Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet jf-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-mervine-dd322-pkt-jf-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Mervine I (Destroyer No. 322) - canonical NHHC page, retrieved through Wayback Machine capture 2020-10-28 (live NHHC page returns 404 this session) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Mervine I (Destroyer No. 322)', specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: Clemson-class destroyer (dp. 1,190; l. 314'5"; b. 31'8"; dr. 9'3"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 95; a. 4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt.). Laid down at the Union Plant, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, Calif., 28 April 1919; launched 11 August 1919; sponsored by Miss Eileen D. McCarthy; commissioned 28 Feb. 1921, Comdr. C. E. Battle, Jr., in command. Joined the Pacific Fleet at San Diego after shakedown and remained in that fleet's destroyer force her entire career; Fleet Problems I (1923) and II, III, IV (1924) took her to the Canal Zone and Caribbean, VI (1926), VII (1928), IX (1929) off Central America and near Hawaii; crossed the Pacific only twice, goodwill cruise to Samoa and Australia summer 1925 (1 July-26 September). Entered San Diego for the last time 18 September 1929; decommissioned 4 June 1930; towed to Mare Island on the 14th for scrapping; struck from the Naval Register 3 November 1930. Namesake paragraph: Rear Adm. William Mervine (1791-1868), midshipman 1809, commanded Savannah in the Mexican War (Monterey landing, 7 July - DANFS prints '1947,' an evident typographical error for 1846), commanded the Gulf Squadron May-September 1861.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1931
- Population
- Bethlehem/Union Plant construction trades 1919-1921; Pacific Fleet crew (complement 95 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. Does not state the final scrapping/completion date (NavSource gives breakup at Mare Island in 1931). Live NHHC page returned 404; verbatim text cited via Wayback Machine capture of the canonical URL (2020-10-28).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-01
-
[3]U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph NH 67607 (NHC Online Library, ibiblio/HyperWar mirror) + NavSource Destroyer Photo Index DD-322, including caption of U.S. National Archives photo 19-LC-38-L-3 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHC Online Library picture-data page NH 67607; NavSource DD-322 index as-built block, CO roster, and 19-LC-38-L-3 caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official photo records for this hull: NH 67607 shows USS Mervine (DD-322) 'underway at sea during the early 1920s, probably while conducting surface firing exercises.' NARA photo 19-LC-38-L-3 shows U.S. Navy destroyers fitting out at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Union Plant, Potrero Works, San Francisco, 1 April 1920 - with Mervine identified among seven hulls present (Kidder 319, Selfridge 320, Chase 323, Mervine 322, Marcus 321, LaVallette 315, Yarborough 314). NavSource index data: 1,215 tons; 314'5" oa x 31'8" x 9'10" max; 26,500 shp geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 114; call sign NUMJ; laid down 28 April 1919; launched 11 August 1919; commissioned 1 March 1921; decommissioned 4 June 1930; stricken 3 November 1930; 'broken up for scrap at Mare Island in 1931'; CO roster includes Lt. Comdr. Richmond Kelly Turner 28 July 1924-14 April 1925.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1931
- Population
- Crew during 1921-1930 Pacific service
- Limitations
- Photo-caption-level and index documentation of construction site, appearance, and data; contains no asbestos or materials information. NavSource is a reputable volunteer archive used as an index/lead, not a primary source; its figures (114 crew, 1,215 tons, 1 March 1921 commissioning) differ slightly from DANFS (95, 1,190 tons, 28 February 1921) - DANFS carried where they conflict.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-02
-
[4]NHHC official biography page, Admiral Richmond K. Turner, USN (1885-1961) - retrieved through Wayback Machine capture 2024-12-08 (live page returns 404 this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Turner bio, career narrative paragraph; NavSource DD-322 CO roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC biography of Admiral Richmond K. Turner records that after service as Gunnery Officer of battleship California and Fleet Gunnery Officer on the staff of Commander Scouting Fleet he was 'Commanding Officer of the destroyer Mervine' before his promotion to Commander in 1925. In the 1924-25 window the only extant USS Mervine was DD-322 (DD-489 not built until 1941-42); NavSource's CO roster dates Turner's command 28 July 1924 to 14 April 1925.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1924-1925
- Population
- Crew under Turner command, 1924-1925
- Limitations
- Documents a notable commanding officer of this hull; contains no asbestos or materials information. Command dates reconcile NHHC narrative (pre-1925 promotion) with NavSource roster (July 1924-April 1925).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-03
-
[5]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946 Jan;28:9-16 (PMID 21016030) + NavSource DD-322 machinery data + Atlas shipyards.json 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' records + NARA RG 19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 21016030 (J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946;28:9-16); NavSource DD-322 index; shipyards.json records 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' and 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'; NARA RG19 GIB series as unretrieved lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: DD-322 was a Clemson-class flush-deck destroyer built 1919-1921 with the class-standard plant of four water-tube boilers and geared steam turbines (NavSource: 26,500 shp, 2 screws). Steam vessels of this construction era carried thermal insulation on boilers, steam drums, and steam lines plus gaskets and packing, and insulation products of the period commonly contained asbestos fiber. Fleischer et al. (1946) document amosite asbestos as 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels' under construction - a government/peer-reviewed yard survey establishing Navy practice two decades after this build, carried as era-continuity context. The Atlas yard dataset documents period asbestos products at builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.'s yards (85% magnesia block, Marinite, Transite, Aircell pipe covering, Unibestos, lagging, gaskets, packing) and at Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Careytemp, packing, gaskets, refractory materials), where this hull was broken up in 1931. NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' hold per-vessel material specifications and are the archival lead for hull-level materials data.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1931 (hull); 1946 (Fleischer survey)
