Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet fq-packet.md (5 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Gansevoort (DD-608); designation DD; type destroyer; class Benson
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-gansevoort-dd608-pkt-fq-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Gansevoort (DD-608) - verbatim transcription (live NHHC page returns HTTP 404; HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited per standing Batch-01 convention) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + namesake paragraph + full service narrative + bracketed disposition note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: spec block (DD-608: dp. 1,620 - transcription reads '1,6620'; l. 348'4"; b. 36'1"; dr. 17'4"; s. 37.5 k.; cpl. 276; a. 4 5", 6 20mm., 5 21" tt., 6 dcp.; cl. Benson). Laid down 16 June 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif.; launched 11 April 1942 (transcription reads '1842'), sponsored by Mrs. Robert C. Sofio, wife of a great-grandnephew of Commodore Gansevoort; commissioned at San Francisco 25 August 1942 (transcription reads '1842'), Lt. Comdr. E. A. McFall in command. Service: shakedown, then departed San Francisco 18 November 1942 screening a convoy to Noumea, New Caledonia (arrived 9 December); South Pacific convoy protection for Guadalcanal reinforcement to 18 March 1943; Rear Adm. McMorris's Northern Covering Group in the Aleutians - Attu pre-invasion bombardment 26 April, Kiska bombardments 2 and 12 August; repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard until 28 September 1943; Tarawa landings gunfire support 20 November and Apamama Atoll bombardment 24 November 1943; returned to San Francisco where 'both her high pressure turbines were replaced' (departed 13 March 1944); Marshalls blockade/antisubmarine patrol April-August 1944 incl. Mille (26 May, 9 June) and Taroa (8 August) bombardments; Destroyer Squadron 48 at Leyte 20-21 October; Mindoro supply convoy - kamikaze crashed the main deck to port 30 December 1944, cutting steering and power, starting fires, 'killed or wounded 34 of her crew'; month-long ship's-company structural repairs at Mindoro under periodic air attack; towed via San Pedro Bay to Ulithi, emergency repairs complete 21 April 1945; reached San Francisco 19 May 1945 for battle-damage repairs; Navy Day celebration New York 27 October 1945; inactivation overhaul Charleston Naval Shipyard from 1 November 1945; decommissioned there 1 February 1946, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed Orange, Tex. Bracketed DANFS addendum: 'struck from the Navy list 1 July 1971 and sunk as a target off NE Florida on 23 March 1972.' Four battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1972
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco (Union Iron Works) construction trades 1941-42; wartime ship's company (design complement 276); repair-yard workers Puget Sound 1943, San Francisco 1944, Mare Island 1945, Charleston 1945-46
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, service chronology, damage, and disposition; it contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and supports no asbestos claim. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns HTTP 404 (standing Batch-01 link-rot). The transcription carries '1842' typos for the launch and commissioning years (1942 intended, consistent across all sources) and '1,6620' for 1,620 standard displacement. 'San Francisco' repair availabilities are not yard-named in DANFS - the May-September 1945 availability resolves to Mare Island NSY via NARA-sourced photos (ev-03); the early-1944 turbine-replacement yard is unresolved (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Navy Department, War Damage Report No. 51, 'Destroyer Report: Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage, Including Losses in Action, 17 October 1941 to 15 August 1945' (Preliminary Design Section, 25 January 1947; HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- War Damage Report No. 51, Section II para. 2-18 (structural damage/hull strength) and para. 2-67 (machinery damage/boiler casualties)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official BuShips destroyer war-damage report names this hull twice. Paragraph 2-18: 'the case of GANSEVOORT (DD608) indicated what can be accomplished with limited resources. While on a remote assignment GANSEVOORT was heavily damaged in way of her engineering spaces by a Kamikaze with a large bomb. Structural damage was so severe amidships that it was hazardous for the ship to proceed without extensive repairs. Since no repair activities or salvage units were available to accomplish the repairs, the ship's company undertook the restoration of the upper flange of the hull girder in way of the damage. After four weeks of intensive effort handicapped by a dearth of structural material, longitudinal strength in the mid-length was sufficiently restored to permit the ship to proceed under tow more than a thousand miles to an advanced base.' Paragraph 2-67: 'Several destroyers, including EVANS (DD552), GANSEVOORT (DD608) and BROWNSON, after suffering severe damage in way of a fireroom, have reported boiler explosions. However, there is no substantiated case of an explosion of an express type boiler in our naval experience.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (events); 1947 (report)
- Population
- Ship's company performing damage-control and repair work, Mindoro anchorages, December 1944 - February 1945
- Limitations
- Official Navy technical documentation that this hull suffered kamikaze damage 'in way of her engineering spaces' and 'in way of a fireroom' followed by four weeks of ship's-company structural repair - the machinery spaces where era-standard insulation concentrated. However, the report documents damage and repair events only: it contains no asbestos, insulation, or material-composition information, and any disturbance of insulating material is inference, not asserted. The 'boiler explosion' reference is a reported-but-unsubstantiated casualty detail the report itself discounts.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-02
