Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet ge-packet.md (6 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-gainard-dd706-pkt-ge-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Gainard (DD-706) (namesake biography, builder, dates, specifications, WWII and postwar service narrative, awards; verbatim Naval Historical Center transcription via hazegray - live NHHC page serves 404; content verified against Wayback captures of legacy NHHC page danfs/g1/gainard.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Capt. Joseph Aloysius Gainard, USNRF (Navy Cross, master of SS City of Flint); laid down 29 March 1944 at Kearny, N.J., by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.; launched 17 September 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Joseph A. Gainard; commissioned 23 November 1944 at New York, Comdr. Francis J. Foley commanding; complement 336; four boilers, geared steam turbines, 60,000 shp, 34 knots. Shakedown off Bermuda; departed New York 1 February 1945 for San Diego and Pearl Harbor; staged at Saipan; decoy feints off southeastern Okinawa 1-2 April 1945; 39 days on radar-picket/fighter-director stations, controlling an average of 10 CAP planes dawn to dusk, instrumental in destruction of at least 28 suicide planes (4 by her gunners), attacked 27 times by strikes of 50+ planes; fighter-director unit for landings at Iheya Shima, Aguni Shima, Kume Shima; rescued a ditched patrol-bomber crew; remained until Okinawa secured 1 July 1945. Air-sea rescue ship off Honshu until 21 February 1946; Newport, R.I., homeport for ~20 years - nine 6th Fleet deployments as an ASW specialist; Exercise 'Strikeback' September 1957; Operation 'Mercy' Hurricane Carla relief September-October 1961; eighth Med tour August 1960-February 1961 with six weeks in the Indian Ocean; ninth Med tour February-August 1962 via Suez; Cuban Contingency Task Groups November-December 1962; Faith 7 recovery-station support May 1963; schoolship and support duties through 1967 out of Newport (Fleet Sonar School Key West, gunnery schoolship Norfolk). Navy Unit Commendation for Okinawa; one WWII battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1967 (narrative coverage)
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades March-November 1944; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 336); Fleet Sonar School/gunnery-school trainees
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The archived hazegray transcription contains OCR-type defects ('laid down 29 March 1994'; departure '1 February 1946') - the 1944/1945 readings are verified by the NHHC-via-Wayback capture and corroborating sources. The published narrative was compiled during service and ends circa 1967 ('at present, she operates out of Newport'); post-1967 events are not covered by this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-01
-
[3]Blancha v. Raymark Industries, 972 F.2d 507 (3d Cir. 1992), No. 91-1928 (full text verified at verbatim reporter mirror law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/972/972.F2d.507.91-1928.html; duplicate CourtListener cluster opinion 588813 carries the same 972 F.2d 507 cite) [court_record]
- Locator
- 972 F.2d at 509 (service/exposure recital, procedural history) and at 517 (disposition: 'We will reverse the district court's order granting a new trial and remand')
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published Third Circuit opinion names this hull: 'Thomas served in the United States Navy from April 5, 1951 to March 24, 1955. For approximately nine months of that time, Thomas was exposed to various kinds of asbestos and asbestos products while working as a machinist aboard the USS Gainard and the USS Timmerman at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.' Frank D. Thomas was diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition in 1987 and died of mesothelioma August 10, 1988; his estate (executor Edward T. Blancha) sued manufacturers including Raymark, Eagle-Picher, Garlock, Celotex, GAF, Owens-Illinois, and Keene Corporation (successor to Baldwin-Hill). All defendants settled or were dismissed except Keene (Owens-Illinois settled after the first trial day). At the first trial the jury, via special interrogatories, found Keene's products defective for lack of warnings but NOT a substantial contributing factor in Thomas's death - a defense verdict. The district court granted a new trial (jury-confusion grounds re defense expert testimony that chrysotile does not cause mesothelioma); the plaintiff PREVAILED at the second trial; the Third Circuit REVERSED the new-trial grant, restoring the first defense verdict (Cowen, J.; Hutchinson, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Argued 1992-05-20, decided 1992-08-07, rehearing denied 1992-09-04. DD-706 is the only ship named USS Gainard; the 1951-55 service window overlaps this hull's commissioned period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1951-1955 (alleged exposure); 1992 (opinion)
- Population
- Frank D. Thomas, USN machinist aboard USS Gainard and USS Timmerman at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, c. 1951-1955; mesothelioma death 1988
- Limitations
