Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]DANFS, 'Lea (Destroyer No. 118)' (updated NHHC entry, Robert J. Cressman; live URL returned 404 on re-fetch 2026-09-26 - content verified via Wayback captures, 41 captures through Dec 2025 incl. 20231205125336; prior batch-3126 session retrieved it live) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Lea (Destroyer No. 118) entry - namesake bio, spec block, and full service narrative (NHHC; Wayback capture 20231205125336)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Edward Lea (b. Maryland 31 Jan 1837, USNA Oct 1855; executive officer of Harriet Lane, mortally wounded in the Confederate recapture of Galveston 1 Jan 1863, his Confederate-officer father at his side at death). Built by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia (yard no. 455); launched 29 April 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Harry E. Collins; commissioned 2 October 1918, Lt. Cmdr. David W. Bagley in command (the older DANFS Online Project transcription reads 'W. A. Lee' - transcription-era variant, superseded by the updated NHHC entry). DesRon 19 Atlantic service 1919; Pacific Fleet 1920; redesignated DD-118 on 17 July 1920; west coast interwar; out of commission San Diego 22 June 1922 - 1 May 1930 and 7 April 1937 - 30 September 1939. Recommissioned under Lt. Cmdr. Franklin W. Slaven for the Neutrality Patrol, western Atlantic; escort force for the Iceland occupation transports 8 July 1941. Convoy escort North Atlantic/Caribbean/eastern seaboard for the first 2.5 years of WWII: rescued crew of Russian merchantman Dvinoles (collision-abandoned) February 1942; day-long U-boat defense of the convoy 24 February 1942; hunter-killer group around USS Bogue (CVE-9), 22 April - 30 May 1943, sharing the group's Presidential Unit Citation (first wolfpack engagement by such a group, 21-22 May 1943). Rammed by the U.S. freighter Elihu Yale on 31 December 1943 five days out of New York; towed to Bermuda, then Boston; repairs completed 28 June 1944. Thereafter Newport-based torpedo-plane target ship and carrier escort for flight training; same duty off Florida January-June 1945. Arrived Philadelphia 14 June 1945; decommissioned 20 July 1945; stricken from the Navy Register 13 August 1945; sold for scrapping to Boston Metals Salvage Co., Baltimore, 30 November 1945. Three WWII battle stars. Spec block: 1,165 t, 314'4" x 30'11" x 9', 35 kt, cpl 133, 4x4-inch + 2x3-inch + 12x21-inch tt.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1917-1945
- Population
- William Cramp & Sons construction trades 1917-18; interwar and wartime crews (design complement 133); Boston repair-yard trades 1944
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The printed keel date (18 September 1918) is internally impossible against the launch date - see the correction row ev-03. Live NHHC page returned 404 on this session's fetches; content verified via Wayback captures and the prior session's live retrieval. Spec block on the updated page reads complement 133.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-01
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-118 USS LEA (building data block, machinery line, commanding-officer roster, photo captions, reproduced SecNav Presidential Unit Citation text) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-118 index page - 'Operational and Building Data' block, machinery line, CO roster, photo captions (Boston Navy Yard 1943; NAS Cape May Oct 1945), PUC text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Building-data record for this hull: 'Built by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, PA (YN 455) Laid down 18 September 1917 Launched 29 April 1918 Commissioned 02 October 1918 Decommissioned at San Diego 22 May 1922 Recommissioned 01 May 1930 Decommissioned 07 April 1937 Recommissioned 30 September 1939 Decommissioned for final time at Philadelphia 20 July 1945 Stricken 13 August 1945 Fate Sold to Boston Metals, Baltimore 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap.' Machinery line: 26,000 shp, Parsons-design turbines, 2 screws, 35 kt, crew 103. Photo captions document the hull at Boston Navy Yard in 1943-44 and awaiting scrapping at NAS Cape May in October 1945 alongside other flush-deckers. Reproduces the SecNav PUC text naming escorts Bogue, Lea, Greene, Belknap, Osmond Ingram, George E. Badger and VC-9 for the 20 April 1943 - 3 July 1944 anti-submarine operations. Commanding-officer roster opens with LCDR David Worth Bagley, 2 October 1918 - 24 January 1919 (later Admiral) - consistent with the updated NHHC entry.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1917-1945
- Population
- Crews 1918-1945; Cramp yard workers 1917-18
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photographic archive reproducing official data - corroborative, not itself a primary Navy record. Its building-data header reads first decommission '22 May 1922' while DANFS reads 22 June 1922 (NavSource's own CO roster inserts 'June 6 1922') - three-way conflict carried in gaps; DANFS date carried. Crew figure 103 conflicts with DANFS 133 and HyperWar 149 - carried in gaps. Documents presence at Boston Navy Yard via photo caption; does not document materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-02
-
[3]NHHC DANFS, Lea (Destroyer No. 118), construction paragraph - internal chronological defect [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Lea entry, construction paragraph (NHHC; Wayback capture) vs NavSource building data '18 September 1917'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NHHC Lea entry itself prints a laid-down date of 18 September 1918 - a date after the stated 29 April 1918 launch, an internal chronological error in the official record (the same impossible year appears in the older DANFS Online Project transcription). The consistent keel date across NavSource building data, the Dreadnought Project's tabulation of official data, and class laydown records is 18 September 1917; 1917 is carried in vessel fields. This row documents that the authoritative source contains the error.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1917-1918
