Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet ez-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Hutchins | hull: DD-476 | designation: destroyer (DD) | class: Fletcher
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-hutchins-dd476-pkt-ez-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Hutchins (DD-476) (namesake, specifications, builder, service narrative, battle damage, decommissioning, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: Fletcher-class destroyer (dp. 2,050; l. 376'6"; b. 39'8"; dr. 17'9"; s. 37 k.; cpl. 273; a. 5 5", 6 40mm., 10 20mm., 10 21" tt.); launched by Boston Navy Yard, Boston, 20 February 1942, sponsored by Mrs. C. B. Hutchins (widow of Lt. Carleton B. Hutchins, naval aviator and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient); commissioned 17 November 1942. Service: shakedown Casco Bay; Pacific fleet March 1943; Pearl Harbor armament alterations and June 1943 self-inflicted stack casualty (9 killed, 20 wounded) with CIC installation during repairs; Kiska occupation August 1943; New Guinea operations December 1943-July 1944 (Cape Gloucester, Saidor collision and Cairns bow repairs, Manus, Hollandia, Wakde-Sarmi, Biak, Noemfoor, Sansapor); Morotai September 1944; Leyte Gulf October 1944 and Surigao Strait torpedo attack as DesRon 24 flagship 25 October (spread credited with destroying IJN destroyer Michishio); grounding on uncharted hulk 26 October and San Francisco repairs arriving 25 November 1944; Iwo Jima carrier-screening February-March 1945; Okinawa from 1 April 1945; attacked by a Japanese suicide motorboat 27 April 1945 - explosive charge detonated close aboard, hull severely damaged, no casualties; temporary repairs Kerama Retto; Portland, Oregon 15 July 1945; still under repair at war's end; towed to Puget Sound 20 September 1945; decommissioned Bremerton 30 November 1945; sold for scrap January 1948 to Learner & Co., Oakland, Calif. Six battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1948
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; wartime crew (design complement 273)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service history, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. DANFS omits the laid-down and stricken dates (carried from NavSource compilation; see gaps). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-01
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[3]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index DD-476, USS Hutchins - Operational and Building Data block (compiled from standard Navy references) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DD-476 page, 'Operational and Building Data' block + machinery line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building data for this hull: laid down by Boston Navy Yard 27 September 1941; launched 20 February 1942; commissioned 17 November 1942; heavily damaged 27 April 1945 off Okinawa; decommissioned 30 November 1945; stricken 19 December 1945; sold 10 January 1948 to Lerner Co., Oakland, CA and broken up for scrap. Machinery line: 60,000 SHP, Allis-Chalmers turbines, 2 screws, 38 knots, range 6,500 NM at 15 knots, crew 273. Contributor caption notes Hutchins was one of six Fletchers intended to carry a floatplane catapult, apparently never installed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1948
- Population
- Construction trades 1941-42; crew 1942-45
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not a primary source - used to supply the laid-down and stricken dates DANFS omits. NavSource describes the 27 April 1945 damage as by 'Kamikaze Aircraft'; DANFS records a suicide motorboat explosive charge - the DANFS account is carried and the conflict logged in gaps. Buyer spelled 'Lerner Co.' here vs 'Learner & Co.' in DANFS. Contributor captions are weaker than the data block.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-02
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[4]The National WWII Museum Digital Collections, oral history of Mark Brannon (assistant engineer, USS Hutchins DD-476, from pre-commissioning construction period through February 1945) [museum_official]
- Locator
- ww2online.org/view/mark-brannon - 'Commissioning the USS Hutchins (DD-476)', 'Escorting Tankers, Combat Upgrades and Accidental Discharge', 'Liberating Leyte', 'Assignment to the 8th Naval District' annotation sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-specific oral-history record: Ensign (later Lt.) Mark Brannon, USNR, reported to Boston Navy Yard and was assigned to USS Hutchins (DD-476) 'a new Fletcher Class destroyer still under construction'; he went aboard before the ship was seaworthy as one of three assistant engineers and recalled 'the standard complement on that type ship was 306.' His account covers pre-commissioning training, the Atlantic shakedown, escort duty, the CIC installation at Honolulu, the Surigao Strait action (ship expended nearly all ammunition; afterwards escorted damaged USS Santee and USS Sangamon toward Pearl Harbor), the San Francisco overhaul, the Iwo Jima rocket-ferry assignment, and his detachment at Ulithi - five days before the ship's suicide-boat damage. Narrative confirms the DANFS damage mechanism: 'a suicide boat had hit the Hutchins... the ship was disabled. It limped back to Seattle and wound up in the scrap pile.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1945 service; oral history recorded/annotated circa 2015
- Population
- Pre-commissioning crew and wartime complement (~273-306)
- Limitations
