Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
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[1]research packet fd-packet.md (11 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-spence-dd512-pkt-fd-packet-md
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), Spence (DD-512) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block; construction paragraph; fitting-out/overhaul paragraphs; Typhoon Cobra conclusion; awards paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's DANFS record identifies this Fletcher-class destroyer as laid down 18 May 1942 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; launched 27 October 1942; and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard 8 January 1943. The specifications give displacement 2,050 tons, length 376 feet 6 inches, speed 35.5 knots, complement 273, and class Fletcher. The service narrative records fitting out at Boston Navy Yard; a three-week July 1943 overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard Annex at Hunters Point; dry-dock maintenance at Pearl Harbor in August 1943; a six-week overhaul at Hunter's Point from August through September 1944; loss in Typhoon Cobra on 18 December 1944; 24 survivors; striking from the Navy Register on 19 January 1945; eight World War II battle stars; and a Presidential Unit Citation as a Destroyer Squadron 23 member for the Solomon Islands campaign, 1 November 1943 through 23 February 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades, 1942-1943; U.S. Navy crew, 1943-1944
- Limitations
- DANFS establishes the hull's identity, dates, service, yard periods, loss, and stated specifications; it does not identify asbestos, insulation composition, products, quantities, individual exposure, or legal eligibility. Its stated design complement (273) differs from its loss narrative (338 aboard; 24 survivors); both are reported without reconciliation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spence-dd512-01
-
[3]U.S. Government Accountability Office, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2, pp. 1-2, 'Navy's Policy on Use of Asbestos'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO reported that thermal insulation was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships and that the Navy's policy to eliminate asbestos-containing materials where alternatives existed was issued in October 1975 after specifications were revised to eliminate asbestos as acceptable thermal insulation. Because DANFS documents Spence's 1942 construction and 1944 loss, the vessel falls wholly before that policy change.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975-1979 report; applied here only as pre-1975 construction-era context
- Population
- Navy ships and shipyard workers addressed by the 1979 GAO review
- Limitations
- This is Navy-wide era documentation, not a Spence material list or installation record. It supports only temporal context; it does not prove that any asbestos-containing material was installed aboard, retained aboard, disturbed, or encountered by any person on this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spence-dd512-02
-
[4]National Archives, Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA guide sections 'Bureau of Ships General, Confidential, and Secret Correspondence,' 'Specification Files,' and 'Still Pictures/Photographs'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA identifies Record Group 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence arranged by hull designation and class, along with General Information Books, ship engineering drawings, microfilm drawings, deck logs, and muster rolls, as research paths for vessel-specific material evidence. The guide specifically explains that a Fletcher-class vessel can be researched under its hull designation and class correspondence; for this hull the relevant terms are DD512 and Fletcher class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1961 record-series guidance
- Limitations
- The NARA guide is a research roadmap, not evidence of any material aboard Spence. No RG 19 correspondence, drawing, General Information Book, deck log, muster roll, or specification for DD-512 was retrieved or reviewed in this batch; its contents therefore remain unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spence-dd512-03
-
[5]Batch-3490 research ledger: NHHC DANFS; GAO HRD-80-2; NARA Navy-asbestos research guide; CourtListener authenticated-search stand-down [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-spence-dd512-01 through sl-uss-spence-dd512-05
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos documentation was located in the authoritative public sources completed for this batch: no survey, abatement record, environmental record, product-specific material record, or published official history identifies asbestos aboard USS Spence (DD-512). CourtListener's required exact-name/hull-number sweep was not completed because the authenticated fleet budget was exhausted before the initial exact-name request could return results; that gap is separately recorded in the search ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 research sweep
- Limitations
- A lack of located public documentation does not prove asbestos was absent and does not establish or defeat exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. The negative finding excludes CourtListener because that source was unavailable under the mandated fleet pacing control; unreviewed NARA holdings may contain hull-specific information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-spence-dd512-04