Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet ef-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: Queue: USS WELBORN C. WOOD DD-195
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-pkt-ef-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) (builder, dates, full USN/USCG/RN service narrative, striking; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 24 September 1918 at Newport News, Va., by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched 6 March 1920 (sponsor Miss Virginia Mary Tate); designated DD-195 on 17 July 1920; commissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard 14 January 1921. Atlantic Fleet service until decommissioned at Philadelphia 8 August 1922. Transferred to the Coast Guard 1 October 1930 (struck from the Navy list the same day); reconditioned at Philadelphia, renumbered CG-19, commissioned 15 April 1931; 'rum patrol' out of New London; operated with the Navy in Cuban waters (off Nueva Gerona) September-October 1933; decommissioned at Philadelphia 21 May 1934. Reinstated on the Navy list; recommissioned at Philadelphia 4 September 1939 (Lt. Comdr. Robert E. Cronin) for the Neutrality Patrol. With Destroyer Division 67 arrived Halifax, N.S., 6 September 1940; decommissioned and transferred to the Royal Navy 9 September 1940 under the Destroyers for Bases agreement; struck from the Navy list 8 January 1941. As HMS Chesterfield (I.28): convoy escort in the North Atlantic 1941-43; attacked U-268 screening convoy HX-222 on 17 January 1943 and was damaged by her own depth charges; air target vessel through 1944; reserve at Grangemouth (Firth of Forth) 17 January 1945; broken up for scrap 1947. DANFS spec block: Clemson class, 1,215 tons, 314'4", 35 kt, complement 111.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1947
- Population
- Newport News construction trades 1918-20; USN crew 1921-22 and 1939-40; USCG crew 1931-34; RN crew 1940-45 (design complement 111)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content - this row establishes the hull's identity and career only. DANFS's parenthetical identifying HMS Churchill (I.45) as 'formerly Haraden, DD-138' is a documented error (Churchill was ex-USS Herndon, DD-198; Haraden was DD-183) - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because live NHHC URLs for this hull return 404 (checked 2026-09-27).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-01
-
[3]Lt Cdr Geoffrey B. Mason RN (Rtd), 'HMS Chesterfield (I 28) - ex-US Destroyer including Convoy Escort Movements,' Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2, naval-history.net (rev. 15/8/11) [other_primary]
- Locator
- naval-history.net HMS Chesterfield (I 28) service history + 'Post War Notes' + convoy movements annex
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled Royal Navy service chronology for this hull: commissioned into RN service at Halifax as HMS 'Welbourne C. Wood' (chronology dates it 8 September 1940; page header reads 9 September); in collision with HMS Churchill at Halifax 10 September; renamed HMS Chesterfield in early October (chronology 2 October, header 3 October); quarantined at St. John's 22 October with a diphtheria case; Chatham dockyard refit from 26 November 1940 for RN escort-duty conversion; convoy escort 1941-43 with 11th/3rd/18th/23rd/7th Escort Groups (convoy list includes OB/SC/HX/ON series); refits at Portsmouth (Oct 1941-Jan 1942), Clyde (Mar-Jun 1942), and Hull (Oct 1942-Jan 1943 'Stage 2' refit incl. Type 271 radar and improved ASDIC); damaged by own shallow-set depth charges attacking U-268 on HX-222, 17 January 1943; repaired at Hull Feb-Nov 1943; converted to Air Target Ship (armament removed) December 1943; repair suspended November 1944 as uneconomic; arrived Rosyth 15 January 1945 to pay off; laid up at Rosyth; sold to BISCO 4 March 1947 for demolition by Clayton & Davie at Dunston-on-Tyne, arriving at the breaker's yard in tow 3 December 1948. RN classed her 'Type A - Burnham class' within the Town-class grouping.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940-1948
- Population
- RN crew 1940-45; Chatham/Portsmouth/Clyde/Hull dockyard workers during four refit/repair periods; Clayton & Davie demolition workers 1948-49
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary chronology (movement-card-derived), not an RN primary document - corroborates and extends DANFS but contains internal date inconsistencies (8 vs 9 September commissioning; 2 vs 3 October renaming; Rosyth vs DANFS's Grangemouth for January 1945 reserve). No asbestos or materials information. Repair/refit scope at Chatham, Portsmouth, Clyde, and Hull dockyards is named but not detailed - potential disturbance periods for era-installed insulation remain undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-02
-
[4]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, Prohibition bibliography and cutter index entries: 'Destroyers Selected: Hunt, Welborn C. Wood, George E. Badger, & Herndon Taken Over by Coast Guard,' Coast Guard Magazine (Oct 1930), p. 5; cutter index 'WOOD, (WELBORN C.); (1931-USCG); CG DESTROYER CG-19'; biography of Rear Admiral Arthur G. Hall (commanded cutter Welborn C. Wood between 1930 and 1938); biography of Lt. Luke Christopher (CO, Destroyer Welborn C. Wood, New London, April 1931-January 1933) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil Prohibition bibliography + cutter index (archived uscg.mil/history/webcutters list) + Hall and Christopher biography pages
