USS MONSSEN (DD-798)

Evidence

9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).

1. [1]DANFS, Monssen II (DD-798) (builder, dates, service narrative, sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   hazegray DANFS transcription dd798txt.htm (Wayback capture 2024-12-06) - spec block and full service narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: second Monssen (DD-798), Fletcher class; laid down 1 June 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Division, Staten Island, N.Y.; launched 30 October 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Mons Monssen; commissioned 14 February 1944 (Comdr. Bernhart A. Feutsch). Saipan assault and Garapan counterattack June 1944; Battle of the Philippine Sea with TG 58.7 (two Judys splashed 19 June); Tinian bombardment; Peleliu/Anguar September 1944; Leyte; Battle of Surigao Strait night 24-25 October 1944 - western attack group with USS McDermut, one torpedo scored on battleship Yamashiro; Lingayen Gulf January 1945 kamikaze defense; TF 58.5 night carrier group; Tokyo strikes; Iwo Jima; Okinawa radar picket; Kyushu strikes; Hitachi Armament Works bombardment July 1945; detached 10 August 1945 with DesRon 54; occupation duty Ominato; decommissioned 30 April 1946 San Diego (Pacific Reserve Fleet); recommissioned 31 October 1951; Atlantic Fleet DesRon 34, Newport R.I.; 7th Fleet deployment May-October 1954 (Korea/Taiwan Straits patrol); 6th Fleet early 1956; decommissioned September 1957, Boston, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; transferred to Philadelphia Reserve Group 1962 - towline parted in heavy seas 6 March 1962, aground at Beach Haven Inlet N.J. six weeks; 'declared unnecessary to the defense of the United States,' sold 21 October 1963 to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., New York, for scrapping. Eight battle stars WWII.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1943-1963

   Population

   Bethlehem Staten Island construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS spec complement 319)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents construction, service history, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. Final decommissioning date reads September 1957 here versus NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum's 11 December 1957 - conflict carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-01

2. [2]Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images - USS Monssen (DD-798), 1944-1963 (official narrative + photo captions) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NHC Online Library page usnsh-m/dd798.htm (ibiblio mirror) - narrative block and captions NH 97961, NH 97962, 80-G-625694

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official NHC narrative for this hull: 2050-ton Fletcher-class destroyer built at Staten Island, commissioned February 1944; Saipan June 1944; TF 58 in the Battle of the Philippine Sea; Tinian July; Palaus September; Leyte October - during the Battle of Surigao Strait night 24-25 October took part in torpedo attacks that hit three Japanese destroyers and the battleship Yamashiro; Lingayen January 1945; screened fast carriers against the home islands; Iwo Jima; on 9 April 1945 teamed with USS Mertz (DD-691) to destroy Japanese submarine RO-56; Okinawa campaign plane-guard and radar-picket duty; June-August 1945 air and surface raids on Japan; initial occupation operations; decommissioned April 1946; recommissioned end of October 1951; Atlantic Fleet March 1952; Far East June-October 1954; Mediterranean 1956; decommissioned September 1957, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; went ashore on the New Jersey coast in heavy weather 6 March 1962 while under tow to Philadelphia; stricken from the Naval Vessel Register February 1963; sold for scrapping October 1963. Photo captions include completion view off Staten Island 12 February 1944 (NH 97961) and grounding/arrival images.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1944-1963

   Population

   Crew 1944-1957; construction workforce 1943-44

   Limitations

   Official historical narrative and captions - documents service and disposition, not materials or asbestos content. Adds the 9 April 1945 RO-56 sinking (with USS Mertz DD-691), an event absent from the DANFS narrative. Repeats the September 1957 decommission month, conflicting with NavSource's 11 December 1957 - carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-02

3. [3]NavSource Online, Destroyer Archive - USS Monssen (DD-798) vessel page (registry line, machinery, commanding officers, photo captions) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DD-798 page (Wayback capture 2024-05-27) - class block, operational and building data, fate line, CO table, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource registry record for this hull: class Fletcher, as built; 2,924 t full load; 376'5" oa x 39'7" x 13'9" max; armament 5x5"/38AA, 10x40mm, 7x20mm, 10x21" tt (2x5); machinery 60,000 shp, General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; 38 kt; range 6,500 NM at 15 kt; crew 273; call sign NTTK. Operational/building data: laid down Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island NY 1 June 1943; launched 30 October 1943; commissioned 14 February 1944; decommissioned 30 April 1946; recommissioned 31 October 1951; decommissioned 11 December 1957; stricken 1 February 1963; towline parted 6 March 1962 en route Boston-Philadelphia, aground at Beach Haven N.J., salvaged after 6 weeks; sold 21 October 1963 to Union Minerals & Alloy, New York, broken up for scrap. Photo captions document the hull high and dry on the New Jersey beach (from Bartholomew & Milwee, 'Mud, Muscle and Miracles'), arrival at Philadelphia Navy Yard 20 April 1962, and the stern nameplate salvaged at scrapping, now at Freedom Park, Omaha, Nebraska. Commanding officers listed (Feutsch; Bergin; Sanderson; Norris; Phaler; Glenn; Collins to Sep 1957).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1943-1963

