnosed ~2006); estate/widow plaintiff
- Limitations
- Pleading/discovery-stage record: service aboard DD-880 1946-47 is corroborated by a service-record exhibit cited in the motion, but asbestos exposure aboard is an allegation - product identification, causation, asbestos presence, and quantities are unadjudicated; the motion itself argues the absence of such evidence as to GE. Disposition of the motion and case outcome not located. USS O'Hare (DD-889) is a Gearing-class sister.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-02
-
[4]DANFS, 'Dyess (DD-880)' (NHHC page; live URL returns 404 - Wayback capture 2025-02-02 cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry spec block + service narrative (Wayback capture of live NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Lt. Col. Aquilla James Dyess, USMCR (b. 11 Jan 1909, Augusta, Ga.; killed Namur Island 2 Feb 1944; posthumous Medal of Honor). Launched 26 January 1945 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. A. J. Dyess; commissioned 21 May 1945, Cmdr. R. L. Fulton in command; reclassified DDR-880 18 March 1949. Spec block: dp. 2,425; l. 390'6"; b. 41'1"; dr. 18'6"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 367; a. 6 5", 5 21" tt, 6 dcp., 2 dct; cl. Gearing. Service: post-shakedown radar-picket conversion; Norfolk to Tokyo Bay Nov-Dec 1945 occupation duty; San Diego Dec 1946; Truman/Missouri (BB-63) and Williamsburg escort Aug-Sep 1947; Newport and nine 6th Fleet Mediterranean tours through 1958; Suez evacuation of American nationals on 1956 cruise; NATO northern-Europe ops summer 1958; Charleston homeport from 25 July 1959; tenth Mediterranean deployment Jan 1960; entered Charleston Naval Ship Yard October 1960 through end of 1960.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1960 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1944-45; crew (design complement 367) 1945-1960s
- Limitations
- DANFS documents builder, dates, specifications, and service history - no materials or asbestos content. Entry text ends circa 1960 (published entry), so FRAM, Vietnam, reserve service, and disposal are not covered by this source. Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-03
-
[5]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index DD-880 (building data, FRAM completion February 1965, disposition); Destroyer History Foundation/Tin Can Sailors DD-880 ship history (April 2015, compiled from crew accounts); USS Dyess Association history (ussdyessddr880.com); NavalCoverMuseum designation list [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/880.htm (operational/building data block); destroyers.org/ships/dd-880 (Tin Can Sailor history, Apr 2015); shipbuildinghistory.com Consolidated Orange yard table; ussdyessddr880.com history page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Post-DANFS service events for this hull from naval-history compilations: laid down 17 August 1944 at Consolidated Steel, Orange, Texas (NavSource/ShipbuildingHistory yard table: contract 14 Jun 1943, 162 days on ways, 277 days total); FRAM conversion completed February 1965 (NavSource), converting her from radar picket to general-purpose ASW destroyer - the association history reports the FRAM availability included 'extensive machinery and piping repairs' and a $13,000,000 cost; March-July 1966 WESTPAC deployment with naval gunfire support around Da Nang, III Corps, and Mekong Delta operations (among the first destroyers firing in the Delta shallows); June 1967 Suez Canal transit on the eve of the Six-Day War, then Middle East Force duty; late-1960s ASW school/surveillance ship at Key West; January 1978 restricted availability ('pier Kilo' ex-naval-shipyard facility) then Board of Inspection and Survey fitness finding 22 February 1978, reserve training with DesRon 28; decommissioned and stricken 1981 (27 January vs 27 February conflict - see gaps); transferred to Greece 8 July 1981 for spare parts and never commissioned in the Hellenic Navy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1981
- Population
- Crew 1945-1981; Charleston Naval Shipyard and FRAM-yard trades 1960-1965; naval reserve training crews 1970s
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations (NavSource, Destroyer History Foundation/Tin Can Sailors, ship's association site, ShipbuildingHistory yard table) - reputable and internally consistent on the event skeleton, but not primary documents; association-site content captured via search snippet because the page returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch. Yard-period events are documented; any asbestos-content or insulation-disturbance implication is era inference only - no asbestos scope is documented for this hull's yard periods.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-04
-
[6]Gearing-class profile context: Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018); ibiblio HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy' DD-880 machinery line; Destroyer History Foundation Orange-yard page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Gearing-class profile ev-gearing-class-04/-12; Goodrich omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (OCR); destroyerhistory.org Orange yard page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Gearing-class destroyer built August 1944-May 1945 at Consolidated Steel's Orange, Texas yard (one of 27 class members built there at a peak wartime employment of ~20,000) with 4 Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure superheated boilers and 2-shaft General Electric geared turbines at 60,000 shp (DANFS spec block; ibiblio class data) would have carried period-standard boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and accommodation/deck coverings. The Goodrich omnibus opinion (E.D. Va. 2018) recites an engineering drawing for the Sumner/Gearing destroyer family specifying amosite felts and asbestos cloths on forced-draft blower turbines, and a report estimating a 30.3-ton partial tally of asbestos thermal insulation/lagging in Sumner/Gearing fire and engine rooms.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1981; opinion filed 2018
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades 1944-45 (peak yard employment ~20,000); crews 1945-1981; FRAM yard workers 1964-65
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - not a ship-specific finding for DD-880. The Goodrich materials are litigation recitals (engineering drawing + expert partial tally), not adjudicated classwide quantities, and the underlying exhibits were not retrieved. The ship-specific findings for this hull are ev-01 (BVA adjudication) and ev-02 (Dion allegation); this row adds context, not independent proof. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-05
-
[7]CourtListener sweeps 2026-09-28 + VA BVA corpus + this record's search ledger [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-dyess-dd880-01 through -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No asbestos survey, abatement contract, material inventory, or government environmental record specific to DD-880 was located in the sources searched, and no published opinion names this hull: CourtListener opinion search for 'USS Dyess', 'DD-880', and 'DDR-880'/'DDR 880' returned zero results. Docket-level search for 'USS Dyess' returned two hits - Dion (qualifying, ev-02) and U.S. v. QTC Medical Services (C.D. Cal. 2:14-cv-08961, a False Claims Act case in which the ship name appears incidentally - non-qualifying name collision). A 'Dyess' + asbestos docket sweep returned 60 hits dominated by surname collisions (plaintiffs surnamed Dyess; Dyess v. Derwinski citations) and consolidated-docket text noise; Cooks v. General Electric (N.D. Cal. 3:07-cv-05451) matched 'Dyess' in indexed text with role unverified. VA BVA corpus: one qualifying decision (ev-01) and one non-qualifying decision (Citation 1010222, 2010 - a 1955 shoulder injury aboard DD-880, not asbestos).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Absence of located records does not prove absence - BuShips material schedules, FRAM work packages, and deck logs sit largely undigitized in NARA RG 19/RG 24; non-federal dockets (state courts) are not covered by CourtListener; the BVA corpus was searched via index queries that may miss OCR variants ('DYESS', 'DD880'). RECAP coverage of MDL-875 peripheral dockets is incomplete.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dyess-dd880-06