Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Ellis II (Destroyer No. 154), Naval History and Heritage Command (published 2016-02-24); verbatim transcription also at destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussellis/ and hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd154txt.htm (the latter transcription carries a '31 October 1946' typo for final decommissioning - NHHC reads 1945) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications parenthetical + namesake paragraph + full service narrative (construction; Black Sea 1919; interwar reserve/recommissionings; presidential escort duty 1933-34; WWII Atlantic escort; disposal; battle star)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: '(DD-154: dp. 1,090; l. 314'5"; b. 31'8"; dr. 9'2"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 101; a. 4 4", 12 21" tt.; cl. Wickes)'. Namesake paragraph: George Henry Ellis born in Peoria, Ill., in 1875, enlisted in the Navy in 1892; Chief Yeoman Ellis killed 3 July 1898 while serving in Brooklyn during the Battle of Santiago; 'The first Ellis retained her Confederate name.' The second Ellis (Destroyer No. 154) launched 30 November 1918 by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.; sponsored by Mrs. E. T. Stotesbury; commissioned 7 June 1919, Lt. Comdr. T. E. Van Metre in command; reclassified AG-115 on 30 June 1945. First cruise 16 June-15 August 1919 to the Black Sea (Food Administration famine-relief officials; Constantinople, Varna, Batum). Reserve at Charleston 29 September 1920-16 March 1921; torpedo tests off Newport; Charleston October 1921-February 1922; entered Philadelphia Navy Yard 27 February [1922]; out of commission 17 June 1922-1 May 1930. Scouting Fleet; March-October 1932 exercises San Diego-San Francisco; rotating reserve Norfolk and Boston 1932-33; April 1933 searched for airship Akron, found wreckage off New Jersey coast; summer 1933 escorted Presidential yacht to Campobello and embarked President F. D. Roosevelt 1 July, transferring his party to Indianapolis (CA-35); 1934 Cuba cruise escorting the President; transited Panama Canal 24 October 1934 to San Diego; training to Alaska and Hawaii; returned to Miami 7 June 1936; decommissioned at Philadelphia 16 December 1936. Recommissioned 16 October 1939; Charleston and Norfolk ASW patrols; 22 June-21 July 1941 escorted transports carrying the first Marines to Iceland; Argentia escort duty; Boston replenishment and repairs; 15 July 1942 attacked a submarine off Cape Hatteras; October 1942 Trinidad-Brazil convoy routes; March 1943 transatlantic convoys; 20 March-25 June 1943 two Aruba-oil tanker convoys to North Africa then troop transports to Londonderry; August-November twice guarded escort carriers ferrying Army planes to Ireland and North Africa; January 1944 escorted SS Abraham Lincoln to the Azores (rescued two downed British pilots); February-June voyages to Casablanca, Algiers, Bizerte; 11 May [1944] off Bizerte attacked by four bombers, helped splash three; carrier-training-plane guard and torpedo-aircraft experiments; two escort voyages to Recife; decommissioned at Norfolk 31 October 1945; sold 20 June 1947; one battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1947
- Population
- Cramp construction trades, 1918-19; crews 1919-1945 (design complement 101)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The live NHHC page returns HTTP 404 to standard tool-mediated fetches (WAF/bot-detection behavior per batch-3113 observation) but returned HTTP 200 with the full verbatim entry via a browser-UA curl fetch on 2026-09-26; a 2024 Wayback capture corroborates. DANFS does not state the laid-down date, the stricken date, or the November 1934 collision with USS McFarland. Does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, location, or any individual's exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-01
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[2]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Ellis (DD-154 / AG-115) page (operational/building data, class specification block, photo captions, commanding officers) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/05/154.htm (operational/building data block; class spec block; NH 64530-32 and ARD-1 photo captions; commanding-officers list)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource build and operational record for this hull: Wickes class; as built - displacement 1,154 t; 314'5" (oa) x 31'8" x 9'10" (max); machinery 26,000 shp, Parsons-design turbines, 2 screws; speed 35 kt; crew 103; radio call sign NIFD. Laid down by Cramp, Philadelphia, 8 July 1918; launched 30 November 1918; commissioned 7 June 1919. Decommissioned 17 June 1922; recommissioned 1 May 1930; decommissioned 16 December 1936; recommissioned 16 October 1939 and assigned to Neutrality Patrol; reclassified auxiliary AG-115 30 June 1945; decommissioned 31 October 1945; stricken 16 November 1945; sold 17 July 1947 and broken up for scrap. Photo captions document the 5 November 1934 collision with USS McFarland (DD-237) during night maneuvers off Lower California - bow severed forward of the '5' - with temporary repairs in floating drydock ARD-1 at Destroyer Base San Diego and departure 2 January 1935 for Mare Island (NHHC photo nos. NH 64530, NH 64531, NH 64532), plus reserve berthing at Philadelphia Navy Yard circa 1923.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1947
