Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet ln-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Burdo — originally designated DE-717 (Rudderow-class
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-burdo-de717-pkt-ln-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. I (1959; reprint with corrections 1970), Naval History Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, GPO - 'Burdo' entry (verbatim OCR scan of the printed volume) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I, 'Burdo' entry pp. 175-176 (archive.org item dictionaryofamer01wash, djvu.txt scan)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: APD-133 (ex-DE-717), class Crosley; dp. 1450, l. 306', b. 37', dr. 12'7", s. 23.6 k., cpl. 204, a. 1 5-inch gun; launched 25 November 1944 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.; sponsored by Mrs. Ida J. Botts, mother of Private Burdo; commissioned 2 June 1945, LCDR H. A. Hull, USNR, in command. Service: joined Pacific Fleet August 1945; Pacific Underwater Demolition Flotilla with UDT-13 embarked; departed for Sasebo 1 September 1945 where UDT-13 cleared channels before the 21 September 1945 occupation landings; returned to San Diego via Okinawa/Guam/Pearl Harbor; transited Panama Canal Thanksgiving Day 1945 to Norfolk; Atlantic/Caribbean training 1945-1951; Midshipmen Practice Squadron summer cruise 1951; 6th Fleet Amphibious Group January-May 1953 with one of the first NATO exercises; further eastern-seaboard amphibious training, six Caribbean cruises, and another 6th Fleet tour. Namesake: Pvt. Ronald Allen Burdo, USMC, b. Cheboygan, Mich. 24 July 1920, KIA 7 August 1942 at Gavutu, Solomon Islands.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; wartime/postwar crew (APD complement 204); embarked UDT-13 detachment 1945
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, construction, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. The printed entry predates the ship's decommissioning and disposal, so it establishes nothing about the 1958-1967 lifecycle events. Live NHHC DANFS web entry does not exist (all candidate URLs return 404); the verbatim GPO volume scan was used rather than a secondary transcription.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-01
-
[3]DANFS Vol. I, Escort Vessels appendix (destroyer escorts, TURBINE ELECTRIC DRIVE 5-INCH GUNS group, Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich. block) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I, Escort Vessels appendix pp. 345-346 (DE-717 line in the Defoe block; TEV 5-inch design block)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS escort-vessels appendix records this hull in the Defoe Shipbuilding block of the 5-inch-gun turbo-electric (Rudderow-class) destroyer-escort program: 'DE 717 BURDO - Keel laid 7/26/44, Completed as APD 133' - i.e., the hull was converted to a high-speed transport during construction and never commissioned as a DE. The group's design block lists GE turbo-electric machinery, two boilers, 12,000 designed shaft horsepower, 24 kt design speed, and a designed complement of 6 officers/180 enlisted for the DE configuration.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45
- Limitations
- Appendix documents construction data and the design-group specification; the boiler manufacturer field ('CE') applies to the design block as printed, while secondary compilations differ (NavSource reads Babcock & Wilcox 'D' Express; Wikipedia reads Combustion Engineering DR) - carried in gaps. The appendix gives no re-designation date for DE-717 to APD-133 (17 July 1944 circulates in secondary sources only).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-02
-
[4]National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum (UDT-SEAL Museum Association) library catalog - 'Cruise Book USS Burdo - Mediterranean Cruise 1953', catalog no. 2025.0043.3 [museum_official]
- Locator
- navysealmuseum.pastperfectonline.com library record 2025.0043.3
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum holdings record for this hull: the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum library holds a published cruise book for USS Burdo (APD-133), Mediterranean Cruise 1953 - contemporaneous with the DANFS-recorded January-May 1953 6th Fleet Amphibious Group assignment. A cruise book documents the embarked crew complement and itinerary and is a primary-source lead for hull-specific material conditions.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1953
