Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]DANFS, James C. Owens (DD-776) - verbatim transcription mirror (hazegray.org via Wayback capture 2024-05-25; live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-09-27) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specification block + full service narrative (hazegray dd776txt.htm transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 9 April 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, Calif.; launched 1 October 1944, sponsored by Mrs. James C. Owens, Jr., widow of Lt. Owens; commissioned 17 February 1945, Comdr. R. H. Blair in command (transcription prints 'R. n. Blair'; MBLWHOI archive finding aid prints R. H. Blair). WWII service: Okinawa arrival 17 June 1945; DesRon 24; East China Sea antishipping sweeps from 22 July 1945; Wakayama Occupation Group September-December 1945. Postwar Atlantic operations; Mediterranean deployments 1947-48 (Trieste; Palestine patrol and U.N. Mediation Team evacuation support). Decommissioned at Charleston, S.C., 3 April 1950; recommissioned 20 September 1950, Comdr. R. B. Erly in command. Korea: Western Pacific from 27 February 1952, blockade and interdiction; engaged shore batteries off Songjin 7 May 1952, sustaining six direct hits; second tour November 1953 - March 1954 armistice patrol. Norfolk/Guantanamo operations 1954-56; Puerto Rico hurricane assistance September 1955; Middle East deployment 1956 including Suez Canal transit during the crisis; Mediterranean 1957; NATO Operation 'Strikeback' September 1957; midshipman cruise June-August 1958; fifth Mediterranean/Middle East deployment August 1959 - March 1960 including Red Sea and Persian Gulf patrol; NATO 'Swordthrust' September 1960; Caribbean Cuban-arms interdiction November-December 1960; Mediterranean February-August 1961. Entered Charleston 11 January 1962 for an approximately 8-month FRAM II overhaul; resumed operations 19 December 1962 with Cuban surveillance patrols; Mediterranean August-December 1963; DASH facilities at Norfolk February 1964; Mediterranean midshipman cruise June-September 1964; Mediterranean cruise February-July 1965 (DANFS prints '17 February 1966' in sequence inconsistent with the Gemini V recovery mission that followed - a transcription or source date error, carried in gaps); Gemini V recovery ship August 1965; Charleston Naval Shipyard extended overhaul from 2 November 1965; Guantanamo Bay March 1966 (assistance to burning cruise ship Viking Princess); Apollo unmanned launch recovery August 1966; 6th Fleet September 1966 (rescue assistance to sinking Greek ferry Heraklion); returned Charleston 31 January 1967, where the DANFS narrative ends ('She remains a very active part of the Atlantic Fleet'). Two battle stars for World War II and two for the Korean conflict. Spec block: dp. 2,220; l. 376'6"; b. 41'2"; dr. 15'8"; s. 34 k.; cpl. 336; a. 6 5", 12 40mm., 11 20mm., 10 21"tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. Allen M. Sumner.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Pedro construction trades 1944-45; crew across 1945-1973 service (DANFS spec complement 336); yard workers at Charleston Naval Shipyard (1962 FRAM II, 1965-66 extended overhaul) and Norfolk (1964 DASH installation)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content - it establishes yard periods and crew-service windows relevant to exposure research, nothing more. The entry ends in January 1967 and does not cover Vietnam-era deployments, the 1973 decommissioning/stricken/transfer, or Brazilian service. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-01
-
[2]Navios de Guerra Brasileiros (NGB, naval.com.br), CT Sergipe - D 35, Classe Allen M. Sumner - FRAM II - Brazilian naval warship registry entry for ex-USS James C. Owens (DD-776) [other_primary]
- Locator
- naval.com.br/ngb/S/S042/S042.htm - 'Datas' block, 'Caracteristicas' block, 'Historico' narrative, 1995 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Brazilian-service record for this hull: USN baixa (striking) 15 July 1973; incorporated into the Marinha do Brasil 16 July 1973 at a Mostra de Armamento (armament exhibition/acceptance) ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, alongside CT Alagoas (D-36), under Ministry of the Navy Notice (Aviso do MM) No. 589 of 29/06/1973; first commander Capitao-de-Fragata Lize Costa; assigned to 1st Destroyer Squadron (ComEsqdCT-1) with Marcilio Dias (D-25), Para (D-27), Parana (D-29), Rio Grande do Norte (D-37). Registry records characteristics at Brazilian incorporation: 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers at 43.3 kg/cm2 and 454 C; 2 G.E. steam turbines, 60,000 shp, two shafts; complement 274 (14 officers, 260 enlisted); armament and sensor fit as modified (incl. Mk 32 ASW torpedo tubes and a Westland UH-2 Wasp helicopter). Stricken from Brazilian service 17 October 1995 after 22 years: 350,560 nautical miles in 1,377 days at sea.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1973-1995
