Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, Johnnie Hutchins (DE-360), Vol. 3 pp. 554-555 (namesake, specifications, builder, service narrative, Navy Unit Commendation, striking/disposal per Bauer & Roberts bracketed note; live NHHC page 404 - verified against Wayback capture 2024-09-05 and verbatim losthistory.net/hazegray transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative; Wayback capture web.archive.org/web/20240905211612; mirror https://losthistory.net/hazegray/danfs/escorts/de360.txt
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: John C. Butler-class destroyer escort (dp. 1,350 t.; l. 306'; b. 36'8"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; a. 2 5", 4 40mm., 10 20mm., 3 21" tt., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 hedgehog); laid down 6 March 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; launched 2 May 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Johnnie M. Hutchins, mother of Seaman First Class Johnnie David Hutchins, USNR (posthumous Medal of Honor, LST-473, Lae assault 4 September 1943); commissioned 28 August 1944, Comdr. H. M. Godsey in command. Service: Bermuda shakedown from 11 September 1944; rescued 34 officers and men of destroyer Warrington (DD-383), sunk in a hurricane; Boston arrival 2 October 1944 for coastal convoy duties; departed Norfolk for the Pacific 30 November 1944 via Panama Canal, Bora Bora, Manus; Hollandia 21 January 1945; first Pacific escort to Leyte Gulf 31 January; resupply/reinforcement convoy escort to Lingayen and Leyte; Subic Bay hunter-killer group from 22 May 1945; 9 August 1945 action in shipping lanes between Luzon and Okinawa - sank a surfaced Japanese midget submarine by gunfire, evaded a torpedo and sank a second with depth charges, probably damaged a third; Navy Unit Commendation. Postwar: two months escorting through swept channels and air-sea rescue off Okinawa; steamed off Japan and Korea; Shanghai early October for duty supporting U.S. Marines; escorted vessels to and from occupied ports until departing the Yangtze River 22 November 1945; San Pedro 15 December 1945; decommissioned San Diego 14 May 1946; Naval Reserve training cruises to Hawaii summers 1948 and 1949; 1950 transit to Boston as NRT ship, 1st Naval District; 'in reserve' 23 June 1950; in commission 22 November 1950, Lt. Comdr. B. H. Patek; training cruises Montreal, Quebec, Caribbean; Europe voyage June-July 1955; decommissioned Bayonne, N.J. 25 February 1958; Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthed Philadelphia; bracketed note: stricken 1 July 1972, sold 5 February 1974 (Bauer & Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy 1775-1990, p.236).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1944; wartime and reserve-training crews (design complement 186 per DANFS)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service history, and disposal - not materials or asbestos content. Boston arrival date (2 October 1944) conflicts with the ship's submitted war history (Charlestown Navy Yard 25 October 1944) - carried in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404; text verified against the 2024-09-05 Wayback capture and the verbatim hazegray-lineage transcription.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-01
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[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Escort Photo Index DE-360, USS Johnnie Hutchins - specifications block, Building and Operational Data, awards bar, photo captions (compiled from standard Navy references) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-360 page, 'Specifications' + 'Building and Operational Data' blocks; photo captions (0636007, 0636008); commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource operational/building data for this hull: keel laid by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex. 6 March 1944; launched/christened 2 May 1944 (sponsor Mrs. Johnnie M. Hutchins); commissioned 28 August 1944, Comdr. H. M. Godsey; decommissioned San Diego 14 May 1946 after 1 year 8.5 months; summer reserve cruises to Hawaii 1948 and 1949 while decommissioned; placed 'in commission, in reserve' 23 June 1950 assigned NRT 1st Naval District Boston; recommissioned 22 November 1950, Lcdr. B. H. Patek; decommissioned Bayonne, N.J. 25 February 1958 after 7 years 3 months; struck from the NVR 1 July 1972 with 8 years 11.5 months total service; sold for scrapping 5 February 1974. Specifications: class John C. Butler; type WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5-inch guns); 1,350 t light / 1,745 t full; 300' wl / 306' oa; beam 36'10" extreme; draft 11' limit; 2 'D' Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws; 24 kts; 6,000 nm at 12 kt; complement 14/201; flag hoist NHTR; tactical voice call 'Smoky Hill'. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), Navy Unit Commendation, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific w/ 1 star, WWII Victory, National Defense Service Medal. Photo captions: 1952 docking at Boston Navy Yard (John Leslie Collection, Boston Public Library); November 1971 in mothballs at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia; launch photo is U.S. Navy Photo 80-G-268366 (NARA). Commanding-officer list includes Lt.(jg) Alfred G. Obern, USNR (decommissioning CO 24 Apr-14 May 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Construction trades 1944; crew 1944-46, 1950-58; reserve trainees
