Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]DANFS, Sproston I (DD-173) (builder, dates, service narrative, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Sproston I' entry, specifications block + service narrative (hazegray dd173txt.htm, Wayback capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 20 April 1918 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif.; launched 10 August 1918; sponsored by Mrs. George J. Dennis; commissioned 12 July 1919. Sailed to Hawaii and assigned to the Pacific Fleet in the fall of 1919. Reclassified from destroyer to Light Minelayer (DM-13) on 17 July 1920 and continued operating at Pearl Harbor until 1922. Decommissioned at Pearl Harbor 15 August 1922 and attached to the reserve fleet. Struck from the Navy list 1 December 1936; sunk as a target. Spec block: dp. 1,191; l. 310'; b. 30'11"; dr 9'2"; s. 33+ k.; cpl. 122; a. 4 4", 2 3", 12 21" tt.; cl. Wickes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1937
- Population
- Union Iron Works construction trades 1918; wartime/postwar crew (design complement 122)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Gives no sinking date or location and no namesake biography. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404; verbatim hazegray transcription via Wayback capture 2024-06-18 cited per batch convention.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-01
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images, Photo # NH 78596 - 'USS Sproston (Destroyer # 173) Underway, circa 1919-1920' (verbatim NHHC page via ibiblio mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library, Photo # NH 78596 picture-data page
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NHHC photograph catalog entry for this hull: NH 78596, USS Sproston (Destroyer # 173) underway circa 1919-1920, public domain U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph. Independently corroborates the hull's identity, configuration, and active service period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1919-1920 (image); cataloged by NHHC
- Population
- Crew depicted in service era (1919-1920)
- Limitations
- Photograph caption record only - establishes hull identity and service-era imagery; contains no materials, insulation, or asbestos information. Live NHHC image servers not queried directly; caption read from NHHC's mirrored Online Library page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-02
-
[3]Naval Vessel Register, DM-13 detail page (NAVSEA) - no ship record returned; NVR coverage statement [other_primary]
- Locator
- nvr.navy.mil SHIPSDETAIL_DM_13 page + NVR coverage statement
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR lookup for DM-13 returns no vessel detail page for this hull. The NVR's published scope statement explains the absence: 'Ships and service craft disposed of prior to 1987 are currently not included' - this hull was stricken 1936 and sunk 1937, so no NVR record exists and none is expected.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26 (lookup); hull disposed 1937
- Limitations
- Absence from NVR is a coverage artifact, not evidence about the ship's condition or materials. Provides a verified negative on a common reference source so downstream users do not mistake missing NVR data for missing history.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-03
-
[4]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (1979-80) + DANFS specifications block (Wickes-class, 33+ kt steam plant) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 (product page hrd-80-2; report abstract); DANFS Sproston I spec block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a Wickes-class destroyer built 1918 at Union Iron Works with a high-powered steam plant (4 water-tube boilers, geared turbines per class design; DANFS confirms 33+ kt design speed) would have carried period-standard asbestos applications: boiler and machinery thermal insulation, steam-line lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, and fireproofing. Program-level corroboration: GAO HRD-80-2 documents that asbestos was the Navy's principal shipboard thermal insulation until the 1973 specification change, and that ships delivered through May 1978 still contained it - bounding the later end of an era that included this hull's 1918 construction.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1922 (hull); 1979-80 (GAO program review)
- Population
- Union Iron Works construction trades 1918; crew 1919-1922 (era exposure pathway only)
- Limitations
- Class/era and program-level inference only - no ship-specific record names asbestos aboard this hull. GAO HRD-80-2 addresses the WWII-era-and-later fleet and shipyard workforce, not 1918 construction; the 4-boiler/turbine configuration is Wickes-class design data, not a hull survey. NARA-era records for this hull are the only path to ship-proven materials data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-04
-
[5]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (guided research topic) - official records pathway for hull-level asbestos documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided topic page; RG 19/24/38 series descriptions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's guided topic establishes the official archival pathway for hull-level asbestos documentation: RG 19 Bureau of Ships correspondence filed by hull designation (ship-, class-, and type-level series), RG 38 Board of Inspection and Survey reports, and shipyard correspondence files (private yards under 'QM' codes). For a hull built 1918 and disposed 1937 the applicable records are the pre-1940 analogs - Bureau of Construction and Repair correspondence and Booklet of General Information hull files, plus RG 24 deck logs (1919-1922) and InSurv reports contemporary with her 1919 acceptance and 1920 DM-13 conversion. No retrieval performed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 1918-1937 (hull records era)
- Limitations
- Research-pathway document, not a hull record. The guide's principal RG 19 series begin in 1940, postdating this hull; pre-1940 BuC&R equivalents exist but were not itemized or retrieved this session. Establishes where evidence could be found, not that asbestos documentation exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep: opinion and RECAP docket indexes, exact-name and hull-number queries [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 type=o and type=r queries; see search_ledger sl-uss-sproston-dd173-05/06/07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep produced no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull. 'USS Sproston' opinion search returned zero results. Bare-name 'Sproston' opinion hits (34) are all name collisions - surname matters (probate, divorce, criminal) and unrelated litigation; none references the ship. 'DM-13' opinion hits (17) are collision tokens (docket/report numbers). 'DD-173' queries returned zero opinion hits and 7 docket hits that are all collision tokens (ECF/page references in unrelated cases). A companion name-collision caveat applies to the second USS Sproston (DD-577, Fletcher-class, in service 1943-1968): exposure-era claims naming 'Sproston' are far more likely to involve DD-577 than this hull, which left service in 1922.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26 (sweep); exposure window 1919-1922
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener-indexed opinions and RECAP dockets only - state-court filings and unindexed federal dockets are not exhaustively covered. A zero result means no qualifying indexed record was located, not that no claim was ever filed. Hull-attribution caveat documented; no 'Sproston' hit required exclusion of DD-173 after review.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-06
-
[7]Batch-3178 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC (live + mirrors), NHHC Online Library, NVR, NARA guided topic, CourtListener name/hull sweeps, class-profile directories, Atlas shipyard dataset [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sproston-dd173-01 through sl-uss-sproston-dd173-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, material inventory, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS Sproston (DD-173/DM-13) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). Structural reason: the hull was expended as a target in 1937, predating asbestos recordkeeping and abatement regimes by decades - no hull survives to generate survey, abatement, or museum-disclosure records, and her 1919-1922 service precedes the documented asbestos-litigation era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Study period
- 2026-09-26
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - WWI-era steam-plant design is consistent with period asbestos insulation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Records that could settle the question (NARA BuC&R hull files, deck logs) are unretrieved archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sproston-dd173-07