Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet fl-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-john-rodgers-dd574-pkt-fl-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, John Rodgers II (DD-574) - NHHC page (published 2015-07-23); verbatim text retrieved via Wayback capture 2025-12-09 because the live NHHC page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS 'John Rodgers II' entry: spec block + full service narrative (Wayback capture 2025-12-09 of history.navy.mil)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 25 July 1941 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched 7 May 1942, sponsored by Miss Helen Perry Rodgers; commissioned 9 February 1943, Comdr. H. O. Parrish. Spec block: Fletcher class; 2,050 t; 376'5"; cpl 273; 5x5", 10x40mm, 7x20mm, 10x21" tt. Caribbean shakedown; departed Norfolk 13 May 1943 for the Pacific; carrier raids on Marcus, Tarawa, Wake; Bougainville; Betio landings 20 November 1943; Kwajalein 31 January 1944; Hollandia; Marianas (Guam, >3,600 rounds from 21 July 1944); Morotai; Leyte landings from 20 October 1944; Mare Island, Calif. overhaul November 1944-early January 1945; TF 58 strikes on Japan from 16 February 1945; Iwo Jima 19 February; Okinawa from 1 April (two kamikazes splashed); DesDiv 25 Suruga Wan antishipping sweep late July 1945; occupation transports into Tokyo Bay 6 September 1945; arrived Boston 17 October; Charleston 3 November; decommissioned there 25 May 1946 into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; moved to Philadelphia 1954; berthed in Texas. 12 WWII battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1968 (USN custody)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 273); reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-68
- Limitations
- DANFS documents builder, dates, specifications, and service narrative - not materials or asbestos content. The entry's postwar line ('at present she is berthed in Texas') reflects pre-1968 text; striking and transfer dates are not given and are carried from NavSource (ev-04) with conflicts noted in gaps. Mirror/wayback cited because the live NHHC URL 404s.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-01
-
[3]Walt Baranger, 'A World War II Destroyer's Demise in Mexico,' New York Times At War, 11 April 2012 (Yadira Solano contributed reporting) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- NYT At War blog, 2012-04-11, paragraph beginning 'However, any group trying to save an old warship faces daunting obstacles'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Named-hull asbestos-content statement: reporting on this hull (ex-Cuitláhuac) while it lay condemned at the Lázaro Cárdenas granary pier, the Times states 'it was laced with asbestos, toxic lubricants, solvents, fuels and lead-based paint, all of which must be removed before preservationists can work.' The article also documents the end-of-life chain: Mexican Navy decommissioned Cuitláhuac 2001; Beauchamp Tower Corporation (Milton, Fla.) named owner by 2006 presidential proclamation; ship abandoned at the pier and stripped; condemned 2010 as a derelict and hazard to navigation; dismantled 2010-2011 per Lázaro Cárdenas port captain Miguel Ángel Martínez Hernández; scrap steel sent to a Monterrey smelter.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2006-2012 reporting; hull condition as found
- Population
- Would-be preservation workers, tow/inspection teams, and dismantling workers at Lázaro Cárdenas (2006-2011)
- Limitations
- Reputable-press reporting, not an ACM survey: asserts asbestos present aboard this hull but identifies no product, location, quantity, or fiber type; the asbestos assertion is not attributed to a named inspector or report; describes condition c. 2006-2012 (decades after construction; Mexican-era material state undocumented); does not document crew-era exposure or whether removal occurred before/during dismantling. Companion NYT piece (15 July 2008, Lacey & Baranger) calls obsolete museum-candidate warships 'floating asbestos mines' - a general characterization, not a hull-specific finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-02
-
[4]Diario Oficial de la Federación (Mexico), 'DECLARATORIA de abandono de la embarcación denominada Cuitláhuac,' DOF 30 July 2010 - signed 15 July 2010 by Ildefonso Carrillo Mora, Capitán de Puerto de Lázaro Cárdenas (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes); verbatim PDF mirror at abbot.us [other_primary]
- Locator
- DOF 30/07/2010, Declaratoria de abandono - considerandos + declaratoria primera-cuarta; PDF mirror JohnRodgersCondemnation.pdf
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Official Mexican federal record identifying and disposing of this hull: declares abandoned 'la embarcación denominada CUITLAHUAC ... Ex Matrícula asignada por la Secretaría de Marina: E-01, Clase Fletcher (buque cañonero), Eslora 114.7 mts, 2,700 toneladas largas' in favor of the Nation, free of liens, under the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, with the Lázaro Cárdenas port captain to set scrapping (desguace) terms 'de acuerdo con la normatividad aplicable.' Recites the chain of custody: DOF Acuerdo of 30 November 2006 authorized SEMAR to donate the Fletcher-class vessel to Beauchamp Tower Corporation for hurricane-relief storage/shelter; physical delivery recorded 30 December 2006 to Beauchamp Tower's shipping agent Representaciones Marítimas, S.A. de C.V.; the vessel then sat unmanned, unworked, and without berthing authorization at the commercial pier through 2009-2010 removal demands.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2006-2010
- Population
- Port authorities; eventual dismantling workers under the scrapping order
- Limitations
- Primary regulatory record of condemnation and scrapping order for this hull - but contains NO asbestos or hazmat itemization; does not itself document materials aboard. Cited text is a third-party verbatim mirror (abbot.us) of the DOF item; the canonical dof.gob.mx entry was not located for direct citation. Effective date per its first transitory article is the business day after the 30 July 2010 publication (NavSource reads 2 August 2010).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-03