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not a primary source - the data block is consistent with DANFS/Bauer & Roberts dates. Complement 14 officers/201 enlisted conflicts with DANFS 186 and the class-profile BuShips figure (15/207) - carried in gaps. Contributor captions are weaker than the data block but the 1971 Philadelphia ISMF and 1952 Boston Navy Yard captions corroborate the yard associations used in related_shipyards.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-02
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[3]USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE-360), Ship's History - Submission of (letter file DE360(WGT)/A12-1, serial 182, to Secretary of the Navy per AlPac 61F950/318; received-stamp Office of Public Relations 20 Dec 1945; signed H. M. Godsey) - official ship-submitted war history, scanned image hosted by NavSource [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-360 page, 'War History' image 06360wh.jpg - 3-page enclosure, cover letter + pp. (1)-(3)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own submitted war history (signed by CO Hugh M. Godsey, 'Lieutenant Commander... of Baltimore, Maryland, who remained in command of her throughout the war and until reporting to the [19th] fleet to be put in an inactive status'): commissioned at Orange, Texas 28 August 1944; sailed for Bermuda shakedown 11 September 1944; five days out rescued 34 survivors of destroyer Warrington foundered in a hurricane, landed them at Norfolk; underway again 22 September, Bermuda two days later; shakedown included inconclusive attacks on an underwater contact believed an enemy submarine; arrived Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston 25 October 1944 for a two-week post-shakedown overhaul; November at Convoy Escort Pier Norfolk on Atlantic escort duty and as school ship; departed Norfolk 1350 on 30 November 1944, Panama Canal 7 December, via Galapagos, Bora Bora, Purvis Bay, Manus to Hollandia; first equator and 180th-meridian crossings (shellback initiations); sailed Hollandia 26 January 1945 on first Pacific convoy escort, arrived San Pedro Bay Leyte five days later; 3.5 months of convoy escort (two Leyte-Hollandia round trips, two Leyte-Lingayen, one Leyte-Kossol Roads, one Leyte-Manila); underwater-contact attacks night of 27 February 1945 and 18 May 1945; reported to Subic Bay hunter-killer group 22 May 1945, training with U.S. and British submarines through 7 August. 9 August 1945: rendezvous with the hunter-killer group in the shipping lanes between Okinawa and northern Luzon 'where DE UNDERHILL and Cruiser INDIANAPOLIS had been lost'; in 'probably the last surface naval engagement of the war' sank three midget submarines in a two-hour battle (gunfire on the first, depth charges on the second, attack on a third) - 'subsequent evaluation... indicated two submarines probably sunk and one possibly sunk.' Detached to Subic 20 August, then Okinawa; rode out a typhoon at sea 16-18 September; from 21 September escorted vessels through swept mine lanes and air-sea rescue, destroying nine floating mines on Yellow Sea trips; early October moored in the Hwangpoo River off the French Bund, Shanghai (ComFleetAirWing One); escorted a seaplane tender to Tsingtao; departed Yangtze anchorage off Woosung 22 November 1945 for Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, San Diego - assignment to the 19th Fleet, Pacific Fleet inactive reserve.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-45 (author: CO H. M. Godsey)
- Limitations
- Ship-authored primary document (CO-signed submission), but written as a morale/public-information narrative - e.g., it claims three midget submarines sunk in the 9 August action while its own post-action evaluation reads two probably sunk and one possibly sunk, and DANFS reads two sunk + one probably damaged (carried in gaps). Boston/Charlestown arrival 25 October 1944 conflicts with DANFS 'arrived Boston 2 October 1944' (carried in gaps). Contains no asbestos or materials statements. NavSource hosts the scan; the original is a Navy record (NARA archival lead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-03
