Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet ft-packet.md (8 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Harding (DD-625), later reclassified DMS-28 (15 Nov 1944)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-harding-dd625-pkt-ft-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Harding II (DD-625), NHHC live page (published 2015-07-14; reaches with browser user-agent, serves 404 to plain curl) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS page, service narrative paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 28 June 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, sponsored by Mrs. Sherwood A. Taffinder; commissioned 25 May 1943, Lt. Comdr. G. G. Palmer in command. Atlantic convoy antisubmarine patrol (three Casablanca round trips); Normandy 6 June 1944 fire-support station plus boat mission to Pointe du Hoc; southern France screening and 17 August 1944 night action in which all four German E-boats were sunk, three by Harding; proceeded to Boston for conversion to a destroyer minesweeper, reclassified DMS-28 on 15 November 1944; Okinawa minesweeping from 24 March 1945; near miss 6 April; night fire support 8 April; kamikaze attack 16 April 1945 - aircraft splashed close aboard to starboard, bomb exploded, gash torn from keel to main deck; 14 killed, 8 missing, 9 wounded; backed toward Kerama Retto; partial repairs at Okinawa; Pearl Harbor 22 August; Norfolk 17 September; decommissioned 2 November 1945; sold for scrap 16 April 1947 to 'Luia' [Luria] Brothers Co., Inc., Philadelphia; three battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma construction trades 1941-43; wartime crew (DANFS complement 276)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, not materials or asbestos content. Entry gives no laid-down date or stricken date (those rest on NavSource). 'Luia Brothers' is a DANFS misspelling of Luria Brothers - normalized here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-01
-
[3]DANFS spec block for DD-625 via hazegray.org verbatim transcription (Wayback capture 2012-05-11; live hazegray unreachable from this machine) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- hazegray DD-625 DANFS page, header spec line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS specifications block for this hull: displacement 1,630 t; length 348'4"; beam 36'1"; draft 17'5"; speed 37 k; complement 276; armament 4 x 5in, 10 x 21in torpedo tubes; class Gleaves.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Specification block only - no asbestos or materials content. Complement 276 conflicts with NavSource/navypedia as-designed figure of 208; discrepancy carried in gaps. Live NHHC DANFS page renders the narrative without this spec block, so the verbatim transcription is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-02
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Harding (DD-625 / DMS-28) operational and building data [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-625/DMS-28 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building and disposition record for this hull: laid down by Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding 22 July 1941; launched 28 June 1942; commissioned 25 May 1943; converted to High Speed Minesweeper DMS-28 on 15 November 1944; heavily damaged by Japanese kamikaze aircraft 16 April 1945; decommissioned 2 November 1945; stricken 16 November 1945; sold 16 April 1947 to Luria Brothers, Philadelphia, and broken up for scrap; '22 of her crew were lost and remain on duty.' Machinery: 50,000 shp Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 208; call sign NBZC; DesRon 18 / DesDiv 36 Atlantic Fleet assignment for Normandy per photo caption.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Wartime crew 1943-45 (22 KIA at Okinawa)
- Limitations
- NavSource is the standard volunteer-run photographic archive, compiled from official records - authoritative-adjacent but not a government publication. No asbestos content. Crew figure 208 is the as-designed number, conflicting with DANFS complement 276 - carried in gaps. Live navsource.org failed DNS resolution from this machine 2026-09-27; content retrieved via Wayback redirect.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-03
-
[5]Don Moore, 'He served aboard USS Harding at Normandy and Okinawa in WW II' (War Tales column), 3 September 2010 - interview with GM3c Mike Stata, USS Harding (DD-625) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Article lead paragraphs + photo captions (Stata identified by name, rate, and ship hull number)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Firsthand published account of asbestos equipment in use aboard this hull: Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Mike Stata, serving aboard USS Harding (DD-625) as 'hot shell man' on the No. 1 5-inch gun at Omaha Beach 6 June 1944 and aboard through the 16 April 1945 Okinawa kamikaze attack, recounts: 'I wore asbestos gloves that covered my hands and arms and went all the way up to my neck' for handling hot shell casings from the forward gun mount. The article identifies the ship explicitly as 'the Bristol Class destroyer (DD-625) that Stata served aboard.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (service); 2010 (publication)
- Population
- 5-inch gun crews / 'hot shell men' aboard DD-625, 1943-45
- Limitations
- Single-witness retrospective recollection published 65+ years after the fact in a veterans column (author's own site republishing his Charlotte Sun/Sun Newspapers column) - documents asbestos-containing protective equipment (gun-crew gauntlets) in use aboard this hull, but is not a contemporaneous survey and does not establish the extent, type, or locations of fixed asbestos insulation aboard. Asbestos gloves for hot-shell handlers were standard-issue Navy practice of the era, consistent with the account.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-04
-
[6]Consolidated era inference - Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 1 (Jan 1945) machinery table for the DD-421/Gleaves-class machinery family + benson-gleaves-class.class.json profile (this repo) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DD machinery table ('No. 421 Class' family); class-f benson-gleaves-class.class.json
