Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]DANFS, Henley II (DD-391) (builder, dates, service narrative, loss; 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: launched 12 January 1937 by Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif.; sponsored by Miss Beryl Henley Joslin; commissioned 14 August 1937, Lt. Comdr. H. Y. McCowll in command; DesDiv 11 San Diego 12 September 1938; departed San Diego 14 April 1941 for Pearl Harbor; present in East Loch during the 7 December 1941 attack, firing 'the first destroyer shots' per DANFS and sharing credit for two aircraft; convoy/ASW duty primarily Australian waters; Guadalcanal screen August 1942; Finschhafen beachhead screen 21 September 1943 (splashed 3 of 10 attacking torpedo bombers, assisted on 3 more); torpedoed 3 October 1943 off Finschhafen while on sweep with Reid and Smith - hit in No. 1 fireroom, keel broken, sank stern-first at 1829; 18 officers and 225 men rescued, 1 officer and 14 men missing; four battle stars. Spec block: dp 1850; l 341'4"; b 35'5"; dr 10'4"; s 35k; cpl 158; 4x5", 4x.50cal, 16x21"tt; 'cl. Gridley'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1943
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard construction trades 1935-37; crew 1937-1943 (design complement 158)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction and service history, not materials or asbestos content. The spec block classes DD-391 as 'cl. Gridley' while NavSource/modern references use Bagley - conflict carried in gaps. Casualty figure (15 missing) conflicts with secondary compilations (17 lost) - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-01
-
[2]Bureau of Ships, Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts, 8 December 1942 to 7 December 1943, NAVSHIPS A-2(374), Preliminary Design Section, Navy Department, 10 March 1944 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Section II 'Ships Lost During Second Year of War - Destroyers (continued)', PDF p.13 (printed page -10-)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips war-damage summary, 'Ships Lost - Destroyers (continued)' table entry for this hull: HENLEY (DD391), 10/3/43, New Guinea, 'Sub. Torp - 1' (one submarine torpedo), 'Sank bodily'; remarks: 'Japanese submarine torpedo struck port side, frame 70, in way of forward boiler room. Both boiler rooms and fuel oil tanks forward opened to the sea. Severe structural damage. Keel broken, main deck blown open and bridge structure wrecked. Sank in 15 minutes.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Crew at loss (DANFS: 243 rescued; 15 missing)
- Limitations
- Documents the loss mechanics and machinery-space damage (forward boiler room), not materials or asbestos content aboard the hull. A sunk-in-action hull has no post-loss material survey. PDF is a scanned Hydrographic Office print hosted on the HyperWar mirror of official Navy publications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-02
-
[3]Commanding Officer, USS Henley (DD-391), report to CinC Pac Flt, 'Offensive measures during air raid on Pearl Harbor, T.H., December 7, 1941,' serial DD391/A16 038, 15 December 1941 (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Report paragraphs 1-5 (conditions, sortie, losses/damage, distinguished conduct)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous primary report from this hull's commanding officer: general alarm sounded in error at 0755; 5-inch gun No. 2 among the first medium-caliber guns to fire; underway from Buoy X-11 at 0830, third ship to sortie; machine gun No. 2 credited with one aircraft, joint credit on a second; depth charges dropped on a sound contact; CO and XO were ashore at onset and re-embarked from USS Trever about 1130, Lt. F. E. Fleck Jr. having conned the ship; no personnel casualties and only minor strafing damage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941
- Population
- Crew aboard during Pearl Harbor attack, 7 December 1941
- Limitations
- Establishes operations and crew actions aboard this hull on 7 December 1941, not materials or asbestos content. HyperWar transcription of the original report text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-03
-
[4]Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (NHHC publication; HyperWar transcription), entry for 3 October 1943 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Chapter V, 3 October 1943, Pacific section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy chronology entry for 3 October 1943: 'Destroyer Henley (DD-391) is sunk by Japanese submarine RO 108 off eastern New Guinea, 07°40'S, 148°06'E.' Provides the authoritative attacker attribution (submarine RO 108) and loss coordinates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Crew at loss
- Limitations
- Confirms attacker, date, and position of loss; does not address materials or asbestos content. A NavSource/user-contributed wikimapia wreck pin exists but no authoritative wreck-survey source was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-04
-
[5]NARA Special List 44, List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - Named Vessels index (archives.gov HTML table) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 named-vessel table, 'Henley' rows
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's named-vessel logbook index lists a deck-log run for 'Henley (DD391)' covering 8/14/1937-12/31/1943, matching this hull's full commissioned window (commissioned 14 August 1937; sunk 3 October 1943, closing entries running administratively to year-end). Distinct rows cover Henley (DD-39 era) 12/6/1912-12/12/1919 and John D. Henley (DD-553) 2/2/1944-6/30/1945, confirming the archival system distinguishes the namesake hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1943
- Population
- Crew 1937-1943
- Limitations
- Index confirms logbooks exist for this hull at NARA; the logs were not inspected. Deck logs record operations/crew, and only occasionally material or repair detail relevant to asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-05
-
