USS WILLIAMS (DD-108)

Evidence

6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).

1. [1]DANFS, Williams II (Destroyer No. 108), Naval History and Heritage Command (published 2016-02-29) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications parenthetical + full service narrative (construction; WWI Adriatic; interwar reserve; 1939-40 Neutrality Patrol; RCN transfer; HMCS St. Clair narrative; disposal; DE-290 footnote)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: '(Destroyer No. 108: dp. 1,191; l. 314'4"; b. 30'11"; dr. 9'2" (mean); s. 34.02 k.; cpl. 113; a. 4 4", 2 1-pdrs., 12 21" tt.; cl. Wickes)'. The second Williams commemorates John Foster Williams (Massachusetts Navy captain, Revolutionary War; commanded brig Hazard and 26-gun frigate Protector). Laid down 25 March 1918 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Union Iron Works plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.; launched 4 July 1918, sponsored by Mrs. H. G. Leopold; commissioned 1 March 1919 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., Comdr. Matthias E. Manly in command. Departed Newport, R.I., 5 June 1919 with Belknap (Destroyer No. 251) for the Azores (Ponta Delgada, 11 June); proceeded to Gibraltar, then to Spalato, Gallipoli/Dardanelles, and Trieste as part of postwar American naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean; returned to New York 1 August 1919; assigned to the Pacific Fleet; classified DD-108 on 17 July 1920; operated out of San Diego; decommissioned there 7 June 1922 and placed in reserve. Recommissioned at San Diego 6 November 1939 (Lt. Comdr. Louis N. Miller) under the Neutrality Patrol program; refit at Mare Island; sailed for Panama 5 February 1940, transited the Canal 16 February, 'manned the rail' for President Roosevelt's Canal Zone inspection at Balboa; arrived NOB Key West 27 February; Atlantic Squadron neutrality patrols and training cruises; March astronomical survey in the Bahamas; 9 April survey-party transport to Palmetto Island (BWI); Guantanamo Bay; departed Florida 2 June, New York 4 June; two Naval Reserve training cruises; final refit at Boston Navy Yard; departed Charlestown 18 September, arrived Halifax 20 September 1940. One of 50 flush-deck destroyers transferred under lend-lease/Destroyers for Bases and one of six slated for the RCN; decommissioned and turned over to the Canadian government 24 September 1940; struck from the Navy list 8 January 1941. Renamed HMCS St. Clair (I.65), she sailed for the British Isles 30 November 1940 with HMCS St. Croix (ex-McCook, DD-152) and HMCS Niagara (ex-Thatcher, DD-162); Clyde Escort Force, western approaches, spring 1941; caught in German bomber attack near the Bismarck battle area and shot down one, possibly a second, enemy plane; Newfoundland Escort Force from June 1941 (Newfoundland-Reykjavik convoy escort through end of 1941); Western Local Escort Force from early 1942 after repairs at St. John, N.B., escorting coastwise convoys out of Halifax about two years until withdrawn in 1943 due to deteriorating condition; submarine depot ship at Halifax until deemed unfit 'in any capacity' August 1944; fire-fighting and damage-control hulk until 1946; handed to War Assets Corp. for disposal 6 October 1946 and subsequently broken up for scrap. DANFS also footnotes the cancelled third hull of the name: 'Williams (DE-290), a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, was slated to be built at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard; but the contract for her was cancelled on 12 March 1944.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918-1946

   Population

   Union Iron Works/Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades, 1918; USN crew 1919-1922 and 1939-1940 (design complement 113); RCN crew 1940-1944 (153 per canada.ca)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents identity, dates, and service narrative only - it contains no asbestos or materials information and does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, location, or any individual's exposure aboard this hull. Trial-speed figure differs between transcriptions: the live NHHC page reads '34.02 k.' while the HyperWar/ibiblio mirror reads '31.02 k(trl.)' - carried in gaps. The live NHHC page returned HTTP 404 to the standard tool-mediated fetch but HTTP 200 with full verbatim text via a browser-UA fetch on 2026-09-26 (apparent WAF/bot-detection behavior consistent with the pattern documented for this site in prior batches); verbatim text concurs with the HyperWar/ibiblio mirror.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-01

