Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet fu-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (details mirror-sourced; primary DANFS slug 500)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (details mirror-sourced; primary DANFS slug 500)
- Evidence ID
- uss-earle-dd635-pkt-fu-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Earle (DD-635) (Naval Historical Center official page, Wayback capture 2004-03-13; live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; verbatim transcription also at hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd635txt.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Earle': namesake biography, specifications block, service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Rear Admiral Ralph Earle (BuOrd chief, WWI North Sea mine barrage); launched 10 December 1941 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. John F. Hines Jr., daughter of the admiral; commissioned 1 September 1942, Lt. Cmdr. H. W. Howe in command. Specifications block: dp 1,630; 348 ft 1 in; beam 37 ft; draft 17 ft 5 in; 35 kt; complement 261; four 5-inch, five 21-inch torpedo tubes; class listed 'Benson'. Service: three convoys to Casablanca 12 Dec 1942-28 Apr 1943 with two night attacks on surfaced submarines; Oran staging and Sicily invasion screening off Scoglitti 10 July 1943; North Africa-Sicily escort to 11 August; four Boston/New York-UK convoy voyages 6 Dec 1943-1 May 1944; Naples arrival 31 May 1944 and Mediterranean escort/training into 1945; Norfolk arrival 20 June 1945 for destroyer-minesweeper conversion, reclassified DMS-42 23 June 1945; Pacific transit (San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok) to Okinawa 15 October; occupation duty to 18 March 1946 sweeping minefields off Korea and directing Japanese minesweepers; San Francisco 9 April 1946; out of commission in reserve 17 May 1947; reclassified DD-635 15 July 1955; two battle stars WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 261)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, specifications, and service history - no materials or asbestos content. Entry predates stricken data (ends at battle stars); no laid-down or stricken dates in this source. Live NHHC page 404; verbatim Wayback capture of the official page cited, corroborated by the hazegray transcription.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-01
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index DD-635/DMS-42 and Mine Warfare Vessel archive 11/0942 (Naval Vessel Register-derived dates); navypedia Bristol-class table row DD-635 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 05/635 operational/building data block and CO list; navsource.net/archives/11/0942.htm timeline; navypedia.org us_dd_bristol table row DD-635
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compilations carrying NVR-derived dates: laid down 14 June 1941 at Boston Navy Yard; reclassified/converted to high-speed minesweeper DMS-42 on 23 June 1945; decommissioned 17 May 1947 at San Francisco and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Stockton, CA; reverted to DD-635 15 July 1955; stricken 1 December 1969; sold October 1970 to NASSCO, Terminal Island, CA for $81,729.19 and broken up for scrap. Navypedia's Bristol-group table corroborates stricken 12/1969. Machinery summary: four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, two 50,000 shp General Electric geared turbines with De Laval double-reduction gears, two shafts. Commanding-officer list: LCDR Hamilton W. Howe (1942-09-01 to 1943-08-24) through LCDR Kenneth Steen (to 1947-05-17).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1971
- Population
- Reserve-fleet maintenance crews 1947-1969; NASSCO scrapping workforce October 1970-1971
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations of official records, not primary: NavSource is internally inconsistent - the DMS-42 page reads 'struck 1 December 1970 / sold October 1971' while the destroyer photo index reads 'stricken December 1 1969 / sold October 1970'; navypedia, uboat.net, historyofwar.org, and Wikipedia all carry the 1969/1970 sequence, which is the one carried here (conflict logged in gaps). Sale-price granularity ($81,729.19) suggests MARAD/Navy sale records underlying the NavSource figure, unverified. Live NVR does not include pre-1987 disposals. Does not document asbestos or materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-02
-
[4]Consolidated era inference - BuShips Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945) machinery table for the Benson/Gleaves 'No. 421 Class' + GAO HRD-80-2 program context [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB 1945 v1 DD machinery table (No. 421 Class); navypedia us_dd_bristol armament/modification table (5-6.1945 DMS group incl. Earle); shipyards.json 'boston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: four superheated B&W boilers (575 psi/700F per the official BuShips machinery table for the class) and ~50,000 shp geared turbines, built 1941-42 - the Navy's peak asbestos-use era. Typical applications: boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, deck tile, accommodation insulation. The June 1945 DMS conversion at Norfolk (per DANFS; specific yard not named) removed the No. 4 5-inch mount and torpedo tubes and added minesweeping gear per navypedia's modification tables - a yard period that disturbed machinery and topside equipment. Builder yard Boston Naval Shipyard is documented in the Atlas yard dataset (tier 3) with a litigation-derived gasket/packing product identification.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; Norfolk conversion-yard trades June 1945; crew 1942-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - establishes no ship-specific asbestos finding, no quantities, and no individual exposure. The DMS conversion yard is not named in DANFS (Norfolk Naval Shipyard is plausible but unverified). Navy substitution of asbestos insulation did not begin until the early 1970s (GAO HRD-80-2 context).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-03
