Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 750-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-howard-f-clark-de533-pkt-750-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Howard F. Clark (DE-533) (namesake biography, specifications block, full service narrative; verbatim NHHC text - live page serves 404, Wayback capture 2025-02-02 cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + namesake paragraph + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: John C. Butler class DE; dp. 1,350; l. 306 ft; cpl. 186; s. 24 kt. Namesake Lt. (j.g.) Howard Franklin Clark, USNA 1938, Fighting Squadron 3 aboard carrier Lexington, DFC 20 Feb 1942, killed Battle of the Coral Sea 7-8 May 1942, posthumous second DFC. Launched by Boston Navy Yard 8 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Howard Clark (widow); commissioned Boston 25 May 1944, Lt. Comdr. E. B. Hayden. Shakedown Bermuda; Pacific via Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor 18 Sep 1944; Manus 22 Dec; screened Admiral Stump's escort carriers for the Lingayen Gulf invasion (Leyte Gulf 3 Jan 1945, Lingayen landings 6 Jan; downed attackers; aviator rescues 8-9 Jan); Ulithi 23 Jan; underway-replenishment support to Iwo Jima incl. TF58 refueling 13-14 Feb; off Iwo Jima 5 Mar; Okinawa campaign screening (Kerama Retto 28 Mar; TF58 serviced 26 Apr); escorted battleship Missouri to Ulithi 9 May; Third Fleet replenishment of TF38 from 3 Jul supporting strikes on Japan; rescued pilot after forced landing on USS Hollandia's bow 8 Jul; three Okinawa-buildup voyages, last return 7 Sep 1945; departed for U.S. 5 Nov, arrived San Pedro via Pearl Harbor 23 Nov 1945; decommissioned San Diego 15 Jul 1946; reserve fleet San Diego Group, later Stockton.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 186 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, dates, and service narrative - not materials or asbestos content. Entry predates the ship's 1972 striking and 1973 sale (ends at Stockton reserve berth), so disposition is covered by ev-02. Cited via Wayback capture because the live NHHC page returns 404 (accessed 2026-09-28).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-01
-
[3]Hazegray Boston Naval Shipyard Production Record (A. Toppan, compiled from Boston National Historical Park BNY Ships List, DANFS, Friedman, Naval Engineers Journal) + NavSource DE-533 data block (NVR-derived) [other_primary]
- Locator
- hazegray bnsy.htm production table row for DE 533; navsource.net/archives/06/533.htm data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposal and post-service record for this hull from two independent compilations: hazegray BNSY production record lists 'Howard F. Clark (DE 533), John C. Butler (WGT) Class Destroyer Escort, commissioned 25 May 1944 - Scrapped 1973'. NavSource data block adds: keel laid 8 Oct 1943 at Boston Navy Yard; launched/christened 8 Nov 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Bess Merrick Clark (widow of Lt. Clark); decommissioned 15 Jul 1946 at San Diego after 2 years ~1.7 months and 86,221 miles steamed; inactivation completed 20 Dec 1946, assigned Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the NVR 15 May 1972; sold for scrapping 6 Sep 1973. Awards listed: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 stars, WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon. 'The first ship to be named in his honor.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Postwar reserve-fleet caretakers (minimal manning); scrapping-yard workers 1973
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations, not digitized primary records - the precise stricken (1972-05-15) and sale (1973-09-06) dates rest on NavSource's NVR-derived block and Wikipedia agrees, but no digitized NVR extract was located; hazegray independently confirms commission year/class and 'scrapped 1973'. Keel-laying date (1943-10-08) is compilation-sourced; DANFS does not state it. Neither source addresses materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-02
-
[4]NHHC, 'Appendix 12: Ships Named for Naval Aviators' (naval aviation history monograph) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- app12.pdf, 'Ships Named for Naval Aviators' table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC appendix lists 'Clark, Howard F. (DE 533) LT (jg) Howard F. Clark, USN 25 May 1944' - independently confirming the hull number, the namesake's rank, and the commissioning date against the DANFS narrative.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Roster-style confirmation only - namesake and commission date, nothing else; no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table row 6 (shipscribe scan) + Atlas shipyard dataset 'boston-naval-shipyard' record (tier 3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table row 6; shipyards.json 'boston-naval-shipyard' (ev-boston-naval-shipyar-02)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: DE-533 was built Oct 1943-May 1944 at Boston Navy Yard to BuShips design group 6 (WGT): 2 'D' express boilers 435 psi/750F (Babcock & Wilcox for the DE-531-554 block) feeding 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 24.3 kt. A 1943-44 boiler/steam-turbine naval build carries period-standard asbestos insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing by era inference. Builder Boston Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3), including a worker allegation of exposure to John Crane gaskets and sealing materials at the yard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific finding for this hull exists (see negative-finding row ev-07 and litigation-sweep row ev-08). The BuShips table documents the design group's machinery, not materials; the yard dataset documents the yard, not this hull. NARA RG19 General Information Books per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-04
