Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet fk-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: Queue: USS STODDARD DD-566 → VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-stoddard-dd566-pkt-fk-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Stoddard (DD-566) (builder, sponsor, service narrative, reserve status; verbatim transcription via hazegray/Wayback - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (hazegray.org DANFS mirror, Wayback capture 2006-09-27)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: Fletcher-class destroyer built by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Gould Holcomb; commissioned with Comdr. Horace Meyers in command. Service narrative: shakedown out of San Diego; Aleutians/Kurils operations with TF 94/TF 92 (bombardments of Matsuwa and Paramushiro Nov 1944-Mar 1945); Okinawa radar-picket duty June 1945 (claimed two planes, two assists, one probable); TF 38 carrier screen July-Aug 1945 including Chichi Jima bombardment; postwar overhaul at Philadelphia (Dec 1945-Mar 1946); inactivation overhaul at Charleston begun 8 July 1946; placed out of commission January 1947, Charleston Group Atlantic Reserve Fleet; reactivated November 1950; 6th Fleet Mediterranean deployments alternating with Philadelphia overhauls; joined Pacific Fleet December 1954; Tachen Islands evacuation and Taiwan Strait patrol 1955; Vietnam deployments 1965-66 and 1966-67 (Yankee Station plane guard, Operation Sea Dragon - 26 waterborne logistics craft sunk, one direct hit from a shore battery 17 March 1967); Long Beach Naval Shipyard overhaul 22 September-19 December 1967; final WESTPAC cruise June-December 1968; decommissioned September 1969 to Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, 'where she remains as of March 1975.' Three WWII and three Vietnam battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crews (DANFS spec complement 329); yard workers at Philadelphia NSY, Charleston NSY, Long Beach NSY
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The hazegray transcription prints build dates one year late (laid down 10 March '1944', launched 19 November '1944', commissioned 15 April '1945') - internally inconsistent with its own narrative (Kuril bombardments Nov 1944-Jan 1945 predate a 1945 commissioning); NavSource, the class profile, and the court-filed data sheet in ev-03 all carry 1943/1943/1944, which is carried here. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-01
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[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-566 USS Stoddard (spec block, operational and building data, commanding officers, photo captions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-566 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block + spec block + 1997 Long Beach NSY photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down by Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding 10 March 1943; launched 19 November 1943; commissioned 15 April 1944; 'Decommissioned 8 July 1946 and recommissioned 9 March 1951'; decommissioned 26 September 1969; stricken 1 June 1975 ('the last Fletcher Class Destroyer to be stricken'); 'Continued to serve as a test platform for the Pacific Missile Range until 1992, and finally sunk by Navy SEALS NW of Hawaii 22 July 1997.' Spec block: 60,000 shp, General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 273. Photo caption documents the hull tied up at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1997.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1997
- Population
- Crews 1944-1969; reserve/test-platform period 1969-1997
- Limitations
- Secondary compiled archive (volunteer-run photographic index), not a primary source. Its 'decommissioned 8 July 1946' conflicts with DANFS's 'placed out of commission in January of 1947' (8 July 1946 is the inactivation-overhaul start date in DANFS); DANFS's January 1947 is carried and the conflict is in gaps. Crew figure 273 differs from the DANFS spec block's 329 - carried in gaps. Post-1975 events are outside DANFS coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-02
-
[4]Hutchison v. A.W. Chesterton Company, No. 4:07-cv-02824-SBA (N.D. Cal., filed 2007-05-31, terminated 2009-07-16); Declaration of Admiral Ben J. Lehman in Opposition to Motion to Remand, ECF No. 34-2 (Exhibit 2), filed 2007-09-21 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket 4168346; ECF No. 34-2 (Exhibit 2, Lehman declaration), RECAP doc gov.uscourts.cand.194463.34.2, p.1
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos-litigation docket naming this hull: in Hutchison v. A.W. Chesterton Co. (nature of suit 368 P.I.: Asbestos; an MDL-875 'In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI)' member case removed to federal court under 28 U.S.C. 1442), defendant Phelps Dodge Industries opposed the plaintiff's remand motion with the Declaration of Admiral Ben J. Lehman; Exhibit 2 to that declaration is a vessel data sheet headed 'USS Stoddard / DD 566 (Fletcher class)' listing builder (Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding), laid down 10 March 1943, launched 19 November 1943, commissioned 15 April 1944, decommissioned 8 July 1946, recommissioned 9 March 1951, decommissioned 26 September 1969, stricken 06/01/75, and 'continued to serve as a test platform for the Pacific Missile Range until 1992, and finally sunk by Navy SEALS NW of Hawaii July 22.' The hull appears in the defense's service-vessel exhibit set in an asbestos personal-injury case - i.e., litigation naming this hull exists at the removal/remand stage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Service-era exposure window alleged within the case (period unstated in indexed text); litigation 2007-2009
- Population
- Estate/plaintiffs of Hutchison (asbestos PI); decedent's Navy service vessels as framed by the removing defendant
- Limitations
- Classified at pleading/removal stage, the less-final posture: the ship's presence is a defense-filed exhibit in opposition to remand, not an adjudicated finding that the decedent was exposed aboard this hull or that any product aboard contained asbestos. Whether the complaint itself pleaded Stoddard as an exposure vessel was not directly reviewed (the declaration main document is a non-text scanned PDF; the complaint was not retrieved). Terminated 2009-07-16; disposition beyond termination (remand vs. MDL transfer) not located in indexed records. The exhibit's 'decommissioned July 8, 1946' repeats the NavSource date - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-03
