Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet kk-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Durant; hull DE-389 (later DER-389; Coast Guard service
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-durant-de389-pkt-kk-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Durant (DE-389) (namesake biography, builder, dates, WWII convoy service and U-873 surrender, USCG loan and weather-ship period, DER conversion and Pacific barrier duty; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + namesake paragraph + service narrative (hazegray/losthistory verbatim transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Kenneth W. Durant (born 2 March 1919, Algona, Iowa; enlisted 19 June 1940; killed in action on Guadalcanal 3 November 1942 serving with the Marines; posthumous Silver Star). Launched 3 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex., sponsored by Mrs. S. R. Durant; commissioned 16 November 1943, Lt. Comdr. C. C. Knapp, USCG, in command. Schoolship at Norfolk 21 January-7 February 1944 training prospective escort crews; eight convoy-escort voyages to north African ports 10 February 1944-12 June 1945; on her last crossing the German submarine U-873 surrendered to the escorts. Sailed from Boston 9 July 1945, refresher training Guantanamo Bay, arrived San Diego 7 August, departed for Pearl Harbor 11 August; war ended; arrived New York 26 September; reported Jacksonville 22 October for inactivation; placed out of commission in reserve 27 February 1946. Loaned to the Coast Guard 15 May 1952 and commissioned as WDE-489 on 9 May 1952 (internal date inconsistency - see gaps); Pacific weather stations until placed out of commission in reserve at San Diego 10 April 1954; returned to the Navy 16 June 1954; reclassified DER-389 7 December 1955; after conversion to a radar picket escort, recommissioned 8 December 1956, shakedown San Diego; sailed San Francisco 27 May 1957, arrived Pearl Harbor 2 June for picket duty on the Pacific barrier line; alternating early-warning duty, exercises, air-sea rescue, and maintenance through 1962.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1964
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned wartime crew (design complement 186); USCG cutter crew 1952-54; USN DER crew 1956-64
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Entry is the 1963-era DANFS edition: it ends at 1962 and does not cover the 1964 decommissioning, striking, or disposal (NavSource and the USCG history supply those dates - see ev-02, ev-03). The loan/commissioning sequence ('loaned 15 May 1952 ... commissioned 9 May 1952') is internally inconsistent - carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-01
-
[3]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'The Long Blue Line: USS Durant - Coast Guard and Navy warship of World War II and Cold War' (5 October 2021, by Dr. Thomas H. Rennie and David May, former Durant electronics technician) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil Long Blue Line article (full text via Wayback capture 2024-12-25; live page serves 403 to automated fetches)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official USCG history article for this hull, co-authored by a former crewman: Edsall-class escort with four Fairbanks-Morse geared diesel engines and two screws, 21.5 kt; wartime crew eight officers and 175 enlisted, Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Knapp, USCG; assigned to Escort Division 45, escorting UGS/GUS convoys alongside Coast Guard-manned DEs Vance, Calcaterra, Chambers, and Merrill under CG cutter Bibb as group flagship; first convoy Azores/Casablanca/Gibraltar, herded straggler SS China Mail, escorted SS Eclipse to Casablanca; March 1944 Operation 'Spangle'; mid-May 1944 two convoy merchantmen torpedoed without casualties; 12 July 1944 smoke screen and fire on a low-running FW-200 Condor off Algeria; February 1945 tow of screw-damaged SS Forthbank until relieved by USS ATR-6; May 1945 U-873 surrendered to Durant and USS Vance, brought into Portsmouth Navy Yard. As WDE-489 (commissioned May 1952): Pacific Ocean Station duty as navigation aid/checkpoint, transoceanic-flight communication relay, U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist platform, SAR and medical services; reserve San Diego April 1954. Returned to Navy June 1954; DER conversion added radar/communications with antennas on two tall masts requiring ballast; recommissioned December 1956 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo; six years alternating DEW Line North Pacific-Bering Sea duty; early 1960 Johnston Island observer ship for Soviet ICBM launches, trailed Russian vessels to Vladivostok; September 1962-early 1963 Operation Deep Freeze (insect-trapping research; 75-knot storm, 60-foot swells, 80-foot wave knocked the forward 3-inch gun off its mount and wrecked antennas; escorted HMS Britannia during Queen Elizabeth's Australian port calls); returned Pearl Harbor March 1963; departed Hawaii 1964 for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, decommissioned June 1964; struck from the list April 1974; sold for scrap in August.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- USCG-manned wartime crew (8 officers/175 enlisted per this source); USCG cutter crew 1952-54; USN DER crew 1956-64
- Limitations
- Feature article co-authored by a former crewman - reliable on operational narrative but contains anecdotal detail; its 'ordered to the New York Navy Yard in January 1945' conflicts with DANFS's 21 January 1944 schoolship date and its own mid-February-1944 convoy start (1944 is the consistent reading). Complement '8 officers and 175 enlisted' conflicts with the DANFS design complement of 186 and secondary compilations' 8/201 - carried in gaps. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-02
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Durant (DE-389) - specifications block, building/operational chronology, links NHHC DANFS entry and ship-submitted official war history scan (secondary compilation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/389.htm - 'Building and Operational Data' block, specifications block (navsource.net mirror used for image assets; .org/.net page fetch blocked by Mod_Security this session - content via search-engine extract)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation operational chronology supplementing DANFS: keel laid 15 May 1943 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; commissioned 16 November 1943 at the Tennessee Iron and Coal Co. dock, Houston, Lcdr. C. C. Knapp, USCG; decommissioned 27 February 1946 at Jacksonville, Fla. after 2 years 3-1/3 months service; loaned to USCG and recommissioned as WDE-489 9 May 1952; decommissioned 10 April 1954 at San Diego; returned to USN 16 June 1954; reclassified DER-389 7 December 1955 with conversion scheduled; recommissioned 7 December 1956 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Lcdr. Harry C. Carter, USN; served as a unit of Operation Deep Freeze September 1962-March 1963; decommissioned June 1964 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, after 7 years 6 months service; struck from the NVR 1 April 1974 with 11 years 8-1/3 months total service; sold for scrapping 1974. Specifications: Edsall class, FMR type (Fairbanks-Morse geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 screws), 21 kt, complement 8 officers/201 enlisted. NavSource links the ship-submitted official 'War History of USS Durant' scan (low-resolution multi-page image, not transcribed).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding trades 1943; USCG crew 1943-46 and 1952-54; Mare Island conversion workforce 1955-56; USN DER crew 1956-64; Puget Sound NSY inactivation workforce 1964
