USS Gilmer (DD-233)

Evidence

6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).

1. [1]DANFS, Gilmer I (DD-233/APD-11) (builder, dates, interwar and WWII service narrative, kamikaze casualty, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (losthistory/hazegray mirror)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: Clemson-class destroyer (dp. 1,215; l. 314'4.5"; s. 33.82 k; cpl. 130; a. 4 5"; cl. Clemson); launched 24 May 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Gilmer Miles, Secretary Gilmer's granddaughter; commissioned 30 April 1920, Lt. (j.g.) Harold J. Wright commanding. Two round-trip transatlantic voyages out of New York to European/Mediterranean ports 27 August 1920-11 August 1923; East Coast, Caribbean, and West Coast training to 1938; Nicaragua cruise 1926; escorted President Coolidge aboard battleship Texas to Havana 1928; Caribbean disaster relief 1928. Decommissioned at Philadelphia 31 August 1938; recommissioned 25 September 1939 as flagship, Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Division; Atlantic/Caribbean patrols until San Diego 4 November 1940; Pacific coast duties. At sea off Puget Sound 7 December 1941; ASW patrol/escort until entering drydock 13 November 1942; converted to high-speed transport and redesignated APD-11 (22 January 1943); Seattle 29 January via San Diego to Pearl Harbor (13 February); Espiritu Santo 9 March - amphibious training with 4th Marine Raider Battalion; flagship Transport Division 16; Noumea 22 April; Townsville 8 May; Brisbane escort runs 13 May-22 June; Huon Peninsula/Lae assault 4 September 1943 and Buna Island bombardment; landed 1st Marine Division troops Cape Gloucester 26 December 1943; Finschhafen support 29 December; landed 126th Infantry elements at Saidor 2 January 1944; bombarded Humboldt Bay 22 April 1944 (Hollandia D-day); UDT teams debarked at Saipan assault 14 June 1944; sank four Japanese cargo ships 16 June (24 prisoners); bombarded Tinian Town 23 June; hunter-killer group with destroyer escort William C. Miller (DE-259) sank a Japanese submarine (18 deg 18' N, 146 deg 26' E; DANFS identifies it as I-6 - postwar reassessment reads I-55, since I-6 is now believed lost earlier to friendly fire; Gilmer carried the group's officer in tactical command per DE-259's DANFS entry); UDT training Hawaiian waters August 1944-January 1945; Ulithi rehearsals flagship 10 January 1945; Iwo Jima 16-24 February (UDT landings, screened battleship Tennessee); Okinawa 25 March 1945 as UDT flagship - kamikaze took off galley deckhouse 26 March, one killed three wounded; supported invasion to 9 April; repairs at Pearl Harbor; Okinawa again 4 July; Nagasaki 13 September embarking POWs; Hong Kong convoy (arrived 22 October); escorted Chinese 13th Army troopships to Chinwangtao; China coast escort/patrol; Tsingtao 26 November; Philadelphia 11 January 1946; decommissioned 5 February 1946; struck 25 February 1946; sold for scrapping 3 December 1946. Seven battle stars for World War II.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1918-20; interwar and wartime crew (design complement 130); embarked troops/UDT teams as APD-11

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Mirror OCR defects logged, not propagated: '22 January 1913' for the APD-11 redesignation (1943 confirmed by NavSource and destroyerhistory.org transcription), 'S May'/'5 May', 'Saidon'/'Saidor', 'Cape Budest'/'Cape Sudest', ';946'/'1946'. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; verbatim losthistory/hazegray transcription cited. Specs-block beam reads 30'1.5" vs NavSource/Wikipedia 31'8" - mirror-level discrepancy logged in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-01

