Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Hornet VII (CV-8) - construction, service history, damage, and loss (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-18) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block (19,800t; 809'9"; cpl. 1,889; cl. Hornet) and service narrative, 1940-1943 paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented history for this hull: launched 1940-12-14 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., sponsored by Mrs. Frank M. Knox; commissioned at Norfolk 1941-10-20, Capt. Marc A. Mitscher. Test-launched two Army B-25s off Norfolk 1942-02-02; sailed for the West Coast via the Panama Canal 1942-03-04, arrived San Francisco 1942-03-20 and loaded 16 B-25s under Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle; departed 1942-04-02 under sealed orders and, with Enterprise covering, launched all 16 bombers by 0920 on 1942-04-18 in a 40-knot gale ~600 miles off Japan (the Doolittle Raid); returned to Pearl Harbor 1942-04-25. Sailed 1942-04-30 for the Coral Sea (arrived after the battle), returned 1942-05-26, and sailed 1942-05-28 for Midway: Torpedo Squadron 8 was annihilated (Ens. George Gay sole survivor) and Hornet aircraft helped sink cruiser Mikuma and damage Mogami on 1942-06-06. New radar installed at Pearl Harbor; sailed 1942-08-17 for Guadalcanal; sole operational U.S. carrier in the South Pacific after mid-September. Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands 1942-10-26: a coordinated dive-bombing and torpedo attack left her so severely damaged she was abandoned (Capt. Mason last off); U.S. destroyers Mustin and Anderson failed to sink her with nine torpedoes and 400+ rounds of 5-inch fire; Japanese destroyers finished her with four 24-inch torpedoes; sank 0135, 1942-10-27, off the Santa Cruz Islands. Stricken 1943-01-13. Four battle stars; Torpedo Squadron 8 awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Newport News construction trades (1939-41); ship's company ~1,889 plus air group (DANFS spec block)
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy history for milestones, operations, damage, and loss; contains no asbestos or insulation-material content. The laid-down date is not stated in this source (1939-09-25 carried as secondary consensus - see gaps); the spec block reads 'cl. Hornet' where standard references treat her as the third Yorktown-class member. Establishes where and when people worked aboard, not what materials they encountered.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-01
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[2]U.S. Navy news release, 'Final Resting Place of USS Hornet CV-8 Located in South Pacific' (2019-02-12), reporting the R/V Petrel (Vulcan/Paul G. Allen) expedition discovery [other_primary]
- Locator
- navy.mil article 2240189; corroborating USNI News report 2019-02-12
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Documented wreck discovery for this hull: wreckage of USS Hornet rests on the floor of the South Pacific Ocean around the Solomon Islands at ~5,400 m (navy.mil; the Vulcan announcement as carried by USNI states 5,330 m - see gaps), discovered late January 2019 by the expedition crew of Paul G. Allen's R/V Petrel and announced 2019-02-12. The team located the wreck by plotting positions and sightings from official deck logs and action reports of nine other U.S. warships engaged in the battle; she was found on the first dive of Petrel's autonomous underwater vehicle and confirmed by ROV video, including the CV-8 designation on the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2019
- Population
- n/a (wreck documentation; war grave - no entry or salvage activity)
- Limitations
- Discovery and condition documentation only - not a material or hazmat survey; nothing in the announcement or expedition imagery addresses asbestos or insulation. Depth figures differ slightly between the Navy release (5,400 m) and the Vulcan announcement (5,330 m); both recorded rather than reconciled. The wreck is a war grave in Solomon Islands waters.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-02
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[3]DANFS, Hornet VII (CV-8) spec block; class-standard machinery per secondary consensus (see gaps) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block (displacement 19,800t, length 809'9", speed 33 kts, complement 1,889); class machinery figures per secondary consensus - see gaps
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The last Yorktown-class carrier was built 1939-41 at Newport News with the class-standard high-pressure steam plant - nine Babcock & Wilcox boilers and four Parsons geared turbines - at a time when boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and deck/bulkhead materials in Navy steam plants commonly contained asbestos. This hull's exposure-relevant life is the shortest of the class: construction 1939-41 plus a one-year commissioned service ending in her 1942 sinking.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Construction trades (Newport News, 1939-41); crew 1941-42
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - asbestos was standard in 1940-41 naval steam plants, but no hull-specific insulation survey or material record exists for this ship (sunk 1942; wreck discovered 2019, never surveyed for materials). Does not confirm installed materials, quantities, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-03
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[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program and that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships, not beginning substitution of alternative materials until the early 1970s - decades after this ship was built and sunk.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; postdates the ship's loss by 37 years. Supports era context only; not a fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - description via product page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-04
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[5]This record's search ledger: DANFS (HyperWar transcription); navy.mil wreck-discovery release; CourtListener attempts; class-profile CourtListener sweep 2026-09-16; general-web sweep; govinfo full-text pull of the Kallsen opinion [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hornet-cv8-03 through -07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no hull insulation survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material characterization of the wreck, or docketed asbestos case naming CV-8 was found in the sources searched. Direct CourtListener queries on 2026-09-18 were blocked (API HTTP 429 daily cap; web UI HTTP 403); the yorktown-class profile's CourtListener sweep of 2026-09-16 returned zero qualifying hits for CV-5, CV-6, and CV-8. Every asbestos-litigation hit naming 'USS Hornet' located in the general-web sweep identifies the later Essex-class CV-12 (see ev-06); law-firm marketing pages listing CV-8 could not be traced to any primary source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - this hull is a war grave whose materials were never surveyed or removed. Does not establish presence or absence of asbestos aboard; does not bear on any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. A same-day direct CourtListener re-query remains an open item (see gaps and search ledger).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-05
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[6]Collision classification: (a) Taylor v. Elliott Turbomachinery Co. Inc., 171 Cal. App. 4th 564 (2009), describing the ship as 'originally commissioned in 1943' with plaintiff service in the mid-1960s; (b) Kallsen v. A.W. Chesterton Co. (N.D. Ohio No. 1:21-cv-01180, Opinion and Order 2021-08-13, Doc. 119), recording 'exposure years' 1955-1959 aboard 'the U.S.S Hornet' [court_record]
- Locator
- Taylor v. Elliott at 571 ('originally commissioned in 1943'); Kallsen Doc. 119 at 2-3 ('exposure years' 1955-1959; deposition testimony re turbine repair work in drydock)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Name-collision documentation: all asbestos-litigation hits naming 'USS Hornet' that surfaced in the sweep identify the later Essex-class carrier CV-12, not this ship. Taylor v. Elliott describes the Hornet as 'originally commissioned in 1943' with the plaintiff's exposure in the mid-1960s - CV-12 (CV-8 sank in 1942). In Kallsen the complaint-brochure 'exposure years' aboard 'the U.S.S Hornet' are 1955-1959 - likewise CV-12's operating era. Neither record concerns, and neither may be attributed to, this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1955-1966 exposure allegations; opinions 2009 and 2021
- Population
- n/a (different hull - CV-12)
- Limitations
- Documents a classification decision, not an affirmative fact about CV-8: it prevents CV-12 litigation records from being misattributed to this sunken hull. Both underlying items are themselves stage-limited (a defense summary-judgment affirmance and a remand-order recital), not trial findings about any ship.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hornet-cv8-06