Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet fo-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-killen-dd593-pkt-fo-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Killen (DD-593) entry (verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404; identical text also mirrored at losthistory.net/hazegray) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: launched 10 January 1943 by Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. Inez Cowdrey; commissioned 4 May 1944, Comdr. H. G. Corey commanding; Leyte fire support October 1944; Surigao Strait 25 October 1944 - five torpedoes at battleship Yamashiro, one hit; bomb hit off Leyte 1 November 1944, 15 killed; overhaul at Hunter's Point, Calif., arriving 15 January 1945; Brunei Bay and Balikpapan June 1945; Aleutians and occupation duty; decommissioned San Diego 9 July 1946; 'served as a trial ship during the atom bomb tests in 1958, and in 1962 engaged in high explosive tests in the Chesapeake Bay. Killen was struck from the Navy List in January 1963 to be used as a target ship for missiles off Vieques Island, P.R.' Two battle stars for WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1963
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1941-44; wartime crew (design complement 273)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS omits the laying-down date (day precision comes from secondary sources - see gaps). Stricken date here reads January 1963; NavSource carries 1 June 1963 - conflict carried in gaps, not reconciled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-01
-
[3]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USN Ships--USS Killen (DD-593)' photo-catalog caption + companion target-ship page usnsh-k/dd593-k.htm (verbatim HyperWar transcriptions of NHHC material; live NHHC equivalents not located) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library caption text + photo entries USN 1142851-1142854 (2 February 1970, PH1 Don Grantham)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC caption record for this hull: decommissioned July 1946 into the Pacific Reserve Fleet; 'removed from mothballs for target duty during the 1958 nuclear weapons tests in the Central Pacific'; took part in further explosive tests in the early 1960s; 'stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1963 and was used thereafter as a target at the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range'; 'In 1975, after a dozen years of battering by guided missiles and other weapons, Killen's hulk was scuttled in shallow water near the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.' Companion page catalogs four 1970 official Navy photographs (USN 1142851-1142854) of the hulk moored at Roosevelt Roads showing cut-down superstructure and missile-hit damage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1946-1975
- Population
- Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range operations personnel 1963-1975 (hulk unmanned per WT-1682 precedent)
- Limitations
- NHHC photo captions document disposition and physical condition of the hulk (superstructure cut down) - not asbestos content. Confirms hull identity through the wreck phase.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-02
-
[4]WT-1682(EX), Operation HARDTACK - Report to the Scientific Director, Report of the Commander, Task Group 7.1, Joint Task Force Seven, 1 August 1958 (declassified DOD report, extracted version; mirror at nuclearsecrecy.com - official DNA history DNA-6038F blocked to automated fetch) [other_primary]
- Locator
- WT-1682(EX) Table 3.2 target array; Program 1 blast/shock sections (Wahoo underwater pressures, DD-593 at 8887 ft); Program 2 shipboard radiation vulnerability (three target destroyers)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official test-program record placing this hull in the underwater-shot target array: '#474, 592, 593, Target array, instrumented, not manned' (Table 3.2); 'Four unmanned major target ships, three destroyers, and an EC-2 merchant ship were instrumented and exposed to the Wahoo and Umbrella underwater detonations'; for shot Wahoo, 'pressure-time histories (at various depths to 1850 ft) were obtained at the EC-2 (2346 ft) and the DD-593 (8887 ft)'; shipboard radiation-vulnerability project measured gamma dose/dose-rate histories aboard the three target destroyers for shots Wahoo and Umbrella.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1958 (shots Wahoo, May; Umbrella, June)
- Population
- Unmanned instrumented target hulk; post-shot boarding survey and decontamination crews (per ATSDR)
- Limitations
- Documents the hull's role as an unmanned, instrumented blast/radiation-effects target at the 1958 underwater nuclear shots - including irradiation of the hull itself - but says nothing about asbestos or other materials aboard. OCR-moderate scan quality; companion destroyer hulls DD-592 and DD-414 also in the array. Does not describe decontamination specifics (covered in the ATSDR row).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-03
-
