Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (Comptroller General, 18 Oct 1979), Enclosure I, Attachment 1: 'List of U.S. Navy Ships Delivered Since 1973 or Under Construction (Ship Class, Name and Hull Number and Status of Thermal Insulation),' enclosure to CNO letter Ser 4542/318054 of 5 Jan 1979 [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 Enclosure I, Attachment 1, table p. 8 of the enclosure (DESTROYER - DD block, MERRILL row); PDF page 18 of the scan
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- This hull is named in the Navy's official per-ship thermal-insulation inventory: 'MERRILL 976' appears in the DESTROYER - DD section with construction start 12/74 and delivery 1/78. Her thermal-insulation annotation is BLANK: the printed label 'Asbestos thermal insulation' spans the contiguous block DD-963 through DD-973 (eleven ships, matching the Navy letter's 'first eleven of our new DD 963 class ships' and its 'delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978' - John Young, DD-973, delivered 5/78); a horizontal rule separates that block at DD-973; MERRILL sits in the unannotated block DD-974 through DD-982; 'Asbestos-free thermal insulation' is annotated from DD-983 onward. The table therefore does not assign this hull a thermal-insulation status.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1974-1978 (construction/delivery); table dated 5 Jan 1979
- Population
- Ingalls Shipbuilding construction trades 1974-1978; ship's company at delivery
- Limitations
- Names the hull in an asbestos-status inventory but does not state whether this hull carried asbestos thermal insulation - the blank cell is reported, not resolved. 'Start' 12/74 in the table precedes the NVR keel date 16 Jun 1975 (likely fabrication/contract start vs. keel laying; see gaps). Naming in the inventory is not evidence of asbestos aboard. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches; PDF obtained via Wayback capture - contents verified by direct text extraction and visual inspection of the table page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-01
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[2]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (18 Oct 1979), Enclosure I (CNO response text) and Enclosure II (CNO Ser 454D/318571 of 8 Feb 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 cover letter pp. 1-2 (policy), Enclosure I pp. 1-3 (applications, DD-964 figure, first-eleven DD-963s), Attachment 1 Note 1, Enclosure II (per-class insulation estimates)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Navy-stated fleet and class context applying to this hull as a commissioned in-service ship at the date of the response (Jan 1979): 'all ships presently in service contain some quantity of asbestos' - cited applications include Navy ship equipment brakes and clutches, electric cabling (galley ranges), deck/floor tiling, and piping-system gaskets and packing. Thermal insulation 'for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos'; Note 1 of Attachment 1 states asbestos remained in applications with no designated asbestos-free substitute, 'i.e., gaskets and pipe hanger liners.' Class figure: destroyer (DD) thermal insulation estimated at 87,634 lb (weight-control report for USS Paul F. Foster, DD-964, a Spruance-class sister). The Navy's October 1975 no-asbestos policy (NAVSEAINST 5100.2) replaced insulation only when damaged/removed for repairs, plus selective replacement in high-maintenance areas.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1973-1979 (policy/inventory period)
- Population
- All Navy shipboard personnel and shipyard workers of the era; DD-963 class specifically for the insulation figures
- Limitations
- Universal and class-level Navy statements applied to this hull by category, not by name - the ship-named inventory entry (ev-01) leaves her insulation status unannotated. 'All ships contain some asbestos' is a fleet-wide assertion, not a measurement aboard DD-976. The 87,634-lb figure is DD-964's value, used by the Navy as the DD-class estimate. Does not establish individual exposure, causation, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-02
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[3]Naval Vessel Register, MERRILL (DD 976) detail page (NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- NVR vessel-status and milestone tables, MERRILL (DD 976) page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NVR record for this hull: Destroyer, class DD 963, UIC 20602; builder Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.; award 01/26/1972; keel 06/16/1975; launch 09/01/1976; delivery 01/30/1978; commission 03/11/1978; decommission 03/26/1998; stricken 03/26/1998; status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise,' status changed 08/01/2003; custodian US Navy; last updated 08/06/2003. Characteristics: 563 ft overall, 55 ft beam, 31 ft max navigational draft, full displacement 9,313 tons; steel hull, aluminum superstructure; gas-turbine propulsion, 2 propellers; accommodations 25 officers + 273 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1972-2003