-
[4]NavSource Naval History destroyer photo index, DD-608 page - photo captions crediting NARA San Francisco Mare Island repair/damage photos (19 May, 25 May, 31 May, 17 Aug, 20 Aug, 30 Aug 1945), caption 'Gansevoort was in overhaul from 19 May to 22 Sep 1945' at Mare Island with USS Ellet (DD-398) alongside; NHHC Online Library picture-data page NH 68903 ('USS Gansevoort (DD-608) Anchored in New York Harbor at the time of the 27 October 1945 Navy Day Naval Review'); NARA photo 19-N-36782 (off Mare Island, 15 November 1942, per Destroyer History Foundation index) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/608.htm photo-caption index (direct fetch blocked; indexed text via search); ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h68000/h68903c.htm (NH 68903 data); destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussgansevoort (19-N-36782 index)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official-photograph record for this hull: (a) NARA San Francisco holds a Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo series of Gansevoort's kamikaze damage and repairs, dated 19 May through 30 August 1945, and the NavSource caption dates the Mare Island overhaul '19 May to 22 Sep 1945' - resolving DANFS's yard-unnamed 'San Francisco' battle-damage availability to Mare Island Naval Shipyard; (b) NHHC photo NH 68903 documents the ship anchored in New York Harbor for the 27 October 1945 Navy Day Naval Review, matching the DANFS narrative; (c) NARA 19-N-36782 shows the ship off Mare Island 15 November 1942, three days before her 18 November 1942 departure for the Pacific. NavSource data block (as built): displacement 2,395 t full; 348'4" x 36'1" x 13'2"; armament 4 x 5"/38AA, 6 x 0.5" MG, 10 x 21" tt (2x5); machinery 50,000 SHP, Bethlehem turbines, 2 screws; 35 kt; range 6,500 NM @ 12 kt; crew 208.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (photo events)
- Population
- Mare Island NSY repair workforce May-September 1945; ship's company
- Limitations
- Photo-caption indexing is secondary (NavSource volunteer compilation), but the underlying images are official Navy photographs from NARA San Francisco (RG 181/19-N series) and NHHC collections; individual catalog records were not pulled. Captions document dates, locations, and yard assignments - no materials or asbestos content. The early-1944 turbine-replacement availability remains yard-unnamed in all located sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-03
-
[5]Benson/Gleaves-class profile (ships-worktrees class-f/benson-gleaves-class.class.json) machinery and era data + Bureau of Ships, 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels' Vol. I (Jan 1945, shipscribe.com scan) + navypedia member-row data + Atlas shipyards.json records (bethlehem-shipbuilding, puget-sound-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard, charleston-naval-shipyard - yard-level asbestos product identification) [other_primary]
- Locator
- class-f benson-gleaves-class.class.json member row DD-608 + propulsion/notes blocks; SDB1945v1 'No. 421 Class' machinery table; navypedia us_dd_benson.htm DD-608 row; shipyards.json yard_ids 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard', 'charleston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: this hull is a WWII Benson-class destroyer (1941-repeat 'Laffey group' per navypedia; Bethlehem design-office subclass) built 1941-42 at Bethlehem Steel's San Francisco yard, carrying the class-standard steam plant - 4 Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers (575 psi/700F per BuShips Ships' Data 1945), 2 geared steam-turbine sets, 2 shafts, nominally 50,000 shp (BuShips table shows 47,000 shp for lead ship DD-421 - class discrepancy). Steam destroyers of this configuration and era carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas shipyards dataset (bethlehem-shipbuilding, tier 3 - aliases include Union Iron Works): documented yard-level products include Unibestos, Transite, Marinite, pipe insulation/lagging, gaskets, packing, asbestos-containing block/cement/insulation. Documented repair yards for this hull: Puget Sound NSY (tier 1), Mare Island NSY (tier 2 - Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Careytemp, Gold Bond, pump/valve packing, gaskets, bonnet insulation, refractories), Charleston NSY (tier 2 - magnesia pipe insulation, asbestos cement, boiler coatings ~15% asbestos, spray-on insulation, gaskets, packing).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1971
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1941-42; ship's company 1942-46; PSNS (1943), San Francisco yard (1944), Mare Island (1945), and Charleston NSY (1945-46) repair/overhaul workers
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder/repair-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No BuShips material schedule, insulation specification, or hull-level survey naming DD-608 was located (NARA RG 19 retrieval not performed). Yard-level product documentation does not establish that any given product went aboard or was disturbed aboard this hull, establishes no quantities, and establishes no individual's exposure. The kamikaze struck in way of the engineering spaces and fireroom (ev-02) - the spaces where such insulation concentrated - but no source documents the material consequences.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-04
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- 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 this hull's construction (1941-42), its entire commissioned service (1942-46), its 1946-71 reserve-fleet layup, and its 1972 target sinking inside the documented asbestos-use era. The hull was sunk two decades before the substitution-era documentation practices matured, so whatever period material was aboard went down undocumented with the ship.
