USS THOMPSON (DD-627)

Evidence

11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).

1. [1]research packet ft-packet.md (10 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Thompson (DD-627), later DMS-38, redesignated DD-627 again

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-thompson-dd627-pkt-ft-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Thompson II (DD-627/DMS-38) - live NHHC page 404s 2026-09-27; verbatim text via Wayback capture 2025-12-09; mirrors at hazegray (dd627txt) and ibiblio HyperWar (dms38) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC Wayback capture 20251209105951 of https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/thompson-ii.html (full entry); mirrors https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/destroy/dd627txt.htm and https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/DMS/dms38.html

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: second ship of the name, named for Robert Means Thompson (DD-305 was named for Richard Wigginton Thompson); laid down 22 September 1941 at Seattle, Wash., by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 15 July 1942, sponsored by Miss Sara Thompson Ross; commissioned 10 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. Lee A. Ellis. Atlantic convoy escort 1943-44 (UGS-21, GUS-20, UGS-27, GUS-27); repairs Boston Navy Yard (Sep 1943) and New York Navy Yard (Nov 1943); Normandy June 1944 (TG 124.7 convoy O-1, then TG 124.9 off Pointe du Hoc/Pointe de la Percee; destroyed three Wurzburg radar antennas 6 June; embarked Admirals King and Generals Eisenhower, Marshall, Arnold 12 June); Operation Dragoon southern France 15-21 August 1944. Reclassified fast minesweeper DMS-38 on 30 May 1945; conversion 5-29 June 1945; Pacific minesweeping: Yellow Sea 'Rickshaw' area Oct-Nov 1945 (64 mines destroyed), Sasebo and Nagoya operations; swept Bikini Atoll approaches in preparation for Operation Crossroads (departed before the tests); Mare Island overhauls Aug-Oct 1946 and Apr-Jun 1948; Tsingtao China occupation duty 1947; Pearl Harbor overhaul Apr-Jul 1950. Korea: Chinnampo sweep and evacuation (Navy Unit Commendation), Songjin/Wonsan operations; hit by shore batteries 14 June 1951 (3 killed, 3 wounded), 20 August 1952 (4 killed, 9 wounded), straddled and damaged 20 November 1952; repairs Sasebo/Yokosuka; restricted availability at Long Beach. June 1953 served as USS Caine stand-in for the film 'The Caine Mutiny' out of San Francisco. Reported to Pacific Reserve Fleet 1 December 1953; decommissioned 18 May 1954; reclassified DD-627 on 15 July 1955; struck 1 July 1971; sold 7 August 1972 to American Ship Dismantlers, Inc., Portland, Oreg. Awards: two battle stars WWII; seven battle stars and Navy Unit Commendation Korea.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1972

   Population

   Seattle-Tacoma construction trades 1941-43; wartime and postwar crew (DANFS complement 276); yard workers at Boston NY, NY NY, Charleston NY, Mare Island, Pearl Harbor, Long Beach; Sasebo/Yokosuka repair personnel

   Limitations

   DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC URL returns 404; Wayback capture cited (hazegray and ibiblio mirrors concur). The DMS-volume entry's transcription differs in places (reads '16 July 1956' for the DD-627 redesignation vs 15 July 1955 in this entry; sponsor printed 'Boss' in hazegray OCR vs 'Ross' in NHHC/ibiblio) - conflicts carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-01

3. [3]NavSource Destroyer Photo Index, USS Thompson (DD-627/DMS-38) file 05/627 (+ Mine Warfare file 11/0938) - spec block, operational/building data, disposal price [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource file 05/627 spec block + Operational and Building Data + Fate line; DMS-38 file 11/0938

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource spec and building record for this hull: 'CLASS - GLEAVES As Built'; displacement 2,395 tons full; 348'4" x 36'1" x 13'2"; machinery 50,000 SHP, Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 screws; 35 knots; crew 208; call sign NXUH. Building data: laid down by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding 22 September 1941; launched 15 July 1942; commissioned 10 July 1943; converted to High Speed Minesweeper DMS-38 30 May 1945; reverted to DD-627 15 July 1955; stricken 1 July 1971; sold to American Ship Dismantlers, Portland, OR for $92,768.35 on 7 August 1972 and broken up for scrap.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1972

   Population

   Same hull populations as DANFS row

   Limitations

   NavSource is a compiled secondary source assembled from official records - not itself a primary document. Its DD index page reads 'Decommissioned May 23 1955' against DANFS and its own DMS page's 18 May 1954 (apparent transposition with the reclassification date; DANFS carried). Spec block's crew 208 is the as-designed figure vs DANFS 276 wartime - both logged. Contains no asbestos information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-02

