Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, John W. Thomason (DD-760) - Naval History and Heritage Command ship-history entry (published 2015-07-23); live page verified 2026-09-27 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (live page; bare-agent fetches 404, browser UA returns 200)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Col. John William Thomason, Jr., USMC (Navy Cross and Silver Star, Soissons 1918; died San Diego Naval Hospital 1944-03-12). Launched by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, 1944-09-30; sponsored by Mrs. John W. Thomason; commissioned 1945-10-11, Comdr. W. L. Tagg. Spec block: 2,200 tons, 376'5" x 41' x 15'8", 34 kt, cpl. 336, Allen M. Sumner class. Shakedown out of San Diego; Naval Reserve training cruises from Seattle and San Francisco; first Far East deployment December 1948 (Tsingtao, Marines ashore in China). Three Korean tours 1950-1953: TF 77 screen, Wonsan bombardment November 1950, Songjin rail targets February 1952, Wonsan harbor shore-battery duel 1953-07-07 (shrapnel hits; three batteries silenced) through armistice 1953-07-27. Annual 7th Fleet Korea/Formosa Strait deployments 1954-1956. March 1959 entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard as prototype ship for the new FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) program: helicopter deck and hangar aft, variable-depth sonar, latest electronics, improved living/working spaces; sailed 1961-03-08 as flagship DesDiv 72; Laos patrol April-May 1961; further sonar conversion at Long Beach until July 1962; Mercury recovery with Kearsarge task unit May 1963; Vietnam deployments from 1965 (Indochina coast 1965-03-21 to 04-28; Danang/Chu Lai gunfire support; Operations Osage, Deckhouse I, Deckhouse III 1966). Seven battle stars Korea, three Vietnam.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943-45; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Narrative ends in 1967 - decommissioning (1970), striking (1974), and Taiwan transfer (1974) are not covered here and are sourced to NavSource (ev-02) and the ROC archive record (ev-03). No laid-down date in this DANFS entry; 1943-11-21 carried from NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-760 USS John W. Thomason - Operational and Building Data block (Wayback capture 2024-12-12; live navsource.org unreachable 2026-09-27) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-760 page, 'Operational and Building Data' + machinery block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building record for this hull: built by Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco, CA (yard number 5414); laid down 1943-11-21; launched 1944-09-30; commissioned 1945-10-11; completed FRAM upgrade January 1960; decommissioned 1970-12-08; stricken 1974-02-01; to Taiwan 1974-05-06, renamed Nan Yang. Machinery block: 60,000 shp, General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; as-built displacement 3,218 tons full; callsign NKOL.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled photographic-history index drawing on DANFS/NVR-lineage data - authoritative for dates but not a primary document; live site unreachable today, 2024-12 Wayback capture cited. Its 'FRAM upgrade January 1960' completion date sits inside DANFS's March 1959-March 1961 yard-and-trials window - both carried; see gaps. Yard number 5414 conflicts with navypedia's 5415 - minor source divergence noted in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-02
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[3]Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of National Defense digital archive (nmda.teldap.tw, Taiwan e-Learning & Digital Archives Program), 'Nan Yang (II) - ship history' DDG-917 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- nmda.teldap.tw page_book01_20_ddg917.htm - history paragraph, CO roster, specs table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- ROC Navy archival record for this hull under Taiwan custody: 'DDG-917 was the ex-USS Thomason, the Sumner-class destroyer, DD-760'; transferred to ROC Navy and renamed Nan Yang, hull number DD-917; in 1982 underwent the Wu-Chin I combat-system modernization program (3-dimensional ASW/AAW/ASuW capability); served ROC Navy 26 years on Taiwan Strait patrol, offshore-island supply convoy, midshipman training-cruise and flotilla missions; decommissioned 2000-01-16. Page carries an 18-entry commanding-officer roster and a specs block (376'6" x 41', 34 kt, 2,890 t max / 2,200 t standard).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1974-2000
- Population
- ROC Navy crew 1974-2000
- Limitations
- Official ROC digital-archive transcription of a Chinese-language vessel history - page is Big5-encoded with partial rendering issues; English summary text verified. Its 'transferred to ROC Navy on June 23, 1974' conflicts with NavSource's 1974-05-06 transfer date (secondary sources give ROC commissioning 1975-06-23; the nmda date likely conflates commissioning) - NavSource date carried; see gaps. Wu-Chin 'I' vs 'II' program numbering varies across secondary sources. No materials or asbestos content documented; post-2000 reserve disposition and reported 2006 target sinking not addressed by this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-03
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[4]United States v. Robert J. Burton, Seaman Apprentice USN, 13 C.M.A. 645, 33 C.M.R. 177 (U.S. Court of Military Appeals 1963) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener opinion 8596223, opening paragraph of Ferguson, J., opinion of the court
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal appellate opinion explicitly naming this hull: 'A special court-martial convened by the Commanding Officer, U.S.S. JOHN W. THOMASON (DD-760)' found the accused guilty of absence without leave and possession of a false liberty pass (opinion filed 1963-04-12). Non-asbestos litigation - it corroborates the hull in active commissioned service circa 1962-63 but contains no exposure, materials, or shipyard content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1963
- Population
- USS John W. Thomason command/crew circa 1962-1963
- Limitations
- Other litigation, not qualifying asbestos litigation: a UCMJ court-martial review with no asbestos content whatsoever. Carried as a hull-identity corroboration (published opinion naming DD-760 verbatim), not exposure evidence. Establishes nothing about materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-04
