Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet jl-packet.md (6 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-preston-dd379-pkt-jl-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Preston V (DD-379) (builder, dates, specifications, service narrative, sinking; live NHHC page serves 404 - text verified against a 2024 Wayback capture of history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/preston-v.html and the destroyerhistory.org verbatim NHC transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS 'Preston V' entry, specification block + service narrative (Wayback capture of preston-v.html; destroyerhistory.org verbatim transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: fifth Preston (DD-379) laid down 27 October 1934 at Vallejo, Calif., by the Mare Island Navy Yard; launched 22 April 1936, sponsored by Mrs. Edward H. Campbell; commissioned 27 October 1936, Cmdr. Charles D. Swain in command. DesRon 2 then DesRon 5, Battle Force, peacetime Pacific training to December 1941; west-coast patrol/escort to 1 June 1942; screened Saratoga to Hawaii (TG 11.1), delivered planes/pilots/material to Enterprise and Hornet post-Midway; returned Pearl Harbor 13 June; joined TF 16 on 4 October; Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands 26 October 1942 (splashed two planes, unscathed); with TF 64 on the evening of 14 November entered the Savo-Cape Esperance channel; Third Battle of Savo Island began 2317; a Nagara salvo put both firerooms out and toppled the afterstack; ordered abandoned 2336, rolled on her side, floated ~10 minutes bow in the air, then sank taking 116 of her crew; two battle stars for World War II service. Spec block: Mahan class; 1,726 t (full load); 341'3" length; 34'8" beam; 9'10" mean draft; 36 kt; complement 158; 5 x 5-inch, 4 x .50-caliber MG, 12 x 21-inch torpedo tubes. Entry published 14 February 2017 (S. Matthew Cheser), including namesake biography of Lt. Samuel W. Preston, killed at Fort Fisher January 1865.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1934-1942
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard construction workforce 1934-36; crew (design complement 158) 1936-1942
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The narrative's evening-of-14-November timeline (abandoned 2336, sank ~2346) conflicts with the ship's own loss report (sunk 0035 on 15 November, zone -12) and with NavSource's registry line (15 November) - carried in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404; Wayback capture and verbatim destroyerhistory.org transcription cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-01
-
[3]USS Preston (DD-379) loss action report, 'Surface Engagement with Japanese Forces, November 15, 1942 - report of,' DD379/A16-3, dated 30 November 1942 (From: The Commanding Officer, To: Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet, Via: Commander Task Force Sixty-Four); and USS Meade (DD-602) report 'Rescue of Survivors vicinity Savo Island, November [15], 1942' dated 18 November 1942 - scanned Navy documents reproduced in E. Andrew Wilde Jr., 'The U.S.S. Preston (DD-379) in World War II: Documents' (privately published 1997, rev. 2001; hosted destroyerhistory.org) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Wilde compilation pp. ~55-59 (Preston loss report incl. para. 1-9) and ~65 (Meade rescue report), OCR-verified from the 168-page scanned PDF at destroyerhistory.org/assets/pdf/wilde/379preston_wilde.pdf
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own report of the loss (written by surviving officers 30 November 1942; CO Stormes went down with the ship): 'At 0035 November 15, 1942, the U.S.S. PRESTON was sunk while actively engaged in surface battle against Japanese naval forces' in the channel between Savo Island and Cape Esperance (approx. 9 deg 18'S, 159 deg 50'E; all times zone minus twelve). Column order Walke-Benham-Preston-Gwin-Washington-South Dakota; Preston opened fire ~0030 on a ship off Savo's southern tip at ~9,000 yards; hit ~0035 on the starboard side by two 'probably six inch' projectiles - one struck between the two firerooms 'killing all men in them,' covering the amidships area with firebrick and debris, starting fires including in the TNT of burst torpedo warheads, and the No. 2 stack fell; a heavy cruiser then hit her port side with part of an eight-inch salvo (~3 projectiles: engine room/generators, secondary-control-to-No.