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compilation, not an official source - used here to supply the keel-laying date, commissioning venue, post-1962 chronology, and disposal data that the 1963-era DANFS entry omits; consistent with DANFS and the USCG history where they overlap. Its 7 December 1956 recommissioning date conflicts with DANFS's 8 December; its spec line mixes 'geared diesel' with a 'diesel-generators' item treated as a compilation artifact (see Mills DE-383 record, same artifact). The war-history scan is legible only at thumbnail scale - carried as an archival lead, not transcribed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-03
-
[5]Edsall-class design data (FMR geared-diesel type distinction vs. Cannon DET class; two builders: Consolidated Steel, Orange TX (47) and Brown Shipbuilding, Houston (38); 85 completed) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Mare Island and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard records [other_primary]
- Locator
- Edsall-class design overview (FMR/DET distinction); shipyards.json records 'mare-island-naval-shipyard' (tier 2), 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' (tier 1)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: an Edsall-class destroyer escort built 1943 with a Fairbanks-Morse reduction-geared diesel plant (the 'FMR' type - submarine-type engines, geared drive substituted for the Cannon class's diesel-electric plant) would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-driven ship - exhaust insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings, and deck coverings - but no boilers or steam-line lagging; conversion yard Mare Island Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 2) and inactivation yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is documented (tier 1), and documented yard periods for this hull (Mare Island DER conversion 1955-56; Puget Sound NSY inactivation June 1964) fall in the asbestos era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1964
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned crew 1943-46 and 1952-54; USN crew 1956-64; yard workers at conversion/inactivation periods
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The geared-diesel plant means the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply; does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. No asbestos scope is documented for the 1955-56 conversion or the 1964 inactivation. Builder Brown Shipbuilding is absent from the Atlas yard dataset - yard-level asbestos documentation for the construction period could not be checked there.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-04
-
[6]U.S. Government Accountability Office, Navy Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO report opening summary and Navy policy section, pp. 1-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reported, based on Navy information, that all ships contained some asbestos in components such as clutches and electric cables, while thermal insulation was the Navy's major use of asbestos; the report also describes Navy policy changes beginning in 1975. Durant's 1943 construction date and 1955-56 conversion place it in the era addressed by this Navy-wide context.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1975-1979 policy review; historical Navy use context
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and Navy vessels generally
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy context, not a survey or material schedule for DE-389. It does not establish that any particular asbestos-containing component was installed aboard Durant, quantify material, establish exposure, or identify a claimant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-05
-
[7]Authenticated CourtListener API v4 sweep via cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs on 2026-09-28; see search_ledger sl-08 through sl-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener opinion sweeps completed: "USS Durant" 0 hits; "DER-389" 0 hits; "WDE-489" 0 hits; "Durant" "DE-389" 0 hits; "DE-389" returned 10 hits, all name collisions on the tokenized string '389' (reporter citations such as 389 S.W.2d 533) with zero vessel references. No qualifying asbestos litigation and no litigation of any kind naming this hull located in the opinion index. Docket-index (type=r) sweeps for "USS Durant" and "DE-389" could not be completed: the fleet-wide pacing budget was spent each attempt and the helper directed sessions to stand down rather than retry into a ban.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Opinion-index sweep is complete and negative; the RECAP docket index was not exhaustively swept (fleet pacing) - a docketed asbestos case naming this hull that never produced an indexed opinion could exist undetected. Absence of indexed litigation does not prove no claimant ever served aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-06
-
[8]Batch research review of DANFS (hazegray mirror), USCG Historian's Office article, NavSource operational archive, GAO HRD-80-2, and authenticated CourtListener sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- Cross-source negative finding; see search_ledger
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, construction material schedule, or qualifying litigation record for USS Durant (DE-389/WDE-489/DER-389) was located in the authoritative sources reviewed. Law-firm marketing pages listing 'USS Durant DE-389' on generic ship lists (shepardlawfirm.com, freeasbestostesting.com, duboselawfirm.com) contain no primary evidence and were excluded per source rules. The available evidence supports only a class/era asbestos context and does not support a ship-specific asbestos finding.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-2026
- Limitations
- A failure to locate a record is not proof that asbestos was absent aboard Durant. The 1955-56 DER conversion scope, the 1964 inactivation scope, Coast Guard-period maintenance, and 1974 breaking records remain undocumented in this review; no individual exposure, causation, quantity, remaining material, or legal eligibility can be inferred.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durant-de389-07