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Gleaves-class (1941-repeat 'Bristol' group) destroyer built July 1941 - May 1943 at Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding with four superheated Babcock & Wilcox boilers (575 psi / 700F per BuShips SDB 1945) and two-shaft geared turbines (Westinghouse per NavSource) in the peak Navy asbestos era. Typical period applications aboard: boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, accommodation fireproofing, deck tile.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma construction trades 1941-43; crew 1943-45
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - does not establish asbestos aboard this specific hull. The ship-specific record for this hull is ev-04 (veteran account of asbestos gloves). No contract spec, material schedule, or survey for DD-625 was located; builder Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. is absent from the Atlas shipyards dataset (carried in gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-05
-
[7]DANFS (Boston conversion event, ev-01) + navypedia Bristol-class modernization record (DMS conversion scope, Nov-Dec 1944 group) + historyofwar.org sister-ship conversion records [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS conversion paragraph; navypedia us_dd_bristol.htm 'Modernizations' block; historyofwar.org USS Cowie/USS Thompson entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documented yard-period event for this hull: after arriving New York 3 October 1944, Harding 'proceeded to Boston for conversion to a destroyer minesweeper' (DANFS), emerging 1 December for trials. Navypedia records the November-December 1944 Atlantic DMS group's conversion scope as removal of the No. 4 5-inch mount and quintuple torpedo mount, four depth-charge throwers removed (34 DC total), and minesweeping gear added. Sister-ship records (USS Cowie, USS Thompson) show this conversion wave executed at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-10 to 1944-12
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard conversion workers, Oct-Dec 1944
- Limitations
- The conversion event is documented ship-specific; the asbestos-disturbance scope of the yard period is NOT documented - conversion work on machinery spaces and weapons would typically disturb insulation, but that is inference. DANFS says only 'Boston'; Boston Navy Yard as the specific facility follows the sister-ship pattern (Cowie/Thompson), not a Harding-specific record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-06
-
[8]historyofwar.org, 'USS Harding (DD-625/DMS-28)' (J. Rickard compiled secondary record) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- historyofwar.org Harding article, Okinawa/damage paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compiled account adding operational detail to the 16 April 1945 damage event: attacked while moving to relieve USS Hobson at Radar Picket Station No. 14; kamikaze bomb blew a hole reported as roughly 20 ft by 10 ft from keel to main deck and bent the keel; ship towed toward Kerama Retto assisted by fleet tug USS Tekesta (AT-93); 'never fully repaired' - consistent with the class-profile disposition for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-04 to 1945-11
- Population
- Crew during 16 April 1945 attack and Kerama Retto emergency repairs
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary compilation, not a primary source; this page alone dates the attack 'morning of 15 April' against DANFS/NavSource's 16 April - 16 April carried per DANFS, discrepancy logged in gaps. Damage-dimension figure unsourced. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-07
-
[9]This record's search ledger (2026-09-27): NHHC DANFS, hazegray/Wayback, NavSource, navypedia, historyofwar.org, donmooreswartales.com, BuShips WDR-51 index, damagecontrolmuseums.org WDR list, NARA catalog, CourtListener [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-harding-dd625-01 through 11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos litigation, survey, abatement contract, or museum/hazmat record naming USS Harding (DD-625/DMS-28) was located in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero hits for the exact phrase 'USS Harding' on both the opinion index (sl-08) and the RECAP docket index (sl-09), and the 'DD-625' hull-number sweeps found no qualifying case (0 opinion hits; 7 docket hits, all name collisions on incidental text - sl-10). Web sweeps surfaced only generic law-firm 'ships list' pages naming the hull among hundreds (excluded - marketing content asserting no hull-specific documentation) and a name-collision docket (HARDING v. SEA LAND SERVICE, E.D. Pa. 5:11-cv-53996 - plaintiff surname, not this vessel). The hull was scrapped in 1947, predating the Navy's documented asbestos-management programs, so no in-service asbestos-era record trail is expected beyond wartime accounts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. Exact-name and hull-number sweeps on both indexes are completed negatives; only the supplementary 'DMS-28' sweep was blocked by fleet pacing (sl-11). Non-indexed dockets and un-digitized records are outside coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-08
-
[10]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 51 - Destroyer Report: Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage Including Losses in Action, 17 Oct 1941 - 15 Aug 1945 (Preliminary Design Section, Navy Department, 25 Jan 1947; HyperWar scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar WDR index + WDR-51 PDF (4.4 MB scan); damagecontrolmuseums.org complete WDR list shows no individual Harding report
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- BuShips WDR-51 covers destroyer kamikaze damage through 15 August 1945, the window containing this hull's 16 April 1945 hit. Visible case-study sections in the scan cover other ships (Abner Read DD-526, A.W. Grant DD-649, Hugh W. Hadley DD-774, Killen DD-593, Mayrant DD-402); whether a Harding (DMS-28) entry appears in the report's summary tables could not be confirmed because the scan's text layer is heavily degraded. An individual ship War Damage Report for DMS-28 was required under fleet instructions and, if retained, would sit in NARA RG 19/38 damage-report series - the primary archival lead for this hull's damage-repair record.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Damage-control and repair personnel, Kerama Retto/Okinawa, April-August 1945
- Limitations
- The scan's OCR layer is too poor to confirm or exclude a Harding entry; WDR-51 is carried as an archival lead, not as documentation for this hull. A WDR would describe structural damage and repairs, not necessarily insulation or asbestos materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harding-dd625-09