Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet eu-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-ingraham-dd444-pkt-eu-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Ingraham II (DD-444) (specifications block + service narrative + striking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative + namesake biography
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 15 February 1941 by the Charleston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. George Ingraham Hutchinson, granddaughter of Captain Duncan N. Ingraham; commissioned 17 July 1941, Lt. Comdr. W. H. Haynsworth, Jr. in command; convoy escort duty from December 1941 (US-Iceland-UK, south to Panama Canal); on the night of 22 August 1942, while investigating the collision of USS Buck (DD-420) with a merchant vessel, collided with tanker Chemung (AO-30) in heavy fog off Nova Scotia and sank almost immediately as her stern depth charges exploded; 11 men survived; struck from the Navy Register 11 September 1942. Spec block: 1,630 t, 347 ft 9 in, 36 ft 1 in beam, 11 ft 10 in draft, 33 kt, complement 208, 5x5-in/12x.50-cal/1 Y-gun/10x21-in TT/2 DCT, class Gleaves.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1939-41; wartime crew (design complement 208)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service narrative, specifications, and striking - not materials or asbestos content. States no death toll ('only 11 men survived'); casualty figures in secondary sources vary and are carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-444 USS Ingraham (operational/building data + captioned U.S. Navy photographs) + History of War, 'USS Ingraham (DD-444)' timeline page (convoy TC-16 escort Dec 1941; Indiana BB-58 speed-trial screen 1-2 Jun 1942) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DD-444 index page - building data block; photo captions (keel laying 1939-11-15; commissioning 1941-07-17; Brooklyn Navy Yard 1942-08-08)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource hull record corroborates DANFS dates and adds hull-level detail: keel-laying photograph captioned 'US Navy Yard, Charleston, SC 15 November 1939, USS Ingraham (DD-444) keel laying'; commissioning photograph captioned 'Captain Otway Burns gives invocation ... at Charleston Navy Yard, SC, 17 July 1941'; machinery line records 50,000 shp Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 screws, crew 208; a photograph shows the ship at New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard 8 August 1942, sixteen days before loss, seen from USS Murphy (DD-603). History of War's compiled timeline adds: 15 December 1941 departed Halifax with Ericsson (DD-440) and Ludlow (DD-438) escorting Canadian troop convoy TC-16 toward Iceland, detaching in Icelandic waters 22 December; 1-2 June 1942 screened Indiana (BB-58) on speed trials with Hilary P. Jones, Charles F. Hughes (DD-428), and Woolsey (DD-437).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard trades; wartime crew
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photographic archive plus a secondary timeline compilation - reputable secondary sources, not materials records; neither contains asbestos information. NavSource's 'all but 10 of her crew were lost' line conflicts with the 11-survivor figure in DANFS and uboat.net - discrepancy carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-02
-
[4]National Post, 'True story behind wartime propaganda revealed: How 300 U.S. sailors died off the coast of Nova Scotia' (2015-08-03) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- National Post article body (Jefferson journal quotes; board-of-inquiry sonar finding; Ottawa Journal propaganda account)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Investigation of the 22 August 1942 loss drawing on the Halifax censor's daily journal (H.B. Jefferson) and the post-war-released U.S. Navy board of inquiry: convoy T-20/AT-20 sailed Halifax 21-22 August with ~5,000 Canadian troops aboard Awatea and Letitia under a heavy escort (battleship, cruiser, 11 destroyers); an erroneous submarine report in dense fog - the board of inquiry concluded the escorts' sonar probably detected dolphins - set off the maneuvering that preceded the Buck-Awatea and Ingraham-Chemung collisions; the sinking was suppressed by censors and later recast in a planted propaganda story (Ottawa Journal, 30 June 1944) in which a destroyer 'deliberately absorbed' a torpedo meant for Awatea; the dead are named on the East Coast Memorial, New York City (American Battle Monuments Commission).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1944 (events); 2015 (reporting)