- Population
- Crew embarked for the 1953 Mediterranean cruise (per cruise-book contents, not examined)
- Limitations
- Holdings record only - the cruise book's contents were not examined; nothing in the catalog record addresses materials or asbestos. Confirms hull identity and a 1953 cruise; establishes nothing about exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-03
-
[5]DANFS Vol. I escort-vessels appendix design block (TEV, 5-inch guns: GE turbo-electric machinery, 2 boilers, 12,000 shp) + Buckley-class Atlas class profile (TE steam DE asbestos vocabulary) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. I appendix pp. 345-346 design block; class-f worktree buckley-class.class.json (context vocabulary)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: this hull is a 1944-45 Rudderow-class (TEV) destroyer-escort design completed as a Crosley-class APD - one of the only two DE design groups with a full steam plant (two superheated express-type boilers feeding GE turbo-electric machinery at 12,000 shp). A steam-DE/APD hull of this era would have carried period-standard asbestos applications: boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, gaskets and packing on valves/flanges, fireproofing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings. The APD conversion (troop berthing, four LCVPs, cargo spaces) did not change the machinery plant.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; crew 1945-58; embarked troops/UDT detachments
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No builder's material schedule, hull survey, or contract specification for this vessel was located; establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual. The Atlas dataset has no Rudderow/Crosley class profile - vocabulary follows the Buckley-class (TE) profile, the sister steam-DE group.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-04
-
[6]Batch-4498 search ledger (this record): DANFS Vol. I GPO scan; NHHC live site; National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum catalog; shipbuildinghistory Defoe hull list; LOC Chronicling America; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-burdo-de717-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-717/APD-133: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (the hull was sold for scrapping in 1967, before federal asbestos regulation of Navy salvage work). Litigation surface is one allegation-stage artifact: a plaintiff work-history exhibit in Morgan v. Bill Vann (S.D. Ala. 2011) naming USS Burdo among his 1950-54 Navy assignments (ev-07) - unadjudicated, resolved only as a removal-procedure question; no merits exposure finding exists. A law-firm 'ships list' naming USS Burdo exists (simmonsfirm.com) but is uncited boilerplate marketing content listing hundreds of hulls - excluded per source rules.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45 steam-plant hull plausibly carried era-standard ACM, but nothing documents it for this hull; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 sweep for this hull via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced): exact-name, hull-number, surname+subject, aboard-phrase, and docket-level queries [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py session output + patient-retry sweep log; raw responses in .research/cl_*.json; search_ledger sl-uss-burdo-de717-04
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Completed sweep, all queries landed 2026-09-29: "USS Burdo" type=o 0 opinions; "APD-133" type=o 0 opinions; "aboard the Burdo" type=o 0 opinions; "DE-717" type=o 7 hits, all identifier collisions in unrelated litigation (NY Appellate Division reporter/star-page tokens: "de *717 fendant", A.D.3d 716-717 cites - Blackwood, Monopoli, Brown, Frazier, Robinson, Browning, Wachovia v. Tien); "Burdo" asbestos type=o 2 hits - Burdo v. AC&S Inc. (5th Cir. 2002, surname collision: plaintiff Burdo, Garlock bankruptcy contribution/stay appeal, full text carries zero vessel/Navy references) and Barnes Foundation v. Township of Lower Merion (unrelated); "USS Burdo" type=r 3 dockets - one qualifying hit (Morgan v. Bill Vann Co., ev-07) plus Gitto v. A.W. Chesterton and an MDL-875 tag-along (ev-08 collisions); "APD-133" type=r 7 dockets, all identifier collisions (Soto, RMST Holding, Roe, A.B., Cadle, Gitto same exhibit, Amplify Energy bankruptcy).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep coverage is the CourtListener index only - state-court and MDL-875 filings that never surface ship names in indexed text are invisible to it; the located qualifying hit is an allegation-stage artifact, not a merits record (see ev-07).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-06