- Population
- Brazilian Navy crew 1973-1995 (274 as incorporated)
- Limitations
- NGB is a respected Brazilian naval-history reference compiling official data (it quotes the Ministry notice number and ceremony details) but is a private publication, not a government source; the Brazilian Navy's official DPHDM repository holds only the ship's badge (distintivo), not a published historico for this hull. The one-day difference between the U.S. transfer date (15 July 1973 per secondary sources) and Brazilian incorporation (16 July 1973) is carried as recorded. Brazilian scrapping details (site, date) are not documented here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-02
-
[3]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 1125726, Docket No. 07-38 718 (decision 8 July 2011; on appeal from VA RO Columbia, S.C.) [other_primary]
- Locator
- va.gov vetapp11/files3/1125726.txt - Introduction, REMAND analysis, and numbered remand instructions 1-4
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Official VA appellate decision naming this hull in an asbestos claim: the veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy September 1956 - March 1978 and 'served aboard eight ships during his naval service, of which four were World War II era ship[s] (U.S.S. Heermann in 1957; U.S.S. James C. Owens from 1962 to 1963; U.S.S. Denebola from 1963 to 1964; and U.S.S. Tutuila from 1966 to 1967).' He claimed service connection for a restrictive respiratory disorder 'as due to inservice exposure to asbestos' aboard naval ships. The Board REMANDED for development: the RO/AMC was directed to provide the veteran copies of Navy asbestos-exposure assessment for his MOS, obtain further evidence on in-service and post-service exposure, obtain medical records, afford a new VA examination, and 'consider the Veteran's term service aboard a World War II era ships (U.S.S. Heermann in 1957; U.S.S. James C. Owens from 1962 to 1963; U.S.S. Denebola from 1963 to 1964; and U.S.S. Tutuila from 1966 to 1967), in conjunction with the provisions of the VBA Manual M21-1, Part VI, pertaining to asbestos exposure.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1962-1963 (alleged exposure window aboard this hull); 2007-2011 (claim and appeal)
- Population
- Single claimant: U.S. Navy veteran 1956-1978, aboard USS James C. Owens 1962-1963; claimed asbestos-related restrictive respiratory disorder
- Limitations
- Administrative claim at remand/development stage - the least-final posture short of denial; the Board adjudicated nothing about exposure aboard this hull and observed that the claimant's ships included three other WWII-era vessels, so no exposure could be apportioned to this hull even if proven. The decision recites M21-1 guidance that asbestos 'was used in the construction of World War II era ships' - a program-level presumption for claims processing, not a hull-specific material finding. The 1962-1963 service window aboard this hull coincides with the year following its FRAM II overhaul. Final outcome of the remanded claim not located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-03
-
[4]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-776 USS James C. Owens - 'Operational and Building Data' block and 'Fate' line (secondary photographic archive; direct fetch failed, content verified via search-index snippets) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/776.htm - 'Operational and Building Data' and 'Fate' lines; photo caption block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation corroboration for this hull's milestones: laid down by Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, 9 April 1944; launched 1 October 1944; commissioned 17 February 1945; decommissioned 3 April and recommissioned 20 September 1950; 'Completed FRAM upgrade October 1962'; decommissioned 15 July 1973; stricken 15 July 1973; 'To Brazil July 15 1973, renamed Sergipe'; 'Stricken October 17 1995 and broken up.' Photo captions document a drydocking in Japan in fall 1970 and NARA-held imagery (e.g., BuShips photo 19-NN series, NAID 24743861, the ship off Charleston circa 1950).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1995
- Population
