Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet ju-packet.md (8 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hurst-de250-pkt-ju-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Hurst II (DE-250), Vol. 3 pp. 405-406 (builder, dates, service narrative, striking and Mexican transfer; live NHHC pages return 404 on all URL variants - verbatim transcription via the hazegray mirror preserved at losthistory.net) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry Hurst II (DE-250), specifications block + service narrative + bracketed post-1968 note (losthistory.net/hazegray de250.htm)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: 'the second HURST (DE-250)', Edsall class (spec block: 1,200 t, 306 ft, beam 36 ft 7 in, 21 kt, complement 186, 3 x 3 in., hedgehog, depth-charge tracks/projectors); launched 14 April 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. Jeanette Harris Hurst, widow; commissioned 30 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. B. H. Brallier commanding. Departed Houston 3 September, outfitting at Galveston, shakedown off Bermuda from 12 September; arrived Norfolk 29 November 1943, joined Escort Division 20. First convoy departed Norfolk 14 December 1943, Casablanca, returned New York 24 January 1944; Casco Bay exercises; 23 February convoy during which merchantmen EL COSTON and MURFREESBORO collided and sank in a gale (survivors rescued by escorts); reached Lisahally, Northern Ireland, 5 March 1944. 'No less than 10 more escort voyages' Boston/New York to Northern Ireland and Britain; returned to New York 11 June 1945. Chesapeake Bay and Guantanamo training; reassigned Pacific; transited Panama Canal, arrived Pearl Harbor via San Diego 26 July 1945; exercises with submarines; departed 27 August for Samoa, Pago Pago 25 September; weeks steaming among Samoan, Fiji, and Society groups landing search parties; departed Pago Pago 3 November 1945; San Diego 23 November; entered New York 10 December 1945. Decommissioned Green Cove Springs, Fla., 1 May 1946; Atlantic Reserve Fleet; transferred to Orange, Tex., January 1947. Bracketed note: stricken from the Navy Register 1 December 1972; transferred to Mexico 1 October 1973; renamed frigate MANUEL AZUETA (A-06), then COMMODORO MANUEL AZUETA PERILLOS (E-30); used (May 1998) as Gulf Fleet command training ship with all ASW weapons and sensors removed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1998
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; Coast Guard-manned wartime crew (DANFS design complement 186); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers 1946-1973
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC DANFS pages return 404 on every URL variant tried; verbatim transcription at the hazegray mirror (losthistory.net) cited instead. The 1968-edition narrative ends at the 1947 Orange berthing; Mexican-service detail comes from the later bracketed note and post-1973 sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels roster row for HURST, DE-250 (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 248-249, roster row 165) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 roster row 165, HURST DE-250 (book pp. 248-249; shipscribe scan PDF p. 134)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official BuShips roster row for this hull (row 165): HURST, official number DE-250, design group FMR; builder Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; contract price $2,921,000; contract signed 18 January 1942; keel laid 27 January 1943; launched 14 April 1943; contract date of completion 10 July 1943; preliminary acceptance 20 August 1943; first commission 30 August 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding Co. construction trades, Houston, Tex., 1943
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous build roster - documents identity, builder, contract, and dates; contains no insulation or materials information and says nothing about asbestos. OCR-assisted read of a scanned page; all six date fields cross-verified against DANFS and NavSource (keel, launch, and commission dates agree exactly).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. I (1945), Destroyer-Escort Vessels design-group table, group 4 / FMR (shipscribe.com scan; OCR of book pp. 234-235) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 DE design-group table, group-4 row (book pp. 234-235; shipscribe scan PDF p. 127)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design-group table: design group 4 (symbol FMR - 'Fairbanks Morse diesel reverse gear drive') - 306 ft oa, 300 ft wl, beam 36 ft 7 in; 1,200 t standard / 1,590 t full load; 21 kt; machinery 4 Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts; boilers 'None'; diesel ship's-service generators; accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted; armament 3 x 3 in/50 cal. D.P. Documents that the FMR design carried a diesel plant with no boilers or steam system.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945 (publication)
- Population
- FMR-design crews (design accommodations 15 officers + 201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation for the whole FMR group (85 hulls), not a per-hull material schedule - establishes plant type and accommodations, not insulation content or asbestos. Table OCR'd from a scanned page; individual cell values partially garbled but the machinery row (4 F.M. diesels; 'None' under boilers) reads cleanly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-03
-