4. [4]Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photograph 19-N-85753, 'USS Thompson (DMS-38) off the Charleston Naval Shipyard, South Carolina, on 4 July 1945' (NARA; via destroyerhistory.org / Wikimedia Commons) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA photo 19-N-85753; destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/0_allnum/dms38thompson_01.html (caption transcription)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official BuShips photograph places this hull off the Charleston Naval Shipyard on 4 July 1945, five days after DANFS records completion of her destroyer-to-minesweeper conversion yard work (5-29 June 1945) - documenting Charleston Navy Yard as the DMS-conversion yard for this hull and constituting a documented major yard-disturbance period aboard this hull.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1945

   Population

   Charleston Navy Yard conversion workforce, June-July 1945

   Limitations

   The photograph establishes the ship's position at the yard on 4 July 1945; DANFS records the June conversion window without naming the yard - Charleston attribution rests on the photo caption plus the timeline. No asbestos scope, work order, or material schedule for the conversion is public; a conversion would typically disturb machinery and insulation systems but this row establishes only the event, not asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-03

5. [5]DANFS spec block (DD-627: cl. Gleaves; s. 37.4 k.; cpl. 276) + NavSource spec block (Westinghouse geared turbines, 50,000 SHP, 2 screws) + Destroyer History Foundation Benson-Gleaves class account (Gleaves = Gibbs & Cox design, two-unit fireroom/engine-room machinery; repeat-group 'Bristol' ships incl. the 10 Seattle-Tacoma hulls) + internal class file benson-gleaves-class.class.json (4 B&W superheated boilers; SDB 1945 'No. 421 Class' machinery row documented there) [other_primary]

   Locator

   DANFS spec block (DD-627 entry); NavSource 05/627 spec block; destroyerhistory.org Benson-Gleaves class page (design history); class file benson-gleaves-class.class.json propulsion_summary

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: this hull carried a Gleaves-class high-pressure/high-temperature steam plant - four Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers arranged in two units (fireroom + engine room each) feeding Westinghouse geared turbines at 50,000 shp - built 1941-43 at a government-funded emergency destroyer yard. For machinery of this type and era, boiler and fireroom insulation, main and auxiliary steam-line lagging, turbine and turbo-generator lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, deck coverings, and fireproofing were commonly asbestos-containing. Documented disturbance-phase events aboard this hull where era materials, if present, would have been worked: Boston NY and NY NY repairs 1943; Charleston NY DMS conversion June 1945; Mare Island overhauls 1946, 1948, 1951-52; Pearl Harbor overhaul 1950; Long Beach restricted availability 1951-52; battle-damage repair availabilities at Sasebo/Yokosuka 1951-52; breaking at American Ship Dismantlers, Portland 1972.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1941-1972

   Population

   Seattle-Tacoma construction trades 1941-43; crew 1943-54; conversion/overhaul/repair yard workers 1943-1972

   Limitations

   Inference from the documented machinery plant and construction era - NOT a hull record. No survey, specification, work order, or material schedule naming DD-627 was located; establishes no asbestos content, quantity, location, individual exposure, or causation. Boiler count is class-level attribution (Gleaves design); NavSource's per-hull spec block does not list boiler count.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-04

6. [6]Fleischer, W.E., Viles, F.J. Jr., Gade, R.L., and Drinker, P., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]

   Locator

   PubMed record PMID 21016030; article pp. 9-16 (pipe covering material section)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   The U.S. Maritime Commission-commissioned industrial-hygiene survey of WWII pipe-covering operations at two Navy yards and two Navy contract yards documented that 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels is amosite' - i.e., asbestos insulation was standard material in wartime naval-vessel construction of exactly this hull's era and type.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   survey ~1944-45; published 1946

   Population

   WWII pipe coverers and insulators at Navy and contract yards (era context)

   Limitations

   Era-level documentation of asbestos use in naval construction generally; does not name this vessel, class, or builder yard (whether Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding was among the surveyed contract yards is unverified) and establishes nothing about this hull's materials, condition, or any individual exposure. (The study's exculpatory 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion has since been heavily criticized - see the 2026 critique at DOI 10.1177/10482911261446696.)

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-05

7. [7]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and emergency construction program under which this Gleaves-class destroyer was mass-produced - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   1940s era documented; article 1987

   Population

   WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)

   Limitations

   Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-06

8. [8]U.S. EPA, Harbor Island (Lead) Superfund Site profile (EPA Site ID WAD980722839), Seattle, WA - operable units include Todd Shipyard Sediments (OU 09) and East Waterway Sediments (ROD 2024-05-28); MOHAI/UW caption 'Facts and History of Todd Shipyards Corporation and its Seattle Division' (1960) documents the Harbor Island yard as the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. Seattle division that completed 45 destroyers [other_primary]

   Locator

   EPA CUMULIS site profile, operable-unit table; UW Digital Collections imlsmohai id 19275 (1960 Todd history caption)