- Crew 1967-1973 (post-DANFS window, incl. reported Vietnam deployments and 1970 Japan drydock); scrapping workers post-1995
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run photographic archive (secondary compilation), not an official record; direct page fetch failed this session and content was verified through search-index snippets, so day-level milestones rest on corroboration with DANFS, NGB, and navypedia rather than an independent primary read. The fall-1970 Japan drydocking and Vietnam-era deployment table come from contributed crew recollections and hullnumber-style data - carried as corroborative context, not primary record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-04
-
[5]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (2018; related published disposition 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235491) [court_record]
- Locator
- Omnibus Opinion and Order ECF No. 171 (engineering-drawing and tonnage-tally recitals)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital covering this hull's class: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites 'an engineering drawing for the insulation and lagging of forced draft blower turbines for the class of destroyers (DD 692, USS Allen M. Sumner class), within which the USS Harlan Dickson fell, specifies the use of amosite felts and asbestos cloths,' and quotes an expert report estimating that 'a partial tally of the weight of the asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging products in the fire ... and engine rooms of a ship belonging to the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Gearing (DD 710) classes of destroyers is 30.3 tons.' USS James C. Owens (DD-776) is an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1970s (materials era); 2018 (opinion)
- Population
- Class-level: Sumner/Gearing-class engineering-space crews and overhaul yard workers (era)
- Limitations
- Class-level recital only - the opinion quotes drawing and expert-report content for a different plaintiff's vessels and treats related exposure conclusions as speculative; nothing is adjudicated, and DD-776 is not named. Underlying exhibits (the drawing; the 30.3-ton report) were not retrieved from RECAP. This row contextualizes research priority; it is never a ship-specific finding for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-05
-
[6]NARA guided topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard U.S. Naval Vessels up through 1961' + GAO HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (Oct. 18, 1979) + DANFS spec block/narrative (propulsion and yard periods) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA guided-topics page (Navy asbestos through 1961); GAO HRD-80-2 product page; DANFS narrative yard periods
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull was built April 1944 - February 1945 around a four-boiler Babcock & Wilcox superheated steam plant with geared turbines of 60,000 shp - the peak Navy asbestos era - and NARA's research guide describes asbestos use across U.S. Navy materiel up through 1961, a window covering her construction and first sixteen years of service. GAO documents fleet insulation policy (1975: asbestos insulation removed only when damaged or required for repairs; 1979: modified to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas), so original-era insulation typically remained aboard unless a yard period disturbed it. This hull's documented yard events - the 1962 FRAM II overhaul at Charleston and the November 1965 - 1966 extended overhaul at Charleston Naval Shipyard (named explicitly in DANFS for the 1965 event), the February 1964 DASH installation at Norfolk, and the reported fall-1970 Japan drydocking - are the type of events that disturbed insulation under era practice. Her 1973-1995 Brazilian service and post-1995 scrapping add undocumented material-history phases abroad.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1995
- Population
- Bethlehem San Pedro construction trades; overhaul-yard workers at Charleston NSY and Norfolk; crew 1945-1973; Brazilian crew and yard workers 1973-1995; scrapping workers post-1995
- Limitations
- Inference only - no ship-specific material document establishes asbestos aboard DD-776. The NARA guide and GAO report are program-level sources; FRAM/overhaul asbestos scope aboard this hull is inferred, not documented. Establishes no product, quantity, location, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-06
-
[7]Online Archive of California finding aid, 'James C. Owens, Jr. papers,' Collection no. 5032, University Archives, USC Libraries (namesake biography + collection description) [museum_official]
