Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Miller I (DD-535) (specifications block, namesake bio, service narrative, bracketed striking/sale note; live NHHC page 404 across all URL patterns - verbatim public-domain text verified via Wikipedia's DANFS incorporation and the hazegray.org transcription's search-index extract) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry: namesake paragraph; '(DD-535: dp. 2,050 ...)' spec block; service narrative 1944/1945/1945-1964; bracketed striking note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake James Miller, born in Denmark 1833, quartermaster of USS Marblehead who continued taking soundings under fire on the Stono River, S.C., 25 December 1863 - Medal of Honor, promoted acting master's mate. Spec block: dp. 2,050; l. 376'6"; b. 39'8"; dr. 17'9"; s. 37 k.; cpl. 314; 5x5", 10x40mm, 7x20mm, 10x21" tt.; cl. Fletcher. Laid down 18 August 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco; launched 15 February 1943, sponsored by Mr. William P. Upshur; commissioned 31 August 1943, Comdr. T. H. Kolberg. DesRon 52 throughout WWII: Pearl Harbor Nov 1943; TF 51 Kwajalein/Eniwetok Jan-Feb 1944; fast-carrier screen (TF 58/38) Feb 1944-war's end - Palau/Yap/Ulithi/Woleai, Hollandia, Truk, Marcus/Wake, Marianas and Philippine Sea (Bunker Hill screen, 19-20 June 1944), Palaus, Leyte Gulf (with USS Owen finished off Japanese destroyer Nowaki early 26 Oct), kamikaze raids on Hancock/Intrepid/Essex Nov 25, Mindoro/Lingayen support; 1945 - Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Home Island raids; alongside USS Franklin for rescue/firefighting 19 March 1945 (Navy Unit Commendation; CO LCDR Dwight L. Johnson Navy Cross). Detached 20 June 1945 for navy yard availability; arrived Mare Island 9 July, still moored there at war's end. Decommissioned 19 December 1945 to Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego; recommissioned 19 May 1951 (Atlantic Fleet, Newport homeport); Korea deployment Sep 1952-Feb 1953 (TF 95 gunfire support, TF 77 screening; round-the-world return via Mediterranean); Sixth Fleet incl. 1958 Lebanon crisis; Naval Reserve training duty at Boston from 9 March 1959 (>11,000 reservists; reserve crew activated Oct 1961 Berlin crisis); sailed for Norfolk 30 March 1964, decommissioned there 30 June 1964; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 December 1974; sold 31 July 1975.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1975
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1942-43; wartime crew (design complement 314); postwar Atlantic Fleet crew 1951-59; Naval Reserve trainees and reserve crew, Boston 1959-64 (>11,000 reservists)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 on every URL pattern probed (2026-09-27) and hazegray.org was unreachable (DNS failure); the verbatim text was verified through two independent transcriptions - Wikipedia's marked public-domain DANFS incorporation and the hazegray transcription's search-index extract. Launch-date conflict (DANFS 15 Feb 1943 vs NavSource/navypedia 7 Mar 1943) and complement conflict (314 vs 273) are carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-01
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[2]Naval Historical Center / NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Miller (DD-535), 1943-1975. Renamed James Miller in 1971' (official Navy history page; verbatim ibiblio/HyperWar mirror of history.navy.mil content incl. captioned official NHC photographs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library page text paragraphs 1-3; photo captions NH 98521-NH 98530
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Historical Center photo-history record for this hull: 2,050-ton Fletcher-class destroyer built at San Francisco, commissioned end of August 1943; Pacific combat from January 1944 (Marshalls invasion; fast-carrier screen; Marianas incl. Battle of the Philippine Sea; Palaus; Battle of Leyte Gulf - helped sink Japanese destroyer Nowaki 26 October); 1945 Luzon/Iwo Jima/Okinawa/Japan-raid screening; 'provided assistance to USS Franklin when that ship was seriously damaged by enemy air attack on 19 March'; July-August 1945 overhaul at Mare Island, California, when the war ended; decommissioned December 1945 to Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego; recommissioned May 1951 and modernized ('losing one five-inch gun and receiving a new battery of twin three-inch anti-aircraft guns, plus updated electronic equipment'); Atlantic Fleet, Korea round-the-world 1952-53, Atlantic/Mediterranean incl. 1958 Lebanon crisis; 1959 Naval Reserve training ship based at Boston; 'placed out of commission at the end of June 1964'; 'In August 1971, while in mothballs as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, she was renamed James Miller to free her original name for assignment to the new escort ship DE-1091' with no active service under that name; stricken from the Naval Vessel Register December 1974; sold for scrapping July 1975. Captioned official photographs document her at Mare Island Navy Yard 24 August 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Postwar crew 1951-64; NRT-era reservists; Atlantic Reserve Fleet custody 1964-75
- Limitations
- Official NHHC/NHC content documenting construction, modernization, service, renaming, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. The modernization description (post-1951 gun/battery/electronics changes) is a yard-work event; the yard(s) that performed the 1951 reactivation work are not named here. Mirror transcription cited; canonical history.navy.mil URL for this page not separately verified live.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-02
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-535 USS MILLER (volunteer-maintained index hosting official NHC/NHHC photographs, the verbatim Navy Unit Commendation citation text, and compiled operational/building data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-535 page: Operational and Building Data block; NUC citation text; photo captions for NH 98523-24, Navy Photos 6284-45/6286-45, South Boston Naval Annex 1959/1962