- Population
- Cramp construction trades, 1918-19; crews 1919-1945; San Diego destroyer-base and Mare Island repair workforce 1934-35
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive transcribing official records (spec block derives from Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels). Displacement (1,154 t vs DANFS 1,090), crew (103 vs DANFS 101), and sale-date (17 July 1947 vs DANFS 20 June 1947) conflicts are carried in gaps, not silently reconciled. The laid-down and stricken dates come only from NavSource - DANFS states neither. Asbestos content is not addressed by these records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-02
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[3]Destroyer History Foundation, 'Wickes-Clemson Classes' flush-decker reference page and USS Ellis page (citing Bauer & Roberts, Friedman, Alden, Roscoe, DANFS/NHHC, Nevitt) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/wickesclass/ (class origin, eight-yard build program, Bauer & Roberts subclassification, 1930 boiler purge); destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussellis/ (Ellis DANFS transcription + recommissioning framing)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class-history context for this hull: the Wickes-class mass-production flush-deckers stemmed from the Naval Appropriation Act of 29 August 1916 plus emergency authorizations; 111 Wickes-class ships were built in eight yards, and under the Bauer & Roberts classification only the 38 ships from Bath, Cramp, Mare Island Navy Yard, and Charleston Navy Yard count as the Wickes class proper - placing this Cramp-built hull in the core Wickes design group. The foundation's Ellis page (a verbatim DANFS transcription, save a '1946' typographical error for final decommissioning) frames her 1 May 1930 recommissioning as part of 'the crash program to replace 60 Bethlehem-built flush-deckers whose boilers had worn out' - the 1929-30 Yarrow-boiler retirement wave documented on the class page.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1916-1939 (class context)
- Population
- None
- Limitations
- Destroyer History Foundation is a nonprofit naval-history archive summarizing published references and DANFS/NHHC - not itself an official record. The boiler-failure wave explains the recommissioning context but does not document this hull's own boiler type or condition. Nothing in these pages addresses asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-03
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[4]Rushworth, 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal (2005), DOI 10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x (Crossref-verified 2026-09-26); Franke & Paustenbach, 'Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: a state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970),' Inhalation Toxicology 23(S3):1-20 (2011), DOI 10.3109/08958378.2011.643417 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Naval Engineers Journal 2005 (abstract via doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x); Inhalation Toxicology 2011 (doi.org/10.3109/08958378.2011.643417); shipyards.json (37 yard_ids checked - no Cramp entry)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: peer-reviewed reviews of U.S. Navy asbestos practice document shipboard asbestos thermal insulation in use from the 1880s through the 1950s, spanning this hull's entire 1919-1945 service life, her 1930 and 1939 recommissioning work-ups, and her 1945 AG-115 conversion. A Wickes-class destroyer built 1918-19 with a 26,000-shp, two-shaft geared steam-turbine plant (NavSource: Parsons-design turbines; HyperWar Wickes block: geared turbines, twin screws, 26,000 h.p.) would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and fireproofing. Builder William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry (private yard, closed 1946) - no yard-level asbestos record exists to contextualize the construction trades exposure.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1947 (vessel); 2005-2011 (era reviews)
- Population
- Cramp construction trades 1918-19; crews 1919-1945; navy-yard and private-yard workforces at documented repair/decommissioning periods (Philadelphia Navy Yard 1922-30 layup and 1936 decommissioning; Mare Island bow repair 1935; Norfolk 1945)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The cited reviews are state-of-the-science literature covering era practice and do not name this hull; the machinery figures come from compiled spec blocks, not a hull survey. No insulation specification, survey, or material test for this hull was located; nothing quantifies material or establishes any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-04