- Limitations
- Detects and documents an internal error in the official record; does not itself establish a replacement date - 1917 rests on NavSource and class-record corroboration, not on a corrected NHHC text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-03
-
[4]DANFS spec block (Wickes class, 35 kt) + NavSource machinery line (Parsons turbines, 26,000 shp, 2 screws) + class references for the Cramp-built block DD-113-118 (4 White-Forster boilers, Parsons geared turbines; navypedia.org / naval-encyclopedia.com class tables) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS DD-118 spec block; NavSource DD-118 machinery line; Wickes-class machinery tables (navypedia.org/ships/usa/us_dd_wickes.htm; naval-encyclopedia.com Wickes class)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a 1918 Wickes-class destroyer with a four-boiler (White-Forster, on the Cramp block DD-113-118), Parsons geared-turbine plant at ~26,000 shp sits inside the period in which marine steam plants were lagged and gasketed with asbestos-containing materials; era-standard applications included boiler and steam-drum lagging, steam-line lagging between fireroom and engine room, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, and compartment insulation. Every insulation installation aboard this hull (1918 construction, interwar refits, 1944 collision-repair availability) predates the Navy's early-1970s substitution era by decades.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1917-1945
- Population
- Construction trades (Cramp, 1917-18); engineering crews 1918-45; repair-yard trades (Boston, 1944)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or Booklet of General Plans retrieved for this ship. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no present-day characterization possible (hull scrapped 1945-46). Boiler-maker detail rests on secondary class references, not a per-hull spec document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-04
-
[5]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (guided research topic: Beginning Research; General Information Books; record-series listings) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page, 'Beginning Research' and 'General Information Books (GIBs)' sections (RG 19 Entry P 9 listing)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA describes use of asbestos in U.S. Navy materiel during 1941-1961 as a frequently requested research topic and lays out the retrieval path: BuShips RG 19 correspondence by hull/class filing code, and per-hull General Information Books - including RG 19 Entry P 9, 'Destroyer, Destroyer Escort, and Frigate General Information Books.' Lea served throughout 1941-1945, inside the guide's documented asbestos-materiel window; this is era-level research context for possible Navy materials aboard, without identification of any material aboard this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1941-1961 (guide scope); hull service 1941-45
- Population
- WWII-era Navy sailors and shipyard workers (guide's stated audience)
- Limitations
- Era-level Navy materiel context only. The guide does not identify asbestos aboard Lea, the Wickes class, or at Cramp; it cannot establish a product, quantity, location, or individual exposure. It does establish where a hull-level record would sit if one survives (RG 19 Entry P 9 for destroyers) and cautions that GIB coverage is incomplete by hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-05
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - every insulation installation aboard this hull (1918 build, interwar refits, 1944 repair) predates the substitution era by decades.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and postdates this hull's disposal. Supports era context for insulation practice at build and repair, not any fact specific to this hull; full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - description via product page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-06
-
[7]Naval Sea Systems Command, Standard Item 009-10, 'Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM); control' (FY 2024 package, dated 25 October 2022) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSEA SSRAC Standard Items FY24 package page, 009-10 PDF
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- NAVSEA Standard Item 009-10 (FY 2024) instructs current ship-repair work to treat listed shipboard material categories - insulation, lagging, gaskets, deck tile, underlayment, cabling, and mastic - as potential asbestos-containing material until reliable testing establishes otherwise. This is the standing modern taxonomy of ACM-relevant shipboard materials for the steam-plant ship classes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2022-2024
- Population
- Modern ship-repair workforce (standard's scope)
- Limitations
- A modern precautionary repair standard issued decades after Lea was scrapped. It identifies material categories for research orientation, not products documented aboard this hull, and is no evidence of asbestos on Lea specifically. navsea.navy.mil returned HTTP 403 to automated re-fetch on 2026-09-26; content per the prior batch-3126 session's retrieval.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-07
-
[8]DANFS collision-repair narrative + NavSource photo captions (Boston Navy Yard 1943-44) + Atlas shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard' (documented naval asbestos yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS DD-118 narrative (31 Dec 1943 collision paragraph); NavSource DD-118 photo captions; shipyards.json 'boston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documented yard-period event for this hull: after the 31 December 1943 ramming by the freighter Elihu Yale she was towed to Bermuda 'and later Boston', where repairs ran to completion 28 June 1944 (DANFS); NavSource photographs the hull at Boston Navy Yard in 1943-44. Boston Naval Shipyard (Charlestown) is a yard-level documented asbestos site in the Atlas shipyards dataset. The collision repair - a multi-month industrial availability involving damaged structure and machinery spaces - is the kind of work that disturbed era insulation materials.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1943-12-31 to 1944-06-28
