Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet hm-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-joseph-strauss-ddg16-pkt-hm-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) (verbatim transcription via hazegray.org, Wayback capture 2019-11-12; live NHHC page and live hazegray page both unavailable) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specs block + full service narrative (Wayback capture 2019-11-12)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 27 December 1960 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.; launched 9 December 1961; sponsored by Mrs. Lawrence Haines Coburn, granddaughter of Admiral Joseph Strauss; commissioned Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 20 April 1963, Cdr. William M. A. Greene in command. Specs block: 4,500 t., 437' length, 47' beam, 21'10" draft, over 30 k., complement 334, Tartar missiles, two 5-inch guns, ASROC; Charles F. Adams class. Service: transited Panama Canal June-July 1963; alterations at Long Beach Naval Shipyard from 13 July 1963; flagship Destroyer Squadron 3 from 30 June 1964; Tonkin Gulf operations from August 1964 (carriers Constellation, Kearsarge, Ticonderoga, Ranger, Hancock, Coral Sea, Yorktown); flagship of the first advanced SAR/AAW picket team in the Gulf of Tonkin with Ernest G. Small (DDR-838) from 24 April 1965; advisory control ship when Midway Phantoms downed two MiG-17s on 17 June 1965 (first U.S. aerial kills since 1953) and a third on 20 June; CIC team decorated by Secretary of the Navy; fired two improved Tartar missiles off Okinawa 3 September 1965; first 5-inch shots in anger 28 October 1965 (217 rounds supporting ARVN-Marine operation off Da Nang); SAR/AAW picket with Tucker (DD-875) November 1965; homeport changed to Pearl Harbor June 1966 (arrived 20 July 1966); WestPac deployment 14 January - 17 June 1967.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1959-1967
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1960-63; commissioning and wartime crew (DANFS complement 334)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service narrative through mid-1967 only - entry predates the ship's 1968-1990 career and contains no materials or asbestos information. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 and live hazegray.org is unreachable (2026-09-28). Transcription shows minor internal typos (e.g., '14 January 1907' for 1967); hazegray reads Pearl Harbor arrival '20 July' where the ship-association transcription reads 26 July - flagged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-01
-
[3]Naval Vessel Register, JOSEPH STRAUSS (DDG 16), UIC 04682, class DDG 2 (NAVSHIPSO/NAVSEA official registry page, Wayback capture 2011-05-14; entry last updated 06/15/2000) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR detail page for DDG-16, all registry fields (Wayback capture 2011-05-14)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official registry record for this hull: builder NEW YORK SB CORP; award date 07/21/1959; keel 12/27/1960; launch 12/09/1961; delivery 03/29/1963; commission 04/20/1963; decommission 02/01/1990 (26.8 years commission to decommission); stricken 01/11/1995; status 'Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, grant aid, ex-US fleet hull', status changed 05/15/1999, custodian GREECE; overall length 437 ft; light displacement 3,190 tons.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1959-1999
- Limitations
- NVR documents registry events and disposal mechanism only - no materials, asbestos, or hull-survey data. Entry last updated 06/15/2000 and predates the ex-hull's Greek decommissioning (2002) and reported scrapping (2004); those terminal details rest on secondary sources. The stricken date (01/11/1995) post-dates the 1992 transfer to Greece, consistent with grant-aid foreign-transfer practice.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-02
-
[4]DANFS specs block (Charles F. Adams class; steam plant, 'over 30 k') + Atlas shipyard dataset, New York Shipbuilding Corporation record (yard-level asbestos product identifications; NARA RG19 General Information Books as hull-spec archival lead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specs block; shipyards.json record 'new-york-shipbuilding' (asbestos_products_documented field)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a guided missile destroyer built 1960-63 with a 4-boiler, 2-shaft geared steam-turbine plant (class design: Combustion Engineering 1,275-psi boilers; General Electric turbines ~70,000 shp) would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, wire insulation, and fireproofing. Builder New York Shipbuilding Corp. (Camden, NJ; operated 1899-1967) is documented at yard level in the Atlas shipyard dataset (evidence_tier 1) with identified asbestos products including insulation block (~15% chrysotile), 85% magnesia insulation, Transite cement panels, gaskets, packing, asbestos-coated welding rods, and wire insulation. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1960-1963 (construction); 1963-2004 (service life)
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades 1960-63 (incl. Navy-assigned civilian inspectors); crew 1963-90; Hellenic Navy crew 1992-2002
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no source names asbestos aboard this specific hull, and the yard dataset's product list reflects yard-level (largely litigation-derived) identifications, not a bill of materials for DDG-16. The ship-specific litigation record that does exist for the construction period (ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-07) does not mention asbestos. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-03