-
[8]Morgan v. Bill Vann Company, Inc., No. 2:11-cv-00535-WS-B (S.D. Ala.), ORDER of 6 December 2011 (Steele, C.J.), ECF No. 58 - full text reviewed via CourtListener RECAP (recap-document 17657784) [court_record]
- Locator
- Order text ECF 58 (work-history recital and removal analysis); Morgan work-history exhibit ECF 39 Exh. A at 29-31; deposition excerpts ECF 44 Exh. B at 274-76, 281
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull, discovery-record stage: plaintiff Reuben Morgan alleged asbestos exposure 1950-1992 and sued CBS, General Electric, and others. His interrogatory exhibit 'Reuben Morgan - Work History Summary' (ECF 39 Exh. A) lists U.S. Navy assignments 1950-1954 including USS Kleinsmith (APD-134), USS Earle B. Hall (APD-107), and USS Burdo - during that window the only commissioned USS Burdo was APD-133 - working predominantly as a machinist / engine-room worker. In deposition he testified he 'associated asbestos with turbines' aboard one or more of those Navy and Coast Guard vessels (GE/Westinghouse turbines). CBS/GE removed under 28 U.S.C. 1442(a) federal-officer jurisdiction; the located order DENIES remand - a procedural holding only. Case terminated 2013-10-08; merits record not reviewed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1950-1954 (alleged service); 2011-2013 (litigation)
- Population
- Navy machinist/engine-room worker alleged aboard USS Burdo ca. 1950-1954 (also USS Kleinsmith APD-134, USS Earle B. Hall APD-107, two Coast Guard cutters 1959-64)
- Limitations
- Pleading/discovery-stage allegation, never adjudicated: the order itself stresses that Morgan's discovery responses did NOT expressly link his vessel assignments to particular defendants' products, and the court resolved only removal procedure. The row documents that the hull was named as an alleged exposure site - it establishes neither asbestos presence aboard this hull nor causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-07
-
[9]CourtListener collision cluster, full-text resolved: Burdo v. AC&S Inc. (5th Cir. 2002, opinion 26105); Gitto v. A.W. Chesterton Co. (S.D.N.Y. 07-cv-04771), Block Declaration Exhibit 12 pt. 2 (recap-document 7024539); In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI) MDL-875 doc. 7778 tag-along family incl. Dupre v. Todd Shipyards Corp. (E.D. La. 2:11-cv-02097) docket-sheet attachment (recap-documents 386428008-010, 173049927) [court_record]
- Locator
- opinion 26105 plain text (0 vessel refs); recap-document 7024539 @ offset ~59538 (Suez passage); recap-documents 386428008/9/10 + 173049927 (no 'Burdo' string in fetched text)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Verified non-qualifying hits resolved by full-text review: (1) Burdo v. AC&S Inc. is a surname collision - consolidated Garlock-bankruptcy contribution/stay-pending-appeal jurisdiction opinion; 'Burdo' is a plaintiff name and the 56,000-char opinion contains zero vessel/Navy/'USS' references. (2) Gitto v. A.W. Chesterton (Navy shipboard-printer mesothelioma case): 'USS Burdo (APD 133)' appears once inside a reproduced Navy historical text filed as evidence exhibit - a 1956 Suez-crisis narrative crediting Burdo and USS Horace R. Dickson (DD-708) with evacuating 186 persons from Haifa; it is historical material, not an allegation that Gitto was exposed aboard this hull. (3) MDL-875 doc. 7778 (Dupre v. Todd Shipyards tag-along notice + attachments): 'USS Burdo' matched at index level, but the string is absent from the fetched plain text of the notice, schedule, proof of service, and 51-page docket-sheet attachment - most plausibly an OCR/index-layer match inside the attached complaint family; pleading-stage artifact at most, unresolvable further.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1997-2017 (collision documents' filing dates)
- Limitations
- None of these records alleges exposure aboard this hull or documents its materials; carried as a correction row because exact-name and hull-number searches return them. The Gitto exhibit's Suez-evacuation narrative is consistent with DANFS's closing 'another 6th Fleet tour' line but is not itself an admissible source for ship history.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-burdo-de717-08