Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]research packet ev-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-radford-dd446-pkt-ev-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Radford II (DD-446) (builder, dates, specifications block, service narrative, striking; verbatim 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 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., 2 October 1941; launched 3 May 1942 (sponsor Mrs. Francois E. Matthes); commissioned 22 July 1942, Lt. Comdr. William K. Romoser; Pacific service 1943-45 (Guadalcanal, Kolombangara, Kula Gulf - rescued Helena survivors; sank Japanese submarine I-40 off Makin 25 November 1943); San Francisco overhaul December 1943 - February 1944; mined in Mariveles Harbor while maneuvering to tow the mine-damaged La Vallette (secondary compilations date it 14 February 1945, three killed); repairs at San Francisco to 30 September 1945; decommissioned 17 January 1946; converted to escort destroyer DDE-446, 26 March 1949; recommissioned at San Francisco 17 October 1949; Korean service with TF 77 (incl. Wonsan Harbor operations with Manchester CL-83, July 1953); FRAM II overhaul at the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Pearl Harbor beginning 25 March 1960, seven months, adding helicopter hangar and flight deck; reverted to DD-446 7 August 1962; 1963 overhaul installed Variable Depth Sonar and DASH; Vietnam/Yankee Station 1967-69; decommissioned at San Francisco and struck 10 November 1969, to be sold for scrap; 12 WWII, 5 Korean, and 4 Vietnam battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1970
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-42; wartime and postwar crew (design complement 329); Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers during FRAM II (1960)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history, dates, and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The named yards are Federal Shipbuilding (builder) and the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Pearl Harbor (FRAM II); the several 'San Francisco' yard periods (1943-44 overhaul, 1945 repairs, 1949 DDE conversion/recommissioning, 1969 decommissioning) do not name a specific yard. Mine-damage date is not given in DANFS (14 February 1945 rests on secondary compilations). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-radford-dd446-01
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[3]Presidential Unit Citation, USS Radford (DD-446) - verbatim transcription of the Secretary of the Navy citation text (Frank Knox), Destroyer History Foundation [other_primary]
- Locator
- PUC transcription page (citation text, dated to SecNav Frank Knox)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Presidential Unit Citation awarded to this hull for the night of 5-6 July 1943 off Kolombangara: after the Kula Gulf surface action Radford remained behind with one accompanying destroyer to rescue survivors of the torpedoed USS Helena, cleared the area three times under attack, and 'complete[d] the heroic rescue of more than seven hundred survivors.' Secondary sources also credit a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- Crew, July 1943
- Limitations
- Citation text is reproduced verbatim on a reputable private foundation site (Destroyer History Foundation), not on an official .mil page - transcription accepted as the award text. Documents combat service only; no bearing on materials or asbestos. The 'more than seven hundred' figure covers the combined two-ship rescue; per-ship embarkation counts vary in secondary sources (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-radford-dd446-02
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[4]NPS NHL nomination machinery data for Fletcher-class USS Kidd (4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2-shaft GE geared steam turbines, 60,000 shp) + NavSource DD-446 data block (YN 199, contract NOD-1433 awarded 1940-07-01; sold October 1970, broken up for scrap; 60,000 SHP GE geared turbines, 2 screws) + Atlas shipyard dataset, federal-shipbuilding-kearny record (1944 Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of insulation work at the yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NPS NHL nomination 83000502 item 7 (Fletcher-class machinery); NavSource USS Radford (DD-446) data block; shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-42 with the class-standard four-Babcock-&-Wilcox-boiler, GE geared-turbine, 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; builder Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset - including an Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of the yard (Aug. 30 - Sep. 2, 1944) documenting asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex), boiler insulation (Kaylo), fireproofing (Monokote), and gaskets (Garlock) in shipyard insulation work.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1971
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-42; crew 1942-69; scrapping workers 1970-71
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The 1944 yard survey postdates this hull's 1942 launch and commissioning and documents yard practice, not materials installed aboard DD-446. Machinery details rest on class-level (NPS Kidd nomination) and secondary (NavSource) documentation; the DD-446 DANFS specifications block lists speed (35 k.) but not plant detail. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-radford-dd446-03
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[5]CourtListener API v4 searches: 'USS Radford' type=o (0 hits) and type=r (1 hit - Waltman v. Winter, D.D.C. 1:06-cv-00844, Navy JAG statutory suit, non-qualifying); 'DD-446' type=o (0 hits) and type=r (8 hits, all non-vessel string collisions); '"Radford" asbestos' type=o (50 hits, all surname/place collisions); 'aboard the Radford' type=o (0 hits) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search results: 'USS Radford' (type=o: 0 hits; type=r: 1 hit - Waltman v. Winter, D.D.C. 1:06-cv-00844); 'DD-446' (type=o: 0 hits; type=r: 8 hits, all non-vessel string collisions); '"Radford" asbestos' (type=o: 50 hits, all surname/place collisions); 'aboard the Radford' (type=o: 0 hits)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep classification for this hull: 'USS Radford' opinion search returned zero results; 'DD-446' opinion search returned zero results; 'aboard the Radford' opinion search returned zero results; 'Radford'+asbestos opinion search returned 50 hits, all surname/place collisions (litigants and physicians named Radford; Radford, Va. venues) with no vessel reference; the sole 'USS Radford' docket hit is Waltman v. Winter (D.D.C. 2006), a Navy JAG officer's statutory suit against the Secretary of the Navy - a service-history reference, not asbestos litigation and not qualifying; 'DD-446' docket search returned 8 hits, all string collisions on document/form numbers in unrelated civil dockets (no asbestos, no vessel). The dominant name-collision class is USS Arthur W. Radford (DD-968), a Spruance-class destroyer in service 1977-2003 and sunk as a reef in 2011. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming DD-446 was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Indexed-text classification only; docket-body references that never surfaced in indexed text cannot be excluded. Waltman names the ship in the plaintiff's service history, not as an exposure site. Absence of a qualifying docket does not establish that no claim was ever filed (many asbestos complaints resolve or settle without docketed full text on CourtListener). A separate 'DDE-446' query was not run (marginal - the DDE-era designation would surface under the 'Radford' name queries already swept).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-radford-dd446-04
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[6]Batch-3430 search ledger (this record): DANFS mirror (HyperWar/ibiblio); NHHC live site; NavSource data block via Wayback; Destroyer History Foundation PUC transcription; USS Radford Association newsletter; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; Atlas shipyard dataset [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-radford-dd446-01 through sl-uss-radford-dd446-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-446: no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract or disclosure, no museum hazmat record (the hull was scrapped 1970-71; the USS Radford National Naval Museum, Newcomerstown, OH, 2001-2011, held artifacts, not the hull), and no qualifying asbestos case names this hull - all CourtListener results classify as non-qualifying or name collisions (see ev-04).
- 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 - a 1941-42 Fletcher-class hull is era-consistent with extensive asbestos fit, but that is inference, not ship-proven documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-radford-dd446-05