Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet lh-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-harmon-de678-pkt-lh-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Harmon (DE-678) entry (namesake biography, builder, launch/commissioning, service narrative, striking and sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Leonard Roy Harmon, Mess Attendant First Class, killed in action aboard USS San Francisco at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 12-13 November 1942, posthumous Navy Cross; launched 25 July 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., sponsored by Mrs. Naunita Harmon Carroll (mother); commissioned 31 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. Kendall E. Read; shakedown Bermuda; departed Norfolk 7 Nov 1943 via Panama Canal to 3rd Fleet, Noumea 25 Dec; escort duty to 18 Sep 1944; Pearl Harbor overhaul and training; Manus 24 Nov 1944; 7th Fleet Luzon Reinforcement Group, sortied 2 Jan 1945, arrived Lingayen Gulf transport area 11 Jan; Iwo Jima escort/ASW 5-27 Mar 1945; Pearl Harbor 1st Fleet training; August 1945 ordered to Mare Island to replace 3-inch guns with 5-inch mounts; departed San Diego 7 Jan 1946 for Canal Zone submarine training; New London 3 Apr 1946; decommissioned Green Cove Springs 25 Mar 1947, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck from Navy List 1 Aug 1965; sold to North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, Del., 30 Jan 1967 for scrapping; three battle stars WWII. Spec block: 1,400 t, 306 ft, 37 ft beam, 13'6" draft, 23 kt, complement 213, 3x3in/3x40mm/3x21in TT, class Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1943; wartime crew (complement 213); Pearl Harbor and Mare Island yard workers during documented availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry does NOT state a laid-down date; the date circulating in secondary compilations (31 May 1943) is carried in gaps as unverified. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-01
-
[3]NHHC-published NavyLive/DVIDS article 'The Traditions of Ship Commissionings' (Lt. j.g. Chloe Morgan) + DANFS, Harmon (DE-72) entry (losthistory/hazegray transcription) + NavSource DE-72/678 building-data notes (secondary) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DVIDS article 261070 (sponsor paragraph); DANFS Harmon (DE-72) entry via losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/escorts/de72.htm; NavSource 06/072 building-data table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Namesake distinction and name-history: the NHHC-published article identifies USS Harmon (DE-678) as 'the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for an African American,' sponsored by Naunita Harmon Carroll, mother of the late Mess Attendant First Class Leonard Roy Harmon. Name-history collision documented: DANFS records Harmon (DE-72) laid down by Bethlehem-Hingham 12 April 1943, assigned to the United Kingdom 10 June 1943, launched as Aylmer 10 July 1943, and transferred under lend-lease to the Royal Navy 30 September 1943 (Captain-class frigate, returned to USN custody 5 Nov 1945, sold 1947); secondary compilations (NavSource building-data notes) date the name Harmon's assignment to DE-72 on 18 May 1943 and its reassignment to DE-678 on 23 June 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Namesake family; commissioning crew
- Limitations
- Documents naming distinction and the DE-72/DE-678 name collision relevant to litigation matching - not asbestos content. The exact name-assignment dates (18 May / 23 Jun 1943) are secondary-source (NavSource); DANFS confirms only that DE-72 was laid down as Harmon and launched as Aylmer. DE-72 was never USN-commissioned, so any USN-service exposure claim naming 'USS Harmon' post-August 1943 resolves to DE-678.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-02
-
[4]Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Harmon (DE-678), 1943-1967' page (official USN/NARA photograph captions NH 69652, NH 93490, 80-G-45162, 80-G-230056, 80-G-238416, 19-N-91491; verbatim transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHC Online Library page usnsh-h/de678.htm, photo-caption entries incl. 19-N-91491
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHC photo-catalog record for this hull confirms: built at Quincy, Massachusetts; commissioned August 1943; shakedown western Atlantic; southwest Pacific escort duty with Third and Seventh Fleets; January 1945 Lingayen Gulf landings; March 1945 off Iwo Jima; 'Beginning in mid-1945, in preparation for further invasion services, Harmon was modified to increase her gun firepower' - BuShips-collection photograph 19-N-91491 shows her off Mare Island Navy Yard 13 November 1945 'after she was refitted with 5"/38 guns'; decommissioned March 1947; sold for scrapping January 1967. Other cataloged photos: alongside USS Dixie (AD-14), Hawthorne Sound, New Georgia, May 1944 (80-G-238416); Langamak Harbor, New Guinea, 31 March 1944 (80-G-230056).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard workers during the 1945 refit; crew 1943-47
- Limitations
- Photo captions document a Mare Island Navy Yard refit period (1945) and wartime service - yard events on a steam plant are exposure-relevant context but the captions say nothing about materials or asbestos. 'Lingayen Gulf, Leyte' wording in the NHC summary is loose (Lingayen is Luzon); the DANFS narrative controls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (groups 2-3, TE type) + navypedia Buckley (TE) class page boiler-block map + Atlas shipyards.json records (bethlehem-shipbuilding, pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard, mare-island-naval-shipyard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; navypedia us_de_te boiler-block map; shipyards.json records 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull's plant: BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 design groups 2-3 (the Buckley TE design DE-678 belongs to) document 306 ft oa, 1,400/1,450 t standard, 23.6 kt, 2 shafts, GE turbo-electric machinery 12,000 shp, 2 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750F superheat - a full superheated steam plant of the type whose boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings were commonly asbestos-containing in 1943 construction. Navypedia's per-block boiler map assigns Combustion Engineering boilers to the DE-675-683 block (includes DE-678). Builder Bethlehem Steel Fore River/Quincy is a tier-3 asbestos-documented yard in the Atlas dataset (documented products incl. 85% magnesia block, Marinite board, Transite pipe covering, Aircell, Armabestos, Limpet spray, Unibestos, Raybestos cloth, lagging, gaskets, packing). Documented yard availabilities at Pearl Harbor (overhaul, Sep-Nov 1944) and Mare Island (5-inch refit, 1945) occurred at asbestos-era naval shipyards.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1943; Pearl Harbor NSY workers 1944; Mare Island NSY workers 1945; crew 1943-47
