Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet gb-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-wedderburn-dd684-pkt-gb-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Wedderburn (DD-684) (builder, dates, full service narrative, striking and sale; verbatim transcription via HazeGray Wayback capture - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry (specifications block + full service narrative), HazeGray mirror via Wayback capture 2006-09-27
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 10 January 1943 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched 1 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Gertrude F. Wedderburn; commissioned 9 March 1944, Comdr. John L. Wilfong in command. WWII: Guam screen (July-August 1944); fast-carrier ASW screen TG 38.2/58.2 through the Philippines-Palaus-Yap sweep, Leyte Gulf (Cape Engano phase), December 1944 typhoon, Lingayen, the January 1945 South China Sea sweep, Iwo Jima, Tokyo strikes, and Okinawa (including the 7 April 1945 Yamato strikes); occupation duty around Tokyo Bay; repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (arrived 19 November 1945); out of commission March 1946, berthed San Diego; Naval Reserve training ship from August 1946; recommissioned 21 November 1950 (Comdr. Richard B. Franklin); reactivation at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard; two Korean tours (departed 18 June 1951, returned February 1952; second tour August 1952-March 1953) with TF 95 blockade/gunfire support, TF 77 plane guard, TF 72 Taiwan Strait; overhaul at San Francisco Naval Shipyard; seven WestPac tours 1954-1964 incl. 1958 SEATO 'Ocean Link' and Quemoy-Matsu Taiwan Strait patrol; Vietnam-era deployments from August 1964 (TF 77 escort/plane guard, gunfire support Mekong Delta-Danang-Quang Tri-Chu Lai-DMZ, trawler surveillance, SAR; Operation 'Bear Chain' 1967); Long Beach Naval Shipyard availability 1965, overhaul August-November 1966, repairs April 1968; final deployment September 1968-May 1969 screening Hornet (CVS-12) and Hancock; propulsion casualty summer 1969; placed out of commission and stricken 1 October 1969 at San Diego; sold to Dhon's Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., for scrapping (DANFS reads 26 January 1972). Seven WWII, four Korean, six Vietnam battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1972
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943-44; wartime and postwar crews (design complement 329); shipyard workers at Puget Sound, Hunters Point/San Francisco NSY, and Long Beach NSY during documented availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The transcription carries OCR-era year typos ('February 1962' for 1952, 'August 1962' for 1952, 'March 1963' and armistice '27 July 1963' for 1953, 'the decade between 1964 and 1964' for 1954-1964) - resolved by internal context, carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-01
-
[3]Naval Historical Center (NHHC predecessor) Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Wedderburn (DD-684), 1944-1972' (ibiblio/HyperWar mirror of official NHC page) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio OnlineLibrary usnsh-w/dd684.htm, summary paragraph and photo captions (NH 94310, NH 69837-A, NH 73463, USN 1107281)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official Naval Historical Center photo-page summary for this hull: 2050-ton Fletcher-class destroyer built at San Francisco; commissioned March 1944; first combat mission the July 1944 Guam invasion; fast-carrier escort for the remainder of WWII; occupation support; returned November 1945; briefly out of service 1946 then Naval Reserve training ship until recommissioning November 1950; two Korean tours 1951-53; four Vietnam-era deployments 1964-69; decommissioned October 1969; sold for scrapping January 1972. Named for Lt. (j.g.) Charles F. Wedderburn, lost when USS Chauncey (DD-3) was sunk in World War I.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Crew and yard workers across the hull's service life
- Limitations
- Summary-level official record; confirms identity, namesake, broad service chronology, and disposition, but documents no materials, overhaul scope, or asbestos content. Sale month (January 1972) is consistent with DANFS but not day-exact (DANFS 26 Jan; NavSource 16 Dec 1971; secondary compilations 25 Jan 1972) - conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-02
-
[4]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep for 'USS Wedderburn', 'Wedderburn', 'DD-684', '"USS Wedderburn" OR "DD-684"' (type=o opinions and type=r RECAP dockets), 2026-09-27 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results for the query set; search_ledger rows sl-uss-wedderburn-dd684-03 through sl-uss-wedderburn-dd684-05
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep for this hull: 'USS Wedderburn' opinions = 0 results. Bare 'Wedderburn' opinions = 275 results, all surname name collisions (e.g., Messina v. Wedderburn N.Y. App. Div. 2023; Wedderburn v. Simmons N.Y. App. Div. 2012; Kevin Wedderburn v. INS 7th Cir. 2000; United States v. Wedderburn 11th Cir. 1982/1984) - none reference the vessel. 'DD-684' opinions = 0 results. 'DD-684' dockets (and the '"USS Wedderburn" OR "DD-684"' union query, identical result set) = 3 results, all non-qualifying document-number collisions: Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Madoff (S.D.N.Y. Bankr. 08-01789), New York Times v. Microsoft (S.D.N.Y. 1:23-cv-11195), Lyondell Chemical bankruptcy (S.D.N.Y. Bankr. 09-10023) - 'DD-684' appears in these dockets as a document/exhibit/claim reference, not the vessel. Bare 'Wedderburn' dockets query remained blocked at session end (fleet pacing budget). No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Index-level classification: the three docket hits were classified by caption and nature of suit; full-text match positions were not retrieved. Bare-'Wedderburn' dockets was not completed (blocked by the shared pacing limiter after repeated retries); any docket naming the ship would also have surfaced under the completed 'USS Wedderburn' union query (0 hits), so residual risk is low but logged. Absence of indexed litigation does not prove no claim was ever filed - unindexed state-court filings and claim-trust submissions are outside the corpus.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-03
