USS TOWERS (DD-959)

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]research packet hh-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Towers

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-towers-dd959-pkt-hh-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Towers (DDG-9) - NHHC online entry (live page returns 404; Wayback capture 2025-12-09) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Towers entry, specifications block + full service narrative + unit-awards list

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: laid down 1 April 1958 at Seattle, Wash., by the Todd Shipyard Corp.; launched 23 April 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Nathaniel Rotoreau, Jr. (daughter of Adm. John Henry Towers); commissioned 6 June 1961 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Comdr. Lawrence D. Cummins in command. Specs: displacement 3,370; length 437'; beam 47'; draft 27'3"; speed 30 kt; complement 354; armament 2x 5-inch guns, Tartar missiles, ASROC, 6x 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Charles F. Adams. Vietnam service incl. Yankee Station screening/plane-guard, northern SAR (Haiphong rescue 31 Aug 1966), Market Time, Rung Sat gunfire support (3,266 rds 5-inch Jul 1966), Lam Son 72 and Linebacker ops 1972 - four battle stars plus six Meritorious Unit Commendations. Yard periods: Long Beach Naval Shipyard availability Mar 1966; Hunters Point Naval Shipyard major overhaul 14 Apr-19 Oct 1967; LBNSY regular overhaul entered 15 Nov 1978 into 1979; Puget Sound missile-launcher repairs Jul 1980; major overhaul Yokosuka 1984 (Harpoon, electronics, 'major work on boiler tubes and brickwork'); SRF Subic Bay repairs late Jan 1989 (turbine blades, propellers). Steam-line rupture in 'number one fire room' 2 Mar 1983 injured three sailors. Decommissioned Yokosuka 1 Oct 1990; towed to ISMF Pearl Harbor; stricken (DANFS prints '26 May 1992'); sunk by Sides (FFG-14) in fleet training exercise off California 9 Oct 2002.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1958-2002

   Population

   Todd Pacific Shipyards construction trades 1958-61; crew (design complement 354) 1961-1990

   Limitations

   DANFS documents construction, service, yard periods, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. Steam-plant details (firerooms, boiler work) evidence machinery type, not insulation composition. Stricken-date text conflicts with NVR (26 vs 27 May 1992) - carried in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim Wayback capture cited.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-01

3. [3]Naval Vessel Register, TOWERS (DDG 9) detail page (NAVSEA NVR; Wayback capture 2012-02-04; live page renders navigation shell only) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NVR ship-detail page for DDG 9, 'Last updated 01/03/2003'

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NVR official inventory record for this hull: class DDG 2 (Charles F. Adams); UIC 04675; builder TODD PAC/SEATTLE; award 28 Mar 1957; keel 1 Apr 1958; launch 23 Apr 1959; delivery 31 May 1961; commission 6 Jun 1961; decommission 1 Oct 1990; stricken 27 May 1992; status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise,' status changed 10/09/2002. Light displacement 3,190 t / full 4,770 t; LOA 437 ft; extreme beam 47 ft; max navigational draft 24 ft; steel hull, aluminum superstructure; 2 propellers; accommodations 30 officers / 356 enlisted.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1957-2002

   Limitations

   NVR documents registry facts and disposition, not materials. The pre-construction DD-959 designation does not appear in the NVR record - that designation rests on secondary compilations and is flagged in gaps. Live NVR detail page no longer renders ship data for this disposed hull; archived 2012 capture cited.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-02

4. [4]Bill Richards, 'Sailor Says Navy Lax on Asbestos Peril,' Washington Post, Oct. 1979 (archive page header shows Oct. 18; archive URL and index date Oct. 19, 1979) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   Washington Post archive, Politics, Oct. 19, 1979 (lede + two quoted Rao passages + LBNSY removal sentence)

   Finding type

   abatement_record

   Finding

   Contemporaneous press report naming this hull: the Post reported that a Navy seaman, Krishna V.N. Rao, assigned to USS Towers, had 'been diagnosed recently as having the early stages of asbestos disease' and that he and other sailors worked with little protection in the ship's engine room where they were heavily exposed. Rao: 'The Navy hired civilian contractors to come in and rip the stuff out and they wouldn't work unless they had respirators and other protective equipment... But we were told to sweep up after them and the only protection we had were cotton gauze masks we borrowed on our own from the civilian workers.' The report places the event inside a Navy program 'to rip out all asbestos from its [older] ships' and states the Towers 'was brought in last year to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, Calif., to have all its asbestos removed' - i.e., during the Nov 1978-1979 regular overhaul DANFS independently documents. Rao had gone AWOL after the Navy declined to accept outside medical reports.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1978-1979

