Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet et-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-monssen-dd436-pkt-et-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Monssen I (DD-436) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative, sinking; verbatim transcription via hazegray/Wayback - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (paragraphs 1-8)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: first Monssen (DD-436), Gleaves class; laid down 12 July 1939 by Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.; launched 16 May 1940, sponsored by Mrs. Mons Monssen, widow of Lt. Monssen; commissioned 14 March 1941, Lt. Comdr. R. N. Smoot in command. Atlantic Fleet 27 June 1941 (DesDiv 22); neutrality patrol northwestern Atlantic New England to Iceland; belligerent operations from 7 December 1941; Boston Navy Yard overhaul from 9 February 1942 for Pacific transfer; San Francisco 31 March; TF 16 antisubmarine screen for Hornet (CV-8) on the Doolittle Raid (18 April); Midway (June); Guadalcanal campaign from 7-8 August (fire support off Gavutu/Tanambogo with Buchanan); Eastern Solomons; escorted damaged Saratoga to Tonga; returned Guadalcanal 18 September; TG 67.4 under Rear Admiral Callaghan from Noumea 8 November; air attack off Lunga Point 12 November cost her fire control radar; that night (~0140 13 November) engaged Abe's bombardment force; at about 0220 spotlighted, 'hit by some 37 shells, and reduced to a burning hulk'; ordered abandoned; three men (Storey, Sturgeon, Hughes) re-boarded and rescued eight; 'survivors, 40 percent of the crew, were picked up at about 0800'; ship burned until early afternoon when Ironbottom Sound 'closed over her.' Four battle stars. Spec block: 1,630 t; 348'2"; 36'1"; dr. 17'5"; 33 k.; cpl. 276; 5x5", 4x40mm, 2x20mm, 10x21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1939-41; crew (design complement ~208) 1941-42
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Spec block reflects wartime fit (cpl. 276) conflicting with NavSource as-built crew figure (208); carried in gaps. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 - verbatim hazegray transcription cited via Wayback capture (2024-12-05).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-01
-
[3]USS Monssen (DD-436) action reports reproduced in Wilde (ed.), 'The U.S.S. Monssen (DD-436) in World War II: Documents, Photographs, Recollections' (rev. 2001; Destroyer History Foundation scan 2006): (a) 'U.S.S. MONSSEN, Anti-aircraft action report,' 12 November 1942, signed Cdr. C. E. McCombs; (b) 'U.S.S. MONSSEN, Report of battle of November 13, 1942,' 16 November 1942 (SECRET-declassified), CO to CincPac via CTG 67.4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Wilde booklet pp. ~91 and ~97-109 of scan (AA report, 12 Nov 1942; battle report, 16 Nov 1942)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own action reports: (a) the 12 November 1942 report records 23 Japanese twin-engine torpedo bombers attacking the transport anchorage, 21 shot down by AA fire, no personnel casualties, and the sole material casualty 'the burning out and rupture of an oil filled transformer in the FD Radar' - the fire-control-radar loss DANFS narrates. (b) The 16 November 1942 loss report, written by surviving officers (all records destroyed with the ship; report 'written entirely from memory and from testimony of survivors'), records: battle formation including Cushing, Laffey (DD-459), Sterett, O'Bannon, Atlanta, San Francisco, Portland, Helena, Juneau, Aaron Ward, Barton, Monssen, Fletcher; two five-torpedo spreads fired (~0215, ~0219) at targets incl. a believed Kongo-class battleship; ~0223 illuminated by enemy star shells and two searchlights and hit repeatedly by medium-caliber shells (forward steam line in No. 1 fireroom; throttle manifold in after engineroom ruptured; CPO quarters and handling-room fires); ordered abandoned ~0240; 'approximately 40% of officers and men' survived; still afloat and burning after daylight; at ~0900 heavy fires broke out and 'during the late forenoon or early afternoon, MONSSEN blew up and sank at approximately Latitude 09-04-30 South, Longitude 159-54 East in about 500 fathoms of water'; survivors picked up by landing boats ~0800 and hospitalized at Guadalcanal ~0930; seven critically wounded enlisted men died ashore and were buried in the First Marine Division Cemetery.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-11-12 to 1942-11-16
- Population
- USS Monssen crew under LCDR Charles E. McCombs, November 1942; survivors hospitalized at Guadalcanal
- Limitations
- Primary contemporaneous documents reproduced in a privately compiled booklet - the scans bear 'DECLASSIFIED' stamps consistent with genuine Navy action reports, but they are second-generation images; original is at NARA RG 38 (unretrieved). The report documents battle damage and loss, not materials composition; engineering-plant damage descriptions (steam line, throttle manifold) establish machinery-space systems of the era but do not name insulation content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 51, 'Destroyer Report: Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage, Including Losses in Action' (25 January 1947), Table II; and BuShips 'Summary of War Damage - U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers, October 17, 1941 to ...' vessels-lost table [other_primary]
