Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet gu-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Johnston (DD-821); second USN ship of the name, named for
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-johnston-dd821-pkt-gu-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, 'Johnston II (DD-821), 1946-1980' (updated entry, R. J. Cressman, published 2021-04-06; captured via Wayback 2024-12-12 - live NHHC page returns 404 to automated fetch; identical text mirrored at hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd821txt.htm, accessed via Wayback 2024-12-11 capture) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Johnston II (DD-821)' - spec block, service narrative, and final-disposition paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 26 March 1945 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.; launched 10 October 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Marie S. Klinger, grandniece of Lt. J. V. Johnston; commissioned 23 August 1946, Cmdr. E. C. Long in command. Spec block: 2,425 t, 390'6", 35 kt, complement 367, Gearing class. Service 1946-1967: Newport home port 1947 (Atlantic Fleet); eight Sixth Fleet Mediterranean deployments 1949-1961 (Trieste crisis patrol, Greek coast, eastern Mediterranean February 1956 during Suez buildup); NATO exercises Strike Back 1957 and Sword Thrust 1960; firefighting aboard Lake Champlain (CVS-39) at Marseilles July 1957; home port shifted to Charleston, S.C. 1959 (DesRon 4); Dominican Republic patrol November 1961; FRAM I overhaul at Boston 4 January - 31 October 1962 (ASROC, DASH); first destroyer primary support ship for an underwater Polaris firing (Thomas Jefferson SSBN-618, 14 March 1963); ninth Mediterranean deployment 1963 (Black Sea 27 September); further Mediterranean deployment January-June 1965; sonar school training ship Key West 1966; Mediterranean/Middle East September 1966 - February 1967 with Suez transits; East Coast operations through mid-1967. Final disposition per updated entry: stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 October 1980; sold to Taiwan under the Security Assistance Program 1 December 1980.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1980
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1945-46; wartime/Cold War crew (design complement 367); FRAM yard workers Boston 1962
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and disposition, not materials or asbestos content. The updated entry skips 1967-1980 operations entirely (post-1967 detail rests on association sources, ev-02). DANFS build dates conflict with NavSource/association dates - carried in gaps. The DANFS narrative contains an internal date error ('6 May 1967' in the 1957 sequence) - noted in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-01
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[3]USS Johnston Association (ussjohnston.org): DD821 History page (labeled 'Partial source US Naval Records'), home-page ship data block, and 'WestPac Cruise 1967-68' Vietnam photo-album narrative [museum_official]
- Locator
- ussjohnston.org 'DD821 History', 'WestPac Cruise 1967-68' (photos/vietnam), and home-page data block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Veteran-association record filling the post-1967 gap in DANFS: WestPac deployment late 1967-1968 - Tonkin Gulf operations in 1968 including plane guard with USS Ranger, gun-line duty near the DMZ, naval gunfire support for Marines at Hue during the Tet Offensive; diverted toward Korea on the Pueblo seizure but entered drydock at Yokosuka, Japan, for a rudder casualty. A 1970 Charleston shipyard period appears in the association photo record. Entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1973, departing 15 November 1973; operated on the East Coast thereafter; decommissioned at Philadelphia October 1980; transferred to Taiwan February 1981. Post-FRAM fit data: approx. 275 crew, SQS-23 sonar, 8-cell ASROC, DASH deck/hangar, two twin 5"/38 mounts, two triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1967-1981
- Population
- Crew 1967-1980; Philadelphia Naval Shipyard workers 1973 and 1980; Charleston yard workers 1970
- Limitations
- Veteran-association compilation ('Partial source US Naval Records'), not a government publication; the association itself flags record gaps 1967-73 and 1973-80. Build and launch dates on this site conflict with DANFS (5 June 1945 / 19 October 1945) - DANFS carried, conflict in gaps. Taiwan-service detail is secondary-compilation level. No asbestos, insulation, or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-02
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[4]Gearing-class technical data (DANFS spec block; NavSource machinery line; association post-FRAM data) + Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (2018-09-28) - class-litigation recitals [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; NavSource DD-821 machinery line; Goodrich ECF 171 omnibus opinion (class-profile row ev-gearing-class-04)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Gearing-class destroyer completed 1946 with four Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers and GE geared turbines (60,000 shp) was built at the peak of Navy asbestos use; era-standard applications include boiler casing and fireroom insulation, turbine lagging, steam-line lagging, valve and flange gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Class-level corroboration: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites an engineering drawing for forced-draft blower turbine insulation/lagging covering the Sumner class 'within which' Gearing design machinery fell, specifying amosite felts and asbestos cloths, and quotes an expert partial tally of 30.3 tons of asbestos-containing thermal insulation/lagging in Sumner/Gearing fire and engine rooms. Documented yard periods for this hull (FRAM I, Boston 1962; Charleston availability 1970; Philadelphia NSY 1973; Philadelphia decommissioning 1980) are events in which machinery-space insulation would have been disturbed under era practice.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1980
