Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet et-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-kearny-dd432-pkt-et-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Kearny (DD-432)' entry (verbatim transcription on HyperWar/ibiblio; live NHHC DANFS page returns HTTP 404 - standing NHHC link-rot per Batch-01 report) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Kearny' entry incl. spec block and full service narrative; canonical NHHC page 404s (https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kearny.html and /kearny-dd-432.html both 404 on 2026-09-27); hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd432txt.htm Wayback capture 2012-05-10 corroborates identical text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry 'Kearny (DD-432)': Gleaves-class destroyer (spec block: dp. 2,060; l. 347'4"; b. 36'1"; dr. 11'10"; s. 33 k.; cpl. 208; a. 4 5", 12 .50 cal., 2 10" tt., 2 dct.; cl. Gleaves), named for Commodore Lawrence Kearny (1789-1868). Launched 9 March 1940 by Federal Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., sponsored by Miss Mary Kearny; commissioned 13 September 1940, Comdr. A. L. Danis in command. Neutrality Patrol off Fort-de-France, Martinique (Feb-Mar 1941); San Juan patrol; Norfolk-area escort; August 1941 to Argentia, Newfoundland for North Atlantic convoy escort. Escorting convoy SC 48: three merchantmen torpedoed 16 October; Kearny depth-charged through the night; at midwatch 17 October a torpedo struck the starboard side; flooding confined to the forward fireroom; cleared on aft-fireroom power, steamed to Iceland at 10 knots arriving 19 October; 11 killed, 22 injured. Temporary repairs; departed 25 December 1941, moored six days later at Boston for permanent repairs. 5 April-28 September 1942 convoy escort to British Isles, Panama Canal, Galveston; Operation Torch fire-support unit screening Texas and Savannah, downed an enemy plane, escorted troop ships to Safi; New York 3 December 1942. Escort to Port of Spain, Recife, Casablanca to 15 November 1943; Core (CVE-13) hunter-killer group from 25 November; depth-charge attack with Core aircraft 1 January 1944; New York 18 January. February 1944: 8th Fleet, French Algeria; attached to cruiser Brooklyn for 5th Army fire support at Anzio ('Anzio Express'; commended by Gen. Mark Clark); detached early June, final solo Anzio fire support before Rome's capture. Operation Dragoon: inner fire-support ship, Red Beach, Cavalaire Bay; counter-battery and pre-H-hour fire; screened heavies; Toulon smoke screens; from 19 August 1944 two months screening transports Naples-southern France. Trans-Atlantic New York-Oran runs; Panama Canal transit 6 August 1945; Pearl Harbor late August; occupation-troop escort via Saipan to Wakayama arriving 27 September; Philippines and Okinawa voyages; departed Wakayama 29 October 1945 via Pearl Harbor, San Diego, Panama Canal; Charleston, S.C. 5 December 1945; decommissioned there 7 March 1946 into reserve; later moved to Orange, Tex., 'where she remains into 1967'. Three WWII battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1967
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1939-40; ship's company (design complement 208, DANFS spec block); 11 killed and 22 injured in the 17 October 1941 torpedoing
- Limitations
- DANFS establishes identity, construction, service history, casualties, and decommissioning; it contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information and supports no asbestos claim. Entry text ends 'remains into 1967' - postdates the DANFS volume edition; striking and disposal data come from NavSource (ev-03). 'Reported to Brooklyn 10 March' in the narrative refers to the cruiser USS Brooklyn (CL-40) for Anzio gunfire support, not the Brooklyn Navy Yard - carried as a noted ambiguity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, NAVSHIPS A(374), 'Summary of War Damage ... 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1942' (15 Sept 1943), Section V vessels-damaged table, DD row for KEARNY (DD432); BuShips 'Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action' section 2-1 footnote citing War Damage Report No. 15 (both via HyperWar/ibiblio transcriptions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS A(374) Section V 'Vessels Damaged - Destroyers' table (p.34): KEARNY row; Destroyer Report section 2-1 footnote '*Buships War Damage Report No. 15'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous BuShips record of this hull's machinery-space battle damage: 'Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1942' (NAVSHIPS A(374), Preliminary Design Section, Bureau of Ships, 15 September 1943) lists 'KEARNY (DD432) - War Damage Report No. 15 - 10/17/41 - North Atlantic - Sub. Torp. - 1: Shallow-running submarine torpedo struck starboard side about frame 72. Longitudinal strength impaired. Forward fireroom flooded.' A dedicated Bureau of Ships War Damage Report No. 15 covering this hull's torpedo damage exists in the BuShips war-damage series (cited in the destroyer compendium 'Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action', which treats Kearny among cases completing 'a fairly complete picture' of destroyer underwater damage).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1943 (damage event and report compilation)
- Population
- Ship's company at the 17 October 1941 torpedoing (11 killed, 22 injured per DANFS); Boston Navy Yard repair workforce early 1942