- The exposure statement is a recital of the plaintiff's work history and trial evidence in the appellate opinion - the operative merits outcome is a restored DEFENSE verdict (the plaintiff's second-trial win was vacated when the new-trial grant was reversed). It is not a judicial finding that asbestos was present aboard Gainard in any particular location, does not identify specific products aboard, and does not establish exposure for the crew generally. Exposure occurred aboard the ship while it was at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard - a real shipboard context, but during a yard availability. Nine-month window within April 1951-March 1955.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-02
-
[4]Boyd v. Warren Pumps, LLC, 654 F. App'x 875 (9th Cir. 2016) (unpublished memorandum disposition); disposition verified via extended quotation in MacQueen v. Warren Pumps LLC, 246 F. Supp. 3d 1004, 1006-07 (D. Del. 2017), CourtListener opinion 7325115 [court_record]
- Locator
- 654 F. App'x at 876-77 as quoted in MacQueen, 246 F. Supp. 3d at 1006-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Unpublished Ninth Circuit disposition names this hull in an asbestos products-liability appeal: the court 'affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for certain defendants on the ground that Captain Boyd failed to present evidence sufficient to link Buffalo Pumps or Warren Pumps to asbestos-containing replacement parts to which Captain Boyd was exposed during his service aboard the USS Gainard' - a merits-level negative for that plaintiff on the Gainard/replacement-parts theory. The court reversed summary judgment as to Boyd's exposure claim regarding asbestos-containing spare packing and gaskets (deposition testimony places Buffalo/Warren pumps aboard the USS McCain), finding the circumstantial evidence raised more than a mere possibility of exposure to supplied spare parts.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- service aboard Gainard during commissioned period (dates not stated in quoted text); 2016 (disposition)
- Population
- Captain Boyd, USN (service aboard USS Gainard and USS McCain); asbestos products liability
- Limitations
- Summary-judgment sufficiency review, not a trial finding; unpublished disposition not independently retrieved - content verified through extended quotation in MacQueen, 246 F. Supp. 3d 1004. The Gainard-specific holding is AGAINST the plaintiff (insufficient linkage to defendants' replacement parts) and must not be read as exposure evidence for this hull; the reversed spare-parts theory is described in terms of pumps aboard USS McCain, so its bearing on Gainard is unresolved. Establishes only that Boyd's service history included this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-03
-
[5]Douglas v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 103 (1992), No. 90-678 (decided Jan. 24, 1992; aff'd in relevant part en banc, 2 Vet. App. 435 (1992)) [court_record]
- Locator
- 2 Vet. App. 103, service-history recital; mirror text at ecases.us (courtlistener.com reporter listing for 2 Vet. App. also carries the case)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Non-asbestos veterans appeal documents service aboard this hull: Charles M. Douglas, USN 28 May 1945 - 21 May 1946, served as a deckhand in the Pacific Theater (aboard USS Gainard fall 1945-spring 1946 per the service history recited in coverage of the opinion; duties included guns, chipping, painting, anchors, and shore liberty including Hiroshima). Claim: service connection for basal-cell carcinoma of the neck, attributed to ionizing radiation (Hiroshima) and sun exposure - NOT asbestos. The Court of Veterans Appeals vacated the BVA decision and remanded for failure to address direct service connection and duty-to-assist errors.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1946 (service); 1992 (opinion)
- Population
- Charles M. Douglas, USN deckhand 1945-46
- Limitations
- Other litigation - a VA benefits appeal with no asbestos content; included because it corroborates the hull's postwar Pacific service window and a crewman's duties aboard. Service-history facts come from the veteran's claim record as recited, not an investigated finding. Not qualifying asbestos litigation; does not support any asbestos inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-04
-
[6]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Index, USS Gainard (DD-706) page (construction dates, decommissioning/stricken at Boston 26 February 1971, Iran offer 19 May 1971 and INSURV rejection, DD-780 substitution, sale 26 March 1974 to Boston Metals Corp., deployment summaries 1962-1970, NHHC photo NH 79034 ex-Gainard at Philadelphia Navy Yard 6 October 1973); retrieval via Wayback capture and index excerpts - live page intermittently unreachable [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-706 page, specifications + chronology + photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation record for this hull covering events postdating the DANFS narrative: decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register at Boston 26 February 1971; offered to Iran 19 May 1971 but rejected after INSURV survey found the vessel unfit (DD-780 awarded in her place); photographed as ex-Gainard at Philadelphia Navy Yard 6 October 1973 (NHHC photo NH 79034, captioned in connection with Iranian custody); sold 26 March 1974 to Boston Metals Corp., Baltimore, and broken up for scrap. Deployment summaries extend the postwar record through 1962-1970 (including Faith 7 recovery support May 1963 and schoolship assignments).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- postwar crew to February 1971; Iranian custodial personnel 1971-73; Boston Metals scrapping workers 1974
