Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet gb-packet.md (8 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-porterfield-dd682-pkt-gb-packet-md
-
[2]Phipps v. Copeland Corporation LLC, 64 Cal. App. 5th 319 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist., Div. 7) - opinion filed 2021-05-18 (B302627), modified/rehearing denied 2021-06-10 (B302627M, CourtListener opinion 4890645); appeal from L.A. Super. Ct. 18STCV02021, affirmed [court_record]
- Locator
- Phipps opinion, factual-background section (Dahlgren testimony summary; Phipps service recital)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published, affirmed appellate judgment naming this hull: the opinion recites that plaintiff William Phipps (born 1948) 'served from 1966 to 1969 in the United States Navy on the U.S.S. Porterfield'; that at trial 'witnesses testified William's mesothelioma was caused by his exposure to asbestos, which was present both on the U.S.S. Porterfield during his service there and in gaskets in air conditioning compressors he worked on from 1977 to 1991'; and that plaintiffs' expert Dr. James Dahlgren testified amphibole asbestos 'was used in thermal insulation on the U.S.S. Porterfield during William's service there.' Phipps was diagnosed with mesothelioma in April 2018; the jury awarded $25 million noneconomic damages against Copeland Corp. (60% fault, other shares apportioned to the Navy and other entities); affirmed on appeal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1966-1969 (service); 2018-2021 (litigation)
- Population
- William Phipps (USN aboard DD-682 1966-1969; mesothelioma dx 2018)
- Limitations
- Affirmed-judgment context: the merits holding is Copeland's liability and fault apportionment; the statements that asbestos was 'present' aboard USS Porterfield and that amphibole was used in its thermal insulation are recitals of trial testimony, not a discrete adjudicated finding on the hull's materials. Does not quantify material aboard or establish the exposure of anyone else; establishes that a jury heard testimony of asbestos aboard this hull during 1966-69 service within a verdict that survived appeal.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-01
-
[3]McIntyre v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc., No. 3:08-cv-03070-EDL (N.D. Cal.), Complaint for Survival, Wrongful Death - Asbestos, ECF No. 1 (filed 2008-06-25), Exhibit A (work-history table); RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.204620.1.0 [court_record]
- Locator
- McIntyre v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, ECF No. 1, Exhibit A, vessel table (PORTERFIELD (DD-682) row, p.18 of 24 in RECAP pagination)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Pleading-stage asbestos complaint naming this hull: Exhibit A to the complaint states 'Decedent's exposure to asbestos occurred at the following times and places' and lists 'PORTERFIELD (DD-682)' in the alphabetical vessel table under employer 'U.S. Department of Defense,' location 'Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Painting Shops, Vallejo, CA,' job title 'Painter' (overall work window 12/2/1963-6/30/1995). The complaint alleges decedent Edward McIntyre (died 19 July 2007) sustained asbestos-related lung injuries and death from occupational exposure; plaintiffs are spouse Allene McIntyre (successor-in-interest) and heir Sarah McIntyre. Hull identification is explicit ('DD-682' named in the exhibit).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1963-1995 (alleged exposure window overall); 2008 (filing)
- Population
- Edward McIntyre (Mare Island NSY painter 1963-1995; decedent)
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation only - the vessel list is an allegation, not an adjudicated finding; does not establish causation, does not quantify asbestos aboard, and does not identify which products aboard were asbestos-containing. The complaint PDF is image-only; text obtained by local OCR - the per-vessel exposure-date column is not reliably alignable to DD-682 by OCR, so no exposure window is asserted for this hull. Case outcome not located in CourtListener opinion indexes.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-02
-
[4]In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL No. 875 (JPML), ECF No. 8650, attachment 2 - 'Complaint CAN 4:12-cv-02040-CW' (tag-along notice filed by counsel for plaintiffs William and Diana Ramsey, N.D. Cal. case 4:12-cv-02040) [court_record]
- Locator
- MDL-875 JPML docket entry 8650 attachment 2; underlying case Ramsey, N.D. Cal. 4:12-cv-02040-CW
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The string 'DD-682' appears in the CourtListener-indexed text of an asbestos complaint attached to an MDL-875 notice of potential tag-along (Ramsey action, N.D. Cal. 4:12-cv-02040-CW). Given the N.D. Cal. asbestos-complaint practice of attaching vessel-list exhibits (cf. ev-02), this is likely a second pleading-stage vessel-list reference to PORTERFIELD (DD-682) - but the attachment PDF is not retrievable from RECAP storage (HTTP 404) and the match context is unverified.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2012 (underlying filing)
- Population
- William and Diana Ramsey (plaintiffs, per tag-along notice)
- Limitations
