USS RENSHAW (DD-499)

Evidence

7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).

1. [1]DANFS, Renshaw III (DD-499) - NHHC DANFS page via Wayback capture 2021-01-21 (live page returns 404); verbatim transcription cross-checked at https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DD/dd499.html [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC DANFS page (Wayback 2021-01-21), Renshaw III (DD-499) entry - specifications block and full service narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: laid down 7 May 1942 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; launched 13 October 1942, sponsored by Miss Dorothy Lillian Renshaw; commissioned 5 December 1942, Lt. Comdr. C. F. Chillingworth in command. Pacific Fleet from spring 1943: Solomon Islands transport protection; Vila Stanmore/Shortland bombardment 2 July 1943; Empress Augusta Bay and Bougainville operations November 1943-March 1944; Marianas/Tinian fire support; November 1944 Ormoc Bay-area antishipping sweeps including destruction of a surfaced Japanese submarine; Lingayen Gulf screen for the 9 January 1945 landings. On 21 February 1945 (NHHC text; ibiblio transcription reads 19 February - conflict in gaps), escorting a Palawan-bound landing-craft convoy in the Mindanao Sea, she was struck by an enemy submarine torpedo ~10 feet below the waterline: firerooms flooded, all power lost, a large hull section warped, bulkheads and decks fractured; 19 killed and 20 injured; damage-control parties halved flooding within minutes and the main propulsion machinery was undamaged. Temporary forward-area repairs in April 1945 by ship's force with destroyer tender USS Whitney (AD-4) and repair ship USS Prometheus (AR-3); then under own power to Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash., permanent repairs completed early October 1945. Carried President Truman for the 27 October 1945 Navy Day fleet review in New York Harbor. Decommissioned February 1947 to the U.S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet; converted to a specialized antisubmarine vessel 1949-1950 and recommissioned June 1950 as DDE-499. Korean tours May-November 1951 and November 1952-June 1953; Operation Castle (Pacific Proving Grounds) February-May 1954; repeated WestPac deployments from Pearl Harbor through 1960; Weapon Alpha received 1960; recovered the Discoverer 36 nose cone 17 December 1961; redesignated DD-499 on 7 August 1962; participated in the Project Mercury recovery of Comdr. Walter M. Schirra 3 October 1962; WestPac November 1963; South China Sea/Taiwan/Vietnam operations from March 1965 (Destroyer Division 252); alternate recovery ship for Project Gemini October/December 1965; 11th WestPac tour from 5 July 1966 including special operations with USS Chicago (CG-11) in the Tonkin Gulf; Hawaiian area 1967; Yankee Station April-September 1968; final WestPac June-December 1969. Decommissioned and stricken 14 February 1970; sold for scrapping October 1970 to Zidell Explorations Inc. Eight WWII, five Korean, and six Vietnam battle stars.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1942-1970

   Population

   Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 329); Todd Pacific Tacoma repair workforce 1945; USS Whitney and USS Prometheus repair personnel 1945; DDE-conversion yard workforce 1949-50 (yard unnamed in DANFS)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The torpedo-damage narrative (firerooms flooded; bulkheads/decks fractured; repair by ship's force, tender, and repair-ship personnel, then a stateside yard period) documents machinery-space damage and repair aboard this hull but says nothing about insulation materials or exposure. The 1949-50 DDE conversion is described without naming the performing yard. Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture of the NHHC page is the cited source with the ibiblio transcription as cross-check.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-01

2. [2]NavSource Naval History destroyer photo index, USS Renshaw (DD-499/DDE-499) - operational/building data (YN 215; dates; Zidell sale particulars) and photo-caption metadata including commissioning at Brooklyn Navy Yard 1942-12-05 and dual launch with USS Philip (DD-498) 1942-10-13 (courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center photograph) [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.org/archives/05/499.htm, 'Operational and Building Data' block and photo captions (consulted via Wayback capture 2024-05-27; live site unreachable)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource photo-index record for this hull corroborating and supplementing DANFS: built by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny, NJ (yard number YN 215); laid down 7 May 1942; launched 13 October 1942 in dual christening with USS Philip (DD-498); commissioned 5 December 1942 - a Third Naval District public-relations photo caption places the commissioning at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; decommissioned February 1947; reclassified escort destroyer DDE-499 26 March 1949; recommissioned 2 June 1950; reverted to DD-499 30 June 1962 (DANFS reads 7 August 1962 - conflict in gaps); decommissioned and stricken 14 February 1970; sold September 1970 to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland, OR for $85,333.33 and broken up (DANFS reads October 1970 - conflict in gaps).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1942-1970

   Population

   Crew 1942-1970; New York Naval Shipyard commissioning personnel December 1942

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archive, not an official record - used here for corroboration and disposition particulars (sale price, redesignation dates, commissioning site); its figures rest on official records it does not reproduce. Its DD-499 reversion date (30 June 1962) and sale date (September 1970) conflict with DANFS (7 August 1962; October 1970) - conflicts documented in gaps rather than reconciled. No materials or asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-02

