Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet ew-packet.md (7 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-laffey-dd459-pkt-ew-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Laffey (DD-459) - verbatim transcription via Destroyer History Foundation (states source: NHHC/DANFS) and HazeGray mirror (live NHHC page not located); spec block: dp 1,260 [sic - likely 1,620], l. 347'10", b. 36'1", dr. 11'10", s. 37.5 k., cpl. 208, cl. BRISTOL [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry: spec block + service narrative + awards line; destroyerhistory.org Laffey DD-459 'DANFS History' page; hazegray.org dd459txt.htm via Wayback capture 2025-04-29
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 13 January 1941 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, Calif.; launched 30 October 1941, sponsored by Miss Eleanor G. Forgerty, granddaughter of Seaman Laffey; commissioned 31 March 1942, Lt. Comdr. William E. Hank in command. After West Coast shakedown: Efate 28 August 1942; TF-18 6 September; rescued survivors when flagship Wasp (CV-7) sank 15 September and returned them to Espiritu Santo; TF-64, Noumea 18 September; first fleet action at Battle of Cape Esperance 11-12 October (raked Aoba with 5-inch fire; Duncan lost, Farenholt and Boise damaged); rendezvoused with transport escort group from Noumea 11 November, Lunga Point 12 November under air attack; on Friday 13 November in the van of Callaghan's column of eight destroyers and five cruisers she fought a point-blank duel with an enemy battleship (Hiei), machine-gunning its bridge, until a 14-inch salvo and a torpedo in the fantail put her out of action; a violent explosion ripped the destroyer apart and she sank immediately. Awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and three battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 208; 247 aboard at loss)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents builder, dates, design specifications and service narrative - not materials or asbestos content. The entry ends at the loss and states no stricken date. Mirror transcriptions cited because no live NHHC page for DD-459 was located (history.navy.mil URL variants returned 404).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-01
-
[3]USS Laffey battle report, serial A16-3/DD459, dated 14 November 1942, The Commanding Officer (Acting) W.T. Doyle Jr. to Commander South Pacific Force, 'U.S.S. LAFFEY, Battle Report of' (Destroyer History Foundation transcription of the contemporaneous action report) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Battle report A16-3/DD459 paragraphs 1-7, destroyerhistory.org USS Laffey DD-459 'Battle of Guadalcanal' page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own action report for the 13 November 1942 loss: Laffey was second ship in the column of Task Unit 67.4 at ~0215 when contact was made ~6 miles east of Savo Island; torpedoes fired at a large enemy unit (Hiei) ran true but failed to arm at the short range; a large-caliber salvo hit the bridge superstructure and in number two gun turret, followed by a torpedo at the fantail and another salvo 'piercing the after fireroom and electrical workshop'; damage list included 5-inch guns Nos. 2-4 out of commission, 'Engine spaces untenable due to escaping steam', stern end blown off up to number four turret with no propulsion or steering control, oil fire aft, no firemain pressure, no electrical power; ordered abandon ship; a terrific explosion aft during abandonment 'caused the greater percentage of our casualties' and the ship sank immediately; CO Lt. Comdr. William E. Hank last seen in the water near the bow.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-11-13 to 1942-11-14
- Population
- USS Laffey crew in action, 13 November 1942
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous primary damage report - it documents machinery-space destruction and escaping steam (i.e., the steam plant was breached in action) but contains no statement about insulation materials or asbestos; any insulation inference from 'fireroom/engine spaces' is era inference only. Transcription hosted by Destroyer History Foundation; the report's enclosures (survivor and dead lists) are the BuPers casualty-report lineage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-02
-
[4]Destroyer History Foundation, USS Laffey (DD-459) page (battle narrative, casualty tabulation sourced to 'Bureau of Personnel casualty report, NARA'; Presidential Unit Citation text '15 September to 13 November 1942') [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/usslaffey - casualty figure sentence + 'Bureau of Personnel casualty report, NARA' source line + PUC tab
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Crew and loss accounting for this hull: in the 13 November 1942 action Laffey, second in line behind Cushing (DD-376) and ahead of Sterett and O'Bannon in the van of Callaghan's 13-ship TG 67.4, engaged battleships Hiei and Kirishima, sustained a torpedo hit in the stern from destroyer Teruzuki, and sank after her after magazines detonated - 59 officers and men killed (including LCDR Hank) and 116 wounded, of 247 aboard (Wikipedia's figure, citing this same page). Rescue context: on 15 September 1942 Laffey, with Duncan, Lansdowne, Helena and Salt Lake City, collectively rescued 1,946 Wasp survivors. PUC awarded for 'outstanding performance during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific area, 15 September to 13 November 1942.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- 247 crew aboard at loss; 59 killed; 116 wounded
- Limitations
- Casualty accounting, not materials or asbestos documentation. The '247 aboard' figure reaches the record through Wikipedia's citation of this foundation page - the underlying BuPers casualty report at NARA is the primary source and was not independently digitized in this session. Torpedo attribution to Teruzuki follows the foundation/Japanese-side accounts; some compilations credit Yukikaze - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-03
-
