Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet jb-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-mccalla-dd253-pkt-jb-packet-md
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'McCalla I (DD-253)' (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page serves 404 - standing NHHC link rot) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + first service paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 25 September 1918 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Fore River Plant, Quincy, Mass.; launched 18 February 1919 (per transcription - secondary compilations uniformly read 28 March 1919); sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth McCalla Miller, daughter of Rear Admiral McCalla; commissioned 19 May 1919, Lt. Comdr. G. B. Ashe in command. Specifications block: 1,190 tons displacement, 314'6" length, 31'8" beam, 9'3" mean draft, 35 knots, complement 120, armament 4x4-inch, 2x3-inch, 4x21-inch torpedo tubes; class Clemson. Active less than 7 months; in reserve at Norfolk Navy Yard 26 November 1919; decommissioned 30 June 1922; recommissioned 18 December 1939 and prepared for turnover to Great Britain.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1940 (USN career)
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1918-19; crew 1919-1922 (DANFS spec complement 120)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and design specs, not materials or asbestos content. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 and no Wayback capture was located; transcription may contain OCR artifacts (its spec block armament reads 4x21-inch torpedo tubes vs the class-standard 12 in other compilations). Launch date in this transcription (18 February 1919) conflicts with the 28 March 1919 given by NavSource, Navypedia, and the Dreadnought Project - conflict carried in gaps, not reconciled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-01
-
[3]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'McCalla I (DD-253)' (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, transfer + HMS Stanley service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records the transfer and Royal Navy service of this hull: decommissioned and became a ship of the Royal Navy 23 October 1940 at Halifax as one of the overage destroyers transferred to England in exchange for bases in the West Indies; commissioned as HMS Stanley (I-73), Fourth 'Town' Flotilla; departed Halifax 1 November; at St. John's on the 5th dispatched to escort the Admiral Scheer-attacked convoy back to Nova Scotia, escorting 15 vessels to Trinity Harbour; delayed by repairs, arrived Plymouth 2 January 1941. Assigned first to Western Approaches Command, then the 40th Escort Group; convoy duty to Freetown, Sierra Leone; joined convoy HG 76 at Gibraltar departing 14 December 1941. On 17 December, with four other escorts acting on an HMS Audacity aircraft sighting, sank U-131 and picked up 55 survivors; on the 18th, with Blankney, sank U-434 and picked up 42 of her crew. On the 19th U-574 scored a direct hit; Stanley exploded and sank at 38 deg 12 min N, 17 deg 23 min W with the loss of all but 25 of her crew; within 12 minutes sloop Stork sank U-574, picking up 16 survivors.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1941 (RN career)
- Population
- RN crew, HMS Stanley (all but 25 lost at sinking); U-boat survivors recovered
- Limitations
- DANFS records operational history only - no materials, refit-scope, or asbestos content. 'All but 25 of her crew' is the official USN casualty phrasing; the exact RN dead count varies in secondary sources and is unverified (see gaps). The sinking date conflict (DANFS narrative 19 December vs NavSource header 18 December) is carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-02
-
[4]NavSource Naval History destroyer archive, USS McCalla (DD-253) page (Wayback capture 2024-05-27; live navsource.org unreachable this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-253 page - spec block, building-data lines, fate line, photo caption grid, commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource/NHHC-photo-archive record for this hull: Clemson class; machinery '26,500 SHP; Geared Turbines, 2 screws'; 35 kt; crew 114; laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy 25 September 1918; stricken 8 January 1941. Commanding-officer list (compiled by Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves) gives LCDR George Bamford Ashe at commissioning, and LT Merle Vanmetre commanding from 18 December 1939 to 23 October 1940. Photo grid includes NH 68313 (underway, early 1920s, courtesy Donald M. McPherson) and a W.F. Mosier album pair dated by unshaded hull number to 1920; RN-era grid includes IWM photo FL 3349 (HMS Stanley in Plymouth Sound after conversion) and Admiralty Official photos of the stripped hulk at Devonport 28/29 April 1941 during conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1941
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River trades 1918-19; crew 1919-22 and 1939-40; Devonport conversion workforce 1941; RN crew
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-run archive hosting official NHHC/NARA/IWM photographs - the images and captions are primary; header spec/fate lines are compilations with known conflicts (launched 'March 28 1919' vs DANFS 18 February; sunk 'December 18 1941' vs DANFS narrative 19 December; crew 114 vs DANFS 120) carried in gaps. The stricken date 8 January 1941 is compilation-sourced, corroborated by the 1941 Navy Filing Manual (see ev-04). No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-03
-