3. [3]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class, 35 kt, complement 329) + Atlas shipyard dataset federal-shipbuilding-kearny record (Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey of the Kearny yard, 1944-08-30 to 1944-09-02; Heathman v. Owens-Corning, Brazoria County TX, interrogatory exhibit) + GAO HRD-80-2 (1979) + fletcher-class.class.json member row for DD-499 [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' (flagship evidence ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944); GAO HRD-80-2 product page; fletcher-class.class.json

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built 1942 with a four-Babcock & Wilcox-boiler, twin-shaft GE geared-turbine 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, boiler and steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; builder Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny, NJ is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset, including a contemporaneous Owens-Illinois Industrial Health Survey (30 August-2 September 1944) that recorded insulators cutting and fitting Johns-Manville Superex pipe covering and Kaylo boiler insulation in confined yard spaces - the same product lines in use at the yard when this hull was built there two years earlier. GAO HRD-80-2 documents that Navy-wide substitution of alternative insulation materials did not begin until the early 1970s, placing this hull's entire lifecycle (construction 1942, service 1942-47 and 1950-70, scrapping 1970) inside the documented asbestos-use era. The Fletcher class file (fletcher-class.class.json) records the same class-level inference and no ship-specific record for any of the 175 hulls.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1942-1970

   Population

   Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1942; crew 1942-1947 and 1950-1970

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a ship-specific finding. The Kearny industrial survey postdates this hull's 1942 construction window by two years and documents yard practice, not this hull's bill of materials. No hull-level insulation schedule, material list, survey, abatement record, or litigation product identification has been located for DD-499; asbestos presence aboard this specific hull is reasonable era inference, not ship-proven. NARA RG 19 General Information Books (per-vessel material specifications) are the archival lead for hull-level specs - retrieval not performed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-03

4. [4]U.S. Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions naming this hull: decision 1116906 (2011; herbicide exposure aboard USS Renshaw DD-499, offshore Vietnam July 1965-November 1966); decision 1802214 (2018; AML claim, herbicide exposure aboard USS Renshaw); decision A21020594 (2021; AML, VA-confirmed offshore Vietnam service on USS Renshaw deck logs); decision A25006856 (2025; accrued-benefits AML claim, conceded herbicide exposure aboard USS Renshaw on deck-log review); decision A23005090 (2023; USS America claimant - USS Renshaw deck logs cited to fix ship positions near Con Co Island, June 1968) [court_record]

   Locator

   va.gov/vetapp decision texts: vetapp11/files2/1116906.txt; vetapp18/Files1/1802214.txt; vetapp21/Files12/A21020594.txt; vetapp25/Files1/A25006856.txt; vetapp23/Files3/A23005090.txt

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   VA adjudication sweep: the Board of Veterans' Appeals decision corpus contains multiple decisions naming USS Renshaw (DD-499), but every located decision is an herbicide (Agent Orange) claim arising from the ship's 1965-1969 Vietnam-era offshore operations - none asserts or adjudicates asbestos exposure aboard this hull. The decisions confirm this hull's deck logs exist and were used by VA records research to establish offshore Vietnam service. Classified as non-asbestos 'other litigation' naming the hull; no qualifying asbestos claim located in the BVA corpus searched.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1965-1969 (service at issue); 2011-2025 (decisions)

   Population

   U.S. Navy veterans claiming service aboard USS Renshaw (DD-499), Vietnam era

   Limitations

   BVA decisions are agency adjudications, not Article III court records; they adjudicate individual-benefit claims and do not survey hull materials. Absence of an asbestos claim in the located decisions does not prove no asbestos claim was ever filed - BVA text coverage and indexing are partial. The herbicide decisions are exposure-adjudication precedents for a different agent and do not bear on asbestos aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-04

5. [5]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep, 2026-09-27: type=o opinions for "USS Renshaw", "DDE-499", and "aboard the Renshaw" OR "aboard USS Renshaw" all returned zero; "DD-499" opinions returned one name collision (docket-number match); type=r RECAP dockets returned two real hits - Smith v. Crane Co., No. 1:13-cv-07411 (N.D. Ill., nature of suit 368 P.I.: Asbestos, removed under 28:1442) and Agena v. Cleaver-Brooks, Inc., No. 19-cv-0089 (D. Haw., RICO over underlying asbestos settlements) [court_record]