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled secondary source, not an official record - used here for post-1967 events the DANFS narrative does not reach, with conflicting details (INSURV vs. Iranian inspection team; DD-780 vs. DD-777 substitute hull) flagged in gaps. Live navsource.org fetch failed repeatedly; content verified via Wayback capture and search-index excerpts. The NH 79034 caption is relayed via NavSource, not read at NHHC directly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-05
-
[7]Naval Vessel Register shipdetail page for DD-706 (nvr.navy.mil) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR shipdetail DD-706 shell page + site guidance on pre-1987 disposals
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR shipdetail query for DD-706 returns only the shell page: the register's own guidance states ships disposed of before 1987 are generally not included. No Gainard entry exists; the 1971 striking predates the register's coverage window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- Negative result is a coverage limitation, not evidence about the vessel - NVR silence cannot confirm or deny any disposal detail. Decommissioning/striking facts are carried per NavSource secondary compilation instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-06
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset entry federal-shipbuilding-kearny, incorporating the 1944 Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, NJ (survey conducted 30 August - 2 September 1944; listed as a litigation exhibit on ToxicDocs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json entry federal-shipbuilding-kearny; ToxicDocs exhibit listing p.14
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Yard-level contemporaneous documentation: the Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of the Kearny yard was conducted 30 August - 2 September 1944, while this hull was still on the building ways (launched 17 September 1944). The survey documented insulators and pipefitters cutting and fitting asbestos-containing pipe covering and insulation - Johns-Manville Superex pipe covering and Kaylo pipe/boiler insulation - including work in confined spaces. This documents the materials and trades environment of the yard building this hull at the time.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Kearny yard insulators, pipefitters, and construction trades, August-September 1944
- Limitations
- Yard-level, not hull-level: the survey documents products and work practices at Federal Shipbuilding, not which materials were installed aboard DD-706 specifically. Full survey text not independently retrieved (known via its litigation-exhibit listing). Cannot be promoted to a ship-specific finding; no hull material schedule located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-07
-
[9]Allen M. Sumner-class profile (ships-worktrees/class-c/allen-m-sumner-class.class.json), Gainard member entry [other_primary]
- Citation URL
- file:///Users/charlesfletcher/Developer/ships-worktrees/class-c/allen-m-sumner-class.class.json
- Locator
- class profile, machinery/complement blocks + Gainard member row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class-profile corroboration of hull data: Allen M. Sumner-class construction period 1943-1945; class machinery four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, two General Electric geared steam turbines, 60,000 shp, two shafts; complement 336 as commissioned (302 after FRAM II). Gainard entry: Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny; laid down 1944-03; launched 1944-09-17; commissioned 1944-11; stricken 1971-02; no member-specific abatement record located in the class profile.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Limitations
- Class-level compilation - corroborates construction data but cannot establish materials aboard this hull. Class complement figures are design figures; DANFS's 336 is carried. Gainard did not receive FRAM II per secondary compilations, so the class-era FRAM insulation-disturbance pathway is not asserted for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-08
-
[10]NARA catalog listings - Record Group 24 deck logs coverage (June 1956-January 1975 holdings) includes DD-706 logs; NARA deck-log custody index (Golden Arrow Research/list.nara.gov) lists USS Gainard among post-Korean-war holdings [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 deck-log custody index; catalog.archives.gov search for DD-706/Gainard
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival custody lead only: NARA holds deck logs for DD-706 within its RG 24 deck-log series (June 1956-January 1975 coverage), and the published deck-log custody index lists USS Gainard among held vessels. These logs, plus BuShips records (RG 19) and any INSURV file for the 1971-73 survey, are the likeliest primary repositories for any future hull-level materials or overhaul research.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1956-1975 (holdings window)
- Limitations
