Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet gf-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Harlan R. Dickson; hull DD-708; destroyer; Allen M. Sumner class (2200-ton)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-pkt-gf-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708) (NHHC web entry published 2015-07-14; verbatim capture via Wayback - live page serves 404; identical text verified against DANFS vol. III print scan, archive.org item dictionaryofamer03wash) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS web entry (Wayback capture 2024-12-10); DANFS vol. III print, 'Harlan R. Dickson' entry (~p. 246, archive.org djvu text lines 42775-42850)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 17 December 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Mae Studler (the namesake's mother); commissioned at New York 17 February 1945, Comdr. Paul G. Osier in command (NHHC spelling; NavSource CO roster spells the name Osler). Caribbean shakedown; departed for the Pacific 5 August 1945, recalled after the Japanese capitulation to Solomons, Md., for experimental mine work; joined her squadron at Pearl Harbor 12 December 1945; Pacific tactical training until March 1946. First Mediterranean 6th Fleet cruise 2 February-14 August 1947 (incl. Red Sea); UN-flag service December 1948-January 1949 during the Palestine mediation; sixth Mediterranean cruise 2 July-4 December 1956 evacuating American citizens from Haifa; from September 1959 a recovery ship on the Atlantic missile range retrieving Cape Canaveral test capsules; October 1962 hunter-killer ASW unit in the Cuban quarantine; Operation Springboard and tenth Mediterranean deployment 7 March-September 1963 (Khargex VI, Persian Gulf). On 2 January 1964 entered Boston Naval Shipyard for overhaul - the last event in the official entry. Spec block: dp. 2,200; l. 376'6"; b. 40'; dr. 15'8"; s. 34 k.; cpl. 336; cl. Allen M. Sumner.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1964
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; commissioning and wartime-to-Cold-War crew (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and the design spec block, not materials or asbestos content. The entry ends at the January 1964 Boston overhaul and does not cover decommissioning or disposal; no laid-down date is given. Live NHHC page returns 404 - Wayback capture of the official page cited; text cross-checked against the DANFS vol. III (1968) print scan.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-01
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708) - operational/building data and commanding-officer roster; corroborated by generalstaff.org U.S. Navy Destroyer Lineages DD-700-DD-926 and dd-692.com class roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page header 'Operational and Building Data' + CO roster; navsource.org/archives/05/fram.htm FRAM II list (DD-708 absent); generalstaff.org DD lineage table row DD-708
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compilation record for this hull covering events DANFS does not reach: laid down 23 May 1944 at Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ; stricken from the Navy list 1 July 1972; sold 18 May 1973 to Boston Metals, Baltimore, for $91,666.66 and broken up for scrap. CO roster runs continuously to CDR John Edward Garrett (5 Jan 1970 - 1 Jul 1972), consistent with in commission until stricken. Not among the 33 Sumner-class FRAM II conversions (NavSource FRAM roster). Secondary compilations (Wikipedia, usnfleet.us) describe a final active assignment from March 1964 as one of two destroyers attached to the Naval Destroyer School at Newport, R.I., alongside USS Gainard (DD-706), and an earlier Naval Reserve training-ship role in the 1st Naval District at Boston - content absent from the official DANFS entry.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Crew 1945-1972; disposal trades, Baltimore 1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic/lineage archive, not an official record - disposal data is consistent across the generalstaff.org lineage table and the Sumner-class association roster (dd-692.com), but no primary stricken/sale document was pulled. 'Decommissioned' is listed by NavSource as unknown ('?'); Wikipedia and liquisearch carry 'c. 1972' / stricken-date framing only. The Destroyer School and Naval Reserve training paragraphs appear only in secondary compilations - the official DANFS entry (NHHC Wayback capture and vol. III print) ends at the January 1964 Boston overhaul.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-02
-
[4]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images (verbatim HyperWar mirror), USS Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708) photo records NH 96848-96850, NH 68367-KN/68368-KN [other_primary]
- Locator
- Online Library page 'USN Ships--USS Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708)'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official U.S. Naval Historical Center photo-catalog records for this hull: NH 96848 - 'Off Manhattan Island, New York, en route from her builders, Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, for delivery to the Navy in February 1945'; NH 96849 - 'Underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 8 May 1964' (corroborates she was out of the January 1964 Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul by May 1964); NH 96850 - underway during the 1960s; NH 68367-KN/68368-KN - jacket-patch insignia circa 1960 and 1963.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1964
- Population
- Crew 1945-1964
- Limitations
- Photo captions document dates, locations, and builder only - no materials or asbestos information. Carried as corroborating ship-specific history, not exposure evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-03
-
[5]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944; introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX 1990) + Atlas shipyard dataset, 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' record [other_primary]
- Locator
- ToxicDocs scan of the O-I survey; shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (evidence_tier 2)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Sumner-class destroyer built 1944-45 with a four-boiler, 60,000-shp geared steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; the builder yard is documented at yard level - the Owens-Illinois August 30-September 2, 1944 survey recorded insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts during cutting and fitting - conducted while DD-708 was under construction at that yard (laid down May 1944; launched December 1944; fitting out to February 1945).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (survey/build); service 1945-1972
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding insulation trades, 1944-45; crew 1945-72
- Limitations
- Yard-level and class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding: the survey documents insulation work conditions at Federal Shipbuilding during this hull's build window; it does not name DD-708, does not establish what was installed aboard her, and establishes nothing about quantity or any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-04
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos-insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DD-708 (built 1944-45, in service to 1972, scrapped 1973) falls entirely inside the documented asbestos-use era, and her January 1964 Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul predates substitution.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only; does not name this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via the GAO product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 opinion-index sweeps: "Harlan R. Dickson", "Harlan Dickson", "USS Dickson", "DD-708", "Dickson" AND "DD-708" - all zero results [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-04 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation located naming this hull: every CourtListener opinion-index query for the vessel name and hull number returned zero results (no published opinion and no indexed hit of any kind - including non-asbestos). RECAP docket-index queries were throttled by the fleet pacing budget at session end and remain unexhausted - logged as blocked in the search ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence from the opinion index does not prove no suit was ever filed - unindexed trial-level filings and settled cases are invisible to this sweep. Name collision risk is low (only one commissioned hull has borne the Dickson name). The RECAP docket layer is an open item, not a completed negative.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-06
-
[8]Batch-3683 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback capture + print scan); NavSource; NHHC Online Library photo records; CourtListener opinion and docket queries; Atlas shipyard dataset; GAO product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-708: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, government disclosure, or qualifying litigation names this hull in the sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull left Navy custody in 1973 and survives in no museum inventory.
- 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 1944-45 Sumner inside the documented asbestos-use era is consistent with a standard insulated fit, but that is inference, not a ship-specific documentation finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harlan-r-dickson-dd708-07