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official USCG Historian's Office records independently confirm this hull's Coast Guard service: CG-19 designation in the official cutter index; the October 1930 Coast Guard Magazine announcement listing Welborn C. Wood among the destroyers taken over for Prohibition enforcement; and two officer biographies naming the cutter (Rear Adm. Hall commanded her; Lt. Christopher commanded April 1931-January 1933 at New London). Corroborates the DANFS USCG narrative (transfer 1 October 1930, commissioned 15 April 1931, New London station, decommissioned 21 May 1934).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1930-1934
- Population
- USCG crew of cutter Welborn C. Wood (CG-19), 1931-1934
- Limitations
- Establishes Coast Guard service, hull number CG-19, and named commanding officers - contains no asbestos or materials information. The Coast Guard Magazine citation itself was not pulled; it is indexed on the Historian's Office Prohibition bibliography page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-03
-
[5]DANFS DD-195 specifications block (Clemson class; 35 kt) + Navypedia Clemson-class machinery table (DD186-199 batch: 2 sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 White-Forster boilers, 27,000 shp - flagged by source as 'somewhat conjectural' where exact data unavailable) + Atlas shipyards.json record 'newport-news-shipbuilding' [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS DD-195 spec block; navypedia.org Clemson-class technical data; shipyards.json record 'newport-news-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: a WWI-program flush-deck destroyer built 1918-1921 at Newport News Shipbuilding with a four-boiler saturated-steam plant and geared steam turbines would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing boiler and steam-line insulation, lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - the same material categories documented at yard and program level for U.S. naval steam construction of the era. Builder Newport News Shipbuilding is documented at yard level in the Atlas shipyard dataset (tier 1: Kaylo insulation, Unibestos, Johns-Manville products, raw asbestos mud documented at the yard across its operating history). NARA RG19 'General Information Books' holding per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1918-1945
- Population
- Newport News construction trades 1918-20; USN/USCG/RN crews 1921-1945
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no primary source documents asbestos aboard this specific hull, and this row must not be read as a ship-specific finding. Navypedia machinery data are self-flagged as partially conjectural. Newport News yard-level asbestos documentation postdates or is contemporaneous with this hull's build but is not hull-specific. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep, 2026-09-27: opinion queries "Welborn C. Wood", "Welborn Wood"/"Welborn C Wood"/"USS Welborn", "DD-195"/"DD195", "HMS Chesterfield" asbestos, "USS Wood" asbestos destroyer - all zero results; docket query "USS Wood" asbestos - one hit [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 (type=o and type=r); RECAP doc gov.uscourts.jpml.375294.9111.3.pdf p.7 (complaint para. 3, exposure-sites allegation)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located. Six opinion/docket queries returned zero results. The single docket hit (JPML MDL-875 docket 1245688, document 9111-3 - tag-along notice for Murphy v. Foster Wheeler Energy Corp. et al., N.D. Ohio 1:13-cv-10000, removed from Lorain County) was reviewed by downloading the RECAP PDF and OCR of its scanned complaint pages: the 'USS Wood' reference resolves to USS Wood County (LST-1178), a De Soto County-class LST built circa 1957-59, where the decedent worked at American Ship Builders, Lorain, Ohio 1957-1959 - a name collision, not this hull. A broad 'Welborn' docket query returned 5,632 hits, all person-surname party names (bankruptcy, civil rights, Social Security) - none naming the ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (search date)
- Limitations
- A negative search result does not prove no asbestos exposure occurred or that no claim was ever filed - only that no qualifying case naming this hull appears in CourtListener's indexed opinions/dockets as of 2026-09-27. MDL-875 constituent complaints naming this hull could exist in dockets not captured by name search. The collision was resolved at pleading-allegation level - the complaint's vessel list is an allegation, not a finding, in any event.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-05
-
[7]U.S. Naval Academy Virtual Memorial Hall, 'Welborn C. Wood, Naval Cadet, USN' (namesake biography) - consistent with the DANFS namesake text [other_primary]
- Locator
- USNA Virtual Memorial Hall entry for Welborn C. Wood; sponsor parentage per same source
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Namesake record: Welborn Cicero Wood, born Georgia 15 January 1876, appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy 6 September 1895; served as a midshipman in USS Texas during the war with Spain; graduated class of 1899 and joined USS Oregon on the Asiatic Station; given command of the gunboat Urdaneta in the Philippines; killed in action 17 September 1899 when Urdaneta grounded in the Orani River and was overwhelmed by insurgent fire from the shore. DD-195 was named for him; sponsor Miss Virginia Mary Tate was daughter of Congressman Farish Carter Tate. Note: contemporary documents list him as Naval Cadet; Memorial Hall lists him as Ensign.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1876-1899 (namesake life); 1920 (ship sponsorship)
- Limitations
- Namesake context only - no asbestos relevance. Rank discrepancy (Naval Cadet vs Ensign) noted by the source itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welborn-c-wood-dd195-06