   Population

   Crew 1944-1957 (NavSource crew figure 273); shipbreaking workforce 1963-64

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation (volunteer-run registry), consistent with DANFS/NHC; its precise dates (decommissioned 11 December 1957; stricken 1 February 1963) are carried against DANFS/NHC's 'September 1957'/'February 1963' with the conflict in gaps. Documents disposition and artifact survival, not materials or asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-03

4. [4]Destroyer History Foundation, Bethlehem Staten Island builder page + Atlas shipyard dataset 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' corporate record (yard-level asbestos findings concern Bethlehem's Baltimore/Sparrows Point and Quincy operations) [other_primary]

   Locator

   destroyerhistory.org/destroyers/bethsi (yard history); shipyards.json record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer with the class's uniform four-boiler, 60,000-shp GE geared steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. The builder - Bethlehem Steel's Staten Island shipyard at Mariners Harbor (per DHF: founded 1889 as the Burlee Drydock/Port Richmond Iron Works merger, renamed Staten Island Ship-building 1907, at its WWII site from 1925; began continuous Bethlehem Steel destroyer production December 1940, 44 ships started, 39 completed during the war) - is not separately enumerated in the Atlas 37-yard shipyard dataset; the dataset's 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record is corporate-level (Quincy, MA tag; aliases Fore River/Sparrows Point/Union Iron Works) and its verified asbestos findings concern Bethlehem's eastern yards, not Staten Island.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1943-1963

   Population

   Bethlehem Staten Island (Mariners Harbor) construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-57

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No Staten-Island-yard industrial-hygiene or materials documentation was located; the Atlas corporate record's verified findings do not extend to Mariners Harbor. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-04

5. [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-798 (built 1943-44, decommissioned finally 1957, stricken and sold for scrap 1963) entirely inside the documented asbestos-use era, with her entire service life predating the substitution program.

   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-monssen-dd798-05

6. [6]ub88.org Fletcher-class identification research project, square-bridge Fletcher disposition table; Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. shipbreaking context (secondary compilations) [other_primary]

   Locator

   ub88.org square-bridge-fletchers.pdf disposition table (DD-798 row); Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. company history

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Disposal-chain and loss-event context for this hull: the Fletcher-class identification table confirms '798 Monssen Sold 10/21/63 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. Scrapped.' Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. (a Hugo Neu subsidiary) operated a shipbreaking yard at the former Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. site, Kearny, N.J., where it broke up purchased Navy and merchant tonnage in the 1960s-70s; DD-798 was almost certainly dismantled there in the pre-OSHA era - no abatement, hazmat, or worker-protection documentation exists for the breaking. Secondary/local-history accounts identify the 6 March 1962 storm as the Ash Wednesday nor'easter of 5-9 March 1962 and the grounding site as the Holgate section of Long Beach Island (Beach Haven Inlet); the official Navy salvage history 'Mud, Muscle and Miracles' (Bartholomew & Milwee) illustrates the refloat operation - NavSource reproduces its photos.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1963-1964

   Population

   Union Minerals & Alloys shipbreaking workforce, Kearny NJ, 1963-64

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation sources; the sale/scrapping fact is verified by DANFS (ev-01), the Kearny breaking-site attribution is unverified for this specific hull (UMAC's Kearny operation is documented for other hulls). No asbestos or materials content established; included to document the disposal channel that eliminated the hull before asbestos regulation existed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-06

7. [7]CourtListener authenticated API v4 sweep: "DD-798" (opinion index, count=0); "DD-798"/"DD 798"/"DD798" (RECAP docket index, 2 hits - both non-vessel string collisions) [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-monssen-dd798-06 through sl-uss-monssen-dd798-10

