Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 383-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (primary DANFS source loaded cleanly) — real identity: USS Echo | Hull: IX-95 | Designation: Auxiliary,
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-echo-ix95-pkt-383-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Echo (IX-95) 1942-1944 (updated by Robert J. Cressman, published 2022-03-23) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, full narrative; NHHC photo NH 84194 (vessel photographed in New Zealand)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: a scow of New Zealand registry (DANFS dates her 1892) transferred to the U.S. Navy under Reverse Lend-Lease from New Zealand; classified auxiliary, miscellaneous (IX-95); commissioned 4 November 1942, Ens. M. C. Riddle in command. Sailed from Auckland 11 November 1942, delivered cargo at Noumea, New Caledonia, en route to Efate in the New Hebrides; based at Port Vila, she 'served as a supply ship for the Army in the New Hebrides and adjoining island groups.' On 14 February 1944 the Army awarded her crew a commendation. Arrived Wellington 12 March 1944; decommissioned 15 March 1944 and returned to the New Zealand Government; stricken from the Navy Register 25 March 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-11-04 to 1944-03-25 (U.S. Navy service)
- Population
- Wartime crew, about 15 (per CO obituary - see ev-uss-echo-ix95-07)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos, material, or environmental content. DANFS gives build year 1892, which conflicts with New Zealand museum and heritage records giving 1905 - conflict logged in gaps; the NZ-sourced date is carried.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-01
-
[3]Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Historic Ships and Boats database - Echo record [museum_official]
- Locator
- Museum of Wellington NZ historic ships database, Echo table (Name/Built/Propulsion/Tonnage/Materials/History fields)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum documentation for this hull: built 1905 by W. Brown & Sons, Kaipara River; kauri wood construction throughout (later steel masts); scow-hulled schooner with two longitudinal holds divided by a centreboard casing, built for the New Zealand coastal cargo trade; 132 gross tons; 104 ft x 26 ft x 6.1 ft; propulsion sail, schooner rig, with auxiliary 20 hp Hercules oil engine; original owner Karamea Steamship Co., Wellington. At Picton from June 1972; Marlborough Cruising Club clubhouse until 1992; opened as 'Echo Gallery' museum/cafe November 1993, restyled 'Echo Museum' December 2000.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1905-2015
- Population
- Museum visitors and former crew (post-1972 static use)
- Limitations
- Official museum database confirms construction, materials, machinery, and preservation history; contains no asbestos or hazardous-materials information. Database text predates the 2015 demolition (lists museum use and private owner as current).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-02
-
[4]Naval Historical Society of Australia, Naval Historical Review (December 1999), Tim Dare - 'NZ Scow ECHO - role in World War II' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Naval Historical Review, December 1999 edition, full article text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (historical-society journal account): built 1905 at Te Kopuru on the northern Wairoa River by William Brown & Sons; topsail schooner with a Hercules 20 hp oil engine as auxiliary; square-bilge shallow-draught centreboard scow. Bought ca. 1916 by Richardson's of Napier for the Wairoa-Napier meat trade; fitted 1917 with two Skandia semi-diesel engines of 40 hp each; purchased 1920 by Eckfords for Blenheim-Wellington river/Cook Strait service from 1921; reportedly the last ship plying commercially under sail in New Zealand waters. Stranded and holed at Pencarrow Head 26 November 1932, refloated and repaired. Requisitioned 1942 for U.S. service as supply ship for the New Hebrides/Solomons/New Guinea area; reconditioned 1944 and bought back by Eckfords; withdrawn 1965 against Cook Strait ferry competition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1905-1965; article 1999
- Population
- NZ coastal-trade crews (1905-1965); wartime U.S. crew (1942-1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary historical-society account corroborated by museum records on core facts (1905 build, kauri hull, engine type). Its additional claims - aiding the destruction of two Japanese submarines and surviving one Japanese air attack - are unverified by any official source and are not asserted as findings here. Engine retrofit date conflicts with NavSource (1917 Skandias here vs. 'two diesels installed 1920'); conflict logged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-03
-
[5]NavSource Online Service Ship Photo Archive, USS Echo (IX-95) main and supplemental-history pages (compiled by Gary P. Priolo; supplemental history by Robert Hurst) [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/46/46095.htm and /46095a.htm (specifications block, awards bar, supplemental history)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Volunteer-compiled archive of official material gives: screw scow built in New Zealand 1905 by William Brown as topsail-rigged twin-masted flat-bottom schooner; displacement 132 long tons, length 104 ft, beam 26 ft; propulsion sail plus two diesel engines installed 1920, single propeller; commissioned 4 November 1942; decommissioned 15 March 1944 at Wellington and returned to New Zealand; awards listed: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal; mercantile owners Karamea Steamship Co., Richardson's of Napier (1916), T. Eckford & Co. (1920 and 1944-1972); post-war cargo Marlborough-Wellington until 1965; Marlborough Cruising Club clubrooms from 1972; 'Echo Gallery' museum and cafe at Picton.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1905-2013 (page last updated 2013-11-29)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer archive transcribing official records - used here as a lead/corroborator, not a primary source. Its 'current disposition: preserved at Picton' is outdated (hull demolished April 2015 - see ev-uss-echo-ix95-05); its 'struck, date unknown' is superseded by DANFS (25 March 1944); its 'two diesel engines installed 1920' conflicts with the NHSA account (two Skandia semi-diesels fitted 1917). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-04
