USS Currier (DE-700)

Evidence

8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).

1. [1]research packet lk-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS **Currier** (DE-700)

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-currier-de700-pkt-lk-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, Currier (DE-700) (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division; verbatim ibiblio/HyperWar transcription by Patrick Clancey - live NHHC page returns 404 on current and legacy URL patterns) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS entry 'Currier (DE-700)' - namesake biography, spec block, service narrative

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS record for this hull: namesake Lt. Roger Noon Currier (b. Portland, Ore., 20 April 1913; USNA 3 June 1937; communications officer on staff of Rear Admiral Norman Scott embarked in Atlanta (CL-51); killed Naval Battle of Guadalcanal night of 13 November 1942; posthumous share of Atlanta's Presidential Unit Citation and Purple Heart). Spec block: Buckley class, 1,400 t, 306 ft, 36 ft 10 in beam, 9 ft 5 in draft, 24 kt, complement 186, 3x3in + 3x21in tt + 8 dcp + 1 hedgehog + 2 dct. Launched 14 October 1943 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.; sponsored by Mrs. R. N. Currier, widow of the namesake; commissioned 1 February 1944, Cmdr. A. L. Lind, USNR. Service: Casablanca convoy escort 28 May-17 June 1944; Oran-Naples-Bizerte-Palermo-Gibraltar escort from 10 July; cleared Salerno 12 August with 112 LCI(L)s and 28 escorts carrying 45th Infantry for the 14 August southern France landings; screened transports, Oran-beachhead convoys 20 August-4 September; escort commander 'Naples Shuttle' 10-20 September; San Diego arrival 27 October; Saipan radar picket/escort to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Guam, Iwo Jima from 28 December; Guam-Okinawa escort 29 July-war's end; joined Osmus (DE-701) 28 August to accept the surrender of the Rota garrison; Eniwetok departure 19 September 1945, overhaul at San Pedro; March 1946 Far East - Japanese POW repatriation from Hong Kong and Shanghai, Korean/North China coast patrol, six small-craft crews detained; Manila February 1947; San Diego 2 March 1947; ASW training west coast/Hawaii 1948-52; WestPac 19 April-6 September 1952 (Korea east coast, Taiwan Strait, Japanese waters hunter-killer exercises); Fleet Sonar School training ship; fourth Far East cruise 20 May-7 September 1954; out of commission in reserve at San Francisco 4 April 1960. Two battle stars WWII, one Korean War.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   1943-1960

   Population

   Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades (Bay City, 1943-44); USN crew 1944-60 (design complement 186 per spec block)

   Limitations

   DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. This entry omits the laid-down date (keel date carried from NavSource) and ends at the 1960 reserve-fleet lay-up; striking (1966) and target sinking (1967) post-date the published entry and are carried from NavSource/NVR-derived data. Live NHHC page not located on current or legacy URL patterns (standing link rot); verbatim ibiblio mirror cited. '45th Infantry' verified against ibiblio text - a competing mirror (historycentral.com) garbles it as '46th Infantry' and '26 August' for the Rota surrender; ibiblio transcription carried.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-01

3. [3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Currier (DE-700) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): building/operational data block, spec block, command roster, captioned USN photographs [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource DE-700 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block, spec block, photo captions (Boston Navy Yard 1944; Mare Island 1947 overhaul; 5"/38 conversion c.1950; Long Dock 1951), commanding-officers table

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Photo-archive detail corroborating and extending DANFS: keel laid 21 July 1943 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City; launched/christened 14 October 1943, sponsored by Mrs. R. N. Currier; commissioned 1 February 1944 at Todd Johnson Shipyard, Algiers, La., Cmdr. A. L. Lind, USNR - the New Orleans commissioning consistent with the documented Defoe river delivery route; 26 March 1944 USN photo shows her near the Boston Navy Yard during Atlantic fitting-out; captioned USN photos (DE-700-1575-47 series) document a Mare Island Naval Shipyard overhaul 24 June-8 September 1947; circa-1950 caption documents postwar conversion to 5"/38-caliber mountings with a rebuilt bridge structure and re-sited weapons (yard unnamed); summer 1951 captions place her moored at the San Diego Fleet Sonar School 'Long Dock' alongside LeRay Wilson (DE-414); at war's end assigned to the Pacific Fleet Cruiser-Destroyer Force at San Diego; decommissioned at San Francisco 4 April 1960 'after 16 years and 2 months of service'; struck from the NVR 1 December 1966; sunk as a target off California 11 July 1967. Spec block: 2 'D' Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12,000 shp, 2 screws, 24 kt, 6,000 nm at 12 kt; complement 15/198. Command roster (17 entries): Cmdr. Alfred L. Lind (1 Feb-1 Jun 1944); Lcdr./Cmdr. Robert McAfee (1 Jun 1944-10 May 1945); then Garnaus, Tupitza, Jordan, Slaymaker, Dunston, Stough, Harrison, Lothrop (to 21 Nov 1951), Loomis, Oliver (to 10 Jun 1955), Monroe, Chambliss, Sanders, Hussey, Lcdr. John Michael Ferrante (Nov 1959-4 Apr 1960).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   1943-1967

