Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet gg-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-wiltsie-dd716-pkt-gg-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS DD-716 specifications block (Gearing class; 35 kt; cpl 336) + Gearing-class technical data (4 Babcock & Wilcox superheated boilers, 2-shaft GE geared turbines, 60,000 shp) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + yard-period narrative; class machinery data per Gearing-class profile
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: a Gearing-class destroyer completed at the end of WWII with a four-boiler superheated steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation and sealing materials - boiler casing and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging between fireroom and engine room, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, accommodation fireproofing and insulation, and deck coverings. The hull underwent repeated documented yard periods (naval shipyard overhauls at Puget Sound 1948, Mare Island 1949-50 and 1968, Long Beach 1951-71, Hunter's Point 1972; FRAM IB conversion at Pearl Harbor 1961-62; private-yard work at San Diego Marine & Shipbuilding 1970 and Willamette Shipyard, Richmond 1973) during which era insulation was disturbed under then-current practice.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1976
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades (1945-46); crews 1946-1976; naval-shipyard and private-yard workers at the documented overhauls
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no hull record establishes asbestos content, quantity, or location aboard DD-716. Yard periods are documented as events (DANFS); their asbestos-disturbance scope is inferred from era practice, not from any Wiltsie work package. Does not establish individual exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-01
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[3]Goodrich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., Omnibus Opinion and Order, ECF No. 171, E.D. Va. No. 4:17-cv-00009 (Sept. 28, 2018) [court_record]
- Locator
- Omnibus opinion pp. 12, 19, 31 (OCR of scanned ECF 171; per Gearing-class profile ev-04)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital: the Goodrich omnibus opinion recites that 'an engineering drawing for the insulation and lagging of forced draft blower turbines for the class of destroyers (DD 692, USS Allen M. Sumner class), within which the USS Harlan Dickson fell, specifies the use of amosite felts and asbestos cloths' and quotes an expert report estimating 'a partial tally of the weight of the asbestos-containing thermal insulation and lagging products in the fire ... and engine rooms of a ship belonging to the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Gearing (DD 710) classes of destroyers is 30.3 tons.' DD-716 shares the Gearing/Sumner machinery type the recital covers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1940s design era; opinion filed 2018-09-28
- Population
- Destroyer fire/engine-room crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recital of an expert report and a Navy engineering drawing - not an adjudicated classwide quantity and not a hull-level record for DD-716; the opinion treated some related exposure conclusions as speculative. Underlying exhibits (drawing, report) not in the RECAP index; retrieval pending. Establishes nothing ship-specific about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-02
-
[4]Wangen v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 163 Wash. App. 1004, No. 65258-3-I (Wash. Ct. App., filed 2011-08-08) - unpublished disposition affirming summary judgment, appeal from King County Superior Court No. 08-2-16267-2 (judgment entered 2010-04-16) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener cluster 4950411 (opinion 4758452 - index/disposition record); case substance corroborated by 'Recent Developments in Toxic Torts' (Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Fall 2011, Crowell) summary of the specification-exception holding; Wiltsie service link per plaintiff-side account
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos-litigation association at allegation stage: Wangen is an asbestos personal-injury action (Mary Jo Wangen, individually and as personal representative, v. A.W. Chesterton Company and Warren Pumps, Inc.) in which the plaintiff contended the pump manufacturer had a duty to warn because it specified use of replacement asbestos-containing gaskets with its pumps; the court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant, rejecting a 'specification exception' to the Braaten/Simonetta no-duty-to-warn rule for third-party asbestos products. Plaintiff-side sources identify the decedent as William Wangen, who served aboard USS Wiltsie (DD-716) performing ship maintenance and repair (reported window July 1950 - May 1954; a family post on a reunion board gives 1951-1954 in the boiler room); diagnosed with mesothelioma 2007.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Alleged exposure 1950-1954; litigation 2008-2011