   Locator

   CourtListener API v4 search, type=o and type=r; dockets 4261559 (Smith v. Crane, N.D. Ill. 1:13-cv-07411) and 16612501 (Agena v. Cleaver-Brooks, D. Haw. 19-cv-0089)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener sweep resolved as follows. OPINIONS (type=o): zero opinions contain the phrases "USS Renshaw", "DDE-499", or "aboard [the] USS Renshaw"; the single "DD-499" opinion hit (Tony's Pizza King, Inc. v. Burger Chef Systems, Inc., Fla. 3d DCA 1977) is a docket-NUMBER collision (Fla. docket No. DD-499), not the hull. DOCKETS (type=r): (1) Smith v. Crane Co. et al., No. 1:13-cv-07411 (N.D. Ill., filed 2013-10-16, terminated 2014-12-17, Judge Gettleman) is a qualifying asbestos personal-injury docket in which the string "USS Renshaw" appears in the RECAP-indexed docket corpus - public reporting on the case (plaintiff Kenneth Smith, alleged Navy asbestos exposure 1964-1968, mesothelioma diagnosed 2013-06-25; loss-of-consortium claim dismissed July 2014) is consistent with a complaint ship-list reference to this hull, whose active period (through 1970) covers the alleged exposure window, but the exact role of the reference is unverified at filing-text level. (2) Agena v. Cleaver-Brooks, Inc., No. 19-cv-0089-DKW (D. Haw. 2019) is a RICO action by 50+ former Hawaii asbestos plaintiffs alleging they were fraudulently induced to settle underlying asbestos claims - the "USS Renshaw" match sits in underlying-case material, not an exposure allegation pleaded in that action (non-qualifying as a hull reference; flagged so it is not misread). Remaining "DD-499" docket hits (United States v. Otzin Ramos N.D. Iowa criminal; IN RE: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation No. VI JPML master docket; Nickelson and Castellanos FLSA; Andrews v. D'Souza voting rights; Lyondell Chemical bankruptcy S.D.N.Y.) are entry/document-number or unrelated-text collisions; the MDL-875 master-docket match could not be pinpointed from the index and is probably an entry-number collision - unverified.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1964-1968 (alleged exposure); 2013-2014 (litigation); 2019-2024 (Agena)

   Population

   Kenneth Smith (USN 1964-1968, mesothelioma - exposure allegation includes this hull per docket text, unverified at document level)

   Limitations

   Smith v. Crane is at most a pleading-stage allegation: per litigation-stage discipline it is classified as an archival lead, not a finding - the complaint's vessel list is an allegation, and the case terminated 2014-12-17 without any merits adjudication touching this hull (the July 2014 order dismissed only the loss-of-consortium count on pre-marriage grounds). Whether 'USS Renshaw' appears in that complaint as an exposure vessel or a service-history list entry is unverified - RECAP document text was not retrievable within session pacing budget. Agena is a RICO derivative action; its 'Renshaw' text does not plead exposure aboard this hull. No opinion, verdict, or adjudicated finding naming DD-499/DDE-499 was located.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-05

6. [6]Batch-3481 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (Wayback + ibiblio + hazegray mirrors), NavSource, VA BVA decision corpus, NARA logbook holdings, National Museum of the Pacific War, Korean War Project legacy file, web sweep of authoritative sources [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-renshaw-dd499-01 through sl-uss-renshaw-dd499-12

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, insulation-material schedule, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, product manifest, or docketed asbestos case naming DD-499/DDE-499 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Law-firm list pages (shepardlawfirm.com, mesotheliomahelp.org, elslaw.com, mesolawcenter.com) place 'USS Renshaw DD-499' in generic asbestos-ship rosters - non-authoritative marketing content excluded per batch rules; none documents a hull-level fact.

   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 practice and the builder yard's documented product use make asbestos presence reasonable to presume, but no ship-specific source confirms it. The hull was scrapped in 1970, before Navy asbestos-substitution policy and before the asbestos-litigation era, and no museum or reserve-hulk phase exists to produce modern survey documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-06

7. [7]NARA, Logbooks of the U.S. Navy (RG 24 Entry 118 holdings note; post-1941 deck logs at Archives II; Vietnam-era logbooks digitized by VA under the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, released to the Catalog in batches); NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships records; USS Renshaw association 'Historical Logs' transcriptions (ussrenshaw.org, non-authoritative) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov logbook guide; catalog.archives.gov (search UI/queried, no digitized DD-499 item located at search time); ussrenshaw.org/logs.htm

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Archival leads not yet pulled: (1) post-1941 deck logs for this hull at NARA Archives II (College Park) - Vietnam-era volumes were VA-digitized under the Blue Water Navy Act and are staged into the National Archives Catalog in batches; BVA decisions cited in ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-04 confirm the logs exist and are consulted for ship-position facts (e.g., June 1968 positions near Con Co Island); (2) NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships records, including per-vessel 'General Information Books' carrying material specifications - the documented path to a hull-level insulation schedule if one survives; (3) RECAP document text for Smith v. Crane Co. (N.D. Ill. 1:13-cv-07411) complaint and exhibits - the document-level check that would resolve whether 'USS Renshaw' is pleaded as an exposure vessel; (4) the USS Renshaw association site (ussrenshaw.org) hosts volunteer 'Historical Logs' transcriptions by year 1942-1970 - a non-authoritative but potentially useful window into yard availabilities; the site is link-rot/spam contaminated and was not relied on for any carried fact.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1942-1970

   Limitations

   Leads only - no underlying record was retrieved for this batch. Deck logs record movements, availabilities, and casualties, not insulation content; RG 19 GIBs may carry material specifications but retrieval was not performed. The association-site transcriptions are unverified secondary content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-renshaw-dd499-07