USS McFARLAND (DD-237)

Name
USS McFARLAND
Hull designation
DD-237
Vessel class
Clemson
Evidence tier
Tier 2
Evidence entries
10
Record ID
uss-mcfarland-dd237
Dataset version
2026.10.12-rc.1
Canonical URL
https://asbestosatlas.org/ships/uss-mcfarland-dd237

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

  1. [1]research packet ei-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-mcfarland-dd237-pkt-ei-packet-md
  2. [2]DANFS, 'USS McFarland (DD-237)' (builder, dates, namesake, specifications; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
    Locator
    DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + opening paragraph
    Finding type
    vessel_history
    Finding
    DANFS identifies McFarland as a Clemson-class destroyer laid down by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J., on 31 July 1918; launched 30 March 1920; commissioned 30 September 1920. Named for Seaman John McFarland, Medal of Honor recipient at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Design specifications: 1,190 tons displacement, 314'5" length, 35 knots, complement 122, four 4-inch guns and twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    supporting
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    Documents identity, builder, and design specifications, not asbestos composition, installed products, occupational exposure, or actual wartime crew count. The 122 figure is the DANFS design specification, not an actual muster. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-01
  3. [3]DANFS, 'USS McFarland (DD-237)' (service narrative and disposition; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
    Locator
    DANFS entry, service narrative paragraphs 2-8
    Finding type
    vessel_history
    Finding
    DANFS service narrative: European/Near Eastern service 1920-1923 (Adriatic and Turkish Waters Detachments, Black Sea relief); Scouting Fleet at Newport from 15 September 1923; a year in reserve at Philadelphia in 1931; redesignated AVD-14 (destroyer seaplane tender) on 2 August 1940 while undergoing conversion and recommissioned in full 5 October 1940; Pacific Fleet; off Maui on 7 December 1941; Pearl Harbor operations through June 1942; Guadalcanal support. On 16 October 1942 in Lunga Roads, bomb damage to the stern killed five crew, left six missing and twelve critically wounded; Presidential Unit Citation. Temporary repairs at Tulagi (channel later named McFarland Channel) and Espiritu Santo; repairs completed at Pearl Harbor 17 April 1943; redesignated DD-237 on 1 December 1943; San Diego-based carrier training duties to war's end; decommissioned at Philadelphia 8 November 1945; struck 19 December 1945; sold for scrap 29 October 1946 to North American Smelting Co., Philadelphia. Two WWII battle stars.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    supporting
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    Yard presence, the 1940 conversion, battle-damage repairs, and decommissioning are documented events; DANFS does not state where the AVD-14 conversion was performed, does not describe materials removed or installed in any period, and does not establish asbestos work or exposure.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-02
  4. [4]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS McFarland (DD-237, later AVD-14), 1920-1946' (Naval Historical Center page, verbatim HyperWar transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
    Locator
    Page narrative paragraphs 1-4; photo caption NH 64545
    Finding type
    historical_record
    Finding
    The NHHC Online Library ship page for McFarland corroborates the August 1940 AVD-14 reclassification and October 1940 recommissioning, records that a proposed 1944 conversion to fast transport APD-26 was not carried out, and states temporary repairs at Tulagi and Espiritu Santo preceded complete repair at Pearl Harbor by April 1943. Its photo caption NH 64545 records McFarland leaving the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 4 August 1932 after being recommissioned.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    supporting
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    Confirms Philadelphia Navy Yard presence ending an early-1930s inactivation and the unexecuted APD-26 plan; contains no information on materials, insulation, or asbestos content in any period.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-03
  5. [5]NHHC, United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995 (Grossnick), Chapter 26 'Aviation Ships,' Destroyer Seaplane Tenders (AVD) table, p. 439 (Internet Archive scan; live NHHC Part4.pdf serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
    Locator
    Chapter 26, Aviation Ships, p. 439, McFarland row (AVD-14)
    Finding type
    historical_record
    Finding
    NHHC's official aviation-vessel table (United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995, Chapter 26, Destroyer Seaplane Tenders (AVD)) lists McFarland in the Clemson-class AVD conversion group ('14 ships, ex flush deck 1190 ton DDs converted for seaplane tending duties from 1938 to 1940'): commission 30 September 1920, decommission 8 November 1945, designation sequence DD-237 to AVD-14 (2 August 1940) to DD-237 (1 December 1943), stricken 19 December 1945.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    supporting
