Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet zbu-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-estocin-ffg15-pkt-zbu-packet-md
-
[2]Naval Vessel Register, ESTOCIN (FFG 15), UIC 20968 (last updated 2003-04-25; verbatim record via Wayback capture 2016-01-18) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail page, all fields; Wayback 2016-01-18 capture
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NVR record for this hull: class FFG 7; builder Bath Iron Wks Corp.; award 27 February 1976; keel 2 April 1979; launch 3 November 1979; delivery 3 November 1980; commission 10 January 1981; decommission 3 April 2003; stricken 3 April 2003; status 'Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale case number assigned'; remark 'FFG-15 WAS TRANSFERRED TO TURKEY 4/3/03. NEW NAME IS TCG GOSKU (F-497)'; custodian Turkey; planning yard Bath Iron Works, Bath ME. Characteristics: 445 ft overall / 408 ft waterline, 47 ft beam, 25 ft max navigational draft; 3,106 t light / 3,989 t full; steel hull, aluminum superstructure; propulsion type Gas Turbines, 1 propeller; accommodations 17 officers + 195 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1976-2003 (US record)
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1979-80; U.S. Navy crew 1981-2003 (berthing 17 officers + 195 enlisted); Turkish crew 2003-present
- Limitations
- NVR documents construction, characteristics, and disposal — not materials or asbestos content. Page no longer served at nvr.navy.mil; verbatim Wayback capture cited. 'Gas Turbines' propulsion type confirms no boiler/steam plant but does not itself establish presence or absence of asbestos-containing components.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-01
-
[3]NHHC Naval Aviation appendix, 'Ships Named for Naval Aviators' ('Estocin (FFG 15) CAPT Michael J. Estocin, USN 10 Jan 1981'); Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient record, Michael John Estocin [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.navy.mil /content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/app12.pdf (appendix 12); cmohs.org recipient page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's appendix of ships named for naval aviators records 'Estocin (FFG 15) CAPT Michael J. Estocin, USN' with commissioning 10 Jan 1981. CMOHS records the namesake: Captain (then LCDR) Michael John Estocin, USN, Attack Squadron 192 embarked in USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14), Medal of Honor (posthumous) for actions over Haiphong, North Vietnam, 20 and 26 April 1967; born 27 April 1931 Turtle Creek, PA; entered service Akron, OH. FFG-15 was the first U.S. Navy ship of the name; no DANFS entry exists for this hull (post-coverage construction).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1967; 1979-1981
- Limitations
- Documents namesake and commissioning only — no materials or asbestos content. NHHC appendix PDF fetch returned 404 at record date; content verified via indexed text; CMOHS recipient page is the authoritative namesake/MoH source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-02
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[4]Ship operational history (former official Navy ship-history text) via secondary mirrors seaforces.org / navysite.de / globalsecurity.org; NavSource FFG-15 archive (U.S. Navy photo captions); Pennsylvania House Resolution 169 (2003); U.S. Navy photo caption, 2 Jan 2022 (TCG Göksu exercising with USS Ross DDG-71) [other_primary]
- Locator
- seaforces.org/navysite.de FFG-15 history text; NavSource 0715xx photo captions; PA HR 169 (2003); Wikimedia Commons file 'TCG Göksu (F-497).jpg' (U.S. Navy photo 030403-N-4649C-001 for decommissioning; 2022 exercise photo)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Service record for this hull: commissioned 10 Jan 1981, assigned Destroyer Squadron Eight, homeported Mayport FL; Mediterranean/Indian Ocean deployments and Central America special operations; 1986 testbed for the Mk-92 fire-control CORT improvement project (CNO Priority-1); joined Naval Reserve Force under Naval Surface Warfare Group Four, Philadelphia, 1 Oct 1986; Great Lakes recruiting cruise 1991; rejoined active fleet, homeport Newport RI 17 Aug 1992; Operation Support Democracy off Haiti Dec 1993; homeport Norfolk VA Jan 1994; second Great Lakes cruise summer 1994 followed by a four-month drydock; Caribbean/eastern Pacific counter-drug ops fall 1995 via Panama Canal; DesRon 18 deployment Northern Light-Bright Horizon 96 and OPFOR flagship JTFEX 97-1; BALTOPS 97 with first U.S. warship calls at two Russian ports in one deployment (Baltiysk, Severomorsk); Caribbean counter-drug deployment Jan-May 1999 (400+ kg cocaine seizure); INDEX 99-2 with the John F. Kennedy battle group and JTFEX 00-1 for Eisenhower; Feb 2002 crew swap with USS Samuel Eliot Morison (FFG-13), which decommissioned 11 Apr 2002; decommissioned at Mayport 3 Apr 2003 as the last operational short-hulled FFG and transferred to Turkey as TCG Göksu (F-497); still active in Turkish service Jan 2022 per released U.S. Navy photo.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1981-2022
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew 1981-2003 incl. Naval Reserve training cohorts 1986-1992; Turkish crew 2003-present
- Limitations
- Narrative text is the ship's former official history surviving on secondary mirrors (no DANFS entry; NHHC ship command operation reports not located at patterned URLs); U.S. Navy photo captions in the NavSource archive independently corroborate the NRF assignment, homeport moves, and 2003 decommissioning at Mayport. Turkish-service details after 2003 are thin in citable sources. None of this addresses materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-03
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[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2; Navy response letter text (attachment) via indexed excerpts
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Era context into which this hull was built: the Navy advised GAO that product specifications for thermal insulation were changed in 1973 to require asbestos-free materials, but asbestos materials 'had already been purchased and in some cases installed in ships under construction,' so 'some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978.' The Navy's response letter states 'all ships presently in service contain some quantity of asbestos,' listing piping-system gaskets and packing, deck/floor tiling, galley-range cabling, equipment brakes and clutches, and electrical resistors as continuing applications after thermal insulation. Estocin's keel was laid 2 April 1979 and she was delivered 3 November 1980 — after the documented May 1978 end of asbestos-insulation deliveries — so the report does not support inferring asbestos thermal insulation aboard this hull, while the continuing-applications list remained operative in her construction era. The report's attachment #1 enumerates ships delivered since 1973 or under construction at the report date — a window that includes this hull — with insulation status per ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1973-1980