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard trades, January-June 1944; ship's engineering crew
- Limitations
- Event documentation only - DANFS says 'Boston'; Boston Navy Yard attribution rests on NavSource photo captions. No work package, material list, or asbestos scope for this availability is documented; the asbestos relevance is inference from yard era and repair scope, not a ship-specific materials record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-08
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated) exact-name and hull-number sweep, 2026-09-26 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lea-dd118-06 through sl-uss-lea-dd118-10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep returned no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull: opinions 'USS Lea' = 0, 'U.S.S. Lea' = 0; opinions 'DD-118' = 2, both Burroughs Corp. v. Brown, 501 F. Supp. 375 (E.D. Va. 1980), a FOIA case where 'DD-118' is a document/form identifier - name collision, not the ship; dockets 'USS Lea' = 1 (Anwar v. Fairfield Greenwich, S.D.N.Y. 1:09-cv-00118 - Madoff-related securities litigation, collision); dockets 'DD-118' = 10, all collisions (exhibit/form identifiers in unrelated civil, criminal, bankruptcy and patent dockets). A cross-check on 'USS Hamul' (the co-named ship in an unverified marketing claim of a ~$2.7M Arizona verdict for an electrician's mate) returned 0 opinions. No asbestos opinion, docket, or RECAP document naming USS Lea or DD-118 located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Coverage limits: CourtListener indexes published opinions and federal RECAP dockets; a state-court verdict that was never appealed or reported (e.g., the marketing-claimed Arizona judgment) would not necessarily appear even if real. Absence here means no qualifying record located in this index, not that no filing ever existed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-09
-
[10]Batch-3126 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback-verified), hazegray/losthistory DANFS mirror, NavSource DD-118 file, NARA asbestos research guide, NHHC ZC-files index, CourtListener opinion+docket sweeps, VA/BVA index check via web, shipyards.json yard check, NARA catalog probe [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lea-dd118-01 through sl-uss-lea-dd118-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: the reviewed DANFS entry identifies the hull and service history but contains no asbestos material, sampling, or abatement finding; and no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court opinion, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Lea or DD-118 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Expected for a hull scrapped 1945-46, decades before ACM surveys and mass asbestos litigation; consistent with - but not proof of - absence of any post-disposal documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard during service - the 1918 steam plant is era-consistent with ACM insulation (ev-04, ev-05, ev-06). Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-10
-
[11]NHHC Navy Department Library, 'ZC Files - L,' Lea (DD-118) entries [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC ZC Files - L page, Lea (DD-118) index entries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's ZC files index lists holdings naming this hull: a Lea (DD-118) 1922 U.S. Naval Radio Service form and a Destroyer Division Eleven decommissioning dinner menu with a crew roster. These are collection descriptions - located archival items for the hull, and potential leads for crew/operational history.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1922 (indexed items)
- Population
- Destroyer Division Eleven crews (1922 roster lead)
- Limitations
- Index-level descriptions only; the items were not inspected and the index identifies no asbestos content. Live page returned 404 on this session's re-fetch (NHHC pages intermittently 404; verified live by the prior batch-3126 session).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-11
-
[12]NARA asbestos research guide record-series map: RG 19 Entry P 9 (Destroyer/DE/Frigate General Information Books), RG 19 general/confidential/secret BuShips correspondence 1940-1961, RG 38 Entry P 1-D (destroyer material inspection reports), RG 24 (Navy deck logs); Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia (William Cramp & Sons collection) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic (Entry P 9, P 1-D, correspondence listings); archives.gov RG 24/19 group guides; Independence Seaport Museum Cramp collection (identified, not probed)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - research-room or reproduction order required; no spend authorized): the Destroyer General Information Book for DD-118 if it survives (RG 19 Entry P 9 - the NARA guide's named series for per-hull machinery/material specifications, and the guide cautions coverage is incomplete by hull); RG 38 Entry P 1-D destroyer material inspection reports; BuShips general correspondence under filing codes 'DD118' hull and 'DD' destroyer type (RG 19, 1940-45 correspondence); Navy deck logs 1918-45 (RG 24); William Cramp & Sons company records (Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, holds the Cramp collection) for construction-material documentation; the 1945 Boston Metals Salvage Co. disposal file. The NARA online catalog returned only its JavaScript shell to programmatic probes this session, so box-level identification was not performed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1917-1946 records
- Limitations
- Record-series and collection mapping only - no retrieval performed; whether a DD-118 GIB or inspection report survives is unverified until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lea-dd118-12