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1945-46; engineering/fire-room crews 1946-1980; FRAM and overhaul yard workers 1962, 1970, 1973, 1980
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - the Goodrich drawing covers class machinery, not this hull specifically; the 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally recited in litigation, not an adjudicated class quantity or a hull inventory (underlying exhibits not retrieved). No ship-specific finding: no source names DD-821 in any asbestos context. Yard-period insulation disturbance is era inference, not documented work scope for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-03
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[5]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated fleet helper, quota-paced): type=o and type=r sweeps on "USS Johnston", "DD-821", "DD 821", each limit 25 [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py authenticated responses, 2026-09-27 (type=o: 0/0/0; type=r: 2 + 1 hits, all non-qualifying)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep completed at both index levels with no qualifying hit. Opinion index (type=o): "USS Johnston" count 0, "DD-821" count 0, "DD 821" count 0 - no published opinion names this hull in any context. RECAP docket text (type=r): "USS Johnston" returned 2 dockets - Team Systems International, LLC (Bankr. D. Del.) and Guerra v. Allied Van Lines Inc (S.D. Tex.) - corporate bankruptcy and motor-carrier litigation; classified name collisions/other litigation, neither names the vessel as an exposure site. "DD-821" returned 1 docket - Purkey v. Barr, 1:19-cv-03570 (D.D.C. 2019), a prisoner civil-rights petition where the string matches form/designation text, not the ship - name collision. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming DD-821 exists in either index. Hull-number queries disambiguate from the first Johnston (DD-557); neither hull appears in any hit.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep covers exact name and hull number at opinion and docket-text index levels as of 2026-09-27; allegations phrased differently (e.g., 'the Johnston' without USS, or naming only the hull's builder/yards) would not match these queries. All type=r hits are case-level metadata classifications - filing texts were not individually retrieved. Absence of a case is not evidence about shipboard materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-04
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[6]Batch-3787 search ledger (this record): updated DANFS via Wayback; hazegray DANFS mirror; USS Johnston Association; NavSource; NVR public inventory; Atlas shipyard registry; general-web asbestos trace; CourtListener opinion sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-johnston-dd821-01 through sl-uss-johnston-dd821-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum documentation, or docketed case naming USS Johnston (DD-821) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Web asbestos hits for this hull trace exclusively to law-firm boilerplate ship lists (Shepard O'Donnell, Throneberry, Simmons, MFA class pages) - excluded per source rules; none cites a case, survey, or document.
- 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 class/era inference in ev-03 stands on its own footing. The hull was expended as a target in 2006 with no pre-sinking survey located; present-day material verification is impossible. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-05
-
[7]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-821 USS Johnston (operational/building data, FRAM completion November 1962, disposition and 2006 target sinking) + USS Johnston Association Chen Yang record [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-821 page 'Operational and Building Data' + 'Fate' lines; ussjohnston.org home/history pages
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Final material disposition of the hull: transferred to the Republic of China (ROCS Chen Yang, DD-928; commissioned in ROCN July 1981 per NavSource/association), rebuilt to guided-missile destroyer DDG-928 under the Wu-Chin III program, decommissioned 16 December 2003, and expended as a target off Yilan/Hualien County, Taiwan, 20 July 2006 (Han Kuang 22 exercise). Whatever material remained aboard at sinking went down with the ship; no pre-sinking environmental or hazmat survey was located.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1980-2006
- Population
- ROCN crew 1981-2003; Wu-Chin III rebuild yard workers (Taiwan)
- Limitations
- NavSource and the association are reputable secondary/veteran sources, not official records; DANFS records only the U.S.-side disposition (stricken 1980-10-01, sold SAP 1980-12-01). ROC-service modification scope is secondary-compilation level. No documentation of what was removed during the Wu-Chin III rebuild or before sinking - the hull's material state at loss is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnston-dd821-06