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous damage documentation locating the detonation at frame 72 in/near the forward fireroom - a machinery space where era-standard thermal insulation would have concentrated; the document describes structural damage and flooding only and contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials statement. Its relevance is that a documented event breached the hull at an insulation-dense space and required permanent repairs (Boston Navy Yard, arrival 31 December 1941). WDR No. 15 itself not retrieved - see archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-02
-
[4]NavSource Naval History, 'USS Kearny (DD-432)' destroyer archive page (spec block, operational/building data, fate line, photo captions; live navsource.org fetch failed - Wayback capture 2021-05-06 read) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-432 page 'Operational and Building Data' block and photo-caption lines (NARA RG 181 torpedo-damage series, contributor Tracy White)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Destroyer Photo Archive page for USS Kearny (DD-432): 'CLASS - GLEAVES As Built. Displacement 2395 Tons (Full), 348' 4" (oa) x 36' 1" x 13' 2" (Max); Armament 4 x 5"/38AA, 6 x 0.5" MG, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5); Machinery, 50,000 SHP; General Electric Turbines, 2 screws; Speed 35 Knots; Range 6500 NM@ 12 Knots; Crew 208.' Operational and building data: laid down Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ, 1 March 1939; launched 9 March 1940; commissioned 13 September 1940; decommissioned 7 March 1946; 'Stricken June 1 1971. Fate: Sold October 6 1972 to Luria Brothers, Philadelphia and broken up for scrap.' Flag hoist/radio call sign NUBF. Photo captions include 'a series of eight views of the torpedo damage from the Seattle National Archives, Record Group 181' - locating a contemporaneous NARA RG 181 damage-photograph set for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1972
- Population
- Ship's company (crew 208 per compiled data); scrapping-yard workforce, Philadelphia 1972
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled naval archive corroborating DANFS and adding striking/disposal dates and machinery details; displacement/armament/speed figures differ from the DANFS spec block (2,395 t full load and 35 kt vs 2,060 t and 33 kt; 10 torpedo tubes) - both carried, differences logged. The striking and sale dates independently corroborate the litigation-filed ship history in Redman (ev-05). Contains no asbestos or materials information; the RG 181 reference is a lead, not a retrieved record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-03
-
[5]Atlas shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (citing Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey, Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny NJ, Aug 30-Sep 2, 1944; toxicdocs.org scan of Owens-Illinois supplemental interrogatory answers, Heathman v. Owens-Corning, 23d Dist. Ct. Brazoria County TX, listing the survey as exhibit 20 and the Dube v. Eagle-Picher D. Maine exhibit list at item 20) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ToxicDocs scan, Owens-Illinois supplemental answers to second interrogatories, Q.9 item 20 ('Industrial Health Survey of the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey, at 14 (August 30-31, September 1-2, 1944)'); shipyards.json yard_id 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' products_documented (Superex pipe covering Johns-Manville; Kaylo pipe/boiler insulation Owens-Illinois; Monokote fireproofing W.R. Grace; Garlock gaskets)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard and era/design inference (no hull record): DD-432 was built March 1939-September 1940 at Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, NJ. That yard's asbestos product use is independently documented in the Atlas shipyards dataset (yard tier 2): an Owens-Illinois 'Industrial Health Survey of the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey' (30 August-2 September 1944) recorded insulators working asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipbuilding spaces with dust counts measured during cutting/fitting; the survey was introduced as Owens-Illinois exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning (Brazoria County, Tex., 1990) and is listed in Owens-Illinois interrogatory answers in Dube v. Eagle-Picher (D. Maine) among the Maritime Commission-era surveys. Era-standard applications aboard a four-boiler steam destroyer of this period: boiler/fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, deck coverings - the documented damage and repair events (17 October 1941 torpedo into the forward fireroom; permanent repairs at Boston Navy Yard winter 1941-42) are the hull-specific points where such materials would have been disturbed, but that disturbance is inference, not documentation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1946 (hull era); 1944 (yard survey); 1990 (litigation exhibit)
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1939-40 (this hull) and 1944 (survey window); ship's company 1940-46
- Limitations
- Yard-level and era inference only - the 1944 survey documents products and dusty conditions at the same yard four years after this hull launched; it does not name DD-432 and does not prove these materials went aboard this hull. Establishes no quantity, no location aboard, no individual exposure, no causation. Owens-Illinois was a manufacturer with litigation interest in the survey's later use; the document's existence and product content are nonetheless litigation-admitted. No hull material schedule located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-04
-