- Population
- Ingalls construction trades; crew across service life; NISMF caretakers 1998-2003
- Limitations
- NVR documents lifecycle dates, builder, construction materials, and disposal pathway - it says nothing about asbestos content or exposure. Live nvr.navy.mil detail page serves nav chrome to automated fetch; content verified via the 26 Jul 2024 Wayback capture (NVR's own data unchanged). Accommodations total (298) differs from the DANFS complement figure (309) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-03
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[4]DANFS, 'Merrill II' (DD-976), Naval History and Heritage Command [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS 'Merrill II' entry - specifications block, construction paragraph, yearly service narrative, commanding-officer table, caption notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS service record for this hull: second ship named Merrill (first for VAdm. Aaron S. Merrill; DE-392 was named for Ens. Howard Deal Merrill); sponsored by Mrs. Dunbar Merrill Flinn; commissioned 11 Mar 1978, Cmdr. George N. Gee. Documented yard periods: post-shakedown availability at Ingalls 21 Aug-20 Sep 1978; major overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard 20 Oct 1978-5 May 1979 including retrofit for the Tomahawk long-range cruise missile; 'San Diego Naval Shipyard' repairs 13 Jul-8 Oct 1984 (ambiguous naming - see gaps); National Steel & Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, 3 Jun-22 Sep 1985 and 6 Jul-14 Oct 1982 (complete Tomahawk system incl. armored box launchers); Subic Bay shipyard availability Jun 1988; Continental Maritime of San Diego Sep 1990 and 16 Jan 1996; regular overhaul at the Long Beach shipyard 9 Sep 1992-5 Dec 1993. On 20 Mar 1980 at PMTC she became the first ship to successfully launch a Tomahawk. Rescued 62 Vietnamese refugees 21 Aug 1980; Earnest Will convoy escort; led SAG Bravo's attack on the Sassan platform, Operation Praying Mantis, 18 Apr 1988; Meritorious Unit Commendation (Battle Group F, 15 Feb-21 May 1988); Operation Fiery Vigil 1991 (~600 evacuees). Decommissioned and stricken (DANFS reads 28 Mar 1998); 'sunk in a training exercise off Hawaii on 1 August 2003.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-2003
- Population
- Ship's company (complement ~309), plus yard workers at Ingalls, Long Beach NSY, NASSCO, Subic, and Continental Maritime during the documented availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content. Two date conflicts with NVR carried in gaps: laid-down date ('26 January 1975' per DANFS vs. keel 16 Jun 1975 per NVR/NavSource) and decommission/strike (28 Mar vs 26 Mar 1998). 'San Diego Naval Shipyard' was not an official naval shipyard name - likely commercial San Diego yard (see gaps). Live NHHC page currently 404s; verbatim Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-04
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[5]GAO HRD-80-2 (18 Oct 1979), shipyard worker-protection review sections (Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, fieldwork 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 'Efforts to Protect Shipyard Workers' - Long Beach Naval Shipyard section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO's 1979 fieldwork documented asbestos rip-out practice at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in the same window as this hull's major overhaul there (20 Oct 1978-5 May 1979): dust samples taken aboard two ships contained asbestos dust indicating required cleanup had not been done properly; several pipe ends with exposed asbestos were found in the fire room of one ship; the yard's written program conformed to OSHA requirements but implementation gaps included workers and ship's crews using compressed air to clean asbestos work areas, blowing fibers into the air. The ships sampled are not named.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979 fieldwork; overhaul window Oct 1978-May 1979
- Population
- Long Beach Naval Shipyard workers and ship's crews present during 1978-79 availabilities
- Limitations
- Context only: the report does not identify the ships sampled and does not name DD-976 - temporal overlap of her overhaul with the GAO review period is documented, attribution to this hull is not. Yard-level program findings; not a hull survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-05
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[6]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep: '"USS Merrill"' type=o and type=r; '"DD-976"' and '"DD 976"' type=o and type=r; '"USS Merrill" asbestos' type=o; '"USS Merrill" Watson' type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener /api/rest/v4/search, type=o and type=r, queries as cited; run via fleet-paced authenticated helper (cl-auth-search.py), 28 Sep 2026