-3-gun area, No. 4 gun). Abandon ship ordered 0036 by Cmdr. M.C. Stormes; 'in less than half a minute the ship rolled over on its side and sank by the stern,' bow rising vertical ~10 minutes. Approximately 120-130 rounds of 5"/38 expended; torpedoes not fired. No records or papers saved. The Meade report (18 November 1942) documents rescue of Preston survivors in the vicinity of Savo Island. The compilation also reproduces: a 'List of Officers, 15 November 1942' (Cdr. M.C. Stormes commanding; Lt. J.B. Pesante, executive officer, among the dead); a 1947 Navy Department Ships' Data Section history; survivor recollections (incl. damage-controlman Robert B. Reed's account of the fireroom hits and aft-magazine explosion); a USNI photo caption recording that USS Stormes (DD-780) was named for Preston's lost commanding officer (its figure: 117 officers and men did not survive - vs DANFS's 116, carried in gaps); and photographs of the Purvis Bay, Florida Island monument (dedicated 30 April 1944) to the Iron Bottom Sound dead. Cmdr. Stormes received a posthumous Navy Cross for the night action (U.S. Naval Academy Memorial Hall honoree page, citation text reproduced).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-11-14/15 (engagement); 1942-11-18/30 (reports)
- Population
- Preston crew at loss (surviving officers authored the report); Meade crew during rescue
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous official Navy documents preserved in a privately compiled, image-scan booklet - content verified by direct OCR of the scans; underlying originals are NARA records (action reports / war diaries, RG 38/RG 24 series). Documents combat loss and machinery-space destruction only - no materials or asbestos content (the 'firebrick and debris' passage describes boiler-room refractory, not an asbestos callout). The report's own dating (0035, 15 November) is the primary anchor for the 14-vs-15-November conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report - 'Destroyer Report: Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action' (postwar BuShips analysis; NHHC Online Reading Room; HyperWar mirror - live NHHC page 404s, 2024 Wayback capture verified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- War Damage Report 'Destroyer Report: Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action,' para. 2-19 (ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC mirror; canonical NHHC URL 404s)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips loss-mode analysis naming this hull: of destroyers lost to enemy action, 'there have been only two clear-cut cases in which it appears that impairment of stability, followed by capsizing, was the primary cause of loss of a destroyer. The vessels involved were PRESTON (DD379) and JOHNSTON (DD557). These were riddled along the waterline by gunfire and incurred very extensive flooding, apparently including at least all main machinery spaces. In addition, shallow flooding outside of the main machinery spaces also occurred and seriously impaired stability characteristics because of the large free surface effect.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942 (loss analyzed postwar)
- Population
- Preston crew 1942 (engineering spaces context only)
- Limitations
- Postwar engineering analysis of loss mechanism - documents flooding of machinery spaces and capsizing, not materials or asbestos content. Confirms both firerooms/machinery spaces flooded at loss, consistent with the action report. Mirror cited because the live NHHC Online Reading Room page returns 404; Wayback capture (2024-04-08) verified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-03
-
[5]Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Preston (DD-379), 1936-1942' page - official NHC narrative and photo captions (NH 97937; 80-G-1031563; BuShips/NARA 19-N-33052, 19-N-33050, 19-N-33051, 19-N-17722, 19-N-17716, 19-N-16675) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar mirror of NHC Online Library page usnsh-p/dd379.htm - narrative paragraph + photo caption blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHC narrative independently summarizes the service record ('1480-ton Mahan class destroyer built at the Mare Island Navy Yard... commissioned in October 1936... fatally damaged by enemy shellfire and quickly sank, with the loss of over one hundred of her crew' on the night of 14-15 November 1942). Official captions add ship-specific documentary facts: BuShips/NARA photo 19-N-33052 shows 'USS Preston (DD-379) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, on 15 August 1942' - documenting a mid-war stateside navy-yard presence that DANFS does not narrate (she had returned to Pearl Harbor in June and rejoined TF 16 in October); 19-N-33050/-33051 show her in the background of USS Detroit views at Mare Island the same day alongside Conyngham, Caldwell, and Walke; 19-N-17722 shows her under construction with sister Smith on 1 July 1935; 19-N-16675 is her builder's data plaque circa 1937. A NavSource caption reproduces the launch-day press release text: 'one of sixteen similar destroyers built under naval construction funds, appropriated in the National Industrial Recovery Act' - the NIRA-funded Mahan program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1942