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[5]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search, type=o and type=r queries
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep for this hull: opinion search 'USS Stoddard' returned 0 hits; opinion search 'DD-566' returned 0 hits; opinion search 'Stoddard' + asbestos returned 61 hits that resolve as name collisions (persons surnamed Stoddard, e.g. Harvey E. Stoddard Jr. in Dahlberg v. Becker, and 'Stoddard solvent' toxic-tort references) - none concern this vessel. Docket (RECAP) search 'USS Stoddard' returned one hit - the Hutchison docket carried at ev-03. No published opinion adjudicating asbestos exposure aboard this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Indexed litigation through 2026-09-27
- Population
- N/A - sweep result
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's indexed corpus only; a hull-number docket-type query ('DD-566', type=r) was attempted but blocked by the fleet pacing budget at session end - carried in the search ledger. Absence of an adjudicated opinion does not establish absence of claims, settlements, or non-indexed state filings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-04
-
[6]Fletcher-class design/era basis (Navypedia class table + BuShips Ships' Data 1945 per class-c profile) + GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era framing [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia us_dd_fletcher.htm class block; class-c fletcher-class.class.json evidence rows; GAO HRD-80-2 product page (gao.gov, full text HTTP 403 to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference only: Stoddard is a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1943-44 by a wartime emergency yard to the class's four-boiler / 60,000-shp geared-steam-turbine design - squarely inside the Navy's documented peak asbestos-use era (GAO HRD-80-2 records that the Navy did not begin substituting away from asbestos until the early 1970s). Period-standard applications for such a plant are boiler and steam-line insulation/lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1997
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-1969; reserve/test-phase personnel 1969-1997
- Limitations
- Class/era inference - establishes what was standard on the Fletcher design and era, not what was installed on or remains aboard this hull. No ship-specific insulation schedule, material list, or BuShips General Information Book was retrieved for DD-566; NARA RG 19 remains the archival lead. GAO HRD-80-2 is program-level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-05
-
[7]EPA Marine Protection Permitting - 'Transport of Target Vessels for Ocean Disposal' (MPRSA general permit, 40 C.F.R. 229.2; 1996 Navy-EPA agreement resuming limited SINKEX; 1999 Wayland letter; 2014 Determination and Agreement) [other_primary]
- Locator
- epa.gov program page; signed 1996 agreement scan (epa.gov PDF 3401_1164-c, image-only); 2014 Determination and Agreement (epa.gov)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Regulatory context for this hull's disposal: ex-Stoddard was sunk as a target hulk on 22 July 1997, after the Navy-EPA agreement of 19 August 1996 resumed limited ship-sinking exercises under the MPRSA general permit (40 C.F.R. 229.2). That regime requires target vessels to be prepared before sinking - removal of equipment/materials containing PCBs (documented concerns include bulkhead insulation, wire/cable insulation, felt and rubber gaskets), draining/flushing of fluids, and removal of readily detachable materials that could degrade the marine environment - with inventory reporting to EPA.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1996-1997 regime; program context 1987-2014
- Population
- Navy/EPA personnel preparing and sinking the hulk, 1997
- Limitations
- Program-level regime documentation, not a ship-specific record: no preparation inventory, materials removal list, or EPA report naming ex-Stoddard was located. The regime's documented material concerns are PCB-focused; whether asbestos-bearing material was removed from or remained aboard this hull at sinking is undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-06
-
[8]USS Stoddard Association history pages (historylongversion.htm, finalsinking.htm, historyproject.htm timeline; scans of deck logs, engineering log, plans of the day hosted on the association site) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ussstoddard.org - historylongversion.htm; finalsinking.htm; historyproject.htm timeline; finalfate.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Veterans-association compilation with details not found in authoritative sources: decommissioned (mothballed) at Charleston 9 January 1947 (consistent with DANFS 'January 1947' against NavSource's '8 July 1946'); overhaul and modernization at Boston 1951-52 (No. 3 5-inch mount, 20mm and 40mm mounts and forward torpedo rack removed; aluminum superstructure sections; radar-controlled 3"/50s and Hedgehogs installed); transferred 30 June 1976 from Mare Island to the Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu; target ship for the Tomahawk cruise-missile project and live-fire platform for Phalanx CIWS development (first Phalanx embarked November 1983; test series 1984-1990 including galley/berthing refit); sunk 22 July 1997 at 17:17 HST at 22 deg 47' 39.2" N, 160 deg 36' 41.0" W, 64 NM NNW of Kauai in the Barking Sands Missile Range, by charges installed by SEAL Team One; towed by USS Salvor (ARS-52) per the association (Wikipedia states USNS Sioux T-ATF-171 - conflict carried in gaps).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1946-1997
- Population
- Test-platform crews/engineers 1976-1997 (incl. General Dynamics Phalanx program personnel); sinking crew 1997
- Limitations
- Non-authoritative secondary compilation (alumni association); no member of this record's facts is asserted from this source alone - the Boston 1951-52 modernization and the sinking coordinates/time remain unverified against primary records and are carried as leads. The association site is internally inconsistent on the striking date (9 January vs 1 June 1975); 1 June 1975 is carried per NavSource and the court-filed data sheet.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stoddard-dd566-07