Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USS Houston' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USS Houston' returned 110 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-houston-ca30-cl-name-opinion
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[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USS Houston' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USS Houston' returned 3193 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- uss-houston-ca30-cl-name-docket
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[3]CourtListener opinion search: 'CA-30' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'CA-30' returned 178142 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-houston-ca30-cl-hull-opinion
-
[4]CourtListener docket search: 'CA-30' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'CA-30' returned 847486 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed
- Evidence ID
- uss-houston-ca30-cl-hull-docket
-
[5]DANFS, Houston II (CA-30) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 7 September 1929 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; commissioned as CL-30 17 June 1930; redesignated CA-30 1 July 1931; flagship of the Asiatic Station 1931-33 (Shanghai landings 1932); carried President Roosevelt on the 1934 ~12,000-mile cruise, the October 1935 cruise, the 1938 San Francisco fleet review, and Fleet Problem XX 1939; flagship of the U.S. Fleet Sept-Dec 1938 and of the Hawaiian Detachment from Dec 1939; returned to Mare Island 17 February 1940; Admiral Hart's Asiatic Fleet flagship from 19 November 1940; ABDA force after Pearl Harbor; bomb hit disabling No. 3 turret 4 February 1942 (Makassar Strait); Timor convoy 15-16 February; Battle of the Java Sea 27 February; sunk by gunfire and torpedoes in Banten Bay/Sunda Strait early 1 March 1942 with Capt. Rooks killed (posthumous Medal of Honor); 2 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1928-1942
- Population
- Newport News construction trades 1928-30; crew 1930-42
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content; the entry does not give casualty figures or a stricken date. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-01
-
[6]NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch, 'Field Report: 2014 USS Houston (CA-30) DIVEX' (10 November 2014) - joint U.S./Indonesian Navy dive exercise under CARAT 2014 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DIVEX Field Report sections I (Executive Summary), V (Wrecked Vessel Identification), VI (Site Condition Assessment)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Official Navy wreck survey of this hull: during 9-13 June 2014, U.S. Navy (MDSU-1 Co. 1-5, embarked in USNS Safeguard) and Indonesian Navy divers under CARAT 2014 conducted the first Navy examination of the wreck in Banten Bay, Indonesian territorial waters; data confirmed the wreck's identity as USS Houston; the DIVEX documented conclusive evidence of systematic and ongoing unauthorized disturbance (removed rivets and hull plate, surface-supplied dive hoses, evidence of unauthorized ordnance recovery), active oil seepage, and potential impact to human remains within or adjacent to the hull; the site is a maritime war grave.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2014-06; unauthorized salvage ongoing
- Population
- U.S./Indonesian Navy divers and NHHC archaeologists (2014); recreational and salvage divers (1970s-present)
- Limitations
- Documents wreck identity, condition, and disturbance only; contains no materials or asbestos information and no hull survey of insulation or fittings. The wreck has never been surveyed for hazardous materials. Canonical history.navy.mil PDF URL returned 404 to direct fetch 2026-09-19; report content verified via NHHC search index and the UAB conference-paper abstract (Catsambis, apconf-much.org).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-02
-
[7]U.S. Indo-Pacific Command / Navy News Service, 'US Navy Completes Review of Initial Survey Data from World War II Cruiser Wreck Site' (Feb. 13, 2017); corroborating Navy/DVIDS record of the Oct. 2015 USNS Safeguard survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- PACOM/NNS release body (Feb. 13, 2017); offshore-energy.biz relay of the Navy's Oct. 2015 release; DVIDS image 2247535 caption (151021-N-CW570-0022, Banten Bay, Oct. 21, 2015)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Navy-announced wreck status: a December 2016 multibeam sonar survey by the Australian National Maritime Museum and Indonesia's ARKENAS showed the wreck remains in its original sinking position and is largely intact, though the data cannot rule out continued small-scale disturbance; the release states Houston was lost 'with almost 650 Sailors and Marines' (HMAS Perth with 353). An earlier nine-day October 2015 survey by EODMU-11/MDS 11-7 divers aboard USNS Safeguard found no evidence of recent salvaging and little change since 2014; the ship remains sovereign U.S. property under customary international law.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1942-03-01; 2015-10; 2016-12/2017-02
- Population
- Crew lost with the ship and POW survivors (1942-45); survey personnel (2015-17)
- Limitations
- Documents wreck status, custody, and casualty context only; no materials, asbestos, or condition-survey information. Casualty figure is the Navy's official approximation ('almost 650'); survivor-association and University of Houston accounting give ~1,060-1,068 aboard and 368 POW survivors - the ~650 vs ~692 KIA variance is carried in gaps. pacom.mil returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; text verified via search index.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-03
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[8]DANFS specifications block (Northampton class; 8 boilers, geared steam turbines, ~107,000 shp per class spec compilations) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Newport News Shipbuilding yard record (documented asbestos-era yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'newport-news-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a treaty-era heavy cruiser built 1928-30 with an eight-boiler, ~107,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; builder Newport News Shipbuilding is documented in the Atlas yard dataset as a tier-1 yard with documented era asbestos product use.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1928-1942
- Population
- Newport News construction trades 1928-30; crew 1930-42
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation survey for CA-30 exists: the wreck is a war grave never hazmat-surveyed, and unauthorized salvage has removed structure. Does not quantify material, does not establish any individual's exposure, and makes no claim about the lost crew or POW survivors.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-04
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[9]Batch-180 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS; NHHC Underwater Archaeology DIVEX report; PACOM/Navy releases; CourtListener API + web-index litigation sweeps; survivors-association and University of Houston archival accounting [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-houston-ca30-05 through sl-uss-houston-ca30-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull asbestos survey exists or has ever been performed (sunk 1942; wreck is a protected war grave never hazmat-surveyed); no abatement record exists (the ship was never decommissioned, scrapped, or museum-donated); and no qualifying asbestos case names CA-30 - web-indexed court hits classify as a name collision (a Thresher-records FOIA complaint citing the 'Ship of Ghosts' Houston book) or other litigation (WWII-era POW forced-labor suits tracked by the survivors association).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2026-09-19
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a cruiser sunk with her 1942 fit retains era materials in the wreck; the ship never underwent postwar scrapping or abatement, and ongoing unauthorized salvage degrades the site. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-05
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[10]Bryant complaint (D.D.C., RECAP gov.uscourts.dcd.208979) - FOIA action for USS Thresher (SSN-593) records; mentions USS Houston only via James D. Hornfischer's book title 'Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston' [court_record]
- Locator
- RECAP complaint PDF (FOIA count, Thresher records); usshouston.org Blue Bonnet newsletter Dec. 2001 (POW lawsuit item)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Verified name collision: the only court-record 'USS Houston' hit located in the litigation sweep is a FOIA complaint seeking declassified USS Thresher records; CA-30 appears solely in the title of Hornfischer's book cited among requesters' public-interest material. Separately, the California WWII-era Japanese forced-labor litigation (~1999-2001, reported in the USS Houston CA-30 Survivors Association 'Blue Bonnet' newsletter) concerned POW slave-labor claims by former Houston crew - other litigation, not asbestos-related. Neither is qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2019-2021 (FOIA posture); 1999-2001 (forced-labor suits)
- Limitations
- Establishes only that the located court hits are non-qualifying; the FOIA complaint is a pleading-stage filing unrelated to asbestos, and the forced-labor suits addressed wartime POW treatment, not materials aboard. CourtListener API throttled mid-session (HTTP 429) - classification rests on web-indexed records; deeper RECAP expansion deferred.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-houston-ca30-06