Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet fn-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-newcomb-dd586-pkt-fn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Newcomb (DD-586) (namesake biography, builder, dates, service narrative, striking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404 under all current URL schemes) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Commodore Frank H. Newcomb, U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, commanding cutter Hudson at Cardenas 11 May 1898 (transcription reads 'Medal of Honor'; see gaps for the Congressional-gold-medal discrepancy). Laid down 19 March 1943 by Boston Navy Yard; launched 4 July 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. C.C. Baughman); commissioned 10 November 1943, Comdr. L.B. Cook in command. Specs block: 2,050 tons, 376'5" x 39'7" x 17'9", 35 kt, complement 329, armament 5 x 5-inch, 6 dcp, 2 dct, 10 x 21-inch tt, class Fletcher. Shakedown West Indies; Marshall Islands ASW patrol off Mille/Wotje/Jaluit (Apr 1944); transport-screen flagship for Saipan and Tinian assaults (29 May - 5 Aug 1944); sank I-185 with Chandler (DMS-9) 22 Jun 1944; Palaus assault - 23 shore bombardments plus UDT spotting (6 Sep - 1 Oct 1944); Destroyer Squadron 56 flagship for Leyte landings (12 Oct - 4 Dec 1944); Surigao Strait night torpedo attack 25 Oct 1944 - at least one of her five torpedoes struck Yamashiro; towed disabled Albert W. Grant (DD-649) clear; Ormoc 9 Dec 1944; Mindoro convoy 19-24 Dec 1944; drove off two would-be kamikazes at Lingayen 6 Jan 1945; Iwo Jima fire support 10 Feb - 10 Mar 1945; second submarine engagement 25 Feb; Okinawa assault force from 21 Mar 1945. On 6 April 1945, screening minesweepers off Ie Shima with at least 40 enemy aircraft in the area, struck by kamikazes 'five times' over ~90 minutes; aided by Leutze (DD-481) - itself hit by a kamikaze deflected from Newcomb - and Beale (DD-471); casualties 18 killed, 25 missing, 64 wounded; towed to Kerama Retto by Tekesta (ATF-93); hull repairs by Vestal (AR-4) under frequent enemy air attack; departed under tow 14 Jun 1945 via Saipan and Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, arriving 8 Aug; end of war ended further repairs; decommissioned 20 November 1945; stricken from the Navy List 28 March 1946; scrapped at Mare Island Navy Yard October 1947. Eight battle stars; Navy Unit Commendation for the crew's 6 April damage-control and fighting performance.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; wartime crew (DANFS design complement 329); Kerama Retto salvage/repair workforce 1945; Mare Island scrapping workforce 1947
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The narrative reads 'struck five times' while the official BuShips damage report counts four kamikaze impacts on this hull plus the plane that crossed to Leutze - documented in gaps, not reconciled. Casualty figures conflict with secondary sources (see gaps). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; the transcription has one OCR defect ('north of Garapan on Spain' for Saipan).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-01
-
[3]NavSource Online, Destroyer Photo Index DD-586 USS Newcomb (operational/building data block; verbatim Navy Unit Commendation citation text signed by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal; fate line; casualty memorial line) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-586 page - 'Operational and Building Data' block + NUC transcription + memorial line (Wayback capture 2025-01-21)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource data block for this hull: call sign NATL; class Fletcher as built; 2,924 tons full load; 376'5" oa x 39'7" x 13'9" max; armament 5 x 5"/38, 10 x 40mm, 7 x 20mm, 10 x 21" tt (2x5); machinery 60,000 shp, Allis-Chalmers turbines, 2 screws; 38 kt; range 6,500 nm at 15 kt; crew 273. Laid down Boston Navy Yard 19 Mar 1943; launched July 1943 (block reads July 1 - DANFS and the BuShips damage report both read 4 July; see gaps); commissioned 10 Nov 1943; 'Heavily damaged by 5 Japanese Kamikaze Aircraft April 6 1945 off Okinawa'; decommissioned 20 Nov 1945; stricken 28 Mar 1946; 'Scrapped at Mare Island October 1 1947.' Memorial line: '43 of her crew were lost and remain on duty.' Page carries the verbatim Navy Unit Commendation citation (SecNav James Forrestal): cites Saipan-Tinian 29 May-5 Aug 1944, Palau 6 Sep-1 Oct 1944, Surigao Strait 24-25 Oct 1944, Iwo Jima 10 Feb-10 Mar 1945, Okinawa 21 Mar-7 Apr 1945; DesRon FIFTY SIX leader; describes 'seven enemy suicide planes,' 'top-hamper and machinery spaces blown into a tangled mass of rubble,' bridge 'the only structure intact above the water line.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Wartime crew; NUC covers personnel attached during the cited periods