2. [2]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Gilmer (APD-11) ex USS Gilmer (DD-233) (chronology, official campaign table, awards, APD-11 specifications, commanding officers, NARA photo references) + NavSource Destroyer Archive DD-233 page (as-built specs) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource APD-11 page - chronology, awards block, campaign table, specifications block, CO table, Mare Island photo captions; NavSource DD-233 destroyer archive page (05/233)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource record for this hull: laid down 25 June 1918 at New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; launched 24 May 1919; commissioned as Destroyer No. 233 30 April 1920 (LTjg Harold J. Wright); designated DD-233 17 July 1920; decommissioned and laid up 31 August 1938 at Philadelphia Navy Yard; recommissioned 25 September 1939; converted to a High-speed Transport at Seattle, WA., redesignated APD-11 22 January 1943; overhaul at Navy Yard Mare Island 23 September-29 November 1944 (official yard photos 7219-44 and 7220-44 dated 27 November 1944); decommissioned 5 February 1946 at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946; sold for scrapping 3 December 1946. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), Navy Unit Commendation, Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, China Service Medal (extended), American Defense Service Medal (fleet clasp), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (7 battle stars), WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp); one KIA/three WIA Purple Hearts 26 March 1945 Okinawa. Official campaign table: Eastern New Guinea (Lae 4 Sep 1943; Finschhafen 29 Dec 1943; Saidor 2 Jan 1944), Bismarck Archipelago (Cape Gloucester 26 Dec 1943), Hollandia (Humboldt Bay 22 Apr-12 May 1944), Marianas (Saipan 11 Jun 1944), Tinian (23 Jun-12 Aug 1944), Iwo Jima (16-24 Feb 1945), Okinawa Gunto (25 Mar-9 Apr 1945); TransDiv 16 (South Pacific) and TransDiv 102 (Amphibious Forces Pacific Fleet); occupation/China service to 26 November 1945. APD-11 specs: 1,215 t (lt)/1,780 t (lim); 314'4" x 30'8" x 12'3" (lim); 31.6 kts; complement 8 officers + 98 enlisted; troops 3 officers + 144 enlisted; 4 LCP(L); 3x 3"/50 DP, 2x 40mm, 5x 20mm, 1 DC rack, 4 DC projectors; two Westinghouse geared turbines, two White-Forester boilers 250 psi sat, twin screws, 26,500 shp. DD-233 as-built specs (destroyer page): 1,215 t; 314'5" x 31'8" x 9'10"; 4x 5"/51, 1x 3"/23AA, 12x 21" tt; 26,500 shp geared turbines, 2 screws; 35 kt; crew 114. CO list includes CDR John Stuart Horner (9 Dec 1942-29 Dec 1944) and LT Walter Clarence Quant, USNR (29 Dec 1944-5 Feb 1946).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   New York Shipbuilding trades 1918-20; Seattle-area conversion workers 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers 1944; Pearl Harbor repair workers 1945; crew and embarked troops/UDT teams 1943-45

   Limitations

   NavSource is a curated secondary compilation, not a primary document; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Documents machinery, campaigns, and operations, not materials or asbestos content. Its APD-11 block lists 2 boilers yet repeats the as-built 26,500-shp figure and lists 31.6 kt - internally inconsistent with the forward-fireroom removal standard for flush-deck APD conversions (25 kt typical); discrepancies carried in gaps. 'Converted ... at Seattle, WA.' does not name the conversion yard (Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, vs a Seattle commercial yard e.g. Todd's Dry Docks - both did sibling APD conversions); unresolved.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-02

3. [3]Batch-3231 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 exact-name and hull-number sweeps for USS Gilmer / DD-233 / APD-11 (opinion and docket indexes) [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-gilmer-dd233-04 through sl-uss-gilmer-dd233-08

