Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet gn-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-keppler-dd765-pkt-gn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Keppler (DD-765) (builder, launch/commissioning, service narrative, battle stars; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (hazegray.org dd765txt.htm via Wayback)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 24 June 1946 by Bethlehem Steel Co. Shipbuilding Div., San Francisco; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth L. Keppler; commissioned 23 May 1947; shakedown West Coast; 1947-48 Hawaiian/Australia/China deployment; early 1949 entered San Francisco Navy Yard for conversion to antisubmarine destroyer; Atlantic Fleet transfer, Newport homeport; reclassified DDE-765 on 4 March 1950; Korean service - Formosa Strait patrol, screening Philippine Sea (CV-47) during carrier strikes Nov 1950-Feb 1951; 1957 Red Sea deployment during Syria-Jordan crisis; entered New York Naval Shipyard 1 March 1961 for FRAM II overhaul, returned Newport 25 October 1961; reclassified DD-765 mid-1962; Cuban missile quarantine Oct-Nov 1962 (7-day surveillance of surfaced Soviet submarine); overhaul at Boston Naval Shipyard; Vietnam deployment Oct 1966-May 1967 - plane guard, naval gunfire support, Operation Sea Dragon (51 junks damaged or destroyed), two pilot rescues, shore-battery hit on a gun mount 11 March 1967; two battle stars for Korean service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1967
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1944-47; crew 1947-1972 (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Entry was published 1968 and ends at 1967 - decommissioning, stricken, and Turkish transfer are not covered. Sponsor is printed 'widow of John R. Keppler,' while MOH records show Elizabeth Keppler was widow of namesake Reinhardt J. Keppler - carried in gaps. First CO printed 'Comdr. P. M. Cauiglio' (likely OCR garble in the mirror transcription). Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; verbatim hazegray transcription cited via Wayback capture 2024-12-09.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-765/DDE-765 USS Keppler - Operational and Building Data block (private volunteer archive transcribing official records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-765 index, Operational and Building Data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource building/disposition record for this hull: built by Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco CA (yard no. 5419); contract NOD-314 awarded 7 August 1942; laid down 23 April 1944; launched 24 June 1946; commissioned 23 May 1947; reclassified escort destroyer DDE-765 4 March 1950; completed FRAM upgrade September 1961; reverted to DD-765 30 June 1962; decommissioned 30 June 1972; stricken 1 July 1972; transferred to Turkey 30 June 1972, renamed TCG Tinaztepe (D-355); damaged beyond economical repair in collision with tanker Aygaz-3 in Gulf of Izmit, 2 May 1984; decommissioned 31 October 1984 and scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1984
- Population
- Crew at disposal; Turkish Navy crew 1972-1984; breakers (unidentified)
- Limitations
- Private volunteer archive, not an official register entry - used for building/disposition dates DANFS does not cover (laid down, decommissioned, stricken, transfer, Turkish-service fate). Decommissioned 30 June 1972 vs. stricken 1 July 1972 vs. secondary-source 'decommissioned 1 July 1972' is unresolved - carried in gaps. NavSource's 'Gulf of Izmir' reads as the Gulf of Izmit per Turkish-language accounts. Page did not respond to direct fetch 2026-09-27; data captured via indexed search-result extract.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-02
-
[4]Booklet of General Plans, USS Keppler DD-765 (ex-DDE-765), FRAM configuration - BuShips plan no. D.765-S0103-433692, dated 29 January 1969; digitized by HNSA via Internet Archive (original loaned by Ed Zajkowski; plans corrected-to-suit-ship stamped by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, New York Naval Shipyard (23 Oct 1961), and Boston Naval Shipyard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Internet Archive item dd765bogp1969 (13 sheets); title-sheet correction block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A ship-specific official drawing booklet for this hull survives and is digitized: 13 sheets (title, dimensions & data, outboard/inboard profiles, bridges, superstructure and main decks, three platforms, hold, midship/type cross-sections) reflecting the post-FRAM configuration, with correction stamps from three naval shipyards. Full-text review of all 13 sheets (OCR, 2026-09-27) found no asbestos, insulation, lagging, or materials specification - the booklet documents arrangement only. The BuShips plan number gives a concrete handle for NARA RG 19 / BuShips drawing-series retrieval of hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1961-1969
- Population
- New York NSY FRAM II yard workers 1961; Boston and Philadelphia NSY yard workers
- Limitations
- Arrangement drawings only - establishes that hull-specific plans exist and which yards maintained them (evidence of availabilities at Philadelphia, New York, and Boston Naval Shipyards), but contains no materials or asbestos information. The title-page 'FRAM MK I' OCR reading vs. documented FRAM II modernization is unresolved; dates on the correction stamps are partially illegible in scan. Philadelphia Naval Shipyard availability is evidenced only by the correction stamp - not dated in DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-03
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 search sweep: "USS Keppler" (type=o: 0; type=r: 0); "Keppler" AND "DD-765" (type=o: 0); "Keppler" AND asbestos (type=o: 3 hits, all person-name collisions - verified; type=r: 30 dockets / 127 documents, all person-name collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-keppler-dd765-04 through -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Keppler or DD-765 located in CourtListener indexes. Exact-name queries returned zero opinions and zero dockets; hull-number query returned zero; asbestos-joined surname queries returned only person-name collisions (e.g., attorney Tobias A. Keppler in In re Whitten, N.Y. App. Div. 1912; defendant Eugene Karl Keppler in a pension-fund action; incidental 'Keppler' in Clean Air Act criminal cases United States v. Liebman, 40 F.3d 544 (2d Cir. 1994) and United States v. Hunter, 37 F. App'x 10 (2d Cir. 2002) - opinion text fetched and confirmed zero ship references).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- Absence from CourtListener does not prove no litigation exists - state-court and MDL-875 pleading records are incompletely indexed, and exposure-site allegations often appear only in complaints/work-history exhibits. No merits-stage or settlement record for this hull was located; the sweep covers CourtListener's opinion and RECAP docket indexes only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-04
