Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Little I (DD-79/APD-4) - verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Little I' entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, Mass., 18 June 1917; launched 11 November 1917; commissioned 6 April 1918; WWI convoy escort from Brest incl. escorting President Wilson's party to the Paris Peace Conference; Boston drydock January 1919; reserve status Philadelphia November 1919; decommissioned Philadelphia 5 July 1922; converted to high-speed transport, redesignated APD-4 (DANFS text prints the typo 'ADP-4') 2 August 1940, recommissioned 4 November 1940; Caribbean and San Diego amphibious training 1941; Norfolk drydock December 1941; TransDiv 12 flagship to the Pacific February 1942; Guadalcanal supply runs; illuminated by PBY flares and engaged ~0100 5 September 1942, ablaze by 0115, sank on an even keel about two hours later; two WWII battle stars. Spec block: Wickes class, dp 1,191, 314'5" x 30'11" x 9'2", 35 kt, complement 133, 4x4"/50 + 2x1pdr + 12x21" tt.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1917-1942
- Population
- Fore River construction trades 1917-18; crew - design complement 133 (DD-79)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Transcription carries the original's 'ADP-4' typo for APD-4. Live NHHC DANFS page (little-i.html and variants) returns 404; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-01
-
[2]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, USS Little (Destroyer #79, later DD-79 and APD-4), 1918-1942 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library page usnsh-l/dd79.htm, narrative paragraph + photo captions NH 63478, NH 97784
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC photo-library record for this hull: 1,060-ton Wickes-class destroyer built at Quincy; commissioned April 1918; eighteen years in 'red-lead row' at the Philadelphia Navy Yard after July 1922 decommissioning; converted to high-speed transport APD-4 in 1940; attacked by 'a force of three Japanese destroyers' off Lunga Point night of 4-5 September 1942 and sank. In July 1992 an expedition searching Iron Bottom Sound 'found and examined a sunken U.S. Navy high-speed transport some miles off Lunga Point. While the identity of this ship could not be conclusively determined, she is either Little or the virtually identical Gregory.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1918-1942; wreck survey 1992
- Population
- Crew 1940-42; wreck-site ecosystem/heritage
- Limitations
- NHHC page documents history and wreck-survey status, not materials or asbestos. The 1992 APD wreck identity remains unresolved between Little and Gregory; no exact position is published here. Mirror transcription cited (ibiblio HyperWar mirror of the Naval Historical Center page).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-02
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Amphibious Photo Archive - USS Little (APD-4) ex DD-79: specifications block, campaign record, disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-4 page, Specifications block + campaign table + commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource archive record for this hull's APD-4 configuration: displacement 1,154 t (1,600 fl); 314'5" x 30'6" x 9'10"; propulsion two Fore River Curtis-design geared turbines, two Yarrow boilers (250 psi sat.), Falk reduction gears, two 60kW turbo generators, twin screws, 27,000 shp; complement 8 officers + 98 enlisted; troop accommodations 3 officers + 144 enlisted; boats 4 LCP(L); armament 3x3"/50, 2x40mm, 5x20mm, depth-charge gear; campaigns Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings 7-9 August 1942 and capture/defense of Guadalcanal 4-5 September 1942; 'Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1940-1942 configuration
- Population
- APD-4 crew 106 (8+98) plus embarked troops up to 147 (3+144)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a reputable unofficial archive, not a government record - spec data appears consistent with BuShips-era data sheets but is not itself primary. Its 'lost to enemy action 4 September 1942' header conflicts with DANFS's narrative timeline (sinking after ~0100 on 5 September); conflict carried in gaps. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-03
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Archive, USS Little (DD-79/APD-4) - 'WICKES (LITTLE)' class note; NHHC photo captions (Fore River fitting-out, Library of Congress builder-hull data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-79 page, class header + photo caption data (NH 63478; LoC npcc 20355; Josephus Daniels collection)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource identifies Little as the Bethlehem-plan Wickes variant ('CLASS - WICKES (LITTLE). Built To A Different Set Of Plans (Bethlehem) than The Wickes (Bath)... Few Remaining In Service Past 1936'), machinery 24,200 shp geared turbines, two screws. NHHC/NavSource photo captions document Fore River builder hull 274 for Little, fitting out March 1918 with sisters Kimberley (275), Sigourney (276), Gregory (277), Colhoun (280), Stevens (281).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1917-1919
- Population
- Fore River yard workforce, WWI peak ~15,000 (yard record)
- Limitations
