Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet lw-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED. Queue name/hull match; all identity dates consistent except the noted — real identity: USS Wilkinson; hull: DL-5
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-wilkinson-dl5-pkt-lw-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Wilkinson (DL-5) (verbatim transcription via hazegray DANFS Online mirror at losthistory.net - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Wilkinson (DL-5)', specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 1 February 1950 at Quincy, Mass., by the Bethlehem Steel Co. Shipbuilding Division as DD-930; reclassified destroyer leader DL-5 on 9 February 1951; launched 23 April 1952, sponsored by Lady Catherine Moore, the former Mrs. Theodore S. Wilkinson; commissioned 3 August 1954, Cmdr. Donald G. Dockum in command. Service: Newport home port; Feb 1955 inspection tour with RADM Arleigh Burke embarked; flagship ComDesFlot 2; Boston Naval Shipyard overhaul Dec 1955 (five months, 3-inch/70 guns); Battle Efficiency 'E' FY1956; Pacific Fleet from July 1956, flagship DesRon 17 (first of her type in the Pacific); Bering Sea/Aleutians Mar-Apr 1957; Long Beach Naval Shipyard Feb-Sep 1958 'for extensive modifications to her power plant'; three WestPac deployments 1959-61 (Taiwan Strait patrol; Laotian-crisis carrier-group operations); Long Beach NSY overhaul Mar-Aug 1960 (enlarged CIC, long-range air-search radar, DASH system installed); Long Beach NSY sonar installation Jun 1961-mid-1962; returned to Atlantic Fleet July 1963; sonar operational evaluations 1963-65; Boston overhaul to 5 Feb 1966; Viking Princess rescue 8 Apr 1966 (13 survivors); Boston availability May-Aug 1966; Bethlehem Steel Shipyard East Boston Mar-May 1967 (sonar data-acquisition system); Expo 67 Montreal May 1967; Norfolk Naval Shipyard repairs late 1967; Boston NSY overhaul 13 Sep 1968-Jun 1969; inactivation Boston South Annex 3 Sep 1969; Naval Inactive Ship Facility Philadelphia 22 Sep 1969; decommissioned 19 Dec 1969; struck 1 May 1974; sold to Luria Brothers, departed Philadelphia under tow 19 Jun 1975 for scrapping.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1950-54; commissioned crew (complement 403) 1954-69; shipyard workers at Boston NSY, Long Beach NSY, Norfolk NSY, Bethlehem East Boston during availabilities
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. DANFS gives commissioning as 3 August 1954 while NavSource and shipbuildinghistory.com give 29 July 1954 - conflict carried in gaps. Yard periods are documented events; any asbestos scope within them is inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-01
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Archive, USS Wilkinson (DD-930 / DL-5) page (volunteer archive; lead-level), via Wayback capture 2024-12-10 - live navsource.org times out to programmatic fetch [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 05/0205.htm 'As Built' data block and 'Operational and Building Data' block (Wayback capture)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photo-archive building and operational data corroborating and extending DANFS: built by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, MA (yard number 1621); laid down as DD-930 1 February 1950; reclassified DL-5 9 February 1951; launched 23 April 1952; commissioned 29 July 1954; decommissioned 19 December 1969; stricken 1 May 1974; sold to Luria Brothers, Cleveland, OH, 13 June 1975 and scrapped. Machinery line: 80,000 shp, geared turbines, 2 screws; design speed 36.5 knots; range 4,500 NM at 20 knots; crew 360. Call sign NBNW; tactical voice call 'GRAND RAPIDS' circa 1968. Command roster begins CDR Donald Granville Dockum Aug 3 1954.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975
- Population
- Commissioned crew (NavSource crew figure 360 vs DANFS complement 403)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; specifications, dates, and the command roster are unverified against the underlying USN/NHHC/NARA originals. Its 29 July 1954 commissioning date conflicts with DANFS's 3 August 1954 - carried in gaps; the NavSource command roster (Dockum from 3 Aug 1954) is internally consistent with DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-02
-
[4]shipbuildinghistory.com (Colton yard data), 'Destroyers DD DDG Post-War', DD-930 row; corroborated at class level by navypedia Mitscher-class machinery table (4 Foster Wheeler boilers, 2 sets geared steam turbines, 80,000 hp) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com 'Destroyers DD DDG Post-War' DD-930 table row; navypedia us_dd_mitscher.htm machinery table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a steam-propelled destroyer leader built at Bethlehem Quincy 1950-54 and powered by the Mitscher class's experimental high-pressure plant: period-standard asbestos applications for such a plant are boiler insulation, turbine and steam-line lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Class references (navypedia, gyrodynehelicopters) describe the class's four Foster Wheeler ~1,200-psi boilers and geared turbines, with DL-4/DL-5 receiving Westinghouse turbines on de Laval double-reduction gears; these specifics rest on secondary compilations, not a pulled official spec. ShipbuildingHistory corroborates construction dates (contract awarded 3 Aug 1948; keel 1 Feb 1950; launch 23 Apr 1952; commissioned 29 Jul 1954) and yard number 1621.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975
