Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet crew-fj-packet.md (8 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Prichett (DD-561). Hull: DD-561. Designation: DD.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-prichett-dd561-pkt-crew-fj-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Prichett (DD-561) (specifications block and full service narrative through Vietnam-era operations; verbatim transcription via hazegray.org, Wayback Machine capture 2021-04-21 - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry for DD-561 (specifications block + service narrative), hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd561txt.htm as captured 2021-04-21
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 20 July 1942 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, Wash.; launched 31 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Orville A. Tucker; commissioned 15 January 1944, Comdr. Cecil T. Caulfield in command. WWII Pacific: Truk and Ponape strikes (29 Apr-1 May 1944) with TG 58.3; fighter-director equipment installed at Pearl Harbor; Saipan invasion and Battle of the Philippine Sea (Jun 1944); Tinian and Guam support; TF 38.3 Palau/Philippines strikes; fired on by mistake by a TG 38.4 unit off Formosa 12-15 Oct, repairs at Manus; South China Sea sweeps and Tokyo/Yokohama raids (Jan-Feb 1945); Iwo Jima area TU 52.2.5 to 9 Mar; Okinawa TF 54 from 25 Mar - bomb hit on the fantail 3 Apr (flooding aft, 20mm clipping-room fire), emergency repairs Kerama Retto, repairs completed Guam, back on radar picket 7 May; kamikaze splash six feet off the port side 29 Jul while standing by USS Callaghan (DD-792) - hull bowed in, superstructure and depth-charge rack damage; Navy Unit Commendation for Okinawa radar-picket duty; sailed home 13 Aug; preinactivation overhaul at Puget Sound; decommissioned 14 Mar 1946, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 17 Aug 1951; Norfolk Feb 1952; modernization at Boston Apr-Nov 1952; flagship DesDiv 282; Korean tour Jan-Jun 1953 (TF 77, Wonsan area); Mediterranean Jan-Mar 1954; Pacific from Jan 1955, DesDiv 192; Long Beach homeport nine years; Tonkin Gulf TF 77 Aug-Oct 1964; Vietnam naval gunfire support incl. Phan Thiet Feb-Mar 1968; San Diego school-ship duties; decommissioned and struck from the Navy List 10 Jan 1970. Eight WWII and two Korean battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1970
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding construction trades 1942-43; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS spec complement 319)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Verbatim hazegray transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing NHHC link-rot documented in BATCH-01); the transcription does not carry the printed DANFS namesake paragraph and ends the narrative at the 1970 decommissioning - the Italian transfer is documented by other rows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History destroyer photo index for DD-561: Operational and Building Data table + official USN photo captions incl. NH 69890 (drydock at Puget Sound Navy Yard through end of 1945), NH 107253 (March 1961), NH 70168 (June 1969); Navy Unit Commendation citation text [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/561.htm 'Operational and Building Data' table + photo caption blocks (Wayback capture 2024-05-06)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building data for this hull corroborates DANFS dates: laid down by Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding 20 July 1942; launched 31 July 1943; commissioned 15 January 1944; decommissioned 14 March 1946; recommissioned 17 August 1951; decommissioned 10 January 1970; stricken 10 January 1970; to Italy 17 January 1970 renamed Geniere; stricken and scrapped 1975. Official USN photo caption (NH 69890) documents the hull 'laid up in dry dock' at Puget Sound Navy Yard until the end of 1945 after the 29 July 1945 Okinawa damage. The page reproduces the SecNav Navy Unit Commendation citation text (radar picket duty off Okinawa 24 Mar-7 Apr and 8 May-13 Aug 1945) and USC Libraries photos of the 17 August 1951 recommissioning ceremony at Naval Base Los Angeles, Terminal Island.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1975
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard workers late 1945; Naval Base Los Angeles Terminal Island 1951
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compilation; it is cited for its operational-data table and the verbatim captions of official USN photographs (NH numbers identify NHHC-sourced images). Photo captions document yard presence and dates, not work scope, materials, or asbestos content. Spec-block figures (beam 39'7", crew 273) differ slightly from DANFS (39'8", 319) - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-02
-
[4]Pelton v. John Crane, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-4316 (N.D. Ill.), Memorandum Opinion and Order, ECF No. 337 (entered Jan. 31, 2024, Blakey, J.); removed from Cook County (2021L006906) under 28 U.S.C. 1442; case terminated 2024-03-06 per the CourtListener RECAP docket register [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 337 pp.1-3 (factual background: service history, gasket/packing testimony, Woodruff affidavit) and pp.21-22 (disposition); CourtListener RECAP docket 61080412