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. CourtListener sweeps (2026-09-27, authenticated API v4): exact-name "USS Gilmer" returned zero hits in both the opinion index and the RECAP docket index - no opinion or docket names any USS Gilmer. Hull-number opinion sweep "DD-233"/"APD-11"/"APD 11" returned 4 hits, all identifier collisions in unrelated matters (Lovett Tex. 2015 habeas; Dine Citizens v. Bernhardt 10th Cir. 2019 environmental; Young v. Wilham N.M. 2017 defamation; O'Neal v. State Ala. 1974 murder). Hull-number docket sweep returned 51 dockets - all identifier collisions: 'APD' is overwhelmingly police-department acronym noise (Albuquerque/Atlanta/Anaheim/Antioch/Austin/Arcata PD civil-rights dockets) plus bankruptcy-index noise (W.R. Grace, Lehman Brothers) and criminal/civil docket strings; no vessel reference. Broad "Gilmer"+asbestos opinion sweep surfaced surname/county/place references (Gilmer County, Gilmer TX, surnamed parties) - first 20 of 70 hits reviewed at index level with zero vessel context, and exact-name coverage was already established at zero. A residual "aboard Gilmer" opinion check was attempted 15x over ~90 minutes and blocked by the shared fleet pacing budget - logged as a coverage gap in sl-08. No hit located names DD-233 or APD-11.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27

   Limitations

   Absence of located litigation does not prove absence of exposure or of asbestos aboard. Public court indexes do not cover non-indexed state-court filings, settled cases, or asbestos bankruptcy-trust claims. Fleet-wide pacing contention (shared ~114/hr budget across concurrent sessions) repeatedly exhausted the token bucket; required sweeps (exact name + hull numbers, both indexes) completed, while a residual "aboard Gilmer" opinion check and full pagination of the 70-hit surname sweep were not completed - logged as coverage gaps in sl-08. Docket-text follow-up was not performed because no candidate docket surfaced at index level. A second hull, USS Gilmer (PC-565), bore the name only from 15 February 1956 while in reserve - litigation naming 'USS Gilmer' in any service-era window resolves to this hull, but post-1956 references would require hull-number confirmation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-03

4. [4]DANFS specifications (Clemson-class destroyer plant; APD conversion record) + flush-deck APD conversion documentation (Destroyer History Foundation 'Green Dragons' page: forward boilers/stacks removed for troop berthing) + Atlas shipyard dataset entries for new-york-shipbuilding (tier 1), mare-island-naval-shipyard (tier 2), philadelphia-naval-shipyard (tier 3), pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard (tier 1) [other_primary]

   Locator

   DANFS specifications block and conversion passage; NavSource APD-11 specs (2 White-Forester boilers, 250 psi sat, post-conversion); shipyards.json records 'new-york-shipbuilding', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard', 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard', 'pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard'

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/yard inference: a Clemson-class flush-deck destroyer built 1918-20 with a four-boiler geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard boiler and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing - materials of that construction era commonly containing asbestos. Class-level context confirmed for this hull: Gilmer was one of only five Clemson-class ships (DD-231 through DD-235) armed with 5"/51 guns in place of the standard 4"/50 battery (class documentation; corroborated for this hull by the DANFS spec block 'a. 4 5"' and NavSource '4 x 5"/51'). The flush-deck APD conversion removed the two forward boilers and their stacks to create troop berthing (documented conversion pattern for the October 1942-January 1943 conversion group, APD-7 through APD-18, including this hull) - boiler removal and re-insulation is a peak-era disturbance event. Documented yard periods for this hull: builder New York Shipbuilding, Camden (tier 1: Pabco Caltemp block, 85% magnesia, Transite panels, asbestos gaskets and packing among documented products); conversion at a Seattle yard November 1942-January 1943 (yard unidentified - Puget Sound Navy Yard, tier 1, vs Todd's Dry Docks, tier 2 parent todd-shipyards, unresolved); overhaul at Navy Yard Mare Island 23 September-29 November 1944 (tier 2: Unibestos, Marinite, Kaylo, Careytemp, packing, gaskets); battle-damage repairs at Pearl Harbor April 1945 (tier 1: pipe covering, insulation blankets, gaskets, amosite blankets); lay-up/decommissioning work at Philadelphia Navy Yard 1938 and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1945-46 (tier 3). NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' and yard work-package records are archival leads for hull-level material specifications.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1918-20; Seattle conversion workers 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers 1944; Pearl Harbor repair workers 1945; Philadelphia yard workers 1938/1945-46; crew and embarked troops 1920-46

