Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, Owen (DD-536) (specifications block, full service narrative, striking/sale; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 17 September 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Corp., San Francisco, Calif.; launched 21 March 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Hope Owen); commissioned 20 September 1943, Comdr. R. W. Wood. Assigned DesRon 52; screened fast carrier TF 58/TG 58.2 from Operation Flintlock (Kwajalein, Jan-Feb 1944) through Truk, Palau/Yap/Ulithi/Woleai, Hollandia, Truk/Satawan/Ponape, Marcus/Wake, the Marianas and the Battle of the Philippine Sea (in Bunker Hill's screen, 19-20 June 1944), Palaus/Mindanao/Leyte strikes; boiler trouble forced her to miss the October China Seas foray; rejoined for the Leyte landings and on 25 October 1944, temporarily with TG 34.5 off San Bernardino Strait, she and USS Miller finished a Japanese destroyer in under 20 minutes while aiding TF 77. Philippines raids into November; Mindoro December; Formosa/Lingayen January 1945; Iwo Jima support 19-21 February; escorted damaged Franklin to Ulithi 19 March; screened TG 58.2 off Okinawa 5 April-28 May (53 days); arrived San Francisco 9 July 1945. Decommissioned 10 December 1946 (19th/Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego); recommissioned 17 August 1951, flagship DesDiv 282, Atlantic Fleet; 1952 North Atlantic ops and Charleston overhaul; Korea tour February-June 1953 (TG 77 fast carriers; TF 95 Blockade and Escort Force - Wonsan-Chongjin patrol, Yong Do and Wonsan defense/blockade flag); round-the-world return via Suez to Norfolk 22 August 1953; 1954 Mediterranean deployment; transferred to Pacific Fleet January [1955 - see limitations], Long Beach 26 January, DesDiv 192; EastPac/WestPac rotation 1955-58; inactivation at Mare Island from December 1957; decommissioned 27 May 1958, Pacific Reserve Fleet berthed Stockton 'into 1970.' Stricken 15 April 1973; sold 27 November 1973. Nine battle stars WWII, two Korea. Spec block: Fletcher class; 2,940 t. full; 376'6" x 39'8" x 17'9"; 37 kt; cpl. 329; 5x5in, 10x40mm, 7x20mm, 10x21in tt, 6 dcp, 1 dct.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1973
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS spec complement 329); Charleston and Mare Island yard workforces during documented availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, service history, and disposition - not materials or asbestos content. The ibiblio transcription reads 'January 1965' for the Pacific Fleet transfer; the entry's own 1955-58 chronology and the destroyerhistory.org/Wikipedia renderings read January 1955 - 1955 carried, conflict in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-owen-dd536-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-536 USS Owen (operational/building data + photo-caption chronology; via Wayback capture 2025-01-25 - direct fetch failed) + Pier70/Colton Bethlehem San Francisco WWII build list + NHHC Online Library photo NH 107249 (ibiblio mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-536 page operational/building data + photo captions (24-29 Aug 1945 Mare Island; 17 Aug 1951 Terminal Island; 6 Jan 1954; May 1972 Napa River); pier70sf.org ShipsBuiltWW2.html row 5387; ibiblio Online Library i07249c.htm (NH 107249)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Build and yard-period detail beyond DANFS: NavSource building data gives contract NOD-1508 awarded 9 September 1940, call sign NACX, machinery 60,000 shp Westinghouse turbines on 2 screws (38 kt, 6500 nm @ 15 kt), and lists yard number 'YN 5378'. The Colton-derived Bethlehem SF build list (pier70sf.org) gives yard hull 5387 with 185 days on the ways, 183 days fitting out, 368 days total (keel 9/17/42, launch 3/21/43, delivery 9/20/43), disposition 'scrapped 1973.' NavSource photo captions document a Mare Island Naval Shipyard overhaul 9 July-1 September 1945 (stern view 24 Aug 1945; nested plan views with USS Miller DD-535 and USS Ellet DD-398, 29 Aug 1945); the 17 August 1951 recommissioning at Naval Base Los Angeles, Terminal Island (with USS Prichett and USS Cushing; Vice Adm. J.L. Hall addressing); a 6 January 1954 homeport shift Norfolk to San Diego; and a May 1972 photograph of the ship in the mothball fleet in the Napa River at Mare Island (with USS Cowell DD-547, USS Twining DD-540, USS Pritchett DD-561, USS French DE-367, USS Sedgwick County LST-1123). NHHC photo NH 107249 (official U.S. Navy photo) shows the ship underway circa 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1973
- Population
- Mare Island shipyard workers (1945 overhaul; 1957-58 inactivation; reserve-fleet berthing); Charleston Naval Shipyard workers (1952 overhaul); crew 1943-1958
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic archive, not an official repository - used to corroborate yard-period dates, contract/yard numbers, and machinery attribution. Its 'YN 5378' conflicts with the Colton list's 5387 (5378 is Ammen/DD-527 in the same monotonic series; Colton carried, conflict in gaps). Photo captions document presence at yards, not work scope or materials. navsource.org direct fetch refused; content verified via Wayback capture dated 2025-01-25.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-owen-dd536-02