2. [2]Government of Canada / Royal Canadian Navy, official ships' histories: HMCS St. Clair (I65), canada.ca (page details dated 2021-01-14) [other_primary]

   Locator

   canada.ca RCN ship-history entry, HMCS St. Clair (I65) - narrative + particulars + battle honours blocks

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Official RCN ship history for this hull's Canadian commission: 'Completed in 1918 as USS Williams, this Town Class destroyer served with the United States Pacific Fleet until 1922, when she was laid up at San Diego... Re-commissioned in 1940, she served briefly with the American Neutrality Patrol before being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 24 September 1940 as HMCS St. Clair. Assigned to Escort Group 4, Greenock, Scotland, she arrived in the Clyde on 11 December to undertake escort duty for Western Approaches Command. On 27 May 1941, in the company of three Royal Navy destroyers, she came under attack, west of Galway, Ireland, by German bombers. Bombs capsized the Tribal Class destroyer HMS Mashona and HMCS St. Clair sank the hulk after picking up survivors. Assigned to Newfoundland Escort Force, she collided with the oiler Clam on 17 June 1941, shortly after her arrival at St. John's, Newfoundland, and remained under repairs until 2 December. In March 1942, she joined Western Local Escort Force and in June 1943 was assigned to its Escort Group W-2. Except for two months' absence that summer, attached to the training establishment HMCS Cornwallis, she remained with the group until December, when she was ordered to St. Margaret's Bay, near Halifax, to serve as a depot ship for Royal Navy submarines used in anti-submarine training. In May 1944, she was taken to Halifax for repairs, remaining there until she was paid off 23 August 1944. She was then reduced to a firefighting and damage control training hulk in Bedford Basin, where her remains still lay as late as 1950.' Published particulars: commissioned 24 September 1940; paid off 23 August 1944; displacement 1,086.2 tonnes; 95.8 m x 9.3 m x 2.6 m; speed 28 knots; crew 153; armament (1940) four 4-inch guns, twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes (4xIII), depth charges; battle honour 'Atlantic 1940-1943.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1940-1950

   Population

   RCN crew 1940-1944 (153); RN submarine and training personnel 1943-44; damage-control trainees 1944+

   Limitations

   Canadian official history documents the RCN-period service narrative and escort-fit particulars, not materials or asbestos content. It conflicts with DANFS on two points carried in gaps: it says 'Re-commissioned in 1940' (DANFS: 6 November 1939) and reports the Bedford Basin hulk 'still lay as late as 1950' (DANFS: handed to War Assets Corp. 6 October 1946 and 'subsequently broken up'). Its figures (1,086.2 t, 28 kt, 153 crew) reflect the RCN escort configuration, not the USN design figures carried elsewhere in this record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-02

3. [3]NARA, Special List #44 - 'List of Logbooks of US Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' (named-vessels list), plus NARA 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' descriptive page (Record Group 24, Entry 118, National Archives Identifier 581208) [other_primary]

   Locator

   archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/special-list-44-named.html, 'Williams' table rows (DD-108 x2; DE-372); archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy/ (RG 24 Entry 118, NAID 581208; pre-1941 logs at NARA DC)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA's Special List #44 explicitly lists deck logs for this hull: 'Williams (DD-108) 11/6/1939-9/24/1940' and 'Williams (DD-108) 3/1/1919-6/7/1922' - two logbook spans matching exactly this ship's first commission (commissioned 1 March 1919 to decommissioned 7 June 1922) and second USN commission (recommissioned 6 November 1939 to transferred 24 September 1940). NARA's descriptive page locates US Navy logbooks 'through 1940' at the National Archives in Washington, DC (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208; the same list separately shows 'Williams (DE-372) 11/11/1944-6/30/1945,' a different hull of the same name).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1919-1922, 1939-1940 (listed logbook spans)

