Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet gf-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Hugh Purvis; hull DD-709; destroyer; Allen M. Sumner class
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-pkt-gf-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Hugh Purvis (DD-709) (specifications, builder, launch/commission dates, service narrative 1945-1967, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; hazegray mirror concordant via 2024-12-01 Wayback capture) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, namesake paragraph + specifications block + service narrative + bracketed disposal note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: specifications 2,200 tons, 376'6", 40' beam, 15'8" draft, 34 kt, complement 336; armament 6x5", 12x40mm, 11x20mm, 6 dcp, 10x21" tt; class Allen M. Sumner. Launched by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., 17 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Mary Alice Purvis, widow of Cpl. Purvis; commissioned 1 March 1945, Comdr. B. L. Gurnette in command. Caribbean shakedown; Panama Canal transit; post-surrender Hawaiian training; Casco Bay return 16 April 1946; 'a long overhaul at New York'; homeport Newport 14 December 1946; first European cruise February-August 1947 including the official party at the burial of King Christian of Denmark (April 1947); first 6th Fleet cruise 13 September 1948-10 February 1949; New Orleans reserve-training duty June 1949-December 1950; Mediterranean March-October 1951; NATO cruise August 1952; 6th Fleet cruise to July 1953; Operation Springboard; 6th Fleet January-May 1955; Mediterranean July 1956 (Suez crisis) including October 1956 Persian Gulf escort duty for the Haifa refugee evacuation and UN Truce Team removal from Gaza; 1957 midshipman cruise to Chile/Canal Zone; northern-European NATO visits June-August 1958 (Lebanon crisis); 16 months Destroyer Development Group experimental work from August 1958; Boston Naval Shipyard FRAM overhaul begun March 1960 (helicopter deck and hangar aft for DASH); sixth Mediterranean deployment March-October 1961 (Berlin crisis); Atlantic recovery area for Col. John Glenn's Mercury capsule, early 1962; Cuban quarantine line October-December 1962; Boston Naval Shipyard regular overhaul February 1964 (radar radome on 30-foot mast); Operation Springboard January 1965; two Cruiser Destroyer Force Atlantic departmental excellence awards (operations, weapons) for competitive year 1965; conformal planar-array sonar installation at Boston Naval Shipyard late 1965; Atlantic/Caribbean 1966 including 6 March rescue of fishing boat Good Will II; Mediterranean deployment November 1966-1967. Bracketed closing note: transferred to Turkey as the Zafer 1 July 1972; struck from the Navy list 1 February 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; postwar/Cold War crew (design complement 336); reserve-training cadre New Orleans 1949-50
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, service history, documented yard periods, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. DANFS gives no laid-down date for this hull (supplied by NavSource; see ev-04). The narrative ends with the 1966-67 Mediterranean deployment; the 1968-69 Vietnam deployment is absent (documented instead by ev-02). Transcription variants between mirrors: ibiblio reads 'arrived her new homeport, Newport, 14 December 1946' and 'Comdr. B. I. Gurnette'; the 2024-12 hazegray capture reads '1948' and 'B. L. Gurnette' and omits the bracketed Turkey-transfer sentence - the commanding-officer register (NavSource) supports B. L. (Byron Lawrence) Gurnette, and chronology supports 1946; variants logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-01
-
[3]U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 1233472, Docket No. 06-30 691 (decided 26 September 2012; appeal from VA RO Wichita, Kansas; Counsel Suzie S. Gaston) - REMAND [court_record]
- Locator
- BVA decision 1233472 - Remand narrative (NPRC October 2011 verification paragraph; December 2011 VA brown-water listing paragraph; Qui Nhon Bay deck-log recital)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Ship-named adjudication record, NOT asbestos: a surviving-spouse claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death (USN September 1965-April 1970; died May 2004 of respiratory failure due to lung cancer, with head/neck cancer history) litigated on the Agent Orange herbicide presumption. NPRC verified the veteran served aboard USS Hugh Purvis DD-709 and that the ship was in the official waters of Vietnam 11 October-3 November 1968, 3 November-11 December 1968, 2-16 January 1969, and 22 January-4 February 1969. The Board recorded that appellant-submitted deck logs show the ship anchored in Qui Nhon Bay in January 1969, and that VA added USS Hugh Purvis to its list of ships operating on Vietnam's inland waterways/docking to shore. The case was REMANDED for a medical opinion on whether the lung cancer was primary or metastatic from a tonsillar primary - the herbicide presumption verified but causation unresolved.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- Vietnam service windows 1968-1969; claim 2005-2012; decision 2012-09-26
- Population
- One Navy veteran claimant (service 1965-1970 aboard DD-709) and surviving spouse
- Limitations