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The boiler-manufacturer block assignment is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents; yard-level documentation does not prove asbestos installation aboard this hull; no quantities established; no individual exposure established.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-04
-
[6]Corn & Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' Am. J. Ind. Med. 11:359-373 (1987) + Fleischer et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28:9-16 (1946) (PMID 21016030) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am. J. Ind. Med. 11:359-373; J. Ind. Hyg. Toxicol. 28:9-16 (PubMed PMID 21016030)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era scholarship documenting Navy-wide asbestos use during this hull's construction period: Corn & Starr document that the Navy required and used asbestos-containing shipboard materials in WWII construction; the USMC-commissioned 1944-45 industrial-hygiene survey (Fleischer et al.) found amosite 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels' in the pipe-covering operations studied.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (survey era); 1987 (retrospective)
- Population
- WWII naval shipyard workers (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship - neither source names this hull or this class. Establishes era context for asbestos in naval construction; does not establish asbestos content aboard DE-678, quantities, or any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-05
-
[7]Delaware DNREC, Site Investigation and Restoration Branch record for the North American Smelting Company Property, SIRS ID DE-0230, Port of Wilmington, DE [other_primary]
- Locator
- DNREC SIRS DE-0230 site document, site history section
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Disposal-site context for this hull's 1967 breaking: the documented buyer, North American Smelting Co., operated a scrap aluminum, brass, and lead smelting facility on ~215 acres at the Port of Wilmington from the 1930s until 1984; lead operations ceased 1978 for air-emissions noncompliance; the property is a Delaware SIRS-regulated contaminated site (DE-0230) within the Port of Wilmington.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1930s-1984 (site operation); 1967 (hull breaking)
- Population
- Shipbreaking/smelting workers, Port of Wilmington, 1967
- Limitations
- Confirms the identity and regulatory history of the yard that bought this hull for scrap - the site record does not mention DE-678 and does not document shipbreaking practices, asbestos handling, or asbestos waste from this vessel. Smelting-facility contamination profile (metals) is not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, fleet-paced): opinion index exact-phrase "USS Harmon" and "DE-678"; RECAP docket index same queries [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-harmon-de678-04 through -07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep results: exact-phrase "USS Harmon" returned count 0 on BOTH the opinion index and the RECAP docket index - no published opinion and no indexed docket names the vessel. "DE-678" opinion search returned 10 hits, all unrelated identifier collisions (e.g., Capital One Taxi Medallion Finance v. Corrigan; In re Maguire Group Holdings; Dean v. State of Florida; Banco Popular v. Keeler Vazquez; H.F.L.P. v. City of Twin Falls; State v. Shepardson; Foremost Dairies v. FTC; Adams v. Unione Mediterranea Di Sicurta; Parsons v. Ryan; Dow Chemical v. EPA) - none vessel-related, none asbestos litigation. The "DE-678" RECAP docket-index query was pacing-blocked at session time - logged in the search ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Clean name sweep on both indexes is the strongest negative available short of full-text PACER review; docket-index coverage of the bare hull-number string remained unexecuted at write time (pacing-blocked; see ledger and gaps). A negative does not prove no unindexed or non-exact-name case references the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-07
-
[9]Batch-4454 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; NHC Online Library; NHHC/DVIDS article; NARA catalog; CourtListener opinion sweep; DNREC SIRS; NVR; Atlas yard dataset [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-harmon-de678-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-678: no hull survey, abatement contract, material specification, hazmat disclosure, or published litigation naming USS Harmon or DE-678 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The Buckley class-wide sweep (class profile, this dataset) likewise located no ship-specific asbestos record for any of the 148 hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was scrapped in 1967, before federal asbestos-management regimes applied, so no remediation-era paper trail is expected to exist. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-08
-
[10]NARA catalog hits: 'Harmon (DE-678), 8/31/43-3/17/47' muster rolls (RG 24-era microfilm roll 1871, naId 127367247, Ancestry-digitized); 'USS HARMON - War Diary, 2/1-29/44' (WWII War Diaries series, RG 38, microfilm roll A860, naId 78335823, Fold3-digitized); OWI poster 'Democracy in Action No. IV' depicting ship and namesake (naId 535634 area, Still Picture records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search "Harmon" "DE-678" (231 hits); naIds 127367247, 78335823
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds digitized personnel and operational records for this hull: the muster-roll file unit spans the entire commissioned life (31 Aug 1943 - 17 Mar 1947), and at least the February 1944 war diary installment is digitized. These are unretrieved for content; they are the strongest ship-specific leads for crew-population documentation and machinery/operations detail, and RG 19 contract/Booklet of General Plans records remain a further unretrieved lead.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Crew 1943-47 (muster-roll population)
- Limitations
- Catalog-level verification only - record contents were not retrieved or read; deck logs for DE-678 were not separately confirmed in this query (muster rolls and war diaries located; deck-log series coverage for this hull unverified). None of these records are expected to address asbestos materials directly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-harmon-de678-09