-
[5]VADM James B. Perkins III (Ret.), 'The Surface View: Operation Praying Mantis,' U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, May 1989 (firsthand SAG-commander account); USNI Naval History, 'One Day of War,' April 2013 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Proceedings May 1989 'Surface View' (SAG Delta composition; Strauss sprint north); USNI Naval History Apr 2013 (SAG Delta listing)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- This hull participated in Operation Praying Mantis, 18 April 1988: Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) and Bagley (FF-1069) raced north from a Mombasa-bound transit, refueled from Wabash (AOR-5), transited the Strait of Hormuz at over 25 knots, and formed part of Surface Action Group Delta (with O'Brien DD-975 and Jack Williams FFG-24) patrolling the Strait of Hormuz in the day's anti-surface mission during the largest U.S. surface action since WWII. The ship association history reports Strauss added a Harpoon missile to the air attack that sank Iranian frigate Sahand.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1988-04
- Population
- Crew, Persian Gulf deployment 1988
- Limitations
- Operational/combat history only - contains no materials or asbestos information. The Harpoon-firing detail is from the ship association's history page (and common secondary accounts), not from the cited USNI texts, which describe SAG Delta's patrol role and the air strike on Sahand by VA-95 A-6Es.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-04
-
[6]NARA-held records for this hull as indexed by the USS Joseph Strauss Association: Vietnam-era deck logs 1964-1973 (acquired from the National Archives, College Park MD; scans hosted by the association) and OPNAV Report 5750-1 Command History for 1972 (NARA/NHHC, cited in Wikipedia references); includes 1972 Gunline operations detail, the 4 June 1972 underwater-explosion damage event, and Navy Unit Commendation for February-August 1972 [other_primary]
- Locator
- ussjosephstrauss.org Deck Logs downloads page and 1972 history section; NARA RG 24 deck logs; OPNAV 5750-1 1972
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Vietnam-era deck logs (1964-1973, missing 1971) and annual command histories (OPNAV 5750-1) for this hull are held at NARA and partially digitized through the ship association's researcher. The 1972 command history underlies the association's account of this hull's heaviest combat year: Gunline TU 70.8.9 from February 1972; first NGFS mission 17 February (96 rounds); Easter Offensive fire missions (1,500+ rounds in early April); sole ship selected for the first Operation Freedom Train strike on a North Vietnamese SAM site 5 April 1972; detonation of two U.S. mines on 4 June 1972 that knocked all boilers offline and left the ship dead in the water with shock damage; final combat mission 1 August (500+ rounds); over 15,000 rounds of 5-inch ammunition February-August; Navy Unit Commendation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1964-1973 (deck logs); 1972 (command history events)
- Population
- Crew 1972; Subic Bay/Sasebo repair-support personnel (if repair records exist)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - deck logs and command histories are routine operational records; they document where the ship was and what it did, and were not reviewed for any asbestos, repair, or insulation content. The 4 June mine-detonation damage description comes from the association's transcription of the 1972 command history; a dead-in-the-water engineering casualty of that type would have required boiler/machinery repair (potential insulation-disturbance event) but no repair record, yard period, or materials detail has been located for it. Retrieval of the underlying NARA scans not performed this pass.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-28: "USS Joseph Strauss" (type=o) - 1 hit; "Joseph Strauss" + asbestos OR mesothelioma (type=o) - 31 hits; "DDG-16" (type=o) - 0 hits; "DDG-16" OR "DDG 16" + asbestos (type=o) - 23,688 unmanageably broad hits (generic asbestos opinions, none ship-specific); "USS Joseph Strauss" (type=r RECAP) - 2 dockets [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs 2026-09-28; Penn opinion id 8662063; Eadens cluster 277023/8891392; dockets 4174328 (Redman), 4152218 (QTC)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation adjudicating this hull located on CourtListener. Exact-name opinion search returned one hit: United States v. Penn, 4 M.J. 879 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review 1978) - a special-court-martial marijuana-possession appeal by a seaman recruit; non-asbestos 'other litigation' naming the hull by service context. The name-variant query's 31 hits are person-name collisions (parties, attorneys, decedents named Joseph Strauss) with one exception: Eadens v. New York Shipbuilding Corp., 382 F.2d 263 (3d Cir. 1967), which names the hull but is non-asbestos (see ev-07). Hull-number search returned zero opinions. RECAP docket-side search returned two dockets: Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (asbestos P.I., N.D. Cal.) - hull name in OCR'd docket text, role unresolved, carried as archival lead ev-09; and United States v. QTC Medical Services (False Claims Act, C.D. Cal.) - name collision, not asbestos, not qualifying.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1967-1978 (litigated matters); sweep 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- CourtListener covers published opinions and RECAP dockets, not state filings or settled cases - a common gap for asbestos dockets, most of which never reach an opinion. Eadens and Penn are litigation-stage 'other litigation,' not exposure evidence; the Redman docket-text mention is an unresolved pleading/discovery-stage reference at best (see ev-09), not an exposure finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-06