- Population
- Crew 1936-1942; Mare Island yard/pier workforce August 1942 (if availability - unverified)
- Limitations
- NHC captions document locations and dates, not materials or asbestos. The August 1942 Mare Island frames prove presence at the yard but do not state whether she underwent an industrial availability (vs. a stop en route) - scope of any yard work is undocumented and carried in gaps. '1480-ton' in the NHC narrative is the standard-load convention vs DANFS's 1,726-ton full-load figure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-04
-
[6]U.S. Navy press release (navy.mil, 12 August 2025; by Clifford Davis, NHHC), 'Expedition Reveals Thirteen Shipwrecks from WWII Battles off Guadalcanal' - NA173 expedition, Ocean Exploration Trust E/V Nautilus, supported by NOAA Ocean Exploration via OECI and NHHC (fetched via Wayback capture 2025-09-07; live navy.mil 403s automated fetch); corroborating operator record: nautiluslive.org video/exhibit page and NA173 Expedition Summary PDF [other_primary]
- Locator
- navy.mil Article 4272152 (vessel list, NHHC quotes); nautiluslive.org/video/2025/09/30/exploring-uss-preston-wwii-shipwreck; NA173 Expedition Summary PDF (ROV summary section)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Present-day wreck record: 'USS Preston (DD 379)' is listed by the U.S. Navy's own release among the thirteen Iron Bottom Sound wreck sites surveyed in high resolution during expedition NA173 (survey completed 1 August 2025). The operator's record (Ocean Exploration Trust / Nautilus Live) adds hull-specific detail: the 104-meter Mahan-class destroyer 'rests on the seafloor with her bow bearing approximately 200 degrees'; ROV surveys imaged 'extensive corrugated metal debris, torpedo launchers, and the ship's damaged bridge'; and 'approximately the aft third of the ship is missing, corroborating battle accounts of an aft-magazine explosion after impacts from Japanese cruiser Nagara.' The NA173 expedition summary states Preston had been only partially imaged before 2025.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2025 (survey); site 1942-present
- Population
- none - deep-water war grave; ROV survey only
- Limitations
- Non-invasive archaeological survey - documents wreck position, orientation, and condition, not materials or hazmat content; no materials sampling was performed or reported. Secondary reporting attributes the wreck's initial 1992 location to Ballard's expedition; the OET record itself says only 'partially imaged prior' - carried in gaps. The wreck is a war grave (116 men lost); the missing aft third means the after magazines/gear are absent from the site.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-05
-
[7]Destroyer History Foundation, 'Mahan Class' design page - specifications footnoted to the Bureau of Construction and Repair's General Information Book for USS Mahan and USS Cummings (source 1): 4 x Foster Wheeler boilers, 465 psi / 645 deg F; GE geared turbines; 50,000 shp; 2 shafts; design 36.5 kt; design complement 13 officers + 193 enlisted [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Mahan class page, specifications block + footnotes; NavSource DD-379 machinery line (49,000 shp GE geared turbines)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Mahan-class destroyer built 1934-36 at a U.S. navy yard with a four-boiler, high-pressure/high-temperature steam plant (465 psi, 645 deg F; ~50,000 shp class design) would have carried the period-standard insulated fit - boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, bulkhead/compartment insulation, and deck coverings - the same insulated-steam-plant configuration documented as asbestos-bearing across the 1930s-40s destroyer fleet. NARA RG 19 BuC&R General Information Books (the source the class page cites for Mahan/Cummings) hold per-vessel material specifications and are the archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1934-1942
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard construction trades 1934-36; engineering crew 1936-42
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no source documents an asbestos product aboard DD-379. The GIB cited covers sister ships Mahan and Cummings; whether Preston's own GIB survives at NARA was not verified. NavSource lists 49,000 shp for this hull vs 50,000 shp class design vs HyperWar's 42,800 hp - figures conflict, carried in gaps. Does not quantify material or establish any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-06