   Population

   USN crew 1944-60; Todd Johnson Shipyard fitting-out trades (Algiers, La., 1943-44); Mare Island NSY overhaul workers 1947

   Limitations

   Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record. Captions and dates unverified against USN/NHHC/NARA originals; the navsource.org host refused direct fetch this session - content reviewed via the navsource.net mirror and search-index extract. The 1967 sinking particulars (Bugara SS-331, Mark 14 Mod 5 warshot) are corroborated by the Bugara veterans' account (bugara.net, cited in the Currier reunion blog) but no official SINKEX report was located. Nothing on materials aboard.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-02

4. [4]Buckley-class TE design data (DANFS spec block; NavSource spec block; Atlas class profile buckley-class.class.json drawing on BuShips 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels 1945' Vol. I DE section design groups 2-3 + navypedia block map) + National Museum of the Great Lakes reprint of 'Fighting Ships from Bay City,' Inland Seas, July 1945 (contemporary description of the Defoe DE type) [other_primary]

   Locator

   class-f/buckley-class.class.json member row DE-700 + class notes; DANFS spec block; NavSource spec block; NMGL 'Fighting Ships from Bay City - July 1945' (Inland Seas reprint)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference for a steam-plant destroyer escort built at Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, in 1943: the Buckley TE plant - two 'D' express-type oil-fired boilers feeding GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp, ~24 kt - makes this class, with the John C. Butler class, the most asbestos-relevant DE design, since diesel/diesel-electric DEs lacked steam plants entirely. Plausible period applications: boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging between machinery spaces, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, electrical insulation, deck coverings, accommodation insulation. The 1945 Inland Seas account of the Defoe DE type records a piping/electrical density consistent with that inference surface - '5.6 miles of pipe, 93,655 foot or 15 3/4 miles of electrical cable,' 2,010 valves, 2,650 pipe flanges, 9,018 pipe fittings, 'steam turbo-electric drive, oil fired express type boilers.' Boiler manufacturer for this hull block carried as Combustion Engineering per the navypedia TE block map (unverified against contract documents).

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   1943-44 (construction); 1944-60 (service)

   Population

   Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44 (yard ~4,000 wartime employees per Inland Seas); USN engineering crew 1944-60

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - not a ship-specific finding. The class profile notes no ship-specific asbestos documentation located for any of the 148 Buckley hulls; boiler-manufacturer attribution is navypedia-sourced, unverified against BuShips contract documents. The Inland Seas account describes the Defoe DE type generically (its photographed example is sister hull USS George DE-697) and contains no materials or asbestos content. Does not establish asbestos presence, quantity, location, or survival aboard this hull - and the hull's 1967 target sinking forecloses any present-day survey.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-03

5. [5]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o; RECAP dockets type=r) for exact name 'USS Currier' and hull number 'DE-700' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-currier-de700-05 through -08

   Finding type

   litigation_documented

   Finding

   CourtListener sweep at drafting: exact-name query '"USS Currier"' (type=o) returned ZERO results - no opinion in the index mentions the vessel by name. Hull-number query '"DE-700"' (type=o) returned 29 hits - the first 20 retrieved and reviewed, ALL string collisions: Puerto Rico courts dominate (Spanish-language text matching 'de 700'), plus Borom v. Town of Merrillville (N.D. Ind. 2012 - the same opinion flagged in the DE-697 sweep for matching 'DE <n>' docket-entry numerals), Hofmann v. EMI Resorts (S.D. Fla. timeshare), and General Motors Corp. v. United States (Ct. Cl. 1960 - contract case, exhibit/docket numerals); none references a vessel, naval service, or asbestos. The remaining 9 results (page 2) and both RECAP-docket queries ('"USS Currier"' and '"DE-700"', type=r) were pending under fleet-wide pacing limits at drafting - spaced retries returned 'momentarily spent' (see search_ledger). No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in the completed portion of the sweep.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   2026-09-29

