Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet jn-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-rowan-dd405-pkt-jn-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Rowan III (DD-405) - live NHHC page (specifications block + service narrative; retrieved 2026-09-27 with browser user-agent; the page returns 404 to default fetchers) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry Rowan III (DD-405), specifications block + service narrative (page footer dates text revision 21 October 2005, published 31 August 2015)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull (specs block: displacement 1,850; length 340'6"; beam 35'5"; draft 17'3"; speed 37 kt; complement 175; 4 x 5-inch guns, 16 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Benham): laid down 25 June 1937 by Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.; launched 5 May 1938, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth H. Rowan; commissioned 23 September 1939, Lt. Comdr. B. R. Harrison, Jr. in command. Shakedown Caribbean; Pacific duty based San Diego from 17 May 1940; Atlantic Neutrality Patrol from May 1941; convoy WS-12X Halifax-Capetown Nov-Dec 1941; TF 99 with the British Home Fleet covering PQ-16/QP-12 and PQ-17/QP-13 (shot down one German bomber approaching PQ-17, 2 July 1942); overhaul at Boston July-August 1942; Operation Torch with TF 34 (Fedhala 7 November; action off Casablanca 10 November); two Casablanca convoys Dec 1942-Apr 1943 (UGS-6 lost five merchantmen 13-17 March); TF 80 Mers-el-Kebir from May 1943; Sicily patrols off Gela/Palermo and shore bombardment 26 July; Salerno Southern Attack Force screen from 9 September; torpedoed by German E-boat after midnight on the night of 10-11 September while screening emptied transports to Oran; sank in less than a minute, 202 of 273 officers and men lost. Five battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1943
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1937-39; wartime crew (design complement 175; 273 aboard at loss)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS is silent on a stricken-from-register date and gives no loss coordinates. Live NHHC page verified 2026-09-27; a destroyerhistory.org verbatim transcription was used as cross-check (it prints 'April 1944' for the Dec 1942 convoy passage - a transcription typo; live DANFS reads April 1943, consistent with the September 1943 loss).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1943 edition (SHIPS-8; Navy Department 1 April 1943; declassified 5 January 1946) - DD-405 row, serial 294; Navy Department Library scan hosted by shipscribe.com [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1943 vol. 1, destroyer tabulated data, pp. 143/146-147, serial 294 ROWAN DD405 (contract, machinery, quarters, armament columns)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official BuShips data-book rows for this hull (serial 294): contract row reads 'Navy Yard, Norfolk' as builder, act authorizing building 27 March 1934, date assigned to yard 9 September 1935 / supplementary contract 14 February 1936, keel laid 25 June 1937, ship launched 5 May 1938, contract date of completion 14 August 1939, date of first commission 23 September 1939; machinery row reads 2 propellers, 'Westgh. turb. red. gr.' (Westinghouse turbines with reduction gearing), 3 Babcock & Wilcox oil-burning boilers, 2 turbo generating sets; quarters row reads 10 officer normal accommodations, 7 emergency, 18 chief petty officers, 230 enlisted men; armament row consistent with class fit (5-inch/38 guns, quadruple 21-inch torpedo mounts).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1935-1943
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1937-39; crew berthing per quarters row (~230 enlisted + officer/CPO accommodations)
- Limitations
- Official government data book naming this hull; documents machinery fit, build dates, and berthing - not materials or asbestos content. Resolves the Benham-class boiler-count conflict FOR THIS HULL (3 B&W boilers per the hull's own row; the class-page general-information block's '4 x B&W at 400 psi' is not asserted). Table cells read from the scanned page image; ditto-mark cells interpreted against nearest explicit entries in column.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, NAVSHIPS 50(374), War Damage Report No. 50, 'Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1944' (Preliminary Design Section, Navy Department, 1 May 1945), para. 2-37 - ROWAN (DD405) [other_primary]
- Locator
- WDR-50, Section II Summary and Discussion, para. 2-37 (HyperWar/NHC transcription)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips war-damage analysis names this hull: 'A similar phenomenon evidently occurred on ROWAN (DD405), the only U. S. destroyer known lost during the first three years of the war by an immediate magazine explosion from an enemy weapon. In the case of ROWAN, a German "E"-boat torpedo apparently struck and detonated abreast an after magazine which probably contained spare depth charges, causing a mass detonation of the depth charges.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-09-11
- Population
- 273 officers and men aboard at loss (202 killed; survivors rescued per DANFS narrative)
- Limitations
- Official loss-mechanism analysis; documents the mass-detonation sinking (consistent with instantaneous loss, no salvage, no postwar documentation possible for this hull) - not materials or asbestos content. Does not name the firing E-boat.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-03
-
[5]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, USS Rowan (DD-405) page - official U.S. Navy photograph captions (Naval Historical Center / NARA collections), via HyperWar/ibiblio mirror [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library USS Rowan (DD-405) page + photo captions NH 103502, NH 103503, NH 103504, 19-N-23833, 80-G-54604