- 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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description. No hull-level survey for DD-608 exists in this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, via cl-auth-search.py): "USS Gansevoort" type=o; "DD-608" type=o; "USS Gansevoort" type=r; "DD-608" type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results, 2026-09-27 (queries and counts in search_ledger)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep for this hull (2026-09-27): the 'USS Gansevoort' opinion-index query returned zero hits and the 'DD-608' opinion-index query returned zero hits - no published opinion names this ship or hull number. The 'USS Gansevoort' docket-index query returned exactly one hit (see ev-07). The 'DD-608' docket-index query was pacing-blocked by the shared fleet quota at commit and is logged pending in the search ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep is partial: opinion coverage verified clean for the exact name and hull number; the hull-number docket query is incomplete at commit - absence of hits in the queried indexes is not proof that no case naming the hull exists. Name-collision risk is low (single Navy hull ever bore this name), but 'Gansevoort' is also a surname and a Manhattan street - any future 'Gansevoort' (unqualified) hit requires referent checking. Per batch discipline a pleading-stage reference would classify as allegation, not adjudicated exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-06
-
[8]W.R. Grace & Co., Chapter 11 bankruptcy, No. 01-01139 (Bankr. D. Del., filed 2001-04-02, terminated 2014-12-15), CourtListener docket 4216072; matching document: Doc. 13705-10 (filed 2006-11-17), 50-page attachment containing a claimant 'Asbestos Personal Injury Questionnaire' (Kazan, McClain, Edises, Simon & Abrams firm header, redacted) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 4216072 (Bankr. D. Del. 01-01139), recap document id 68379154, Doc. 13705-10 p.1-50
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The lone docket-index hit for 'USS Gansevoort': inside the W.R. Grace asbestos mass-tort bankruptcy, the CourtListener-recapped exhibit Doc. 13705-10 (an attachment to W.R. Grace's motion to compel claimants' questionnaire responses) contains text matching 'USS Gansevoort' somewhere in a 50-page asbestos personal-injury questionnaire. The match context is unresolved at commit: if a claimant listed USS Gansevoort as an exposure vessel, the reference is a claimant allegation - a litigation stage below a filed complaint's recitation and well below any adjudicated finding.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2006 (filing); claimant exposure dates unknown
- Population
- One unidentified asbestos claimant (questionnaire filer) - identity redacted
- Limitations
- Unverified context - the matching page was not retrieved (full-document pull pacing-blocked at commit); the questionnaire could list the ship as a claimant's exposure site, in a worksite/service checklist, or in boilerplate. If a claimant allegation, it is allegation-stage only: unadjudicated, establishing nothing about materials aboard the hull or any individual's exposure, and likely attached to the 2001-2014 Grace bankruptcy rather than to any ship-defendant claim. Not a finding of exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-07
-
[9]Batch-3580 search ledger (this record): DANFS verbatim transcription (ibiblio); BuShips War Damage Report No. 51; NHHC Online Library photo record NH 68903; NavSource DD-608 index (NARA San Francisco photo captions); navypedia member table; class-f Benson/Gleaves profile; Atlas shipyards.json (four yard records); CourtListener API v4; NHHC live-page check; general-web and va.gov BVA asbestos-mention checks [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-gansevoort-dd608-01 through sl-uss-gansevoort-dd608-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-608: no hull ACM survey, no abatement record, no materials inventory, no museum or disposal hazmat disclosure, and no adjudicated case naming this hull in the completed CourtListener indexes (opinion index clean; the single docket hit is an unresolved claimant-questionnaire reference - ev-07). Unlike a war-loss hull, this ship did pass through postwar documentation channels - 25 years in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet (Orange, Tex., 1946-71), striking in 1971, and target sinking in 1972 - but no asbestos documentation was generated in any located source, and the hull now rests as an undocumented sunken target off NE Florida.