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[5]NHHC photograph citations in the NavSource photo index for this hull (NH 64530, NH 64531, NH 64532) + NARA RG19 General Information Books lead + Independence Seaport Museum William Cramp & Sons collection + NARA RG24 deck logs [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/05/154.htm photo captions (NH 64530/64531/64532; Guantanamo 1920; Philadelphia reserve basin c.1923); ismtest.herbison.org Museum Library guide (Cramp collection scope note); archives.gov (RG19 GIB, RG24 deck logs - series level)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for this hull: NHHC holds photographs NH 64530, NH 64531, and NH 64532 (starboard bow, port bow, and bow close-up views of Ellis leaving San Diego 2 January 1935 for Mare Island after temporary repairs, bow severed in the 5 November 1934 collision with USS McFarland; original negatives given by Franklin Moran in 1967), plus images of Ellis at Guantanamo Bay January 1920 and among destroyers in reserve at Philadelphia Navy Yard circa 1923 (per NavSource captions). NARA RG19 'General Information Books' hold per-vessel material specifications that could document this hull's as-built insulation fit - not retrieved. WWII-era deck logs (RG24) cover her 1941-45 escort service. The William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company Collection of plans, contract books, and photographs (1830-1927, 1941-1946), on loan from the Franklin Institute to Independence Seaport Museum's J. Welles Henderson Archives, spans hull 469's 1918-19 build period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1919-1945 (photo subjects and records)
- Population
- None
- Limitations
- Photo/archival leads only - none of these sources is stated to contain asbestos or materials data; the RG19 General Information Books and the Cramp contract books are the standard archival path for hull-level material specifications and were not pulled. Photo numbers verified via NavSource captions citing the NHHC photo archive; live NHHC photo pages and the NARA catalog API were not reachable in this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-05
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[6]CourtListener API v4 sweeps, 2026-09-26: opinion index 'USS Ellis' = 0 hits; docket index 'USS Ellis' = 1 hit, non-qualifying; 'DD-154' = 2 opinion + 7 docket hits, all identifier collisions; 'AG-115' and 'Ellis' + asbestos surname-collision control sweeps blocked by fleet pacing - see limitations [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ellis-dd154-08 through sl-uss-ellis-dd154-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener litigation sweep for this hull: exact-name 'USS Ellis' returns zero opinion hits and a single docket hit - Fourth Investment LP v. United States, No. 3:08-cv-00110 (S.D. Cal., IRS wrongful-levy tax suit, filed 2008, terminated 2011), in which the string collides with counsel's firm name (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP) in indexed docket text - classified other litigation / name collision, non-qualifying. 'DD-154' returns 2 opinion hits, both appellate docket-designator collisions (Hartman v. State, 346 So. 2d 1043, Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1977, docket 'No. DD-154'; U.S. ex rel. Bloeth v. Denno, 313 F.2d 364, 2d Cir. 1963, habeas/murder appeal in which 'DD-154' appears as an identifier fragment); and 7 docket hits, all exhibit/document-numbering collisions in civil-rights, criminal, employment-discrimination, contract, and copyright dockets (Portier v. City of New York; DoorDash v. City of New York; James v. United States; United States v. Cromitie; Obah v. Jitjatjo; Sylvex Designs v. Fast Fleet Systems; NYT v. Microsoft) - none referencing a vessel. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming DD-154/AG-115 was located in completed queries. Plausible collision sources for any future hit: the very common Ellis surname (party names and law-firm names), Ellis County/Ellis Island references, and Civil War prize steamer Ellis I (unlikely in modern litigation). No later same-name USS/USNS Ellis exists.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Population
- None
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage is not exhaustive of all courts/eras; absence of a hit does not prove no claim was ever filed. The 'AG-115' designator sweep and the 'Ellis' + asbestos surname-collision control were repeatedly throttled by the fleet-wide pacing budget this session; those queries are logged as blocked in the search ledger rather than reported as negative results.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-06
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[7]Batch-3160 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live page + Wayback corroboration); NavSource DD-154/AG-115 index page; HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' AG-115 and Wickes-class blocks; Destroyer History Foundation Ellis and Wickes-class pages; NHHC photo catalog leads; Atlas shipyards.json builder check; CourtListener name + hull-designator sweeps; NPS NRHP/NHL check; Naval Vessel Register (not applicable - struck 1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ellis-dd154-01 through sl-uss-ellis-dd154-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey exists or is feasible (the hull was scrapped in 1947 and does not exist), no abatement or hazmat disclosure exists, and no qualifying asbestos case names DD-154/AG-115. The ship was scrapped roughly three decades before the asbestos-litigation era and was never preserved, so the usual exposure-record pathways (museum hazmat disclosures, veteran litigation naming the hull, abatement contracts) do not exist for it.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1918-19-built steam destroyer is consistent with era-standard insulated fit, but no hull-level evidence exists either way. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ellis-dd154-07