USS MEADE (DD-274)

Evidence

7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).

1. [1]DANFS, Meade I (Destroyer No. 274 / DD-274), verbatim transcription (live NHHC page not located - history.navy.mil URLs for this entry returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-27; mirror of the hazegray DANFS transcription cited per standing practice) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry, specifications parenthetical + full service narrative (construction; Pacific Fleet 1919-22; San Diego reserve; 1939-40 recommissioning and DesRon 9; Destroyers for Bases transfer; HMS Ramsey narrative; disposal)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: '(DD-274: dp. 1,190; l. 314'5"; b. 31'8"; dr. 9'4"; s. 35 k. cpl. 120; a. 4 4", 2 3", 12 21" tt.; cl. Clemson)'. The first Meade (DD-274) was laid down by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Squantum, Mass., 23 September 1918; launched 24 May 1919, sponsored by Miss Annie Paulding Meade; and commissioned at Boston, Mass., 8 September 1919, Lt. Comdr. Benjamin F. Tilley, Jr., in command. After shakedown along the east coast, Meade was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and for more than two years operated out of west coast ports including San Diego and San Francisco in fleet and squadron maneuvers. She decommissioned at San Diego 25 May 1922 and was placed in reserve. Meade recommissioned at San Diego 18 December 1939, Lt. Comdr. C. A. Printup in command; after returning to the east coast in 1940 she served with Destroyer Squadron 9 of the U.S. Fleet. Under the Destroyer Transfer Agreement of September 1940 she was designated one of the 50 'overage' destroyers to be transferred to the United Kingdom; she decommissioned and was turned over to the British 23 November 1940 (per DANFS; RN commissioning records and NavSource read 26 November - see gaps). Renamed H.M.S. Ramsey (G-60), she served the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic and later performed duty as an aircraft training ship. She completed her service 30 June 1945 and was scrapped in July 1947 at Bo'ness (the mirror transcription reads 'Botness'), England.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1947

   Population

   Bethlehem/Squantum construction trades, Quincy, 1918-19; USN crew 1919-1922 and 1939-1940 (design complement 120); RN crew 1940-1945

   Limitations

   DANFS documents identity, dates, specifications, and the service narrative only - it contains no asbestos or materials information and does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, location, or any individual's exposure aboard this hull. The live NHHC DANFS page for this hull was not located (history.navy.mil URL patterns for 'meade' returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-27); the verbatim transcription at the losthistory.net mirror of hazegray.org's DANFS Online is cited instead, consistent with BATCH-01 mirror practice. Turnover date reads 23 November 1940 in DANFS vs 26 November in NavSource and RN commissioning records - both carried, conflict documented in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-01

2. [2]NARA, Special List #44 - 'List of Logbooks of US Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' (named-vessels list), plus NARA 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' descriptive page (Record Group 24, Entry 118, National Archives Identifier 581208) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/special-list-44-named.html, 'Mead' table rows (DD-274 x3, incl. 'see Maumee, 1922' note) and 'Meade' row (DD-602); archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy/ (RG 24 Entry 118, NAID 581208; pre-1941 logs at NARA Washington DC)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA's Special List #44 lists deck logs for this hull under the spelling 'Mead (DD-274)': three rows - '9/8/1919-6/9/1922' (first commission, matching the 8 September 1919 commissioning and the 1922 San Diego inactivation window), '1/1/1922-6/9/1922' with the note 'see Maumee, 1922' (an overlapping span cross-referenced to Maumee's logbooks), and '12/18/1939-11/22/1940' (second commission, ending the day before DANFS's 23 November 1940 turnover date). The same list separately shows 'Meade (DD-602) 6/22/1942-6/30/1945,' the second, Benson-class hull of the name. NARA's descriptive page locates US Navy logbooks through 1940 at the National Archives in Washington, DC (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1919-1922, 1939-1940 (listed logbook spans)

   Limitations

   Verified record-existence finding from NARA's own published ship-level inventory - it confirms logbook volumes for this hull are cataloged (under the 'Mead' spelling), but the volumes themselves were not retrieved or reviewed and their contents (daily operations, not materials inventories) would not in any case be expected to itemize asbestos. The 'see Maumee, 1922' cross-reference and the log span ending 6/9/1922 vs DANFS's 25 May 1922 decommissioning are noted as cataloged, not reconciled. Establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull; archival lead only. RN-era (1940-45) records for HMS Ramsey are UK National Archives holdings, not NARA's.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-02