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal memorandum opinion naming this hull in an asbestos personal-injury maritime case: plaintiff Chloyde Pelton, a Navy veteran who developed malignant mesothelioma, served as a pipefitter/shipfitter aboard USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729) 1959-1961 and 'USS Pritchett (DD-561)' (the opinion's spelling in the background section; 'USS Prichett (DD-561)' in the expert-affidavit paragraph) 1961-1962, then USS Frontier (AD-25) through 1963. The opinion recites deposition testimony that he routinely installed and removed asbestos-containing gaskets and packing from pipe valves 'hundreds of times,' and an affidavit (Capt. Bruce Woodruff, USN ret.) opining substantial exposure across 38 months on the three ships. On summary judgment the court granted the motion only as to the willful-and-wanton count and denied it as to negligence and strict liability - the case proceeded on the principal counts, with punitive damages held available. The hull-number token DD-561 makes the vessel attribution unambiguous despite the misspelled surname.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1961-1962 (alleged exposure); 2021-2024 (litigation)
- Population
- Chloyde Pelton (USN pipefitter/shipfitter aboard DD-561 1961-1962, mesothelioma)
- Limitations
- Summary-judgment-stage record: exposure facts are recited from the parties' Rule 56.1 statements and deposition testimony, not adjudicated by a factfinder; the opinion does not establish causation or quantify asbestos aboard. The willful-and-wanton count was dismissed; negligence and strict-liability counts survived to proceed. Case terminated 2024-03-06, about five weeks post-opinion - consistent with post-MSJ resolution, but no trial finding on exposure was located. The hull name is misspelled 'Pritchett' in part of the opinion; DD-561 disambiguates.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-03
-
[5]Robert Finamore v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, No. 2:13-cv-05221 (C.D. Cal.), Complaint Exhibit A, ECF No. 1-1 (filed 2013-07-19; Guilford, J., referred to Block, M.J.); RECAP docket 4150340; case terminated 2013-10-24 [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 1-1 (Exhibit A to complaint), pp.16-17 (para. 12 service/exposure recital) and exposure-location table; CourtListener RECAP docket 4150340
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos personal-injury complaint exhibit naming this hull: plaintiff Robert Finamore alleges that during U.S. Navy employment 'from approximately 1967 to 1974' he 'served aboard the USS Pritchett (DD-561) [sic], USS Oriskany (CV-34), USS Providence (CL-82/CLG-6), and USS Piedmont (AD-17)' as a Fireman and Machinist's Mate, operating, maintaining, and repairing pumps, steam traps, turbines, engines, forced draft blowers, gaskets, packing, deaerating feed systems, distilling plants, condensers, compressors, air ejectors, and boilers; the exposure-location table lists 'US Navy | USS Pritchett (DD-561) | San Diego, CA | Fireman, Machinist's Mate | 1967-1974.' Suit nature on the docket register: 368 Asbestos personal injury - Prod. Liab.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1967-1970 (maximum possible window aboard DD-561); 2013 (litigation)
- Population
- Robert Finamore (USN Fireman/Machinist's Mate; Navy service c.1967-1974 across four named vessels)
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation, never adjudicated - the complaint recites exposure claims; the case terminated 2013-10-24, about three months after filing, with no merits disposition located. The pleaded window '1967-1974' exceeds this hull's U.S. Navy service (decommissioned 1970-01-10) - the span covers all four named vessels and cannot wholly attach to DD-561; exposure aboard this hull is bounded at latest by January 1970. Hull name misspelled 'Pritchett' in the pleading; DD-561 disambiguates. A sibling docket (3:13-cv-02582, S.D. Cal.) exists - likely related/renumbered filing; not separately verified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-04
-
[6]Marina Militare (Italian Navy), official history page 'La crisi degli Anni '70' (marina.difesa.it) [other_primary]
- Locator
- marina.difesa.it > storia navale > 'La crisi degli Anni '70', paragraph on ex-Fletcher destroyers
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Italian Navy history confirms the ex-hull's disposition context: the three cacciatorpediniere Lanciere, Fante, and Geniere - ex-US Fletcher-class destroyers - arrived beginning in 1969 to fill the gap left by the stricken Artigliere and Aviere's conversion to experimental platform, and had undergone FRAM modernization programs in the United States before transfer ('I programmi di ammodernamento FRAM ... cui le tre navi erano state sottoposte negli USA prima della cessione').