[6]NARA Ship Plan Index (archives.gov HTML table), HENLEY rows [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Plan Index table, 'HENLEY' rows (DD-391, DD-762, DD-39)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Ship Plan Index lists three holdings for DD-391: RG 80 'Enclosures to Correspondence' (NAID 7351589), RG 19 'Alphabetical Ship Drawings' (NAID 53484269), and RG 19 'Microfilm' (NAID 175669357). Separate index rows cover namesakes HENLEY DD-762 (Hull series NAID 153714730; Aperture Cards NAID 175661134) and HENLEY DD-39 (Trial Curves, Portfolio Plans, Microfilm, Alphabetical Drawings). The NARA asbestos research guide identifies RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence (filed by hull designation, e.g. 'DD391') and Destroyer/DE/Frigate General Information Books (RG 19 Entry P 9) as the path to vessel-specific material documentation; secondary class literature cites a Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book for the Bagley class, indicating a class-level GIB exists.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1943 (vessel); holdings undated in index
- Population
- Not applicable (archival holdings)
- Limitations
- Index-level verification only; none of these holdings were inspected and their contents (drawings, microfilm, correspondence enclosures) may or may not document insulation materials. Hull's 1937-1943 service overlaps only the 1940-1945 portion of the RG 19 correspondence series - construction-period (1935-37) material documentation would sit in Bureau of Construction and Repair records or the class GIB, not in the guide's primary correspondence path.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-06
-
[7]NARA guided research topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (archives.gov) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Guide sections 'Bureau of Ships General, Confidential, and Secret Correspondence' and 'General Information Books'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- NARA's asbestos research guide describes the standard path for documenting asbestos aboard a specific hull: RG 19 Bureau of Ships General/Confidential/Secret correspondence 1940-1961 filed by hull designation ('DD391'), by class (namesake hull's filing code), and by type ('DD'), plus General Information Books (RG 19 Entry P 9 for destroyers) and builder-yard correspondence ('NY' filing codes; Mare Island = government yard). This hull's service (1937-1943) overlaps the 1940-1945 General Correspondence series for its wartime years only; the construction-period correspondence path does not reach 1935-37.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1961 (guide coverage)
- Population
- Not applicable (records guide)
- Limitations
- Research-path documentation only - identifies where ship-specific asbestos records would exist if any survive; it is not itself evidence of asbestos aboard this hull. NAVSEA FOIA asbestos reading room returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch and was not searched.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-07
-
[8]Destroyer History Foundation, Bagley class page (secondary compilation footnoted to the Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information book for the Bagley class, Bauer & Roberts, and Friedman) + DANFS spec block [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Bagley class page (general information block + footnotes); shipyards.json record 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Navy-yard-built Bagley-class destroyer constructed 1935-37 with a four-boiler, geared-steam-turbine plant (465 psi / 645 deg F per the class record; NavSource lists 49,000 shp, GE turbines, for this hull) would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; builder Mare Island Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2) with products including pipe lagging, gaskets, packing, Marinite, Unibestos, Transite, Kaylo, and Careytemp.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1943
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard construction trades 1935-37; crew 1937-1943
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific finding for this hull; yard documentation establishes products at the facility, not installation aboard DD-391. Class literature citing the BuC&R GIB suggests hull-level material specs may exist in NARA RG 19 Entry P 9 / related series (see ev-06).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-08
-
[9]Synthesis of reviewed primary/official sources (DANFS; BuShips war-damage summary; CO action report; Cressman chronology; NARA indexes) - negative finding [other_primary]
- Locator
- Whole-record review; see search_ledger
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located. Reviewed sources document construction, service, combat actions, and loss of this hull but none identify asbestos or a specific asbestos-containing product aboard. Asbestos content of this hull and any individual exposure are unknown. Because the hull was sunk in action in October 1943, no post-loss abatement record, museum-condition survey, or donation-condition hazmat disclosure can exist.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1943
- Population
- Construction trades 1935-37; crew 1937-1943
- Limitations
- Absence of documentation is not absence of material: the most likely remaining evidence paths are NARA RG 19 hull-classified correspondence ('DD391'), the Bagley-class General Information Book (Entry P 9 series), and the DD-391 plan/microfilm holdings listed in ev-06 - none inspected.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-09
-
[10]CourtListener v4 authenticated sweep: "USS Henley" type=o (10 hits); "DD-391" quoted type=o (0) and type=r (5); "USS Henley" type=r (0) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-henley-dd391-03, -04, -05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. "USS Henley" opinion hits (10) are all non-asbestos name collisions - courts-martial (U.S. v. Waller 1987, U.S. v. Barunas 1986, U.S. v. Bridges 1958 - all CMA, any ship reference would be the 1946-73 namesake DD-762), state criminal appeals, antitrust, and an 1876 Iowa case; none verified as naming any Henley hull. Quoted "DD-391": 0 opinions; RECAP dockets: 5 non-asbestos tokenizer collisions inside unrelated filings. Quoted "USS Henley" RECAP: 0.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- litigation era to present
- Population
- Not applicable (no qualifying litigation)
- Limitations
- Opinion snippets do not display the matched term, so the collision classification of the ten name hits rests on case character rather than confirmed reference text; full-text fetch of individual opinions remains the open QA lead. CourtListener coverage is opinion/docket-level only - complaints never reaching a captured docket are outside its scope.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-henley-dd391-10