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource page for this hull documents: verbatim Navy Unit Commendation citation for 19 March 1945 - 'Promptly approaching the U.S.S. FRANKLIN after that vessel had been severely damaged by enemy aircraft, the U.S.S. MILLER heroically fought raging fires and put aboard rescue parties despite the serious hazards created by exploding gasoline, bombs and ammunition ... repeatedly closing the FRANKLIN's flaming sides to pick up isolated groups of wounded and trapped men' (signed James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy); building data 'Laid down by Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco. August 18 1942. Launched March 7 1943 ... Stricken December 1 1974. Fate: Sold July 31 1975 to Boston Metals, Baltimore and broken up for scrap'; machinery entry 'Westinghouse Turbines'; photo captions documenting overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard 'from 9 July to 1 September 1945' (plan views 29 August 1945 with USS Owen and USS Ellet) and the Naval Reserve training-ship berth at South Boston Naval Annex (1959-62 captions).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Wartime crew (NUC recipients); Mare Island yard workers Jul-Sep 1945; scrapping-yard workers at Boston Metals, Baltimore 1975-76 (scrapping-phase exposure channel, undocumented)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled index, not an official repository - its compiled building-data block conflicts with DANFS on launch date (7 March vs 15 February 1943) and with the class design on turbine maker (Westinghouse; class documentation commonly cites GE); the sale buyer (Boston Metals, Baltimore) is NavSource-only and unverified against an official Navy sale record. The NUC citation text and NHC photo captions hosted there are official content. None of it addresses asbestos or materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-03
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[4]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, type=o opinions + type=r RECAP dockets): queries "USS Miller", "U.S.S. Miller", "DD-535" - 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 /api/rest/v4/search/ type=o and type=r; Wilkinson v. Gray = opinion cluster 2297693; Wilkinson v. United States = cluster 403673; Hayes = cluster 4261261
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep produced NO qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull: "USS Miller" = 0 opinion hits and 0 RECAP docket hits. "U.S.S. Miller" = 2 opinion hits, both the same matter - Wilkinson v. Gray, 523 F. Supp. 372 (E.D. Va. 1981), aff'd, Wilkinson v. United States, 677 F.2d 998 (4th Cir. 1982), cert. denied 459 U.S. 906 - an FTCA/motor-vehicle scope-of-employment case (a sailor aboard 'the U.S.S. Miller' injured a pedestrian in October 1978 while on temporary duty). That Miller was 'undergoing repairs at a shipyard in Boston' in Oct 1978: because DD-535 was stricken Dec 1974, sold Jul 1975 and scrapped, the ship in Wilkinson is necessarily the later Knox-class USS Miller (DE-1091/FF-1091, in commission 1973-1991) - a documented name collision, not a reference to this hull. "DD-535" = 1 opinion hit (Ex parte Charles Ray Hayes, Tex. App./CCA habeas matter, 'DD-535' a document/form number) and 9 RECAP docket hits (voting-rights, FDCPA, criminal, FLSA, ERISA, bankruptcy dockets; 'DD-535' matching document/exhibit numbers) - all collisions, none asbestos, none vessel-related. Classification at stage: none of the hits is a qualifying asbestos exposure claim for this hull; the collision findings are recorded, not adjudicated exposures.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep date); underlying records 1981-2022
- Population
- Litigants naming 'USS Miller' or 'DD-535' in indexed federal/state appellate records
- Limitations
- Index-scope caveat: CourtListener covers published opinions and PACER-indexed RECAP dockets; state-court trial records, MDL-875 consolidated pleading exhibits, settled/undocketed claims, and non-digitized filings are not fully searchable - absence of a hit does not prove no claim ever named the hull. The punctuated query "U.S.S. Miller" surfaced hits the un-punctuated query did not, so additional orthographic variants may exist in unindexed text. "USS James Miller" (the 1971-74 reserve-fleet name) opinions = 0; its RECAP-docket side remained pending at session end (fleet pacing budget) - the name was held only while the hull was in mothballs, minimizing missed-hit risk.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-04
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[5]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 37 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset, 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. - consolidated corporate record incl. Union Iron Works / San Francisco operations) + destroyerhistory.org Bethlehem San Francisco builder page [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'; destroyerhistory.org/destroyers/bethsf/ (yard history: Union Iron Works lineage, Risdon destroyer-construction facility)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1942-43 with a four-boiler/60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - an application class documented at class level in the Atlas Fletcher-class profile. The builder, Bethlehem Steel's San Francisco yard (founded as Union Iron Works 1849, acquired by Bethlehem 1906, destroyer construction at the Risdon facility), is documented at yard level in the Atlas shipyard dataset (tier 3 consolidated Bethlehem Shipbuilding record, which lists Union Iron Works among its aliases). 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
- 1942-1964
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1942-43; crew across both commissioned periods (1943-45; 1951-64)
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no materials list, insulation schedule, or ACM record for this hull was located. The Atlas bethlehem-shipbuilding record is a consolidated corporate entry (Quincy/Sparrows Point/San Francisco among its components) - yard-level documentation is not a statement about this specific hull's materials. NARA retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-05
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[6]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-535's construction (1942-43) and both commissioned periods (1943-45; 1951-64) squarely 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) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-06
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[7]Batch-3511 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcriptions; NHHC Online Library page; NavSource; destroyerhistory.org builder page; NARA Catalog (deck-log file units); CourtListener (authenticated sweep); NVR (scope-limited); GAO HRD-80-2; law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-miller-dd535-01 through sl-uss-miller-dd535-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation record located for DD-535 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was stricken 1 December 1974 and sold for scrapping 31 July 1975 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and never became a museum, so the museum-disclosure channel that produced ship-specific records for preserved hulls does not exist here. The scrapping-phase exposure channel (Boston Metals, Baltimore, 1975-76) is likewise undocumented in authoritative sources.
- 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 GAO record places the hull inside the Navy's asbestos-use era. The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; whether original 1943 insulation survived wartime/postwar availabilities is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-miller-dd535-07