Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet es-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-niblack-dd424-pkt-es-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Niblack (DD-424), updated NHHC entry (published 2016-10-28); live NHHC page returns 404, cited via Wayback capture 2024-02-25 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS entry 'Niblack' (updated 2016-10-28), specifications block + service narrative + disposition paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Updated NHHC DANFS record for this hull: laid down 8 August 1938 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works Corp.; launched 18 May 1940 (sponsor Mrs. Albert P. Niblack); commissioned 1 August 1940, Lt. Comdr. Edward R. Durgin. On 11 April 1941 she recovered three lifeboats (63-man crew) of Dutch freighter Saleier, sunk 10 April by U-52 after convoy OB-306 dispersed, then dropped three depth charges on a sound contact - postwar investigation (Kriegsmarine review; U.S. Navy conclusion) found no U-boat present: a false contact. Escorted HX-156 when U-552 sank Reuben James 31 October 1941 (Niblack rescued 36 men). North Atlantic convoy duty; Caribbean July 1942; first Casablanca support convoy November 1942; Mediterranean from May 1943 - Sicily, Salerno (eleven call-fire missions 16-17 September), Gulf of Gaeta bombardment, U-593 hunt off Bizerte (rescued 90 HMS Holcombe survivors; directed Wainwright and HMS Calpe to the kill), Anzio beachhead screen January 1944, U-960 sunk with Ludlow 18-19 May 1944; qualified (with Gleaves) as the Eighth Fleet's only two fighter-director destroyers for the Southern France landings; Toulon screen 20 August 1944; Franco-Italian frontier fire support (43 mines, one MAS boat). Flagship ComDesRon 7 at Oran; Boston Navy Yard February 1945; Panama Canal 3 July 1945; occupation escort to Sasebo 22 September 1945. Decommissioned 'by a directive of June 1947' into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Charleston, then Philadelphia; stricken 31 July 1968. Post-striking: NavFac used ex-Niblack for AMMI lift-dock tests at Davisville, R.I. (towed by Seneca ATF-91 from Philadelphia 3 September 1970; tests 1970-72 under ARD-16 custodianship; then slated as 'test vehicle' with AFDM-7 in Narragansett Bay); sold to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., New York, 16 August 1973. Five battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1973
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1938-40; wartime and reserve-era crew (design complement 208); NavFac/shipyard test handlers 1969-72; scrapping yard 1973
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, service history, and disposition - it says nothing about materials or asbestos content. The updated entry itself is internally dated (incident dated 11 April 1941, Saleier sunk 10 April) and conflicts with the older transcription and NHHC H-Gram 001, which date the depth-charge attack 10 April - carried in gaps. Decommission wording ('directive of June 1947') conflicts with NavSource's June 1946 - carried in gaps. Live NHHC page serves 404; Wayback capture of the official page cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-01
-
[3]DANFS, USS Niblack (DD-424) - legacy transcription (HyperWar/ibiblio mirror of the older NHHC text) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + April 1941 paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Legacy DANFS text for this hull (pre-2016 revision): same build data (laid down 8 August 1938, Bath Iron Works; launched 18 May 1940; commissioned 1 August 1940); spec block - displacement 2,060, length 347 ft 5 in, beam 36 ft 1 in, speed 33 kt, complement 208, armament 5 x 5-inch, 2 x 20mm, 2 depth-charge tracks, 1 quintuple 21-inch torpedo mount; class Gleaves. Describes the April 1941 episode as occurring 10 April, with the depth-charge attack 'which drove off the U-boat' and calls it 'apparently the first action between American and German forces in World War II.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1973
- Population
- Wartime crew
- Limitations
- Same source family as ev-01 but an older revision: its 10 April incident date and 'drove off the U-boat' framing are superseded by the updated NHHC entry, which dates the attack 11 April and records the U.S. Navy's postwar conclusion that the contact was false (no U-boat present). Legacy text cited for the spec block and to document the revision. No materials/asbestos content in either revision.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-02
-
[4]NHHC H-Gram 001 (Director's Corner), 'World War II and the U.S. Navy' - undeclared Atlantic war section [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- H-Gram 001, paragraph on pre-Pearl Harbor Atlantic operations
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC characterization of this hull's signature event: 'On 10 April 1941, USS Niblack (DD-424) dropped depth charges on a German U-boat without result, but arguably the first U.S. "shot" of WWII' - in context of the pre-Pearl Harbor undeclared shooting war in the Atlantic (Greer/U-652, Kearny, Reuben James).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941
- Limitations
- NHHC interpretive framing ('arguably'), not a technical record; dates the attack 10 April while the updated DANFS entry dates it 11 April - the date conflict is carried in gaps rather than reconciled. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-03
-
[5]East Carolina University, Albert Parker Niblack Collection (ca. 1876-1942), EAD finding aid - 'USS NIBLACK (DD-424) File (1937-1942)' [other_primary]
- Locator
- ECU Special Collections EAD finding aid, Box 3 Folder t
