Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet fo-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-wiley-dd597-pkt-fo-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Wiley (DD-597) - specifications block and full service narrative (verbatim hazegray.org DANFS-online transcription; live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (full entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 10 August 1943 at Bremerton, Wash., by Puget Sound Navy Yard; launched 25 September 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Herbert V. Wiley (wife of Vice Admiral Herbert V. Wiley, USN Ret.); commissioned 22 February 1945, Comdr. B. P. Field, Jr. in command. Shakedown out of San Diego through April 1945; post-shakedown availability at Puget Sound; Pearl Harbor 26 May; escorted Cape Gloucester (CVE-109) to the Philippines (Leyte 13 July, Subic Bay 15 July); North China force occupation duty at Dairen, Port Arthur, Chefoo, Tsingtao, and Chinwangtao; destroyed floating Japanese mines; screened Cruiser Division 6; covered the 8 September 1945 landings at Jinsen (Inchon), Korea; screened Antietam (CV-36) and Boxer (CV-21) as plane guard in the Yellow Sea from 12 October; passenger/mail runs Jinsen-Shanghai-Tsingtao-Taku; arrived San Francisco 3 January 1946; inactivation orders 11 March; decommissioned in reserve at San Diego 15 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 1 May 1968; sold 2 April 1970 to National Metal and Steel Co., Terminal Island, Calif., and subsequently scrapped. Spec block: Fletcher class, 2,050 tons, 376'4", 39'8", 17'9" mean draft, 35 kt, complement 273, 5 5-inch guns, 10 40mm, 7 20mm, 10 21-inch torpedo tubes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1943-45; wartime crew (design complement 273)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (link rot documented across the batch series); verbatim transcription cited via Wayback capture of the hazegray DANFS-online mirror. No battle stars are recorded - her commissioned service (Feb 1945-May 1946) postdated major Pacific combat.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-597 USS Wiley - operational/building data block, machinery line, NHHC/BuShips photo captions (NH 50528; NARA 19-N series), commanding-officer listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/05/597.htm - data block, photo captions, CO list; destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/usswiley (NARA 19-N-80801 caption)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Volunteer-compiled photo-index record for this hull: machinery line reads 'Allis Chalmers Turbines, 2 screws, 60,000 SHP' with 38 kt speed and crew 273; operational data gives decommissioned 9 August 1946 (conflicts with DANFS's 15 May 1946 - carried in gaps) and stricken 1 May 1968, sold 2 April 1970 to National Metal & Steel, Terminal Island CA, broken up for scrap. Photo captions document the hull at Puget Sound Navy Yard 15 March 1945 (NARA photo 19-N-80801, via destroyerhistory.org), in mothballs at Long Beach at an undated date (alongside DD-657, DD-644, DD-475, DD-583), and 'ready for the scrappers, San Diego April 1970.' The NH 50528 namesake caption records William Wiley: entered the Navy 2 April 1803, served in schooner Enterprise in the Mediterranean squadron, boatswain/quartermaster, participant in Lt. Stephen Decatur's Intrepid raid destroying the frigate Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor 16 February 1804, subsequently transferred to the brig Scourge. CDR Benjamin Prince Field III listed in command Feb 22 1945 - Aug 9 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Wartime and postwar crew; reserve-fleet caretakers 1946-1968; National Metal & Steel scrapping workers 1970
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer compilation - a secondary reference, not a primary source; underlying photo captions carry official NARA (19-N series) and NHHC (NH series) identifiers but the contributor captions are informal (e.g., 'laid up in mothballs at Long Beach' has no date and is not an official movement record). The Aug 1946 decommissioning date conflicts with DANFS; DANFS controls the record field.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-02
-
[4]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 35 kt; 60,000-shp two-shaft steam plant per class design) + Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels 1945 Vol. I (shipscribe.com scan SDB1945v1.pdf) + Atlas shipyard dataset, puget-sound-naval-shipyard record (1970 industrial-health study AD0715808) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. I DD section; shipyards.json record 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' (AD0715808, apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0715808)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1943-44 with a four-boiler, two-shaft, 60,000-shp steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings - the Navy's documented peak-asbestos design regime (substitution not begun until the early 1970s per GAO HRD-80-2). Builder Puget Sound Navy Yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset: study AD0715808 records pulmonary abnormalities in 21% of ~7,000 surveyed workers (pipe coverers and insulators), 40-150 fibers/cc during rip-out operations, and mesothelioma mortality increased four-fold with moderate exposure - establishing asbestos insulation work at the yard, though the study postdates this hull's 1943-45 construction window.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction and availability trades 1943-45; commissioned crew 1945-46; reserve-fleet/inactivation workers 1946
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; nothing in the cited sources states what was installed aboard DD-597. The AD0715808 study period (1970) postdates this hull's build; it documents yard practice, not material aboard this vessel. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-03
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[5]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 DD-597's construction (1943-44) and entire commissioned service (1945-46) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940s-1970s
- Population
- Navy ship construction and service population, era-wide
- Limitations
- Program-level finding; does not name this hull, does not establish that specific materials were aboard DD-597, and does not quantify exposure. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches - the product-page description is the citation; full text remains an open lead (standing limitation carried from Batch 01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-04
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[6]Batch-3569 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription (hazegray via Wayback); NavSource operational data and photo captions; destroyerhistory.org Fletcher-class pages; Atlas shipyard dataset; Fletcher class profile; Naval Vessel Register; law-firm/aggregator ship pages screened and excluded [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-wiley-dd597-01 through sl-uss-wiley-dd597-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-597: no hull ACM survey, abatement or remediation contract, hazmat disclosure, or preservation-documented materials inventory was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was sold for scrap in 1970 - before modern asbestos documentation practice - and never became a museum, so the disclosure channel that produces ship-specific records for preserved hulls is absent.
- 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 - a 1943-44 steam destroyer is squarely within the Navy's documented peak asbestos-use era; this row records that the public record produced no hull-specific documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated via cl-auth-search.py, fleet-paced), 2026-09-27: "USS Wiley" (type=o opinions; type=r RECAP dockets); "DD-597" (type=o opinions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint, queries run via cl-auth-search.py helper
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull in the completed sweep coverage: '"USS Wiley"' returns 0 opinions and 0 RECAP dockets, and '"DD-597"' returns 0 opinions, on CourtListener API v4 (authenticated). 'Wiley' is a single-hull name (DD-597 is the only USS Wiley), so exact-name sweeps carry low collision risk; the '"DD-597"' docket query and looser 'Wiley' variant sweeps remained blocked by fleet pacing contention at cutoff (see search_ledger sl-08).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (sweep date); litigation era ~1970s-present
- Limitations
- Index-level negative within completed coverage only - opinion full-text search does not reach RECAP docket text generally, and the '"DD-597"' docket sweep could not be completed this session (fleet pacing stand-down). A hull-name mention in a pleading would be an allegation, not a finding, in any case. Not proof that no docket references the ship.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiley-dd597-06