- Custody listing only - log contents were not examined and may contain no materials information at all. The NARA catalog interface is JS-rendered; holdings confirmed via index listings rather than direct catalog pages. No archival record has been retrieved that bears on asbestos aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 searches via authenticated helper, 2026-09-27: type=o "USS Gainard" -> 4 opinions; type=o "Gainard" asbestos -> 3 opinions (same set); type=r "USS Gainard" -> 1 docket; type=r "DD-706" -> 21,236 tokenized collisions (none ship-relevant in returned page); type=o "DD-706" never completed (two network read-timeouts, then pacing-blocked) [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py: type=o "USS Gainard" -> opinions 9009138, 588813 (Blancha), 7325115 (MacQueen), 6727660 (Douglas); type=o "Gainard" asbestos -> 7325115, 9009138, 588813; type=r "USS Gainard" -> docket 4220143 (MacQueen); type=r "DD-706" -> 21,236 tokenized hits, all collisions in returned page; type=o "DD-706" -> rc=1 read-timeout x2 then rc=2 pacing
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search (type=o) for "USS Gainard" returned exactly 4 documents: (1) Blancha v. Raymark Industries, 972 F.2d 507 (3d Cir. 1992) - qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull (ev-02), appearing under two CourtListener clusters (opinions 9009138 and 588813, same cite); (2) MacQueen v. Warren Pumps LLC, 246 F. Supp. 3d 1004 (D. Del. 2017) - qualifying asbestos opinion in which "USS Gainard" appears only inside quotation of Boyd v. Warren Pumps (a different plaintiff's service history; MacQueen's own Gainard service not shown); (3) Douglas v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 103 (CAVC 1992) - other litigation, non-asbestos (ev-04). Docket search (type=r) "USS Gainard" returned the underlying MacQueen docket 1:13-cv-00831 (D. Del.). Hull-number docket query "DD-706" (type=r) completed with 21,236 hits - undiscriminative tokenized matches (docket numbers containing 706, 'DD' initials, etc.); the entire returned page was reviewed and every hit is an unrelated collision, no ship-relevant docket identified. Boyd v. Warren Pumps, 654 F. App'x 875 (9th Cir. 2016) - located independently and verified via MacQueen quotation - did NOT appear in the "USS Gainard" opinion results (either absent from the indexed corpus or its text does not use the phrase). No name collisions on the exact name: DD-706 is the only USS Gainard. The asbestos-keyword opinion query ("Gainard" asbestos) completed with the same 3 documents (Blancha clusters + MacQueen; Douglas correctly absent - no asbestos content), confirming no additional asbestos opinions index the name. The "DD-706" opinion query never completed: two network read-timeouts followed by pacing blocks across all retries.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- Exact-name opinion and docket sweeps plus the asbestos-keyword opinion query are complete and fully classified; only the 'DD-706' opinion query never completed - opinions naming the hull solely by hull number are not ruled out (low probability: opinion prose rarely cites hull numbers). The MacQueen references (opinion + docket) are quotation-mediated, not new exposure records for this hull. The 21,236-hit 'DD-706' docket storm was reviewed at the returned page only; deeper pages were not enumerated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-10
-
[12]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts to Protect Workers from Asbestos Exposure' (Comptroller General, October 18, 1979) - review of Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyard asbestos programs, asbestos use in Navy ships, and removal-cost estimates [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 highlights/digest: October 1975 and January 1979 replacement policies; thermal-insulation substitution statement; OPNAVINST 6260.1
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Era-boundary documentation for asbestos abatement policy: per the 1979 GAO report, the Navy's October 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs (modified January 1979 to add selective replacement in high-maintenance areas); GAO relayed that 'most ships delivered in the last several years or now under construction have little or no asbestos as thermal insulation, which was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships' - i.e., asbestos remained the standard shipboard thermal insulation through this hull's entire commissioned life (1944-1971) and was being phased out of new construction only in the early-mid 1970s. Navy asbestos control program formalized by OPNAVINST 6260.1 (April 1974, revised August 1978).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy window); era context for 1944-1974 vessel life
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (Long Beach, Norfolk NSYs) - program review subjects
- Limitations
- Fleet-wide policy and era documentation - says nothing about this hull's materials specifically. It bounds the era (construction and service inside the peak-use window) and documents that no one-time removal program existed during or after this hull's service ($2 billion estimate declined). Gainard was scrapped in 1974, before the 1975/1979 policies could have produced an abatement record for her.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gainard-dd706-11