- Population
- Bethlehem Quincy construction trades 1950-54; engine-room and repair-force crew 1954-69
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - not a ship-specific finding. No hull material schedule was retrieved; nothing here establishes asbestos content aboard DL-5. Boiler/turbine manufacturer and pressure figures are secondary-source level (navypedia, gyrodynehelicopters), not verified against BuShips specifications.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-03
-
[5]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o and RECAP dockets type=r) for exact name 'USS Wilkinson' and hull numbers 'DL-5' / 'DD-930' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-wilkinson-dl5-06 through -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep: exact-name query '"USS Wilkinson"' (type=o) returned 0 results - no opinion naming this vessel located in the opinion index. Hull-number query '"DL-5"' (type=o) returned 19 hits, all string collisions on manual review - Texas habeas corpus writ filings with OCR-degraded text, lead-paint and public-nuisance litigation (Smith v. Rowhouses, Roy v. Dackman, People v. ConAgra), Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper (Clean Water Act), Ajinomoto v. ITC (patent), election, criminal, and administrative matters; none references a vessel, naval service, or asbestos. RECAP-docket query '"USS Wilkinson"' (type=r) returned 3 hits, all qualifying asbestos-litigation dockets in which the vessel name appears in indexed docket text - Miller v. 3M Co. (E.D.N.C. 5:12-cv-00620), the MDL-875 master docket (J.P.M.L.), and Himes v. A. Duie Pyle (E.D. Pa. 2:20-cv-00665) - see ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-08. Construction-designation query '"DD-930"' (type=o) returned 0 results. No adjudicated exposure finding naming this hull located; the three docket hits are unverified index-level references (ev-08).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep complete across the opinion index (exact name 0 results; DL-5 19 collisions; DD-930 0 results) and the RECAP docket index (3 qualifying asbestos-litigation dockets naming 'USS Wilkinson' in indexed text). Docket hits are index-level matches: the vessel's role inside each case (named exposure site vs. list reference) is not retrievable from the public index without pulling RECAP documents. 'Wilkinson' is a common surname and place name and DL-5/DD-930 are high-collision strings - any future hit needs collision classification rather than automatic attribution. The sweep does not cover state-court records, trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-04
-
[6]Batch-4571 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + hazegray/losthistory.net mirror, NVR (pre-1987 disposals excluded), NavSource (Wayback), shipbuildinghistory.com, Atlas shipyard dataset, CourtListener sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-wilkinson-dl5-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation finding naming this hull was found in the public sources searched. No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull was sold to Luria Brothers and towed out of Philadelphia for scrapping in June 1975, pre-dating public asbestos-disclosure regimes for naval disposal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975 (service life); 2026-09-29 (search)
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. The hull no longer exists, so no present-day survey is possible; whether era materials were aboard is resolvable only through archival specifications (NARA RG 19) or yard work packages. The CourtListener sweep located asbestos dockets whose indexed text names the vessel (ev-08) - docket-text references are leads, not findings, and do not change this negative finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-05
-
[7]NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships contract specifications / General Information Books) and RG 24 (deck logs) for DD-930/DL-5; Booklet of General Plans; Long Beach NSY 1958 power-plant modification work packages; Boston NSY 1968-69 overhaul work packages; Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Facility inactivation records [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 19 / RG 24 series descriptions (archives.gov)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA RG 19 holds BuShips per-vessel specifications and General Information Books covering DL-5's construction at Bethlehem Quincy; (2) NARA RG 24 deck logs cover the 1954-69 commissioned period; (3) the 1958 Long Beach NSY 'extensive modifications to her power plant' and 1968-69 Boston NSY overhaul work packages would name disturbed materials; (4) Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Facility inactivation records 1969-70 document material condition at lay-up; (5) the ship's Booklet of General Plans is the construction-document lead.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these holdings were pulled or digitized; contents unknown. They establish nothing about materials aboard. NARA catalog returns an SPA shell to programmatic fetch.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-06