- Population
- Crew of DD-444 (~229 aboard per uboat.net accounting); convoy AT-20 escorts and embarked troops
- Limitations
- Press investigation of an official record set, not the record itself - the board of inquiry report is cited, not reproduced. Its 'crew of more than 300' and '300 sailors died' figures conflict with DANFS's design complement of 208 and the ~218-dead accounting in uboat.net - the higher figures appear to total the night's casualties and are carried as a discrepancy in gaps, not asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-03
-
[5]uboat.net, Allied Warships of WWII - USS Ingraham (i) (DD 444) entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net DD-444 entry (history paragraph + ship data table)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Reputable naval reference gives the loss accounting and position not in DANFS: Ingraham (Cdr. William McCall Haynsworth, Jr., USN) sank after a violent collision with USS Chemung in 'pea-soup fog' off Nova Scotia in position 42 deg 34 min N, 60 deg 05 min W; part of Task Force 37 escorting Convoy AT-20 to the UK; an internal explosion followed the collision; 218 of the crew lost; 11 survivors (one officer, ten ratings) rescued by Chemung's boat crews. Build data corroborated: ordered 1 July 1939, laid down 15 November 1939, launched 15 February 1941, commissioned 17 July 1941, lost 22 August 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Crew at loss (218 dead + 11 survivors per this source)
- Limitations
- Secondary reference work (Allied Warships of WWII database) - casualty figure of 218 dead conflicts with MaritimeQuest's 214 and NavSource's 'all but 10' survivor line; the rescue-ship attribution to Chemung conflicts with MaritimeQuest's USS Bristol - both discrepancies carried in gaps. Position is the reported loss position, not a surveyed wreck fix; no public wreck survey located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-04
-
[6]Consolidated era inference - Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 1 (Jan 1945) machinery data for the DD-421 class + Atlas shipyard dataset, Charleston Naval Shipyard record (documented asbestos products + litigation at yard level) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB1945v1 DD machinery table; shipyards.geojson record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (evidence_tier 2)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Gleaves-subclass destroyer built 1939-41 with four superheated B&W boilers (575 psi / 700 degF per BuShips Ships' Data 1945) and ~50,000-shp geared-turbine plant - peak Navy asbestos era - would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation in fireroom and machinery spaces, steam-line and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The builder, Charleston Naval Shipyard, is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2): magnesia pipe insulation, asbestos cement, boiler external coatings at 15% asbestos, pipe insulation at 5-50% asbestos, gaskets, packing, brake linings, fireproofing in living quarters - plus documented yard-level litigation ($70.8M Whalen verdict 2014; $40M Twidwell verdict 2018) and an OSHA asbestos citation (1988 inspection, 29 CFR 1910.1001).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1939-41; crew Jul 1941 - Aug 1942
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific record was located for this or any Benson/Gleaves member in the class profile's sweeps, and none is expected here: the ship sank after 13 months in service. The yard's documented products date from later eras (OSHA 1988; verdicts for postwar exposures) and do not prove what was installed on this hull in 1940-41. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweeps, 2026-09-27 (authenticated; type=o and type=r): 'USS Ingraham' exact name; 'Ingraham' asbestos navy ship; 'DD-444/DD 444'; 'aboard USS Ingraham'/'aboard the Ingraham'; 'Ingraham' destroyer (docket); 'DD-694/DD 694' [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ingraham-dd444-06/07/08/09/12/13