[5]U.S. Navy Filing Manual, 1941 (4th edition), destroyer (DD) ship list - HyperWar transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- NFM 1941 DD section, DD253 line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Navy administrative documentation for this hull: the 1941 Navy Filing Manual destroyer index lists 'DD253 McCalla (stricken)' - confirming the hull was off the Navy list by 1941, consistent with the compiled 8 January 1941 striking date following the October 1940 transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941
- Limitations
- The filing manual documents the hull's stricken status at its 1941 compilation date but gives no exact strike date; the 8 January 1941 figure rests on secondary compilation. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-04
-
[6]National Archives, Special List 44, Named Vessels, McCalla (DD-253) entries [other_primary]
- Locator
- Alphabetical named-vessels table, two McCalla (DD-253) rows
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 (Named Vessels deck-log index) lists two deck-log runs for McCalla (DD-253): 5/19/1919 to 6/30/1922 and 12/18/1939 to 10/23/1940. The run boundaries exactly match the DANFS commissioning, first decommissioning, recommissioning, and Halifax transfer dates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1922; 1939-1940
- Limitations
- Collection coverage index only; the deck logs themselves were not inspected, and NARA states deck logs provide no direct evidence of shipboard asbestos. No HMS Stanley-era (RN) run appears in the U.S. list; RN logs would be at the UK National Archives (not checked to item level).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-05
-
[7]Imperial War Museums collections, object 205120306, photograph FL 3349 [museum_official]
- Locator
- IWM collections object page - object description 'Underway in Plymouth Sound after LRE conversion'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Imperial War Museums cataloged photograph FL 3349: 'HMS STANLEY - Underway in Plymouth Sound after LRE conversion' (Royal Navy official photographer; Ministry of Defence Foxhill Collection of Ship Photographs). An official British photographic record of this hull after its 1941 Devonport long-range-escort conversion, cataloged under 'STANLEY (ex USS McCALLA)'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941
- Population
- Devonport dockyard conversion workforce (1941)
- Limitations
- Photographic catalog record establishes that an 'LRE conversion' was performed on this hull; it does not detail the conversion scope. Secondary literature attributes removal of the two forward boilers and a bridge rebuild to the conversion - carried in gaps as secondary-sourced, not asserted as official fact here. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-06
-
[8]DANFS specifications block (Clemson class, steam destroyer, 1918-19 construction) + Atlas shipyard dataset record 'fore-river-shipyard' (yard-level asbestos product documentation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'fore-river-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Clemson-class flush-decker built 1918-19 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding's Fore River plant with a four-boiler, geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos thermal insulation - era magnesia block/lagging (typically asbestos-felted), boiler and steam-line insulation, gaskets, packing, and related products. The builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (fore-river-shipyard, tier 3) with a documented asbestos product list including boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing materials, gaskets, packing, asbestos wire insulation, asbestos cement, and asbestos-containing paint.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1941
- Population
- Bethlehem Fore River construction trades 1918-19 (WWI peak yard employment ~15,000 per dataset); Navy crew 1919-1940; RN crew 1940-41
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific finding. The yard dataset's product documentation derives substantially from litigation involving a 1967-70 worker cohort, roughly five decades after this hull's construction; it evidences the yard's asbestos product environment, not installation on DD-253. Hull-level construction specifications (which would confirm specific insulation materials) were not located - NARA's Ship Plan Index lists no DD-253 drawings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-07
-
[9]UK Treaty Series No. 21 (1940), 'Exchange of Notes regarding United States Destroyers and Naval and Air Facilities for the United States in British Transatlantic Territories,' Washington, 2 September 1940 (FCDO treaty library PDF) [other_primary]
- Locator
- TS 21/1940 exchange-of-notes text (Ambassador Lothian to Secretary Hull); DANFS narrative for this hull's inclusion
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The legal instrument under which this hull left U.S. service: the Anglo-American exchange of notes of 2 September 1940 ('Destroyers for Bases' agreement; UK Treaty Series No. 21 of 1940; 54 Stat. 2405, E.A.S. 181), under which the United States transferred 50 over-age destroyers to Great Britain in exchange for 99-year leases on naval and air base sites in British transatlantic territories and Newfoundland. DANFS documents McCalla among the ships so transferred (23 October 1940 at Halifax).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940
- Limitations
- The agreement does not name individual hulls; this hull's inclusion rests on the DANFS narrative (ev-02). The instrument is context for the transfer, not evidence of any material condition aboard. The companion US document - the Attorney General opinion of 27 August 1940 (34 Am. J. Int'l L. 728) and FDR's message to Congress of 3 September 1940 - was reviewed for context but adds no hull-level detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-08
-
[10]The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2026, S.I. 2026/286, Schedule 1 (in force 30 March 2026) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Schedule 1 designated-vessels table - full alphabetical review; no HMS Stanley entry
