Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]DANFS, 'Stevens I (Destroyer No. 86)' entry, Naval History and Heritage Command (published 2016-02-29; live NHHC page serves 404 - retrieved via Internet Archive Wayback capture 2025-02-01; verbatim transcription also at hazegray/losthistory.net mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Stevens I (Destroyer No. 86)' entry - namesake paragraphs, specifications block, and service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down at Quincy, Mass., on 20 September 1917 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 13 January 1918, sponsored by Miss Marie Christie Stevens; commissioned at Boston 24 May 1918, Comdr. Rufus F. Zogbaum, Jr., in command. WWI convoy escort out of Queenstown, Ireland (Queenstown-Liverpool circuit, July-December 1918) with U.S. Naval Forces, Europe; Boston 3 January 1919. Destroyer Division 7, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet; plane-guard duty for the Navy flying boats' first transatlantic flight, May 1919 (searched for downed NC-3); Newport operations; Philadelphia 17 December 1919 - 1 June 1920; New England operations to 3 November 1921; Charleston, S.C.; returned to Philadelphia 8 April 1922 for inactivation; decommissioned there 19 June 1922; stricken from the Navy list 7 January 1936; hulk sold 8 September 1936 to Boston Iron and Metal Co., Inc., of Baltimore, Md., for scrapping. Specifications block: Wickes class; 1,284 t (full); 314'4" x 30'11" (wl) x 9'2" mean; 34.54 kt trial; complement 122; 4x4", 2x3", 12x21" torpedo tubes. Namesake: Capt. Thomas Holdup Stevens (b. 22 Feb 1795, Charleston S.C.; d. 21 Jan 1841, Washington Navy Yard), War of 1812 officer (sloop Trippe, Battle of Lake Erie); the second Stevens (DD-479) honored both him and his son Rear Adm. Thomas Holdup Stevens, Jr.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1917-1936
- Population
- Fore River construction trades 1917-18; wartime and interwar crew (design complement 122)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, and specifications - it contains no materials or asbestos information and supports no asbestos claim. Live NHHC URL 404s; Wayback capture of the official page is the stable cite. NHHC text prints 'Quincey' (typo) for Quincy.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index - USS Stevens (DD-86), file 05/086 (live navsource.org DNS-unresolvable from research machine; retrieved via Wayback capture 2025-05-12) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-86 page - class/data block, operational & building data, photo captions, commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource destroyer index entry for this hull, corroborating DANFS and adding: class designation 'Wickes (Little)' - the Bethlehem-plans subclass; Fore River builder's hull no. 281 (visible in NH 43019 caption, building ways 1 Oct 1917); flag hoist/radio call sign NAPK; 'operated in reduced commission from 1919'; berthed at Philadelphia until sale; commanding officers CDR Rufus F. Zogbaum Jr. (24 May - 11 Oct 1918), LT Daniel E. Barbey (from 11 Oct 1918), CDR Francis M. Robinson (1920). Specifications block: 1,154 t, 314'5" oa x 31'8" x 9'10" max; machinery 24,200 shp geared turbines, 2 screws; 35 kt; crew 103. Photo catalog references include NH 43019 (Fore River ways) and NH 63575 (Berehaven, Ireland, 1918, with USS Oklahoma).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1917-1936
- Population
- Crew figures as listed (103 per NavSource vs 122 per DANFS spec)
- Limitations
- Specialist volunteer photographic/historical archive - non-official secondary compilation, consistent with DANFS on all dates; its crew figure (103) conflicts with the DANFS design complement (122) and is carried in gaps. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-02
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[3]DANFS specifications block (Wickes class; 34.54 kt trial) + NavSource DD-86 machinery line (geared turbines, 2 screws, 24,200 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset record 'fore-river-shipyard' (evidence tier 3; asbestos products documented incl. boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing, gaskets, packing; yard-level litigation record) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NavSource DD-86 machinery line; shipyards.json 'fore-river-shipyard' record
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class and builder-yard inference: this hull was a Wickes-class Bethlehem-design ('Little' subclass) flush-deck destroyer built 1917-18 at Fore River with a four-boiler geared-turbine steam plant - the machinery type for which boiler casing insulation, steam-line lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, and fireproofing were commonly asbestos-containing in WWI-era marine construction. Builder yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset: Fore River Shipyard (Quincy, MA) is evidence tier 3 with documented asbestos products (boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing materials, gaskets, packing, electrical components, asbestos wire insulation, asbestos cement, asbestos-containing paint) and yard-level asbestos litigation on record.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1917-1922 (construction and service); 1936 (breaking)
- Population
- Fore River Shipbuilding Corp. construction trades 1917-18; crew 1918-1922