-
[6]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537, exhibit list ECF 738 att. 1 (document identifications) [court_record]
- Locator
- Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738.1 exhibit-list items (Honeywell-160 through -167 series)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The controlling Navy insulation-spec suite for DE-era construction is identified (not retrieved) through the exhibit list in litigation naming a John C. Butler-class sister ship: 'Bureau of Ships Manual, Chapter 39, Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250000(39), dated 24 August 1945'; 'Navy Department Specification, Felt, Insulating, Asbestos, 32F3a, dated 15 October 1945'; 'General Specifications for Machinery - Subsection S39-1' (BuEng, 3 Feb 1939); 'Instructions Relative to Heat Insulation' (BuEng Manual ch.13, rev. 1933, repr. May 1939). That litigation named USS Brannon (DE-446) and a Navy-specified Griscom-Russell evaporator - not this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1933-1945 (documents)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Exhibit-list identifications only - the underlying spec documents were not retrieved this session; DE-446's ship-level materials are pretrial recitals that concede non-asbestos insulation was possible. This row supplies document leads, not any finding about DE-533.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-05
-
[7]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 to automated fetch, HTTP 403; content via product-page description)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - program context relevant to mothballed hulls like this one, which sat in reserve 1946-1972 with no recommissioning or modernization yard period that would have disturbed original-era material.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not ship- or class-specific; describes Navy policy in 1975-79, years after this hull was struck and sold. Does not document what material was aboard DE-533 or its condition at scrapping.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-06
-
[8]This record's search ledger (sl-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-01 through -07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-01 through -07
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum/NPS record, or docketed case naming USS Howard F. Clark (DE-533) was found in the public sources searched. Web hits naming the hull for asbestos are law-firm marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com, freeasbestostesting.com, shepardlawfirm.com) - banned sources, recorded here only to note they carry no primary documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-44 steam-plant naval hull would have carried era-standard asbestos materials. This row establishes only that no ship-specific documentation was located; it neither establishes nor defeats any exposure or eligibility claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 sweep, opinion (type=o) and RECAP docket (type=r) indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-03 through -05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep by exact name and hull number, all hits classified: 'Howard F. Clark' opinions = 0 results; 'Howard F. Clark' dockets = 2 hits, both name collisions (HARDGROVE v. CROSBY 4:04-cv-00294 and SLEVIN v. BUSH 4:06-cv-00390, N.D. Fla. prisoner civil-rights cases where the string appears in filing text - not the ship, not asbestos); 'DE-533' opinions = 17 hits, all PACER docket-entry-number collisions ('[DE 533]' document references) - zero naval or asbestos cases. No qualifying asbestos litigation, no other litigation naming the vessel located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Index-level classification: the two 'Howard F. Clark' docket hits were classified from case metadata (prisoner civil-rights, N.D. Fla., no naval nexus) without full-text review - a name-string collision inside filing text cannot be wholly excluded, but neither docket is an asbestos case. CourtListener coverage is federal-oriented; state-court-only asbestos filings naming the hull would not appear. 'DE-533' docket query was attempted and deferred when the shared rate budget was spent - the opinion-index sweep plus exact-name docket sweep located nothing.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-howard-f-clark-de533-08