Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet hs-packet.md (3 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-willis-de1027-pkt-hs-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, John Willis (DE-1027) - Vol. 3, pp. 553-554 (1968) (namesake biography, builder, sponsor, commissioning, service narrative 1957-1967, bracketed disposal note; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specification block + service narrative + bracketed disposal note (print Vol. 3 pp. 553-554)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Pharmacist's Mate First Class John Harlan Willis, USN (b. 10 June 1921, Columbia, Tenn.; hospital corpsman; killed 28 February 1945 on Hill 362, Iwo Jima, throwing back enemy grenades while administering plasma to a wounded Marine; posthumous Medal of Honor). Ship launched 4 February 1956 by New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Winfrey M. Duke, widow; commissioned at Philadelphia Naval Yard 21 February 1957, Lt. Comdr. H. O. Anson, Jr. in command. Reported Newport, R.I. 7 April 1957; Northern Europe cruise June-July 1957; Mediterranean May-October 1958 incl. Lebanon Patrol 18 July-14 September (1958 Lebanon crisis); 29 November 1958 entered 'the New York Shipyard' for an experimental Variable Depth Sonar - 'the first of the destroyer escorts to employ' VDS; VDS test/evaluation 1959-60, Second Inter-American Naval Conference demonstration, Exercises Sea Spray, Sword Thrust, Pipe Down; Guantanamo/Windward Passage patrol May 1961, Dominican Republic patrols after the Trujillo assassination, MA-5 (Enos) recovery support November 1961, Dominican Republic again December 1961; Portsmouth and Norwegian ports January-February 1962 - officers and engineers of the Norwegian Navy studied her construction, the Dealey class having been selected as prototype for five new Norwegian warships; additional ASW equipment August (1962); four-month overhaul; ORI Caribbean March 1963; NATO exercise New Broom Eleven April 1963; Fleet Sonar School and ASW Tactical School service; Vieques amphibious exercise with CortRon 10/TF-180 December 1963; UNITAS V (1964) and UNITAS VI (1965) South America; extensive overhaul at Boston January-June 1966 receiving DASH capability and communications alterations; CortRon 8; deployed to European waters 29 May 1967, then 6th Fleet Mediterranean. Spec block: 1,270 tons; 314'6" x 36'9"; draft 9'1"; 25 kt; cpl. 170; armament 6 x 3", 1 ASW rocket, 1 depth-charge track, 6 depth-charge projectors; class Dealey. Bracketed note (Bauer & Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy 1775-1990, p.239): stricken from the Navy Register 14 July 1972; sold 18 May 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1955-1972
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1955-56; Philadelphia Naval Yard commissioning workforce; crew (design complement 170) 1957-1972; VDS-installation yard workforce 1958-59; Boston overhaul workforce 1966
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The entry does not record a laid-down date; decommissioning is not separately dated (the bracketed note records only striking 14 July 1972 and sale 18 May 1973). 'The New York Shipyard' (Nov 1958 VDS installation) is ambiguous between New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden (the builder) and New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn - carried in gaps. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; verbatim hazegray transcription cited via Wayback capture 2024-11-05.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-willis-de1027-01
-
[3]GAO HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (18 October 1979), incl. Navy enclosure Ser 4542/318054 (5 Jan 1979) and Ser 454D/318571 (8 Feb 1979) (product page + prior verified full-text extraction of the same document in batches 3922/3940/3948; live gao.gov 403 to automated fetch) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 enclosure I (5 Jan 1979 letter + cost table); enclosure II (8 Feb 1979 insulation-weight letter)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Navy program-level record bounding this hull's construction and service era: the Navy's 5 Jan 1979 enclosure states 'each ship has several types of asbestos containing materials installed' and 'all ships presently in service contain some quantity of asbestos,' citing deck tiling, galley-range cabling, piping gaskets and packing, and equipment brakes and clutches, and judging it 'nearly impossible to build a Navy ship free of the mineral.' The report documents the 1973 asbestos-free specification change with contract-by-contract transition and asbestos-insulated deliveries continuing to May 1978, and the 1975 policy under which asbestos insulation was removed/replaced only when damaged or removed for repairs (modified 1979 to add selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). This hull was built 1955-56, commissioned 1957, and stricken 1972 - entirely within the pre-transition era in which asbestos applications were specification-standard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1978-1979 (review period); hull era 1955-1972
- Population
- Navy ship crews and shipyard repair workers, 1970s
- Limitations