   Population

   USS Towers engine-room crew and ship's company, c. 1978-79; civilian rip-out contractors and Long Beach Naval Shipyard workforce

   Limitations

   Newspaper account resting on a sailor's statements amid a personnel dispute - not an engineering survey or abatement contract. 'All its asbestos removed' is the account's characterization; GAO HRD-80-2 documents the contemporaneous Navy policy as selective thermal-insulation rip-out in high-maintenance areas during overhauls, with an estimated 30-50% of shipboard asbestos insulation normally remaining untouched - read the claim as rip-out scope, not verified zero-ACM. Establishes asbestos presence aboard this hull and a removal operation during the 1978-79 LBNSY overhaul, plus a contemporaneous exposure/diagnosis allegation; does not establish causation, quantities, residual ACM, or legal eligibility. Full article text is paywalled; passages quoted verified via the Post's archive listing and search-surface text.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-03

5. [5]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Resources Division) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO HRD-80-2, Navy-policy discussion (Oct 1975 policy; Jan 1979 modification; $2B estimate; 30-50% residual)

   Finding type

   regulatory

   Finding

   GAO documents the Navy's shipboard asbestos posture contemporaneous with this hull's 1978-79 overhaul: the October 1975 Navy policy removed and replaced with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs; a January 1979 modification added selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. The Navy estimated that over the following five years this policy would remove and replace all shipboard thermal asbestos insulation 'except the 30 to 50 percent which normally remains untouched' over a ship's life; a one-time removal program was rejected on an estimated $2 billion cost, and some shipboard applications had no asbestos-free substitute identified.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1975-1980 (report period)

   Population

   Navy crews and shipyard workers fleet-wide

   Limitations

   Program-level policy record - names no ship and establishes no hull-level condition. It is the correct frame for reading the press account's 'all its asbestos removed' aboard this hull: the documented policy was selective, not total, removal.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-04

6. [6]Booklet of General Plans, USS Towers (DDG-9), dated 19 April 1974 - NARA RG 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), Ship Engineering Drawings file unit 'Drawings for USS Towers (DDG-9)' (Internet Archive scan of NARA originals) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archive.org item ddg9bogp1974, sheets 02 (compartment directory) and 03 (general dimensions & data)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Hull-level engineering record for this ship: the 1974 BOGP (builder Todd Shipyards Corporation, Seattle Division; yard no. 18) lists berthing for 28 officers, 21 CPO, 319 crew; general dimensions LOA 437'0", max beam 47'1", design draft 15'1"; and its compartment directory documents two engine rooms ('ENGINE RM NO. 1', 3-83-0-E, 2nd platform; 'ENGINE RM NO. 2', 5-127-0-E, 2nd platform), two boiler uptake spaces ('UPTAKE SPACE NO. 1 / NO. 2'), and two emergency generator rooms - a duplicated machinery plant consistent with a twin-screw, multi-fireroom steam design.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1974 (drawing date; hull as built/modified)

   Population

   Crew berthing complement 368 (1974 fit); engineering spaces watchstanders

   Limitations

   Primary hull document, but the sheets reviewed (compartment directory; general dimensions & data) do not state insulation materials or use the word asbestos - the BOGP documents machinery spaces and layout, not material composition. Drawing set at NARA may include insulation schedules on sheets not reviewed. Digitized by a third-party scanner of NARA originals; NARA catalog entry is the authoritative citation.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-05

7. [7]U.S. Navy photo 021009-N-8590B-005, PHAA Andrew Betting - official caption for the 9 October 2002 SINKEX of ex-Towers (DDG-9) [other_primary]

   Locator

   U.S. Navy photo ID 021009-N-8590B-005, caption text (also reproduced on the Wikimedia Commons file page)

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   Official Navy caption for this hull's sinking: 'The decommissioned ships are first made environmentally safe prior to towing and sinking in safe waters off prospective coastlines' - documenting that this hull underwent the Navy's pre-sinking environmental preparation before the 9 October 2002 fleet training exercise off California in which Sides (FFG-14) sank her.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   2002

   Population

   SINKEX preparation workforce, c. 2002

   Limitations

   Caption language is a generic program statement attached to this hull's sinking photo - it does not enumerate what materials were removed or what hazardous materials (including any residual asbestos) remained aboard at sinking. Does not quantify or certify ACM removal.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-06