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos opinion or adjudicated case naming this hull located. Opinion index: zero hits for '"USS Merrill"', '"DD-976"', '"DD 976"', and '"USS Merrill" asbestos'. Docket index: two asbestos personal-injury dockets whose indexed text contains the hull (see ev-07 - roles unverified), plus two identifier collisions on '"DD-976"' (Flanks v. City of New Orleans, E.D. La. 2:23-cv-06897 - civil rights; In re Seroquel Products Liability Litigation, M.D. Fla. 6:06-md-01769 - unrelated MDL exhibit pagination). 'Merrill' surname collisions (e.g., Merrill Lynch) do not intersect the exact-phrase queries.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- index coverage through 28 Sep 2026
- Limitations
- Absence of an indexed opinion is not proof no case ever named the hull - state-court filings and unindexed PACER documents are outside the index. The two docket references are unresolved at full text (see ev-07); a QA full-text pull of the complaints remains the open step.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-06
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[7]Webb v. Baldor Electric Co. et al. (orig. Watson v. 3M Co. et al.), No. 1:22-cv-00145-KHJ-MTP (S.D. Miss.), complaint exhibit ECF No. 1-1 (147 pp.) and Order denying remand, ECF No. 242; Carolan v. General Electric Co., No. 3:07-cv-04352 (N.D. Cal.), complaint and Exhibit A, ECF No. 1 [court_record]
- Locator
- CL docket IDs 63376371 (Webb, mssd, gov.uscourts.mssd.115252) and 4168728 (Carolan, cand); Webb order at ECF No. 242 (text corroborated via republished copy); complaint exhibit ECF No. 1-1 (147 pp.)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Two asbestos personal-injury dockets contain 'USS Merrill'/'DD-976' in indexed text, roles unverified. Webb (S.D. Miss.): district-court order denying remand (ECF No. 242) recites that decedent Allan Watson served in the Navy 1960-64 (aviation electronics technician aboard USS Saratoga), then worked at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, 1966-2001 in the construction of naval vessels - in control rooms and engineering spaces - on 'over forty naval vessels,' alleging long-term asbestos exposure and mesothelioma; filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, removed under the federal-officer statute 28 U.S.C. 1442; remand denied; case closed 7 Feb 2025 by voluntary dismissal with prejudice as to remaining defendants. The hull string's presence in the indexed record is most plausibly the complaint's vessel list (ECF 1-1), consistent with Watson's alleged Ingalls work - but the pinpoint allegation naming DD-976 is not yet read at full text. Carolan (N.D. Cal.): asbestos PI by Brayton Purcell; Exhibit A recites decedent Michael T. Carolan, lung cancer (Feb 2006) and asbestosis (Oct 2006), died 2 Sep 2006; 'USS Merrill' occurs in indexed docket text, role unverified.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- alleged exposure windows 1966-2001 (Webb, yard work incl. new construction) and unverified (Carolan); litigation 2007-2013 / 2022-2025
- Population
- Allan Watson (Ingalls Shipbuilding worker 1966-2001, mesothelioma); Michael T. Carolan (Navy-connected asbestos PI, lung cancer/asbestosis, d. 2006)
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage material at most - a complaint's vessel list is an allegation, not a finding, and no merits disposition on exposure aboard this hull exists in either record. Full-text review of ECF 1-1 (Webb) and the Carolan complaint is deferred - the fleet helper covers the search API only, and RECAP document pulls were not made. Whether each decedent worked on/served aboard this specific hull, versus the name appearing in a list, is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-07
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[8]EPA/MARAD, 'National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended To Create Artificial Reefs,' 71 FR 27716 (12 May 2006), per section 3516 NDAA FY2004 [federal_register]
- Locator
- Federal Register notice E6-7274 (12 May 2006); guidance sections 'Asbestos' (narrative clean-up goal, where asbestos is found on a ship)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Federal guidance jointly developed by EPA and MARAD identifies asbestos as a material of environmental concern aboard obsolete and decommissioned vessels prepared for sinking and prescribes clean-up performance goals and methods - documenting that U.S. ex-vessels sunk or reefed in this era were understood to require asbestos-aware preparation. DD-976 was disposed of in support of a fleet training exercise (sunk as target 1 Aug 2003), before this guidance issued.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2004-2006 (guidance); sinking 2003
- Limitations
- Post-dates this hull's sinking and addresses artificial-reef preparation, not fleet training-target disposals; no SINKEX-specific environmental document for ex-Merrill was located (see gaps). Establishes federal recognition that decommissioned hulls carry asbestos requiring preparation controls - not the presence, quantity, or disposition of any material aboard DD-976.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-merrill-dd976-08