- Stage/scope discipline: this is an Agent Orange herbicide proceeding, not asbestos litigation - it names the hull but alleges no asbestos exposure and is excluded from qualifying-asbestos-litigation counts. Its record value is service-history documentation (the 1968-69 Vietnam deployment that DANFS omits). The remand resolves nothing on the merits; claimant's marriage-duration eligibility under 38 C.F.R. 3.54 was also remanded. Does not establish asbestos content or exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-02
-
[4]Department of Veterans Affairs, 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' (ships list; 2021 edition mirrored by VFW Department of Florida; identical entry in the 2012 edition mirrored by Centre County PA Veterans Affairs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- VA ships list, alphabetic destroyer section - 'Hugh Purvis (DD-709)' entry
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The VA ships list carries this hull by name: 'USS Hugh Purvis (DD-709) operated on the inland waters of Qui Nhon Bay during January 1969' (2012 edition reads 'Operated on the inland waters of Qui Nhon Bay during January 1969'). Placement on the list confers the 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6) herbicide-exposure presumption for veterans aboard during the qualifying window - independent official confirmation of the 1968-69 Vietnam deployment the DANFS narrative omits.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1969-01 (qualifying window); list editions 2012 and 2021
- Population
- Crew aboard DD-709 during January 1969 Qui Nhon Bay operations
- Limitations
- Herbicide-presumption list, not an asbestos document - included for completeness of the hull's exposure-relevant service record (it explains why ship-named VA claims exist). Cited via mirrored copies of the VA document because the live va.gov page does not expose the list text directly; the entry is corroborated by BVA 1233472's recital of the same listing (ev-02).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-03
-
[5]NavSource Online Destroyer Archive, USS Hugh Purvis (DD-709) page (Operational and Building Data block; specifications; photo archive incl. Boston Naval Shipyard FRAM-period imagery and Turkish-service TCG Zafer images; commanding-officer register) - via 2025-01-17 Wayback capture [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/05/709.htm via Wayback 2025-01-17 - 'Operational and Building Data' block, Fate line, photo captions, CO register
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-archive building and disposal data for this hull: built by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ (yard no. 394); contract awarded 7 August 1942 (NObs-311); laid down 23 May 1944; launched 17 December 1944; commissioned 1 March 1945; FRAM upgrade completed October 1960; decommissioned 15 June 1972; stricken 1 February 1973; 'Transferred to Turkey 01 July 1972, renamed TCG Zafer (D 356)'; fate line 'Stricken in 1993 and broken up for scrap in 1994.' Machinery block: 60,000 shp, General Electric geared turbines, 2 screws; crew 336. Photo captions place the hull at Pier 9W, Boston Navy Yard, 1 April 1960 (NPS-catalog aerial BOSTS-10111) and document the Boston FRAM period May-September 1960; a TCG Zafer (D 356) Turkish-service photo section is captioned.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1994
- Population
- Turkish Navy crew/custody 1972-1993; scrapping workforce 1994
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not an official source - carried for the laid-down date DANFS omits, the FRAM-completion month, the decommissioning date, and the Turkish-service endpoint; DANFS controls where they could conflict (none found on the carried dates). The 1993 Turkish striking and 1994 scrapping are uncorroborated by an official source; whether the hull returned to U.S. custody before scrapping is unresolved (secondary sources conflict). No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-04
-
[6]NPS National Register of Historic Places photo documentation, Boston Naval Shipyard (NRHP ref. 66000134), official U.S. Navy aerial photograph taken 1 April 1960 (from NAS South Weymouth), captioned ship list [nps]
- Locator
- NPS NRHP photo PDF 66000134 - 1 April 1960 aerial view caption listing 'USS Hugh Purvis (DD-709)'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official photographic record placing this hull in the yard during its FRAM period: the captioned ship list for the 1 April 1960 aerial photograph of Boston Naval Shipyard (Piers 4-11) names 'USS Hugh Purvis (DD-709)' among the vessels present (Pier 9W per the NavSource table keying the same image; NPS Boston NHP Collection catalog no. BOSTS-10111). Independent official corroboration of the DANFS-recorded Boston Naval Shipyard FRAM overhaul begun March 1960.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1960
- Population
- Boston Naval Shipyard workforce, spring 1960
- Limitations
- Establishes presence at the yard on a single date (1 April 1960) inside the documented FRAM window - not the scope of work performed, not materials disturbed, and nothing about asbestos. The photo is shipyard documentation, not hull documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-05
-