   Limitations

   Class/era and yard-level inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos row exists in this record. Yard-level product documentation derives primarily from WWII-era and later records; application to this 1918-20-built hull is era inference, not ship-proven. The forward-boiler removal pattern is documented at conversion-type level, not by a work order for this hull. NARA records not retrieved. The hull was scrapped after 1946 - no surviving fabric to survey.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-04

5. [5]National Archives leads: RG 24 deck logs for Gilmer (DD-233/APD-11) 1920-1946; RG 19 Bureau of Ships General Information Books and New York Shipbuilding build records; RG 38 WWII action reports (Gilmer report of action - sinking of four Japanese cargo ships NW of Saipan, 16 June 1944 - cataloged Micro 87370, serial C19-44, file A16-3, dated 27 June 1944, via DPLA/Digital Pasifik); conversion work-package records for the November 1942-January 1943 APD conversion (yard unidentified); Navy Yard Mare Island photos 7219-44/7220-44; BuShips photo 19-N-76938 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA catalog.archives.gov (RG 24 / RG 19 / RG 38); DPLA/Digital Pasifik index entry for the Saipan action report; photo numbers per NavSource APD-11 image captions

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival holdings relevant to this hull exist at NARA: the 16 June 1944 Saipan action report is indexed via DPLA (National Archives at College Park textual holdings, Micro 87370); NavSource-cataloged official photos document her APD configuration at Navy Yard Mare Island (photos 7219-44, 7220-44, 27 November 1944) and BuShips photo 19-N-76938 shows the post-conversion configuration; RG 24 deck logs (1920-1946), RG 19 Bureau of Ships records, and the conversion yard's work packages are the material-specification leads. No digitized deck-log coverage for this hull was located in the National Archives Catalog.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1946 (records); 2026-09-27 (search)

   Population

   New York Shipbuilding trades 1918-20; Seattle conversion workers 1942-43; Mare Island yard workers 1944; crew 1920-46

   Limitations

   Archival leads, not reviewed: deck logs and action reports record operations, not materials; build and conversion records could resolve material schedules but were not retrieved (no spend authorized). The 16 June 1944 action-report index entry comes via DPLA metadata, not a NARA catalog pull for this hull; the conversion-yard records' repository depends on which yard performed the work (unresolved).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-05

6. [6]DANFS, Gilmer II (PC-565) (name-space boundary documentation) + Wikipedia USS Gilmer ship-index disambiguation [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Gilmer II (PC-565) entry, losthistory/hazegray mirror; NavSource 12/010565; Wikipedia USS Gilmer index page

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   A second U.S. Navy hull later bore the name: PC-565, a PC-461-class submarine chaser built by Brown Shipbuilding, Houston (laid down 14 August 1941, commissioned April-May 1942, sank U-521 on 2 June 1943, Normandy service, decommissioned 26 April 1946 at Green Cove Springs into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet). She was named Gilmer only on 15 February 1956 - nearly a decade after DD-233 was struck - while in reserve; she was stricken 1 July 1960 and sold to Venezuela. For record attribution: every commissioned-service-era reference to 'USS Gilmer' (1920-1946) resolves to this hull; only post-15-February-1956 references could mean PC-565, which was inactive in reserve under that name.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1942-1960 (PC-565); 2026-09-27 (attribution check)

   Limitations

   Disambiguation context only - establishes the name-space boundary for litigation and record matching; says nothing about materials aboard either hull. 'Gilmer' is also a surname and county name (Gilmer County GA/TX/WV), producing generic court-index noise unrelated to any vessel.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-gilmer-dd233-06