- Population
- Bethlehem/Union Plant construction trades 1919-1921; crew 1921-1930; Mare Island ship-breaking workforce 1930-1931
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - NO ship-specific asbestos finding; no surveyed material, spec sheet, or removal record for this hull was located. Fleischer documents WWII-era construction practice (1940s), roughly two decades after this hull's 1919-21 build - era-continuity evidence, not proof of identical 1919 materials. Yard-dataset findings for bethlehem-shipbuilding center on East Coast plants (Sparrows Point, Baltimore), not the San Francisco Union Plant; Mare Island findings concern yard operations, not this hull's breakup specifically. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-04
-
[6]U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian: Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament (London Naval Treaty), Treaty Series No. 830, signed 22 April 1930 (FRUS 1930, vol. I, doc. 106) [other_primary]
- Locator
- FRUS 1930 vol. I, doc. 106 - Part III, Art. 15-16 (category definitions and tonnage table)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The London Naval Treaty of 22 April 1930 (Article 16) capped U.S. destroyer tonnage at 150,000 tons (152,400 metric tons) against 31 December 1936, defined the destroyer category (<=1,850 tons standard displacement, guns not above 5.1 in.), and obliged gradual disposal of tonnage in excess - contemporaneous policy context for the 1930-31 mass disposal of worn World War I-program flush-deck destroyers, this hull's decommissioning (4 June 1930), striking (3 November 1930), and scrapping (1931) among them.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1930-1931
- Limitations
- Treaty text does not name this hull; the linkage between treaty tonnage limits and DD-322's disposal is contemporaneous-timing inference, not a documented selection. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-05
-
[7]Batch-3309 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live site and Wayback capture; NHHC Turner biography; NHC Online Library photo page; NavSource destroyer index; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP sweeps; NARA catalog and RG24/RG19 availability; NPS/NHL/NRHP checks; web sweep for hazmat/abatement/survey/litigation records naming the hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-mervine-dd322-01 through sl-uss-mervine-dd322-12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS Mervine or DD-322 as an exposure site was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was scrapped in 1931 - before the asbestos-litigation era - so no preserved-hull or museum-disclosure surface exists. CourtListener opinion and docket sweeps returned the fleet-pacing stand-down on seven spaced attempts this session and could not be completed; the name-collision question was resolved independently of CourtListener: the asbestos-litigation marketing corpus naming 'USS Mervine' refers to DD-489, a different hull - see ev-07. Name-collision check performed: the only other commissioned hull of the name is Mervine II (DD-489, 1942-1969).
- 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 - 1919-21 steam-ship construction commonly used asbestos, but for this hull that remains era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener sweeps were blocked by the shared fleet pacing budget all session - logged per-query in the search_ledger; the collision finding rests on the completed non-CourtListener searches. An unindexed pleading or RECAP attachment naming the hull cannot be excluded.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-06
-
[8]DANFS, Mervine II (DD-489) - canonical NHHC page via Wayback Machine capture 2020-10-23; collision corpus observed in excluded law-firm marketing pages (asbestos-ships.com, mesotheliomahope.com, mesotheliomahelp.org) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Mervine II (DD-489)' entry; excluded marketing pages observed via web search 2026-09-27
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Name-collision correction: asbestos-litigation marketing material naming 'USS Mervine' is NOT about this hull. Excluded-source-class pages identify the asbestos-era Mervine explicitly as DD-489 (asbestos-ships.com's ship page is 'USS Mervine (DD-489)'; mesotheliomahelp.org lists both hulls generically). A marketed '$3.3 million boiler tender' settlement lists service aboard USS Mervine alongside USS Harwood (DD-861, commissioned 1945) and USS Sea Runner - a post-WWII service window matching DD-489 (commissioned 17 June 1942, stricken 31 July 1968, sold for scrap 1969), not DD-322 (1921-1930). DANFS establishes the discriminator: DD-489 is the Gleaves-class hull built by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J. Any consumer matching 'USS Mervine' + asbestos to DD-322 from that corpus would be a misattribution.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1969 (DD-489 window); 2026 (marketing corpus)
- Limitations
- Marketing claims are not litigation records - no docketed opinion naming either Mervine hull as an exposure site was located this session (CourtListener sweeps blocked; see ev-06 limitations). The collision determination rests on DANFS hull identities and the marketing pages' own hull-number/timeframe descriptions, not on any adjudicated record. Marketing pages are cited here only to document the collision risk, never as exposure evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-07
-
[9]National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places: Union Iron Works Historic District, NRIS 14000150 (listed 17 April 2014), San Francisco - nomination text hosted at sfport.com [nps]
- Locator
- NPS NRIS record 14000150; nomination form 'Union Iron Works Historic District' (April 2014)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS National Register documentation covers the builder's yard: the 66-acre Union Iron Works shipyard at Potrero Point, San Francisco, historic names including 'Potrero Works,' 'Union Yard,' 'Bethlehem Steel Yard' - the plant where this hull was laid down, launched, and fitted out (NARA photo 19-LC-38-L-3 shows her fitting out there 1 April 1920). The district documentation records the yard's Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ownership era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1921 (build period); 2014 (NRHP listing)
- Population
- Union Plant / Bethlehem Shipbuilding workforce, 1919-1921
- Limitations
- Documents the builder's plant, not this hull's materials - no asbestos content and no hull-specific construction detail beyond siting. NARA photo link corroborates the hull/yard association.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mervine-dd322-08