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no hull-level survey, specification, or material schedule naming Destroyer No. 86 / DD-86 was located, and this row establishes no ship-specific asbestos finding. Boiler/turbine maker attributions (Curtiss turbines, Yarrow boilers for the Bethlehem design) are class-level references, not per-hull documentation. NARA RG 19/BuC&R records and the class Booklet of General Plans are the retrieval path for hull-level specs.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-03
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[4]CourtListener API v4 opinion search (type=o), exact phrase "USS Stevens" - 0 results on 2026-09-28 (authenticated query via fleet helper) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener v4 /search/?q=%22USS%20Stevens%22&type=o -> count: 0
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener litigation sweep for this hull: the exact-phrase opinion search '"USS Stevens"' (type=o) returned zero hits - no published opinion names either USS Stevens. Remaining sweep branches ('"DD-86"' opinion search; '"U.S.S. Stevens"' variant; '"USS Stevens"' RECAP/docket-index type=r) were attempted but deferred when the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing budget (shared ~114/hr across sessions) was exhausted mid-sweep; the docket-index surface for a hull scrapped in 1936 is expected to be thin, and indexed-web checking found no asbestos case naming DD-86 (only marketing ship lists - excluded source class).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (sweep date)
- Population
- Not applicable - no qualifying litigation located
- Limitations
- Partial sweep - only the exact-phrase opinion query completed before the pacing budget was exhausted; docket-level (type=r) and hull-number queries remain open as of 2026-09-28 and are logged in the search ledger. A zero opinion count rules out published asbestos opinions naming the vessel; it does not rule out unindexed pleading-stage references or dockets indexed under other phrasings. Name collisions: 'Stevens' is a common surname and DD-479 (the second USS Stevens, in commission 1943-1946) is the likelier referent of any unqualified 'USS Stevens' mention.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-04
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[5]Batch-3824 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback; NavSource via Wayback; CourtListener type=o exact-phrase (0 hits; remaining queries pacing-deferred); indexed-web litigation and VA BVA checks; NARA record-group lead mapping [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-stevens-dd86-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, court finding, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Stevens / Destroyer No. 86 / DD-86 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was stricken 7 January 1936 and sold for commercial scrapping 8 September 1936 - before asbestos-in-ships litigation existed - and has no surviving structure, museum custody, MARAD/NDRF custody record, or postwar veteran cohort of the kind that generates exposure documentation for later hulls. Law-firm marketing ship lists (mesotheliomahelp.org, asbestosnavy.com) do name 'USS Stevens (DD-86)' but are an excluded source class - boilerplate lists with no primary support. VA BVA indexed decisions checked via web search surfaced no decision naming the ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (research date)
- Population
- Not applicable
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1917-18 steam-plant destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation and gaskets. The honest finding is that the public record carries no ship-specific documentation for this hull. Scrapping-era (1936) breaking conditions at Boston Iron & Metal are undocumented in the sources searched.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-05
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[6]NARA record-group mapping + digitized class artifact: RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel) Navy deck logs, 1918-1922; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships / Bureau of Construction & Repair) design and material records for the Wickes class; 'USA - DD Wickes & Clemson Class Booklet of General Plans (1919)' digitized at archive.org (orig. Navy Yard Newport News, Va.); NHHC photographic archive entries NH 43019 and NH 63575 [other_primary]
- Locator
- archive.org/details/ddflushdeckersbogp1919 (identifier page); NHHC photo catalog numbers; NARA Guide to Federal Records RG 24/RG 19
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved at document level): Navy deck logs for USS Stevens 1918-1922 (RG 24, NARA); Wickes-class design/material records and ship-specific General Information Book material under RG 19; a digitized 1919 'Wickes & Clemson Class Booklet of General Plans' (archive.org/details/ddflushdeckersbogp1919, ~170 MB drawing set) that would carry class-level insulation/covering notes on its sheets if examined; NHHC photo-catalog items NH 43019 (Fore River ways, 1 Oct 1917) and NH 63575 (Berehaven 1918). Boston Iron & Metal 1936-37 breaking records, if any survive, would be a disposal-era hazmat lead.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1917-1937 (record coverage)
- Population
- Not applicable - archival leads
- Limitations
- Record-group and catalog mapping only - no sheet-level or box-level retrieval performed; the digitized 1919 plans booklet was identified but not examined for insulation specifications. Whether any asbestos-specific document exists for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stevens-dd86-06