   Limitations

   This is a verified record-existence finding from NARA's own published ship-level inventory - it confirms logbook volumes for this hull are cataloged, but the volumes themselves were not retrieved or reviewed and their contents (which concern daily operations, not materials inventories) would not in any case be expected to itemize asbestos. Establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull; archival lead only. RCN-era (1940-44) records for HMCS St. Clair are not NARA holdings - they would be at Library and Archives Canada, not verified in this pass.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-03

4. [4]DANFS specifications block for this hull ('dp. 1,191'; 'cl. Wickes'; '34.02 k.') - class/era inference drawn from this ship-specific specifications data, not from a dedicated materials study [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS specifications parenthetical; shipyards.json review (this record's search_ledger)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/class inference only: Williams was a Wickes-class 'flush-deck'/four-stack steam-turbine destroyer built in 1918 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco - a WWI-era steam warship of a type whose class, as a whole, carried period-standard boiler and steam-line insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing materials common to naval steam propulsion of the era. Union Iron Works (San Francisco) has no standalone entry in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset (37 yard_id entries reviewed); 'Union Iron Works' appears only as an alias on the 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' record, whose own evidence concerns the Quincy, MA yard - a different physical location - so no yard-level asbestos record resolves for the San Francisco plant that built this hull.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1918

   Population

   Union Iron Works/Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades, 1918 (era context only)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no ship-specific finding is established by this row. This is not evidence that asbestos-containing material was installed, present, or handled aboard this specific hull; it does not identify products, quantities, or locations aboard USS Williams/HMCS St. Clair. No ship-specific asbestos documentation exists for this hull (see ev-06, negative finding); the hull was disposed of postwar and no surviving structure exists to survey.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-04

5. [5]U.S. General Accounting Office, HRD-80-2, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure' (Oct. 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page abstract, gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   GAO reports Navy-wide that thermal insulation was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships fleet-wide, and describes the Navy's 1975 policy (remove/replace only damaged or repair-necessitated insulation) and its 1979 revision (selective replacement in high-maintenance areas). This is institutional Navy-wide practice, not a finding about this hull or the Wickes class specifically.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   1979 (report); Navy-wide practice described spans earlier decades

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers, Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, 1970s (report population; not this hull's population)

   Limitations

   gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; the finding is drawn from the GAO product-page abstract/description, not the full PDF text (standing defect documented since BATCH-01). The report's fieldwork focus is Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards in the 1970s - decades after this hull left U.S. service (1940) and was scrapped - and it does not name USS Williams, the Wickes class, or Union Iron Works. Provided as Navy-wide institutional context only; establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-05

6. [6]CourtListener API v4 sweep (authenticated, via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py): exact phrase "USS Williams" (type=o) completed 2026-09-26; companion queries (type=r; "DD-108"; "HMCS St. Clair") not completed under fleet pacing - see limitations [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-williams-dd108-07 through -09

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   Partial CourtListener sweep completed: exact-phrase "USS Williams" in opinions returned a single result, Williams v. United States Steel, 877 F. Supp. 1240 (N.D. Ind. 1995), a labor/employment case in which 'USS' is the corporate abbreviation for United States Steel - a name collision, not a vessel reference and not asbestos litigation. No qualifying or non-qualifying litigation naming this hull was located in the completed portion of the sweep.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-26

   Study period

   2026-09-26

   Limitations

   INCOMPLETE SWEEP - the negative finding covers only the exact-name opinion index. The docket (type=r) query for 'USS Williams' and both 'DD-108' and 'HMCS St. Clair' queries could not be completed this session: every spaced retry returned the fleet-wide pacing stand-down (per-helper guidance: budget momentarily spent; not retried into a ban). Even a completed sweep would not prove no litigation naming this hull exists - PACER-gated dockets, sealed filings, and state-court records outside CourtListener's index are not searched; this hull's U.S. service (1919-1940) and postwar disposal predate the digitized-litigation era entirely. 'Williams' is a high-collision surname shared by two later Navy hulls (DE-372, cancelled DE-290); any future hit requires explicit hull attribution to DD-108 before attaching to this record.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-williams-dd108-06