Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet gy-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERDICT: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced)
- Evidence ID
- uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-pkt-gy-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) (live NHHC page indexed but returning 404 to automated fetches 2026-09-28; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org mirror, Wayback capture 2025-01-24, and destroyers.org 'Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015' republication) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (hazegray wayback capture 2025-01-24; destroyers.org republish dated July 2015)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 2 May 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; launched 4 January 1946, sponsored by Mrs. Hillery Mason; commissioned 28 June 1946, Comdr. S. D. B. Merrill in command. Specs: 2,425 t; 390'6" x 41'1"; 18' draft; 34.5 kt; cpl. 367; 6x5"/38, 12x40mm, 10x20mm, 2 dct, 6 dcp; class Gearing. Service: DesDiv 32 Pacific 1947; TF 85 siege of Wonsan from 16 May 1951; TG 70.1 with USS New Jersey 1953; three Korean battle stars; homeported Yokosuka May 1960-May 1962; FRAM I conversion at Boston Naval Shipyard during 1963, returning to Yokosuka 21 July 1964; Vietnam naval gunfire support, Taiwan Strait patrols, Gemini Recovery Force; Gemini VIII recovery 17 March 1966 (Armstrong and Scott aboard within 3 hours); homeport Long Beach June 1966; overhaul at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, entered January 1967; WestPac plane guard/NGFS Sept 1967-Mar 1968; Yokosuka homeport 19 August 1968 into 1969.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1969
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1945-46; crew 1946-1976
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The print entry predates the 1976 disposal and does not cover 1969-1976. Mirror transcriptions disagree on the 1967 overhaul entry day (3 vs 5 January) and DANFS's 2 May 1945 laying date conflicts with the ship's own 1966 command history (6 August 1945) - conflicts carried in gaps. Live NHHC page 404s to automated fetch; verbatim mirrors cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-01
-
[3]USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) Command History, 1 January - 31 December 1966, OPNAV Report 5750-1 (NHHC command-operation-reports archive; live URL 404s, text retrieved via Wayback capture 2025-12-10) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Command history PDF, chronology pp. 1-4, command organization (CO list, homeport, composition/complement), and narrative text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous ship-produced primary record: 'Built by the Bethlehem Steel Company at Quincy, Massachusetts, her keel was laid 6 August 1945 and she was launched on 15 December 1945. She was commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 28 June 1946.' Commanding-officer list July 1963-December 1963 marked 'In commission in reserve' (the FRAM I yard period at Boston NSY per DANFS); homeport Long Beach from June 1966; composition 'DD 710 (FRAM MK I) Class Destroyer'; complement (OCR) officers 113, enlisted 270. Documents a four-boiler steam plant aboard this hull: during the Gemini VIII recovery dash the ship put '2 more boilers on the line' in 1 hour 32 minutes and accelerated past 32 knots with engine-room temperature rising 95 to 115 degrees. 1966 operations: NGFS off Vietnam (3,603 rounds Jan-Mar plus May missions; over 8,000 rounds of 5-inch in the July 1965-May 1966 window on 80 missions), Gemini VIII recovery 17 March 1966, interim availability at SRF Yokosuka January 1966.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1966 (with retrospective build data to 1945-46)
- Population
- Crew of USS Leonard F. Mason, 1966 (~283-367)
- Limitations
- Primary source for service history but its build dates conflict with DANFS (laid 6 Aug 1945 and launched 15 Dec 1945 here vs. DANFS 2 May 1945 / 4 Jan 1946) - written ~21 years after the events; the launch date is contradicted by every other source and is likely erroneous, while the 6 August keel date is independently supported by NavSource and the ROCN archive. Documents machinery operation, not materials or asbestos content. Complement OCR ('officers 113') is implausible for a destroyer and likely reads 13.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-02
-
[4]Naval Vessel Register detail page, LEONARD F MASON (DD 852), UIC 52152 (live page serves empty template for pre-1987 disposals; populated record via Wayback capture 2024-08-22) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail page DD-852 (Wayback 2024-08-22 capture; live page is an empty template for pre-1987 disposals)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy register record: class 'DD 710'; status 'Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale case number assigned'; date status changed 03/01/1978; Stricken Date 11/02/1976. Confirms striking 2 November 1976 and a cash-sale transfer under the Security Assistance Program effective 1 March 1978 (Taiwan).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1976-1978