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   Builder-yard context: DD-627's documented builder, the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. Seattle yard on Harbor Island (MOHAI-documented as completing 45 destroyers in WWII), sits within the EPA Harbor Island Superfund Site, whose operable units include 'Todd Shipyard Sediments' - federal documentation that the builder yard's industrial operations generated lasting contamination. Site contaminants of concern in the reviewed EPA materials are PCBs, furans, and PAHs; asbestos is not identified as a site contaminant of concern in the cited documents.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   site history 1918-present; IROD 2024

   Population

   Harbor Island shipyard workforce (era); East Waterway sediment exposure populations (contemporary)

   Limitations

   Yard-level environmental context only - the site record does not name this hull, does not document asbestos aboard any vessel, and its listed contaminants of concern are not asbestos; it corroborates only that the builder yard is a documented contaminated WWII shipbuilding site. Does not establish exposure aboard or at construction of this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-07

9. [9]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweep (type=o opinions + type=r RECAP dockets), exact-name and hull-number queries, 2026-09-27 [court_record]

   Locator

   CourtListener search API v4, query log 2026-09-27 (see search_ledger sl-uss-thompson-dd627-07/08)

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Queries and results: "USS Thompson" asbestos (opinions) = 0; "USS Thompson" (opinions) = 2 hits, both name collisions - Quality Transportation Services, Inc. v. Mark Thompson Trucking, Inc. (Ill. App. 3d 2018, docket 3-16-0761; and 2021, docket 3-19-0489), a trucking company, not the ship; "DD-627" (opinions) = 0; "DMS-38" (opinions) = 1 hit, name collision - AFGE Local 3306 v. FLRA (2d Cir. 1993, docket 93-4009, labor-law text match, not the ship); "USS Thompson" (RECAP dockets) = 0; "aboard the Thompson" (opinions) = 2 hits, both name collisions - United States v. Lykes Bros. Steamship Co. (E.D. La. 1968, cargo-damage case re merchant SS Thompson Lykes) and Lake Carriers' Assn v. United States/FCC (6th Cir. 1969, radio-rules order); Thompson "DD-627" (opinions) = 0.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-27

   Study period

   2026-09-27 (index coverage)

   Limitations

   Index coverage is CourtListener's corpus only - a docketed asbestos case naming this hull could exist outside CL coverage (e.g., state courts, PACER-only districts) or under spellings not queried. Name-collision density is high for 'Thompson' (surname, merchant vessels, DD-305); every returned hit was classified a collision, not a qualifying case. Absence of a located case is not proof none exists.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-thompson-dd627-08

10. [10]Batch-3600 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS via Wayback + hazegray/ibiblio mirrors; NavSource files 05/627 and 11/0938; NARA official photo 19-N-85753; CourtListener API v4 sweep; indexed-web and BVA checks; EPA Harbor Island Superfund record; NARA record-group mapping [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-thompson-dd627-01 through sl-uss-thompson-dd627-09

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, specification, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS Thompson / DD-627 / DMS-38 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). All five CourtListener hits are name collisions (two trucking-company decisions, a labor-law text match, the merchant SS Thompson Lykes, and an FCC radio-rules order) - classified non-qualifying after hull attribution. Law-firm marketing pages (mesotheliomasymptoms.com dedicated hull page; elslaw.com and mesotheliomahelp.org ship lists) assert era-typical asbestos content for this hull without primary support - excluded as a source per the no-law-firm-sources rule and logged in the batch report.

    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 - a 1941-43 high-pressure-steam destroyer is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the documented conversion, overhauls, battle-damage repairs, and 1972 breaking are real disturbance-phase events whose asbestos scope is simply undocumented. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-thompson-dd627-09

11. [11]NARA record-group path: RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978' (NAID 594258, College Park) holds this hull's deck logs; National Archives Catalog shows USS Thompson war diaries (Dec 1943, May 1945 file units located); RG 19 Bureau of Ships records incl. General Information Books hold per-vessel material specifications; official photo file 19-N (e.g., 19-N-85753) is RG 19/RG 80 imagery [other_primary]

    Locator

    https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online ; catalog.archives.gov series 594258; catalog search returned USS THOMPSON war-diary file units (1943-12, 1945-05)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA College Park holds deck logs for USS Thompson (DD-627/DMS-38) 1943-1954 in RG 24 series 594258; cataloged USS Thompson war diaries (file units for 12/1-31/43 and 5/1-31/45 observed in a catalog query); BuShips General Information Books and contract plans in RG 19 are the likeliest hull-level material-specification source; Charleston Naval Shipyard 1945 conversion work records (RG 181) are the likeliest yard-scope source.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-27

    Study period

    1941-1954 records

    Limitations

    Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-thompson-dd627-10