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Wreck-status check for this hull: HMS Stanley is NOT among the vessels designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 in the consolidated designation order (S.I. 2026/286, Schedule 1, reviewed in full - the alphabetical schedule contains no Stanley entry between HMS Sparrowhawk and HMS Swordfish positions). The wreck is therefore not a statutorily designated protected vessel; as a sunken Royal Navy warship it remains Crown property and a maritime war grave in practice. It is not a US 'sunken military craft' under 32 CFR 767.3 because title had passed to the United Kingdom before the sinking.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1986-present (regulatory); wrecksite since 1941-12-19
- Limitations
- A designation-list review establishes regulatory status, not physical condition: the wreck at 38 deg 12 min N, 17 deg 23 min W is unsurveyed in located public records, and non-designation does not remove the general wartime-war-grave character of a sunken warship with ~160 aboard at loss. No asbestos or materials content; the consequence is that no abatement or salvage documentation is expected to arise from the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-09
-
[11]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Beginning Research; Bureau of Ships correspondence; General Information Books; Board of Inspection and Survey reports; ship engineering drawings
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's shipboard-asbestos research guide states that documenting asbestos in U.S. Navy materiel requires vessel-specific research and identifies the relevant record series: RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence filed by hull designation (DD253), destroyer General Information Books, hull-arranged ship engineering drawings including insulation/lagging (S39) and piping (S48) drawings, and RG 38 Board of Inspection and Survey reports.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1961 (guide scope); hull construction 1918-19
- Limitations
- A research method and record-series map, not a DD-253 material record. The guide's stated scope (1941-1961) postdates this hull's 1918-19 construction and covers only marginally her 1939-40 recommissioned period; pre-1941 construction records for this hull would sit in earlier RG 19/RG 45 series. No DD-253 item was retrieved from any listed series; NARA's Ship Plan Index lists no DD-253 drawings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 search (type=o and type=r), queries "USS McCalla" and "DD-253"; "McCalla"+asbestos pending at session close [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-11 through sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-13 and sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-15 through sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-16
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep via the authenticated fleet helper, 2026-09-27: exact-phrase opinion search "USS McCalla" returned count 0; exact-phrase RECAP/docket search "USS McCalla" returned count 0; hull-number opinion search "DD-253" returned 3 hits, all name collisions (In re Lebbos, E.D. Cal. 2010, bankruptcy appeal - DD-253 resolves to a form/document reference; Howard v. Housing Authority of New Orleans, La. App. 1984; People v. Irvin, Cal. App. 1968, criminal - no Navy, ship, or asbestos content); hull-number docket search "DD-253" returned 9 dockets, all name collisions - 'DD-253' appears as a document/exhibit/form number in employment-discrimination, civil-rights, TCPA, personal-injury, bankruptcy, fair-housing, and trademark dockets, none with Navy or asbestos content. A bare-"McCalla" + asbestos sweep was stood down by fleet-wide pacing and did not execute. No qualifying asbestos litigation and no litigation of any kind naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Substantially complete sweep: the exact-name negative is real for both opinion and docket indexes, and all 12 hull-number hits are collisions. Only the bare 'McCalla' + asbestos variant is unsearched - 'McCalla' is a heavy collision term (a national law firm bears the name, and it is a common surname), so unqualified hits would require per-hit attribution anyway; a later 'USS McCalla' hit dated post-1940 could also resolve to the second McCalla (DD-488, Gleaves class). A 1941-loss hull has a compressed litigation window regardless - asbestos claims surfaced decades later against product manufacturers and would not necessarily name the vessel. Absence of a located record is not proof no litigation exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-11
-
[13]Batch-3252 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (via transcription mirror), NavSource/Wayback, NARA Special List 44, NARA Ship Plan Index, NARA asbestos research guide, NHHC ZC index, IWM collections, legislation.gov.uk, FCDO treaty library, VA BVA index, CourtListener [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-01 through sl-uss-mccalla-dd253-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, material specification, museum hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming DD-253 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). A 1941 combat loss leaves no post-service hull to survey; the wreck is unsurveyed and not designated under PMRA.
- 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 - 1918-19 steam-plant construction makes period asbestos-containing insulation plausible at class/era level (see ev-07). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Unexamined NARA RG 19/RG 45 pre-1941 construction records and UK National Archives Admiralty files remain open leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mccalla-dd253-12