- Locator
- WDR-51 Table II, section C.b 'Magazine Explosion - Following fire'; Summary of War Damage, destroyers-lost table (Guadalcanal section)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips loss accounting names this hull: WDR-51 Table II lists 'MONSSEN (DD436), 1630T, Gunfire, Guadalcanal, 11/13/42' under the loss category 'Magazine Explosion - Following fire.' The BuShips Summary of War Damage destroyer-loss table records 'MONSSEN (DD436) 11/13/42 Guadalcanal Gunfire - 37 ... Gunfire damage from 37 or more medium and small caliber projectiles. Blew up next forenoon from fires.' - consistent with the ship's own report (ev-02) and DANFS's 'some 37 shells'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942 (loss); 1947 (analysis)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Official loss-mode classification only; establishes manner of loss, not materials aboard. 'Magazine explosion following fire' is BuShips's categorized manner-of-sinking grouping, not a finding about hull contents. HyperWar/ibiblio OCR transcription of the printed 1947 reports.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-03
-
[5]Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Monssen (DD-436), 1941-1942' page - official NHC narrative and photo captions (via ibiblio HyperWar mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHC Online Library page, narrative paragraphs + photo caption block (NH 97811 et seq.)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHC narrative for this hull: 1620-ton Gleaves-class destroyer built at Puget Sound Navy Yard; commissioned March 1941; Atlantic service June 1941-March 1942 (neutrality patrols, 'short of war' operations, anti-U-boat work); Pacific transfer; escorted Hornet on the April 1942 Doolittle Raid; Battle of Midway; Guadalcanal campaign August-November (7-9 August landing support); disabled by Japanese destroyer gunfire in the first surface phase of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, abandoned and burning, sank afternoon of 13 November 1942. Wreck record: 'discovered and examined in July-August 1992. She lies upright, over 2000 feet deep in Guadalcanal's Iron Bottom Sound. Her hull is intact, though damaged forward by explosions and aft by impact with the sea floor. Her five-inch guns are all trained out to starboard. The forward guns and superstructure are essentially wrecked... but her after guns and deckhouses are in surprisingly good condition.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1992
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- NHC summary establishes identity, service outline, and present-day wreck condition; no materials or asbestos content. The 1992 survey attribution (Ballard-led expedition) is standard in secondary accounts but the NHC page does not name the expedition; carry attribution as context only. Official NHC photos NH 97811-97817 document her at Puget Sound Navy Yard May 1941 and alongside Enterprise 19 May 1942.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-04
-
[6]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index, 'USS Monssen (DD-436)' (Wayback capture 2024-09-25; live site unreachable) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-436 page, spec block + operational/building data + commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource vessel page for this hull: class Gleaves; as built - 2,395 t full load, 348'4" oa x 36'1" x 13'2" max; armament 4x5"/38AA, 6x0.5" MG, 10x21" tt (2x5); machinery 50,000 shp, Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 screws; speed 35 kt, range 6,500 nm at 12 kt; crew 208. Laid down 12 July 1939 Puget Sound Navy Yard; launched 16 May 1940; commissioned 14 March 1941. Fate: 'Sunk by Japanese Warships off Guadalcanal November 13 1942. 130 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty.' Commanding officers: CDR Roland Nesbit Smoot (14 Mar 1941 - 28 Oct 1942, later VADM); LCDR Charles Edward McCombs (28 Oct 1942 - 13 Nov 1942, later RADM). Namesake biography: Mons Monssen, born Bergen, Norway, 20 January 1867; Chief Gunner's Mate awarded Medal of Honor for entering USS Missouri's burning magazine 13 April 1904; died Brooklyn Naval Hospital 10 February 1930.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- crew 208 (as-built figure); 130 lost 13 Nov 1942
- Limitations
- NavSource is a reputable volunteer-compiled secondary source reproducing official data; its 'as built' spec block (4x5"/38, 208 crew, 35 kt) differs from the DANFS spec block (5x5", 276 crew, 33 kt) reflecting as-built vs wartime fit - conflicts documented in gaps. Casualty figure '130 lost' is consistent with the loss report's ~40% survival of ~210-220 aboard. Live NavSource fetch failed; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-05
-
[7]Destroyer History Foundation, 'USS Monssen (DD-436)' vessel page and Wilde compilation (sourced to NHHC Photographic Section, DANFS, NARA photo 80-G-28788, BuPers casualty report, and first-person accounts) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Monssen page (narrative + casualty table image); Wilde PDF front matter and list of pages