-
[8]Eadens v. New York Shipbuilding Corporation, 382 F.2d 263 (3d Cir. 1967) (No. 16179; opinion read in full via HallApproved mirror of CourtListener bulk data) [court_record]
- Locator
- 382 F.2d 263, opinion paras. 5-14 (facts, verdict, holding)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal appellate opinion naming this hull: New York Shipbuilding Corp. contracted with the Navy to construct the U.S.S. 'Joseph Strauss', a guided missile destroyer, at Camden, N.J. Decedent Charles Eadens, a civilian worker assigned to the destroyer whose duties included inspecting equipment installed by the builder and reporting to the Navy on construction progress, died on 5 February 1963 when a hydraulic-oil leak sprayed and ignited in a confined 10'x10' below-deck carrier compartment housing gun-turret machinery, as construction neared completion. The administratrix's diversity wrongful-death action ended in a jury verdict of no cause of action for the shipbuilder; the Third Circuit affirmed exclusion of the several-thousand-page Navy construction contract and the judgment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1963-02 (incident); 1967 (opinion)
- Population
- Charles Eadens (civilian Navy inspector/worker aboard the hull, died 1963-02-05); New York Shipbuilding construction trades
- Limitations
- Other litigation naming the hull - NOT asbestos litigation and contains no asbestos content; classified per litigation-stage discipline as a merits-level defense verdict affirmed on appeal (evidentiary/procedural issue). Its value to this record is independent verification that civilian construction workers worked in confined below-deck machinery compartments aboard this hull in the weeks before delivery - context for construction-era exposure pathways generally, not evidence of any specific material.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-07
-
[9]Batch-3918 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404; verbatim hazegray transcription via Wayback 2019 capture); NVR DDG-16 detail (Wayback 2011 capture); CourtListener API v4 opinion searches; USS Joseph Strauss Association site (DANFS transcription, deck-log index, 1972 command-history summary); USNI Praying Mantis accounts; ship-association specifications page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-01 through sl-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, government health/exposure record, or asbestos litigation adjudicating exposure aboard this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull survives in no preservation setting - transferred to Greece 1992, decommissioned by the Hellenic Navy 2002, reported scrapped 2004 - so no museum disclosure, NDRF status card, or domestic abatement record exists to sample. One asbestos-docket ship-name mention (Redman, ev-09) remains unresolved at docket-text level.
- 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 1960-63 high-pressure-steam destroyer is era-consistent with extensive asbestos use (see ev-03), and the class had no US preservation outcome. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Foreign-transfer paperwork (DSCA/Navy SAP files) and pre-transfer decommissioning/inactivation hazmat documentation were not located and remain open leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-08
-
[10]Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Company, No. 3:08-cv-03013-JSW (N.D. Cal., filed 2008-06-18, terminated 2009-02-02; cause 28:1441 Petition for Removal - Asbestos Litigation; suit nature 368 P.I.: Asbestos) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket index for 3:08-cv-03013 (N.D. Cal.); RECAP doc 11 (323 pp. declaration, exhibits A-O)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos personal-injury docket in which 'USS Joseph Strauss' appears in CourtListener's indexed RECAP text for the case. Plaintiff Jeri Redman sued A.W. Chesterton and others; the removal/remand record (doc 9-11) includes a 323-page declaration with 15 scanned exhibits - the typical carrier of complaint or deposition ship lists in this firm pattern (Paul & Hanley, a known asbestos plaintiff firm). Whether the docket names the hull as an exposure vessel or as a list/reference entry is unverified.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2008-2009 (litigation)
- Population
- Unverified from index
- Limitations
- Docket-text reference only, unadjudicated as to this hull - RECAP documents are scanned without a text layer (local pdftotext extracted headers only; the ship-name match lives in CourtListener's server-side OCR, pinpoint document unlocated), and the docket page returns 403 to automated fetches. Establishes nothing about materials aboard; full-text review of the 323-page exhibit set remains the open step to resolve the ship-name's role.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-joseph-strauss-ddg16-09