Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet ko-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS La Prade · Hull: DE-409 · Designation: destroyer escort · Class: John C. Butler
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-la-prade-de409-pkt-ko-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, La Prade (DE-409) (builder, dates, namesake, service narrative, awards; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404 under both URL patterns tried) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, spec block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 18 November 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 31 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. J. T. La Prade (mother of the namesake, 1st Lt. Robert M. La Prade, USMCR, Navy Cross, died of wounds from the Guadalcanal action of 20 January 1943); commissioned 20 April 1944, Lt. Comdr. C. M. Fellows in command. Shakedown off Bermuda; departed Norfolk 27 June 1944 for the Pacific, arriving Pearl Harbor 25 July; ASW, screening, and escort operations out of Pearl Harbor; departed 8 September for Eniwetok; operated out of Eniwetok and Ulithi, sailing with a Hunter-Killer task group during the Palau Islands invasion; returned to Eniwetok 9 October. On 12 November, while escorting damaged Canberra (CA-70) to Manus, detached to aid a distressed PBM seaplane - salvaged portable equipment and stood guard until Onslow (AVP-48) arrived to direct rescue. November 1944 to March 1945: convoys to Leyte, Manus, and Ulithi; joined Casco in a joint attack on a Japanese midget submarine in the entrance to Kossal Roads Harbor, Palau Islands. Departed Ulithi 30 March for Okinawa to join the screen for oilers replenishing Mitscher's fast carrier task force; supported the campaign until Okinawa secured 26 June; escort and patrol operations to war's end; joined Japan occupation forces at Sasebo 23 September. Returned to Okinawa 10 October, headed home 14 October, arrived San Diego 5 November; decommissioned 11 May 1946 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet - entry ends 'At present she is berthed at Stockton, Calif.' One battle star for World War II. Spec block: dp 1,350; l. 306'; b. 36'8"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; a. 2 5", 4 40mm., 10 20mm., 3 21" tt., 9 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. John C. Butler.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; wartime crew (design complement 186)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. Entry predates the 1972 striking and 1973 scrapping sale ('At present she is berthed at Stockton, Calif.'). Transcription cited because live NHHC DANFS pages 404. Transcription contains typos: 'March 1045' for March 1945; 'Kossal Roads' spelling vs 'Kossol Roads' in the ship's own war record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-01
-
[3]USS La Prade (DE-409) war record letter, serial DE409/A12-1, 3 October 1945 (NavSource-hosted scan of the ship's official submission to SecNav) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Single-page letter scan 06409wh.jpg, paragraphs 1-4
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own war record (primary source): CONFIDENTIAL letter, serial DE409/A12-1, Fleet Post Office San Francisco, dated 3 October 1945, from the Commanding Officer (John V. Cameron) to the Secretary of the Navy, 'U.S.S. LA PRADE (DE 409) - War Record of,' submitted per ALPAC 202 of 15 September 1945. Documents details not in the DANFS narrative: commissioned 20 April 1944 at Houston; shakedown at Bermuda, thence to BOSTON NAVY YARD for post-shakedown availability; thence to Pearl Harbor via San Diego, reporting to ComDesPac 25 July; escorted COWPENS (CVL 25) to Eniwetok 9 August; assigned to CTF 57 forward-area patrol/escort; 26 September 1944 assigned TU 30.8.10 escort to Kossol Roads, then TU 30.9.2 Hunter-Killer operation east of Babelthuap Island during the Peleliu/Angaur invasion; secured 3 October; 12 November detached from Canberra (CA 70) escort to rescue downed PBM - 'rescuing entire crew and salvaging all portable equipment,' relieved by ONSLOW (AVP 48); 10 December reported CTG 94.6 at Kossol Roads; 10 December-6 March convoy escort to Leyte/Manus/Ulithi plus air-sea rescue duty, patrolling east entrance to Kossol Roads; 6 March reported ComCortDiv 65 at Ulithi for availability; 12 March reported ComFifthFleet for TG 50.8, operating with the Logistics Group supporting the Okinawa campaign until 26 June, then CTF 31; 3 July reported CTG 99.1 at Okinawa for screen and covering force, Ryukyus Area, until war's end; 9 September reported CTF 55 for Fifth Fleet occupation duty, escorted an AV to Sasebo, remained in covering force at Sasebo to date of report. BuShips S-6 Files received stamp 18 October 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1944-04-20 to 1945-10-03 (report date)
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-45
- Limitations
- Ship-generated operational record at primary-source level - confirms the hull's assignments, the Boston Navy Yard post-shakedown availability (a documented yard period on this hull), and the 12 November Canberra/PBM date consistent with DANFS. Contains no materials or asbestos content. Scan is a legible image of the typed confidential letter; hosting is NavSource, the document itself is a SecNav submission received by BuShips S-6 Files.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-02
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[4]NavSource Online DE-409 'Building and Operational Data' block (decommissioned/mileage/inactivation/stricken/sold lines, transcribing NVR and Navy operational records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-409 page, 'Building and Operational Data' block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Disposal and inactivation record: decommissioned at San Diego 11 May 1946 after 2 years and 1 month of service having steamed 110,403 miles; inactivation completed at San Diego 19 July 1946, assigned to Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the Naval Vessel Register 15 January 1972; sold for scrapping 15 January 1973 (NavSource building/operational-data block).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1946-1973