[5]ATSDR, Public Health Assessment: Fish and Shellfish Evaluation, Isla de Vieques Bombing Range, Vieques, Puerto Rico (June 27, 2003), Section VI Community Health Concerns, items 1-3 (drums on sunken Navy vessels; radiological contamination; metals contamination - all keyed to the former USS Killen) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PHA Section VI, Concerns 1-3 (Drums on Sunken Navy Vessels; Radiological Contamination; Metals Contamination from the former USS Killen)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Federal public-health record centered on this hull's wreck: the scuttled remains in Bahia Salina del Sur were identified as the former USS Killen after a November 1999 University of Georgia survey (contracted by Puerto Rican government lawyers) reported two sunken vessels holding hundreds of 55-gallon drums. Per Navy-provided information in the PHA: during HARDTACK the ship 'was under constant water wash before and after the blasts,' crews boarded a few days after each test to survey and manually decontaminate affected areas, and 'there is no indication that sandblasting was used'; post-test towing route included Hawaii, the Panama Canal Zone, and Norfolk; docked at Roosevelt Roads 1963-1975 when not in use as target; scuttled 1975. Radiation: below 0.75 microroentgen/hr aboard in 1975; 0.33 microroentgen/hr above background in March 2002 (SAIC 2002) - 'indistinguishable from ... background levels.' Fish/shellfish sampled at the wreck (Location 2, July 2001) showed no metals or explosives compounds at levels adverse to consumers. The 2001 Navy site investigation (Geo-Marine 2002) concluded the wreck acts as a productive artificial reef; drums hypothesized as air buoyancy or sand/seawater ballast added after removal of much of the superstructure, armament, and heavy engineering components.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1958-2003 (survey work 1999-2002)
- Population
- Vieques residents (consumption pathway); divers visiting the wreck; post-shot decontamination crews 1958 (historical)
- Limitations
- Documents the wreck's radiological and chemical evaluation and the pre-target removal of 'much of the superstructure, armament, and heavy engineering components' - no asbestos determination is made or implied; the PHA does not assess asbestos aboard the wreck. Live ATSDR URL returns 404; archived capture cited. Current page is maintained by CDC/ATSDR as a historical document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-04
-
[6]Romero-Barcelo v. Brown (Barcelo v. Brown), 478 F. Supp. 646 (D.P.R. 1979), aff'd in part, vacated in part, Romero-Barcelo v. Brown, 643 F.2d 835 (1st Cir. 1981) [court_record]
- Locator
- 643 F.2d 835 at 848-851 (Section 15/Rivers and Harbors Act discussion and disposition); district opinion 478 F. Supp. 646 at 669-72
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal litigation naming this hull: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico alleged that the Navy's sinking of the U.S.S. Killen in the Bahia Salinas del Sur violated Section 15 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 409). The district court held no private cause of action exists under the section; the First Circuit held the Commonwealth lacked standing - it 'failed to allege that the sinking of the U.S.S. Killen resulted in any form of harm' - vacated the district court's Section 15 ruling and remanded for dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975 (sinking); 1979-1981 (litigation)
- Limitations
- OTHER LITIGATION - environmental statute, not asbestos. Disposition is jurisdictional (standing/dismissal), not a merits finding about the sinking or the wreck's contents; nothing in the opinion addresses asbestos or hazardous materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-05
-
[7]Porter, J.W., J.V. Barton & C. Torres, 'Ecological, Radiological, and Toxicological Effects of Naval Bombardment on the Coral Reefs of Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico,' in Warfare Ecology (NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C, Springer 2011), pp. 65-122, doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1214-0_8 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapter, 'Killen' subsection and Fig. 1 (Site 2, Bahia Salina del Sur)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed survey chapter with a dedicated Killen section: the hull was 'reactivated as a trial ship in 1958 and used as a target during the Hardtack, Wahoo, and Umbrella atomic bomb tests in the US Marshall Islands,' rolled during the detonations but righted and survived; per Navy information, underwent water wash after the blasts with crews boarding a few days later to survey and manually decontaminate, and no sandblasting was used; brought through the Panama Canal for 1962 Chesapeake Bay high-explosive tests; struck January 1963; docked at Roosevelt Roads between target uses; 'In 1975, the Killen was towed to Vieques and scuttled in Bahia Salina del Sur near the Live Impact Area (LIA) due north of Isla Alcatraz.' Documents wreck condition (superstructure absent - removed or blasted away) and the 2003-04 UOR/UGA barrel-probing survey finding no elevated radiological signatures in the hull or barrel interiors.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1999-2011 surveys; 1958-1975 hull history
- Population
- Marine ecosystem; wreck-site investigators
- Limitations
- Peer-reviewed scholarly survey, not a government record; the chapter misprints the launch year as 1941 (correct: 1943) and states casualty/history details at secondary-remove. Documents wreck radiological/toxicological evaluation - no asbestos assessment is made.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-06
-
