USS FULLAM (DD-474)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]research packet ey-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity name

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-fullam-dd474-pkt-ey-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Fullam (DD-474) (launch/commissioning details, full service narrative, seven battle stars; verbatim transcription labeled 'Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, March 2016' on the Tin Can Sailors ship page - live NHHC page returns 404, HyperWar/ibiblio and hazegray mirrors unreachable) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   destroyers.org/ships/dd-474 'Ship History' block (DANFS verbatim) + TCS narrative block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: launched 16 April 1942 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Miss Mariana F. Welch (granddaughter of Admiral Fullam); commissioned 2 March 1943, Commander H. C. Daniel in command. East coast escort duty; arrived San Diego 28 June 1943; Hawaiian training; Efate, New Hebrides 28 August for Solomons escort/patrol. Covered Cape Torokina landings from 1 November 1943; Bougainville convoy cover; Empress Augusta Bay bombardment 25 January 1944; Green Islands reconnaissance/landings (30 January, 15 February); Emirau landings 20 March 1944. Fifth Fleet Marianas assault: Tinian/Saipan bombardments from 12 June, landings 15 June; carrier task force at Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 June; Guam bombardment screening; departed Marianas 10 August. Palau assault: collision with USS Noa (APD-24) 12 September 1944 - Noa sank in 6 hours; badly damaged Fullam rescued all of Noa's men, continued Peleliu bombardment and UDT cover; temporary repairs at Manus, then west coast overhaul. Pearl Harbor training from 24 December 1944; Pagan Island picket duty; Saipan 15 February 1945; Iwo Jima screen/fire-support 16-28 February (TCS narrative: 4,558 rounds of 5-inch ammunition expended). Okinawa operation from 27 March: air cover for 1 April landings, Sakashima Gunto strikes; 4 May kamikaze attack screening USS Sangamon (CVE-26) - screening destroyers downed three of four attackers and rescued Sangamon survivors; antisubmarine patrol and AA fire support off Hagushi Beach from 13 May; radar-picket support. Departed Okinawa 1 July; Guam/Eniwetok escort; cleared Eniwetok 11 August for Adak - arrived after hostilities ended; Aleutians escort/patrol; entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 13 November 1945; San Diego March 1946; out of commission in reserve 15 January 1947. Seven battle stars for WWII service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1947

   Population

   Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-43; wartime crew (design complement 273)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and dates, not materials or asbestos content. The transcribed narrative does not state the laid-down date (carried from NavSource building data, 10 December 1941) and ends the ship's record at decommissioning - the post-1947 target-hull history is covered by ev-02/ev-03. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 and the HyperWar/hazegray mirrors were unreachable this session.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-01

3. [3]DNA 6038F, Operation HARDTACK I - 1958, United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests, Nuclear Test Personnel Review (Defense Nuclear Agency / DTRA; DTIC ADA136819) [other_primary]

   Locator

   DNA 6038F: target-vessel selection narrative (Long Beach shipyard paragraph); Table 23 'Target ship and barge distances from surface zero, HARDTACK, WAHOO' (DD-474: 2,915 ft); task-group roster 7.3.5.7 'Surface Targets'; vessel-participation entry 'Fullam (DD-474)'; Arikara and Bolster log-summary sections (decontamination passages); UMBRELLA post-shot survey passage

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Official DoD Nuclear Test Personnel Review documents this hull by name/hull number as an unmanned instrumented surface target for underwater nuclear detonations: in July 1957 BuShips selected Fullam (DD-474), Howorth (DD-592), and Killen (DD-593) from the Reserve Fleet Group, Long Beach; Long Beach Naval Shipyard 'performed the necessary modifications and renovations on all three ships, starting in September 1957 and extending through January 1958,' including full-coverage washdown systems; the icebreaker USS Staten Island towed the three destroyers to the Eniwetok Proving Ground, arriving 19 April 1958; target-destroyer crews berthed aboard until WAHOO. At WAHOO (16 May 1958) Fullam was towed to her moor by USS Arikara and positioned stern-on, 2,915 feet from surface zero (Table 23). Post-WAHOO, Arikara and Bolster crews 'required 2 days to reduce the radioactivity of Fullam to within acceptable levels,' hosing and monitoring in complete radsafe outfits; 'no readings are available concerning any exposure the decontamination teams might have received.' At UMBRELLA (9 June 1958, Enewetak Lagoon array) an LCM made a radiation survey of Moran and Fullam; the report's vessel entry reads 'The unmanned destroyer Fullam was used as a target ship for underwater shots WAHOO and UMBRELLA. It was towed to Pearl Harbor by Chowanoc on 22 June after the underwater shots' (arrived Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard 11 July for detailed machinery inspection).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1957-1958