- Population
- William Wangen (USN aboard DD-716 ~1950-1954, mesothelioma); ship maintenance/repair exposure theory
- Limitations
- DISPOSITION: affirmed defense summary judgment - the exposure allegation was never adjudicated on the merits, and the ruling is a merits-level negative for this plaintiff, not exposure evidence. The hull link rests on plaintiff-side and family sources plus the case's consistency with that service window; the unpublished appellate disposition text (not freely retrievable) has not been verified to name the ship, and the King County superior-court file (No. 08-2-16267-2) holds the pleadings that would resolve hull-naming - archived as a lead, not a finding. Opinion is unpublished; cite accordingly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-03
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[5]DANFS, Wiltsie (DD-716) - full entry (builder, dates, China/Korea/Vietnam service narrative, yard periods, striking, transfer); verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative + final disposition paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 13 March 1945 (printed entry reads '1946,' an impossibility given the 31 August 1945 launch - carried as 1945) at Port Newark, N.J., by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched 31 August 1945; commissioned 12 January 1946 at New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn. Tsingtao/Sasebo occupation duty 1947-49 incl. Shanghai standby during the Nationalist evacuation; Puget Sound NSY overhaul 1948; Mare Island NSY overhaul Dec 1949-Apr 1950. Korea: directed the 16-17 Aug 1950 seaborne evacuation of the ROK 3d Division (327 officers, 3,480 men, 1,260 civilians - no loss); screened TF 77 at Inchon; Wonsan blockade incl. a 105 mm fantail hit 11 June 1953 (no casualties) and final-minute bombardment to the 27 July 1953 armistice. Seven WestPac deployments 1953-61 with regular Long Beach NSY overhauls; FRAM IB conversion at Pearl Harbor NSY Nov 1961-Sep 1962 (enclosed bridge, helicopter hangar/flight deck, ASROC, Mk 32 tubes, updated radar/sonar). Vietnam-era SAR/PIRAZ, Market Time, and gunfire-support tours through 1973 (incl. Lam Son 72). Mare Island overhaul Jun-Nov 1968; San Diego Marine & Shipbuilding drydock Mar-Apr 1970; Long Beach NSY overhaul Jun-Nov 1971; Hunter's Point NSY early 1972; Willamette Shipyard (Richmond) yard period 1973. Decommissioned and stricken 23 January 1976 at Alameda; transferred via sale to Pakistan 29 April 1977; overhauled 1977; renamed Tariq (D-165); reached Pakistan mid-1978. DANFS credits eight Korean War battle stars and seven Vietnam.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-1978
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1945-46; crews 1946-1976 (design complement 336); naval-shipyard workers at documented overhauls
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and yard periods, not materials or asbestos content. Transcription mirrors cited because the live NHHC page returns 404 (ibiblio HyperWar; hazegray capture identical). The printed 'laid down 13 March 1946' contradicts the launch date and is corrected to 1945 (logged); the 'eight battle stars' Korea count conflicts with the current NHHC-derived nine (logged); 'all four of her 6-inch guns' in the 1972 passage is a DANFS typo for 5-inch.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-04
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[6]Batch-3690 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live 404; verbatim transcriptions used); Naval Vessel Register (pre-1987 disposal not backfilled); NARA Catalog (digitized deck logs located); CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket sweeps; secondary compilations for post-1978 Pakistan status [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-wiltsie-dd716-04 through sl-uss-wiltsie-dd716-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No adjudicated ship-specific record located: CourtListener opinion-index sweeps for "USS Wiltsie" and "DD-716" return zero results; bare "Wiltsie" opinion hits are surname collisions (e.g., State v. Wiltsie, Fla. 2013; Claim of Wiltsie v. Owens Corning, N.Y. 2007 - a workers' compensation claimant, not the ship), and the 517-hit "Wiltsie" RECAP-docket sweep returns surname collisions only (bankruptcy debtors, product plaintiffs). A "DD-716" docket sweep returns three dockets: St. Jude Medical v. Volcano (patent exhibit code, collision), Hill v. Board of Prison Hearings (numeric collision), and MDL-875 - resolved via document-level query to the Gottschall v. GE complaint whose exposure table names WILTSIE (DD-716) verbatim (ev-08, pleading stage). Two allegation-stage associations exist (Wangen ev-03; Gottschall ev-08); no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or adjudicated exposure finding names DD-716 in the sources searched.