3. [3]U.S. Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images - 'USS Meade (Destroyer # 274, later DD-274), 1919-1940' photo page (verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror) [other_primary]

   Locator

   ibiblio.org/hyperwar Online Library page dd274.htm - descriptive text and namesake paragraph; photo captions NH 43161 (Squantum Victory Yard wet slips, May-July 1919) and NH 42539 (San Diego reserve basin, DesDiv-mates incl. Meade)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Naval Historical Center photo page for this hull: namesake attribution - 'USS Meade was named in honor of Rear Admiral Richard Worsam Meade (1837-1897), who served actively as an officer in the Navy from 1850 to 1895; and his brother, Brigadier General Robert Lemy Meade (1841-1910), who was on active duty as a U.S. Marine Corps officer from 1862 to 1906.' The page describes Meade as 'a 1109-ton Clemson class destroyer built at Squantum, Massachusetts,' commissioned September 1919, Pacific Coast operations until May 1922 decommissioning, designation DD-274 assigned 'in mid-1920,' 'more than seventeen years in "red lead row"' before the December 1939 recommissioning, Atlantic service through November 1940, transfer to the Royal Navy under 'destroyers for bases,' renamed Ramsey, North Atlantic service through WWII, out of service end of June 1945, scrapped in England 1947.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1947

   Population

   USN crew 1919-1922, 1939-1940; RN crew 1940-1945

   Limitations

   NHC photo-caption page corroborates identity, namesakes, service outline, and the 'red lead row' reserve period - it contains no asbestos or materials information. Its '1109-ton' displacement differs from the DANFS figure (1,190 tons) carried in this record; the variance is noted rather than reconciled. Mirror cited because the live NHHC image page was not verified reachable on 2026-09-27.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-03

4. [4]DANFS specifications block for this hull ('dp. 1,190'; 's. 35 k.'; 'cl. Clemson') + class machinery record (4 boilers - Normand/Yarrow/White-Forster; geared turbines - Parsons/Curtis/Westinghouse; ~26,500-27,000 shp, per class-level references and NavSource machinery data) + Atlas shipyard dataset check for the builder (no Squantum yard_id exists; 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' is a corporate record whose evidence concerns other plants) [other_primary]

   Locator

   DANFS specifications parenthetical; shipyards.json yard_id list (no 'squantum' or Squantum-specific record; 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record evidence scope per its own rows); navsource.net/archives/05/274.htm machinery line ('26,500 SHP; Geared Turbines, 2 screws')

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/class inference only: Meade was a Clemson-class 'flush-deck'/four-stack steam-turbine destroyer built 1918-19 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding's Victory Destroyer Plant, Squantum (Quincy, MA) - a WWI-era steam warship of a type whose class carried period-standard boiler and steam-line insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing materials common to naval steam propulsion of the era. Unlike sibling flush-deckers built at Fore River or Bath, this hull's build yard has no dedicated record in the Atlas shipyards dataset (shipyards.json contains no Squantum yard_id; the 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' corporate record's documented evidence concerns Sparrows Point, Baltimore and the Quincy Fore River plant's later years), so no yard-level asbestos record exists to cite even as context for the build site.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1918-1919

   Population

   Bethlehem/Squantum construction trades, Quincy, 1918-19 (era context only)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no ship-specific finding is established by this row. This is not evidence that asbestos-containing material was installed, present, or handled aboard this specific hull; it does not identify products, quantities, or locations aboard USS Meade/HMS Ramsey. No ship-specific asbestos documentation exists for this hull (see ev-06, negative finding); the hull was scrapped in 1947 and no surviving structure exists to survey. Hull-specific boiler/turbine makers unverified (class builders used varying makers; DANFS does not specify for this hull).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-04

5. [5]U.S. General Accounting Office, HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page abstract, gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   GAO reports Navy-wide that thermal insulation was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships fleet-wide, and describes the Navy's 1975 policy (remove/replace only damaged or repair-necessitated insulation) and its 1979 revision (selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). This is institutional Navy-wide practice, not a finding about this hull or the Clemson class specifically.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1979 (report); Navy-wide practice described spans earlier decades

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers, Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, 1970s (report population; not this hull's population)

