Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL No. 875, JPML/MDL docket ECF No. 5838 - 'GE's Response to Motion to Vacate CTO No. 320' (filed 2009-05-08, 245 pp.), embedding verbatim the complaints in Pelfrey v. Foster Wheeler, LLC, N.D. Cal. No. 3:09-cv-00902 (removed from Alameda County Super. Ct. RG09-431218) and Pelfrey v. Allied Packing & Supply, Inc. (RG09-431222) [court_record]
- Locator
- MDL-875 ECF 5838, embedded Pelfrey complaints at filing pp. 141 and 168 of 245 (exposure/work-history narrative sections)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull at the pleading stage: the embedded complaint recites that plaintiff Johnie D. Pelfrey, Jr. served in the U.S. Navy September 1963 - November 1976, trained for boiler-room work in San Diego, 'stood watch in the boiler rooms maintaining and repairing boilers and other equipment,' and '[d]uring his time in the Navy ... served on several other vessels, including but not limited to the USS Stribling, USS Midway, and USS America.' The complaint further alleges he 'worked shoulder to shoulder with other trades who installed, cut, manipulated, disturbed, removed and swept the debris of asbestos and asbestos-containing products including but not limited to insulation, pipe covering, block, cement, gaskets, cloth, packing, wicking, and rope.' During 1963-1976 the only commissioned USS Stribling was DD-867 (DD-96/DM-1 was scrapped in 1937), so the hull attribution is certain.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1963-1976 (alleged exposure window); 2009 (filing)
- Population
- Johnie D. Pelfrey, Jr. (USN 1963-1976, boiler-room work; vessel list incl. USS Stribling, USS Midway, USS America)
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation, and the weakest posture of one: the complaint survives as embedded material inside a defendant's opposition brief in an MDL conditional-transfer-order dispute (GE's Response to Motion to Vacate CTO No. 320); the underlying Pelfrey dockets were not separately retrieved this session. The detailed boiler-room watch/sleeping narrative attaches to USS Barry (DD-933); for Stribling the allegation is service aboard plus bystander exposure while others disturbed ACM. Not adjudicated exposure, product identification, or causation; case outcome not located. Does not quantify asbestos aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-01
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[2]Buchinger v. Garlock Inc., No. 3:05-cv-00118-RV-MD (N.D. Fla.), ECF No. 21, Order Granting Motion to Remand (Sept. 23, 2005), Judge Roger Vinson - CourtListener docket 4659552; published at 2005 WL 2338801 [court_record]
- Locator
- N.D. Fla. 3:05-cv-00118-RV-MD, ECF No. 21 (order, 5 pp.), Stribling recital in Part I Background
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull at the removal/remand stage: plaintiffs Larry and Anne E. Buchinger filed a Florida Wrongful Death Act action in Escambia County Circuit Court (2003) against sixteen asbestos defendants. GE removed to the N.D. Fla. under 28 U.S.C. 1442(a)(1) federal-officer removal on the basis of a signed affidavit in which decedent Larry Buchinger, a Navy machinist's mate, 'stated that he was exposed to asbestos while working on or around GE marine turbines and the USS Stribling while he was serving in the United States Navy.' GE asserted the government-contractor defense (turbines built to Navy contract/specifications). GE and the plaintiffs subsequently resolved their dispute; with the removing federal-officer defendant out of the case, the court declined ancillary jurisdiction and remanded to the Circuit Court for Escambia County (motion to remand, doc. 18, GRANTED). The only commissioned USS Stribling during the asbestos-litigation era was DD-867 (DD-96/DM-1 was scrapped in 1937), so the hull attribution is certain.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- Navy service window not legible in the retrieved text (order recites service 'aboard various ships while stationed in Florida'); removal/remand 2005
- Population
- Larry Buchinger (USN machinist's mate, decedent 2005; alleged asbestos exposure aboard various ships incl. USS Stribling)
- Limitations
- Removal/remand-stage record: the exposure statement is the decedent's own sworn affidavit recited by the court as the predicate for GE's federal-officer removal - it was never adjudicated. Classified at pleading-allegation level per litigation-stage discipline: no discovery record, trial finding, or judgment on exposure, product identity, dose, or causation. GE settled and was dismissed before remand; the state-court merits outcome after remand is not located. The order establishes only that the claim was made and was the removal basis; 'on or around GE marine turbines and the USS Stribling' couples the ship with the turbine work without specifying a shipboard product.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-02