- 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 1945-46 Gearing-class hull that served 30 years and underwent FRAM is era-consistent with installed ACM. Both litigation associations are pleading/allegation stage: Gottschall's ship naming is verbatim-verified but unadjudicated; Wangen's hull link rests on plaintiff-side sources. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-05
-
[7]National Archives Catalog: DD-716 deck logs digitized in the 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1992' series (e.g., NAID 204558317, November 1956 log - VA Navy Deck Log / Blue Water Navy scan batch; file DD-716_BWN00061585_1956_11.pdf) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Catalog NAID 204558317 (DD-716 Nov 1956 deck log file unit); series 594258
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized NARA deck logs for DD-716 exist and are retrievable from the National Archives Catalog - the primary source base for fixing exact yard-period dates, underway periods, and availabilities (e.g., FRAM at Pearl Harbor NSY 1961-62; Long Beach NSY 1971). BuShips/SCB work packages (RG 19) and NAVSEA inactive-ship files for the FRAM IB conversion and recurring overhauls are the likeliest material-specification records but were not retrieved.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1946-1976 (log coverage); digitized under Blue Water Navy program 2019+
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Deck logs document movements and availabilities, not insulation content; no asbestos statement should be expected in them. The catalog page is JS-rendered - metadata verified via catalog search listing (NAID 204558317); individual log images not reviewed. BuShips/SCB retrieval not performed (no spend authorized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-06
-
[8]Gottschall v. General Electric Co. et al., Complaint for Survival, Wrongful Death - Asbestos, N.D. Cal. No. 4:10-cv-05096-CW (filed 2010-11-10, Brayton Purcell LLP for the heirs of Robert Gottschall); filed into MDL No. 875 as tag-along attachment, JPML ECF Doc. 6480-2 (2010-12-13); RECAP document id 386437000 (retrieved and read) [court_record]
- Locator
- Complaint 'Location of Exposure' table, stamped page 34 of 38 (JPML doc 6480-2); document-level hit via type=rd query on docket_id 1245688
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Pleading-stage ship naming, verbatim in filed document: the complaint's 'Location of Exposure' table lists 'Department of Defense - WILTSIE (DD-716) - Marine Machinist - 1968' and alleges 'On the WILTSIE, decedent built an evaporator for the engine room. Decedent removed the asbestos-containing insulating blanket from the steam piping leading to the evaporator sections. Decedent removed the asbestos insulation blankets to access flanges by cutting the wires and prying them off the pipes.' The adjacent table entry lists Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Vallejo) as the same employer/period - internally consistent with Wiltsie's documented Mare Island NSY overhaul June-November 1968 (DANFS).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Alleged exposure 1968; complaint filed 2010-11-10; MDL tag-along 2010-12-13
- Population
- Robert Gottschall (decedent) - DoD/Mare Island marine machinist, 1968; exposure alleged aboard DD-716 during the documented Mare Island overhaul window
- Limitations
- PLEADING ALLEGATION ONLY - complaint-stage claim, never adjudicated; filed Nov 2010 and noticed as an MDL-875 tag-along Dec 2010; no merits disposition located in RECAP index. The verbatim 'WILTSIE (DD-716)' naming and job-duty text are verified from the retrieved filing; the truth of the exposure allegation is not. Decedent's status (shipyard-employed machinist working aboard vs. crew member) is not resolved by the document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level context for this hull's era: GAO documented that Navy policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - consistent with original-era insulation typically remaining in place aboard ships of Wiltsie's generation unless a yard period disturbed it.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; no fieldwork naming DD-716. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-wiltsie-dd716-07