Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet ft-packet.md (8 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Welles (DD-628)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-welles-dd628-pkt-ft-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Welles II (DD-628) - NHHC original read via Wayback capture 2007-08-31 (live history.navy.mil page does not resolve - standing NHHC link-rot issue per BATCH-01); corroborating verbatim transcription at hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd628txt.htm (Wayback capture 2024-05-25) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'WELLES II' entry: specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 27 September 1941 at Seattle, Wash., by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 7 September 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Suzanne Dudley Welles Brainard; commissioned 16 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. Doyle M. Coffee in command. Shakedown on the west coast; post-shakedown availability at Puget Sound (returned 26 October 1943); Panama Canal transit 28 November 1943; joined DesDiv 38 at New York; screened New Jersey (BB-62) and Iowa (BB-61) to the Pacific; joined 7th Fleet at Milne Bay 5 February 1944. Gunfire support: Los Negros/Admiralties 29 February 1944 (under fire, no damage); Hollandia/Humboldt Bay with TG 77.2, 22 April; Wakde and Sarmi 18 May; Biak 27 May-2 June; Noemfoor; Cape Sansapor end of July. Third Fleet from the Solomons: Peleliu/Angaur mid-September; Leyte Gulf 18 October (pre-invasion minesweep/UDT cover, call fire, one unassisted air kill); Surigao Strait screen 24-25 October under Oldendorf; fast-carrier screen for Luzon, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. Major overhaul: arrived Bremerton 16 July 1945, remained through late September; Charleston, S.C.; placed out of commission 4 February 1946; Charleston Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet until struck - DANFS reads 10 February 1968; sold 18 July 1969 to Union Minerals and Alloy Co. for scrapping. Eight battle stars for World War II.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1969
- Population
- Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding construction trades 1941-43; wartime crew (DANFS complement 276); reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-1968
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, dates, and service narrative - it contains no materials or asbestos statement. Stricken date (10 Feb 1968 per DANFS) conflicts with NavSource/uboat.net (1 Mar 1968) - carried in gaps. Hazegray transcription drops a digit ('6 August' for Florida Island arrival) where the NHHC original reads '26 August' - the consistent reading is carried; variant noted in gaps. NHHC original cited via Wayback because the live page does not resolve.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, General Information Book, Destroyers DD-423 USS Gleaves and DD-424 USS Niblack (Office of Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath Iron Works, 1942; image-scan PDF via Destroyer History Foundation, local OCR) + DANFS specification block for DD-628 [other_primary]
- Locator
- 423Gleaves_GIBook.pdf pp. 9-13 (propelling machinery: boiler and turbine tables)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: the class-lead General Information Book for DD-423/DD-424 documents the Gibbs & Cox machinery family this hull was built to - four oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox 'Express' boilers with superheater and economizer (665 lb designed working pressure) and Westinghouse cross-compound geared turbines driving twin shafts at 50,000 HP. A ship of this steam plant built 1941-43, in the Navy's peak asbestos era, would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation and lagging throughout firerooms and machinery spaces, asbestos gaskets and packing in valves and flanges, and asbestos fireproofing and deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1970
- Population
- Sea-Tac construction trades 1941-43; crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-68; scrappers 1969-70
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - the GIB covers Bath-built DD-423/DD-424, not this Sea-Tac-built repeat-Gleaves hull, and its surviving scanned sections (A-1 General, A-5 Ordnance) contain no insulation schedule and no asbestos statement. No quantity, location, or exposure aboard DD-628 is established; 'typical of the class' must not be read as 'installed on this hull.'
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-02
-
[4]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's standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. Welles was inactivated February 1946, spent 22 years in the reserve fleet, and was sold for scrap July 1969 - she left Navy custody before any organized asbestos-management regime applied, so no abatement-era record for this hull would be expected and none was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy); hull disposed 1969
- Population
- n/a (program-level context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation predating and postdating this hull's disposal; establishes the policy environment (why no abatement record should be expected), not any fact about materials aboard DD-628. gao.gov blocks automated full-text fetch (HTTP 403); product-page description used - full text remains an open lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-03
-
[5]NARA, 'USS WELLES - War Diary, 7/18/45 TO 11/3/45', National Archives Identifier 77596260 (micro serial 153169; series: Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, WWII War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories; held at NARA College Park - record identified via DPLA aggregation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/77596260; DPLA item 526637736d63a83ef90d69833264d676
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A hull-specific primary record exists in NARA custody: the ship's own war diary for 18 July-3 November 1945, covering the Bremerton major-overhaul period, the homeward transit, and the move to Charleston for inactivation. Period deck logs and this diary are the likeliest public sources for work-location detail relevant to where insulation was disturbed during the 1945 yard period; they were not retrieved this session.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-07-18 to 1945-11-03 (record coverage)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the war diary's contents were not reviewed; war diaries and deck logs do not routinely record materials content. No asbestos statement should be expected or was located. Retrieval requires NARA College Park pull or Fold3/Ancestry scan access.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-04
-
[6]Batch-3601 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription, NavSource photo index, uboat.net warship entry, NVR scope check, NARA catalog, Destroyer History Foundation GIB collection, general-web asbestos mentions [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-welles-dd628-01 through sl-uss-welles-dd628-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials schedule, or ship-specific document naming DD-628 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was stricken 1968 and scrapped 1969, before the Navy's asbestos-management era, so no abatement trail exists for this hull in the sources checked.
- 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 - era inference for a 1941-43 steam destroyer strongly suggests asbestos-containing materials were installed; it is simply not ship-proven by any located source. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 authenticated sweeps (cl-auth-search.py, fleet-paced): "USS Welles" type=o = 0 results; "DD-628" type=o = 0 results; "USS Welles" type=r (RECAP docket index) = 0 results; 'Welles asbestos' type=o = 16,655 unbound hits, all generic asbestos opinions, none naming any Welles vessel in the screened top results [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint; queries executed 2026-09-27 under fleet pacing (several attempts waited out the shared ~114/hr budget)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located: exact-phrase "USS Welles" returned zero published opinions and zero RECAP dockets, and "DD-628" returned zero published opinions (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-27). The loose query 'Welles asbestos' returned 16,655 hits - effectively the whole asbestos opinion corpus; screened top results are generic asbestos matters (LAOSD Asbestos Cases, NYCAL, In re West Virginia Asbestos Litigation, Deggs/Brenon/Oddo v. Asbestos Corp., Bestwall bankruptcy) with no vessel naming. Classification: no qualifying hit; every exact-phrase query is a completed zero-result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- sweep date 2026-09-27
- Population
- n/a (no cases located)
- Limitations
- A zero-result sweep does not prove no litigation naming the hull exists - pleadings naming the vessel without a published opinion would not surface at type=o, and PACER-gated, sealed, or state-court records outside CourtListener's index are not searched. Collision surface if a future hit appears: USS Welles DD-257 (Clemson class, USN service ended Sept 1940 on transfer to the Royal Navy as HMS Cameron), SS Gideon Welles (Liberty ship, MC hull 563, Oregon Shipbuilding 1942, scrapped 1969), and Welles as a surname or institution - any future 'Welles' hit requires explicit hull attribution to DD-628 before attaching to this record. The fleet's same-day sweep for the DD-257 record independently returned zero results on the shared exact phrase 'USS Welles'.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-welles-dd628-06