Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet jn-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lang-dd399-pkt-jn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Lang II (DD-399) (builder, dates, service narrative, battle stars, sale and scrapping; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 5 April 1937 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; launched 27 August 1938 (sponsor Mrs. William D. Leahy); commissioned 30 March 1939, Lt. Comdr. Felix L. Johnson; namesake John Lang, seaman aboard Wasp first to board HMS Frolic 18 October 1812. Specs: 1,725 tons, 341'1" x 35'6" x 10'9", 38.5 kt, complement 184, armament 4 x 5", 6 x 20mm, 7 x .50 cal, 8 x 21" tt, 2 dct. Service: FDR escort August 1939; Gulf Patrol from Galveston; Pacific transfer March 1940; Atlantic carrier/ASW duty 1941 (screening Yorktown and Ranger December 1941); 34 survivors rescued from SS Empire Wildebeest January 1942; TF 39 escort to Scapa Flow; two Force 'W' Spitfire deliveries to Malta; Pacific July 1942 (flagship DesDiv 15, TF 18) screening Wasp for Guadalcanal-Tulagi; Kokumbona bombardments 22/24 January 1943; New Georgia landings; Vella Gulf night action 6-7 August 1943 (three Japanese destroyers sunk: Kawakaze, Arashi, Hagikaze); TF 50 Gilberts November 1943; Nauru bombardment 9 December 1943; Roi/Namur/Abraham and TF 58 Kwajalein early 1944; Marianas summer 1944; Wewak minefield 31 August 1944; Morotai convoys; towed torpedoed Shelton (DE-407) 8 October 1944; Leyte Gulf (six kamikaze attacks, no damage); TF 78 Lingayen 25 December 1944; Okinawa flagship ComDesDiv 4 (air attacks 12-29 April 1945); repairs San Francisco 3 July 1945; decommissioned 16 October 1945; sold George Nutman, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., 20 December 1946; scrapped 31 October 1947. Eleven battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1947
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1937-39; wartime crew (design complement 184)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Transcription lacks a stricken-date note (secondary consensus: 13 November 1945 - see ev-02). Launch date reads 27 August 1938; NavSource/uboat.net/NavalCoverMuseum read 28 August - conflict carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-399 USS Lang; corroborated by uboat.net Allied Warships ship record and NavalCoverMuseum LANG DD 399 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-399 'Operational and Building Data' block; uboat.net ship/1716 history block; navalcovermuseum.org LANG DD 399 names/designations list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-source consensus on dates the DANFS transcription omits or disputes: stricken from the Naval Register 13 November 1945; decommissioned 16 October 1945; sold 20 December 1946 to George Nutman Inc., Brooklyn; broken up for scrap. NavSource also lists the wartime commanding-officer sequence (Johnson; Waters; Seay; Wilfong; Payson; Bland, to decommissioning).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1947
- Limitations
- NavSource/uboat/NavalCoverMuseum are reputable volunteer compilations, not official records; the stricken date is a three-source secondary consensus rather than a primary document. These sources read launch as 28 August 1938 against DANFS's 27 August - conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-02
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[4]DANFS specifications block (Benham class; 38.5 kt) + class-level machinery record (3 Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers, 2-shaft Westinghouse geared turbines, ~50,000 shp); NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications cited as archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; class machinery data per Destroyers OnLine/naval references (class level)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Benham-class destroyer built 1937-39 with a three-boiler high-pressure steam plant (Babcock & Wilcox boilers; Westinghouse geared turbines) would have carried period-standard asbestos thermal insulation on boilers and steam lines, turbine lagging, flange/valve gaskets, pump packing, compartment fireproofing, and deck coverings. Gibbs & Cox-designed high-pressure plant operates at elevated temperatures consistent with heavy lagging. NARA RG 19 General Information Books per-vessel material specifications are the standing hull-level archival lead; retrieval not performed.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1945
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1937-39; wartime crew 1939-45
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no survey, spec sheet, or contract names materials aboard this hull. Not a ship-specific finding; must not be read as 'documented aboard DD-399.' NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-03
-
[5]Atlas shipyard dataset record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (tier 2): Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ, 30 Aug-2 Sep 1944 (introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX 1990) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny', evidence ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Builder-yard documentation: the yard that built this hull is documented at tier 2 in the Atlas shipyard dataset. The flagship yard evidence is a 1944 Owens-Illinois industrial health survey recording insulator work with Johns-Manville Superex asbestos pipe covering and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces at Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny; the dataset also lists Kaylo pipe/boiler insulation, Monokote fireproofing, and Garlock gaskets as yard-documented products.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944 (survey); hull built 1937-39
- Population
- Shipyard insulators and pipefitters, Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny NJ, 1944 survey
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation postdating this hull's 1937-39 construction by five years - it demonstrates asbestos product use at the builder's yard in the same era, not installation aboard DD-399. Survey was conducted by a manufacturer with commercial interest; dust counts in mppcf (pre-fiber-count era). Does not address crew exposure aboard the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 search (type=o opinions and type=r dockets), exact-name and hull-number queries for 'USS Lang' / 'DD-399' [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py session stderr (pacing stand-down); search_ledger sl-uss-lang-dd399-03/-04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- UNRESOLVED AT COMMIT: the authenticated CourtListener helper (cl-auth-search.py) returned a fleet-wide pacing stand-down ('budget momentarily spent, ~114/hr shared across all sessions') on every attempt this session (five attempts spaced across ~40 minutes, 2026-09-27). No CourtListener result - positive or negative - was obtained for this hull.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- The litigation layer is a gap, not a negative finding: the sweep did not run. Collision hazards when it does run: USS Lang (FF-1060), a Knox-class frigate in service 1970-1991, shares the name for post-1970 exposure windows, and 'Lang' is a common litigant surname - bare-name hits require hull attribution before classification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-05
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[7]Batch-3384 search ledger (this record): DANFS (HyperWar transcription); NHHC live DANFS (404); NavSource/uboat.net/NavalCoverMuseum corroboration; Atlas shipyard dataset (federal-shipbuilding-kearny); web sweep for hull-specific asbestos/abatement/litigation mentions (marketing-list mentions only, excluded); CourtListener sweep blocked by fleet pacing [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lang-dd399-01 through sl-uss-lang-dd399-05
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located in the sources searched: no hull survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, environmental record, or museum documentation exists for this hull (scrapped 1947; no surviving structure), and no non-CourtListener source names this hull in an asbestos context. CourtListener verification is an open gap (see ev-05).
- 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 - 1937-39 construction at an asbestos-documented yard is era-consistent with ACM. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Negative finding is bounded by the search_ledger actually completed; the CourtListener leg did not run.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lang-dd399-06