- Locator
- OAC finding aid ark:/13030/c8d79k3f - Biographical/historical note
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Namesake record for this hull: Lieutenant James C. Owens, Jr. (born in Batavia, N.Y.; Los Angeles High School 1929 [finding aid] - military records give 5 December 1910; USC mechanical engineering 1934), Naval Aviator post-Pensacola, served aboard Lexington (CV-2), joined Torpedo Squadron 8 aboard Hornet (CV-8) in 1941; appointed Lieutenant 1942 and served as squadron executive officer/second-division leader of TBD Devastators at the Battle of Midway 4 June 1942, where the squadron was lost; awarded the Purple Heart, Navy Cross, and Presidential Unit Citation posthumously. 'In 1944 a Navy destroyer was named in his honor (the USS James C. Owens).' The USC collection preserves his memorabilia including citations and photographs of the destroyer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1910-1944
- Limitations
- Namesake and naming lineage only - bears on vessel identity, not materials. DD-776's own DANFS entry does not recount the namesake biography; the biography rests on the USC archive finding aid and consistent secondary accounts.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-07
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep, 2026-09-27 (cl-auth-search.py, fleet-paced): "James C. Owens" opinions = 27 hits, all sampled person-name collisions (bankruptcy, criminal, civil litigants - no ship); "USS James C. Owens" opinions = 0; "James C. Owens" dockets = 59 hits, 20 sampled all individual bankruptcy name collisions; "DD-776" opinions = 0; "DD-776" dockets = 1 (Buqueras v. Sharecare, N.D. Ga. - securities case, docket-text collision) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search responses, 2026-09-27 (see search_ledger sl-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-04)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located in CourtListener's indexes. Exact-name opinion hits are all person-name collisions (the namesake-style name 'James C. Owens' matches individual litigants, not the ship). The single hull-number docket hit is a securities case (Buqueras v. Sharecare, Inc., N.D. Ga. 2024) in which 'DD-776' appears in docket text unrelated to the vessel - a string collision. Separately, a qualifying asbestos-related administrative claim naming this hull exists outside CourtListener coverage: BVA Citation 1125726 (see ev-03).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- Coverage limits: CourtListener indexes do not comprehensively cover pre-PACER federal filings, state-court dockets, VA adjudications, or MDL-875 consolidation records; absence of a hit does not prove no asbestos claim ever named this hull. 39 of 59 'James C. Owens' docket hits were unsampled (all sampled rows are bankruptcy collisions; the unsampled tail follows the same pattern but was not individually verified).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-08
-
[9]This record's search ledger: NHHC DANFS live page (404; mirror used); Naval Vessel Register (no record - pre-1987 disposal); MARAD public ship-history search (no record located - foreign transfer, never in MARAD/NDRF custody); Brazilian DPHDM repository (badge only, no historico PDF); NGB Brazilian registry; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweeps; VA BVA decision search; NARA catalog attempt; NavSource; asbestos-topic web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for this hull: no asbestos survey, material specification, sampling result, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum disclosure, or adjudicated asbestos finding naming USS James C. Owens (DD-776) was found in the sources searched. The only ship-specific asbestos claim located is an unadjudicated VA remand naming the hull (ev-03). Asbestos claims about this hull in open sources are confined to law-firm and marketing pages asserting standard era inference; all were excluded under batch source rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- A search-scope finding, not proof of absence: NARA RG 19 Ship General Information Books (per-hull material specifications), deck logs, and individual yard work packages are unretrieved; CourtListener coverage of MDL-875 and state filings is incomplete; Brazilian-era refit and scrapping documentation is not public in U.S. sources. 'No ship-specific record located' is the finding - it does not assert the hull contained no asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-james-c-owens-dd776-09