   Population

   Long Beach Naval Shipyard trades 1957-58; Special Projects Unit and target-destroyer prep crews Apr-May 1958; USS Arikara and USS Bolster decontamination crews May 1958; USS Chowanoc tow crew Jun-Jul 1958; Pearl Harbor NSY inspectors Jul 1958

   Limitations

   Documents RADIOLOGICAL contamination and target-hull handling, not asbestos. Its exposure significance for this record: it establishes named, dated worker populations aboard or handling this hull - Long Beach NSY trades reactivating a mothballed 1942 steam hull (Sept 1957-Jan 1958), Special Projects Unit/target-vessel crews preparing and mooring the hull (April-May 1958), Arikara/Bolster decontamination crews (17-19 May 1958), Chowanoc tow crew (June-July 1958), and Pearl Harbor NSY inspectors. Whether that work disturbed era insulation aboard is not addressed by this source.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-02

4. [4]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Fullam (DD-474) - Operational and Building Data block + BuShips/NARA photo captions; Tin Can Sailors destroyer history (TCS narrative, Jan 2001); USS Fullam association disposition page (bobrosssr.tripod.com) [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net/archives/05/474.htm building-data block and photo captions (19-N-84158; Mare Island 25 Jul 1943; Boston NY construction 11 Jan 1943 and 28 Mar 1943); destroyers.org/ships/dd-474 TCS narrative; bobrosssr.tripod.com/disposition.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Building and disposition data for this hull: laid down by Boston Navy Yard 10 December 1941; machinery 60,000 shp, Allis Chalmers turbines, 2 screws (hull-specific machinery entry; class standard was GE); decommissioned 15 January 1947; stricken 1 June 1962; 'Sunk as target off Virginia July 7 1962.' Photo captions document a Mare Island availability completed 25 July 1943 and a post-overhaul departure off San Francisco 8 December 1944 (BuShips 19-N-84158). TCS adds: flagship of Destroyer Squadron 45 (ship header call sign NUJJ); 'In June 1959, the FULLAM was assigned to Norfolk Virginia, where she was used as a target for weapons tests and other experiments'; per quoted naval record she 'sank at 0715 after resisting nobly the combined effects of Bullpup missiles and surface fire from five and eight-inch guns.' The ship-association disposition compilation dates conventional underwater-charge shock trials at Norfolk beginning 1 November 1960 (experimental shock-mounted equipment installed) with a final series April 1961.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1962

   Population

   Reserve-fleet/inactive-ship maintenance personnel 1947-1958; Norfolk-area test crews 1959-1962

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer-compiled photographic index drawing on official records, not an official publication; the Norfolk conventional-test dates rest on an association compilation consistent with but not verified against a controlling official document this session (DNA 6038F ends coverage at Pearl Harbor, July 1958). The TCS 'left her radioactive' phrasing traces to the documented Hardtack duty, not the Norfolk tests. Sinking date carried as 7 July over the association page's 1 July variant (conflict in gaps).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-03

5. [5]Fletcher-class machinery/design data (4 boilers, 60,000 shp steam plant, 1941-44 build era; NavSource machinery line for DD-474) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record (tier 3; John Crane gasket/sealing-material product ID; WWII peak employment 50,128) + NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DD-474 machinery block; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard' (ev-boston-naval-shipyar-02, In re John Crane Tex. App. 2003); NARA RG19 lead

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-43 at a naval shipyard with a four-boiler/60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Boston Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3), including a litigation product identification of John Crane gaskets and sealing materials at the yard and WWII peak employment of 50,128. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1962

   Population

   Boston Naval Shipyard construction trades 1941-43; crew 1943-47

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos record exists for this hull (see ev-07). The yard-level litigation record documents a worker allegation at Boston Naval Shipyard, not materials installed aboard DD-474. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-04

6. [6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page HRD-80-2

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-474's construction (1941-43), entire commissioned service (1943-47), reserve/target-hull handling (1947-62), and 1962 sinking entirely inside the documented asbestos-use era.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1979