[5]Ocean Exploration Trust / E/V Nautilus, 'Exploring the USS Laffey WWII Shipwreck' (NA173 Maritime Archaeology of Guadalcanal expedition, July 2025) + U.S. Navy news release 'Expedition Reveals Thirteen Shipwrecks from WWII Battles off Guadalcanal' (navy.mil, 2025); wreck-discovery framing via USS Laffey Association (laffey.org) DD-459 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- nautiluslive.org video page 2025-07-14 + /cruise/na173; navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/display-news/Article/4272152/; laffey.org/uss_laffey_dd_459.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Wreck status for this hull: located and surveyed in mid-1992 by Dr. Robert Ballard's National Geographic expedition (the 'Lost Fleet of Guadalcanal' survey) nearly a half-mile below the surface of Iron Bottom Sound off Guadalcanal - upright, largely intact from the bow to amidships, after third gone, both forward 5-inch guns trained out to port, a 14-inch projectile hole in the midships superstructure. In July-August 2025 the Ocean Exploration Trust E/V Nautilus (expedition NA173, partnered with NOAA Ocean Exploration, U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, and the Solomon Islands government) re-surveyed the wreck in high resolution among thirteen WWII wrecks; the U.S. Navy published a news release on the expedition. The wreck lies southwest of Savo Island and is a war grave for the 59 men lost.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1992 (discovery); 2025 (NA173 re-survey)
- Population
- 59 crew lost with the hull (war grave)
- Limitations
- Documents wreck location, condition and surveyed status - no materials or asbestos content. nautiluslive.org's caption dates the sinking 'November 12, 1942'; the ship's own report and DANFS fix the engagement at ~0215 on 13 November - 13 November carried. navy.mil article verified via index but returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; nautiluslive.org page fetched directly. Exact wreck coordinates are not officially published.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-04
-
[6]BuShips Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels (Jan 1945) machinery data for the No. 421 Class + DANFS spec block (cl. Bristol, 37.5 k., cpl. 208) + NavSource DD-459 data sheet (Bristol class: 50,000 shp, Westinghouse geared turbines, 35 kt, 5x5"/38, 10x21" tt) + benson-gleaves-class.class.json (Atlas class profile, ev-04 era inference) + Atlas shipyard dataset 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' (tier 3; aliases include Union Iron Works) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DD machinery table (No. 421 Class); hazegray dd459txt spec block; NavSource DD-459 data sheet; benson-gleaves-class.class.json ev-benson-gleaves-class-04
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Bethlehem San Francisco (Union Iron Works) destroyer completed 31 March 1942 with 4 Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers and geared steam turbines (~50,000 shp per NavSource/DANFS-type; BuShips Ships' Data shows 47,000 shp for the class lead) falls inside the Navy's peak asbestos-insulation era. Typical applications for the type: boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck tile and accommodation insulation. Builder yard is documented in the Atlas dataset at tier 3 (Bethlehem Shipbuilding, including San Francisco/Union Iron Works in its alias set). 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
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1942
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1941-42; crew March-November 1942
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos record exists for this hull and none is feasible at wreck depth; this row contextualizes, it does not document materials aboard DD-459. NARA GIB retrieval not performed. Turbine builder (Westinghouse per NavSource) and shp (47,000 BuShips vs 50,000 DANFS-type) carry documented discrepancies at class level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-05
-
[7]Anderson v. Crown Cork & Seal Co., 93 F. Supp. 2d 697 (E.D. Va. 2000); Scott v. 84 Lumber Co., No. 3:22-cv-00613-SMY (S.D. Ill.) amended complaint ECF No. 63; Krik v. Crane Co., No. 1:10-cv-07435 (N.D. Ill.) defendants' exhibit list ECF No. 209-8 - classification follows the resolved DD-724 record [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener opinion 2284932 (Anderson); RECAP dockets 3:22-cv-00613 (Scott) and 1:10-cv-07435 (Krik); search_ledger rows sl-uss-laffey-dd459-07/-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Verified name collisions: every CourtListener hit for 'USS Laffey' resolves to the second ship of the name, the Allen M. Sumner-class USS Laffey (DD-724) - not to DD-459, whose entire service was 31 March to 13 November 1942. (1) Anderson v. Crown Cork & Seal (E.D. Va. 2000): decedent served aboard USS Laffey 1950-1954, when only DD-724 was in commission. (2) Scott v. 84 Lumber (S.D. Ill. 2022): amended complaint names USS Laffey (DD-724) explicitly, exposure as a Navy electrician 1963-1967. (3) Krik v. Crane (N.D. Ill.): 'USS Laffey' appears in a defendants' exhibit list as the subject of a 2003 Boelter & Yates bulk sampling of insulation from the museum hull DD-724 at Patriots Point - the sampled vessel, not a plaintiff exposure site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2000-2022 (litigation)
- Population
- DD-724 plaintiffs/exhibits; no DD-459 claimant identified
- Limitations
- Documents attribution of the name to a different hull; establishes nothing about DD-459. Carried as a correction row because exact-name searches return these cases and unreviewed readers could misattribute them to this hull. Classification grounded in the batch-07 record's resolved full-text review (uss-laffey-dd724.atlas.json ev-02/-08) plus this session's type=o and type=r sweeps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-06
-
[8]Batch-3442 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS; Destroyer History Foundation page + battle report; USS Laffey Association page; OET/Nautilus and navy.mil wreck releases; NavSource data sheet; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-laffey-dd459-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey exists or is feasible (wreck at ~half-mile depth in Iron Bottom Sound), no abatement or hazmat disclosure exists (the hull was never scrapped, salvaged, or converted - all 1942 materials went down with the ship), and no qualifying asbestos case names DD-459 - every 'USS Laffey' hit is a verified DD-724 collision (see ev-06).
- 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 destroyer sunk with her March-1942 fit intact retains era materials in the wreck; the ship never underwent postwar scrapping or abatement. CourtListener coverage is limited to indexed opinions and RECAP dockets; non-indexed state-court, bankruptcy-trust, or FELA/claims filing references are outside coverage. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-laffey-dd459-07