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    Official designation and disposition chronology only; no asbestos finding. The canonical NHHC-hosted PDF (Part4.pdf) returned 404 on access; the Internet Archive scan of the same NHHC publication was used.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-04
  6. [6]National Archives, Ship Plan Index, MCFARLAND DD-237 entries [other_primary]
    Locator
    MCFARLAND DD-237 entries, RG 19, Alphabetical Ship Drawings and Microfilm
    Finding type
    historical_record
    Finding
    NARA's Ship Plan Index lists MCFARLAND, DD-237, in Record Group 19 under Alphabetical Ship Drawings (catalog ID 53484518) and Microfilm (catalog ID 175669860). These collections are leads for examining ship-specific plans, including any available insulation and piping drawings.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    archival_lead
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    The index establishes holdings, not the contents of individual drawings. No McFarland drawing or material schedule was retrieved or reviewed; the index is not evidence of asbestos aboard.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-05
  7. [7]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' [other_primary]
    Locator
    Beginning Research; General Information Books; Cartographic Branch; Other Records and their usefulness
    Finding type
    asbestos_application
    Finding
    NARA's research guide describes potential asbestos-relevant Navy record groups for the 1941-1961 period, including RG 19 destroyer General Information Books and S39 insulation/lagging and S48 piping drawings. It states that deck logs and muster rolls do not directly show asbestos aboard ships.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    context
    Documentation level
    class_or_era
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    This is a research guide, not a McFarland material record. It establishes where to search and why service records are insufficient; it does not show that a McFarland GIB exists or that this ship contained asbestos.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-06
  8. [8]U.S. GAO, HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (1979) [gao]
    Locator
    Highlights, paragraphs 1-2
    Finding type
    asbestos_application
    Finding
    The 1979 GAO review documents asbestos insulation policy and exposure concerns across Navy shipbuilding and repair, with fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. This is program-level context only.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    context
    Documentation level
    context_only
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    GAO studied policy decades after McFarland's 1945 decommissioning and did not examine this hull. It cannot establish this ship's materials, exposures, or repair work. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches; the product-page description was used.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-07
  9. [9]Negative result from NHHC DANFS and Online Library, NARA Ship Plan Index, NARA asbestos research guide, and GAO HRD-80-2 review; see search_ledger [other_primary]
    Locator
    Search ledger sl-uss-mcfarland-dd237-01 through sl-uss-mcfarland-dd237-06
    Finding type
    historical_record
    Finding
    The official sources and catalog entries reviewed for this record did not yield a ship-specific asbestos survey, product schedule, abatement record, or material finding for McFarland. Asbestos presence aboard DD-237 remains unknown.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    negative_finding
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    This is a bounded search result, not proof that asbestos was absent. Underlying NARA plans, GIBs, conversion work packages, and scrapping files were not obtained.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-08
  10. [10]CourtListener authenticated API v4 search responses via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
    Locator
    Search ledger sl-uss-mcfarland-dd237-07 through sl-uss-mcfarland-dd237-10
    Finding type
    litigation_documented
    Finding
    Authenticated CourtListener API v4 searches returned zero results for the exact-name queries "USS McFarland" in both the opinion index (count 0) and the docket index (count 0), and zero results for the hull-number opinion query "DD-237" (count 0). The hull-number docket query "DD-237" returned 20 dockets / 32 documents, all classified as name collisions: civil rights, patent, bankruptcy, immigration, and benefits cases in which 'DD-237' matches unrelated document text; none reference a Navy vessel, asbestos, or McFarland. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located.
    Verification
    verified
    Role
    negative_finding
    Documentation level
    ship_specific
    Accessed
    2026-09-27
    Limitations
    Bounded to CourtListener's indexed opinions and RECAP dockets; state-court and unindexed federal matters, and complaints not naming the hull in indexed text, are not covered. Absence of a located case does not prove no sailor ever alleged exposure aboard this hull.
    Atlas source
    true
    Evidence ID
    ev-uss-mcfarland-dd237-09

Attribution

Compiled by
Paul Danziger; Rod de Llano
Publisher
Danziger & De Llano, LLP
License
CC-BY-4.0
Citation
Danziger, P., and De Llano, R. (2026). AsbestosAtlas Navy Vessel Asbestos Exposure Dataset. Danziger & De Llano, LLP. DOI: not yet assigned
Dataset version
asbestosatlas-ships-2026.10.12-rc.1
DOI
not yet assigned