Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet gg-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-epperson-dd719-pkt-gg-packet-md
-
[2]Hewitt et al. v. Allis Chalmers Corporation Product Liability Trust et al., No. 3:07-cv-03474-SI (N.D. Cal.), Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1 (filed 2007-07-03; removed from San Francisco County Superior Court CGC-06-449838 by defendant Todd Shipyards Corporation; MDL order transferring case to E.D. Pa. (MDL-875) entered 2007-08-29) [court_record]
- Locator
- Notice of Removal ECF No. 1 p.3 para. 4 (allegation recital) and Exhibit B p.26 (vessel list), gov.uscourts.cand.193712.1.0.pdf via Internet Archive RECAP mirror
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull at pleading stage: the defendant's Notice of Removal recites that '[i]n Plaintiffs' Preliminary Fact Sheet, Plaintiffs state that, sometime between 1955 and 1968, while employed as a Machinist Mate for the U.S. Navy, Decedent Ronald Hewitt was exposed to asbestos aboard the following U.S. Navy ships: the USS ASHTABULA (AO-51), USS AJAX (AR-6), USS EPPERSON (DD-719), USS PERKINS ... and the USS SHIELD[S] (DD-596). (See Exhibit "B.")' The attached Exhibit B fact sheet repeats the vessel list. Plaintiffs (survivors Jo Gunter Hewitt, Susan Simpson, Rhonda Knight) moved to remand, withdrew the motion, and the case was transferred to MDL-875 (E.D. Pa.) on 2007-08-29. Hull attribution is explicit - DD-719 is named in the recited fact sheet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1955-1968 (alleged exposure window); 2006-2007 (litigation)
- Population
- Ronald Hewitt (decedent, USN Machinist Mate 1955-1968, multi-vessel exposure allegation)
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation recited in a removal notice - never adjudicated: no court made a finding of exposure aboard this hull, and the merits proceeded (if at all) in MDL-875 after transfer. The allegation does not identify which products aboard were asbestos-containing or quantify exposure; the decedent's five-vessel list is not apportioned. Document is a scanned PDF; text verified by local OCR (the 'USS EPPERSON (DD-719)' recital appears in both the removal text p.3 and the Exhibit B fact sheet p.26; a sister vessel's hull number prints inconsistently in the document - 'DD-817' in the recital vs 'DD-877' in the exhibit - DD-719 itself reads consistently).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-01
-
[3]Hale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. et al., No. 4:22-cv-00853 (N.D. Cal.; 28:1332 asbestos personal injury), Notice of Removal by defendant Crosby Valve LLC, ECF No. 1 (filed 2022-02-09; terminated 2022-03-07), Exhibit 1 (54-page state-court complaint materials) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 1-1 (Exhibit 1) complaint p.42, 'EMPLOYER: U.S. Navy ... JOB SITE: ... USS Epperson (DD-719)', gov.uscourts.cand.391663.1.1.pdf via Internet Archive RECAP mirror
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull at pleading stage: the complaint's Exhibit A job-site exposure list states plaintiff Dennis Hale was employed by the U.S. Navy as a Machinist Mate 09/29/1960-05/31/1983 and alleges exposure at job sites including 'Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard; Mare Island Naval Shipyard; San Diego Ship Repair; U.S.S. Yosemite (AD-19); USS Courtney (DE-1021); USS Epping Forest (MCS-7); USS Herbert J. Thomas (DD-833); USS Epperson (DD-719); USS Nitro (AE-23); USS Saratoga (CV-60); USS Davis (DD-937); USS Sierra (AD-18)'. Hull attribution is explicit - DD-719 is named.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1960-1983 (alleged exposure window); 2022 (litigation)
- Population
- Dennis Hale (plaintiff, USN Machinist Mate 1960-1983) and Lora Hale (consortium)
- Limitations
- Complaint-exhibit allegation - unadjudicated pleading stage: the case terminated 2022-03-07, roughly one month after removal (termination order text not in the RECAP mirror). The multi-vessel/multi-yard list does not apportion exposure or identify dates, tasks, or products specific to this hull; no asbestos product is identified aboard. Exhibit 1's own text (complaint page 42) verified verbatim in full text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-02
-