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1969-1975
- Population
- Marina Militare crew 1970-1975
- Limitations
- Confirms Italian custody and the FRAM-modernization context for the class, not per-hull dates or materials; the page groups all three arrivals loosely as 1969 though Geniere specifically transferred 17 January 1970 per NavSource/Italian unit data. No asbestos content. Italian-custody material history and the scrapping site/process remain undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-05
-
[7]USS PRICHETT - War Diary, 11/1-30/45 (Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Intelligence Division / Office of Naval Records and Library), National Archives Identifier 77572797, Micro Serial 150750 - contributed to Wikimedia Commons by NARA via the Digital Public Library of America [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA/DPLA item, NAID 77572797 (Micro Serial 150750), Commons file page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The hull's contemporaneous war diary for November 1945 exists in NARA (NAID 77572797), digitized via the NARA-DPLA cooperation project - an archival lead for month-by-month contemporaneous operational records for this specific hull, including the period of her post-damage arrival and preinactivation work at Puget Sound.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-11
- Population
- Crew, November 1945
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the November 1945 war diary cover was located; full diary contents (and other monthly diaries) were not reviewed in this session. War diaries document operations, not materials specifications. No asbestos content asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-06
-
[8]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 37 kt, cpl. 319) + Fletcher class design references (Atlas class-c profile: 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 GE geared steam-turbine sets, 60,000 shp); NARA RG19 'General Information Books' archival lead [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; Atlas Fletcher class profile (class-c worktree); shipyards.json (no Seattle-Tacoma entry)
- 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 boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; all documented yard periods (construction at Seattle-Tacoma's Seattle yard 1942-43, Pearl Harbor equipment installation 1944, Guam battle-damage repairs 1945, Puget Sound preinactivation overhaul/drydock 1945-46, Boston modernization 1952) fall inside the Navy's documented peak asbestos-use era. The gasket/packing work alleged in Pelton and the machinery list alleged in Finamore are consistent with this era profile. NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1970
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma construction trades 1942-43; Pearl Harbor (1944), Puget Sound (1945-46), and Boston (1952) yard workers; crew 1944-1970
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - the ship-specific findings for this hull are ev-03 (Pelton) and ev-04 (Finamore); this row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding. The builder yard (Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Seattle/Harbor Island) is not present in the Atlas shipyard dataset, so no yard-level asbestos documentation row attaches to the builder; carried in gaps. NARA GIB retrieval not performed. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-07
-
[9]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-561's construction (1942-43), documented availabilities (1944, 1945-46, 1952), and entire commissioned service (1944-1970) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- pre-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews program-wide
- 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 (standing limitation documented in BATCH-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-08
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, fleet-paced): opinion search "USS Prichett" = 0; "U.S.S. Prichett" = 0; "USS Pritchett" = 0; "Prichett destroyer" = 0; "DD-561" = 0; "DD 561" = 0; "aboard the Prichett" = 0; bare "Prichett" = 205 surname-collision opinions (no vessel reference in reviewed top results); RECAP/docket search "USS Prichett" = 1 (Pelton); "USS Pritchett" = 2 (Pelton + Finamore); "DD-561"/"DD 561" = 5 each (Pelton + Finamore + 3 non-vessel collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search type=o and type=r plus docket-detail fetch, 2026-09-27 (see search_ledger sl-rows)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener exact-name (both spellings, both punctuations) and hull-number sweep located exactly two docketed asbestos cases naming this hull - Pelton v. John Crane (N.D. Ill., ev-03) and Finamore v. Air & Liquid Systems (C.D. Cal., ev-04) - and no opinion-database hit naming the vessel. The Pelton memorandum opinion itself is not in the opinion index (it lives on the RECAP docket). Non-vessel "DD-561" docket hits: Brij Jhingen bankruptcy (E.D.N.Y.), In re Paatalo (D. Mont.), and Smiley Company counterfeit-goods litigation (S.D. Fla.) - the token matches document/page identifiers, not the vessel; classified as name collisions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- indexed case law through 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage is indexed opinions and RECAP dockets - unindexed state-court filings, MDL-875 pleading exhibits, and non-digitized records are not covered; absence here is absence of an indexed record, not proof none exists. Pelton originated in Cook County state court (2021L006906) and Finamore likely in California state court - the state-court phases are not RECAP-indexed. Both filings misspell the hull 'Pritchett'; searches under both spellings were run. Prichett is otherwise a low-collision name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-09
-
[11]Batch-3532 search ledger (this record): DANFS (hazegray mirror via Wayback); NavSource operational data + official-photo captions; NARA/DPLA war diary; Marina Militare history page; GAO HRD-80-2; CourtListener sweeps; law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-prichett-dd561-01 through sl-uss-prichett-dd561-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Beyond the two litigation records (ev-03, ev-04), no hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, or hazmat disclosure was located for DD-561 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was transferred to Italy in 1970 and stricken and scrapped there in 1975 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and never became a museum or reserve-fleet hold, so the disclosure channels that produced ship-specific records for preserved hulls do not exist here.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1975
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-standard applications are documented at class/era level and alleged in the located litigation records. The hull no longer exists, so present-day ACM status is moot; post-USN material handling under Italian custody (1970-1975) and the scrapping site/process are undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-prichett-dd561-10
