Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]Bill Richards, 'Sailor Says Navy Lax on Asbestos Peril,' The Washington Post, Oct. 18, 1979 (archive URL path dated 1979-10-19) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Washington Post archive, article body paragraphs 1-4 (as indexed)
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous press account naming this hull: seaman Krishna V.N. Rao, assigned to USS Towers, had recently been diagnosed with 'the early stages of asbestos disease' and said he and other sailors 'were required to work with little protection in a 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.' Enlisted men 'routinely handled asbestos during repair work before the Towers was brought in last year to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard ... to have all its asbestos removed' - i.e., asbestos-containing material was present aboard this hull and was ripped out during the 1978-79 Long Beach Naval Shipyard overhaul documented by DANFS (entered 15 Nov 1978). Rao went AWOL after the Navy declined outside medical reports and ordered him back to his previous job.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1978-1979 (rip-out/overhaul); article 1979-10-18
- Population
- USS Towers engine-room and repair-working sailors (1970s); Long Beach NSY and contractor asbestos workers, 1978-79 overhaul
- Limitations
- Press report, not a survey or contract record: names the hull and an identified crewmember, but does not quantify ACM, name the contractor, or establish completeness of the rip-out ('all its asbestos' is a sailor's account). Diagnosis is as reported in the article, not adjudicated. Full article text is paywalled - roughly the first four paragraphs retrieved via the search index; the tail of the piece was not reviewed. Publication date shown as Oct. 18, 1979 in the article body; archive URL path carries Oct. 19.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-01
-
[2]Owens-Illinois, Inc.'s Joinder to Defendant Elliot Company's Notice of Removal, ECF No. 50, Siegfried v. 3M Co. et al., No. 2:18-cv-01575-FMO-E (C.D. Cal., filed Mar. 2, 2018) (RECAP) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF No. 50, p.1-2 (Preliminary Statement para. 1, vessel/exposure list)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Asbestos personal-injury removal filing recites the complaint's allegation that plaintiff Terry Lee Siegfried, an electrician/marine electrician, was exposed to Owens-Illinois asbestos 'between approximately 1969 and 1996' at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and aboard a ~45-vessel list that expressly includes 'USS Towers (DDG-9)' (suit nature 368 P.I.: Asbestos; case removed Feb. 26, 2018; joinder filed Mar. 2, 2018).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1969-1996 (alleged window); 2018-2019 (litigation)
- Population
- Long Beach Naval Shipyard electrician/marine electrician; alleged asbestos exposure 1969-1996
- Limitations
- Pleading-stage allegation recited in a removal joinder - unadjudicated; establishes that the hull was named in an asbestos exposure allegation, not that Owens-Illinois product was aboard, nor individual exposure, causation, or quantities. No hull-specific exposure dates stated; the 1969-1996 window overlaps this hull's service only through her 1 Oct. 1990 decommissioning. The same pleading list misspells sister ship 'USS Robinson (DDG-12)' (the hull is Robison) - noted for list precision; the Towers entry carries the correct hull number. Docket termination (Jan. 7, 2019) per sister-batch docket check of this case.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-02
-
[3]DANFS, Towers (DDG-9), Vol. VII pp. 249-252 (namesake biography + ship entry; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page not located, 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. VII pp. 249-252, ship entry + specifications block; hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/ddg9.htm via Wayback capture 2015-02-25
- 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.; commissioned 6 June 1961 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Comdr. L. D. Cummins in command. Homeport San Diego; Vietnam service incl. Yankee Station, northern SAR, Market Time; Operation Sailor Hat blast tests June 1965; Rung Sat Special Zone gunfire support July 1966; Haiphong-harbor pilot rescue 31 Aug 1966; screening New Jersey (BB-62) 1968; Danang gunline 1969-70; Lam Son 72/Linebacker 1972. Documented yard periods: Long Beach Naval Shipyard availability March 1966; Hunters' Point Naval Shipyard major overhaul 14 Apr-19 Oct 1967; four-month San Diego availability from 23 Sept 1977; entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard 15 Nov 1978 for regular overhaul into 1979. Awards: one Navy Unit Commendation, one Meritorious Unit Commendation, four battle stars (Vietnam). Spec block: 3,370 tons; 437 ft; complement 354; class Charles F. Adams.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1958-1979
- Population
- Todd Shipyards construction trades 1958-61; crew 1961-1990 (design complement 354); yard workers at documented availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content; the 1978-79 Long Beach entry is a yard-period record whose asbestos rip-out scope is established by the WaPo row (ev-01), not by DANFS. Narrative coverage ends circa 1979. Transcription mirror carries OCR errors (e.g., 'Pome, Ga.' for namesake's Rome, Ga., birthplace; '6-inch' where the 5-inch battery is meant); corrected values carried in prose. Live NHHC DANFS page for this hull not located (404s on 2026-09-19).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-03