[4]DANFS, Epperson (DD-719) - verbatim transcription (live NHHC DANFS page not located/404; hazegray transcription via Wayback capture 2024-12-01) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry DD-719, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 22 December 1945 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. J. B. Epperson, mother of Private Epperson; redesignated DDE-719 on 28 January 1948; completed by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; commissioned 19 March 1949, Commander T. H. W. Connor in command. East-coast training; Key West ASW exercises from 10 December 1949; sailed for Pearl Harbor 22 August 1950 (arrived 10 September), home port for the next 23 years; flagship of Commander, Escort Division 12 from 7 November 1950. First Korean tour 1 June-14 November 1951 (carrier-task-force screening, coastal patrol/bombardment, hunter-killer exercises off Okinawa); second Korean tour 10 November 1952-29 May 1953 (Taiwan Straits patrol; Wonsan Harbor bombardment of shore batteries). Patrolled the Marshalls during the first 4.5 months of 1954 thermonuclear weapons tests; annual Far East deployments through 1962; 1958-1959 cruises included Manus, Australia, New Zealand, and Pago Pago. Five battle stars for Korean service. Spec block: dp. 2,425; l. 390'6"; b. 41'1"; dr. 18'6"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 336; 6 5", 5 21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; class Gearing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1962
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Kearny construction trades 1945; Bath Iron Works completion trades 1946-1949; wartime/postwar crew (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry gives no laid-down date and its narrative ends with the early-1960s employment pattern - it predates the 1975 decommissioning, 1976 striking, and 1977 Pakistan transfer (carried via secondary sources, ev-05). Live NHHC page not located; verbatim hazegray transcription cited via Wayback.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-03
-
[5]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Epperson (DDE-719, later DD-719), 1949-1977' and '1964 and Later Views' (Naval Historical Center pages, verbatim transcription at ibiblio HyperWar), incl. photo captions NH 98871 (inclining experiment, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, 8 July 1957) and NH 98872 (in drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard undergoing FRAM I modernization, 14 April 1964) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- ibiblio Online Library pages dd719.htm (1949-1977 narrative + photo captions) and dd719-d.htm (1964+ views incl. FRAM drydock caption)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC-derived ship page for this hull: launched December 1945 at Kearny, N.J., laid up incomplete; reclassified Escort Destroyer (DDE-719) January 1948; placed in commission March 1949 after conversion work at Bath, Maine; East Coast training/ASW exercises; transferred to the Pacific August 1950 and based at Pearl Harbor for 23 years; two Korean War combat deployments (1951; 1952-53); Seventh Fleet tours through the 1950s-early 1960s with Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific visits; Operation 'Castle' Marshall Islands nuclear-test participation 1954; Mercury and Discoverer spacecraft-recovery support 1961-1963; designation reverted to DD-719 June 1962; extensively modernized at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in 1964 under Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM), emerging in FRAM I configuration with ASROC, drone-helicopter hangar/flight deck, and largely new superstructure - documented in drydock at PHNSY 14 April 1964 (photo NH 98872) and inclining experiment there 8 July 1957 (photo NH 98871); seven Western Pacific cruises September 1965-April 1973 with Vietnam combat operations (naval gunfire support, search and rescue, carrier/cruiser screening in the Gulf of Tonkin); home port changed to Seattle, Washington as Naval Reserve Training ship until decommissioning at the beginning of December 1975; sold to Pakistan April 1977, renamed Taimur; stricken 1998.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1998
- Population
- Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers and crew during 1957 inclining and 1964 FRAM I periods; crew 1949-1975
- Limitations
- NHHC-derived history documents service events and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content - the 1964 PHNSY FRAM I drydocking is a documented ship event, but its asbestos scope (insulation disturbance/removal) is inference under era practice, not stated by the source. Pakistani end-state ('stricken 1998') conflicts with secondary compilations (decommissioned 1999, sunk as target March 2000) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-04