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC photo record for this hull: describes a '1500-ton Benham class destroyer built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, placed in commission in September 1939,' summarizes Atlantic/Mediterranean service, and records that on the night of 10-11 September 1943 'while escorting empty ships out of the landing area, Rowan engaged attacking German motor torpedo boats. She was hit by a torpedo and sank quickly, with the loss of over two-hundred of her crew members.' Holds official photographs NH 103502-103504 (underway 1939-40; 16 Aug 1940; high-lining from Augusta CA-31 4 Dec 1942), 19-N-23833 (ship's historical data plate, Norfolk Navy Yard, 24 November 1939), and 80-G-54604 (survivor aboard rescue ship, National Archives collection).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1943
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard trades 1939 (data plate); wartime crew
- Limitations
- Official photo captions document construction, service, and loss - not materials or asbestos content. The historical data plate photo (19-N-23833) is the closest official construction artifact; the plate itself is not transcribed in the caption.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-04
-
[6]Benham-class design data (destroyerhistory.org general-information block, sourced to the Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book for USS Benham, USS Ellet and USS Lang; Friedman; Bauer & Roberts) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Norfolk Naval Shipyard record (EPA Superfund VA1170024813; NAVFAC site descriptions naming asbestos as disposed material) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Benham-class general-information block; shipyards.json record 'norfolk-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Benham-class destroyer built 1937-39 with a high-pressure oil-fired steam plant (this hull's SDB-documented fit: 3 B&W boilers, Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 shafts, 50,000 shp) would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing, plus deck coverings. The builder yard (Norfolk Navy Yard / Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth) is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2): EPA Superfund listing VA1170024813 and NAVFAC environmental site descriptions name asbestos among disposed materials, and the yard record carries period asbestos product lines (Thermobestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Unibestos, pipe insulation and lagging, boiler and turbine insulation, gaskets, packing). The BuC&R General Information Books (NARA RG19) are the archival lead for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1937-1943
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades 1937-39; Boston overhaul yard period 1942 (facility not named in DANFS); crew 1939-43
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. Yard-level asbestos documentation attests to materials in use and disposed at the builder yard, not to materials installed aboard DD-405. The BuC&R GIB was not retrieved; whether a hull-specific volume itemizes insulation materials is unverified. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 exact-name and hull-number litigation sweep (queries: "USS Rowan", "U.S.S. Rowan", "aboard the Rowan", "DD-405" across opinion and RECAP docket indexes) via cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py exit code 2 (COURTLISTENER PACING) at multiple attempts 2026-09-27
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep for this hull is INCOMPLETE: the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing budget (shared ~114 requests/hour token bucket across all batch sessions) was spent at each attempt on 2026-09-27, and no CourtListener result was obtained. Collision hazards for any future hit: 'Rowan' is a common surname and Rowan Companies (offshore drilling) is itself an asbestos-litigation defendant; four Navy ships have borne the name (TB-8, DD-64, DD-405, DD-782) - DD-782 served 1945-1977 and is the likely referent for postwar exposure allegations, while DD-405's service ended 11 September 1943. Bare-name hits require hull attribution before classification.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- No CourtListener result obtained this session - the negative component of this record's asbestos finding is conditional on a completed sweep. Even a completed negative sweep would not exclude unindexed dockets, unreported settlements, or state-court matters. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-06
-
[8]Batch-3391 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS page; destroyerhistory.org DANFS transcription cross-check; BuShips Ships' Data 1943 (DD-405 serial-294 rows read from page images); BuShips WDR-50 para. 2-37; NHHC Online Library captions; Atlas shipyard dataset; NavSource/uboat.net/NavalCoverMuseum corroboration; open-web sweep; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-rowan-dd405-01 through sl-uss-rowan-dd405-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-405: the hull is a 1943 war loss that was never salvaged, so no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, or museum hazmat disclosure can exist; the CourtListener sweep was blocked by the fleet pacing limiter at research time and is logged as blocked (a negative litigation finding is therefore conditional on completing that sweep - see BATCH-3391-REPORT.md); and the hull-level material-specification lead (BuC&R General Information Book, NARA RG19) was not retrieved.
- 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 1937-39 steam destroyer of this class would be expected to carry era-standard insulated fit (ev-05), but that expectation is class/era inference, not a ship-specific documentation finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-rowan-dd405-07