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[3]DANFS, Stribling II (DD-867) - verbatim transcription via hazegray.org (DANFS Online main archive) and globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-867.htm; live NHHC page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: second ship named for Rear Admiral Cornelius Kincheloe Stribling; laid down 15 January 1945 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y.; launched 8 June 1945 (sponsor Mrs. W. Hunter Powell); commissioned 29 September 1945 (Comdr. J. D. Buckeley); shakedown Guantanamo Bay, then Fleet Sonar School Key West; Mediterranean deployments 1948-1953 (Palestine Patrol 1948; first U.S. ship to visit a Spanish port since the Spanish Civil War, 1949); Pacific Fleet duty via Panama Canal August 1953, Korean War operations with TF 77 and TF 95, circumnavigation completed at Norfolk 10 April 1954; Lebanon-crisis standby 1958; FRAM modification at Charleston Naval Shipyard June 1960 - April 1961; John Glenn recovery standby February 1962; Middle East Force deployments (Djibouti, Kharg Island, Aden); DASH system installed spring 1966, qualification completed 4 May 1966; Polaris firing tests February-March 1967; Vietnam deployment January 30 - August 2, 1969 (gunline bombardment, SAR, PIRAZ; Yankee Station plane guard), return to Mayport 17 September 1969; 6th Fleet deployments August 1970 - March 1971 (Jordanian crisis) and February - September 1972; Middle East Force cruise March 1973; exercise 'Northern Merger' September - October 1974; operating with the 2d Fleet as of March 1975 (end of DANFS coverage); two Vietnam War battle stars. Spec block: 2,425 tons; 390'6" x 40'10" x 18'6"; 34.6 kt (trial); complement 345.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1975
- Population
- Bethlehem Staten Island construction trades 1945; wartime/postwar crew (design complement 345)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Coverage ends March 1975 - decommissioning, striking, and sinking are not in the DANFS entry (carried via NavSource, ev-04). Mirror transcriptions cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; the globalsecurity mirror garbles the FRAM end date as 'April 1966' where the navysite mirror correctly reads the modification proper as ending April 1961 within a 1960-66 change period - carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-03
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[4]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-867 USS Stribling - operational and building data block; machinery and fate entries (corroborated by navysite.de compilation, 'USS Stribling (DD 867)') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-867 index, 'Operational and Building Data' and 'Fate' blocks; navysite.de/dd/dd867.htm general-characteristics block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational data for this hull: laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island NY, 15 January 1945; launched 8 June 1945; commissioned 29 September 1945; 'Completed FRAM upgrade May 1961'; decommissioned and stricken 1 July 1976; fate: 'Sunk as target off Puerto Rico July 27 1980.' Machinery: 60,000 shp, General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 336; callsign NBGI. navysite.de corroborates: FRAM I conversion shipyard Charleston Naval Shipyard, conversion period June 1960 - April 1961; propulsion four boilers, GE geared turbines, 60,000 shp; crew after FRAM I 14 officers + 260 enlisted; sunk as a target off Puerto Rico 27 July 1980.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1980
- Population
- Crew 1945-1976; 1980 sinking was unmanned target expenditure
- Limitations
- NavSource/navysite are volunteer secondary compilations, not official Navy records - used for post-1975 disposition (outside DANFS coverage) and machinery/fate data; consistent across independent compilations. The sinking's firing units, exercise name, and exact sinking mechanism are not stated in any located source; the hull lies at the sinking site with whatever material remained aboard. No asbestos content documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-04
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[5]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018) - litigation-recited Navy engineering drawing and expert tally covering the Sumner/Gearing machinery group; Atlas Gearing-class profile (class-f/gearing-class.class.json) [court_record]
- Locator
- Goodrich omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (OCR of scanned ECF 171); gearing-class.class.json ev-04; NavSource/navysite FRAM entries
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: a Gearing-class destroyer built in 1945 with a four-boiler, 60,000-shp geared-steam-turbine plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation - boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-pipe lagging, turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck/accommodation materials. Litigation-recited class-level material evidence exists: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites a Navy engineering drawing for forced-draft-blower-turbine insulation and lagging for the DD-692 Sumner-class machinery group (shared by the Gearing class) specifying amosite felts and asbestos cloths, and an expert report's partial tally of ~30.3 tons of asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging in Sumner/Gearing-class fire and engine rooms. The 1960-61 FRAM I conversion at Charleston Naval Shipyard is the likeliest insulation-disturbance window for this hull under era practice (Charleston NSY is a tier-2 asbestos yard in the Atlas dataset).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1976
- Population
- Charleston NSY trades 1960-61; crew 1945-1976
