Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]DANFS, Seaman (DD-791) entry (verbatim transcription via hazegray.org DANFS Online archive; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, complete stub paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull, in full: 'Seaman (DD-791), a never completed Gearing class destroyer, was laid down on 10 July 1945 by the Seattle - Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle Wash.; launched on 29 May 1946; sponsored by Mrs. Barbara K. Seaman Widow of Lt. Comdr. Seaman; and delivered, partially complete on 25 June 1946 to the officer in charge of demobilizing shipping for the 13th Naval District. Never commissioned, the destroyer was subsequently placed in the Bremerton Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet, where she remained until struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1961. her hulk was sold to the First Steel and Ship Corp., New York on 12 September 1961, and was delivered to the Learner Co., Alameda Calif., on 22 September 1961 for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1961
- Population
- Sea-Tac construction trades 1945-46; Bremerton reserve-fleet custodial personnel 1946-61; Learner Co. shipbreakers 1961-62 - none documented at hull level
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity and lifecycle only - no materials, asbestos content, or extent of outfitting at the partial-completion delivery. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; the same verbatim text appears identically in the NavSource-linked hazegray entry, globalsecurity.org, and Wikipedia. NavSource renders the scrapper 'Lerner Co., Oakland' - spelling conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-01
-
[2]NHHC, United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995, Appendix 12 'Ships Named for Naval Aviators' (p. 603) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Appendix 12 table, Seaman (DD 791) row + footnote '##Never commissioned.'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC official publication lists 'Seaman (DD 791)##' among ships named for naval aviators - namesake LCDR Allen L. Seaman, USNR - where the '##' footnote reads 'Never commissioned.' Independent official confirmation that this hull was named but never commissioned.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- publication 1995; ship 1945-46
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Namesake and commissioning-status record only; contains no materials or asbestos information. The footnote confirms non-commissioning but does not describe completion state.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-02
-
[3]Destroyer History Foundation, 'Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding, Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, WA' builder history page [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Seattle-Tacoma builder page, paragraphs 2-4
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Foundation-maintained yard history names this hull explicitly: the Harbor Island 'Sea-Tac' yard laid ten Gearing-class keels after its Gleaves/Fletcher/Sumner runs, 'the tenth, Seaman, DD 791, was never completed'; the yard was taken over during WWII by Todd Dry Dock & Construction Company and its Seattle Division delivered 126 ships with a wartime workforce that peaked at 17,000 employees at Harbor Island.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1946
- Population
- Sea-Tac Harbor Island construction workforce (program level ~17,000)
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary (foundation) source, not a primary document - used for yard identity and the never-completed fact, which agrees with DANFS. Contains no asbestos content; the 17,000 figure is yard-program employment, not a hull-level population.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-03
-
[4]Navypedia, 'Gearing destroyers (1944-1952)' class table and project history [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class member table, DD791 row; project history paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class table records DD-791 Seaman (Todd-Pacific Seattle yard no. 46) laid down 7/1945, launched 20.5.1946, never commissioned, 'cancelled 1.3.1961'; project history records 5 incomplete destroyers (DD-720, 721, 766, 767, 791) suspended and later sold for scrap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1961
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary compilation, not a primary document. Its 20 May 1946 launch date conflicts with DANFS's 29 May 1946 (carried per DANFS; conflict in gaps); its 'cancelled 1.3.1961' reuses the Navy-list strike date - the hull was already delivered to the Navy, not contract-cancelled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-04
-
[5]Consolidated era/design inference - Gearing-class technical data (navypedia class table; DANFS stub) + Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., E.D. Va. 4:17-cv-00009, ECF 171 drawing recital + GAO HRD-80-2 era context [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia Gearing technical data; Goodrich omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (per class profile); GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: DD-791 was built to the Gearing-class design - four Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers and 60,000-shp GE geared steam turbines - at the peak of Navy asbestos use. Era-standard applications for the design: boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe lagging, turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets and packing, and accommodation insulation. A litigation-recited engineering drawing for Sumner-class DD-692-group machinery (shared with the Gearing class) specifies amosite felts and asbestos cloths on forced-draft blower turbines, with an expert partial tally of 30.3 tons of asbestos thermal insulation/lagging in fire/engine rooms.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1946 construction window
- Population
- Construction trades at Sea-Tac 1945-46 (to whatever extent material was installed)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific record exists for DD-791, and because the hull was delivered partially complete the extent of installed insulation is genuinely undocumented (a complete sister-hull fit cannot be presumed aboard this hull). The Goodrich drawing recital is litigation-record material, not an adjudicated classwide quantity; the 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally, not a hull inventory. Establishes no exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-05
-
[6]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 the Navy's asbestos-protection program: the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-791's 1945-46 construction window squarely inside the documented asbestos-use era. Standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979 report; applies to construction era 1945-46
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not class- or hull-specific - and marginal to this hull, which was stricken 1961, before the documented policy period. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-06
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweeps: "USS Seaman" (type=o), "USS Seaman" asbestos (type=o), "DD-791" (type=o), "USS Seaman" (type=r), "DD-791" (type=r) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener search API v4, queries as cited; see search_ledger sl-uss-seaman-dd791-06 through -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located: exact-phrase opinion searches for 'USS Seaman' (with and without 'asbestos') and 'DD-791' each returned zero indexed opinions, and the exact-phrase RECAP docket search for 'USS Seaman' returned zero qualifying dockets; the 'DD-791' RECAP docket query remained blocked by fleet-wide pacing at research close. 'Seaman' is a high-collision string (maritime occupation and surname), so phrase-bound queries were used; a name match would not automatically qualify - every hit would require classification before use.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Absence of a located docket does not prove no claimant ever alleged exposure aboard DD-791 - RECAP indexing is incomplete for state-court filings and older federal dockets, ship-name mentions inside unindexed attachments are not searchable, and the 'DD-791' docket-type query did not complete (fleet pacing; ledger sl-08). Given the hull was never commissioned and never carried a crew, crew-service asbestos claims are structurally unlikely; residual litigation surface is construction (1945-46), reserve-fleet custody (1946-61), and shipbreaking (1961).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-07
-
[8]Batch-3764 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page (404); hazegray DANFS mirror; NHHC Appendix 12; destroyerhistory.org Sea-Tac page; navypedia Gearing table; NVR DD-791 detail page; NARA catalog; CourtListener sweeps; GAO product page [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-seaman-dd791-01 through sl-uss-seaman-dd791-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull ACM survey, no BuShips material schedule, no abatement contract, no mothballing work package, and no hazmat/disposal disclosure was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship's unusual status - partially complete, never commissioned, fifteen years in mothballs, scrapped 1961 - leaves no museum, no operational crew record, and no modernization program through which ship-specific asbestos documentation typically surfaces.
- 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-standard applications are documented at class/era level, and the hull was built far enough toward completion to be launched and accepted by the Navy. NARA RG 19 contract/specification series and inactive-ship custodial files remain unretrieved archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-seaman-dd791-08