-
[8]Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyards.json): fore-river-shipyard (tier 3), boston-naval-shipyard (tier 3), long-beach-naval-shipyard (tier 1), norfolk-naval-shipyard (tier 2, EPA Superfund-listed), philadelphia-naval-shipyard (tier 3), bethlehem-shipbuilding (tier 3, corporate record incl. East Boston yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json records: fore-river-shipyard, boston-naval-shipyard, long-beach-naval-shipyard, norfolk-naval-shipyard, philadelphia-naval-shipyard, bethlehem-shipbuilding
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- Yard-level asbestos documentation context: the builder yard (Fore River Shipyard, Quincy - Atlas tier 3; documented products include boilers, pipes, turbines, fireproofing materials, gaskets, packing, electrical components, asbestos wire insulation, asbestos cement, asbestos-containing paint, plus litigation naming yard workers) and the yards where this hull underwent documented availabilities - Boston NSY (tier 3; overhauls Dec 1955, 1965-Feb 1966, May-Aug 1966, Sep 1968-Jun 1969, inactivation Sep 1969), Long Beach NSY (tier 1; Feb-Sep 1958 power-plant modifications, Mar-Aug 1960 and Jun 1961-mid-1962 yard periods; a 1979 radiographic survey found asbestos-related abnormalities in 16.0% of 6,640 employees), Norfolk NSY (tier 2, Superfund-listed; repairs late 1967), Bethlehem Steel East Boston (1967 sonar data-acquisition work), and the Philadelphia inactive facility (1969-70) - each carry yard-level asbestos documentation in the Atlas dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1975
- Population
- Shipyard workers at the named yards during 1955-69 availabilities
- Limitations
- Yard-level findings only. They establish that these yards used asbestos products during the periods of this hull's availabilities; they do not establish that work aboard DL-5 disturbed asbestos, nor do they quantify it. Hull attribution would require the yard work packages in ev-06.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-07
-
[9]Miller v. 3M Co. et al., No. 5:12-cv-00620-BR (E.D.N.C., Senior Judge W. Earl Britt; filed 2012-09-21; Nature of Suit 368 P.I.: Asbestos; Diversity-Asbestos Litigation); In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL-875 (J.P.M.L., filed 1991); Himes v. A. Duie Pyle, Inc. et al., No. 2:20-cv-00665 (E.D. Pa., Judge Robreno; filed 2020-01-29; asbestos removal from Philadelphia CCP No. 191203279, plaintiff Ruth F. Himes for the Estate of Carl L. Reeser) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener dockets: /docket/4303518/miller-v-3m-company/ (E.D.N.C. 5:12-cv-00620); /docket/1245688/in-re-asbestos-products-liability-litigation-no-vi/ (MDL-875, docs 9033-1 and 6475-8); /docket/16814668/himes-v-a-duie-pyle-inc/ (E.D. Pa. 2:20-cv-00665)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Three qualifying asbestos-litigation dockets contain 'USS Wilkinson' in indexed docket text: (1) Miller v. 3M Co. (E.D.N.C. 5:12-cv-00620) - asbestos personal-injury complaint filed for Robert Wesley Miller and Jane E. Miller; the vessel name appears within the complaint/docket documents (a version was also filed in MDL-875 as pleading no. 5449, and the case docket sheet was filed at MDL-875 doc. 9033-1). (2) The MDL-875 master docket itself - 'USS Wilkinson' also appears inside an attached document from Robert Reaser et al. v. Allis-Chalmers Corp. Product Liability Trust et al. (C.D. Cal. 2:08-cv-01296; filed at MDL-875 doc. 6475-8). (3) Himes v. A. Duie Pyle (E.D. Pa. 2:20-cv-00665) - asbestos removal, plaintiff Ruth F. Himes for the Estate of Carl L. Reeser. In each case the vessel's role in the allegations (named exposure vessel vs. list reference) is not retrievable from the public index alone. DL-5 is the only U.S. Navy vessel ever named Wilkinson, so any naval-vessel reference resolves to this hull.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2008-2020 (litigation); alleged exposure windows unverified
- Population
- Robert Wesley Miller (plaintiff, E.D.N.C. asbestos case); Carl L. Reeser (decedent, Himes); Robert Reaser (plaintiff, C.D. Cal. asbestos case) - service connections unverified
- Limitations
- All three are docket-text references at the pleading/discovery stage - allegations, not adjudicated findings. Whether Wilkinson is named as an exposure vessel is unverified from the index; nothing here establishes exposure aboard, asbestos content, product identity, or causation. RECAP document pull (Miller complaint; Reaser JPML pleading; Himes removal papers) is the completion path. The Miller plaintiffs' and Reaser/Reeser decedents' service histories are unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wilkinson-dl5-08