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Additional documented episodes for this hull from the Destroyer History Foundation compilation: attached to Destroyer Squadron 11; in port when Kearny (DD-432) was torpedoed 17 October 1941, then stood out, rendezvoused, and escorted her to Iceland (NARA photo 80-G-28788 shows the two off Reykjavik 19 October 1941). Before daylight on a March 1942 day she grounded in 13 feet of water at Cape Cod Canal buoy 13 and returned to Boston Navy Yard for a new bow - a second documented 1942 navy-yard repair period beyond the 9 February overhaul entry in DANFS. At Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942, operating with Buchanan and San Juan (CL-53) as Fire Support Group 'Mike' of TG 62.2, she was first to open fire, on Florida Island, ahead of the 2d Marines' Tulagi landing. BuPers casualty report (NARA-sourced) reproduced; 'three-quarters of her officers and men killed or wounded.' 13 November 1992: survivors' 50th-anniversary reunion, San Diego.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1992
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard repair workforce, March 1942 (grounding repair); crew
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation by the Destroyer History Foundation (Wilde booklet series) - sources are stated (NHHC, DANFS, NARA photos, BuPers report, survivor accounts) and internally consistent, but the compilation itself is not an official publication; the March 1942 grounding/new-bow repair is plausible and consistent with the DANFS overhaul window but is not corroborated by a located primary document. Launch date printed here as 15 May 1940 conflicts with DANFS/NavSource 16 May - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-06
-
[8]Era/class machinery data - Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945) 'No. 421 Class' machinery table (Benson/Gleaves family: 4 B&W superheated boilers 575 psi/700 deg F, geared turbines ~47,000-50,000 shp) + NavSource this-hull machinery line (Westinghouse geared turbines, 50,000 shp) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB1945v1 destroyer machinery table; NavSource DD-436 machinery line; class context per benson-gleaves-class profile
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Gleaves-class destroyer built 1939-41 inside a U.S. navy yard with four superheated Babcock & Wilcox boilers (575 psi/700 deg F class standard per BuShips Ships' Data 1945) and ~50,000-shp geared turbines would have carried the period-standard insulated fit - boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, fireproofing, bulkhead and compartment insulation, deck tile/coverings, and auxiliary-machinery (evaporator/pump) insulation. The two documented 1942 Boston Navy Yard periods (overhaul from 9 February; bow repair after the March Cape Cod Canal grounding) are yard events of the type that disturbed and renewed machinery-space materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1939-41; Boston Navy Yard overhaul/repair workforce Feb-Mar 1942; crew 1941-42
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific material schedule, contract spec, or survey for DD-436 was located, and this row establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual. Hull sank in 1942, so no postwar (asbestos-documented era) yard history exists for this ship.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-07
-
[9]Atlas shipyard dataset, 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' record (tier 1): 1970 industrial-hygiene study (DTIC AD0715808) - pulmonary abnormalities in 21% of workers incl. pipe coverers and insulators; 40-150 fibers/cc during rip-out; ~4x mesothelioma mortality at moderate exposure; EPA Superfund listing (WA2170023418). 'boston-naval-shipyard' record (tier 3): John Crane gasket/packing exposure allegation (In re John Crane, Inc., Tex. App. 2003) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json records 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' and 'boston-naval-shipyard'; DTIC AD0715808 citation
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Builder/overhaul-yard context: Puget Sound Navy Yard, where this hull was built 1939-41 and photographed fitting out in May 1941, is a documented asbestos site at yard level (1970 industrial-hygiene findings among insulators; Superfund listing). Boston Navy Yard, where she underwent documented overhaul (from 9 February 1942) and grounding repair (March 1942), likewise has yard-level asbestos litigation documentation. These document the yards as asbestos-relevant workplaces during the period she was built and repaired, not the contents of this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1939-1942 (hull's yard periods); 1970+ (yard documentation)
- Population
- Puget Sound NY workforce (WWII peak ~32,500); Boston NY workforce (WWII peak ~50,128)
- Limitations
- Yard-level context only - the Puget Sound study is 1970 (three decades after this hull's construction), the Boston litigation is era-unspecified, and neither documents this hull's materials or any exposure of its crew or of workers on this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-08
