Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet jo-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-o-brien-dd415-pkt-jo-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, O'Brien III (DD-415) - builder, dates, service narrative, loss (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: named for Capt. Jeremiah O'Brien and five brothers (Unity's capture of HMS Margaretta, 1775); laid down Boston Navy Yard 31 May 1938; launched 20 October 1939, sponsored by Miss Josephine O'Brien Campbell; commissioned 2 March 1940, Lt. Comdr. Carl F. Espe; built in drydock with Walke, Lansdale (DANFS transcription: 'Landsdale'), and Madison, combined christening; Atlantic operations 1940-41 with drydock/repairs fall 1941; departed Norfolk 15 January 1942 with Idaho and Mustin for the Pacific; collision with Cass (DD-372) forced her back after departing 4 February, repairs at Mare Island; Pearl Harbor operations; Samoa convoy escort; Wallis Island occupation support 26 May; TF 17 August 1942; torpedoed in the port bow 15 September 1942 in the attack that sank Wasp; emergency repairs at Espiritu Santo and Noumea; hull broke in two and sank 19 October 1942 after steaming almost 3,000 miles since torpedoed; all crew saved; one battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1938-1940; wartime crew (design complement 192)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Transcription mirror cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (NHHC link rot documented since Batch-01). The transcription's 'Landsdale' is Lansdale (DD-426).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 28: U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss, 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, South Pacific (NAVSHIPS 28 (374), 24 June 1943; verbatim transcription - canonical NHHC page serves 404) [other_primary]
- Locator
- WDR-28, NAVSHIPS 28 (374): Sections I-II (summary, narrative), III.B-C (loss and repair analyses), photo list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Bureau of Ships engineering analysis of this hull's damage and loss: torpedo struck the port bow near the stem at ~1454 on 15 September 1942 while O'Brien screened Hornet; bow structure below the main deck aft to frame 10 blown away and framing/plating distorted to frame 14, and detonation shock caused severe flexural vibration that failed bottom longitudinals, keel structure, and plating near frame 104 in the forward engine room area. Emergency repairs: alongside Curtiss with the Seventh Naval Construction Battalion at Button (Espiritu Santo), 16-21 September (patching, concrete reinforcement, diver-installed plug bolts in the forward engine room bottom plating); alongside Argonne at White Poppy (Noumea), 23 September-10 October (partial new bow section; welded longitudinal reinforcement including work in the forward engine room at frames 103-109); inspection and minor repair at Suva 13-16 October. Departed Suva 16 October for Mare Island via Pago Pago; progressive structural failure culminated 19 October - bottom opened at 0600, ship abandoned by 0701, sank ~0758 approximately 1,027 miles from Suva (about 2,800 miles steamed since torpedoing). No loss of life. First U.S. Navy case of structural failure amidships from a distant underwater explosion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-09-15 to 1942-10-19 (report dated 1943-06-24)
- Population
- Ship's company plus USS Curtiss, Seventh Naval Construction Battalion, and USS Argonne repair personnel, September-October 1942
- Limitations
- Structural/engineering record only - it documents extensive repair work aboard this hull in machinery spaces by ship's force, tender (Curtiss, Argonne), and Seventh Naval Construction Battalion personnel, but names no insulation, lagging, or asbestos-containing materials and establishes nothing about asbestos presence or exposure. Exact sinking coordinates are not given in the report text (position from secondary compilations).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-02
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[4]National Park Service, 'USS O'Brien' article, Boston National Historical Park / Charlestown Navy Yard [nps]
- Locator
- NPS article page, 'Commissioning and Service' and 'Final Fate' sections; last updated 14 January 2026
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS article on this hull (Boston NHP, because DD-415 was built at Charlestown Navy Yard): Sims-class destroyer; laid down 31 May 1938, launched 20 October 1939, commissioned 2 March 1940 under Lt. Cdr. Carl F. Espe; Atlantic Fleet patrol/convoy escort; Pacific reassignment early 1942; torpedoed 15 September 1942 in the same submarine attack that sank Wasp and struck North Carolina; temporary repairs at Espiritu Santo and Noumea; sank off Samoa 19 October 1942 en route to the United States with no loss of life. The article also documents that the Charlestown (Boston) Navy Yard began destroyer construction in the 1930s, the class of ship that became the yard's specialty through 1974.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942; article last updated 2026-01-14
- Population
- Charlestown Navy Yard trades (1930s destroyer program); wartime crew
- Limitations
- NPS documents history and significance, not asbestos content. Its attribution of the torpedoes to 'I-15 and I-19' conflicts with DANFS ('I-16 and I-19') and with postwar analyses crediting all hits to a single I-19 salvo - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-03