-
[6]Marlborough Express via Stuff, 'Demolition work on historic Echo begins in Picton,' Selina Powell, 2015-04-08 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Stuff/Marlborough Express article, 2015-04-08
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented final disposition for this hull: demolition of the century-old scow began at Picton marina 8 April 2015 under owner Port Marlborough, which had acquired her from private owners and applied for resource consent to demolish; the ship was 'well and truly beyond repair' and judged an earthquake risk. Marlborough Historic Society, the Edwin Fox Society, and Marlborough Museum were consulted; deck lights, portholes, and the ship's wheel (to the Edwin Fox Society) were preserved, with some timber salvaged. Demolition was estimated at two to four weeks.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2015-04
- Population
- Demolition workers (April 2015)
- Limitations
- Press account of the vessel's destruction; contains no asbestos or hazardous-materials reference - the demolition coverage documents artifact salvage and structural decay only. Absence of a hazmat mention in press coverage is not evidence about materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-05
-
[7]Honolulu Advertiser, 'Hawaii resident Meredith Riddle dies,' Rick Daysog, 2007-12-11; AFI Catalog entry for 'The Wackiest Ship in the Army' (Columbia/Fred Kohlmar Productions, 1960) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Honolulu Advertiser obituary 2007-12-11; https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53342
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Commanding-officer record: Meredith 'Rip' Riddle, 27, was given command of the wooden sailing schooner USS Echo in 1942; per his obituary the ship's 15 crew members did not know how to sail, the mission was to place coastwatchers behind enemy lines in the South Pacific, and Riddle shared command ashore with a U.S. Army major. Riddle later wrote up the misadventures; the account was turned into the 1960 Jack Lemmon film 'The Wackiest Ship in the Army' (AFI Catalog: credited screen source was Herbert Carlson's story published in Argosy magazine; U.S. Navy acknowledged for production assistance) and a 1965-66 NBC television series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944 (service); 2007 (obituary)
- Population
- Wartime crew, about 15
- Limitations
- Reputable-press obituary drawing on family recollection; the coastwatcher mission and Army co-command details are not in DANFS and are carried as secondary-source detail. Crew figure (~15) is unverified against an official muster. The film connection is documented as reported basis/inspiration; the film itself is a fictionalized dramatization. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 authenticated search (fleet helper, COURTLISTENER_API_KEY), 2026-09-29 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-echo-ix95-11 through sl-uss-echo-ix95-13
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep complete: CourtListener authenticated searches returned zero hits for "USS Echo" in both the opinion index and the RECAP docket index; the hull-designator search "IX-95" returned 10 opinion hits, all name collisions on the string (exhibit, page, or citation references in unrelated matters - e.g., Edgewater v. H.I.G. Del. Ch.; Guzman v. Boeing D.D.C.; Nickell v. Commissioner 6th Cir.). No qualifying asbestos case - or any case - naming this vessel was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Index coverage limits apply: a zero-hit result does not preclude undocketed, unindexed, or non-U.S. litigation, and proves nothing about exposure aboard. The 10 IX-95 hits were classified as name collisions from case names and snippets; underlying full texts were not individually reviewed. A ~15-man crew in a single 16-month commission is an intrinsically thin litigation base.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-07
-
[9]Batch-4889 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + NHHC photo catalog; Museum of Wellington historic-ships database; Naval Historical Society of Australia; The Prow (Nelson-Marlborough library heritage site); Marlborough Express via Stuff; Honolulu Advertiser; AFI Catalog; NavSource; HyperWar; NARA Catalog; CourtListener [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-echo-ix95-01 through sl-uss-echo-ix95-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum hazmat statement, or qualifying litigation naming USS Echo (IX-95) was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). This is consistent with the documented configuration - a wooden kauri-hulled sail scow with only small auxiliary oil/diesel engines and no steam plant - but remains an absence-of-record finding, not proof of absence.
- 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 - era-typical products (engine gaskets, packing, exhaust lagging) could have been present in the auxiliary engines without documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-echo-ix95-08