- Unverified match context - 'DD-682' is indexed in the document but its role (vessel list vs. unrelated string) is unconfirmed; classified down as an archival lead, not a qualifying record. Pleading-stage posture in any event; even if verified it would be an allegation, not a finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-03
-
[5]DANFS, Porterfield (DD-682) (builder, dates, service narrative, awards; verbatim HazeGray transcription via Wayback capture - no live NHHC page located) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd682txt.htm, Wayback 2021-04-15)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, Calif., 12 December 1942; launched 13 June 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Louis B. Porterfield); commissioned 30 October 1943, Comdr. J. C. Woefel in command; Fletcher class; dp. 2,050; l. 376'5"; b. 39'7"; dr. 13'9"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 329; a. 5 5", 10 40mm, 10 21" tt. Service: TF 53 Marshalls bombardment (Roi, Namur), Jan-Feb 1944; escort-carrier screen, Marianas (Saipan, June-July 1944); TG 58.4, Guam campaign, Palau/Mindanao strikes, Okinawa/Formosa raids Oct 1944; South China Sea sweep Jan 1945; Tokyo-approach raids and Iwo Jima support Feb 1945 (sank a Japanese picket boat 26 Feb); Okinawa screening and bombardment Apr 1945 incl. aid to damaged destroyers Leutze and Newcomb 6 April; engine damage; Puget Sound Navy Yard availability from 24 July 1945 through war's end; San Diego for decommissioning 3 Oct 1945; recommissioned 27 Apr 1951; TF 77 and TG 95.11 Korean service 1951-52; second tour Oct 1952 - May 1953 incl. Taiwan patrol; WestPac deployments 1954-1958 (Taiwan patrol during 1958 crisis); 1959 hunter-killer ASW cruise; deployments Nov 1960 - Apr 1961, Nov 1962 - Jun 1963, 1964, 1966 (amphibious groups off Vietnam); 'remains with the Pacific Fleet into 1970.' Awards: ten battle stars WWII, four Korean War.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1970 (DANFS narrative)
- Population
- Bethlehem San Pedro construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 329)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The narrative predates the 1969 decommissioning, 1975 striking, and 1982 sinking (those dates come from NavSource/NavalCoverMuseum - ev-05). No live NHHC DANFS page located (canonical URL 404; no Wayback capture) - verbatim HazeGray transcription cited via Wayback capture dated 2021-04-15.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-04
-
[6]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index, USS Porterfield (DD-682) - operational/building data and fate; corroborated by NavalCoverMuseum designation history [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-682 page, 'Operational and Building Data' and 'Fate' blocks (Wayback 2021-12-17); navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/PORTERFIELD_DD_682
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational data for this hull: laid down 12 December 1942 by Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro; launched June 1943; commissioned 30 October 1943; decommissioned 15 July 1946; recommissioned 27 April 1951; decommissioned 7 November 1969; stricken 1 March 1975; designated as a target 1976; sunk 18 July 1982. Machinery line lists Westinghouse turbines, 2 screws, 60,000 shp; radio call sign NKNO. NavalCoverMuseum designation history concurs on all dates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1982
- Population
- crew 1943-46, 1951-69; target-program handlers 1976-82
- Limitations
- NavSource is a private naval-history photo archive (authoritative secondary source, not a federal record); its 'Launched June 12 1943' conflicts with DANFS 13 June 1943 - DANFS is carried, the conflict is in gaps. The sinking entry gives no location or means. A secondary ub88.org Fletcher table reads 'sunk as target in 1976' (conflating the 1976 target-designation year); the 18 July 1982 date is corroborated by independent shipwreck listings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-05
-
[7]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; steam plant) + Fletcher class profile (fletcher-class.class.json, class-c) citing Navypedia class block and BuShips Ships' Data 1945 + Atlas shipyard dataset record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; shipyards.json record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'; fletcher-class.class.json ev-01/-02 (Navypedia + BuShips 1945)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1942-43 with a four-boiler 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; builder Bethlehem Steel (San Pedro) resolves in the Atlas yard dataset to the corporate 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record (asbestos products documented at yard level incl. magnesia block, Marinite, Unibestos, Raybestos cloth). GAO HRD-80-2 places the hull's entire 1943-69 service inside the Navy's documented shipboard asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1969
- Population
- Bethlehem San Pedro construction trades 1942-43; crew 1943-69