-
[6]NavSource Naval History DD-719 page (Operational and Building Data block) + NavalCoverMuseum EPPERSON DD 719 entry + Navypedia TARIQ-class (Pakistan) member table [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-719 'Operational and Building Data' block (via Wayback 2024-10-10); navalcovermuseum.org EPPERSON DD 719 page; navypedia.org pak_dd_tariq77.htm member table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposition and data points postdating the DANFS entry, consistent across secondary compilations: laid down 20 June 1945 at Federal Shipbuilding (NavSource prints 'Newark NJ' - the Federal Port Newark/Kearny yard; DANFS gives Kearny); reclassified DDE-719 28 January 1948; reverted to DD-719 30 June 1962; FRAM upgrade completed December 1964; decommissioned 1 December 1975; stricken 30 January 1976; to Pakistan 29 April 1977, renamed Taimur (D-166); decommissioned by Pakistan 1999 and sunk as a target March 2000.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945; 1962-2000
- Population
- Crew to 1 December 1975; Pakistani Navy crew and disposal personnel 1977-2000 undocumented
- Limitations
- Secondary-compilation data (NavSource, NavalCoverMuseum, Navypedia) - no primary U.S. register record located; the Naval Vessel Register does not cover this pre-1987 disposal. Pakistani end-state dates conflict with the NHHC-derived 'stricken 1998' - carried in gaps. Post-transfer material condition (reconditioning at Naval Base San Diego / Subic Bay per secondary accounts) undocumented in authoritative sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-05
-
[7]United States of America ex rel. Vatan v. QTC Medical Services, Inc., No. 2:14-cv-08961 (C.D. Cal.), First Amended Complaint, ECF No. 18 (filed 2015-09-08), Exhibit 2 (vessel list) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 18 Exhibit 2, page ~127 of the PDF ('USS Epperson (DD-719) Docked to Da Nang Pier on October 4, 1970'), gov.uscourts.cacd.604497.18.0.pdf via Internet Archive RECAP mirror
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Non-asbestos litigation containing a ship-specific service record: the 332-page amended qui tam complaint's Exhibit 2 reproduces the VA/DVA-style list of Navy vessels with qualifying in-country Vietnam service, including the entry 'USS Epperson (DD-719) Docked to Da Nang Pier on October 4, 1970' - a documented ship-specific Vietnam service datum (pier docking at Da Nang, 4 October 1970) consistent with the NHHC narrative of Vietnam-era operations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1970 (event); 2014-2019 (litigation)
- Population
- Crew aboard during Da Nang pier docking, October 1970
- Limitations
- The litigation itself (a False Claims Act medical-services qui tam) is unrelated to asbestos - this row documents the vessel list's ship-specific service fact only and is not asbestos-exposure evidence. The vessel list is a court-filed exhibit reproducing a VA-derived compilation; the underlying VA list edition is not independently verified here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-06
-
[8]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944) - interrogatory exhibit in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX (1990); Atlas shipyard records federal-shipbuilding-kearny and bath-iron-works (shipyards.json); Drinker Harvard study (PMID 21016030) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Atlas shipyard dataset records federal-shipbuilding-kearny (flagship ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944; products pd-federal-kearny-01/-02/-04) and bath-iron-works (ev-bath-iron-works-02, products Kaylo/Foster Wheeler gaskets/asbestos felt/packing); toxicdocs.org survey document
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard documentation for the two yards that built this hull. Federal Kearny (laid down 20 June 1945, launched 22 December 1945, laid up incomplete): the Owens-Illinois industrial health survey of the Kearny yard (30 August-2 September 1944) documented insulator work with Johns-Manville Superex amosite pipe covering and boiler insulation, with dust counts during cutting/fitting in confined shipyard spaces - run roughly nine months before this hull's keel-laying; the Atlas yard record documents Superex at the yard 1940-1948 (covering DD-719's June 1945-December 1946 presence there), Kaylo 1948-1958, Monokote 1950s-1970s, Garlock gaskets 1930-1975. Bath Iron Works (completion to DDE configuration, December 1946-March 1949): yard-level record includes the 1942 Drinker/Harvard study documenting 'fairly serious dust risk' at exposure levels up to 10x the safe threshold in pipe-covering shops (published 1946), documented products Kaylo pipe covering, Foster Wheeler gaskets, asbestos felt, and packing, plus later OSHA 1987 and NIOSH HHE 89-0273-2000 documentation of asbestos fiber exposure in insulation trades.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944 (Kearny survey); 1942/1946 (Drinker); 1945-1949 (construction window)