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- University special-collection finding aid documenting a hull-specific file: Box 3, 'USS NIBLACK (DD-424) File (1937-1942) compiled by Admiral Albert P. Niblack's widow regarding the construction & launching of the ship named for her late husband, including correspondence, clippings, press releases, telegrams, etc. 58 items.' A contemporaneous construction-period documentary file on this hull exists in a public archive.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1942
- Limitations
- Finding aid only - contents not digitized and not retrieved (no spend authorized); whether the file addresses materials or insulation is unknown. No asbestos content in the finding aid itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-04
-
[6]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-424 USS Niblack - 'Operational and Building Data' and command roster (Wayback capture 2024-10-08; live navsource.org fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-424 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block + commanding officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary archival compilation for this hull: class Gleaves as built; 2,395 tons full; 348 ft 4 in x 36 ft 1 in x 13 ft 2 in; machinery 50,000 shp Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 screws; 35 kt; range 6,500 nm at 12 kt; crew 208; callsign NAVC. Operational data: laid down Bath Iron Works 8 August 1938; launched 18 May 1940; commissioned 1 August 1940; 'Decommissioned June 1946'; stricken 31 July 1968; sold 16 August 1973 and broken up for scrap. Command roster's last CO entry ends June 1946 (LCDR Partee Wilson Crouch Jr., Dec 12 1945 - Jun 1946).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1973
- Population
- Crew (design complement 208); scrapping trades 1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a curated volunteer photographic archive, not an official record - carried for machinery particulars (not in DANFS spec block) and disposition cross-check. Its flat 'Decommissioned June 1946' conflicts with the NHHC DANFS wording 'by a directive of June 1947'; the command roster supports 1946 but the conflict is logged in gaps rather than silently resolved. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-05
-
[7]DANFS spec block (Gleaves class, 33 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Bath Iron Works record (Drinker 1942 pipe-covering shop study, PMID 21016030; OSHA Inspection 101450294; NARA RG19 General Information Books lead) + Benson/Gleaves class profile (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 machinery table: 575 psi/700F boilers) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json record 'bath-iron-works' ev-01/-02/-07; class-f benson-gleaves-class.class.json machinery context
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Gleaves-subclass destroyer built 1938-40 at Bath Iron Works with four superheated Babcock & Wilcox boilers (575 psi/700F per BuShips Ships' Data 1945 for the class) and ~50,000-shp geared turbines was constructed in the peak Navy asbestos era; period-standard applications included boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, deck tile, and accommodation insulation. Builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset: Dr. Philip Drinker's 1942 Harvard study recorded 'fairly serious dust risk' (10x safe threshold) in BIW pipe-covering shops, and OSHA documented asbestos citations at the yard in 1987. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1973
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1938-40; crew 1940-46
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - establishes no ship-specific asbestos content, no quantities, and no exposure for any individual aboard DD-424. The 1942 yard study postdates this hull's 1940 delivery and measures shop conditions, not the ship. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweeps (authenticated, fleet-paced): "USS Niblack" type=o; "DD-424" type=o; "USS Niblack" type=r; "Niblack" type=o and type=r [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-niblack-dd424-05 through -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull produced no qualifying asbestos litigation: "USS Niblack" returned 0 opinions; "DD-424" returned 0 opinions; the bare-surname query "Niblack" returned ~534 matches, all person-name collisions (e.g., Terry v. Niblack, Tenn. 1998; United States v. Niblack criminal matters; Stanley L. Niblack prisoner civil-rights dockets D.N.J.; Niblack bankruptcy matters) - none maritime, naval, or asbestos-related. No docket or opinion naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's indexed opinion and RECAP docket corpora; state-court dockets, PACER-only filings, and non-digitized MDL-875 pleading exhibits naming the hull would not appear. Absence of a located case does not prove no claim was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-07
-
[9]Batch-3409 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (updated + legacy texts), NHHC H-Gram 001, NavSource, NVR, NARA catalog, VA BVA decisions, general web - ship-name and hull-number searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-niblack-dd424-01 through sl-uss-niblack-dd424-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, government finding, or docketed case naming DD-424 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull spent 1946/47-1968 in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet (Charleston, then Philadelphia) and 1970-72 as a NavFac lift-dock test vehicle at Davisville, R.I.; no preservation or abatement record attends those periods in public sources. Online law-firm ship lists that include USS Niblack are generic rosters and were excluded as 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 - a 1938-40 steam destroyer is era-consistent with standard ACM use, but nothing ship-proven exists in the searched sources. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-niblack-dd424-08