USS STRONG (DD-467)

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]DANFS, Strong I (DD-467) - NHHC web edition (contributing author Jeremiah D. Foster, 3 May 2018; published 21 May 2018; LIVE page retrieved 2026-09-27) plus verbatim print-edition transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC web edition (history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/strong-i.html, live 2026-09-27); verbatim print transcription https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DD/dd467.html (live); hazegray.org mirror via Wayback 2024-12-05

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull (web edition substantially expands the print text with day-level detail): laid down 30 April 1941 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; launched 17 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Susan H. Olsen, great-grandniece of Rear Adm. James H. Strong (print transcription reads 'Mrs. Hobart Olson'); commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 7 August 1942, Cmdr. Joseph H. Wellings in command. Fitting out at Boston Navy Yard to 31 August; shakedown principally Casco Bay, ending 7 October; New York Navy Yard availability from 30 October extended by repairs through 22 December 1942 (print edition: 'a yard availability period, 11 to 26 December'). Convoy UGS-2 to Casablanca 13-29 November 1942, return GUF-2; departed Norfolk 27 December with TF 39, Panama Canal 2 January 1943, Noumea 27 January. Guadalcanal 9 February; TF 67 from 13 February (Nashville, Helena, Honolulu, St. Louis + destroyer screen). 16 March TG 18.6 bombardment of Vila-Stanmore plantation, Kolombangara. Night of 7 April: radar contact, searchlight illumination, three 5-inch hits and depth charges sinking RO-34 near 10 deg 05'S 162 deg 08'E - credited; RO-34 lost with all 66 crew per postwar Japanese records (print edition dates the engagement 'the morning of 5 April' - variance in gaps). 7 May covered Blackett Strait minelaying by Gamble/Preble/Breese (minefield sank Kuroshio outright; Oyashio and Kagero fatally damaged); drydocked Espiritu Santo 9 May for a damaged plate; 12-13 May bombardment of Kolombangara/Enogai/Rice Anchorage (807 rounds 5-inch/38); 23-24 May raced to aid bombed PT tender Niagara; 16 June splashed three of ~15 attacking Val dive bombers. 5 July: TF 18 (RAdm. Ainsworth) supporting Rice Anchorage landings; Strong and Nicholas shelled Bairoko Harbor 0030-0040; torpedo struck port side near the after end of No. 1 fireroom, from the spread fired by Japanese destroyers Niizuki (RAdm. Teruo Akiyama's flagship), Yunagi, and Nagatsuki - 'a testimony to the incredible range of the Japanese torpedoes.' Chevalier rammed alongside, passed nets/lines, took off 234 enlisted and 7 officers (~75% of the ship's company) in about seven minutes under shore-battery fire (Cmdr. McLean awarded Navy Cross); Strong broke in half and sank, depth charges detonating on the way down; 46 sailors lost; stricken from the Navy list 15 July 1943; three battle stars per web edition (print reads two). Spec block: dp. 2,050; 376'6" x 39'4" x 13'5"; 35.5 k.; cpl. 273; 5 5", 4 40mm., 4 20mm., 2 dct., 6 dcp., 10 21" tt.; cl. Fletcher.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1943

   Population

   Bath Iron Works construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 273-329); 46 killed at loss

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The web edition's spec block misprints the hull number as 'DD-463' and its awards line prints 'RO-43' where the same article's narrative and postwar record read RO-34 - documented typos, not adjudicated here. Battle-star count differs between editions (web: three; print: two) - carried in gaps. The RO-34 engagement date differs between editions (web: night of 7 April; print: morning of 5 April) - carried in gaps. Sponsor name differs between editions (web: Mrs. Susan H. Olsen; print transcription: Mrs. Hobart Olson) - carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-01

2. [2]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 50, 'Destroyer Report: Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action, 17 October 1941 to 7 December 1944' (NAVSHIPS 50(374), Preliminary Design Section), Section 5 'USS STRONG (DD467) - Loss in Action, Kula Gulf, Solomon Islands, 5 July 1943,' pp. 24-26 + Plates II-III (NHHC Online Reading Room full text, live; HyperWar/ibiblio mirror identical) [other_primary]