[7]Navypedia, Allen M. Sumner-class technical block (4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 GE geared steam turbines, 60,000 shp, 2 shafts) and member table (DD-709: yard no. 394, Federal Kearny, laid 5/1944, launched 17.12.1944, commissioned 3/1945, to Turkey) + DANFS-documented yard periods for this hull + GAO HRD-80-2 era context [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia us_dd_a_m_sumner.htm class block and member table (DD-709 row: yard no. 394); DANFS yard-period narrative; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; allen-m-sumner-class.class.json (class-c worktree)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Sumner-class destroyer built May 1944-March 1945 with a four-boiler geared-turbine steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing, and this hull's documented yard periods - the 1946 'long overhaul at New York' (yard unspecified in DANFS), the Boston Naval Shipyard FRAM overhaul (March-October 1960), the Boston Naval Shipyard regular overhaul (February 1964), and the Boston Naval Shipyard conformal planar-array sonar installation (late 1965) - all fall in the Navy's pre-substitution era (GAO HRD-80-2: substitution not begun until the early 1970s) and would have disturbed original insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944-1972
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades 1944-45; Boston Naval Shipyard workforces 1960/1964/1965; crew 1945-72
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-period inference only - no hull-specific insulation specification, material schedule, survey, or abatement record located; does not establish asbestos content, quantity, location, or individual exposure aboard DD-709. GAO HRD-80-2 full text not retrievable (HTTP 403); program-level era context per product page. FRAM asbestos scope undocumented. Navypedia dates the Turkish transfer '2.1972' against DANFS/NavSource 1 July 1972 - conflict logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-06
-
[8]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944); introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX (1990) - as indexed in the Atlas shipyard record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny' [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny', ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944; toxicdocs.org scan of the survey
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The builder yard is documented at yard level: an Owens-Illinois industrial-health survey of Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock, Kearny (30 August-2 September 1944), recorded insulators cutting and fitting asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts measured - conducted while this hull was under construction at the yard (laid down 23 May 1944, launched 17 December 1944, commissioned 1 March 1945; the survey window falls inside her build period).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1944 (survey Aug 30-Sep 2; hull construction May 1944-Mar 1945)
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock insulators and pipefitters, Kearny NJ, wartime peak
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not hull-specific: the survey names no vessel and does not establish which products were installed aboard DD-709; it documents trades practice in the same wartime production program during the hull's build window. Survey conducted by a manufacturer with commercial interest in the findings; dust counts in mppcf (pre-fiber-count era). Documents yard practice, not a worker health outcome study.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-07
-
[9]Batch-3684 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS via ibiblio HyperWar + 2024-12 Wayback capture of hazegray; NavSource via Wayback; navypedia class page; Atlas shipyard record (federal-shipbuilding-kearny); VA BVA indexed decision; VA ships-list mirrored editions; USS Hugh Purvis Reunion Association (hughpurvis.com); navysite.de cruise-book archive; CourtListener API v4 via fleet helper; web litigation-lead searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-01 through -16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos material record located: no insulation survey, abatement contract, disposal-condition hazmat disclosure, hull material specification, or adjudicated asbestos-exposure finding naming DD-709 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The only docketed adjudication naming the hull is a non-asbestos Agent Orange remand (ev-02). The ship-named web footprint is law-firm listicles with no cited primary record. The hull was transferred to Turkey in 1972 and scrapped in 1994 - foreign custody undocumented and no present-day survey possible.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-45 steam-plant destroyer sits squarely in the Navy's documented asbestos-specification era, and class/era plus builder-yard inference applies (ev-06, ev-07). CourtListener sweep status recorded in the search ledger (fleet pacing constraints this session); supplemental indexed coverage (site:courtlistener.com web search) surfaced only 'Purvis' surname name-collisions (Eugene H. Purvis MDL-1657 E.D. La. stipulations; Purvis v. Shamir Corp., E.D. Pa., ADA employment; Purvis Industries v. Spokane Industries, D.N.M.) - no hit naming the ship. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hugh-purvis-dd709-08