-
[4]Naval Vessel Register (NAVSEA), TOWERS (DDG 9) detail page - status, milestone dates, physical characteristics (live page plus Wayback capture 2020-10-27) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR ship detail page, vessel status + milestone dates + physical characteristics tables (Wayback capture 2020-10-27)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Navy inventory record for this hull: class DDG 2 (Charles F. Adams); UIC 04675; builder Todd Shipyards Corp., Seattle Div.; award 03/28/1957; keel 04/01/1958; launch 04/23/1959; delivery 05/31/1961; commission 06/06/1961; decommission 10/01/1990; stricken 05/27/1992; status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise' with status-change date 10/09/2002. Steel hull, aluminum superstructure; propulsion type 'Steam Turbines,' 2 propellers; 437 ft overall, 47 ft extreme beam, full displacement 4,770 tons; accommodations 30 officers / 356 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1957-2003 (record last updated 01/03/2003)
- Population
- Not applicable - inventory record
- Limitations
- Inventory/milestone data, not materials documentation. NVR stricken date 27 May 1992 is carried as authoritative - NavSource shows 1 Oct 1990 (conflation with decommissioning) and secondary sources show 26 May 1992. NVR carries no sale/disposal-chain detail between stricken and SINKEX; live NVR page renders but the ship-data table did not survive automated fetch, so the 2020-10-27 Wayback capture is the cited text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-04
-
[5]Official U.S. Navy photograph 021009-N-8590B-005 (PHAN Andrew Betting), caption as released, hosted by NavSource: ex-Towers (DDG-9) sinking after use as a SINKEX target hulk, 9 Oct. 2002 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-959/DDG-9 photo index, image caption 021009-N-8590B-005
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Navy photo caption documents this hull's disposal: 'the decommissioned ship Towers (DDG 9) ... slowly sinks in the Pacific Ocean after being used as a target hulk for live-fire sinking exercises (SINKEX)' on 9 October 2002; caption notes decommissioned ships 'are first made environmentally safe prior to towing and sinking in safe waters off prospective coastlines' and that the hull 'will serve as a man-made reef.' Corroborates NVR status 'Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise' effective the same date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2002
- Population
- Fleet exercise participants; subsequent dive/marine life on wreck
- Limitations
- Caption documents the sinking event and a general environmental-prep statement; it does not itemize what hazardous materials (asbestos, PCBs, fuels) were removed or retained aboard this hull, nor the firing unit or exact location. Secondary sources credit USS Sides (FFG-14) and place the sinking off San Clemente, Calif. - unverified by this source. NavSource hosts the caption; the underlying photo/caption is an official USN release.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-05
-
[6]NavSource building data for USS Towers: 'Originally classified as DD-959, classification changed to DDG-9 April 23 1957'; corroborated by ibiblio/HyperWar Online Library hull index ('DDG-9: Towers (1961-2002). Originally designated DD-959 and DDG-959') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource operational/building data block; ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/shusn-no/ddg-no.htm and dd-no8.htm
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Designation consolidation for intake data: this hull was awarded 28 March 1957 under the destroyer designation DD-959 and redesignated guided-missile destroyer DDG-9 on 23 April 1957 - nearly a year before keel laying (1 April 1958). DD-959 and DDG-9 are one hull, not two ships; the commissioned identity DDG-9 is retained per NVR class listing (DDG 2 class).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1957
- Population
- Not applicable - designation record
- Limitations
- Secondary indexes (NavSource building data; ibiblio hull-number index mirroring NHHC Online Library) - consistent with each other and with the NVR milestone record, but NVR itself does not display the pre-construction designation. ibiblio also records an intermediate 'DDG-959' style. The DD-959 designation was administrative only and never attached to a completed hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-06
-
[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct. 18, 1979) - full text via Justia GAO republication (gao.gov asset blocks automated fetch) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 highlights + Enclosure I tables + Long Beach fieldwork section (Justia mirror)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO review of the Navy's asbestos-protection program published the same day as the WaPo Towers report, with fieldwork at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - the yard where this hull's 1978-79 asbestos rip-out occurred. Documents the Navy's 1975 policy (replace asbestos insulation only when damaged or removed for repairs) modified in 1979 to add selective replacement in high-maintenance areas; a Cal/OSHA-consultant hygienist at Long Beach found asbestos dust aboard two unnamed ships and exposed asbestos on fire-room pipe ends of one; Navy rejected a one-time fleet-wide removal (est. ~$2 billion), and estimated DD & DDG-class reinsulation costs within a ~$965 million three-type subset; about 30-50% of shipboard thermal asbestos would remain untouched under policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1978-1979 (review period)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers at Long Beach and Norfolk NSYs; Navy-wide asbestos program