-
[5]Records of the Boston Naval Shipyard collection, Boston National Historical Park (finding aid: Edward W. Hanson, 'A Guide to the Records of the Boston Naval Shipyard,' 1981); Earle launch items NPS Cat. BOSTS-15404 and BOSTS-11011 as captioned in NavSource [nps]
- Locator
- Hanson 1981 finding aid series list ('Ships history files 1940-1973'); NavSource 05/635 photo captions citing BOSTS-15404 and BOSTS-11011
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Boston Naval Shipyard records collection at Boston National Historical Park holds hull-specific Earle documentation: NavSource captions identify a 9 October 1941 Bureau of Navigation memorandum naming the sponsor and directing launch arrangements for DD-635 (NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-15404, signed by then-BuNav chief Chester W. Nimitz) and launch photography of 10 December 1941 (BOSTS-11011). The collection's 'Ships history files 1940-1973' series (Hanson finding aid) brackets this hull's construction era - a plausible repository for construction/insulation-era files on DD-635, not yet examined.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941; collection scope 1940-1973
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the identified items are launch-ceremony records, not materials specifications; whether construction files or insulation schedules for this hull survive in the collection is unverified. Collection access requires Boston NHP archives request; the finding aid PDF itself was unreachable to automated fetch (HTTP 403) and its contents were confirmed via search-index text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-04
-
[6]NARA Northeast Region (Boston), 'Records of the U.S. Navy (RG 181)' finding aid - 1st Naval District Industrial Manager series [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 181 finding aid PDF, 1st Naval District > Industrial Manager; 'Ship Files' series entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's published RG 181 finding aid for the Northeast Region (Boston) lists, under the 1st Naval District, an Industrial Manager 'General Correspondence [asbestos], 1951-1965' series - an asbestos-labeled record series at the district that administered the builder yard (Boston Naval Shipyard). District-level asbestos correspondence is a lead for yard-level industrial-hygiene context of the era; the same finding aid lists multiple 'Correspondence Concerning Ships (Ship Files)' series covering 1937-1954, which bracket this hull's construction and DMS conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1951-1965 (asbestos series); 1937-1954 (ship files)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- District/yard-level records, not hull records - the asbestos series postdates this hull's active service (1942-47) and covers district operations generally; ship-file series may or may not contain a DD-635 jacket. Nothing establishes asbestos content aboard this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-05
-
[7]NARA, 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (National Archives Catalog series id 594258) + digitized-deck-log program pages [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online; NAC series 594258
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- This hull's deck logs (1941-1947 active period) fall within NARA's RG 24 deck-log series 594258, partially digitized in the NAC; WWII-era logs 1941-1950 are within the NOAA-scanned scope. Deck logs chronicle movements, muster, and operations - they can corroborate yard-period timelines (e.g., the June-August 1945 Norfolk conversion window) but do not record materials or asbestos content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Operational records only - deck logs do not document insulation, materials, or asbestos; ship-specific digitization status for DD-635 months not confirmed in this pass.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 searches (authenticated, type=o and type=r): "USS Earle" exact phrase; "Earle" bare name; "DD-635" and "DMS-42" hull numbers [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API results, queries of 2026-09-27; Morgan v. Bill Vann ECF No. 58 (recap gov.uscourts.alsd.50588.58.0.pdf) p. factual recital of naval service
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep, 2026-09-27: 'USS Earle' exact-phrase returned zero hits in the opinion index (type=o) and one hit in the RECAP docket index (type=r) - Morgan v. Bill Vann Company, Inc., No. 2:11-cv-00535 (S.D. Ala., asbestos personal injury, filed 2011-09-14, terminated 2013-10-08). Full-text review of the available RECAP order (ECF No. 58, 22 pp.) resolves the hit as a NAME COLLISION: the order recites that plaintiff Reuben Morgan served aboard 'the USS Kleinsmith, the USS Earle B. Hall, and the USS Burdo' 1950-54 - the vessel is USS Earle B. Hall (APD-107, a Crosley-class high-speed transport), not this hull. Bare 'Earle' returned 117,964 docket hits, all surname collisions in reviewed results (bankruptcy and civil matters); '"DD-635"' returned zero opinion hits and 5 docket hits, all docket/document-number collisions with no vessel reference; '"DMS-42"' returned 11 docket hits, all collisions (DMS Oilfield Services, Dealer Management Systems antitrust, bankruptcy docket numbers). No qualifying asbestos litigation - or any litigation - naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep date)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Sweep limited to CourtListener's opinion and RECAP docket indexes; un-digitized PACER records and state-court dockets are outside coverage, so absence of a located case does not prove none exists. The single 'USS Earle' docket hit was resolved to a different vessel (USS Earle B. Hall, APD-107) by reading the underlying order, not by title matching. Sweep ran through the fleet-paced authenticated helper; paced interruptions delayed but did not truncate it - all six planned queries completed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-earle-dd635-07