- Program-level: names no individual hull and gives no Dealey-class insulation quantity; the 'all ships' statement is fleet-level and post-dates this hull's 1972 striking. Establishes that in-service Navy ships of this era generally carried asbestos-containing applications, not what was aboard DE-1027 specifically. Live gao.gov blocked to automated fetch - text relied on via product description and prior verified extraction of the same document in earlier batches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-willis-de1027-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Dealey class; 25 kt; cpl. 170) + Atlas shipyard dataset: new-york-shipbuilding (tier 1; named products incl. Pabco Six-Ply Super Caltemp Block 15% chrysotile, Ehret 85% Magnesia, Johns-Manville Transite 10-30%, Bakelite panels 30-40%, gaskets, packing, asbestos-coated welding rods, felt insulation; cohort SMR findings), philadelphia-naval-shipyard (tier 3; Eagle-Picher Super 60, Unibestos, Thermasil, Carey/Cary products), boston-naval-shipyard (tier 3; John Crane gaskets/sealing), brooklyn-navy-yard (tier 3; Kaylo pipe insulation); class machinery particulars from secondary compilations (NavSource/class references) - unverified against primary sources [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specification block (DE-1027) + DANFS events (commissioning, VDS installation, Boston overhaul); shipyards.json records 'new-york-shipbuilding', 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard', 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'brooklyn-navy-yard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Dealey-class destroyer escort launched 1956 with the class-standard geared steam-turbine plant (secondary compilations: 2 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 1 De Laval geared turbine, ~20,000 shp, single shaft) would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - consistent with the Navy's own 1979 statements (ev-02) that all in-service ships contained asbestos in multiple applications and that asbestos-free specifications began only in 1973. Builder New York Shipbuilding Co. (Camden, N.J.) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset at tier 1 with named asbestos products and cohort evidence; commissioning at Philadelphia Naval Yard (1957) and the January-June 1966 DASH overhaul at Boston (Boston Naval Shipyard read) place the hull inside tier-3 documented yards; the November 1958 'New York Shipyard' VDS installation is ambiguous between the Camden builder and the Brooklyn Navy Yard (both Atlas yards).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1955-1973
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1955-56; Philadelphia Naval Shipyard workforce 1956-57; New York yard VDS workforce 1958-59; Boston overhaul workforce 1966; crew 1957-1972
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos evidence was located for DE-1027. The steam-plant particulars rest on secondary class compilations; the DANFS spec block publishes only dimensions, speed, complement, and armament. Yard evidence documents the yards, not this ship's materials; no Dealey-class insulation quantity exists in reviewed sources. 'New York Shipyard' identity is unresolved (gaps). Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-willis-de1027-03
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[5]CourtListener API v4 search sweep for this hull: "USS John Willis" opinion search returned 0 results; the docket and hull-number queries were repeatedly blocked by the fleet-wide pacing limiter (see search_ledger sl-uss-john-willis-de1027-06, -07, -08) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search: type=o q="USS John Willis" (count=0); type=r and "DE-1027" queries blocked - see search_ledger
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos-litigation result naming this hull was returned by the completed CourtListener query: exact-phrase "USS John Willis" returned zero opinions. The remaining queries ("USS John Willis"/"DE-1027" dockets; "DE-1027"/"John Willis" asbestos opinions) were repeatedly blocked by the fleet-wide request pacing limiter throughout the session and are logged pending, not as negative results.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Partial sweep: only the type=o exact-name query completed (count=0). 'John Willis' is a moderate-collision personal name - any future hits need per-case review; 'DE-1027' is precise. A zero opinion result does not prove no litigation naming the vessel exists outside CourtListener's coverage or in unsearched query space.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-willis-de1027-04
-
[6]Batch-3959 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NVR (no record - pre-1987 disposal); MARAD vessel-history database (no record); GAO HRD-80-2; Atlas shipyard dataset; secondary compilations as leads [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-john-willis-de1027-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-1027: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (the hull was sold for scrap May 1973 - no museum or extant hull exists to survey), and the completed CourtListener query returned no asbestos-litigation opinion naming the vessel (sweep partial - see ev-04). The Naval Vessel Register holds no record (ships disposed before 1987 are outside its coverage) and the MARAD vessel-history database returned no card for this hull. Ship-specific holdings that could resolve this - NARA RG19 General Information Books, deck logs, and NHHC command operation reports - were identified as archival leads but not retrieved.
- 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 1955-56 steam-driven escort is an era-typical asbestos environment, the Navy's own 1979 statement is that all in-service ships contained asbestos, and the builder yard has tier-1 asbestos documentation; this finding means 'not documented ship-specifically', nothing more. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-john-willis-de1027-05