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific: the ships sampled at Long Beach are unnamed, so no asbestos finding is attributed to Towers from this source. The Towers connection is temporal and locational - her rip-out overhaul at Long Beach ran Nov. 1978-Oct. 1979, within the review period. gao.gov full-text asset returns Access Denied to automated fetch; text obtained via Justia's republication (HRD-80-2-full-report.pdf), which carries Justia's disclaimer that it is not the official copy.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-07
-
[8]Ohio Dept. of Veterans Services republication of the VA/DOD list, 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' - entry: 'USS Towers (DDG-9) operated on Saigon River and Rung Sat Special Zone during July 1966' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ohio DVS Vietnam-Ship-List PDF, 'Ships operating temporarily on Vietnam's inland waterways' section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Government-compiled ship list corroborates this hull's 1966 Vietnam riverine/delta operations (Saigon River, Rung Sat Special Zone, July 1966), matching the DANFS narrative of 5-inch gunfire support 2-17 July 1966 including the Rung Sat Special Zone - the operation for which this hull appears on the VA herbicide-exposure (Agent Orange) ship list.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1966
- Population
- Crew serving aboard during July 1966 Vietnam operations
- Limitations
- Herbicide-exposure (Agent Orange) list, not an asbestos record - included as vessel-history corroboration and veteran-exposure context only. State-agency republication of the VA/DOD list; the underlying VA list edition is not dated in the PDF.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-08
-
[9]DANFS specifications block (Charles F. Adams class; 30 kt; NVR 'Steam Turbines', 2 propellers) + secondary spec references (4 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, ~70,000 shp); Todd Shipyards era asbestos use per Atlas shipyard record [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block (hazegray transcription); NVR physical-characteristics table; Siegfried ECF 50 paras. 4-11 (Navy insulation specifications)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference only: a Charles F. Adams-class destroyer built 1958-61 with a four-boiler high-pressure (1,275 psi class standard) steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos thermal insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. The Siegfried removal filing (ev-02) documents that Navy specifications 32-I-3/MIL-I-2819 (block) and 32-P-8/MIL-I-2781 (pipe) governed asbestos thermal insulation for Navy ships of the era, and that Owens-Illinois sold Kaylo to Navy specification through April 30, 1958 - the month this hull's construction began. Ship-specific asbestos findings rest on ev-01 (1978-79 rip-out) and ev-02 (allegation); this row is context, not an independent ship-specific finding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1958-1979
- Population
- Todd Shipyards construction trades 1958-61; crew 1961-1990; overhaul/rip-out workers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference - no hull-specific insulation survey or BUSHIPS materials list was located. Machinery quantities (4 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 2 Westinghouse turbines, ~70,000 shp) are from secondary spec references; NVR confirms only 'Steam Turbines' and 2 propellers. Whether Kaylo or another insulation product was installed aboard is not established: the Kaylo production cutoff (30 Apr. 1958 per the Siegfried filing) post-dates this hull's keel laying (1 Apr. 1958) by only ~4 weeks, so Kaylo falls inside her construction window but installation aboard is unproven.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-09
-
[10]USS Towers (DDG-9) association site - crew-published cruise books (1962, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980-83, 1985-87) and 'Towers Gazette' newsletters (1979 vol. 1 no. 4; 1980 vol. 2 nos. 1-2; 1980 Christmas) [other_primary]
- Locator
- usstowers.com/cruise-books/ index page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Crew-published contemporaneous materials exist for this hull, including 1979-80 newsletters bracketing the documented Long Beach asbestos rip-out - potential first-person/source documentation of the abatement period and crew conditions. NARA deck logs for this hull and NHHC ship command-operation reports (for post-1980 history) are the parallel primary-source leads.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1961-1990
- Population
- Crew 1961-1990; 1978-79 overhaul period of particular interest
- Limitations
- Unreviewed archival lead - cruise books and newsletters were not retrieved or read this session; nothing from them is asserted in this record. Association-hosted materials are crew publications, not official records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-towers-ddg9-10