[5]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Hurst (DE-250) page (specs, building/operational data, awards, CO list, flag hoist NFJA; Wayback capture 2025-05-23 - live page fetch failed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.org/archives/06/250.htm building-and-operational-data block, CO list, awards block, photo captions (Wayback 2025-05-23 capture)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource compiled record for this hull: keel laid 27 January 1943 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched and christened 14 April 1943, sponsor Mrs. Jeanette Harris Hurst, widow of Lt. Hurst; commissioned 30 August 1943, Lcdr. B. H. Brallier, USCG, commanding; decommissioned 1 May 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years 8 months service; struck from the NVR 1 December 1972; to Mexico 1 October 1973, renamed ARM Commodore Manuel Azueta (A-06), Gulf Fleet training ship; 'July 2016' decommissioned from the Mexican Navy (conflicts with contemporaneous 2015 reporting - carried in gaps); sunk as a reef 6 November 2017 as Commodore Manuel Azueta (D-111). Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asia-Pacific Campaign Medal; European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal. Complement 8/201; flag hoist NFJA. CO list (Hechler/Reeves) is all-USCG: Lcdr. Bret Hart Brallier USCG (comm., Aug 1943-Oct 1944), Lcdr. Edward B. Winslow USCG (Oct 1944-30 Oct 1945), Lt. Oskar F. Aune USCG (from 30 Oct 1945). Photo caption (official USN photo) describes the ship 'manned by the U.S. Coastguard' on 1944 Atlantic convoy duty.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-2017
- Population
- Coast Guard-manned wartime crew (NavSource complement 8 officers/201 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary archive, not a contemporaneous record - dates concur with DANFS/SDB where they overlap. Mexican decommission month reads July 2016 vs. July 2015 in contemporaneous reporting; conflict carried in gaps. Contributed photo captions are unattributed detail. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-04
-
[6]Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Frank H. Jones Collection (AFC/2001/001/4886) + U.S. Coast Guard Historian 'Historic Ships' vessel index (history.uscg.mil) + USCG Destroyer Escort Sailors memorial transcription (hmdb.org m=205557) [other_primary]
- Locator
- loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04886 catalog record; web.archive.org capture 2019-04-21 of history.uscg.mil Historic-Ships index; hmdb.org m=205557 marker text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent official/archival corroboration that this hull was Coast Guard-manned: the LoC Veterans History Project catalogs Seaman 1/c Frank H. Jones, U.S. Coast Guard, service unit 'USS Hurst (DE 250)', service dates 1944-1946, North Atlantic and Pacific. The USCG Historian's Historic Ships index lists 'HURST, USS; DE 250' among Coast Guard-operated vessels. The USCG Destroyer Escort Sailors memorial (USCG Academy) names Escort Division 20 - USS Marchand DE-249, USS Hurst DE-250, USS Camp DE-251, USS Howard D. Crow DE-252, USS Petit DE-253, USS Ricketts DE-254 - under division commanders Cdr. J. Rountree, Cdr. P.B. Mavor, LCdr. W.B. Ellis. USCG histories record 30 destroyer escorts, all FMR/Fairbanks-Morse type, manned by Coast Guard crews in WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- U.S. Coast Guard crew of DE-250, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Establishes crew service branch and division assignment, not materials. Memorial-marker transcription is a secondary rendering of the plaque; LoC cataloging is an archival authority record. Neither speaks to asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-05
-
[7]Mexican federal coverage of the controlled scuttling of ex-USS Hurst: 'EPN encabeza el Vertimiento Controlado del Casco del Ex Buque ARM Comodoro Manuel Azueta' (estadomayor.mx, 7 Nov 2017); Xinhua via spanish.people.com.cn (6 Nov 2017); Milenio (6 Nov 2017); El Universal English (pre-sinking) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- estadomayor.mx/78220 (Presidency event coverage); spanish.people.com.cn Xinhua wire 2017-11-06; milenio.com video report 2017-11-06; eluniversal.com.mx English pre-sinking report
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- End-of-life record for this hull: on 6 November 2017 the former USS Hurst (DE-250) - ARM Comodoro Manuel Azueta (D-111) - was scuttled as an artificial reef at the Rizo reef zone off Anton Lizardo, Veracruz, inside the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano, in a ceremony headed by President Enrique Pena Nieto. Mexican federal/CONANP statements record that the ship had all material removed that could contaminate the marine environment or endanger divers (SEMARNAT reef-sinking guidelines); the ship served Mexico ~42 years as school ship, flagship, and patrol vessel. Pre-sinking photos in November 2017 place her docked at Cozumel for reefing preparation (NavSource contributor caption).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2015-2017
- Population
- SEMAR reef-preparation crews 2017; subsequent recreational divers
- Limitations
- Decontamination is documented generically ('material that could contaminate the environment or endanger diving') - not itemized for asbestos; whether asbestos-containing material remained aboard at transfer, was removed during Mexican refits, or was removed in 2017 prep is unrecorded in public sources. Some dive-trade sources date the sinking 'November 2018' erroneously (it was 6 Nov 2017). No U.S. asbestos documentation attaches to the Mexican disposal.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-06