- Population
- Navy ships in service; construction/repair trades
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not a hull-specific survey. Whether FFG-15 is enumerated in attachment #1 and what status it records is unverified — full text blocked to automated fetch (gao.gov HTTP 403); contents via product page and indexed excerpts. Neither establishes nor defeats asbestos aboard this hull; the delivery-date nuance cuts against the usual era inference for thermal insulation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-04
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[6]Grant v. Foster Wheeler, LLC, 2016 ME 85 (Me. 2016); In re All Maine Asbestos Litigation (BIW Cases), 589 F. Supp. 1563 (D. Me. 1984); Davis v. Bath Iron Works Corp., 338 A.2d 146 (Me. 1975); Douglass v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., BCD-CV-13-35 (Me. Bus. & Consumer Ct. 2015) [court_record]
- Locator
- 2016 ME 85 paras. 2-3 (employment windows, asbestos use recital) and disposition; 589 F. Supp. 1563 at 1565-66; 338 A.2d 146; Douglass order, Material Facts
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-yard asbestos record for the yard that built this hull: published Maine and federal opinions document asbestos in use at Bath Iron Works across windows overlapping this hull's 1979-80 construction. Grant v. Foster Wheeler (Me. 2016) records that during the decedent's second BIW employment, 1978-1994, asbestos was a common component of insulation and other materials at Bath 'including for the construction and renovation of ships' — while affirming summary judgment for the product defendants on product-nexus grounds (a merits-level defense outcome). In re All Maine Asbestos Litigation (BIW Cases) (D. Me. 1984) consolidated roughly fifty actions by BIW employees alleging injury from asbestos products during employment at the yard. Davis v. BIW (Me. 1975) records a 1944-1966 employee's asbestosis claim. Douglass (2015 trial order) recites asbestos use in naval-ship construction at BIW over a 1958-1990s employment window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-2016 (litigation windows)
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction/repair trades, 1944-1990s
- Limitations
- Builder-yard litigation only — no opinion names FFG-15 or ties any product to this hull. Grant is a defense summary-judgment win affirmed on appeal: the yard-level factual recital stands in the published opinion, but the case is not an exposure finding as to any ship. Coverage windows bracket but do not isolate this hull's 1979-80 build.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-05
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[7]OSHA Inspection 101450294, Bath Iron Works health inspection, with asbestos Chemical Exposure Health Data entries (Labs B24809 bulk, B24801 personal, 20 May 1987); Atlas shipyards.json yard record bath-iron-works (tier 2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- OSHA IMIS inspection detail 101450294; shipyards.json 'bath-iron-works' evidence row ev-bath-iron-works-01
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Regulatory record for this hull's builder: OSHA's 1987 health inspection of Bath Iron Works recorded asbestos-standard citations; the linked asbestos sample data include an 80-percent bulk result (Lab B24809) and a 1.71-f/cc personal-sample result (Lab B24801), both dated 20 May 1987 — seven years after this hull's delivery but within the yard's documented asbestos era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1987
- Population
- Bath Iron Works establishment, 1987
- Limitations
- Yard-level regulatory record only; postdates this hull's 1980 delivery and identifies no ship, product, or task. Establishes asbestos handling at the builder in the era, not conditions aboard FFG-15.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-06
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[8]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (batch helper), 2026-09-29 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-estocin-ffg15-04 through sl-uss-estocin-ffg15-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in CourtListener. 'USS Estocin' opinions: 0 results. 'Estocin' opinions: 1 result, a name collision — Turchyn v. Nakonachny, 2004 Ohio 2692, 811 N.E.2d 119 (Ohio Ct. App. 8th Dist.), a church-governance/property dispute listing 'Rev. Frank Estocin' among defendants-appellees; not this hull, not asbestos. 'FFG-15' opinions: 0 results. 'FFG 15' opinions: 0 results. 'USS Estocin'/'FFG-15' docket-level queries: pending at record close — the shared fleet pacing limiter was saturated; see search_ledger for the exact statuses.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a docketed case does not prove absence of exposure aboard; unlitigated claims, trust-fund filings, and state-court matters below CourtListener coverage are not captured. Queries blocked by the pacing limiter are listed honestly in the ledger rather than retried into a throttle.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-07
-
[9]NARA, Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel (guided research path: BuShips/NAVSEA correspondence, ship specifications, command histories) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided-topic page 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's guide identifies the archival path for hull-level asbestos documentation: Bureau of Ships/NAVSEA correspondence and ship-specification files plus command histories and yard work packages. No FFG-15 file from those series was examined in this batch; the documented yard/maintenance periods (Bath Iron Works construction 1979-80; Philadelphia Naval Shipyard NRF homeporting 1986-1992; the unidentified ~1994-95 four-month drydock) are where hull material records would exist. GAO HRD-80-2 attachment #1 (ships under construction at the October 1979 report date) is the most promising single document for this hull's as-built insulation status.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Guide-level pointer only; the guide's title coverage ('up through 1961') predates this hull by nearly two decades, and no ship-specific file was retrieved. Does not establish or defeat any ship-specific asbestos fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-estocin-ffg15-08