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. Hull-number queries: zero opinion-index hits for "DD-798"; RECAP docket index returned two string collisions - Alta Irrigation District v. Holder (D.D.C. 1:11-cv-00758, voting-rights case where 'DD 0798' is a three-judge-court docket fragment) and Rasheed v. Texarkana (W.D. Ark. 4:17-cv-04057, OCR artifact in a scanned civil-rights affidavit) - neither references the vessel. Vessel-name queries: zero opinion-index hits for "USS Monssen" or "U.S.S. Monssen" (this session and the batch-3421 DD-436 sweep concur); "aboard USS Monssen"/"aboard the Monssen" also zero. The bare-name "Monssen" docket sweep (re-run this session, 9 hits) returns surname bankruptcies (Shelly Kay Monssen, Karen Ann Monssen), a Social Security appeal (Kassen), creditor-matrix entries (W.R. Grace claims register, KServicing), Simonsen, Sweigert, the non-asbestos Bergstrom v. U.S. Navy records-correction action, and one asbestos docket - Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03013) - resolved NON-QUALIFYING on full-text review this session (see ev-08): the declaration's only 'Monssen' is a reproduced photo caption of USS Kearny at Reykjavik, October 1941, i.e. DD-436, which predates this hull's existence.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27

   Limitations

   Absence of a located case does not prove absence of exposure or claims - many asbestos matters settle or live only in state courts and PACER beyond the RECAP index. The Bergstrom action is non-asbestos and its hull namesake (DD-436 vs DD-798) is unverified.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-07

8. [8]Name-collision control: USS Monssen DD-436 (Gleaves class, sunk 13 November 1942, Naval Battle of Guadalcanal) vs USS Monssen DD-798 (this hull, in commission 1944-1957); Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Co. (N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03013), Cushing declaration ECF No. 22 (recap-document 1812467) [court_record]

   Locator

   Redman v. A.W. Chesterton ECF No. 22 (Cushing declaration) plain_text - sole 'Monssen' occurrence is the USS Kearny Reykjavik photo caption; plaintiffs' exposure ships: John King, DuPont, Ingraham, Kearny, Reuben James (Norfolk Naval Shipyard 1974-84); batch-3421 record uss-monssen-dd436; DANFS Monssen I/II entries

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Two U.S. Navy destroyers carried the name Monssen for the same namesake. DD-436 (Gleaves class, Puget Sound Navy Yard, commissioned March 1941) was sunk with heavy loss in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 - six months before this hull was even laid down (1 June 1943). Consequently: (a) any 'USS Monssen' document dated before mid-1943 refers to DD-436; (b) post-1944 references are presumptively DD-798. Full-text review resolved the one ambiguous asbestos-docket hit: in Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03013, removed asbestos personal-injury/wrongful-death action; plaintiffs were the heirs of Ronald Redman), the sole 'Monssen' occurrence across the 39-page Cushing declaration (ECF No. 22, recap-document 1812467, full plain text reviewed) is a reproduced photo caption - 'USS [OCR: VSS] Monssen is alongside' the torpedoed USS Kearny at Reykjavik, Iceland, October 1941 - which is DD-436 (the DD-436 record documents that exact photograph, 80-G-28788, dated 19 October 1941). The plaintiffs' own exposure allegations name Norfolk Naval Shipyard service 1974-1984 aboard USS John King, USS DuPont, USS Ingraham, USS Kearny, and USS Reuben James - neither Monssen hull is an exposure site. NON-QUALIFYING for both hulls as exposure-site litigation; the caption's vessel is additionally impossible as DD-798 (not yet laid down in 1941). The DD-436 hull has its own record (uss-monssen-dd436) with an identical empty qualifying-litigation result.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1944 (overlap window)

   Limitations

   Collision-control note only - establishes the attribution boundary, not any fact about materials or exposure aboard either hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-08

9. [9]NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' index - Monssen entry check [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online - 'Monssen (DD-789)' accordion entry (empty)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA digitized deck-log index check (2026-09-27): the only Monssen entry is a placeholder labeled 'Monssen (DD-789)' with empty Commission/Decommission/Years fields - no digitized deck logs for either Monssen hull. (DD-789 is the Gearing-class hull Eversole; the label is a cataloging artifact, most plausibly a transposition of DD-798.) Physical deck logs for DD-798's commissioned periods (1944-46, 1951-57) are in RG 24 at Archives II, College Park - unretrieved.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27

   Limitations

   Index absence documents only that no digitized logs are online; the paper logs exist and could hold period work-detail and material references, but retrieval was not performed. The DD-789 label is inferred, not confirmed, to be a DD-798 mislabel.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-monssen-dd798-09