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - standing block documented since BATCH-01); content via product-page description.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-05

7. [7]CourtListener API v4 exact-name and hull-number sweep (authenticated, cl-auth-search.py): '"USS Fullam"' opinions completed 2026-09-27 (0 results); hull-number and RECAP-docket queries blocked by fleet pacing budget [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-fullam-dd474-07 (completed, 0 results), sl-uss-fullam-dd474-08 (blocked), sl-uss-fullam-dd474-09 (excluded marketing pages)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener opinions search '"USS Fullam"' (type=o, authenticated API v4) completed: 0 results - no opinion text on CourtListener names this vessel. Hull-number ('"DD-474"' type=o) and docket ('"USS Fullam"' type=r) queries were BLOCKED: the fleet-wide pacing budget (shared ~114/hr token bucket across all sessions) was repeatedly spent; helper exited at the pacing gate (exit 2) before reaching the API. Independent web/litigation-index search surfaced only law-firm and aggregator ship-list pages naming USS Fullam DD-474 (Shepard Law, asbestos-ships.com, Mesothelioma Resource Group, Simmons, Throneberry) - all boilerplate marketing content with no case citation, excluded per sourcing rules; none assert a docketed case naming this hull.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   sweep attempted 2026-09-27

   Limitations

   Partial sweep only: the completed exact-name opinions query returned zero results (no qualifying asbestos opinion naming the vessel by name), but hull-number opinion and RECAP docket coverage did not complete this session - a blocked leg is a coverage gap, not a negative finding. Re-run '"DD-474"' type=o and '"USS Fullam"' type=r when the fleet budget frees; 'Fullam' is a low-collision name so a small sweep suffices.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-06

8. [8]Batch-3457 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (destroyers.org); DNA 6038F official NTPR (full text reviewed); NavSource building data; Tin Can Sailors; destroyerhistory.org; USS Fullam association pages; Naval Vessel Register scope check; CourtListener (exact-name opinions completed 0 results; hull-number and docket legs pacing-blocked); general-web asbestos-mention check [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-fullam-dd474-01 through sl-uss-fullam-dd474-12

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials schedule, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Fullam (DD-474) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The disposal profile itself limits what could exist: the hull was stricken and sunk as a weapons target in 1962 - more than a decade before routine asbestos documentation practice - and was never scrapped, transferred, or preserved, so the scrapping-yard, museum-disclosure, and donation-condition channels that produced ship-specific asbestos records for surviving hulls never existed for 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 1941-43 steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing, and this hull received extensive documented hands-on work (Long Beach reactivation outfitting, test instrumentation, radiological decontamination, Norfolk shock trials) that would plausibly have disturbed such materials. Present-day ACM status is moot (hull sunk). This row records that no ship-specific documentation was located; it does not establish presence or absence, exposure, or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-07

9. [9]NARA finding aids (RG 24 deck logs via Special List 44; RG 19 Bureau of Ships records incl. per-vessel General Information Books) + DNA WT-1619 (Hardtack Project 2.1 shipboard-radiation report, NRDL, 1961-03-24; Marshall Islands Nuclear Documents Database accession 0410997) + NHHC still-picture holdings [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov SL-44 + RG19/RG24 guides; data.nuclearsecrecy.com/mindd record 0410997 (WT-1619 metadata); NavSource photo-credit captions

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads not retrieved this session (research-room or reproduction-order scope): (a) NARA RG 24 deck logs for DD-474 (1943-47 commissioned period) - logbooks not in the digitized online set; (b) NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships records incl. any DD-474 General Information Book (per-vessel material specifications - the strongest hull-level asbestos lead); (c) WT-1619 'Shipboard Radiation from Underwater Bursts (Operation Hardtack-I), Project 2.1' (NRDL, 24 March 1961; MINDD accession 0410997) - contains per-ship gamma dose/dose-rate histories for the three destroyer targets incl. this hull, scanned-image PDF not text-extractable this session; (d) BuShips photo series 19-N-42246, 19-N-49046, 19-N-84158 and NARA 80-G-287120 for condition documentation.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   records coverage 1941-1962

   Limitations

   Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for DD-474 is unknown until surveyed. WT-1619 concerns gamma radiation aboard the target hulls, not asbestos, but its per-ship dose tables document the contaminated-hull condition that governed boarding. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-fullam-dd474-08