[6]Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Company, No. 3:08-cv-03013-JSW (N.D. Cal.); Viad Corp.'s Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Remand, ECF No. 20 (filed 2008-07-30), pp. 3-6, 12-13; Declaration of Charles R. Cushing in Support of Defendants' Opposition to Remand, ECF No. 22 (filed 2008-07-30), paras. 3, 5, 7 (RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.204462.20.0 and .22.0 read in full text) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF 20 pp. 3-6 (statement of claims; footnote 1 on the 'Kearney' typo) and pp. 12-13 (impossibility argument); ECF 22 (Cushing decl.) paras. 3, 5, 7 (DD-432 dates and availability conclusion)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Docketed asbestos personal-injury case naming this hull - allegation rebutted as temporally impossible at pleading stage: Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Company et al., No. 3:08-cv-03013-JSW (N.D. Cal.; removed 18 June 2008 from San Francisco County Superior Court CGC-08-274617; suitNature '368 P.I.: Asbestos'; terminated 2 February 2009). Plaintiffs alleged the decedent was exposed to asbestos while working at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 1974-1984 aboard USS John King, USS DuPont, USS Ingraham, 'the USS Kearney' (plaintiffs' interrogatory-response spelling; the defense notes the actual ship name is 'Kearny'), and USS Reuben James, via Griscom-Russell distilling plants. Defendant Viad Corp (alleged GR successor) opposed remand with a Declaration of Dr. Charles R. Cushing, naval architect: 'The USS Kearny (DD-432), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was laid down on March 1, 1939 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. in Kearny, New Jersey, launched on March 9, 1940, and commissioned on September 13, 1940 ... She was decommissioned on March 7, 1946, stricken on June 1, 1971, sold on October 6, 1972, and broken up for scrap. That vessel therefore would not have been available for the decedent to work upon when he commenced his job at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1974.' The opposition brief argues 'Plaintiff simply could not have worked on the USS Ingraham (DD-694), the USS Kearny (DD-432), or the USS Reuben James (DE-153) from 1974 to 1984' and that the proven inaccuracy 'casts strong doubt on the remainder of plaintiffs' claims.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1974-1984 (alleged exposure window); 2008-2009 (litigation)
- Population
- Decedent shipyard worker, Norfolk Naval Shipyard 1974-1984 (alleged); Kearny unavailable - scrapped 1972
- Limitations
- Litigation-stage discipline applied: the vessel reference is a pleading/interrogatory allegation (least-final stage), and the only adjudicated-adjacent material is a defense expert declaration demonstrating the allegation was temporally impossible - the ship was scrapped in 1972, before the claimed 1974-84 exposure window began. No court finding on exposure aboard this hull exists; the case terminated 2009-02-02 and merits history beyond termination was not reviewed (PACER detail not pulled). The row's evidentiary value is negative-leaning: it documents both that an asbestos plaintiff named this hull and that the naming was shown impossible on its own dates.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 searches 2026-09-27: 'USS Kearny' type=o (0); 'U.S.S. Kearny' type=o (1 - Stankus, 312 Mass. 366, non-qualifying war-risk insurance); 'DD-432' type=o (0); 'DD 432' asbestos type=o (0); 'USS Kearny' type=r (1 - Redman, qualifying-name); 'DD-432' type=r (9 - 8 collisions); 'Kearny/Kearney asbestos destroyer' type=r (9 - collisions resolved by full-text review of matched RECAP documents) [court_record]
- Locator
- Stankus opinion recital (Reuben James sinking; Kearny torpedoed 17 Oct 1941 in background); collision checks: Deliberali ECF 1-83 p.~33 (Nuclear Engineering Corp., 'Kearney, New Jersey'); Sclafani ECF 128-21 (same exhibit text); Cortez ECF 523-5 p.5 (Christovich & Kearney LLP); Lishman ECF 1 (USS Cony notice of removal); George ECF 2-20 (industrial-hygiene exhibit, no USS prefix)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-27; all requests through the fleet pacing helper): 'USS Kearny' type=o - 0 hits. 'U.S.S. Kearny' type=o - 1 hit: Stankus v. New York Life Insurance Co., 312 Mass. 366, 44 N.E.2d 687 (Mass. 1942) - OTHER LITIGATION, non-asbestos: a war-risk life-insurance dispute over a USS Reuben James crewman lost at sea 30 October 1941; the opinion recites the 17 October 1941 Kearny torpedoing as factual background only. 'DD-432' type=o - 0 hits; 'DD 432' + asbestos type=o - 0 hits. 'USS Kearny' type=r - 1 docket: Redman v. A.W. Chesterton 3:08-cv-03013 (N.D. Cal., asbestos PI) - see ev-05. 'DD-432' type=r - 9 dockets: Redman plus 8 collisions in unrelated matters (patent, securities, copyright, bankruptcy, civil rights) where 'DD-432' is a document/paragraph number. 'Kearny'/'Kearney' + asbestos + destroyer type=r - 9 dockets: Redman plus collisions resolved by document-level text review - Deliberali (E.D. Pa. 2:18-cv-02682) and Sclafani (C.D. Cal. 2:12-cv-03013) match 'Kearney, New Jersey' as a company town (Nuclear Engineering Corp. disposal contractor) inside exhibit text; Cortez (E.D. La. 2:20-cv-02389) matches 'Christovich & Kearney LLP' defense counsel; Lishman (E.D. Pa. 2:22-cv-02070, USS Cony case) and George (S.D.N.Y. 1:14-cv-04511) match bare 'Kearny/Kearney' in scanned exhibits without 'USS'/'DD-432' context - unresolvable to this hull and consistent with town/surname text. Classification: exactly one qualifying asbestos docket names this hull (Redman), and it is a rebutted pleading allegation; every other hit is a confirmed collision or unresolvable bare-name reference.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942 (Stankus); 2008-2009 (Redman); sweep 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a (sweep classification)