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset, 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' record (tier 2): Mare Island disposal/reuse Final EIS/EIR documents asbestos-containing material in shipyard buildings and industrial wastes; Collins v. Plant Insulation Co., 185 Cal.App.4th 260 (2010) - jury verdict for a welder who worked at Mare Island 1976-94 (mesothelioma); yard product documentation incl. Unibestos, Kaylo, Pabco, Johns-Manville pipe insulation, gaskets, packing (predominantly 1960s-1994) [court_record]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (EPA CA7170024775; FEIS and Collins citations); NavSource/BuShips 19-N-33052 caption (yard presence 1942-08-15)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Builder-yard context: Mare Island Navy Yard, where this hull was built 1934-36 and where BuShips photographs place her again on 15 August 1942, is documented at yard level as an asbestos site - the disposal-era FEIS/EIR confirms ACM in shipyard buildings and industrial waste streams, and Collins v. Plant Insulation (Cal. Ct. App. 2010) adjudicated a mesothelioma case from 1976-94 Mare Island welding work. The yard operated continuously from 1854 and built over 80 warships before Preston; 1930s naval construction of steam plants used asbestos insulation as standard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1934-1942 (hull); 2010+ (yard documentation)
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard workforce (1934-36 construction; any undocumented August 1942 availability)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation only - establishes that the builder was a documented asbestos site, not that specific materials went aboard this hull. The yard's verified asbestos findings postdate Preston's construction by decades (disposal-era EIS; 1976-94 exposure period in Collins); no 1934-36 industrial record for DD-379 was located. Read as context for ev-06, not as ship-specific evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-07
-
[9]Lemen RA, Landrigan PJ. 'Sailors and the Risk of Asbestos-Related Cancer.' Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(16):8417. PMID 34444165 [other_primary]
- Locator
- IJERPH 2021;18(16):8417, ship-construction passages
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed review documenting that chrysotile and amphibole asbestos were used extensively in ship construction of the era - insulation, joiner bulkhead systems, pipe coverings, boilers, machinery parts, bulkhead panels - and that sailors both worked and lived at their exposure site. Establishes the era-level background against which a 1934-36 navy-yard steam destroyer must be read.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 20th-century naval construction era
- Population
- Naval/merchant sailors generally (era context)
- Limitations
- Fleet-era epidemiology review; does not name this hull or class. Cannot be read as evidence of asbestos aboard DD-379 - included as background context only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 authenticated search sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP docket index type=r) for this vessel's exact name and hull number [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-preston-dd379-08 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. Opinion index: zero hits for "USS Preston"; zero hits for "aboard the Preston"/"aboard USS Preston"/"aboard the USS Preston"; two hits for "U.S.S. Preston", both non-qualifying - United States v. Moore, No. 11,431 (C.M.A. 1958; court-martial AWOL case, the Preston reference belongs to a 1957-58 duty station, i.e., the later DD-795, not this hull sunk in 1942) and Calmar S.S. Corp. v. United States (S.D.N.Y. 1951; SS Portmar admiralty war-damage suit, the naval Preston referenced is the seaplane tender William B. Preston, AVD-7, at Port Darwin). Sole "DD-379" opinion hit: Bettis v. Estate of Bettis (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1977) - 'No. DD-379' is that court's own docket number. RECAP docket index: "USS Preston" returned one hit (United States v. QTC Medical Services, C.D. Cal. 2:14-cv-08961 - a VA contractor case, name collision); hull-number queries returned five dockets (Ver Hagen v. BeneTek, E.D. Wis.; Univ. of Pittsburgh v. Varian Medical, W.D. Pa.; Martin v. Aramark, D. Alaska; Sharper v. Director TDCJ-CID, N.D. Tex.; SIPC v. Madoff bankruptcy, S.D.N.Y.) - all docket-number/exhibit/account collisions, none involving the vessel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Population
- none identified
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes opinions and PACER dockets, not state trial filings, VA claims, asbestos trust claims, or settled/unreported matters - absence here does not prove no claim was ever filed. Sunk 1942 with 116 lost; any survivor-era claim would be decades old and outside indexed coverage. 'Preston' is a high-collision name (surname; three other naval Prestons DD-19/DD-327/DD-795 plus William B. Preston DD-344/AVD-7). Consistent with zero qualifying findings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-preston-dd379-09