   Locator

   WDR-50 Section 5 (book pp. 24-26) + Plate II/III damage diagrams; NHHC page is live; identical text via http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC/WarDamageReports/WarDamageReportDDTorpMine/WarDamageReportDDTorpMine.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official BuShips engineering analysis of this hull's loss, built on the CO's loss report (C.O. STRONG ltr. A16-3/DD467 of 12 August 1943), the Senior Unwounded Surviving Officer's Report of Loss (C.O. STRONG contingent ltr. DD467 of 6 July 1943), CO O'BANNON ltr. DD450/A16 Serial 008 of 7 July 1943, and CO CHEVALIER ltr. DD451/A16-3 Serial 005 of 8 July 1943. Ship data plate: class FLETCHER (DD445); LOA 376 ft 6 in.; beam 39 ft 4 in.; standard displacement 2,100 tons; launched 17 May 1942; estimated mean draft before damage 13 ft 1 in. Night of 4-5 July: unit of a force of three light cruisers and four destroyers bombarding Kolombangara and New Georgia; about 0000 entered Kula Gulf second in column with 'all four boilers ... in use and the two machinery plants were completely split'; bombardment completed 0040; at 0043 a torpedo struck and detonated on the port side in way of the forward fireroom at about frame 90. Forward fireroom and engineroom flooded to the waterline immediately, after fireroom more slowly; initial 15-degree starboard list; all propulsion lost; emergency diesel generator power remained. Detonation blasted the port shell approximately frames 80-100, destroyed the sheer strake and main deck plating port of the midship deck house, distorted the deck house between frame 75 and the forward torpedo mount, and ruptured the starboard side - 'the first instance in which the side opposite a torpedo detonation in way of machinery spaces has been reported ruptured'; BuShips assessed the warhead charge as 'unusually large.' At 0113 Chevalier came alongside to port to remove survivors as the starboard main deck went awash; at 0122 - 39 minutes after the hit - Strong broke in two and sank; three or four 300-pound depth charges set for 50 feet detonated afterward, injuring survivors in the water. Section 5-11: 'The source of the torpedo which sank STRONG is not definitely known' - possibly a submarine to the westward, or two enemy destroyers believed to have left Kula Gulf at high speed about 0040. Report concludes 'the structural damage sustained by STRONG was the most severe incurred by any destroyer struck by one torpedo for the period covered by this report' and that loss was caused primarily by destruction of the hull girder, not flooding.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1943-07-05 (event); report published 1945

   Population

   Crew at loss (46 killed per DANFS); Chevalier rescue force under fire

   Limitations

   Contemporaneous engineering analysis documents damage, flooding sequence, and the split machinery-space arrangement (forward/after firerooms, forward/after enginerooms) ship-specifically - valuable context for where era-standard insulation would have been installed, but the report addresses battle damage, not materials or asbestos content. The report's own index table misprints the hull as 'DD 468' (NHHC flags it with footnote 7; the section text and plate captions read DD467). The torpedo source was 'not definitely known' in 1945 - the Niizuki-group attribution is the postwar reconstruction carried in ev-01; the two are documented separately, not merged. No casualty count in the narrative section.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-02