- Population
- Federal Kearny and Bath Iron Works construction/insulation trades, 1945-1949
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record: neither the 1944 Kearny survey nor the 1942/1946 Drinker study names DD-719, and neither establishes that any particular product was installed aboard this specific hull. The Kearny survey predates this hull's keel-laying by ~9 months (proximate, not contemporaneous - unlike sister-hull records where the survey ran while the hull was on the ways). Kaylo's documented Kearny window (1948+) postdates this hull's time at that yard; BIW's later OSHA/NIOSH records postdate her completion. Application to this vessel is era/yard inference only per batch discipline.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) + Atlas shipyard record pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard (shipyards.json; Kolonel 1985 PHNSY cohort PMID 4016758; Sinks 1994 Hawaii case-control) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2; Atlas shipyard dataset record pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard (flagship ev-pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard-01/-02; ev-pearl-harbor-kolonel-1985; ev-pearl-harbor-sinks-1994)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- FRAM-yard and program-era context for this hull's documented 1964 Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard drydocking (ev-04). PHNSY carries a tier-1 asbestos record in the Atlas yard dataset: the Kolonel 1985 retrospective cohort of 7,971 male PHNSY workers and the Sinks 1994 Hawaii mesothelioma case-control (~10-fold OR for PHNSY work) document the yard's asbestos exposure profile in the period covering this hull's 1957 inclining and 1964 FRAM I periods. GAO HRD-80-2 records the Navy's program-level asbestos posture: asbestos insulation used extensively aboard ships, substitution not begun until the early 1970s, and the 1975 policy removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs (modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas) - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place unless a yard period disturbed it.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1957; 1964 (yard events); 1975-1979 (GAO policy period); 1985/1994 (cohort publications)
- Population
- PHNSY workers and DD-719 crew during 1957 inclining and 1964 FRAM I yard periods
- Limitations
- Yard-level and program-level context only: the PHNSY cohort studies do not isolate this hull's 1964 drydock, and no FRAM work-package asbestos detail for DD-719 is public - asbestos disturbance aboard this hull during FRAM is inference under era practice, consistent with (but not established by) the class-level Goodrich recital (ev-09). GAO full text not retrieved (HTTP 403 to automated fetch); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-08
-
[10]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018) - as documented in the Atlas Gearing-class profile (class-f/gearing-class.class.json, ev-gearing-class-04) [court_record]
- Locator
- Goodrich ECF No. 171 omnibus opinion recital (via CourtListener docket 6360247); Atlas class profile ev-gearing-class-04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital covering the class to which this hull belongs: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites that 'an engineering drawing for the insulation and lagging of forced draft blower turbines for the class of destroyers (DD 692, USS Allen M. Sumner class), within which the USS Harlan Dickson fell, specifies the use of amosite felts and asbestos cloths' and quotes a report estimating 'a partial tally of the weight of the asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging products in the fire ... and engine rooms of a ship belonging to the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Gearing (DD 710) classes of destroyers is 30.3 tons.' DD-719 is a Gearing-class hull built on the lengthened Sumner-derived machinery plant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1949 (construction era); 2018 (opinion)