- 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 1941-42 Bethlehem-built steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing (ev-04, ev-05), and whatever material was aboard sank with the ship undocumented. 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-gansevoort-dd608-08
-
[10]NARA record series leads (RG 24 deck logs 1942-46; RG 38 WWII action reports incl. the Mindoro 30 December 1944 damage report; RG 19 BuShips construction records incl. any DD-608 General Information Book; NARA San Francisco RG 181 Mare Island NSY records incl. the indexed 1945 damage/repair photo set and 19-N-36782; Charleston NSY inactivation-overhaul records; 1971-72 striking and target-disposal files; BuPers casualty records for the 30 December 1944 dead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG 24/RG 19/RG 38/RG 181 series descriptions; NavSource caption index identifying the NARA San Francisco photo set; NHHC photo no. NH 68903; NARA photo no. 19-N-36782
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy ships and stations' - DD-608 deck logs for the full commissioned period 1942-08-25 to 1946-02-01, including the Mindoro kamikaze period and all yard availabilities; (b) RG 38 action and damage reports - the ship's own report of the 30 December 1944 hit would detail damaged compartments and repair scope behind War Damage Report No. 51's summary; (c) NARA San Francisco RG 181 Mare Island records - the indexed photo series (May-August 1945) implies a yard work file whose material scope is the likeliest hull-level asbestos lead for this ship; (d) RG 19 BuShips per-vessel construction records incl. any DD-608 General Information Book and Bethlehem San Francisco correspondence; (e) 1971-72 disposal documentation - the target-sinking file (any pre-sinking preparation or environmental record for the hull) not located in public sources.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1972 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for DD-608 is unknown until surveyed. NARA's online catalog did not return usable results for this hull during the session (API endpoints unresponsive to automated fetch). Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-09
-
[11]Cross-source reconciliation: DANFS (ibiblio transcription + Maryland archives mirror) vs. NavSource DD-608 data block vs. NHHC NH 68903 vs. historyofwar.org vs. uboat.net vs. NavalCoverMuseum vs. navypedia/class-f profile [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block and narrative; navsource.org/archives/05/608.htm data block; ibiblio.org NH 68903 picture data; historyofwar.org weapons_USS_Gansevoort_DD608 spec table; uboat.net ship/1766; navalcovermuseum.org GANSEVOORT_DD_608; navypedia us_dd_benson.htm DD-608 row; navylog.navymemorial.org/gansevoort
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies logged, not silently reconciled: (a) Transcription typos - the HyperWar and Maryland-archives DANFS transcriptions both read launched '11 April 1842' and commissioned '25 August 1842' with displacement '1,6620'; 1942 and 1,620 are intended and consistent across all sources (Wikipedia, NavSource, uboat.net, historyofwar all read 1942 dates). (b) Class label - DANFS reads 'cl. Benson'; navypedia and the class-f profile place DD-608 in the 1941-repeat 'Laffey' group of the Benson subclass; uboat.net labels her 'Bristol class'; NavalCoverMuseum's name/designation block reads 'Benham Class Destroyer' (a template error - Benham is DD-397 class). (c) Armament - DANFS spec block reads '5 21" tt.'; NavSource as-built reads 10 x 21" tt (2x5); historyofwar's table reads five 21-inch torpedo tubes and five 5"/38 guns - design vs wartime-fit variance unresolved. (d) Complement - DANFS cpl. 276; NavSource crew 208; historyofwar 191 - design vs as-built vs wartime variance unresolved; DANFS carried. (e) Turbine manufacturer - NavSource reads 'Bethlehem Turbines'; historyofwar's generic class table reads Westinghouse - unresolved, both plausible for the class (Bethlehem design office supplied Bethlehem-built hulls; NavSource carried). (f) Casualty figure - DANFS reads 'killed or wounded 34' for the 30 December 1944 hit; the U.S. Navy Memorial 'Lost At Sea' log lists 19 sailors for that date (killed subset). (g) Displacement - DANFS 1,620 standard; NavSource 2,395 full - standard vs full-load conventions. (h) The Navy Memorial page misspells the name 'Ganesvoort' in its narrative text.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1972
- Limitations
- Reconciles publication-level discrepancies among official and secondary sources; none of the underlying sources contains asbestos information, and none of the variances affects identity, the service timeline, or the asbestos documentation status.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-gansevoort-dd608-10