3. [3]NavSource Naval History, USS Strong (DD-467) page - class/building/disposition data block, machinery line, CO list, and NARA/BuShips/Petrel photo captions (live fetch failed; Wayback capture 2024-05-27) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DD-467 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block, fate line, CO list, photo captions (Wayback capture 2024-05-27; live navsource.org connection failed)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource record for this hull: 'As Built' class FLETCHER; displacement 2,924 tons full; 376'5" oa x 39'7" x 13'9" max; machinery '60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws'; 38 knots; crew 273. Building data: laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath ME, 30 April 1941; launched 17 May 1942; commissioned 7 August 1942. Fate: 'Sunk by Japanese Destroyers off Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia July 5 1943. 46 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty.' Commanding officer list: LCDR Joseph Harold 'Gus' Wellings, 7 August 1942 - 5 July 1943 (later RADM). Photo captions identify NARA-held images incl. christening-day stern view 17 May 1942 at Bath Iron Works, BuShips War Torpedo Damage/Loss Report No. 50 coverage of this hull (photo log 80-G series), the ~19 April 1943 TF 18 gunnery-exercise photo (80-G-299058), the July 1943 highline photo to Honolulu (80-G-52931), and R/V Petrel wreck photos of the No. 1 5-inch mount and port propeller: 'The wreckage of Strong (DD-467) was discovered 300 meters below the waters of Kula Gulf by Paul G. Allen's R/V Petrel on 06 February 2019.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1943; wreck imagery 2019

   Population

   Bath Iron Works christening/yard workers 1941-42; crew 1942-43

   Limitations

   NavSource is a photographic-history archive (contributor captions on NARA photo files), not the Naval Vessel Register itself - day-level dates rest on captions. Machinery line reads GE turbines (class design; consistent for this hull, unlike Bath sisters where NavSource reads Westinghouse - noted for precision only). Its 38-knot speed figure exceeds the DANFS 35.5-knot spec and BuShips-derived 36-knot design figure - carried in gaps. Documents the wreck-discovery date and imagery provenance; the Petrel photos document structure, not materials or hazmat content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-03

4. [4]Destroyer History Foundation (destroyerhistory.org), USS Strong DD-467 pages - BuShips-derived specifications block for Bath hull 193; the complete 'USS Strong (DD 467) World War II Operations' narrative compiled 1989 by the ship's radar/sonar officer then-Lt.(jg) Alton B. Grimes from official records, war diaries, and translated Japanese action summaries [other_primary]

   Locator

   destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussstrong - USS Strong page (r=46700&pid=46702: specs/hull 193) and Operations narrative (r=46705: New Georgia pid=46719; Torpedo! pid=46720)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Foundation record for Bath Iron Works hull 193: 'the first Fletcher delivered by Bath Iron Works with what proved to be a standardized arrangement,' sharing characteristics with the next 13 high-bridge 2,100-ton Bath-built Fletchers; authorized 27 March 1934; laid down 30 April 1941; launched 17 May 1942; commissioned 7 August 1942; 'Lost: 5 July 1943.' BuShips-derived design block: designed complement 34 officers + 295 enlisted; 60,000 shp; 36 knots; 2 screws; endurance 4,800 nm at 15 kt; as commissioned, armament 5 x 5-inch/38 single mounts, 4 x 40mm Bofors in two twin mounts, 4 x 20mm Oerlikon, 10 x 21-inch torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts, 2 depth-charge racks + 6 K-guns; radar SC + SG, Mk 37 fire control; sonar QC; 'Strong was lost before receiving any modifications.' Grimes operations narrative (compiled from official records and Japanese summaries) assigns the ship with Nicholas, O'Bannon, and Chevalier to DesDiv 41/DesRon 21 - four Bath-built sisters - and reconstructs the loss: torpedo explosion about 0043; 'blew out both sides of the forward engine room and fire room. It broke the keel of the ship'; sank 0123; Chevalier's count 'seven officers and 232 men' taken off; the Japanese destroyers Niizuki (radar-equipped flagship of RAdm. Akiyama), Yunagi, and Nagatsuki 'launched a torpedo attack at 0015, at the range of 11 miles' while running the first echelon of a Vila reinforcement - the longest-range torpedo hit characterization derives from this reconstruction.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1943; compilation 1989

   Population

   Crew of USS Strong 1942-1943

   Limitations

   Secondary host (Destroyer History Foundation); spec block sourced to 'Friedman and Bath Iron Works plans for hull no. 193'; the Grimes compilation is a veterans' narrative prepared for survivors - well-sourced but unofficial, and its 0015/11-mile Japanese launch reconstruction rests on translated action summaries, not the contemporaneous US record (WDR-50 says the source was 'not definitely known'). 'Authorized 27 March 1934' is the class-program authorization reference, not a hull-specific contract date. No asbestos or materials content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-04