- Population
- Sumner/Gearing-class engineering crews and yard workers (class context)
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recital of an expert report and a Navy engineering drawing - not an adjudicated classwide finding: the drawing covers the Sumner-class machinery group shared by Gearing; the 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally for fire/engine rooms, not a ship inventory, and the opinion treats some related exposure conclusions as speculative. Underlying exhibits not retrieved from RECAP (per the class profile's ledger). Does not establish asbestos presence or exposure aboard this specific hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 sweep via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced), 2026-09-27: "USS Epperson" type=o; "USS Epperson" type=r; "DD-719" type=r; "DD-719" type=o; "DDE-719" type=o/r [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint (authenticated, fleet-paced) + archive.org RECAP mirrors (gov.uscourts.cand.193712.1.0; gov.uscourts.cand.391663.1.0/.1.1; gov.uscourts.cacd.604497.18.0; gov.uscourts.cacd.702384.50.0)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull, classified: "USS Epperson" opinions = 0 (verified - no published opinion names this hull verbatim). "USS Epperson" dockets = 3: two qualifying asbestos dockets resolved in full text via RECAP mirror (Hewitt - ev-01; Hale - ev-02) and one non-asbestos docket containing a VA vessel-list exhibit (QTC Medical - ev-06). "DD-719" dockets = 6: the same Hewitt and Hale qualifying dockets, the QTC exhibit hit, and three name collisions (Santamaria v. District of Columbia, D.D.C., statutory; CH Liquidation Association, Bankr. N.D. Ohio, fraudulent-transfer adversary; Principal Life Insurance v. Mosberg, S.D. Fla., insurance) - 'DD-719' functions as a document/identifier string in those records, not a hull reference. "DD-719" opinions and "DDE-719" (both levels) queries were blocked by the exhausted shared fleet pacing budget - residual limitation, not a result. Separately, the Siegfried v. 3M Co. removal-joinder vessel list (C.D. Cal. 2:18-cv-01575, ECF No. 50, ~45 vessels - the list supplying ship-specific rows for USS Lofberg DD-759 and other Atlas hulls) was reviewed in full via the Internet Archive RECAP mirror: USS Epperson (DD-719) is NOT on the list - a verified non-hit.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Search-index classification plus full-text resolution of the two qualifying dockets. Collision discipline applied: 'Epperson' is a surname with its own case line (Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97) - bare 'Epperson' queries are not probative; only exact-phrase 'USS Epperson' and hull-number queries are treated as ship-bearing. Un-run queries ('DD-719' opinion-level; 'DDE-719' both levels) remain open leads blocked by fleet pacing, logged in the search ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-10
-
[12]Batch-3693 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS via Wayback/hazegray transcription; NHHC Online Library via ibiblio; NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum/Navypedia; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener + Internet Archive RECAP mirrors; Siegfried vessel list; Atlas shipyard dataset; NARA Catalog; USMC MoH sources; general web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-epperson-dd719-01 through sl-uss-epperson-dd719-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No non-litigation ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, scrapping/disposal hazmat disclosure, NVR entry (pre-1987 disposal), or museum record (hull sunk as target by Pakistan) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Litigation-marketing pages naming DD-719 exist (shepardlawfirm.com, mesothelioma.net) but are excluded as banned sources; this project's sibling public summary page (navyshipexposure.com) likewise is not an evidence source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- The ship-specific record is litigation-only: two verified pleading-stage allegations name this hull (ev-01, ev-02). Absence of a located survey/abatement record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was built and completed inside the documented asbestos era at documented yards and underwent a documented FRAM drydock at a yard with a tier-1 asbestos cohort record. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-epperson-dd719-11