- Retrospective oral history (museum annotation, © 2015) - recollections decades after events; museum summary twice mistypes the hull as 'DD-746' (DD-476 correct). 'Seattle' recollection of the final repair port conflicts with DANFS's Portland, Oregon - DANFS carried. Complement '306' is Brannon's recollection of wartime staffing vs. the 273 DANFS design figure - both documented, not merged. Contains no asbestos or materials statements.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-03
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[5]DANFS specifications block (Fletcher class; 37 kt) + Fletcher class profile (fletcher-class.class.json: 4 B&W boilers, 60,000 shp) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record (tier 3; John Crane gasket/packing litigation record) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Fletcher-class destroyer built 1941-42 with a four-boiler steam plant would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing; builder Boston Navy Yard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3), including a Texas appellate record (In re John Crane, Inc., 2003) of a worker's allegation of exposure to John Crane gaskets and sealing materials at Boston Naval Shipyard; NARA RG19 'General Information Books' holding per-vessel material specifications are an archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard construction trades 1941-42; crew 1942-45
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The yard litigation record documents alleged yard-worker exposure, not materials installed aboard DD-476. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-04
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[6]GAO HRD-80-2, 'The Navy's Program to Control Asbestos Exposure on Ships' (product page; full text returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch) [gao]
- Locator
- gao.gov product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Program-level context only: the GAO's 1979 report on Navy shipboard asbestos describes a fleet-wide control program whose substitution effort did not begin until the early 1970s - decades after this hull was decommissioned (1945) and scrapped (1948). Establishes that DD-476's entire build/service life fell within the Navy's unrestricted-asbestos era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- report published 1979-10 (approx.); era coverage WWII-1979
- Population
- U.S. Navy fleet, program-level
- Limitations
- Program-level record; contains no hull-specific data. Full text unreachable (GAO returns 403); summary characterization rests on the GAO product description and the same treatment in batch-01 records. Does not establish asbestos presence aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-05
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[7]Batch-3459 search ledger (this record): DANFS transcription; NavSource DD-476 data; National WWII Museum oral history (Brannon); BuShips War Damage Report index and WDR No. 51 full text; Atlas shipyard dataset; web sweep for hull-specific asbestos records [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-hutchins-dd476-01 through sl-uss-hutchins-dd476-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-476: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (the hull was scrapped in 1948 - no museum or reserve-fleet phase exists), no published government survey naming this hull, and web-indexed asbestos mentions exist only on law-firm marketing pages (excluded by batch rules). The National WWII Museum oral history of a Hutchins assistant engineer (Brannon) contains no asbestos or materials statements. DD-476 is not treated as a detailed case in the published BuShips Destroyer War Damage Report No. 51. Ship-specific documentation of materials aboard remains unlocated.
- 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 - era practice makes ACM likely at class level, but nothing ship-specific documents it. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-06
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[8]CourtListener API v4 litigation sweep: "USS Hutchins" opinions (0 results); "DD-476" opinions (0 results); "USS Hutchins" RECAP dockets (0 results); "DD-476" RECAP dockets (2 results - both name collisions) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search endpoint
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep complete: NO qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion index: zero hits for "USS Hutchins" and for "DD-476". Docket index: zero hits for "USS Hutchins"; two hits for "DD-476", both name collisions - Andrews v. D'Souza, No. 1:22-cv-04259 (N.D. Ga., 42:1985 civil-rights conspiracy, 2022-2026; 'DD-476' is an internal document/exhibit reference, not the vessel) and In re Arch Coal Inc., No. 16-40120 (Bankr. E.D. Mo. 2016; 'DD-476' is a claim/document reference in a coal bankruptcy, not the vessel). Separately, web-indexed search surfaces Hutchins v. ANCO Insulations (E.D. La. No. 19-11326), an asbestos case whose title is a surname collision - decedent Raymond Hutchins Jr. was allegedly exposed aboard Lykes Bros. merchant vessels, not USS Hutchins.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Search coverage is the CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket indexes for the two canonical queries; docket-text matches can lag filings, and state-court/trial-level records are largely outside the index. The surname 'Hutchins' collides with plaintiff names in asbestos dockets (e.g., Hutchins v. ANCO Insulations) - none named the vessel. Zero qualifying hits means no located case names this hull; it does not prove no claim was ever asserted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-hutchins-dd476-07