- Population
- n/a - registry record
- Limitations
- NVR gives the SAP disposition effective date 1 March 1978; NavSource and the Taiwan archive record the physical transfer/renaming 10 March 1978 and ROCN commissioning 25 May 1978 - the 1 vs 10 March difference is administrative vs. delivery date. NVR milestone fields (keel, launch, commission) are blank for this hull and do not resolve the DANFS/command-history date conflict.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-03
-
[5]Halseth et al. v. General Electric Co. et al., No. 3:07-cv-02543-EMC (N.D. Cal.), Complaint Exhibit A (plaintiff Donald Hunter work history), ECF No. 1-2 (filed 2007-05-14); suit nature 368 P.I.: Asbestos; terminated 2016-06-13 [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 1-2 (complaint Exhibit A), pp. 15-17 - Hunter work-history table row 'USS LEONARD MASON (DD-852) 1956-1958' and narrative 'Aboard the USS LEONARD F. MASON (DD-852), plaintiff worked in the boiler room'
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos pleading naming this hull: plaintiff Donald Hunter's Exhibit A work history lists 'USS LEONARD MASON (DD-852) 1956-1958' and alleges he 'worked in the boiler room ... performed maintenance and repair work on BABCOCK & WILCOX boilers ... removed and replaced tubing in boilers ... used hand tools to remove old gaskets on manhole and handhold covers ... installed new FLEXITALLIC gaskets ... removed and reinstalled insulation on steam lines during repairs to leaking pipes ... recalls installing JOHNS MANVILLE insulation.' Hunter was diagnosed with asbestos-related pleural disease 2007-01-15 and asbestosis 2006-06-22. The same exhibit lists service aboard USS Sperry, Wadleigh, Saint Paul, Frontier, Bryce Canyon, Collett, Helena, Fremont and at Naval Station Newport, Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and Great Lakes NTC.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1956-1958 (alleged exposure); 2007-2016 (litigation)
- Population
- Donald Hunter (USN boiler mechanic, aboard 1956-58; pleural disease + asbestosis); multi-ship career 1947-1966
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation only - the complaint recites exposure aboard this hull but no court adjudicated it; case terminated 2016-06-13 and the merits disposition (settlement vs. dismissal) is not determined from the index. Establishes that DD-852 was named as an alleged exposure site, not causation, product identification aboard this hull, or quantity. Plaintiff was a multi-ship boiler mechanic; hull attribution is by the complaint's own allegation (exhibit reads 'USS LEONARD MASON (DD-852)').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-04
-
[6]Pritt v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., No. 1:19-cv-10651-KPF (S.D.N.Y.), Declaration of Mark Alonzo in Opposition to Summary Judgment, ECF No. 132 exhibit list (filed 2021-04-19); suit nature 368 P.I.: Asbestos; filed 2019-11-18, terminated 2022-07-01 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 16480094, ECF No. 132 exhibit list items 14A/14B
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos docket in which hull-specific litigation exhibits for this ship were produced: the ECF 132 exhibit list includes 'Exhibit 14A - USS Leonard F. Mason Inspection Report pt. 1' and 'Exhibit 14B - USS Leonard F. Mason Inspection Report Pt. 2', filed among machinery/insulation technical exhibits (GE master lagging plan WW-6666515, Destroyer SSTG instructions GEI-28923, BuShips Manual thermal-insulation sections 1945/1955, MIL-I-16411A/MIL-I-16511B insulation specs, USS Purdy machinery synopsis). The named plaintiff Arnold Pritt's exposure was alleged aboard USS Purdy (DD-734), a Sumner-class destroyer with machinery shared by the Gearing class - the Mason inspection report functions as produced technical/expert exhibit material about a same-era destroyer, not as an exposure-site allegation. The case's published 28 March 2022 Opinion and Order (Judge Failla) addressed GE's Daubert and summary-judgment motions as to the Purdy exposure; the parties then settled (joint status letter, notice of settlement; terminated 2022-07-01). Establishes that a document titled a USS Leonard F. Mason inspection report exists in the federal asbestos litigation record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- report date unknown; listed 2021-04-19
- Population
- n/a - exhibit material; plaintiff's exposure alleged aboard USS Purdy
- Limitations
- Discovery-stage exhibit listing only - the report's contents were not retrieved (attachments not in RECAP index) and its authorship, date, and scope (pre-transfer survey, machinery inspection, or expert-compiled synopsis) are unverified. Its presence proves a hull-specific inspection document exists; it does not establish asbestos findings, exposure, or causation for this hull. Not a plaintiff-exposure-site allegation for DD-852.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-05