[8]SAIC, 'Demonstration of the Marine Towed Array on Bahia Salinas del Sur, Vieques, Puerto Rico' (MEC demonstration survey conducted 1-30 June 2007; final report 2009; Navy munitions-response program work; DTIC-indexed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Report abstract (DTIC/exa.ai library entry)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Navy munitions-cleanup survey record: 'The center of the Bahia is dominated by the wreckage of the Killen, a former target ship, which was sunk by Naval gunfire. The entire Bahia lies within the Live Impact Area 01, a former Naval training range.' June 2007 Marine Towed Array magnetometer survey identified 600+ magnetic anomalies recommended for investigation within the bay.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2007-2009
- Population
- Former Navy range environment
- Limitations
- Documents the wreck's setting inside the former Live Impact Area and munitions-anomaly density - a UXO/geophysical survey that says nothing about hull materials or asbestos. Abstract viewed via index (exa.ai library listing of the DTIC report); full report text not directly reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-07
-
[9]Lilliam Irizarry (Associated Press), 'U.S. Navy Says Ship On Sea Bottom Off Vieques Isn't Radioactive; Island Legislature Plans Hearings,' Sept. 9, 2002 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- AP dispatch via Puerto Rico Herald, vol. 6 no. 37
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous press record: Puerto Rico's Senate planned hearings on whether the USS Killen should be raised to test for radioactivity and to determine the contents of several hundred drums aboard; Navy spokeswoman stated the ship 'does not have any detected radioactivity,' that the drums contain only sand, and that the wreck resting about 30 feet down acts as a reef; Navy said the vessel was moved to waters off Vieques in 1963 and used about 10 years as a bombing target.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2002
- Population
- Vieques residents; Puerto Rico Senate
- Limitations
- Press report of official positions, not a primary record; the spokeswoman's 'early 1970s' sinking date conflicts with the NHHC/NavSource 1975 date (1975 carried; noted in gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-08
-
[10]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 35 kt; complement 273) + Fletcher class profile (4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 GE geared steam-turbine sets, 60,000 shp, 2 shafts) + Atlas shipyard dataset (puget-sound-naval-shipyard) + GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; fletcher-class.class.json (class profile); shipyards.json 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-44 at a U.S. naval shipyard with a four-boiler steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; builder Puget Sound Navy Yard is a documented Atlas shipyard entry; GAO HRD-80-2 documents that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing this hull's 1941-44 construction and 1944-46 commissioned service inside the documented asbestos-use era. NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1963
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1941-44; commissioned crew 1944-46; Hunter's Point overhaul workers 1945
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos finding for this hull (see negative-finding row ev-10). The hull's post-service history (engineering-component removal, 1958 decontamination, target destruction of the superstructure) means present-day material content of the wreck is additionally uncertain. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-09
-
[11]Batch-3565 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + Online Library; WT-1682; ATSDR PHA; Porter 2011; SAIC 2009; CourtListener opinion sweep; VA BVA corpus; NVR; press [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-killen-dd593-01 through sl-uss-killen-dd593-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, museum/donation hazmat disclosure, BVA decision, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Killen or DD-593 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The only litigation naming the hull is environmental (Romero-Barcelo; Vieques Conservation Trust; Sanchez v. United States - none asbestos).
- 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 during service; the wreck's pre-scuttling stripping of superstructure/armament/heavy engineering components leaves residual hull material undocumented either way. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 search sweep (authenticated, fleet-paced helper) - 'USS Killen' type=o; 'DD-593' type=o; 'USS Killen'/'DD-593' type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-killen-dd593-06, -07, -08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (2026-09-27): 'USS Killen' opinion search returned 3 hits, all 'other litigation' - Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust v. Bush, 140 F. Supp. 2d 127 (D.P.R. 2001); Sanchez v. United States, 707 F. Supp. 2d 216 (D.P.R. 2010); Barcelo v. Brown, 478 F. Supp. 646 (D.P.R. 1979) - all Vieques environmental/range litigation naming the wreck, none asbestos. Hull-number 'DD-593' opinion query: 0 hits. RECAP docket (type=r) queries: fleet rate-limit window closed before completion - incomplete, logged honestly in the ledger; a VA BVA corpus search also produced no Killen-named asbestos decision.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage: opinion index searched by ship name and hull number (both complete); docket-index queries incomplete due to fleet-shared quota pacing - a residual gap, not an adverse signal; no qualifying asbestos litigation was located in the completed portions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-killen-dd593-11