Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
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[1]DANFS, 'Philippine Sea (CV-47)' - NHHC ship histories (migrated entry) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS migrated HTML entry, spec block and 1944-1958 narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry documents construction and career: Philippine Sea (CV-47) was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., 19 August 1944; launched 5 September 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Albert B. Chandler; commissioned 11 May 1946, Capt. D.S. Cornwell in command. Spec block: displacement 27,100; length 855'10"; beam 93'; draft 30'; speed 30 knots; complement 3,310; armament 12 5-inch, 44 40mm; class Essex. After a Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul in 1949 she deployed to Korea, sailing into action as flagship of Task Force 77 on 5 August 1950 and launching as many as 140 sorties a day. Reclassified attack carrier CVA-47 October 1952; overhaul/drydock at Hunter's Point after her 1953 return; reclassified ASW carrier CVS-47 November 1955; last WestPac deployment ended 15 July 1958.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy history for milestones; contains no asbestos or insulation-material content. Spec block differs from sister ships (855'10" length, 30' draft, 30 knots, complement 3,310) - figures carried as stated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-01
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[2]DANFS, 'Philippine Sea (CV-47)' (decommissioning/striking); Estate of Woodruff v. American Optical Corp. et al., No. 56257-0-II (Wash. Ct. App. Div. II, filed 24 Jan 2023, unpublished) (sale and dismantling facts) [court_record]
- Locator
- DANFS final paragraph; Woodruff opinion, ship-lists/cruise-book/ Maritime Reporter discussion and Gobel testimony passages
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Reserve and disposal per DANFS plus the official appellate record: decommissioned 28 December 1958 and berthed with the Reserve Fleet at Long Beach; redesignated AVT-11 15 May 1959; struck from the Navy List 1 December 1969. The Washington Court of Appeals opinion in Estate of Woodruff records that the ship's cruise book stated USS Philippine Sea was sold to Zidell Explorations in March 1971; the ship went to Zidell Dismantling's Tacoma facility (too tall to pass under bridges to Zidell Explorations' Portland yard), where dismantling began 4 April 1971 - tower and deck structures and wood decking removed - before she was towed to Portland on 19 July 1971 for removal of metal components, insulation, and equipment. A 15 July 1971 Maritime Reporter advertisement showed Zidell Explorations advertising that it was dismantling USS Philippine Sea and showcasing salvaged material.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1958-1971
- Limitations
- Striking is DANFS-verified; the sale and dismantling chain comes from an official appellate opinion reciting trial-record facts (cruise book, ship lists, witness testimony) - accurate as to what the record contained, though ownership itself was the contested issue on which the spoliation instruction wrongly operated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-02
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[3]Estate of Dennis G. Woodruff v. American Optical Corp. et al. (Zidell Explorations, Inc.), No. 56257-0-II, slip op. (Wash. Ct. App. Div. II, filed 24 Jan 2023; unpublished per RCW 2.06.040; Pierce County Super. Ct. No. 20-2-08044-1) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion: ship-lists and ownership passages, Gobel testimony on the Tacoma/Portland split, Woodruff 'maybe five months' vs ~nine-day-overlap passages, duty holding, and remand order (pp. 10-11, 20-27)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Official appellate opinion documents asbestos-dismantling litigation involving this hull. Dennis Woodruff worked at Zidell Dismantling's Tacoma shipyard 1970-1973 dismantling decommissioned Navy ships; he alleged asbestos exposure in that work and developed mesothelioma (dying while the appeal was pending). His asbestos-insulation work was as a burner - 'removing asbestos insulation material from pipes and placing it on the pier' - but 'Woodruff never worked aboard the ships as a burner, only on the back lot where the scrap and debris piles ended up'; as a laborer he did general work on the ships being dismantled, and 'one ship that Woodruff worked on as a laborer was the USS Philippine Sea.' The record identifies the ship's chain: sold to Zidell Explorations in March 1971 (per the ship's cruise book); dismantling began at Tacoma 4 April 1971 with removal of tower, deck structures, and wood decking; moved to Portland 19 July 1971 where removal of metal components, insulation, and equipment was completed. Woodruff testified he spent 'maybe five months' working on the ship; Zidell's evidence showed his laborer period overlapped the ship's Tacoma presence by only approximately nine days, and Gobel (Zidell's designee) testified he did not know whether he observed anything regarding asbestos on that ship - though he conceded Zidell Explorations knew 'there was asbestos on the Navy ships that it owned.' The jury returned an $11,216,056 verdict (judgment ~$9.5 million after offsets). Division II framed the duty question as 'whether the owner of a decommissioned ship that contains asbestos owes a duty' and HELD that Zidell Explorations owed Woodruff a duty as owner of at least one ship on which he worked (but not as guarantor of the Tacoma lease) - calling the ship 'the worksite where Woodruff worked and was exposed to asbestos' - and REVERSED because the trial court's spoliation finding and permissive adverse-inference instruction were erroneous, remanding to vacate the judgment and hold a new trial.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- Ship dismantled 1971; trial verdict 2021-22; opinion filed 2023-01-24; petition for review filed April 2023
- Population
- Ship dismantler at Zidell Tacoma 1970-1973, including work on USS Philippine Sea; mesothelioma death; estate substituted as respondent
- Limitations
- Stage discipline: TRIAL verdict VACATED on evidentiary grounds - the appellate court did not disturb the duty-as-shipowner holding but ordered a new trial because the spoliation instruction was error; the exposure record stands at 'verdict vacated, retrial ordered,' NOT affirmed judgment. Ship-specificity is also contested: Woodruff claimed ~5 months aboard but defense evidence showed ~9 days overlap at Tacoma, and the insulation-removal work on this ship occurred in Portland (per Gobel) where Woodruff did not work. A petition for review was filed with the Washington Supreme Court (No. 101864-9, April 2023) with a conditional cross-petition on the duty issue; its disposition was not confirmed in accessible sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-03
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[4]Batch-57 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API throttle + alternative opinion sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-04 and sl-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-05
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CourtListener could not be swept for this hull (API HTTP 429 daily-rate-limit throttle; abandoned per batch instructions). Alternative opinion searches surfaced no qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS Philippine Sea or CV-47 beyond the Woodruff matter; a VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decision (Citation Nr. 1121289) names the ship only for a skin-cancer/sun-exposure theory during December 1951-February 1955 service - not asbestos - and is classified as other adjudication, not exposure evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 2026-09-18
- Limitations
- Incomplete sweep by external constraint - absence of a found case beyond Woodruff is not evidence of absence. The BVA decision is documented so it is not mistaken for asbestos evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-04
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[5]Essex-class profile (class-a/essex-class.class.json) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class profile era-application list and unmodernized-hull notation
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era context only: Philippine Sea is a long-hull (Ticonderoga-group) Essex-class carrier built 1944-45 at Bethlehem's Quincy yard with the class's eight-boiler/four-turbine steam plant; never reconstructed under SCB-27/125, with only routine overhauls (Boston Naval Shipyard 1949, Hunter's Point 1953). Peak-era Navy insulation specifications applied at construction; no hull-specific inventory for CV-47 was located and none is asserted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-18
- Study period
- 1944-1958 (commissioned era)
- Limitations
- Context only - no ship-specific asbestos inference is drawn from class, era, boilers, or steam propulsion. Ship-specific content rests solely on the Woodruff litigation record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-philippine-sea-cv47-05