-
[8]Class/era inference - BuShips SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row (no boilers; F.M. diesel) + GAO HRD-80-2 era context + Atlas class-pattern precedent for diesel-powered escorts [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 group-4 row (machinery, 'None' in boiler columns); cf. cannon-class profile ev-cannon-class-03 and uss-edsall-de129 ev-06 (same diesel-DE application set)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: an Edsall-class (FMR) destroyer escort built 1943 would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-powered escort - exhaust-system insulation and lagging, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings on winches and windlass, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Because the FMR plant has no boilers or steam lines (SDB 1945 design-group-4 machinery row), the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply to this design.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1942-2017
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; Coast Guard crew 1943-46; reserve-fleet maintenance 1946-73; SEMAR crew and refit workers 1973-2015
- Limitations
- Class/era and design inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No insulation schedule or material list for DE-250 was located; this establishes era-consistent expectation for the type, not that any specific material went aboard this hull. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. Builder yard (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Tex.) is not in the Atlas shipyards dataset - no yard-level asbestos documentation is attached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-07
-
[9]Keri Heath, 'World War II-era vessels in Galveston to undergo asbestos abatement', Galveston Daily News, 27 July 2020 (re-verified live HTTP 200 this session) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- galvnews.com article_c2c77857, 27 Jul 2020
- Finding type
- abatement_record
- Finding
- Documented asbestos aboard a preserved Edsall-class sister hull built by the same yard: the Galveston Daily News reported asbestos in public areas of USS Stewart (DE-238) and USS Cavalla (SS-244) at Seawolf Park, with contractor Separation Systems Consultants approved to proceed with abatement; the Galveston Park Board cited U.S. Navy inspection recommendations that an asbestos survey be conducted. USS Stewart (DE-238) is a Brown Shipbuilding-built Edsall-class hull - the same builder and class as DE-250 - making this class-level corroboration that Brown-built Edsall construction carried asbestos-containing material.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2020
- Population
- Museum staff/volunteers and Seawolf Park visitors; abatement crews
- Limitations
- Evidence about a sister hull (DE-238), NOT this hull: Stewart survives as a museum ship while DE-250 had a 42-year Mexican-service career and was scuttled in 2017. Documents asbestos aboard one Edsall-class ship as preserved; establishes nothing about DE-250's materials, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-08
-
[10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's extensive shipboard asbestos insulation use with substitution not beginning until the early 1970s - DE-250 (built 1943) falls inside the documented asbestos-use era for Navy ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers
- Limitations
- Program-level era context only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); content via product-page description. Says nothing about this specific hull or any diesel-escort application specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-09
-
[11]Batch-4171 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource archive page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 (OCR); USCG Historian index + LoC VHP; Mexican federal/press disposal coverage; GAO product page; NARA digitized deck-log inventory; general web sweep; CourtListener sweeps pending - see sl-04 through sl-07 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hurst-de250-01 through sl-uss-hurst-de250-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-250: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or museum documentation exists for this hull - it spent 27 years in U.S. reserve fleets, 42 years in Mexican service, and was scuttled as an artificial reef in 2017 after generic decontamination. The only 'asbestos' hits naming USS Hurst (DE-250) in general web search are law-firm marketing listicles that enumerate every WWII hull - non-authoritative and excluded by batch rules. NOTE: the CourtListener name/hull-number litigation sweep could not be completed this session (fleet-shared quota exhausted on all attempts) and is logged as pending in the search ledger - the litigation column is 'not yet swept', not 'swept clean'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located record is not proof of absence aboard - 1943 escort construction falls inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era, and same-yard sister-hull DE-238 carried documented asbestos. Deck logs (RG 24) and BuShips construction records (RG 19, incl. any General Information Book) at NARA are unsurveyed leads; SEMAR/SEMARNAT Mexican-service records are unsurveyed. The pending CourtListener sweep means asbestos litigation naming this hull may exist outside the sources checked. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present aboard; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hurst-de250-10