8. [8]EPA, 'Transport of Target Vessels for Ocean Disposal' - MPRSA general permit at 40 C.F.R. 229.2 for the Navy SINKEX program; Jan. 2014 EPA-Navy 'Determination and Agreement' clarifying vessel-preparation and PCB-removal verification [federal_register]

   Locator

   EPA marine-protection permitting page; 40 C.F.R. 229.2; 2014 Determination and Agreement PDF; April 2012 SINKEX petition PDF (epa.gov)

   Finding type

   regulatory

   Finding

   The regulatory frame under which this hull was sunk: the MPRSA general permit at 40 C.F.R. 229.2 authorizes Navy transport of target vessels for ocean disposal; EPA's program page and the 2014 Determination and Agreement document required pre-sinking preparation and verification focused on PCB removal; a 2012 petition to EPA (hosted on epa.gov) describes the program as sinking ex-vessels 'while still containing toxic materials within their composition, including asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), iron, lead paint and antifouling paint.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1999-2014 (regime); 2002 (this hull's sinking)

   Population

   n/a - post-disposal regulatory regime

   Limitations

   Program-level regulatory context - establishes the prep-and-permit regime applicable to this hull's 2002 sinking, not hull-specific preparation records. The petition's material claims are the petitioners' characterization, not findings against this vessel; whether residual asbestos remained aboard ex-Towers at sinking is undocumented.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-07

9. [9]NAVSEA Manufacturing Technology Program report, 'Removal of Pre-Formed Asbestos Insulation' (Southwest Research Institute, Oct. 1982; AD-A122 347) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Todd Shipyards record (yard-level asbestos product documentation) [other_primary]

   Locator

   DTIC AD-A122 347 (program summary, per-ship cost); shipyards.json record 'todd-shipyards'; DANFS/NVR/BOGP machinery details as cited in ev-01/-02/-05

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference: this hull is a 1958-61 steam-propelled Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer - duplicated firerooms feeding geared turbines driving two shafts (NVR: 2 propellers; BOGP: two engine rooms, two uptake spaces; DANFS: 'number one fire room' steam-line rupture 1983, 'boiler tubes and brickwork' overhaul work 1984). Period-standard asbestos applications for such a plant: boiler and steam-line thermal insulation/lagging, turbine and pump insulation, valve and flange gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. NAVSEA's documented 1979-82 program to remove pre-formed asbestos insulation from naval vessels (impregnation/entrapment method, nominal $280,000 per ship) confirms shipboard thermal asbestos rip-out was a standing Navy workload of the era. Builder Todd Shipyards Corp. is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2) for asbestos product use.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-28

   Study period

   1958-1990

   Population

   Steam-plant watchstanders ('snipes'), shipyard insulators and rip-out crews

   Limitations

   Class/era and builder-yard inference only - the ship-specific findings for this hull are ev-03 (1978-79 reported asbestos removal and crew exposure account) and the engineering records cited. This row adds context, not an independent ship-specific finding; it does not establish what materials were installed on this hull beyond what ev-03 and the machinery documentation support.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-towers-dd959-08

10. [10]CourtListener docket index: Terry Lee Siegfried v. 3M Co., 2:18-cv-01575 (C.D. Cal., asbestos PI, filed 2018); Redman v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 3:08-cv-03013 (N.D. Cal., asbestos removal, filed 2008); In re Asbestos Products Liability Litig. (No. VI), MDL-875 (JPML), doc 6475-18 notice of related action incl. complaint C.D. Cal. 2:09-cv-05549 [court_record]

    Locator

    CourtListener dockets 6320509, 4174328, 1245688 (doc 6475-18); matched docs: cacd.702384 docs 17/24/50; cand.204462 doc 11 (full text pulled - Wikipedia class-roster match only); jpml.375294 doc 6475 att. 18

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    Three asbestos dockets carry indexed text matching 'USS Towers': Siegfried v. 3M (matched inside removal-paper joinders, docs 17/24/50), Redman v. A.W. Chesterton (matched inside a 323-page exhibit declaration supporting remand, doc 11), and an MDL-875 notice-of-related-action attachment containing a C.D. Cal. complaint (2:09-cv-05549). Document-level resolution: the Redman doc 11 full text was pulled (recap-documents/1812456) - the 'USS Towers (DDG-9)' string appears ONLY inside a pasted Wikipedia 'Charles F. Adams class destroyer' class roster embedded in plaintiff's interrogatory responses; decedent Ronald Redman was a shipyard ship-check/'Ship-Alt' worker (Norfolk Naval et al.), and no allegation that he was aboard this hull exists in the document - i.e., a reference-material name match, not an exposure claim against Towers. The Siegfried joinders and the MDL-875 attachment are probable vessel-list material but were not retrievable within the fleet's CourtListener pacing budget.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    2008-2018 (litigation)