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - the ship-specific records for this hull are ev-01 (affirmed-judgment testimony recital) and ev-02 (pleading allegation); this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. The yard record aggregates Bethlehem yards (Quincy/Sparrows Point evidence) and does not document materials installed at the San Pedro yard or aboard DD-682. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-06
-
[8]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 this hull's construction (1942-43) and entire commissioned service (1943-69) inside the documented shipboard asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; shipboard crews (program level)
- 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-porterfield-dd682-07
-
[9]NARA College Park, WWII War Diaries/Other Operational Records: 'USS PORTERFIELD - Rep of Ops During Carrier Air Strikes on the Palau & Philippine Is, 8/29/44 - 9/27/44' (micro serial 91110, serial 070, dated 1944-09-29), catalog id 139753516; indexed via DPLA/Digital Pasifik [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov id 139753516 (metadata via digitalpasifik.org item 375372)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds ship-specific wartime operational records for this hull (action reports/war diaries series), e.g. the cited report covering carrier-strike operations 29 Aug - 27 Sep 1944. Deck logs and NARA RG 19 BuShips material/specification files are the unretrieved archival leads for any hull-level materials evidence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944 (record); holdings undated
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the record was located via catalog metadata, not retrieved; action reports document operations, not construction materials. No hull-level insulation or material schedule has been located online for DD-682.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep, 2026-09-27 (cl-auth-search.py, fleet-paced): opinion queries "USS Porterfield" (count=0), "U.S.S. Porterfield" (count=2 - the two Phipps opinions), "DD-682" (count=0); docket queries "USS Porterfield" (count=2, both name collisions) and "DD-682" (count=4: one qualifying asbestos complaint, one asbestos-docket lead, two collisions); "Porterfield" + asbestos opinions (count=54 - the Phipps pair plus 52 surname/place collisions, no other ship context) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 responses, 2026-09-27 (see search_ledger sl-uss-porterfield-dd682-04/-05 and ev-01/-02/-03)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Sweep results: QUALIFYING (published opinion) - Phipps v. Copeland Corp. LLC, 64 Cal. App. 5th 319 (2021), affirmed judgment reciting trial testimony of asbestos aboard this hull during 1966-69 service (ev-01). QUALIFYING (pleading) - McIntyre v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03070) complaint Exhibit A lists PORTERFIELD (DD-682) as an alleged exposure vessel for a Mare Island painter (ev-02). ARCHIVAL LEAD - MDL-875 tag-along attachment (Ramsey, N.D. Cal. 4:12-cv-02040) indexes 'DD-682' in complaint text, context unverified, PDF not retrievable (ev-03). NAME COLLISIONS - 'USS Porterfield' docket hits are two voting-rights/redistricting cases (Covington v. State of North Carolina, M.D.N.C. 1:15-cv-00399; Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections, E.D. Va. 3:14-cv-00852) where the phrase appears inside exhibit text; 'DD-682' docket hits in United States v. Anderson (D. Colo. exhibit) and Tribune Media bankruptcy (Del. examiner's-report exhibit) are non-vessel form/exhibit strings; the remaining 'Porterfield'+asbestos opinion hits are surname/place collisions with no ship context.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage limits: public opinion and RECAP indexes do not comprehensively cover pre-electronic-filing state court records or pre-PACER federal filings; absence of a hit does not prove no litigation naming this hull exists anywhere. Collision classification rests on captions, suit-nature codes, and document context shown in index output; the redistricting exhibits' match context was not opened. The McIntyre disposition query ('McIntyre' 'Northrop Grumman' asbestos) and a Ramsey docket follow-up were still queued at record freeze (fleet pacing) - no published McIntyre merits opinion was located in earlier passes.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-09
-
[11]Batch-3657 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (HazeGray/Wayback); NavSource; NavalCoverMuseum; NARA catalog (war diary item); CourtListener ship-name and hull-number sweeps; Fletcher class profile (class-c); GAO HRD-80-2 product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-porterfield-dd682-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No non-litigation ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, material specification, sampling result, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure naming DD-682 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was expended as a target in 1982, leaving no museum or scrapping-yard phase to generate ACM documentation. The ship-specific asbestos record is litigation-only (ev-01 affirmed testimony recital; ev-02 pleading allegation; ev-03 unverified lead).
- 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-06, ev-07) and litigation records name the hull (ev-01, ev-02). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-porterfield-dd682-10