Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet jo-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (1 claim UNVERIFIABLE)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hammann-dd412-pkt-jo-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Hammann I (DD-412) (namesake, spec block, build data, service narrative, loss, battle stars; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: first Hammann (DD-412), Sims-class destroyer (dp. 1,620; l. 348'4"; b. 36'1"; dr. 11'5"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 192; a. 4 5", 8 21" tt.); launched by Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., 4 February 1939, sponsored by Miss Lillian Hammann; commissioned 11 August 1939, Comdr. A.E. True in command. Shakedown East Coast; readiness operations both coasts; at Iceland 7 December 1941; departed Norfolk 6 January 1942 for the Pacific via Panama Canal, arriving San Francisco 22 January; sailed 25 February 1942 with Vice Admiral Fletcher's Task Force 17. Screened/plane-guarded Lexington in the Coral Sea; rescued two downed pilots off Guadalcanal 4 May; during the 8 May action stood by abandoned Lexington and 'picked up nearly 500 men from the water' before the carrier sank. Reached Pearl Harbor 27 May, repaired, sortied 30 May for Midway. Screened Yorktown 4 June and picked up survivors including Capt. Buckmaster; on 6 June moored alongside Yorktown to transfer a damage-control party and furnish hoses, firefighting water, power, and other services. After noon 6 June, Japanese submarine I-168 penetrated the screen and fired four torpedoes; one hit Hammann amidships, breaking her back; she sank in about 4 minutes and a violent underwater explosion after sinking 'caused many deaths in the water, bringing the toll in dead to over 80.' Survivors taken aboard Benham and Balch. Two battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Kearny construction trades 1938-39; wartime crew (design complement 192; 241 aboard at loss per ev-02)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and the spec block, not materials or asbestos content. Entry omits a laid-down date (17 Jan 1938 carried from consistent secondary compilations - see gaps) and omits a stricken date. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing link rot noted in batch-01); verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-01
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[3]Commanding Officer USS Hammann (DD-412), Action Report, 4-6 June 1942, Serial 2, dated 16 June 1942, to Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet (with Acting Executive Officer's report; NHHC-hosted original, HyperWar verbatim transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Action Report Serial 2, paragraphs 7-9 (sinking sequence, personnel accounting); NHHC original hosted under 'Battle of Midway: Online Action Reports'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official record of this hull's loss, written by her CO ten days after sinking: 'the Hammann was sunk about 1600 on June 6, with total loss of all records.' At ~0615 on 6 June Hammann transferred a salvage party (Capt. Buckmaster, 29 officers, 130 men) to Yorktown and moored alongside forward, furnishing fire hoses, foamite, water, and power. At ~1536 four torpedo tracks were sighted ~600 yards on the starboard beam; the first passed under Hammann near No. 2 gun and hit Yorktown, the second 'struck the Hammann in #2 fireroom,' breaking the ship's back. Ship sank within 3-4 minutes; about one minute after submergence a heavy underwater explosion (depth charge or Hammann's own torpedo; cause unknown - charges verified set on safe) 'killed a large number of men in the water and injured about eighty five more of whom twenty six died on board U.S.S. Benham.' Accounting: 'Of a total of 13 officers and 228 men on board, two officers were known dead and seven missing, twenty five men were known dead and forty seven missing' (81 dead or missing as of the report). Survivors rescued by Benham; CO and one man by Balch, then Gwin.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-06-04 to 1942-06-16
- Population
- USS Hammann crew at loss - 13 officers + 228 enlisted aboard (241); Yorktown salvage party transferred (159 personnel)
- Limitations
- Written 'entirely from memory' after 'total loss of all records' - times and positions approximate; casualty figures are the CO's preliminary accounting (later compilations read 80-84; DANFS reads 'over 80'). Contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-02
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[4]Bureau of Ships, NavShips A(374), 'Summary of War Damage - U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1942' (15 September 1943), destroyer loss line for HAMMANN (DD412) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Destroyer loss table, HAMMANN (DD412) row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips damage-summary entry for this hull, dated 6/6/42, cause 'Sub. Torp. - 1': 'Received severe damage forward port side from the two torpedoes which struck YORKTOWN. Struck few seconds later on starboard side No. 2 fire-room by submarine torpedo. Sank rapidly. Depth charges exploded when stern sank.' Corroborates the action report's sequence (hit in No. 2 fireroom; depth-charge detonation during sinking).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942 (event); 1943 (report)
- Population
- Crew at loss (241 aboard per CO report)
- Limitations
- One-line tabular damage summary for engineering/fleet use; corroborates the loss mechanism only - no materials, insulation, or asbestos content; 'depth charges exploded' is the Bureau's stated mechanism where the CO's report left the underwater explosion's cause undetermined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-03