    Population

    Unverified from index

    Limitations

    Redman resolved at document level: name collision inside copied reference text - not even a pleading-stage exposure allegation against this hull. Siegfried and MDL-875 matches remain docket-index references only, classified at the lowest stage (indexed filing text; at most pleading-level allegations); not adjudicated, not verified as exposure claims against this hull. Establishes nothing about materials aboard.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-towers-dd959-09

11. [11]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches via fleet-paced helper, 2026-09-28: q='USS Towers' type=o (0 hits); q='USS Towers' type=r (4 hits - 2 asbestos dockets + 1 MDL-875 related-action complaint + 1 non-asbestos collision); q='DDG-9' type=o (0 hits); q='DDG-9' type=r (14 hits - same asbestos filings + collisions); q='DD-959' type=o (0 hits); q='DD-959' type=r (2 hits - both non-asbestos collisions) [court_record]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-towers-dd959-01 through -05

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    No published opinion naming 'USS Towers', 'DDG-9', or 'DD-959' exists on CourtListener (0 type=o hits on each). Docket sweeps: 'USS Towers' returned 4 hits - two asbestos dockets (Siegfried v. 3M, C.D. Cal. 2:18-cv-01575; Redman v. A.W. Chesterton, N.D. Cal. 3:08-cv-03013 - doc 11 pulled and resolved as a copied-Wikipedia class-roster match, not an exposure claim) plus an MDL-875 related-action attachment (JPML doc 6475-18, complaint C.D. Cal. 2:09-cv-05549) - Siegfried/MDL carried as unverified archival leads (ev-09) - and one non-asbestos collision (Therrien v. Target Corp., N.D. Okla., jury-trial transcript). 'DDG-9' returned 14 dockets - the same asbestos filings (Siegfried joinders; Redman declaration; MDL-875 docs 7714/7717/7803 tag-along/CTO papers) plus non-asbestos collisions where 'DDG-9' is an exhibit or docket-code string (bankruptcy fee applications, NYT v. Microsoft copyright, USA v. Google antitrust, criminal matters). 'DD-959' returned 2 dockets, both non-asbestos collisions: Ayo v. 3M (E.D.N.Y. 2:18-cv-00373, product-liability removal; 'DD-959' appears inside a Chemguard/Tyco remand-opposition exhibit - firefighting-foam counsel context, not this hull) and In re Seroquel MDL (M.D. Fla. 6:06-md-01769, exhibit-code string). 'Towers' is a low-collision name - only one hull ever carried it.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    2026-09-28

    Limitations

    Query sweeps complete for exact name and both hull numbers across opinions and dockets; the one dual-match document (Redman doc 11) was pulled and resolved as a reference-material name match. Full-text pulls of the Siegfried joinders and MDL-875 attachment were paced out by the fleet quota limiter and remain queued (search_ledger sl-05). CourtListener covers participating jurisdictions only; state-court dockets outside RECAP are not covered. Absence of opinion hits is a real negative; the unresolved asbestos-docket matches are vessel-list material inside removal papers and complaints - pleading-stage at most even after verification.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-towers-dd959-10

12. [12]Batch-3880 search ledger (this record): NARA RG 24 deck logs (Vietnam-era digitized logbook program); balance of RG 19 'Drawings for USS Towers (DDG-9)' file unit; full text of the three matched CourtListener documents; WaPo companion coverage and any Navy response to the 1979 report [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-towers-dd959-06 through -08

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Open archival leads for this hull: (1) NARA RG 24 deck logs cover commissioned Navy ships 1941-1979+ (Vietnam-era logs digitized under the VA-supported program) - the 1978-79 LBNSY overhaul-period logs may reflect the asbestos rip-out; (2) the RG 19 drawing file for this hull extends beyond the two BOGP sheets reviewed and may include insulation schedules; (3) the remaining matched CourtListener documents (Siegfried joinder exhibits; MDL-875 related-action complaint 2:09-cv-05549) - full text not pulled within pacing budget; (4) the Navy's response to the Oct 1979 WaPo report, if any, not located.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-28

    Study period

    2026-09-28

    Limitations

    Leads, not findings - none has been examined at full text except as noted; no asbestos conclusion should be drawn from their existence.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-towers-dd959-11