-
[10]Lemen RA, Landrigan PJ. 'Sailors and the Risk of Asbestos-Related Cancer.' Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(24):13161 (peer-reviewed review) [other_primary]
- Locator
- IJERPH 2021;18(24):13161 - ship-construction and sailor-exposure sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed review documenting that chrysotile and amphibole asbestos were used extensively in ship construction of the era - insulation, joiner bulkhead systems, pipe coverings, boilers, machinery parts, bulkhead panels - and that sailors both worked and lived at their exposure site. Establishes era context for a 1939-41 navy-yard steam destroyer; says nothing about this specific hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- literature review published 2021
- Population
- U.S. Navy sailors and shipyard workers, era-general
- Limitations
- General era literature, not vessel-specific. Supports only the background proposition that ships of this era and type were built with asbestos-containing materials; does not establish presence, quantity, or exposure aboard DD-436.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-09
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 authenticated search sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for this hull, 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-monssen-dd436-09 through -16
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. Opinion index: zero hits for "USS Monssen"; zero for "U.S.S. Monssen"; zero for aboard-phrase variants ("aboard USS Monssen"/"aboard the Monssen"/"aboard Monssen"); one hit for "DD-436" - Williams v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1977), where 'DD-436' is the court's own docket number (name collision); one hit for bare "Monssen" - Davis v. Shanks (Tex. App.-Texarkana 1994), a probate dispute where Monssen is a surname (name collision). RECAP docket index: "USS Monssen" returned one hit - Bergstrom v. United States Navy, No. 2:21-cv-00055 (W.D. Wash.), an APA military-records-correction action (other litigation, not asbestos); "DD-436"/"DD 436"/"DD436" returned nine hits, all docket-number/exhibit/party-string collisions (incl. Roundup MDL, Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, Arch Coal and Lyondell bankruptcies); bare "Monssen" returned nine hits - surname bankruptcies (Shelly Kay Monssen; Karen Ann Monssen), Social Security and education cases, the W.R. Grace claims register (claimant surname), Bergstrom, and one asbestos docket containing a bare 'Monssen' string - Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Co. (see ev-uss-monssen-dd436-11).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Coverage is limited to CourtListener's opinion and RECAP docket indexes; non-indexed dockets, un-digitized state records, and settled/undocketed claims are outside coverage. Absence of located litigation does not mean none exists. Name-collision discipline applied: the second USS Monssen (DD-798, in commission 1944-1957) would capture most postwar-era 'Monssen' service references; no hit required that resolution because none named the vessel in a qualifying context.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-10
-
[12]Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Co. et al., No. 3:08-cv-03013-JSW (N.D. Cal.) - asbestos personal-injury removal (28:1441); published orders 2008 WL 4447729 (Sept. 30, 2008) and 2008 WL 5048205 (Nov. 25, 2008) (government-contractor defense, marine distilling plants manufactured for the U.S. Navy) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket index for 3:08-cv-03013-JSW (N.D. Cal.); WL opinions as cited
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A qualifying asbestos docket in which the bare string 'Monssen' appears in indexed RECAP document text (the docket contains a 39-page Cushing expert declaration concerning Navy marine distilling plants and the removal petition/complaint). Whether the reference is to a naval vessel is unverified - the exact-phrase docket query '"USS Monssen"' did NOT return this case, so the string appears without the 'USS' prefix (consistent with either a vessel list entry or a surname). If a vessel reference, attribution between this hull (DD-436, sunk November 1942) and the second namesake (DD-798, in commission 1944-1957) cannot be resolved from the public index; a 2008-filing-era plaintiff's service window more plausibly aligns with DD-798.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2008 (litigation)
- Population
- Jeri Redman et al. (plaintiffs); exposure history unverified from index
- Limitations
- Unadjudicated pleading-stage reference; does not establish exposure aboard any hull, asbestos presence, product identity, or legal eligibility. Classified down to archival lead and NOT counted as a ship-specific finding because the string's referent (vessel vs. surname) and hull (DD-436 vs. DD-798) are both unresolved; the matching document would need RECAP retrieval to resolve.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-monssen-dd436-11