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[4]DANFS specifications block (John C. Butler class; WGT plant) + NavSource specifications ('D' Express boilers, 12,000 shp geared turbines) + John C. Butler class profile (BuShips design group 6; Combustion Engineering boilers per navypedia block map for DE339-372; Navy insulation-spec suite identified via Jack v. Borg-Warner exhibit list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS specifications block; NavSource specifications block; john-c-butler-class.class.json (class profile, batch class-F, 2026-09-16)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort built in 1944 with a WGT geared-turbine steam plant (2 'D' express boilers - Combustion Engineering per the class block map for hulls DE339-372, which includes DE-360; 2 Westinghouse geared turbines; 12,000 shp) would have carried period-standard asbestos insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. The class profile documents the era's controlling Navy insulation specifications as unretrieved archival leads (BuShips Manual ch. 39, Thermal Insulation, NAVSHIPS 250-000(39), 24 Aug 1945; Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos,' 15 Oct 1945) identified via the Jack v. Borg-Warner (DE-446 Brannon) exhibit list; that litigation record is the class's only located ship-level file and does not name this hull. Builder Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas is not in the Atlas shipyards dataset - no yard-level asbestos record exists to contextualize the build.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1944; crews 1944-46, 1950-58
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The boiler-manufacturer attribution is navypedia's secondary block map, unverified against contract documents. No ship-specific material schedule, survey, or allegation was located for DE-360. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-04
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[5]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level context only: the GAO's 1979 report describes a Navy asbestos-control program under which standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or needed for repairs, and fleet-wide substitution effort did not begin until the early 1970s - i.e., DE-360's entire service life (1944-46, 1950-58), reserve-fleet lay-up (1958-72), and sale for scrap (1974) preceded or coincided with the Navy's unrestricted-asbestos era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1979 (report); applies to era 1944-1974
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; fleet asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level record; contains no hull-specific data. Full text unreachable (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches); summary characterization rests on the GAO product description and the same treatment in batch-01 and batch-3459 records. Does not establish asbestos presence aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-05
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[6]Batch-4265 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (Wayback + hazegray-lineage mirror); ship-submitted war history via NavSource; NavSource building/operational data; NVR ship-details endpoint; NARA catalog; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-01 through sl-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-360: no hull ACM survey, no abatement or hazmat disclosure (the hull was scrapped in 1974 - no museum 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 Naval Vessel Register holds no record (pre-1987 disposal is outside NVR coverage). No qualifying litigation names this hull (see ev-07 and search_ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- 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-johnnie-hutchins-de360-06
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[7]CourtListener API v4 search, 2026-09-28 (authenticated helper cl-auth-search.py): "USS Johnnie Hutchins" type=o 0; "Johnnie Hutchins" type=o 0; "DE-360" type=o 24 collisions; "USS Johnnie Hutchins" type=r 0; "Johnnie Hutchins" type=r 0; "DE-360" type=r 200 docket collisions [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4, opinion and RECAP docket indexes
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep complete: NO qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull. Opinion index: zero hits for "USS Johnnie Hutchins" and for "Johnnie Hutchins"; 24 hits for "DE-360" are all identifier collisions (Puerto Rico appellate opinions, reporter star-pagination strings such as '*360', and document references) - none references the vessel or asbestos. Docket index: zero hits for "USS Johnnie Hutchins" and "Johnnie Hutchins"; 200 docket hits for "DE-360" are PACER docket-entry-number references ('DE #360' / 'de#360' = docket entry 360) in unrelated criminal, contract, patent, and civil-rights cases - sampled first-page results 20/20 collisions, no vessel or asbestos content.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Search coverage is the CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket indexes for exact-name and hull-number 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 (Hutchins v. ANCO Insulations, E.D. La. No. 19-11326 - decedent Raymond Hutchins Jr., Lykes Bros. merchant vessels) - a name collision, not a vessel reference (same classification as batch-3459's DD-476 sweep).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-johnnie-hutchins-de360-07
