Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet jh-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-sumner-dd333-pkt-jh-packet-md
-
[2]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'Sumner I (DD-333)' (live page returns 404; verbatim text via Wayback capture 20150203224844 and mirrored at globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-333.htm) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block and construction paragraph; archived page https://web.archive.org/web/20150203224844/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sumner-i.html
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: Sumner (Destroyer No. 333), Clemson class, named for Marine Corps captain Allen M. Sumner (killed in World War I; 'had two ships named for him: DD-333 and DD-692'); laid down San Francisco 27 August 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 27 November 1920, sponsored by Miss Margaret Sumner; commissioned 27 May 1921, Lt. Comdr. D. B. Beary in command; joined Destroyer Division 49, Squadron 13, Flotilla 2, Pacific Fleet. Spec block: dp. 1,215 (n.); l. 314'4"; b. 30'11" (wl.); dr. 9'4" (mean); s. 35.0 k.; cpl. 122; a. 4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1919-1930
- Population
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding Union Plant construction trades 1919-1921; crew (design complement 122)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, specifications, and service history - no materials or asbestos information. The DANFS statement that 'two ships named for him: DD-333 and DD-692' itself documents the principal name-collision risk for this record (USS Allen M. Sumner DD-692, WWII Allen M. Sumner class).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-01
-
[3]NHHC, DANFS, 'Sumner I (DD-333)' (Wayback capture 20150203224844; live URL serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Service narrative paragraphs 2-5
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS service narrative: nearly nine years of Pacific Fleet routine (training, maneuvers, patrols) with four documented departures - 17 January 1924 Vera Cruz sortie with Omaha (CL-4) and five other destroyers during the anti-Obregon revolution; 1 July - 26 September 1925 Battle Fleet cruise to Australia and New Zealand (Pago Pago, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Lyttelton, Wellington, Dunedin); March-June 1927 Panama Canal transit and Atlantic maneuvers reaching Boston; 1928 Hawaii operations. Decommissioned at San Diego 29 March 1930; name struck from the Navy list 18 November 1930.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1921-1930
- Population
- Crew during Pacific Fleet service 1921-1930
- Limitations
- Operational history only - no materials, maintenance scope, or asbestos content. No combat losses or battle-damage repairs are recorded for this hull; a documented 1920s Mare Island drydocking is carried separately (ev-03).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-02
-
[4]U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 70684, caption verbatim via HyperWar Online Library of Selected Images (ibiblio mirror of NHHC photo data; courtesy Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 1970) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NH 70684 caption block on the USS Hull (DD-330) photo page; NavSource archives/05/333.htm carries the same image with the June 15 - July 14, 1922 date
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Naval Historical Center photograph NH 70684 documents six Destroyer Division 36 ships simultaneously in Dry Dock No. 2 at Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 'during the 1920s,' with USS Sumner (DD-333) named in the caption (front row, between USS Farenholt DD-332 and USS Hull DD-330; back row MacDonough DD-331, Corry DD-334, Melvin DD-335). NavSource dates the docking June 15 - July 14, 1922. A documented drydocking event is a shipyard-interface episode; the photo caption gives no work scope.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1922 (per NavSource dating; NHHC caption reads '1920s')
- Population
- Mare Island Navy Yard workers during a multi-ship destroyer docking
- Limitations
- Photograph establishes presence of this hull in a Navy-yard drydock; it does not document what work was performed, what materials were disturbed or installed, or any asbestos content. The precise June-July 1922 dates are NavSource's annotation, not the NHHC caption. Additional NHHC hull photos exist (NH 70952, NH 108859, both '1920s').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-03
-
[5]NHHC, DANFS, 'Sumner I (DD-333)' (Wayback capture 20150203224844) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Final paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS disposition record: after striking (18 November 1930) the ship continued to serve the Navy 'first as a barracks ship for submarine crews; then as a test ship for structural strength tests' through 1934; on 12 June 1934 her hulk was sold in accordance with the terms of the London Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1930-1934
- Population
- Submarine crews billeted aboard; test-program personnel; breaking-yard workers (identity unverified)
- Limitations
- Records post-commissioning use and sale, not materials condition. The 1930-1934 barracks/test phase aboard a demilitarized hulk, and the breakup, are undocumented at materials level. NavSource's additions - barracks ship 'at New London' and sale to 'Bethlehem Steel, Alameda, CA' - are unverified secondary detail carried in gaps, not asserted here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-04
-
[6]Hedley-Whyte J, Milamed DR. 'Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences.' Ulster Medical Journal 2008 Sep;77(3):191-200. PMID 18956802; PMC2604477 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Logistics of Asbestos section, paragraph following Table II