- Population
- Reserve-fleet/inactive-ships custody personnel 1946-1972; shipbreaking workers 1973
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic/historical archive - the stricken (1972-01-15) and sold-for-scrapping (1973-01-15) dates are concordant across secondary compilations (Wikipedia, NavalCoverMuseum) but are not verified against an official disposition document: live NVR excludes pre-1987 disposals and the DANFS text predates them. Scrapping buyer, yard, and any pre-sale stripping/abatement are undocumented; a 1973 scrapping sale predates hazmat-review regimes, so no abatement record is expected to exist.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-03
-
[5]BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 1 design-group-6 row (shipscribe scan) + NavSource machinery line; insulation-spec suite identified via Jack v. Borg-Warner exhibit list (class-profile archival lead ev-john-c-butler-class-04); Boston Navy Yard availability per ship's war record ev-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 (design group 6); Jack v. Borg-Warner ECF 738 att. 1 exhibit-list items Honeywell-160 through -167; war record letter para. 1
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: DE-409 is a BuShips design-group-6 (WGT) destroyer escort built November 1943-April 1944 with 2 superheated 'D' express boilers and Westinghouse geared turbines (12,000 shp) - inside the peak naval asbestos era, when the documented insulation suite (BuShips Manual ch.39 'Thermal Insulation' NAVSHIPS 250-000(39) 1945; Navy Dept spec 32F3a 'Felt, Insulating, Asbestos' Oct 1945; BuEng ch.13 heat-insulation instructions 1933/39) covered thermal pipe covering, block insulation, asbestos felt, lagging cloth/tape, millboard, finishing cement, gaskets and packing aboard steam-driven hulls. Builder Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston, Tex. - Greens Bayou yard, ~61 DEs among ~359 hulls) is not in the Atlas yard dataset, so no yard-level record attaches; the ship's war record documents a post-shakedown availability at Boston Navy Yard (Atlas yard 'boston-naval-shipyard'), a documented yard period during which era-standard insulation work could have been performed or disturbed - the availability's scope is not itemized in the letter.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943-44; Boston Navy Yard availability workers 1944; crew 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Class/era and specification inference only - does NOT establish that any asbestos-containing material was installed aboard this hull, and establishes no quantity and no individual exposure. The controlling spec suite is identified from a sister-hull litigation exhibit list; the spec documents themselves were not retrieved this session. The Boston availability documents a yard period, not the materials handled in it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-04
-
[6]Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537 - pretrial order materials and exhibit list, ECF 738 att. 1 (verified in class-profile record john-c-butler-class, 2026-09-16) [court_record]
- Locator
- ECF 738.1 pp. 12, 26-27 + exhibit list
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Class-level litigation context: pretrial materials in Jack v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC (W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00537) name USS Brannon (DE-446), a John C. Butler-class sister of this hull, and recite the plaintiff's theory that a Griscom-Russell evaporator was supplied to Navy specification 'without insulation' and that asbestos was 'a critical material' when the Navy insulated it aboard - while the same materials concede the insulation 'could have included fiberglass, mineral wool or other non-asbestos insulation.' The exhibit list identifies the era's controlling Navy insulation documents as evidence in that case.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- WWII/postwar service era; litigation 2017-2019
- Population
- Machinist's mate aboard USS Brannon (DE-446)
- Limitations
- Names sister hull DE-446, NOT this hull - included to document the class's known litigation posture and the insulation-spec theory; it is a pleading/exhibit-list-level recital, not an adjudicated finding, and transfers nothing ship-specific to DE-409.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-05
-
[7]Batch-4309 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS probes; ibiblio DANFS transcription; ship's war record scan (NavSource); NavSource operational data; shipyards.json yard-dataset check; class profile (class-f/john-c-butler-class.class.json); CourtListener API v4 + RECAP (completed); law-firm listicle sweep (excluded) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-la-prade-de409-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-409: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, materials inventory, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming THIS hull was found in the sources searched. CourtListener API v4 sweep completed 2026-09-28 (authenticated): 'USS La Prade' returned zero opinions and zero RECAP dockets; 'La Prade' (1547 hits), 'LaPrade' (1192 hits), 'DE 409' and 'DE-409' (14 hits each) returned only surname and statute-citation collisions - no case naming the ship or involving asbestos. 'USS La Prade (DE-409) asbestos' content circulates on mesothelioma law-firm/lead-gen ship lists (mesotheliomahelp.org, shepardlawfirm.com, freeasbestostesting.com, mesotheliomabook.com) - excluded per source rules; none cites underlying documentation.
- 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 or of filings - state-court and non-digitized records are not covered, and CourtListener coverage is the opinion + RECAP docket indexes only (no PACER state-court mirror). The full name/hull-number query set completed on 2026-09-28. Law-firm ship lists repeat the hull name without documentation and were not usable as evidence. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-la-prade-de409-06