-
[7]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (2018-09-28) [court_record]
- Locator
- Omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (OCR of scanned ECF 171), as documented in the Gearing-class profile (gearing-class.class.json ev-gearing-class-04/05)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital applicable to this hull's machinery: the omnibus opinion 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 a 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.' DD-852 is a Gearing-class (DD-710) hull with the same forced-draft-blower steam plant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s design era; opinion filed 2018-09-28
- Population
- Gearing/Sumner destroyer fire-room and engine-room crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recital of an expert report (McCloskey) and a Navy engineering drawing - the 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally for fire/engine rooms, not an adjudicated classwide quantity, and the opinion treated some related exposure conclusions as speculative. Shared machinery context for this hull; not a ship-specific finding for DD-852. Underlying exhibits not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-06
-
[8]Consolidated era/yard inference - DANFS specifications (Gearing class, 34.5 kt) + ship's 1966 command history (four-boiler plant operated aboard) + Atlas shipyard dataset record 'fore-river-shipyard' (yard-level asbestos litigation record: Oliver v. General Electric pipefitter/drafting apprentice 1967-1970) + documented yard events (Boston NSY FRAM I 1963-64; SF Bay NSY Mare Island Division overhaul Jan-May 1967) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specs block; 1966 command history four-boiler passage; shipyards.json 'fore-river-shipyard'; class profile ev-gearing-class-04/-12
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design/yard inference: a Gearing-class destroyer built 1945-46 at Bethlehem Quincy (Fore River) with a four-boiler B&W/GE 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation - boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe lagging, turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, and accommodation insulation - consistent with the Goodrich drawing recital and the Halseth pleading's described boiler-room insulation work. Documented yard events for this hull (1945-46 construction; FRAM I conversion at Boston Naval Shipyard mid-1963-Jan 1964; overhaul at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard Mare Island Division Jan-May 1967; SRF Yokosuka interim availability Jan 1966) are periods when era insulation would have been installed or disturbed; the builder yard is asbestos-documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1976
- Population
- Fore River construction trades 1945-46; Boston NSY FRAM workforce 1963-64; Mare Island Division overhaul workforce 1967; crew 1946-76
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - not a hull-level asbestos finding. The ship-specific rows for this hull are ev-04 (Halseth pleading) and ev-05 (Pritt inspection-report exhibit); this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. No ACM quantity, location inventory, or exposure dose is established.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-07
-
[9]NASA, 'Gemini VIII' mission history page (Recovery Ship: U.S.S. Leonard F. Mason) [other_primary]
- Locator
- nasa.gov Gemini VIII mission page, recovery paragraph; also NASA '55 Years Ago: Gemini VIII' history article
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NASA official history names USS Leonard F. Mason as the Gemini VIII recovery ship: after the in-flight emergency, splashdown occurred in the western Pacific ~800 km west of Okinawa at 25.22 N, 136.00 E on 16 March 1966 (local 17 March); Air Force pararescuers attached the flotation collar and the crew was picked up by USS Mason about 3 hours after splashdown. Corroborates the DANFS and command-history accounts with an external official source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1966-03
- Population
- crew + recovered astronauts Armstrong and Scott
- Limitations
- Establishes the ship's operational role only - no materials or asbestos content. Corroborating context for service history.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-08
-
[10]Taiwan naval digital archive (nmda.teldap.tw, ROC military history museum collection), DDG-926 Sui-Yang history page [museum_official]
- Locator
- nmda.teldap.tw page_book01_25_ddg926.htm - Sui Yang lineage history block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Republic of China Navy archive record identifying this hull's second service: 'DDG-926 Sui-Yang was the ex-USS Mason, the Gearing-class (FRAM I) destroyer, DD-852, laid down by Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, MA ... launched on January 4, 1946 and commissioned on June 28, 1946. Stricken on November 2, 1976, transferred to Taiwan, ROC, re-commissioned on May 25, 1978 ... renamed as Sui-Yang with the hull number DDG-926. ... in service of ROC Navy for 22 years and had been through 17 Commanding Officers ... decommissioned on February 16, 2000.' Confirms the transfer chain USN stricken 1976-11-02 -> ROCN recommissioning 1978-05-25 as DDG-926 -> ROCN decommissioning 2000-02-16.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1978-2000
