Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 758-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-durik-de666-pkt-758-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Durik (DE-666) (namesake bio, builder, launch/commissioning, service narrative, striking, disposal; live NHHC page serves 404 - verbatim text verified via hazegray.org mirror and May 2024 Wayback capture of the canonical page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Apprentice Seaman Joseph Edward Durik (born 9 December 1922, southwest Pa.; enlisted USNR 5 January 1942; killed 15 March 1942 following the accidental firing of a torpedo aboard USS Meredith (DD-434); posthumously commended by Admiral C. W. Nimitz). Ship launched 9 October 1943 by Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pa.; sponsored by Mrs. M. Durik; commissioned 24 March 1944, Commander K. B. Smith in command. Two convoy-escort voyages New York/Norfolk to Casablanca, Bizerte, Palermo (20 May-30 November 1944); schoolship for precommissioning crews at Norfolk 9 December 1944-14 January 1945; two convoy voyages to Oran 17 January-19 May 1945; Miami schoolship for student officers from 8 June 1945; overhaul at New York and training at Guantanamo Bay 21 July-5 September 1945; plane guard for USS Solomons (CVE-67) at Mayport from 1 November 1945; entered Charleston Naval Shipyard 28 March 1946; arrived Green Cove Springs 27 April 1946; decommissioned in reserve 15 June 1946; stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 June 1965; sold for scrap 30 January 1967. Specifications block: 1,400 tons, 306 ft, 24 kt, complement 186, 3x3"/50 armament; class Buckley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1967
- Population
- Dravo Corp. construction trades 1943-44 (Neville Island); wartime crew (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-09-29; verbatim transcription verified via hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de666.htm and a Wayback capture of the canonical NHHC page (2024-05-24). Commissioning-date conflict with NavSource (23 March) is carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-01
-
[3]USS Durik (DE-666) 'SHIP'S HISTORY' - CO R. W. Gavin to Secretary of the Navy, File DE(TE)666/A7 Serial 473, 17 November 1945 (NARA RG 38, micro serial 156808; scan hosted by NavSource; catalog record naId 77640033) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource scan of NARA micro serial 156808, cover letter + 7-page narrative (read in full)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own contemporaneous war history, forwarded to SecNav 17 November 1945: built at Pittsburgh, floated down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans where commissioned 24 March 1944 (confirming the DANFS date); crew organized at Naval Training Center Norfolk (~200 enlisted, 10 officers). Bermuda shakedown completed 4 May 1944; post-shakedown overhaul at Boston Navy Yard; first transatlantic convoy departed 22 May 1944 (108 merchant ships, 11 escorts; Durik escort commander for the New York section); 5-7 June 1944 detached with USS Kennebec for a fueling rendezvous southwest of the Canary Islands with the USS Guadalcanal hunter-killer group returning with captured U-505; Casablanca port call; returned New York 10 July 1944 for a 10-day Navy Yard repair period; emergency repairs at Boston Navy Yard en route to Casco Bay; command changed from Lt. Comdr. K. B. Smith to Lt. Comdr. R. W. Gavin; training ship at New London submarine base from 3 September 1944 (first air-sea rescue, Long Island Sound); Norfolk schoolship duty; January 1945 convoy of six Army oilers with USS Jenks (DE-665) to Oran, then Horta (Fayal, Azores) escorting torpedo-damaged USS Fogg (DE-57) home; final convoy west of Gibraltar when Germany surrendered (7 May 1945); Miami training-ship duty; directed to Brooklyn Navy Yard for a new anti-aircraft gunnery installation when Japan's surrender was confirmed. 'Never did she lose a man, and never was a ship sunk in a convoy to which she had been assigned.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime crew; yard workers at Boston NY, New York NY (Brooklyn NY), and Todd-Johnson Dry Docks
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous ship-authored history - primary quality for movements and assignments; contains no materials or asbestos information. Identifies documented yard availabilities (Boston Navy Yard, New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn Navy Yard) for this hull but no asbestos scope for any of them.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-02
-