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - no hull-specific material record for DD-867. The Goodrich drawing covers the Sumner machinery group shared by Gearing; the 30.3-ton figure is an expert's partial tally for fire/engine rooms, not a ship inventory and not adjudicated. FRAM disturbance scope for this hull is undocumented. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-05
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[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: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. Stribling's entire commissioned life (1945-1976) fell within the pre-1979 regime under which original material was presumptively retained absent damage-driven removal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979 (report); policy window 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull- or class-specific. Supports era context only; gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - content via product-page description, full text not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-06
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[7]This record's search ledger (NHHC/DANFS mirrors; NavSource; navysite; NVR; NARA deck-log program; EPA/MPRSA disposal-permit check; law-firm listicle sweep excluded as non-authoritative; CourtListener authenticated sweep partial - see sl-07 and ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-stribling-dd867-01 through sl-uss-stribling-dd867-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull asbestos survey, abatement contract, donation/museum hazmat disclosure, adjudicated exposure finding, or ocean-disposal permit record was located for DD-867 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The only ship-specific asbestos records are the pleading-stage Pelfrey naming (ev-01) and the Buchinger removal-stage affidavit recital (ev-02). The hull itself went down as a target off Puerto Rico in 1980, taking whatever material remained aboard - no surviving fabric exists to survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1945 steam destroyer almost certainly carried era-standard ACM, and the 1980 sinking predates the EPA/Navy SINKEX permitting framework under which ACM would be documented before expenditure. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-07
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[8]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweeps via cl-auth-search.py (2026-09-28): "USS Stribling" type=o = 0 hits; type=r = 2 dockets (MDL-875 No. 1245688 - contains the embedded Pelfrey complaints, ev-01; and Buchinger v. Garlock Inc. No. 4659552, N.D. Fla. - ev-02). "Stribling" type=o = 2,190 surname-collision hits; type=r = 1,813 surname-collision hits (bankruptcies and civil suits by persons surnamed Stribling); refined "Stribling" AND asbestos: type=o = 7 (all person-name collisions), type=r = 44 (top 20 reviewed - the two qualifying dockets plus plaintiffs surnamed Stribling in asbestos PI suits and stray-text hits; none naming the vessel). "DD-867": type=o = 0, type=r = 4 collisions; "DD 867": type=o = 0, type=r = same 4 collisions (Chinese-Manufactured Drywall MDL, Seroquel MDL, Wonser v. Norman, Saki v. Norman - string appears as stray docket text, not the ship). [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-stribling-dd867-07; MDL-875 ECF 5838 embedded complaints pp. 141, 168
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull ran to completion across the required matrix: exact-name and both hull-number spellings in opinions and dockets, plus the bare surname and its asbestos refinement. Qualifying asbestos litigation located: (a) Buchinger v. Garlock Inc., N.D. Fla. 3:05-cv-00118-RV-MD - remand order reciting decedent's affidavit of asbestos exposure 'on or around GE marine turbines and the USS Stribling' (ev-02); (b) MDL-875 docket hit resolving to the embedded Pelfrey complaints naming USS Stribling among exposure vessels (ev-01). All other hits are name collisions: 'Stribling' is a litigant surname (2,190 opinion hits, 1,813 docket hits; 7 opinion + 44 docket hits under the asbestos refinement - plaintiffs surnamed Stribling suing asbestos defendants, asbestos-bankruptcy estates, and stray-text matches; none naming the vessel). 'DD-867'/'DD 867' appears only as stray document text in unrelated dockets. No published opinion names USS Stribling.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28 (sweep); underlying filings 2005, 2009
- Limitations
- Coverage caveat: the asbestos-refined surname docket query returned 44 hits and the first page (20, ranked by relevance) was reviewed - both qualifying dockets appear within it; the unviewed tail is bounded by the completed exact-phrase docket query (any docket whose text reads 'USS Stribling' would have surfaced there; only 2 did). A filing naming the vessel as 'the Stribling' or 'DD-867' without 'USS' is residual coverage: 'DD-867' docket search returned only the 4 unrelated collisions, leaving 'the Stribling'-style references theoretically possible but unlocated. Everything found is pre-adjudication (complaint allegation; affidavit recited in a remand order). No trial finding or affirmed judgment on Stribling exposure exists in the searched corpus.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-stribling-dd867-08