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Exact-name opinion sweep returned one hit - United States v. Oakley, NMCCA 201200299 (N-M. Ct. Crim. App. 2015), a sexual-assault court-martial; its Northwest convening authority and the service window identify the vessel as FFG-61, a name collision, not asbestos litigation. 'Ingraham asbestos navy ship' returned Fiedler v. United States (9th Cir. 2026) - the Conception dive-boat mass-death admiralty case; 'Ingraham' there is a cited law-review author (surname collision). Hull-number opinion sweep ('DD-444'/'DD 444') returned one hit, G&B of Jacksonville v. State (Fla. App. 1978) - a beverage-license number collision. 'Aboard USS Ingraham'/'aboard the Ingraham' opinion sweep: zero hits. Docket sweep 'USS Ingraham' returned seven hits: four asbestos personal-injury removal dockets in which the name appears in indexed docket text (Redman v. A.W. Chesterton 3:08-cv-03013 N.D. Cal.; Viscosi v. American Optical 3:07-cv-01559 D. Conn.; Greenleaf v. Atlas Copco 3:14-cv-00051 S.D. Ill.; Brown v. Amchem Products 1:19-cv-05844 S.D.N.Y.), two prisoner s.2255 dockets (Ramos, Bermello, M.D. Fla.), and one bankruptcy (Northwest Territorial Mint, W.D. Wash.) - the latter three name collisions. Hull attribution resolved for all four asbestos dockets, and all four are namesake DD-694 (1944-1971), not this hull: Viscosi alleges exposure aboard 'the USS Ingraham' 1949-1952 as fireman/boiler tender (D. Conn. remand opinion, Doc. 64); Greenleaf's plaintiff was 'stationed on the USS Tweedy and USS Ingraham' in 1969 (S.D. Ill. opinion, Doc. 377); Brown's exposure was Brooklyn Navy Yard sheet-metal work 1954-55 and 1958-62 on USS Constellation and other ships of that era; and Redman's own indexed docket text contains 'DD-694' (confirmed by the 'USS Ingraham' + 'DD-694' docket sweep).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener-indexed opinion and RECAP docket text plus public docket-report pages (ecf.ctd.uscourts.gov, law.justia.com) used to date-window the hits; un-indexed dockets, un-digitized pleadings, and state-court filings are outside coverage. All four asbestos docket hits are DD-694 by their own alleged exposure dates or indexed hull number (post-1944 service - DD-444 sank August 1942) and are classified as name collisions, not evidence as to this hull. Absence of a located qualifying case does not prove none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-06
-
[8]This record's search ledger (2026-09-27): DANFS/NHHC, NavSource, uboat.net, National Post, CourtListener sweeps, Atlas shipyard dataset [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ingraham-dd444-01 through sl-uss-ingraham-dd444-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey exists or is feasible on the public record (reported loss position in deep Atlantic water southeast of Sable Island; no wreck location, dive, or survey documentation located), no abatement or hazmat disclosure exists, no museum holds the hull, and no adjudicated or pleading-stage asbestos case is resolved to DD-444. The hull sank 22 August 1942 after ~13 months in commission, foreclosing the postwar overhaul/abatement documentation pathway.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - class/era inference (ev-05) makes original installation probable but unproven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility for the ~218 lost crewmen, the 11 survivors, or construction-yard workers.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-07
-
[9]Convoy AT-20 record reconstruction by Frank E. Dailey, Jr. (USN ensign aboard USS Edison DD-439 in the AT-20 screen) - 'Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945' companion pages, citing National Archives deck logs and the Navy Court of Inquiry report on the Chemung collision role [other_primary]
- Locator
- daileyint.com/seawar/apdjtwas.htm and apejtwas.htm (Part II - 'Official Navy Records on Convoy AT-20')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documented archival record set not yet retrieved: the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the AT-20 collisions (examining Chemung's role) exists and was consulted by a convoy participant; National Archives deck logs for DD-444 (RG 24, July 1941-August 1942), the BuShips General Information Books per-hull material specifications (RG 19), and NHHC photo archives (keel laying 15 Nov 1939; commissioning 17 Jul 1941 at Charleston) are the primary leads for any hull-level material documentation. The participant account independently corroborates the collision sequence: Buck's stern sliced by Awatea, Ingraham struck by Chemung and exploding, Chemung left burning forward.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942 (records); site consulted 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- An eyewitness-author companion website is a secondary source - cited here only to evidence that the Court of Inquiry report and deck logs exist at NARA; neither the report nor the logs was retrieved or reviewed, and neither is known to contain asbestos information. Archival retrieval not performed (no spend authorized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ingraham-dd444-08