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled photographic index citing official figures - secondary rather than primary; its dates agree with DANFS on every field except the launch date (July 1 vs July 4; carried in gaps). The '43 lost' memorial figure reconciles loosely with DANFS (18 killed + 25 missing) but conflicts on the wounded count - documented in gaps. The NUC text quoted is an official document transcription. Live navsource.org unreachable to automated fetch; 2025-01-21 Wayback capture used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, 'Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II' (Navy Department, December 1949; approved F.E. Haeberle, Rear Admiral USN, Asst. Chief of Bureau for Ships) - dedicated NEWCOMB (DD586) chapter, pp. 59-64 + Photos 50-55 and Plates 24-26 [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips 'Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II' (Dec. 1949), NEWCOMB chapter pp. 59-64, Photos 50-55, Plates 24-26 (HyperWar/NHC transcription)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips postwar publication devotes a chapter to this hull's battle damage and forward-area repair. Official cause: 'Four Kamikaze Planes (1 Bomb),' 6 April 1945, Okinawa. Timeline per the report: 1800 first plane into after stack (after fireroom out, fire in 5-inch mount 3 upper handling room); second plane with bomb amidships at the torpedo workshop - 'serious damage to both engine rooms, completely immobilizing the ship'; after stack, both torpedo mounts, amidship superstructure, 40mm mounts and magazines blown over the side; main deck ruptured between frames 108 and 135; third plane into forward stack; at 1815 a fourth plane deflected by AA fire crashed amidships and crossed to Leutze's fantail; Beale assisted with fire hoses; fires under control 1900, out 1930. Underwater damage enumerated (buckled keel at frame 120; multiple shell holes frames 118-123; bulkheads 110 and 131-1/2 destroyed, B-2/B-3-1/B-4 flooded to the waterline). Towed to Kerama Retto 2030, arrived 0930 next morning; salvage: leak control, dewatering, debris clearance, galley restoration; drydocked about one week later. Documented repair scope: shell holes covered with 15# plate; sea connections in B-2/B-3-1/B-4 blanked; temporary transverse bulkhead at frame 120; web frames 130/133 port and 133/136 starboard repaired; longitudinals under the missing deck replaced by built-up T's; missing centers of 9 web frames replaced by 10-inch channels; damaged deck replaced with 15# plate; sheer strakes reinforced.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-04-06 through 1945-06-14 (damage and Kerama Retto repair)
- Population
- Ship's crew and Kerama Retto salvage/repair personnel (Vestal AR-4 per DANFS), Apr-Jun 1945; 75-man skeleton crew aboard during repair period per destroyerhistory narrative
- Limitations
- Primary official documentation of the hull's worst material-disturbance event - the engineering spaces (the most insulation-concentrated area of a steam destroyer) were demolished and temporarily rebuilt. The publication describes structure, flooding, and repair methods only; it contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or personnel-exposure language - the exposure relevance of the machinery-space demolition/rebuild is context, stated here as event fact only. The report's four-plane count conflicts with DANFS's 'five times' wording (the fifth plane struck Leutze after crossing from Newcomb) - documented, not reconciled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-03
-
[5]U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships Technical Manual, NAVSHIPS 250-000, Chapter 39 'Thermal Insulation' (1960, page date 15 April 1959) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record (John Crane gasket litigation; WWII peak employment 50,128 in 1943 - the year of this build); NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips TM ch.39, sections 39-11 through 39-13; shipyards.json records 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'hunters-point-naval-shipyard', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard'; NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built in 1943 at Boston Navy Yard 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. The BuShips Technical Manual insulation chapter enumerates the era-standard material suite: MIL-P-2781 pipe covering including 85% magnesia (~15% asbestos fiber) and amosite-fiber classes, roll asbestos felt MIL-I-15091, asbestos cloth/tape SS-C-466 (80-95% chrysotile) lagging, asbestos millboard HH-M-351, asbestos finishing cement, molded asbestos block. The documented material-disturbance events for this hull are: Boston Navy Yard construction 1943; Vestal (AR-4) battle-damage repairs at Kerama Retto Apr-Jun 1945 (ev-03 scope); post-arrival work at Hunter's Point Aug-Nov 1945 until restoration was abandoned; and shipbreaking at Mare Island Navy Yard Oct 1947. Builder Boston Navy Yard resolves to the Atlas yard dataset (boston-naval-shipyard, tier 3) with yard-level litigation documentation (John Crane gasket exposure alleged at the yard); Mare Island and Hunter's Point also resolve. 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
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1943; Kerama Retto repair workforce Apr-Jun 1945; Hunter's Point workers Aug-Nov 1945; Mare Island shipbreaking workforce 1947; crew 1943-45
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The manual postdates this hull's active service but describes the insulation family in continuous Navy use from the magnesia era forward. Does not name this hull, does not quantify material aboard, and does not establish what was installed, disturbed, or retained. Yard records document the yards, not this hull's materials. Retrieved PDF is a scan hosted in the Garlock bankruptcy Daubert-appendix repository. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-04