5. [5]GeekWire, 'Lost in 1943, the USS Strong is found again by Paul Allen's Petrel research vessel' (Alan Boyle, 25 February 2019), reporting the R/V Petrel expedition release; corroborated by contemporaneous wire/press (Big Island Now, 25 Feb 2019) and NavSource wreck-photo captions [reputable_press]

   Locator

   GeekWire article body + Robert Kraft quote; NavSource DD-467 captions (Petrel/Vulcan-courtesy images)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Wreck-discovery record for this hull: on 6 February 2019 the R/V Petrel expedition (supported by the late Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., expedition lead/director of subsea operations Robert Kraft) located Strong's wreckage lying about 1,000 feet deep on the floor of Kula Gulf, north of New Georgia in the Solomon Sea, using sonar and underwater imaging - part of the Petrel series that also found USS Indianapolis, Lexington, Juneau, Helena, and Hornet. NavSource captions of Petrel-courtesy imagery identify the No. 1 5-inch gun mount and port-side propeller at ~300 meters. Reporting summarizes the loss: struck port side by a long-range Japanese torpedo while shelling shore installations covering the Rice Anchorage landings; most of the crew crossed nets to Chevalier while O'Bannon provided cover; 46 of 280 crew lost.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2019-02-06 (discovery); report 2019-02-25

   Limitations

   Press reporting of the expedition's announcement - not a survey report; Petrel's imagery documents structural condition, not materials or hazmat content. '~1,000 feet/300 m' and 'north of New Georgia, Kula Gulf' are the published bounds; no precise coordinates appear in the release as reported, and none located in authoritative sources (Wikipedia prints 8.083 deg S, 157.250 deg E unsourced - not carried; see gaps). The release's '280 crew' is an approximation of wartime complement.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-05

6. [6]Fletcher-class machinery and build data (DANFS spec block; NavSource class data; navypedia member table row DD-467: Bath yard no. 193, laid 4/1941, launched 17.5.1942, comm. 8/1942, sunk 5.7.1943) + Atlas shipyard dataset records: bath-iron-works (1942-era pipe-covering-shop health survey, Fleischer & Viles, J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946, PMID 21016030; OSHA 1987 record), boston-naval-shipyard, brooklyn-navy-yard; NARA RG19 General Information Books archival lead [other_primary]

   Locator

   DANFS spec block; navypedia DD-467 row; shipyards.json records 'bath-iron-works', 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'brooklyn-navy-yard'; NARA RG19 lead

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-42 with a four-boiler/60,000-shp two-shaft steam plant (class machinery: Babcock & Wilcox boilers, General Electric geared turbine sets) would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; builder Bath Iron Works is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2), including the Harvard-team health survey of pipe-covering operations in naval-vessel construction conducted at the yard in 1942 (Fleischer & Viles, J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946, PMID 21016030), which the yard record describes as documenting 'fairly serious dust risk' - contemporaneous with this hull's April 1941-August 1942 construction. Documented in-service availabilities for this hull sit at asbestos-documented yards in the Atlas dataset: fitting out plus a post-shakedown availability at the Boston Navy Yard (August-October 1942) and availability plus repairs at the New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard (October-December 1942). NARA RG19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1943

   Population

   Bath Iron Works construction trades 1941-42; Boston Navy Yard and New York Navy Yard workers during documented availabilities; crew 1942-43

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no document located states that any specific asbestos product was installed aboard DD-467. The yard study documents 1942 yard practice, not materials installed aboard this hull; yard-level documentation establishes the yards' asbestos history, not the ACM content of work performed on this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-06

7. [7]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 that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - placing DD-467's entire existence (construction 1941-42, commissioned service August 1942-July 1943) inside the documented asbestos-use era.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1979 (report); era context for 1941-43