-
[5]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index, USS John Rodgers (DD-574) - operational/building data block [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/574.htm - 'Operational and Building Data' block and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposition data for this hull (secondary compilation consistent with the DANFS narrative): built by Consolidated Steel, Orange TX (YN 199); commissioned 9 February 1943; decommissioned 25 May 1946; stricken 1 May 1968; to Mexico 19 August 1970, renamed ARM Cuitláhuac (IE-01, later E-01); retired by the Mexican Navy 16 July 2001; acquired by Beauchamp Tower Corp., Milton FL, 30 December 2006 for intended preservation at Mobile AL; seized by the Mexican government as derelict for unpaid fees/liens 2 August 2010; dismantled and scrapped at Lázaro Cárdenas September 2010-April 2011. NavSource captions also date the Mare Island overhaul 24 November 1944-10 January 1945 and describe the ship as 'the last Fletcher-class destroyer in active military service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-2011
- Population
- Mexican Navy crews 1970-2001; reserve-fleet caretakers
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not a primary record: used for stricken/transfer/retirement/scrapping dates DANFS omits. NavSource reads 'Laid down 25 June 1941' against DANFS '25 July 1941' - conflict carried in gaps. Its '2 August 2010' seizure date tracks the declaratoria's effective date rather than its 30 July publication. Mexican-era flag/designation variants (IE-01/E-01/E02/F2) differ across secondary sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-04
-
[6]DANFS spec block (Fletcher class; 35 kt; cpl 273) + fletcher-class.class.json machinery block (4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers; 2-shaft GE geared turbines; 60,000 shp) + GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; class-c/fletcher-class.class.json technical block; gao.gov product page (full text HTTP 403 to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-42 at Consolidated Steel, Orange TX, with a four-boiler 60,000-shp steam plant, falls squarely inside the Navy's documented peak asbestos-insulation era (GAO HRD-80-2: asbestos substitution was not begun until the early 1970s - after this hull was already out of USN service). Period-standard applications for the type: boiler and steam-line lagging, turbine insulation, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-2011
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1941-42; USN crew 1943-46; Mexican Navy crew 1970-2001
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT an independent hull finding. The ship-specific asbestos statement for this hull is ev-02 (NYT 2012). Builder yard Consolidated Steel (Orange TX) is not in the Atlas shipyard dataset, so no yard-level industrial-hygiene record contextualizes this build; no BuShips material schedule for DD-574 located. Does not quantify material aboard or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweeps: "USS John Rodgers" (type=o = 0 hits; type=r = 1 hit) - Hornsby v. United States, No. 2:22-cv-00427 (E.D. Va., filed 2022-10-14, terminated 2025-04-02), Douglas I. Hornsby, Administrator of the Estate of Cynthia Gary, v. United States et al.; cause 33:0901 LHWCA; defendants incl. Metro Machine Corp. and ship-repair contractors [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 65423955 (vaed 2:22-cv-00427); matching attachments at /docket/65423955/159/2/, /157/2/, /165/11/ (MSJ exhibits, captions only in index)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep state for this hull: exact-phrase 'USS John Rodgers' returned zero published opinions and one RECAP docket (Hornsby v. United States, E.D. Va. 2022 - a marine/LHWCA estate case against U.S. government and Norfolk-area ship-repair contractors; the 'USS John Rodgers' text match sits in summary-judgment exhibit attachments whose indexed snippets show only the caption); hull-number 'DD-574' returned zero opinion hits. Whether the Hornsby reference lists DD-574 as a claimed exposure site, a yard-work situs, or another context - and whether it could instead denote the third ship of the name, DD-983 (Spruance class, 1979-1998) - is unresolvable from indexed text. NOT classified as qualifying asbestos litigation.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2022-2025 litigation
- Population
- Estate of Cynthia Gary (plaintiff side); Norfolk-area ship-repair workforce context
- Limitations
- Classified down per litigation-stage discipline: a docket-index text match is not an allegation reviewable on the merits. Full-text exhibit retrieval via CourtListener was deferred under fleet-wide request pacing; the reference's role stays unresolved. Hornsby is a LHWCA/marine action - asbestos exposure is plausible context but unverified; no exposure finding may be drawn either way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-06
-
[8]Batch-3546 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback), NavSource, NYT 2008+2012, DOF declaratoria 2010, shipyards.json, CourtListener exact-name sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos litigation naming DD-574 located (zero opinion hits for both 'USS John Rodgers' and 'DD-574'; single docket reference unresolved - ev-06). No ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or material inventory for this hull located in any source checked - including the 2006-2010 preservation effort's public record, the 2010 DOF condemnation declaratoria, and Mexican-era reporting. The only affirmative ship-specific asbestos statement located is the NYT 2012 report (ev-02).
- 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 or of exposure - it documents the search result honestly. The NYT statement and the demolition context are consistent with retained era materials aboard at end of life, but no survey ever documented them publicly. State-court, trust-fund, and non-digitized records are outside this sweep's coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-rodgers-dd574-07