Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]research packet gy-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-witek-dd848-pkt-gy-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, "Witek" entry (namesake biography + DD-848 service history; verbatim text verified via Wayback capture of canonical Naval Historical Center page and identical transcriptions at hazegray.org and globalsecurity.org) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS 'Witek' entry, spec block + full service narrative (Wayback 2015 capture of history.navy.mil/danfs/w10/witek.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake PFC Frank Peter Witek, USMC, posthumous Medal of Honor (Guam, 3 Aug 1944). Laid down 16 July 1945 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; launched 2 February 1946, sponsored by Mrs. Nora Witek; commissioned at Boston Naval Shipyard 23 April 1946, Comdr. Nels C. Johnson in command. Shakedown Guantanamo Bay June 1946; classified EDD-848 for experimental ASW development; home port New London, Conn., from 7 December 1946. Mid-1948: six months at San Diego testing ex-Prinz Eugen sound gear under Naval Electronics Laboratory supervision - second twin 5-inch mount (mount 52) removed at Boston Naval Shipyard; equipment removed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard autumn 1950, replaced by Mk. 15 hedgehog. Nassau warehouse-fire assistance 24 October 1954. 1955 ASW exercises with Leyte (CVS-20) and Nautilus (SSN-571); also Antietam (CVS-36), Randolph (CVA-15). 2 July 1958: entered Drydock No. 4, Boston Naval Shipyard, for "extensive overhaul and installation of the pump jet system," in drydock until shortly before Christmas 1958. Task Group "Alfa" ASW operations 1960. Retained after grounding of Bache (DD-470) early 1968; decommissioned Norfolk 19 August 1968; stricken 17 September 1968; berthed Inactive Ship Facility, Norfolk. Spec block: dp. 2,425; l. 390'6"; cpl. 369; cl. Gearing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1968
- Population
- Bath Iron Works construction trades 1945-46; Boston and Norfolk Naval Shipyard trades at documented availabilities; crew (DANFS spec complement 369)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Entry predates the 1969 sinking (ends at 'await final disposition'). Commissioning date given as 23 April 1946; NavSource and the Tin Can Sailors register carry 25 April - conflict documented in gaps. Live NHHC page (history.navy.mil/danfs/w10/witek.htm) is dead; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-848 USS Witek (building/operations data, commanding-officer list, fate, photograph captions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-848 page: Operational and Building Data block, photo captions, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource register for this hull: laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath ME, 16 July 1945; launched 2 February 1946; commissioned 25 April 1946 (conflicts DANFS 23 April); decommissioned 19 August 1968; stricken 17 September 1968; 'in use as an experimental vessel most of her career'; fate 'Sunk as target off Virginia July 4 1969.' Photo captions document: December 1959 Boston drydock as EDD showing experimental pump-jet propulsion fitted in place of conventional propellers; 'the only jet-propelled warship in the world' underway circa 1959; Boston Naval Shipyard July 4 1961. Commanding officers listed from CDR Nels C. Johnson (Apr 23 1946) through CDR Eugene J. Noblet (to Aug 19 1968).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1969
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained secondary compilation; commissioning date (25 April) conflicts with DANFS (23 April) though its own CO list opens 'Apr 23 1946'; sinking date (4 July 1969) conflicts with the destroyers.org data field and a destroyer-lineage compilation (4 June 1969) - documented in gaps. No asbestos or materials content. navsource.org unreachable from this network 2026-09-28; Wayback capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-02
-
[4]Tin Can Sailors (National Destroyer Museum) ship register, DD-848 USS Witek [museum_official]
- Locator
- destroyers.org DD-848 ship page data block + narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Association ship register for this hull: class Gearing; launch 02/02/1946; commissioned 04/25/1946; decommissioned 08/19/1968; designations DD-848/EDD-848; call sign NBCI, voice call sign 'GRANTS TOMB'; fate field reads 'Sunk as target 06/04/1969 off Virginia' while the same page's narrative text reads 'sunk as a target off Virginia on 4 July 1969' - an internal 4 June vs 4 July conflict that mirrors the wider source split (generalstaff.org destroyer-lineage table also reads 4 June 1969).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1946-1969
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Museum-association register, secondary compilation. Internally inconsistent sinking date documents the 4 June vs 4 July 1969 conflict rather than resolving it; carried as a correction row so the date ambiguity is preserved, not silently reconciled. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-03
-
[5]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 (per Gearing-class profile, verified 2026-09-16)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-level litigation recital applicable to this hull's design group: the 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 a 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.' Gearing was the lengthened Sumner derivative sharing the machinery design; era-consistent applications for this 1945-46 hull are boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s design era; opinion filed 2018-09-28
- Population
- Destroyer fire/engine-room crews, class level; litigation expert materials
- Limitations
- Litigation-record recital of an expert report and a Navy engineering drawing, class-level only: the drawing covers Sumner-class DD-692-group machinery shared by Gearing; the 30.3-ton figure is an expert partial tally for fire/engine rooms, not a classwide inventory and not an adjudicated finding; nothing in the opinion names DD-848. Underlying exhibits not in the RECAP index (retrieval pending per class-profile ledger). Never to be read as a ship-specific finding for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 searches, ship name and hull number (opinion index + RECAP dockets) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search queries of record, 2026-09-28 (search_ledger sl-uss-witek-dd848-05/06)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in CourtListener (2026-09-28, API v4, opinion index + RECAP dockets). Opinion queries: "USS Witek" = 0; "U.S.S. Witek" = 0; "aboard the Witek" = 0; "DD-848" = 0; Witek+asbestos = 0; plain "Witek" = 386 hits, all surname collisions on review (party/attorney names - bankruptcy and civil matters), none vessel-related. Docket queries: "USS Witek" = 0; "DD-848" = 1 hit (In re: Seroquel Products Liability Litigation, M.D. Fla. 2006 - pharmaceutical MDL docket-string collision, not the vessel, not asbestos); plain "Witek" = 1,769 hits, all surname collisions (debtor/party names). No published or docket-indexed asbestos case names DD-848 as an exposure site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- search executed 2026-09-28
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Index-coverage limits apply: CourtListener indexes published opinions and RECAP docket text; unindexed pleadings, state-court filings, and settled/dismissed matters are not visible. "EDD-848" opinion variant exhausted pacing-limited retries - a designation-variant gap, not a substantive one (all other name and hull-number queries returned zero or name collisions). 'Witek' is a surname - all plain-name hits are collisions, none naming the vessel. Absence of indexed litigation is not proof no claim was ever filed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-05
-
[7]NARA, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations (RG 24) - 'Witek (DD-848) - April 1968' file unit, NARA ID 182132858; WHOI Data Library and Archives, Logbook collection AC-66, 'USS Witek, 1947-1953' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog ID 182132858 (RG 24 file unit); archives.mblwhoilibrary.org AC-66 'USS Witek, 1947-1953'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Institutional archival holdings for this hull exist: NARA RG 24 deck-log file units for Witek (e.g., April 1968, ID 182132858) - the ship remained in commission through August 1968 so logs cover the active period; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution archive holds a 'USS Witek, 1947-1953' single-shot travel time and intensity log consistent with her acoustic-research test role.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1947-1968
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Operational logs and oceanographic data, not materials records - no asbestos content expected or located; digitization of the deck-log series is partial (VA/NARA Blue Water Navy scanning program). Listed as leads for any future ship-specific documentation work.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-witek-dd848-06