- Limitations
- Sweep result, not a merits finding: opinion-index coverage supports 'no published opinion names DD-432'; pleadings naming the hull without RECAP coverage would not surface. The type=r document-text index found only Redman with 'USS Kearny' or 'DD-432'; bare-'Kearny' docket hits were verified as town/surname collisions or left unresolvable where scanned exhibits could not be text-confirmed (Lishman, George) - logged as collisions, not qualifying. Sweep occurred under fleet-wide hourly pacing; queries that hit the pacing window were re-run after waits, not abandoned.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-06
-
[8]U.S. General Accounting Office, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch, HTTP 403 - product-page description used, per Batch-01 standing note); fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level Navy asbestos context: the GAO's 1979 review of Navy asbestos-worker protection documents the Navy's standing position that thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping was the major shipboard application of asbestos, and that ships in service contained some quantity of asbestos, with 1975-era policy removing asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs (modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). DD-432 was stricken 1971 and scrapped 1972 - before these removal programs could have applied - so the row is era context only: it documents Navy-wide practice around this hull's construction and disposal era, and explains why a scrapped 1972 hull would carry no abatement record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (report); practices described span earlier decades
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and ship crews (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level context only - not about this hull or class; establishes nothing about DD-432's materials. Included as Navy-wide era context consistent with Batch-01 and class-file usage; also explains the absence of abatement records for a hull scrapped before the removal programs.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-07
-
[9]Batch-3417 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (live 404; ibiblio + hazegray-Wayback mirrors); BuShips Summary of War Damage NAVSHIPS A(374) + Destroyer Report (ibiblio); NavSource DD-432 (Wayback capture); ToxicDocs Owens-Illinois interrogatory scan + Atlas shipyards.json 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny'; CourtListener authenticated sweeps (name, hull number, spelling variants; docket-document full-text review); general-web asbestos-litigation check (law-firm hits only, all excluded as banned sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-kearny-dd432-01 through sl-uss-kearny-dd432-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials schedule, court finding, or docketed asbestos adjudication naming USS Kearny DD-432 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The single litigation reference (Redman, ev-05) is a rebutted pleading allegation, not exposure documentation. Disposal pathway is consistent with the absence of records: the hull was stricken 1971 and scrapped 1972 - before the Navy's documented asbestos-removal programs and before modern hazmat-disclosure practice - so no survey or abatement file would be expected to exist for this hull.
- 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 - a 1939-40 Federal-built steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing, and the builder yard's asbestos product use is documented at yard level. This row records that no ship-specific documentation was located; it does not establish presence or absence, exposure, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-08
-
[10]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 (Navy ship logs), RG 19 (BuShips/BuC&R records), RG 181 (naval districts/shore establishments, incl. still-picture damage series); BuShips War Damage Report No. 15 (cited); San Francisco Superior Court case CGC-08-274617 [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; /groups/019.html ; RG 181 photo caption line on NavSource DD-432 page (Wayback); Destroyer Report section 2-1 footnote
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) Bureau of Ships War Damage Report No. 15, the dedicated damage report for this hull's 17 October 1941 torpedoing - cited in the BuShips destroyer compendium and in NAVSHIPS A(374); full text would document the damaged fireroom section and repair scope at structure level; (b) NARA RG 181 still-picture holding of eight torpedo-damage views of this hull (contributed to NavSource from the Seattle NARA branch); (c) NARA RG 24 deck logs 1940-1946 for the commissioned period; (d) NARA RG 19 (BuC&R/BuShips) construction records incl. any General Information Book for DD-432 and Federal Shipbuilding construction correspondence - the per-hull material-specification lead; (e) disposal records for the 1972 sale to Luria Brothers, Philadelphia (MARAD/Navy sales files); (f) the Redman state-court file (San Francisco Superior CGC-08-274617) for the underlying complaint naming 'USS Kearney'.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1972 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/collection mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for DD-432 is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-kearny-dd432-09