Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 746-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-goss-de444-pkt-746-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Goss (DE-444) (namesake, builder, dates, WWII Pacific service, reserve-training era, striking and sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative + bracketed posthumous note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Marine Gunner Angus R. Goss (Navy Cross, British Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, Tulagi 10 Aug 1942); laid down December 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J.; launched 19 March 1944; commissioned 26 August 1944; Bermuda shakedown; Pacific via Canal Zone and Pearl Harbor; hunter-killer group with Tulagi (CVE-72) off the Palaus; Lingayen Gulf with Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group Jan 1945 - credited with two kamikazes in the 6 January attacks; Lingayen Carrier Group screen to 20 January; TG 52.1 close air support for Iwo Jima 21 February-6 June 1945; Okinawa operations to 30 June; TG 30.8 logistics screen for TF 38 strikes on Japan; TG 94.17 and TG 75.19 hunter-killer duty; Tokyo Bay occupation landings 2 September; arrived Los Angeles 22 November 1945; decommissioned San Diego 15 June 1946 (Pacific Reserve Fleet); recommissioned San Diego 27 December 1950 as 11th Naval District reserve training ship (cruises Alaska to South America; Hawaii, Cuba, Panama visits); decommissioned Astoria, Oregon 10 October 1958; transferred to Bremerton, Wash.; struck from the Navy list 1 March 1972 and sold 20 November 1972. Four WWII battle stars. Specs per DANFS: 1,360 t, 306 ft, 24 kt, complement 222.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 222); reserve-training crews 1950-58
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Laid-down day not given by DANFS ('December 1943'); secondary-source 16 December 1943 carried in gaps only. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-01
-
[3]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944); identified at item 20 of the Dube-document list in Owens-Illinois's Supplemental Answers to Second Interrogatories, Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., No. 87-C-1934 (Brazoria County TX, filed 1990-09-20); carried in Atlas shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (yard evidence_tier 2) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ToxicDocs scan of Heathman interrogatory answers, Dube-document list item 20; shipyards.json ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Yard-level record contemporaneous with this hull's construction: an industrial health survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ, conducted 30 August-2 September 1944 - four days after Goss commissioned at the yard - documents insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts measured during cutting and fitting operations. The hull was under construction/fitting out at this yard December 1943 through 26 August 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944 (survey conducted 30 August-2 September 1944)
- Population
- Shipyard insulators and pipefitters at Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ, 1944
- Limitations
- Builder-yard documentation, not a hull record: the survey does not name DE-444, does not establish which products were installed aboard this hull, and does not quantify material. Documents the yard's asbestos work environment during the week this hull commissioned. Kaylo (Owens-Illinois's later product, manufactured 1948-1958 per its own interrogatory answers) is NOT contemporaneous with this hull's 1943-44 construction and is not claimed here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table row 6 (shipscribe.com scan) + navypedia WGT block map (DE438-452 boiler make) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table row 6; navypedia us_de_tev_wgt member table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DE-444 is a John C. Butler-class (BuShips design group 6, WGT) destroyer escort - one of only two DE classes carrying a full geared-steam plant: 2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F, 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 24.3 kt; per the navypedia block map the DE-438-452 block (including DE-444) carried Babcock & Wilcox boilers. A 1943-44 steam plant of this type would have carried era-standard asbestos applications: boiler and machinery insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The class litigation record (Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec, W.D. Wash. 2:17-cv-00537, naming sister ship USS Brannon DE-446) shows the era theory that evaporator/distiller insulation on DEs was Navy-specified.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1958
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-46 and 1950-58
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The boiler-block map is a secondary compilation unverified against contract documents; era-standard material categories do not establish installation aboard DE-444; the Jack v. Borg-Warner material is pretrial-level for a different hull (DE-446) and its own proposed testimony conceded non-asbestos insulation was possible aboard that ship. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-03
-
[5]NARA, 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1983' (NAID 594258) + RG19 General Information Books + era Navy insulation-spec suite (BuShips Manual ch.39 NAVSHIPS 250-000(39), 24 Aug 1945; Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos', 15 Oct 1945) identified via class research [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 594258 series; spec suite identified in class-profile evidence row ev-john-c-butler-class-04
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads not pulled in this session: Goss's 1944-46 and 1950-58 deck logs should sit within NARA NAID 594258 (the digitized Navy deck-log series; the catalog API did not return a hull-specific entry at research time); RG19 General Information Books may hold per-hull material specifications; the era controlling insulation-spec suite (BuShips Manual ch.39 Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250-000(39), 24 Aug 1945; Navy Department Specification 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos', 15 Oct 1945; BuEng Manual ch.13 rev.1933/repr.1939) was identified via the class-profile litigation research (Jack v. Borg-Warner exhibit list).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1958 (records); specs 1933-1945
- Limitations
- Leads only - no deck log, GIB entry, or spec document was retrieved for this hull. These sources may document hull-level material or maintenance detail if pulled; their existence does not itself evidence asbestos aboard DE-444.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-04
-
[6]Batch-4335 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP docket sweeps for exact name and hull number [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-goss-de444-04 through sl-uss-goss-de444-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located: exact-phrase 'USS Goss' returned 0 opinion hits and 1 docket hit (In re Sears Holdings Corp., Bankr. S.D.N.Y. chapter 11 - the match occurs inside a certificate-of-service party list attached to a lease-cure filing, i.e., a name collision in non-asbestos retail bankruptcy proceedings, classified other litigation/name collision). Hull-number 'DE-444' returned 9 opinion hits and 129 docket hits; the 9 opinion hits and the first 20 docket hits reviewed are all identifier collisions ('DE 444'/'DE# 444' = PACER docket-entry numbers and unrelated codes in non-maritime cases: LabCorp employment, tobacco wholesale, school committee, insurance, forfeiture, and bankruptcy matters). DE-444 was the only U.S. Navy ship named Goss, so hull attribution would be unambiguous had a qualifying hit existed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of located litigation does not prove no claims were ever filed - state-court asbestos complaints and asbestos-trust submissions are largely outside CourtListener's coverage; negative finding covers only the searched indices at the stated date. Establishes nothing about materials actually aboard the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-05
-
[7]Batch-4335 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; Atlas shipyard dataset; ToxicDocs exhibit scan; marketing ship-list sweep (excluded) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-goss-de444-01 through -03 and -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-444 in non-litigation sources: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure exists in the searched sources - consistent with the hull's 1972 scrapping (no museum custody to generate condition surveys). The vessel does appear on multiple law-firm/marketing 'asbestos ship' lists (asbestos-ships.com, bellucklaw.com, mesotheliomabook.com, freeasbestostesting.com, shepardlawfirm.com), none of which cite any underlying record; all excluded as non-authoritative per source rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - 1943-44 steam-plant construction is a documented asbestos-era context and era materials would have been present in crew spaces by era norms; this negative finding reports search results, not a materials conclusion. Marketing-list inclusion is an allegation-free enumeration, not documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-goss-de444-06