-
[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-586's construction (1943), entire commissioned service (1943-45), and scrapping (1947) 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-newcomb-dd586-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep, authenticated (opinion index type=o; RECAP docket index type=r) + site-index substitutes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-newcomb-dd586-07 through sl-uss-newcomb-dd586-10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation located for this hull. Exact-name search 'USS Newcomb' returned zero hits on both the opinion index (type=o) and the RECAP docket index (type=r, including document full text) - no opinion, docket, or RECAP document in the corpus literally contains 'USS Newcomb.' Hull-number query 'DD-586' returned zero opinion hits. Broad query '"Newcomb" asbestos' returned 33 opinion hits, all reviewed and all name collisions - Newcomb as a party surname, attorney names (e.g., Burroughs Collins & Newcomb PLC; William Dudley Newcomb III), and Newcomb Medical Center - none referencing any naval vessel. Site-index substitutes (site:courtlistener.com, general web queries on 'USS Newcomb'/'DD-586' + asbestos/lawsuit/opinion) returned only a reporter-volume page (F. Supp. vol. 586), an unrelated criminal docket (United States v. Newcomb, N.D. Ohio - defendant Jeffrey Newcomb), and MDL-875 opinions naming other hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- A zero-result index sweep is not proof no case ever existed - RECAP coverage is incomplete, state-court and pre-RECAP asbestos dockets are underrepresented, and complaints naming hulls may sit in unscanned PDFs. Fleet pacing throttled portions of the sweep - completed queries are reported in the ledger; the 'DD-586' RECAP docket query (type=r) is logged pending where it could not complete.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-06
-
[8]Batch-3558 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (ibiblio; NHHC live 404); NavSource via Wayback; BuShips 'Structural Repairs in Forward Areas WWII' via ibiblio/NHC; destroyerhistory.org Newcomb pages; Fletcher class profile; shipyards.json; CourtListener API v4 (authenticated); web-index substitutes; competitor/publisher ship page (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-newcomb-dd586-01 through sl-uss-newcomb-dd586-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming DD-586 located in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was catastrophically battle-damaged in April 1945, never returned to service, decommissioned November 1945, stricken March 1946, and scrapped at Mare Island Navy Yard in October 1947 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and never became a museum, so the disclosure channels that produced ship-specific records for preserved hulls do not exist here. The Fletcher class profile independently records no qualifying ship-specific asbestos record for any Fletcher hull as of 2026-09-16.
- 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 (ev-04, ev-05). The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; what the Kerama Retto temporary repairs and the 1945-47 lay-up did to the original material suite is undocumented beyond the BuShips structural-repair scope (ev-03).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-07
-
[9]USNI Proceedings, 'The U.S.S. Newcomb (DD-586) - Victim of the Kamikazes,' June 1948, Vol. 74/6/544 (first-person account by her commanding officer, who took command 7 November 1944) + Evan Wylie, 'Kamikaze,' Yank British edition, 27 July 1945, pp. 10-11 (contemporaneous wartime account) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Proceedings vol. 74 no. 6 (whole no. 544), June 1948; Yank British ed. 27 Jul 1945 pp. 10-11 (transcription at kamikazeimages.net - lead only)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Two contemporaneous/first-person published accounts of this hull exist as archival leads: (1) USNI Proceedings June 1948 article written by Newcomb's commanding officer - search-index excerpts verify it as a first-person narrative covering the Lingayen (6 Jan 1945) and Okinawa (6 Apr 1945) air attacks, crediting the ship with fourteen aircraft, two submarines, and the torpedo attack on Yamashiro; the full text is behind a fetch block (HTTP 403) and was not retrieved. (2) Yank magazine (official U.S. Army weekly) British edition, 27 July 1945 - a contemporaneous correspondent account of the 6 April action (published under wartime censorship; misspells the ship as 'Newcombe'; omits the date, casualties, and assisting ship), reached via a hobbyist-site transcription.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945 (Yank); 1948 (Proceedings)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only: the Proceedings full text was not retrieved (usni.org returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch); the Yank text was seen only via a third-party transcription (kamikazeimages.net - not authoritative, not cited as a source). Neither document addresses materials or asbestos; their value is as contemporaneous primary accounts should fuller retrieval be needed. Search-index excerpts verified existence and general content only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-newcomb-dd586-08