-
[6]Consolidated era inference - DANFS specifications block for this hull (Gearing class; 35 kt) + Gearing-class design data (4 Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers; 2 GE geared turbine sets; 60,000 shp) + documented yard periods (DANFS; BOGP correction stamps) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; class technical data; ev-uss-keppler-dd765-01/-03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Gearing-class destroyer built 1944-47 with four superheated boilers and a 60,000-shp geared steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe lagging, turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck coverings, and accommodation insulation. Documented yard availabilities - San Francisco Navy Yard ASW conversion (1949), FRAM II overhaul at New York Naval Shipyard (Mar-Oct 1961), Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul (pre-Oct 1966), and a Philadelphia Naval Shipyard availability evidenced by plan-correction stamps - are the windows under which machinery-space insulation was routinely disturbed under era practice.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1944-47; yard workers 1949/1961/ca.1965/undated; crew 1947-1972
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-level materials schedule, work package, or survey was located; this row is context for research prioritization, not a ship-specific finding. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-05
-
[7]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018); docket verified - NOS 368 asbestos litigation [court_record]
- Locator
- CL docket 6360247; Omnibus opinion ECF No. 171 pp. 12, 19, 31 (per class-profile verified reading)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A published federal omnibus opinion in asbestos litigation recites that 'an engineering drawing for the insulation and lagging of forced draft blower turbines for the class of destroyers (DD 692, USS Allen M. Sumner class), within which the USS Harlan Dickson fell, specifies the use of amosite felts and asbestos cloths' and quotes an expert report estimating 'a partial tally of the weight of the asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging products in the fire ... and engine rooms of a ship belonging to the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Gearing (DD 710) classes of destroyers is 30.3 tons.' Gearing was a hull-lengthened derivative of the Sumner design sharing the same machinery class - the recited drawing and tally therefore describe the engineering family to which this hull belonged.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940s design era; opinion filed 2018-09-28
- Population
- Destroyer fire/engine-room crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recitals, not adjudicated classwide findings - the opinion itself treats related exposure conclusions as speculative, and the case does not name this hull. The underlying drawing covers Sumner-class DD-692-group machinery; application to Gearing hulls is design-lineage inference. The 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally for fire/engine rooms, not a ship inventory. Underlying exhibits not retrieved; docket verified via CourtListener API 2026-09-27.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-06
-
[8]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 asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. Keppler's active service (1947-1972) predates both policy actions entirely; whatever era materials she carried transferred with the hull to Turkey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull- or class-specific. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content per product-page description and prior verified readings. Establishes policy context only - nothing about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-07
-
[9]Turkish-service disposition: TCG Tinaztepe (D-355) - NavSource photo/record section + Turkish-language account (camlimaniakademi.com, CAMLIMANI AKADEMI, 2022-10-27) describing the 2 May 1984 collision with tanker Aygaz-3 off Kababurun/Dilburnu, Gulf of Izmit, in fog: 3 petty officers and 1 enlisted killed, 4 sailors and 5 shipyard workers injured; hull beyond repair, decommissioned 31 October 1984 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-765 page, TCG Tinaztepe section; camlimaniakademi.com/2022/10/27/tcg-tinaztepe-d-355/
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documents this hull's end state: transferred under the U.S. military assistance program as TCG Tinaztepe (D-355) in 1972, served the Turkish Navy (including 1974 Cyprus operation per Turkish sources), and was fatally damaged in the 1984 collision, decommissioned, and scrapped. Relevant to the exposure record because disposal occurred in Turkish hands with no U.S.-side abatement or hazmat record located - whatever era materials remained aboard went to the breakers with the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1972-1984
- Population
- Turkish Navy crew 1972-1984; 4 fatalities in 1984 collision; Turkish breakers
- Limitations
- Turkish-language secondary account and a private archive - not official Turkish Navy documentation. Scrapped-in-Turkey detail (yard, likely Aliaga, dates) is unverified. No asbestos/abatement information in either source; establishes disposition only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-08
-
[10]Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient record, Reinhardt J. Keppler (BM1c, USN, USS San Francisco CA-38; MOH action 12-13 Nov 1942, posthumous) + standard name-lineage references (DE-311 and DE-375 cancelled during construction 1944; DD-765 the only commissioned ship of the name) [other_primary]
- Locator
- cmohs.org recipient page; HistoryLink File/11062 (MOH presentation to widow, 1943-09-17)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Namesake verification for this hull's name: Boatswain's Mate First Class Reinhardt John Keppler, USN, posthumous Medal of Honor for heroism aboard USS San Francisco during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12-13 Nov 1942); MOH presented to his widow Elizabeth Keppler on 17 September 1943 - the same Mrs. Elizabeth L. Keppler who sponsored this hull at launch. DD-765 was the third U.S. Navy ship assigned the name; the two earlier namesakes (destroyer escorts DE-311 and DE-375) were cancelled during construction in 1944, making DD-765 the only commissioned USS Keppler.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Limitations
- Identity/namesake context only - no asbestos relevance. DANFS prints the sponsor as 'widow of John R. Keppler,' inconsistent with MOH records showing Elizabeth Keppler was Reinhardt J. Keppler's widow; the inversion is carried in gaps rather than corrected silently.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-keppler-dd765-09