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-07

8. [8]NARA holdings for this hull: WWII-era deck logs (RG 24, Entry 118, NARA II College Park); the action/loss reports cited by WDR-50 references (a)-(d) (CO Strong ltr. A16-3/DD467 of 12 Aug 1943; CO Strong contingent ltr. of 6 Jul 1943; CO O'Bannon Serial 008 of 7 Jul 1943; CO Chevalier Serial 005 of 8 Jul 1943); WDR-50 Plate II/III damage diagrams; NARA RG 19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' (per-vessel material specifications) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA RG 24 Entry 118 (deck logs); RG 38 action/loss reports as cited by WDR-50 refs (a)-(d); RG 19 GIB series

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Hull-level primary records exist in NARA custody but were not retrieved: DD-467's 1942-43 deck logs are a paper holding in RG 24 Entry 118 (NARA's deck-log digitization is VA-driven and centered on 1956-78 Vietnam-era logs - DD-467's logs are not in the digitized set); the July-August 1943 loss reports cited by WDR-50 (references a-d) and the report's Plate II/III damage diagrams survive as Navy records; RG 19 General Information Books hold per-vessel material specs and are the standing hull-level asbestos-specification lead.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1943 records; unretrieved

   Limitations

   Archival leads only - nothing in these holdings has been examined for this record; deck logs would document positions/operations, not insulation content; only the RG19 GIB could potentially state hull-level material specifications.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-08

9. [9]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep for this hull (authenticated via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py) [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-strong-dd467-09 (blocked) and sl-uss-strong-dd467-10 (independent web search)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener exact-name and hull-number sweep could not be completed within this session: the fleet-wide authenticated request budget (paced ~114 requests/hour shared across all batch sessions against the 2,800/day account quota) was exhausted at every attempt on 2026-09-27, and the helper's guidance is to stand down rather than retry into a throttle. Independent web search located no qualifying court record naming this hull - only excluded law-firm/aggregator ship-list pages (shepardlawfirm.com DD-758 page; mesolawcenter.com destroyer list naming 'USS Strong DD 758'; asbestos-ships.com DD-758; mesotheliomasymptoms.com pages for both hulls, its DD-758 page mislabeled 'Fletcher-class'). Name-collision notes for any future sweep: 'Strong' is a common litigant surname, and USS Strong DD-758 (Allen M. Sumner class, Bethlehem San Francisco, commissioned 8 March 1945 - decommissioned/stricken 31 October 1973, FRAM upgrade November 1962, transferred to Brazil as Rio Grande do Norte D-37) shares the ship name - any post-1943 'USS Strong' exposure claim is presumptively DD-758, not this hull.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27

   Limitations

   A blocked sweep is not evidence of absence - no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was LOCATED, which is weaker than confirming none exists. The sweep remains pending; re-run '"USS Strong"', '"DD-467"', '"DD-758"' attribution-check, and '"Strong" asbestos' queries (opinions + RECAP dockets) when the fleet budget frees.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-strong-dd467-09

10. [10]Batch-3450 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS web edition + HyperWar/ibiblio print transcription + hazegray Wayback mirror; BuShips WDR-50 full text (NHHC live + ibiblio); NavSource via Wayback 2024-05-27; destroyerhistory.org spec/operations pages; navypedia member table; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; NARA deck-log/logbook pages; wreck-discovery press; CourtListener (fleet-paced, blocked); law-firm/aggregator ship pages (excluded per sourcing rules) [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-strong-dd467-01 through -12

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, materials inventory, or hazmat disclosure located for DD-467 in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The ship was sunk in action 5 July 1943 - ~11 months after commissioning and before any such documentation regime - and never had a postwar phase, so the museum/abatement-disclosure channels that produced ship-specific records for preserved hulls never existed here. The wreck's Petrel survey imagery documents structure only. No qualifying litigation naming the hull was located (CourtListener sweep blocked by fleet pacing - pending, not a confirmed absence).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-27

    Study period

    2026-09-27

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-standard applications are documented at class/era level and both documented builder/repair yards are asbestos-documented in the Atlas dataset. The hull no longer exists above the seafloor, and its sunken materials condition is undocumented by located sources.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-strong-dd467-10