- Sub-class and builder-hull attribution only; no asbestos or materials content. 'Few remaining in service past 1936' is context for why a 1918 hull was available for APD conversion, not an exposure datum.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-04
-
[5]DANFS spec block + NavSource APD-4 machinery block (2 Yarrow boilers, 2 Fore River Curtis turbines) + Atlas shipyards.json 'fore-river-shipyard' record (litigation-verified yard asbestos products) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; NavSource APD-4 specifications; shipyards.json record 'fore-river-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a 1917-1918 steam-driven destroyer of the Wickes (Bethlehem/'Little') class - class-standard four water-tube boilers as built, reduced to two Yarrow 250-psi saturated-steam boilers in the documented 1940 APD-4 conversion - would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. Builder Fore River Shipyard (Quincy) is a tier-3 yard in the Atlas dataset with litigation-verified asbestos products (Raybestos-Manhattan welding blankets per O'Connor v. Raymark, 401 Mass. 586 (1988); Owens-Illinois pipe-insulation work per Thayer v. Pittsburgh-Corning, 45 Mass. App. Ct. 435 (1998)). The 1940 conversion's removal of half the boiler plant and rework of interior spaces to troop accommodations was a material-disturbance event; its asbestos scope is undocumented.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 1917-1942
- Population
- Fore River construction trades 1917-18; conversion-yard workers 1940 (yard unconfirmed); crew 1918-1942
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific asbestos finding is supported by this row. The documented facts are the steam plant and the conversion; asbestos application is inferred from era practice, not from any record naming this hull. Conversion yard is not confirmed in the located record (the ship had been laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for eighteen years).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-05
-
[6]U.S. Navy press release, 'Expedition Reveals Thirteen Shipwrecks from WWII Battles off Guadalcanal' (Ocean Exploration Trust E/V Nautilus, August 2025) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navy.mil News Story 4272152, paragraph listing surveyed vessels
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- An official U.S. Navy release on the August 2025 OET E/V Nautilus archaeological survey lists thirteen Iron Bottom Sound wreck sites surveyed or newly documented (incl. USS Vincennes, Astoria, Quincy, Northampton, Laffey DD-459, DeHaven, Preston, Walke, HMAS Canberra, IJN Yudachi, Teruzuki, USS New Orleans bow, and an unidentified landing barge). USS Little (APD-4) is not among the listed sites; the 1992-located APD wreck attributable to Little or Gregory remains unresolved in the published record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- 2025
- Population
- Wreck-site archaeological and heritage context
- Limitations
- Context only: a wreck-survey inventory, not an asbestos or materials finding. Absence from the published list means the survey did not publicly resolve the APD wreck - it does not prove the wreck was not examined. No ACM or environmental sampling is described for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-06
-
[7]Batch-2429 CourtListener sweep (this record's search_ledger): 'USS Little' opinion and RECAP-docket queries [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results; classification detail in BATCH-2429-REPORT.md
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Little DD-79/APD-4 was located. 'USS Little' opinion search returned 2 hits, both name collisions: Brookins v. Cullins (23 C.M.A. 216, 1974 - petitioners aboard USS LITTLE ROCK CLG-4) and United States v. Ware (1 M.J. 645, 1975 - unrelated court-martial). 'USS Little' RECAP-docket search returned 18 dockets; the asbestos dockets among them resolve to USS Little Rock, not this hull: Sebright v. General Electric, 1:19-cv-10593 (D. Mass., published at 525 F. Supp. 3d 217 - plaintiff's ships were USS Boston and USS Little Rock) and companion Sebright v. USVA 1:21-cv-11243; Vesper v. 3M, 1:15-cv-01322 (D.N.J. - worksite list includes 'USS Little Rock' among New York Shipbuilding hulls); Feaster v. A.W. Chesterton, 1:14-cv-03417 (D.N.J. - shipyard worker 1958-1967; DD-79 was sunk in 1942 and cannot be the exposure hull). 'APD-4' opinion search returned 11 hits, all identifier collisions (police-department abbreviations, docket/page references) - no vessel context. Remaining dockets are criminal, FOIA, military-benefits, and vaccine-mandate matters - name collisions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-25
- Study period
- Index coverage through 2026-09-25
- Population
- Not applicable - no qualifying plaintiff located for this hull
- Limitations
- A negative finding on searched indexes, not proof that no claim was ever filed - state-court and non-digitized dockets are outside the sweep. 'Little' is a high-collision term (common surname; USS Little Rock; USS Little DD-803 sunk 1945; USS Littlehales and other look-alikes); every located hit was classified, none promoted. 'DD-79' opinion query and RECAP hull-number queries remained pending at record time - the fleet-paced quota budget was saturated; see search_ledger sl-06.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-little-apd4-07