Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet gc-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-mertz-dd691-pkt-gc-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Mertz (DD-691) (specifications block, namesake biography, service narrative; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (ibiblio HyperWar transcription dd691.html)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 10 May 1943 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; launched 11 September 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Selma M. Allen, daughter of Rear Admiral Albert Mertz, the namesake); commissioned at Charlestown, Mass., 19 November 1943, Comdr. William S. Estabrook, Jr. in command. Specifications block: Fletcher class; 2,050 tons; 376'6"; 37 knots; complement 336. Pacific service 1944-45: Marshalls convoy escort and TG 58.2 screening (sank a Japanese merchantman 31 March 1944); Saipan fire support 14-22 June; Peleliu/Anguar; Leyte D-Day escort and Surigao Strait patrol (with McNair, DD-679) 25 October; Mindoro; Lingayen Gulf 9 January 1945; three months with the Fast Carrier Task Force (Tokyo strikes 16 February, Iwo Jima landings 19 February, Okinawa raids 1 March); assisted in sinking RO-46 (9 April) and I-56 (18 April); bombarded Okino Daito Jima 9 June; 3d Fleet strikes on the Japanese home islands from 10 July; Kuriles antishipping sweep; Adak 14 August; occupation duty at Ominato 8-15 September; arrived San Francisco 30 September. Decommissioned San Diego 23 April 1946 into the Pacific Reserve Fleet; reassigned to the Long Beach group 1 July 1951 and the Stockton group 1 January 1959. Ten battle stars for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1969 (entry publication horizon)
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1943; wartime crew (design complement 336)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service narrative - not materials or asbestos content. The published entry ends with the ship 'to remain there into 1969' and carries no stricken/sale disposal line; disposal is covered by ev-02. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (standing defect first noted 2026-09-14).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-01
-
[3]Disposal corroboration across independent secondary compilations: uboat.net Allied Warships DD-691 entry ('Stricken 1 October 1970. Sold 16 December 1971 and broken up for scrap'); NavSource DD-691 index (stricken October 1 1970; sold December 16 1971); globalsecurity.org DD-691 page carrying the extended DANFS closing line ('stricken 1 October 1970 and sold for scrap 16 December 1971'); Tin Can Sailors/destroyers.org DD-691 page (stricken 1 October 1970; magazine history text reads 'sold for scrap in February 1972') [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1984.html history block; navsource.org/archives/05/691.htm (fetch blocked; data via index snippet); globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-691.htm; destroyers.org/ships/dd-691/
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 October 1970 after 24 years in the Pacific Reserve Fleet (San Diego 1946, Long Beach group 1951, Stockton group 1959); sold for scrap 16 December 1971 and broken up. Dates agree across uboat.net, NavSource, and the globalsecurity reproduction of the extended DANFS text. Tin Can Sailors' narrative reads 'sold for scrap in February 1972' - either the sale-vs-delivery distinction or a variance; carried in gaps.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1970-1972
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations only - no primary disposal instrument (NVR entry, DSCR sale record, or MARAD file) located for this pre-1987 disposal. The online NVR excludes hulls disposed before 1987. Sale date 1971-12-16 rests on multiple agreeing secondary sources; the scrapping buyer and site are not documented in sources reached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-02
-
[4]Atlas shipyard dataset 'bath-iron-works' record (WWII-era yard asbestos documentation incl. Drinker 1942 industrial-hygiene study of the pipe-covering shop - 'fairly serious dust risk' - cited by the yard record as PMID 21016030; OSHA inspection 101450294 (1987); NIOSH HHE 89-0273 (1990)) + DANFS specifications block + Fletcher class profile [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'bath-iron-works' (ev-bath-iron-works-01/-02, niosh-hhe-89-0273); NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built at Bath Iron Works May-November 1943 with a four Babcock & Wilcox boiler/60,000-shp geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2): the 1942 Drinker industrial-hygiene study found 'fairly serious dust risk' at ten times the safe threshold in the yard's pipe-covering shop during this hull's construction era, and later OSHA (1987) and NIOSH (1989-90) evaluations documented asbestos exposure at the yard. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1943; wartime crew (complement 336)
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The Drinker study documents yard shop conditions in 1942 (this hull's build window), not materials installed aboard DD-691; OSHA/NIOSH records postdate the hull's 1943 launch. Does not quantify material aboard or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-03
-
[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-691's construction (1943), entire commissioned service (1943-1946), and reserve-fleet custody (1946-1970) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, re-confirmed 2026-09-27) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (cl-auth-search.py), 2026-09-27: "USS Mertz" type=o (opinions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint, type=o, query '"USS Mertz"' -> count 0; pending queries logged in search_ledger sl-uss-mertz-dd691-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion-index search for "USS Mertz" returned zero results. Companion queries ("DD-691" opinions; name and hull-number RECAP docket searches; "Mertz" asbestos/mesothelioma variants) could not be completed - the shared fleet request budget was spent during this session; the search ledger records the blocked queries. No published opinion naming this vessel 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: zero opinion hits for the exact phrase 'USS Mertz' is a genuine negative, but the hull-number query, docket-index queries, and name-variant queries remain unrun pending fleet budget - absence of a located case is not proof none exists. 'Mertz' is also a surname; any future hits require name-collision review against DD-691.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-05
-
[7]Batch-3666 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror; uboat.net; globalsecurity DANFS reproduction; Tin Can Sailors/destroyers.org; destroyerhistory.org; NavSource (blocked); GAO HRD-80-2; NARA RG19 (not digitized); NVR (out of scope); CourtListener (partial); law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-mertz-dd691-01 through sl-uss-mertz-dd691-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull asbestos survey, abatement contract, materials inventory, hazmat disclosure, or docketed/published case naming USS Mertz (DD-691) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was stricken in 1970 and sold for scrap in 1971 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and was never preserved as a museum, so the museum-disclosure and surviving-hull channels that produced ship-specific records for preserved Fletchers (e.g., Kidd) do not exist here.
- 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 - era-standard applications are documented at class/era level and the 1943 build at a yard with documented asbestos pipe-covering work is consistent with retained era materials. The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; whether original 1943 insulation survived the service era is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mertz-dd691-06