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[5]Destroyer History Foundation, Sims-class design data (citing the Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book for USS Sims and USS Hughes, Bauer & Roberts, and Friedman) + Atlas shipyard dataset, boston-naval-shipyard record (evidence_tier 3; John Crane gasket/packing litigation finding, In re John Crane, Inc., Tex. App. 1st Dist. 2003) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Sims-class page, 'General Information' block; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: the Sims class carried three Babcock & Wilcox boilers at 665 psi / 715 deg F feeding Westinghouse geared turbines rated 50,000 shp on two shafts - a high-pressure steam plant of the kind whose boiler insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing were standardly asbestos-containing in this construction era (1938-40). Builder Boston Navy Yard (Charlestown) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset at tier 3, including a litigation-identified John Crane gasket/packing finding. No ship-specific material record for DD-415 is located.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1938-1942
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1938-1940; wartime crew
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - the ship-specific findings for this hull are ev-01 through ev-03 (history, damage report, NPS), none of which establish asbestos content. The General Information Book cited is for lead ship Sims, not O'Brien; per-hull machinery details are not ship-proven. The yard finding documents the yard, not this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-04
-
[6]uboat.net Allied Warships entry, USS O'Brien (DD-415) - loss position and command chronology (secondary compilation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page for DD-415, 'Loss position' and commanders table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary compilation gives the loss position as 13 deg 30 min S, 171 deg 18 min W, approximately 50 nautical miles north-northwest of Tutuila, Samoa, and credits the hit to I-15; command listing shows Lt. Cdr. Carl F. Espe (commissioning - 13 December 1941) and Cdr. Thomas Burrowes (13 December 1941 - loss). No located-wreck survey is reported for this hull in any source searched.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation - the position is not given in DANFS or War Damage Report No. 28, and its I-15 attribution conflicts with the postwar consensus (all hits by I-19's salvo; DANFS says the attackers were I-16 and I-19). Carried for position only; conflict logged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-05
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[7]Batch-3401 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS and WDR-28 canonical pages; NPS; VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions (va.gov); CourtListener name/hull-number sweeps; NavSource; wreck-survey reporting [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-obrien-dd415-01 through sl-uss-obrien-dd415-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, materials list, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming DD-415 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweeps completed 2026-09-27: the only opinion hit is a corporate name collision, and the three asbestos dockets containing 'USS O'Brien' in indexed text are unverifiable as to hull - filing windows (2019-2024) make DD-725/DD-975 the plausible referents, not this hull lost in 1942 (see ev-uss-obrien-dd415-07). VA BVA hits under 'USS O'Brien' likewise resolve to DD-725 or DD-975 service windows (name collisions).
- 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-consistent presence is probable but unproven for this hull, and the wreck (unsurveyed, ~13 deg 30 min S 171 deg 18 min W) forecloses practical verification. The docket-level matches were classified from index metadata; full-text RECAP review was deferred under the fleet pacing budget - a residual possibility that a complaint lists DD-415 cannot be excluded but is implausible (ship lost 1942; plaintiffs filing 2019-2024 would have served pre-1943). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-06
-
[8]CourtListener sweep results for 'USS O'Brien': Mariposa Express v. United Shipping Solutions (D. Utah 2:08-cv-00943; aff'd 2013 UT App 28); Livernois v. Air & Liquid Systems (N.D. Cal. 4:19-cv-02277); Johnson v. Air & Liquid Systems (W.D. Wash. 2:24-cv-00491); Webb v. Baldor Electric (S.D. Miss. 1:22-cv-00145) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search type=o '"USS O'Brien"' (1 hit) and '"DD-415"'/'"O'Brien" "DD-415"' (0 hits); type=r '"USS O'Brien"' (4 dockets)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep classification: Mariposa Express is a name collision - 'USS O'Brien' there is a United Shipping Solutions corporate entity, not the vessel. Livernois, Johnson, and Webb are asbestos personal-injury dockets in which 'USS O'Brien' appears in indexed docket text (plaintiff ship lists or complaint exhibits) without an O'Brien party; none names a hull number. Because DD-415 sank in 1942 and these cases were filed 2019-2024, the O'Brien referent is almost certainly the later hulls DD-725 (in service 1944-72) or DD-975 (1977-2004). None is qualifying litigation against or about this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2008-2024 (dockets); 2026-09-27 (sweep)
- Limitations
- Classification is at index/metadata level - full-text RECAP review of the three asbestos dockets was deferred because the fleet-wide pacing budget throttled document fetches. Hull attribution inside those complaints is unverified; the residual possibility that a complaint lists DD-415 by name cannot be excluded but is implausible given the 1942 loss. A later-hull 'USS O'Brien' match must never be attributed to DD-415.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-obrien-dd415-07