-
[5]Fletcher-class design block (DANFS DD-684 specifications line: 2,050 t, 35.2 kt trial, cpl. 329, cl. Fletcher; navypedia class machinery: 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 GE geared steam-turbine sets, 60,000 shp, 2 shafts; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. I corroborating class design) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS DD-684 specifications line; navypedia us_dd_fletcher.htm class block; Fletcher class profile (class-c worktree)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1943-44 with a four-boiler 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings; the class profile documents no ship-specific asbestos record for any Fletcher hull, and class-level material is not attached to this hull as a ship-specific finding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1969
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-69
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No BuShips material schedule or hull-level insulation specification for DD-684 was located; NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' remain an unretrieved archival lead. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-04
-
[6]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 this 1943-44 hull (scrapped 1972) entirely inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- 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 - per Batch-01 standing note); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-05
-
[7]Atlas shipyard dataset records for the hull's documented yards: puget-sound-naval-shipyard; hunters-point-naval-shipyard (= San Francisco Naval Shipyard); long-beach-naval-shipyard (incl. Marr WT, 'Asbestos exposure during naval vessel overhaul,' Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1964, and DTIC AD0715808-era insulation documentation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS narrative yard-period entries; shipyards.json records 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard', 'hunters-point-naval-shipyard', 'long-beach-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Yard-level context for this hull's documented availabilities: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (post-war repairs, arrived 19 November 1945), Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (1951 reactivation; the 1952 overhaul yard 'San Francisco Naval Shipyard' is the same installation per the yard dataset alias), and Long Beach Naval Shipyard (1965 availability, August-November 1966 overhaul, April 1968 repairs) are all yards whose asbestos-era insulation operations are documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset - including a 1964 industrial-hygiene study of asbestos exposure during naval vessel overhaul at Long Beach.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1968
- Population
- Yard workers at Puget Sound, Hunters Point, and Long Beach during this hull's 1945-68 availabilities
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation only - establishes the asbestos context of the yards where this hull was repaired, not the materials worked aboard DD-684 in any specific availability. The 1964 Marr study of Long Beach predates this hull's documented LBNSY periods (1965-68); per the yard dataset, 100% amosite blankets were in shipboard use there until about 1962. No work package, work order, or survey for DD-684 was located at any yard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-06
-
[8]Batch-3659 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (HazeGray/Wayback); NHHC/NHC Online Library photo page; NVR ship-detail lookup; CourtListener exact-name, surname, and hull-number queries (opinions and RECAP dockets); Atlas shipyard dataset; Fletcher class profile [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-wedderburn-dd684-01 through sl-uss-wedderburn-dd684-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-684: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, builder material schedule, or scrapping hazmat disclosure was found in the sources searched, and no qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull or DD-684 (all CourtListener hits are surname collisions or unrelated-caption dockets). The hull was sold for scrapping 1971-72, before asbestos documentation of disposal was routine; there is no museum or reserve-fleet phase to generate later records.
- 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 - class/era inference makes era-standard insulation probable but is not a ship-specific documentation finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. NARA RG 19 General Information Books and builder (Bethlehem San Francisco / Union Iron Works) hull specifications remain unretrieved archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wedderburn-dd684-07