[4]U.S.S. Durik Commissioning Orders and Commissioning Program scans (NavSource collection): orders direct commissioning at Todd-Johnson Dry Docks Inc. at 1400 on 23 March 1944; program records 'Commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 24, 1944' and prints the namesake biography and Nimitz citation text [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource images 0666605-0666608 (program cover, SecNav letter, commissioning orders, crew list)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous commissioning documents for this hull: the formal commissioning orders scheduled the ceremony at Todd-Johnson Dry Docks Inc., New Orleans, 1400 on 23 March 1944 - the source of NavSource's 23 March operational-data entry - while the commissioning program and the ship's war history record the actual commissioning as 24 March 1944, matching DANFS. Program also documents the Nimitz citation to Apprentice Seaman Joseph Edward Durik for heroism after the accidental torpedo firing aboard USS Meredith on 12 March 1942 (injuries 'later proved fatal') and launch sponsorship by his mother Mary Durik.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Commissioning crew (~10 officers, ~200 enlisted per war history)
- Limitations
- Resolves the 23-vs-24-March commissioning conflict in favor of 24 March as the actual date (orders scheduled 23 March). Document scans hosted by a volunteer archive (NavSource) - official documents, secondary host. No asbestos or materials content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-03
-
[5]Navypedia 'Buckley (TE) class destroyer escorts' page (member row for DE-666; machinery block map) + Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design-group table (shipscribe.com scan, SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navypedia us_de_te.htm member table (DE666 row) + machinery block; BuShips SDB1945 v1 pp. 234-235
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this hull: DE-666 is a Buckley-class TE destroyer escort, one of only two DE classes (with John C. Butler/WGT) carrying a full steam plant. BuShips Ships' Data 1945 design groups 2-3: 2 'D' express boilers at 435 psi/750F superheat feeding GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts, 23.6 kt; per Navypedia's boiler block map, hulls DE-665 through DE-673 (which includes DE-666) carried 2 Foster Wheeler boilers. A superheated steam plant of this construction era implies period-standard asbestos applications - boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line lagging, turbine insulation, gaskets, valve and pump packing, fireproofing - as inference only.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Dravo construction trades 1943-44; crew 1944-46
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The boiler-manufacturer assignment is Navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents; no materials schedule or asbestos survey for this hull was located. Establishes no quantities and no individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-04
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[6]NARA catalog records for USS Durik: RG 38 'USS DURIK - War Diary' monthly files 3/24-31/44 through 12/45 (e.g., naId 78366933, 78400270, 78459525, 78500872, 78550760, 78599277, 134362322, 78644974, 78694150, 139781888, 139845963, 139893513, 139941086, 633427225, 633443789, 140074975, 83563584, 77515263, 77550940, 77566293, 633454308); 'Durik (DE-666), 3/24/44-6/15/46' muster rolls, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (naId 125725580) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog records naId 77640033 (war history), naId 125725580 (muster), naId 78366933 et al. (war diaries)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA catalog confirms digitized/identified primary records for this hull: 21 monthly War Diary file units covering March 1944-December 1945 (RG 38, WWII War Diaries series; several digitized via Fold3) and Bureau of Naval Personnel muster-roll coverage dated exactly 24 March 1944-15 June 1946 - the ship's full commissioned life. The 3/24-31/44 war-diary start date independently corroborates the 24 March 1944 commissioning date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew (all hands, 1944-46, via muster rolls and war diaries)
- Limitations
- Catalog-level verification only - individual war-diary/muster pages not retrieved this session; these are personnel/operations records unlikely to contain materials data but are the correct primary source for muster-level exposure reconstruction.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-05
-
[7]Dupre et al. v. Todd Shipyards Corporation, No. 2:11-cv-02097-JCZ-SS (E.D. La., removed from Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans, No. 10-11337); Notice of Potential Tag-Along, In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), MDL No. 875 (J.P.M.L.), ECF/entry no. 7778 (filed 2011-08-31); remand denied, Dupre v. Todd Shipyards Corp., 2011 WL 4551439 (E.D. La. Sept. 29, 2011) [court_record]
