Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Fox IV (DD-234/AG-85) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Fox IV (DD-234/AG-85)', specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 12 June 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; sponsored by Miss Virginia Blair; commissioned 17 May 1920; Mediterranean/Black Sea service 1920-23 (U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters, incl. Crimea refugee evacuation); Naval Reserve training, 3d Naval District, 1923-1930; out of commission at Philadelphia Navy Yard 2 February 1931; rotating-reserve commission 1 April 1932, full commission 18 June 1932, Destroyer Division 1, Scouting Force; San Diego-based Pacific operations 1932-38; out of commission at Philadelphia 16 September 1938; recommissioned 25 September 1939; Atlantic/Caribbean escort and patrol to August 1940; inshore patrol from Balboa, C.Z.; Local Defense Forces, 12th and 13th Naval Districts, including overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard March-June 1941; Alaska convoy escort December 1941-May 1943 (12 convoys; modernization at Seattle July-September 1942); Northwest Sea Frontier Alaska patrol/escort to 25 March 1944; Western Sea Frontier, San Diego, April-September 1944; converted to miscellaneous auxiliary at Puget Sound Navy Yard, reclassified AG-85 on 1 October 1944; based at NAS Alameda November 1944-September 1945 as aviation target and training vessel; decommissioned 29 November 1945 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.; sold for scrapping 12 November 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1946
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1918-19; interwar and wartime crew (design complement 130); Naval Reservists trained 1923-1930
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry does not state a laid-down date or a stricken date (stricken 1945-12-19 carried from secondary compilations). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-01
-
[2]Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Fox (DD-234, later AG-85), 1920-1946' (NHHC photo catalog and ship summary) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library page 'USS Fox (DD-234, later AG-85), 1920-1946', summary text and photo captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC Online Library record for this hull: Fox was 'one of five 1190-ton Clemson class destroyers (DD-231 through DD-235) modified to carry five-inch guns in place of the four-inch type fitted to the rest of the class'; built at Camden, New Jersey; commissioned May 1920; summarizes Mediterranean/Black Sea service, Third Naval District reserve training, San Diego-based fleet service 1932-38, Atlantic/Caribbean and Panama operations 1939-40, Pacific-coast and Alaska escort duty 1941-44, AG-85 reclassification October 1944, Alameda-based aviation-support duty, decommissioning at Norfolk in November 1945, and sale for scrapping a year later.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1920-1946
- Population
- Crew and reserve trainees, 1920-1945
- Limitations
- Confirms identity, builder, service outline, and the five-gun Clemson subgroup; contains no materials, asbestos, or condition information. One cataloged photo (NH 53937-A, trials 1920) carries an NHHC caveat that it may actually depict sister ship USS Brooks (DD-232).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-02
-
[3]DANFS specifications block (Clemson class; 26,500 shp geared turbines, 2 screws, 34 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset, New York Shipbuilding yard record (era asbestos product documentation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'new-york-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a WWI-program Clemson-class flush-deck destroyer built 1918-19 with a geared-turbine, 26,500-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and compartment insulation; builder New York Shipbuilding (Camden) is documented in the Atlas yard dataset with era asbestos product use (asbestos product list includes insulation block, magnesia insulation, asbestos cement panels, gaskets, packing, wire insulation, and felt insulation).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1946
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1918-19; crew 1920-1945
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The yard dataset's documented product list is drawn largely from WWII-era records; WWI-era (1918-19) product specifics for this builder are not verified. No insulation survey, work package, or material specification for DD-234 is located; this row establishes a research context, not asbestos content aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-03
-
[4]Chesher v. 3M Co., 234 F. Supp. 3d 693 (D.S.C. 2017) (Crane Co. summary-judgment opinion); Siegfried v. Owens-Illinois Inc., No. 2:18-cv-01575-FMO-E (C.D. Cal.), Notice of Removal, ECF No. 50 (2018) [court_record]
- Locator
- Chesher v. 3M Co., 234 F. Supp. 3d 693, 714 (D.S.C. 2017) (Moore Aff. para. 17; Pantaleoni Dep. discussion); Siegfried v. Owens-Illinois, C.D. Cal. 2:18-cv-01575, ECF No. 50 preliminary statement
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Verified name collisions: published asbestos litigation contains 'USS Fox' references, but they resolve to the later USS Fox (DLG-33/CG-33, commissioned 1966), not DD-234. In Chesher (D.S.C. 2017), expert evidence describes Navy-approved Crane valve drawings specifying asbestos-containing internal packing and bonnet gaskets 'for certain valves installed on the USS Henderson and USS Fox' - plaintiff Chesher served in the Navy 1965-1989, twenty years after DD-234 was scrapped (1946). In the Siegfried removal notice (C.D. Cal. 2018), the plaintiff's alleged exposure-vessel list names 'USS Fox (CG-33)' explicitly among 1960s-90s-era hulls. Both reference the Leahy-class guided-missile cruiser Fox.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2017-2018 (litigation); alleged exposure 1965-1996 era
- Population
- James W. Chesher (USN machinist mate/officer 1965-1989, mesothelioma); Terry L. Siegfried (marine electrician)
- Limitations
- Documents a different hull (DLG-33/CG-33); establishes nothing about DD-234. Carried as a correction row because CourtListener exact-name searches for 'USS Fox' return these cases; unreviewed readers could otherwise misattribute them. Chesher itself was a summary-judgment-stage opinion (Crane's motion denied), not a merits finding even as to CG-33.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-04
-
[5]Batch-3232 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (live + verbatim transcription); NHHC Online Library photo catalog; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; museum/NPS disclosure search; NARA deck-log guidance [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-fox-dd234-04 through sl-uss-fox-dd234-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey exists (hull scrapped 1946-47, before abatement-era documentation), no abatement or hazmat disclosure exists, and no qualifying asbestos case names DD-234. CourtListener exact-name hits classify as name collisions (DLG-33/CG-33 asbestos litigation; a DD-779 military-pay case) or unrelated litigation (a 1963 admiralty collision case involving USS Gearing); 'DD-234' hull-number queries return only form/docket-identifier collisions. No museum custody, NRHP listing, or NHL designation attaches to this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a WWI-era steam destroyer almost certainly carried era-standard insulation, and crew-era exposure cannot be ruled out or established from public sources. Commercial scrapping 1946-47 was not documented for hazardous materials. This finding does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-05
-
[6]NARA, 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' (RG 24 deck-log series guidance; pre-1941 logs at Archives I, Washington DC; 1941+ logs at Archives II, College Park, MD) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy (series guidance); NARA Catalog series NAID 594258
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level documentation: Fox's deck logs for her full career (1920-1945) exist within the Navy deck-log series - pre-1941 volumes in the Archives I (Washington, DC) holdings and 1941-1945 volumes in the Archives II (College Park, MD) series 'Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAID 594258) - which could document yard periods, repairs, and the 1944 AG-85 conversion. NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) General Information Books are an additional lead for hull-level material specifications. Neither was retrieved.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1920-1945 (records)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - holdings existence inferred from NARA's published series guidance, not from a catalog pull for this hull; deck logs record operations, not insulation inventories, though yard entries can corroborate work periods. RG 19 retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-fox-dd234-06