-
[5]Felton JS, 'Radiographic search for asbestos-related disease in a naval shipyard,' Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 330:341-52 (1979), PMID 294186 - Long Beach Naval Shipyard workforce survey; Atlas shipyards.json 'long-beach-naval-shipyard' (tier 1) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed abstract PMID 294186; shipyards.json 'long-beach-naval-shipyard' evidence rows ev-long-beach-01/-02
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Yard-level cohort evidence for the yard where this hull spent ~3 years: the Long Beach Naval Shipyard chest x-ray survey covered 6,640 employees (88.6% of the yard population) and found 1,061 (16.0%) with asbestos-related abnormal radiographic findings, rising with age (to 38.2% at age 65+) and length of service (to 37.0% at 22-26 years). DANFS documents this hull inside that yard as FRAM prototype March 1959 onward, with follow-on sonar conversion work 'at Long Beach' through July 1962 - nearly two decades before the survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1959-1962 (yard presence); 1979 (survey)
- Population
- 6,640 Long Beach Naval Shipyard employees (1979 survey); DD-760 FRAM yard period population unquantified
- Limitations
- Yard-level context, not hull evidence: the survey measures the LBNSY workforce circa 1979, not conditions aboard DD-760 during 1959-62. It establishes that the yard where this hull's FRAM prototype conversion occurred had a documented asbestos-exposed workforce; it does not establish that DD-760 carried ACM, that it was disturbed, or that any person aboard this hull was exposed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-05
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[6]DANFS specifications block (Allen M. Sumner class; four-boiler steam plant lineage) + class-c profile allen-m-sumner-class.class.json era notes + Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyards.json) - builder yard absent [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; allen-m-sumner-class.class.json class_notes/gaps; shipyards.json yard list
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Sumner-class destroyer built 1943-45 at a wartime commercial yard with a four-boiler, geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; the 1959-62 FRAM prototype modernization at Long Beach Naval Shipyard predates the Navy's early-1970s substitution era and would have disturbed original-era insulation. Builder Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco (the former Union Iron Works yard, Potrero Point) has no Atlas shipyards.json yard_id - no builder-yard asbestos record available to cross-link; NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications remain an archival lead.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943-45; crew 1945-70; FRAM yard workers 1959-62
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-era inference only - there is no ship-specific asbestos finding for this hull; this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-06
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos-insulation use with substitution of alternative materials not beginning until the early 1970s - this hull's construction (1943-45), FRAM prototype conversion (1959-62), and entire U.S. Navy service (1945-1970) all fall inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era under study 1940s-1970s
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program level)
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only - not hull evidence. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov HTTP 403 to automated fetches, standing block since batch-01); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-07
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[8]Batch-3735 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; NavSource (Wayback); NVR detail page; ibiblio/HyperWar and hazegray DANFS mirrors; ROC MND digital archive; CourtListener type=o + type=r via authenticated API v4; direct RECAP PDF read of Siegfried ECF Doc. 50; asbestos-specific web sweep; NARA RG 19 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-01 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation or ship-specific asbestos documentation located for this hull: CourtListener 'DD-760' opinion search returned one hit (United States v. Burton, 13 C.M.A. 645 (1963)) - a non-asbestos court-martial convened aboard this hull, classified other litigation; 'USS John W. Thomason', 'John W. Thomason' asbestos, and 'USS Thomason' opinion queries returned no results; 'Thomason' asbestos opinion search returned 69 surname-collision hits (first page reviewed - no vessel content; vessel references are already covered by the exact-name and hull-number queries at zero/one hits). 'John W. Thomason' docket hits (6 cases / 53 documents), 'DD-760' docket hits (4 dockets / 5 documents), and the single 'USS John W. Thomason' docket hit (United States v. QTC Medical Services, C.D. Cal. 2:14-cv-08961, a False Claims Act suit about VA-contract medical examinations where the vessel name appears incidentally) are all name collisions - no asbestos or Navy-vessel-exposure content. The Siegfried v. 3M vessel list (C.D. Cal. 2:18-cv-01575, ECF Doc. 50 - full text retrieved and read) names 39 Navy vessels including adjacent sister hull USS Lofberg (DD-759); DD-760 is NOT among them - verified exclusion. No hull ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or government inspection record found in public sources searched (see search_ledger).
- 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 - the hull's build era and FRAM timing are consistent with era-standard ACM, unproven for this hull. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener coverage: the asbestos-relevant queries are complete (exact name + hull number on both opinion and docket layers; one page of bare-'Thomason' noise reviewed); pages 2+ of the 69-hit 'Thomason asbestos' surname pool were not paginated - any vessel mention there would already have surfaced in the exact-phrase queries. PACER is outside scope: non-RECAP dockets beyond CourtListener coverage are unsearched.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-w-thomason-dd760-08