-
[3]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 37 kt) + Atlas shipyard dataset records: bethlehem-shipbuilding (corporate Bethlehem record incl. 'Union Iron Works' alias covering the San Francisco/Potrero Point yard), mare-island-naval-shipyard, charleston-naval-shipyard; NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json records 'bethlehem-shipbuilding', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard', 'charleston-naval-shipyard'; NARA RG19 lead
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1942-43 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 builder (Bethlehem Steel Corp., San Francisco - the former Union Iron Works yard at Potrero Point, present Pier 70) is documented at corporate-yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3; documented products incl. 85% magnesia block, Marinite board, Transite pipe covering, Unibestos, asbestos lagging, gaskets and packing); documented repair/inactivation yards on this hull (Mare Island 1945 overhaul and 1957-58 inactivation, Charleston Naval Shipyard 1952 overhaul) likewise carry yard-level asbestos documentation. 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
- 1942-1973
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1942-43; Mare Island and Charleston NSY yard workers; crew 1943-1958
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT an independent ship-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos finding exists for this hull (see ev-05, ev-06). The yard dataset's Bethlehem record is a corporate multi-yard record (Quincy MA listed as seat; San Francisco yard covered via the Union Iron Works alias) - San-Francisco-yard-specific asbestos itemization is not separately broken out. Does not quantify material aboard or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-owen-dd536-03
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[4]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-536's construction (1942-43), both commissioned service periods (1943-46, 1951-58), her documented repair/inactivation availabilities, and her 1958-73 reserve-fleet berthing 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-owen-dd536-04
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[5]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweeps via cl-auth-search.py, 2026-09-27: "USS Owen" type=o = 0 hits; "USS Owen" type=r = 4 dockets; "DD-536" type=o = 0 hits; "DD-536" type=r = 11 dockets; "Owen" "DD-536" type=o = 0 hits; "Owen" "DD-536" type=r = 1 docket; "U.S.S. Owen" type=o = 0 hits; "U.S.S. Owen" type=r = 0 hits; "aboard the Owen" type=o = 0 hits [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py results for 8 query variants (see search_ledger sl-04 through sl-08)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. All returned surfaces are name collisions: the four 'USS Owen' docket hits are unrelated matters whose indexed text bears no ship reference (Dungan v. Kevin Misch Trucking, N.D. Ill. 1:08-cv-00641, ERISA; Short v. United States, Fed. Cl. 1:63-cv-00102, Native American claims; Smith v. Tifft, N.D. Fla. 3:12-cv-00172, prisoner civil rights; Selimovic v. South Side Associates, E.D.N.Y. 1:16-cv-00298, employment) - OCR-noise/fuzzy matches, none naming DD-536 or any vessel. The eleven 'DD-536' docket hits and the 'Owen'+'DD-536' hit are docket/document-number collisions (voting rights, contract, criminal, habeas, Madoff SIPA bankruptcy, N.D. Tex. bankruptcy) with no ship reference. Zero opinion-index hits on any variant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep)
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's indexed opinion and RECAP docket corpora only; it does not exclude unindexed dockets, unreported settlements, NYCAL/state-court matters, or filings whose text is not indexed. 'Owen' is a high-collision surface (common surname; Owens-Illinois/Owens Corning defendant spellings; USS Owen County LST-1175 is a distinct vessel), so only exact-phrase queries were used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-owen-dd536-05
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[6]Batch-3512 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror; NavSource (Wayback); Pier70/Colton build list; NHHC Online Library (ibiblio); destroyerhistory.org; NVR; NARA RG19/RG24 (not digitized); CourtListener API v4 opinion + docket sweeps; law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-owen-dd536-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, or hazmat disclosure located for DD-536 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was stricken 15 April 1973 and sold for scrap 27 November 1973 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and never became a museum, so the museum-disclosure channel that produced ship-specific records for preserved hulls does not exist here. No affirmative adjudicated exposure finding located; no qualifying litigation names the hull (ev-05).
- 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-03, ev-04). The hull no longer exists (scrapped 1973-74), so present-day ACM status is moot.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-owen-dd536-06