   Limitations

   Opinion index swept for the exact vessel name (0 hits) and hull number (29 hits; 20 reviewed - all collisions on their face, 9 on the unretrieved page pending). Both RECAP-docket queries were pending under fleet pacing at drafting; final status in search_ledger. 'Currier' is a common surname and 'Courier' a spelling collision (e.g., USCGC Courier WAGR-410); any future hit requires collision classification rather than automatic attribution to DE-700, the only U.S. Navy vessel of the name. Sweep does not cover state-court records, bankruptcy/trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-04

6. [6]Batch-4480 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + ibiblio/HyperWar mirror, NVR, NavSource, Atlas class profile and shipyard dataset, National Museum of the Great Lakes, ECU Joyner Library finding aids, USMC official history (HyperWar), CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-currier-de700-01 through -13

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation naming this hull was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull entered reserve-fleet lay-up in 1960, was stricken 1966, and was expended as a torpedo target off California 11 July 1967; it was never a museum, memorial, or reserve-fleet artifact after disposal and rests unsurveyed on the seabed.

   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 1943 steam-plant escort is precisely the design family for which era asbestos use is expected, and target-hulk disposal in 1967 predates any routine pre-sinking hazmat documentation regime. The hull no longer exists, so no present-day survey is possible; whether era materials aboard contained asbestos is undocumented in either direction. Construction-era yard records, deck logs, reserve-fleet custody files, and the target-preparation/disposal file are paper leads only (ev-07).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-05

7. [7]East Carolina University, Joyner Library, East Carolina Manuscript Collection: Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Collection - A. Wayne Arrington Papers (#564-015) and Asa Wayne Arrington Papers (#849), finding aids [other_primary]

   Locator

   ECU finding aids #564-015 and #849 (digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/) - collection overviews, custodial history, biographical note

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Verified archival holdings for this hull: ECU holds two Currier (DE-700) collections donated by crewman Asa 'Wayne' Arrington and Keith O'Toole - (1) #564-015 (Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Collection): crewmember papers incl. correspondence, reminiscences, photographs, picture postcards, reunion material, VHS tapes, miscellany (acquired 1997/1999, ~190 items, unprocessed); (2) #849: materials concerning WWII veterans of USS Currier (DE-700) - correspondence, reminiscences, photographs, postcard, reunion material, videocassettes, orders, newsletters, decommissioning-ceremony items, personal histories of Arrington and Joseph 'Joe' Homovec, cruise chart (coverage 1943-2004). The #849 biographical note records Arrington (yeoman) joining the pre-commissioning detail at Pier 91, Norfolk, Va. - consistent with crew assembly ahead of the New Orleans-area commissioning.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   1943-2004 (records); 1997-1999 (acquisition)

   Population

   Crewmembers documented in collection materials (Arrington, Homovec, reunion correspondents)

   Limitations

   Finding aids verified; the underlying documents were not reviewed - contents beyond the finding-aid descriptions are unexamined. These are personal/reunion records; nothing in the finding aids addresses materials or asbestos. The #849 donor narrative frames the Norfolk pre-commissioning detail loosely as 'where he helped commission' the ship - NavSource carries the formal commissioning at Todd Johnson Shipyard, Algiers, La.; the variant is logged in gaps. The #564-015 catalog 'Corporate Names' entry 'John Currier (Ship)' is a cataloging artifact for this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-06

8. [8]NARA RG 19 (BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books) and RG 24 (deck logs) for DE-700; Todd Johnson Shipyard (Algiers, La.) fitting-out records 1943-44; Mare Island Naval Shipyard work records for the 24 June-8 September 1947 overhaul; San Pedro yard records for the September-October 1945 overhaul (yard unnamed in DANFS); Pacific Reserve Fleet custody records 1960-66; the 1967 target-preparation/disposal file - all undigitized or not located online [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA RG 19/RG 24 entry series (undigitized); Todd Johnson Shipyard fitting-out records; Mare Island NSY work records; reserve-fleet custody/SINKEX preparation files

   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 ships-data books covering DE-700's construction at Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City; (2) NARA RG 24 deck logs cover 1944-60 operations incl. the Dragoon convoy, Rota surrender inspection, and Korean War patrol; (3) Todd Johnson Shipyard (Algiers, La.) fitting-out records document the commissioning yard period; (4) Mare Island NSY work records may document the 1947 overhaul scope; (5) the San Pedro overhaul yard (Sep-Oct 1945) is unnamed in DANFS - yard assignment records are the lead; (6) Pacific Reserve Fleet custody records 1960-66 and the 1967 target-preparation/disposal file document material condition at lay-up and sinking prep.

   Verification

   unverified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-29

   Study period

   1943-1967 (records); 2026 (lead status)

   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 fetches (standing limitation across batches).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-currier-de700-07