- Population
- ROCN crew 1978-2000
- Limitations
- Confirms identity and Taiwan service timeline; the page's 'laid down ... August 6, 1946' contains a year typo (1946 for 1945) but supports the 6 August keel date over DANFS's 2 May. Covers names/dates only - no material or asbestos content, no record of pre-transfer material condition or FRAM-era removals.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-09
-
[11]ETtoday/Taiwan press retrospective via chinanews.com.cn, 2007-08-06 (and Coolloud/Apple Daily reportage on the Green Island reef site) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- chinanews.com.cn 2007-08-06 report (ETtoday source); coolloud.org.tw/node/6346 (Apple Daily, reporter Hung Che-cheng)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Post-disposal disposition: the decommissioned hull (ROCS Sui Yang DDG-926) was sunk by explosive charges in ~40 m of water off Green Island in April 2003 under a Fisheries Agency warship-reef program, after the Navy removed weapons/equipment and drained fuel. 2007 reporting documented the wreck displaced from its sinking point and roughly two-thirds disintegrated, with debris scattering over and killing several hectares of coral. Confirms final disposition of the hull and the absence of any intact preserved condition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2003-2007
- Population
- reef site; divers; coral ecosystem
- Limitations
- Press reporting on reef condition, not a materials survey - the reports describe weapons removal and fuel draining before sinking but do not address whether asbestos-containing material was remediated before sinking. Sinking date 'April 2003' per these reports; the precise day (11 April) rests on secondary compilations. Do not confuse with the March 2003 sinking of 萊陽 Lai Yang (ex-USS Shelton DD-790) off Penghu.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-28 (authenticated, fleet-paced): queries '"Leonard F. Mason"' type=o and type=r; '"DD-852"' type=o; name-collision review pending [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API results, 2026-09-28 (see search_ledger sl-05 through sl-08)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Search results: '"Leonard F. Mason"' opinions = 0 hits; '"DD-852"' opinions = 0 hits; '"Leonard F. Mason"' dockets = 2 hits, both qualifying asbestos dockets touching this hull - Halseth v. General Electric (N.D. Cal. 3:07-cv-02543; plaintiff Donald Hunter alleges boiler-room exposure aboard DD-852 1956-58, see ev-04) and Pritt v. Air & Liquid Systems (S.D.N.Y. 1:19-cv-10651; produced 'USS Leonard F. Mason Inspection Report' exhibits 14A/14B, see ev-05). No published opinion naming the hull was located; no appellate or trial disposition for either docket was identified from index data.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2007-2022 dockets
- Population
- asbestos dockets naming the hull
- Limitations
- Sweep completed under shared fleet pacing; '"DD-852"' docket-type and '"USS Mason"' collision-control queries could not be run within the session's pacing budget (repeated 429 pacing stand-downs) - residual risk of unreviewed name-collision dockets ('USS Mason' also denotes DE-529 and DDG-87) is logged in gaps. A zero-hit opinion sweep means no published opinion located, not that no litigation exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-11
-
[13]This record's search ledger: DANFS (mirror), NHHC command-ops archive, NVR, NASA, ROCN digital archive, CourtListener sweep, NARA catalog (JS-gated - not searched), shipyards.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement contract, material inventory, or adjudicated exposure finding for DD-852 was located in public sources searched. What exists is pleading-stage (Halseth complaint allegation) and discovery-stage (Pritt inspection-report exhibit listing) litigation material, plus class/era context (Goodrich drawing recital). Whether original asbestos insulation remained aboard at the 1976 decommissioning, was disturbed by the 1963-64 FRAM I conversion or 1967 overhaul, or was remediated before the 1978 transfer or 2003 reef sinking is undocumented in located sources.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era construction and the described boiler-room insulation work are consistent with standard ACM use. Does not establish or defeat any claim of individual exposure or legal eligibility. The undigitized 'USS Leonard F. Mason Inspection Report' (Pritt exhibits 14A/14B) and NARA RG 19 ship records are the open leads for hull-level material documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-leonard-f-mason-dd852-12