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[5]Owens-Illinois, Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944) - litigation-produced archival scan; Atlas shipyards.json entry 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Survey text, cutting/fitting and dust-count sections; shipyards.json 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' products_documented
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Yard-level asbestos documentation for this hull's builder: the 1944 Owens-Illinois industrial health survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny, documented insulators cutting and fitting asbestos-containing pipe covering (Johns-Manville 'Superex', ~15% amosite) and boiler insulation (Owens-Illinois 'Kaylo') in confined yard spaces during WWII construction, with dust counts measured. The Atlas yard record also lists Monokote fireproofing (W.R. Grace) and Garlock gaskets as documented yard products.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944 (survey); 1938-39 (this hull's construction)
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Kearny insulators and pipefitters (1944 survey cohort; yard operated 1917-1947)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation only - surveyed August-September 1944, more than three years after this hull left the yard (built 1938-39); documents wartime product use at the builder's yard, not materials installed aboard DD-412. Survey was conducted by a manufacturer and introduced as a litigation exhibit. Establishes the asbestos-era build environment, not hull content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-04
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[6]Class/era inference for the Sims-class destroyer plant (HyperWar Ships of the U.S. Navy compilation: 'High-pressure super-heated boilers, geared turbines with twin screws, 50,000 h.p.'; Benson/Gleaves class-profile precedent for same-era destroyer materials) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar DD-412 spec compilation; class-f/benson-gleaves-class.class.json asbestos-era destroyer materials paragraph (background only)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a high-pressure superheated steam plant (~50,000 shp, geared turbines) installed in a destroyer built 1938-39 at an asbestos-documented yard falls squarely in the Navy's peak asbestos-use era. Period-standard applications aboard a ship of this type: boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck covering compounds.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Construction trades (Kearny, 1938-39); operating crew 1939-42 (192 design complement)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific insulation manifest, survey, or casualty-report materials detail exists for DD-412 (records lost with the ship). Establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual; must not be read as 'documented aboard this hull.'
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-05
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[7]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep: "USS Hammann" type=o and type=r; "DD-412" type=o and type=r (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-hammann-dd412-05 through sl-uss-hammann-dd412-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep produced no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull. "USS Hammann": 0 opinions, 0 dockets. "DD-412": 0 opinions; 7 docket-level index hits (Newell v. Campbell Transportation, W.D. Pa. 2013; Andrews v. D'Souza, N.D. Ga. 2022; D'Amico Dry v. Xcoal, W.D. Pa. 2020; Crawley v. CBS Corp., W.D. Pa. 2020 [asbestos docket]; In re Asbestos MDL No. 875; Collier ch.7, N.D. Ind. Bankr. 2014; Lyondell Chemical ch.11, S.D.N.Y. Bankr. 2009) - all are document-text index artifacts (exhibit/Bates/identifier strings); none identifies the vessel, and no exact-name hit exists to corroborate any as a Hammann reference.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep date); underlying dockets 2009-2022
- Limitations
- A name match is not a case or an opinion; the 7 'DD-412' docket hits could not be resolved to document level within the fleet pacing budget (Crawley asbestos docket and the MDL-875 master docket index massive volumes of filing text - the hull-number string in them is consistent with exhibit/Bates identifiers). Hull-ambiguity note: 'USS Hammann' also denotes DE-131 (destroyer escort, in commission May 1943-Oct 1945); any post-June-1942 'USS Hammann' service claim would resolve to DE-131, not this hull. No hit exists for either name form.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-06
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[8]Batch-3398 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (live 404; HyperWar transcription), NHHC action-report transcription and 80-G-701902 photo record, NHHC Appendix 12 naval-aviator namesake list, BuShips NavShips A(374), NavSource DD-412 photo index (archived), shipyards.json federal-shipbuilding-kearny entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hammann-dd412-01 through sl-uss-hammann-dd412-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: the hull was sunk in action 6 June 1942 and the wreck is not located in public sources, so no hull survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure exists or is feasible; the ship's own records were lost with her ('total loss of all records' per the CO's report); no asbestos case naming DD-412 exists in the CourtListener sweep (see ev-uss-hammann-dd412-06).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1938-39 superheated-steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos insulation. Establishes no exposure and defeats none; the honest state of the record is 'unknown, era-inferred.'
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hammann-dd412-07