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed era documentation: 'In 1922 the US Navy specified asbestos use in new submarines. South African chrysotile asbestos was specified for gaskets, insulation, packing and tape. Transvaal amosite asbestos was essential for light-weight and high insulation.' The same review documents asbestos as the early-twentieth-century marine insulating and fireproofing material of choice.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1922 (specification); construction window 1919-1921
- Population
- Era naval construction context
- Limitations
- Era context only, and tightly bounded: the cited Navy specification postdates this hull's 1919-1921 construction window by roughly a year and addressed new submarines, not destroyers. It does not name DD-333, the Clemson class, or any surface ship and cannot establish that asbestos products were installed aboard this hull. No asbestos application aboard DD-333 is asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 search results (type=o and type=r), queries executed via cl-auth-search.py fleet helper, 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- Woodard v. A.H. Bennett Co. (D.N.D. 3:17-cv-00079) docket-text exhibit entries G/H/I; other matches incl. MDL No. 875 (jpml) and Krik v. Crane Co. (ilnd 1:10-cv-07435) share the standardized Navy-plans exhibit-list pattern; full result sets in batch session output
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (fleet helper, 2026-09-27): opinion queries "USS Sumner" and "DD-333" each returned 0 hits; docket query "USS Sumner" returned 11 asbestos personal-injury dockets carrying the string in indexed docket text, and docket query "DD-333" returned 17 hits that are all document/exhibit-identifier collisions in unrelated matters (bankruptcy, patent, civil rights, criminal, labor). The only readable 'USS Sumner' context - Woodard v. A.H. Bennett Co., D.N.D. 3:17-cv-00079 - shows the string inside a standardized defense exhibit-list entry, 'Plans for USS Fletcher and USS Sumner/Gearing class destroyers and USS Essex class aircraft carriers,' i.e., the Allen M. Sumner-class design (DD-692 et seq.), a name collision, not this hull. The remaining ten 'USS Sumner' docket-text matches are unverified as to role but are consistent with the same recurring exhibit-list pattern. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming hull DD-333 was located.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Sweep executed 2026-09-27; litigation era postdates hull disposal
- Population
- None established
- Limitations
- Sweep is bounded, not exhaustive: the ten unverified 'USS Sumner' docket-text matches could not be opened per-docket within quota. Docket-text matches in asbestos PI cases frequently trace to standardized Navy-plans exhibit lists (class designations) or plaintiff ship lists for later same-name hulls (DD-692, AGS-32/AG-32, T-AGS-61) - none plausibly names a hull scrapped in 1934, but no individual docket was verified beyond Woodard. Absence of located litigation is not proof none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-06
-
[8]National Archives, 'Special List 44 - Named Vessels' index entry 'Sumner (DD-333), 5/27/1921-3/29/1930'; NARA guided topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 named-vessel table, 'Sumner (DD-333)' row; asbestos guide https://www.archives.gov/research/military/navy/guided-topics/asbestos
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 (named-vessel index to Navy logbook holdings) indexes 'Sumner (DD-333)' deck logs covering 27 May 1921 - 29 March 1930 - the full commissioned career; the end date independently corroborates the DANFS decommissioning date over NavSource's 5 February 1930. NARA's guided topic 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' identifies RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) ship/hull-designation correspondence (filing code DD333, class correspondence under the class-namesake hull, and yard correspondence QM/Bethlehem Shipbuilding), ship general information books, and S39 insulation/lagging and S48 piping drawing groups as the material-research path.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1921-1930 (indexed logs); records held at NARA
- Population
- Crew 1921-1930 (log coverage)
- Limitations
- Index-level verification of log holdings only - no logbook, general information book, correspondence file, or drawing was retrieved or inspected. NARA cautions deck logs do not directly document asbestos, and the guide's RG 19 correspondence series run 1940-1961, postdating this hull; pre-1940 Bureau of Construction and Repair material would apply instead. These are leads, not findings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-07
-
[9]Batch-3320 search ledger (this record), rows sl-uss-sumner-dd333-01 through sl-uss-sumner-dd333-10 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger in this record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation located: no survey, abatement contract, materials inventory, museum hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming DD-333 was found in the official and authoritative sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sold for scrap in 1934, roughly four decades before the asbestos-litigation era and modern ACM documentation practices.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- A bounded-search negative finding, not proof of absence aboard. Class-era inference (era-standard steam-plant insulation) is consistent but unproven for this hull. Physical archives (NARA RG 19/RG 24, NHHC photo files) were identified as leads but not exhaustively searched.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sumner-dd333-08