- Locator
- MDL-875 JPML docket entry 7778 (attachment: E.D. La. 2:11-cv-02097 Doc. 1, notice of removal, statement of facts paras. 4-9, scanned pp. 3-5 of 10 - OCR'd and verified 2026-09-29); civil docket for 2:11-cv-02097-JCZ-SS embedded at attachment pp. 13-18
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull (discovery-stage identification, never adjudicated): in Dupre v. Todd Shipyards, plaintiff Freddie Joseph Dupre alleged employment at Todd Shipyards Corp. (New Orleans) 1944-1945 and asbestos exposure causing mesothelioma (death; survival/wrongful-death claims continued by family). Per the defendants' notice of removal, documents produced in late July 2011 by Todd Shipyards' expert Thomas McCaffery were 'the first documents that identified relevant ships that were present at Todd Shipyards between 1944 and 1945' and listed 'USS DURIK, USS WISEMAN, USS BURDO, and USS COOK' as vessels 'worked on at Todd Shipyards' during 1944-45 that 'had GE equipment that may have contained or been insulated with asbestos-containing products' (marine turbines 'designed and manufactured at the direction of and pursuant to contracts with the United States Navy'). Plaintiff's counsel asserted Dupre 'worked in the engine rooms of every ship present at Todd Johnson Shipyards.' Removal sustained on federal-officer grounds (government-contractor defense); motion to remand denied Sept. 29, 2011; case tagged into MDL-875.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (alleged exposure); 2010-2011 (litigation/removal)
- Population
- Todd Shipyards (New Orleans) yard worker 1944-1945 (Freddie Joseph Dupre, mesothelioma, deceased 2011)
- Limitations
- Discovery-stage allegation only - the vessel list comes from a defense expert's produced documents as recited in a removal notice; exposure aboard or around this hull was never adjudicated and no court made any finding about asbestos aboard DE-666. The plaintiff was a shipyard worker, not a Durik crew member; the hull is named as a vessel present at the yard during the exposure window, with asbestos content hedged ('may have contained or been insulated with'). Outcome of the merits case after MDL transfer not located. Hull identity is unambiguous: DE-666 is the only USS Durik.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 sweep, authenticated (type=o opinions and type=r RECAP dockets): queries "USS Durik", "Durik", "DE-666" [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-durik-de666-06 through sl-uss-durik-de666-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep for this hull, beyond the single qualifying Dupre hit (ev-06): opinions index - "USS Durik" 0 results, "Durik" 0 results, "DE-666" 7 results all string collisions (criminal docket numbers, statutory cites; e.g., Dean v. State of Florida, United States v. Optrex America, Texas AG Opinion O-5442). Docket index - "Durik" 44 results all surname collisions (bankruptcy and employment dockets naming Durik individuals/attorneys, no vessel reference); "DE-666" 109 results all 'DE# 666' docket-entry-number collisions (e.g., RealPage MDL, bankruptcy claim objections); "USS Durik" 1 result = the Dupre MDL-875 tag-along document.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- A mostly-no-hit sweep is a first-class negative finding: it documents absence of located litigation, not absence of litigation or of asbestos. RECAP index coverage is not exhaustive; unindexed state-court filings and non-digitized dockets are outside scope. The 44-hit "Durik" docket page reviewed exhaustively on page 1 (top-relevance); remaining hits trend lower-relevance surname matches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-07
-
[9]Batch-4441 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (live + Wayback + hazegray mirror); NARA catalog RG 38 / BuPers; NavSource archive incl. war-history and commissioning-program scans; Navypedia; NVR; MARAD/NDRF public records [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-durik-de666-01 through sl-uss-durik-de666-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-666: no hull ACM survey, abatement contract, materials schedule, industrial-hygiene report, or donation/museum hazmat disclosure was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The only litigation naming the hull (Dupre, ev-06) identifies her as a vessel present at Todd Shipyards during a yard worker's alleged exposure window - it does not document an asbestos condition aboard. The hull was scrapped in 1967 and does not exist.
- 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 - the class/era inference for a 1943-44 steam plant remains reasonable but is not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-durik-de666-08