   Limitations

   gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; the finding is drawn from the GAO product-page abstract/description, not the full PDF text (standing defect documented since BATCH-01). The report's fieldwork focus is Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards in the 1970s - decades after this hull left U.S. service (1940) and was scrapped (1947) - and it does not name USS Meade, HMS Ramsey, the Clemson class, or the Squantum yard. Provided as Navy-wide institutional context only; establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-05

6. [6]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py): exact phrase "USS Meade" (type=o) completed 2026-09-27 - 0 results; companion queries ("DD-274" type=o; "USS Meade" type=r; "HMS Ramsey" type=o and type=r) not completed under fleet pacing - see limitations [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-meade-dd274-06 through -09

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener opinion-index sweep found no litigation naming this hull: exact-phrase "USS Meade" returned zero opinion results (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-27). No qualifying or non-qualifying litigation naming this hull was located in the completed portion of the sweep.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27

   Limitations

   PARTIAL SWEEP - the negative finding covers only the opinion index for the exact phrase 'USS Meade'. The 'DD-274' opinion query, the 'USS Meade' docket (type=r) query, and both 'HMS Ramsey' queries stood down on repeated fleet-budget throttles and are carried as open items in the search ledger, not as negative results. Even a completed sweep would not prove no litigation naming this hull exists - PACER-gated dockets, sealed filings, and state-court records outside CourtListener's index are not searched; this hull's U.S. service (1919-1940) and 1947 scrapping substantially predate the digitized-litigation era. High name-collision risk: 'Meade' names a second U.S. Navy hull (DD-602, Benson-class, 1942-1969+) whose service window covers the peak asbestos-litigation exposure era, plus Fort Meade, Meade County, Gen. George G. Meade, and the surname generally; 'HMS Ramsey' collides with an earlier RN ship of the name (sunk 8 August 1915, with its own TNA casualty file) and a common surname. Any future hit requires explicit hull attribution to DD-274 before attaching to this record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-06

7. [7]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Meade (DD-274) - operational/building data block and foreign-service history (Robert Hurst) + uboat.net Allied Warships entry, HMS Ramsey (G 60) [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net/archives/05/274.htm (data block; 'On British Service' paragraph; commanding officers list; photo caption FL 17899); uboat.net/allies/warships/4329.html (HMS Ramsey G 60 data block)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Secondary references corroborate and extend the RN-period record. NavSource (per Hurst's foreign-service history): HMS Ramsey commissioned at Halifax 26 November 1940; sailed 5 December; refit at Devonport from 17 December, completing for service 29 January 1941; joined 5th Escort Group at Liverpool; engine breakdown 9 March 1941 with repairs to 5 April; local escort work; transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force, arriving St. John's 11 June 1941; 22nd Escort Group from August 1941 for a year; refitted at Boston, Mass., November 1941-February 1942; major turbine repairs at Halifax and later Charleston, S.C., 5 April-27 July 1942 (an Imperial War Museums photograph, FL 17899, shows HMS Ramsey underway at 'the US Navy Yard, South Carolina' on 20 June 1942); repairs at Liverpool, Belfast, and the Clyde 7 August-22 October 1942 after passage with convoy HX200; B6 Escort Group for one round trip; long refit at Grimsby November 1942-July 1943 (new bridge, major boiler repairs); after work-up at Tobermory relegated to Air Target Ship in the Irish Sea; paid off July 1945 and laid up at Grangemouth; passed to BISCo 18 February 1947; broken up at Bo'ness by P & W MacLellan Ltd July 1947. NavSource data block: stricken from the Navy list 8 January 1941; 'Decommissioned November 26 1940. To Britain November 26 1940.' uboat.net's HMS Ramsey (G 60) entry concurs (Town class; Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Squantum; commissioned 26 Nov 1940; end service Jul 1947).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1940-1947

   Population

   RN crew 1940-1945; UK and US repair-yard workers 1940-1943 (Boston Nov 1941-Feb 1942; Charleston Apr-Jul 1942)

   Limitations

   Secondary/reference sources only - corroborating context for the DANFS narrative, not independent authority (the Hurst foreign-service history is unattributed-compilation grade; uboat.net largely repeats DANFS). The 26 November turnover date conflicts with DANFS's 23 November - both carried, documented in gaps rather than resolved. UK-yard refits (Devonport, Belfast, the Clyde, Grimsby, Grangemouth, Bo'ness) and the US-yard repair periods (Boston navy yard; Charleston - corroborated by IWM photo FL 17899 'US Navy Yard, South Carolina') are service events only; no asbestos content is asserted by these sources. Establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-meade-dd274-07