Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet kk-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Mills; hull DE-383 (later DER-383); destroyer escort,
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-mills-de383-pkt-kk-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Mills (DE-383) (namesake, builder, dates, WWII convoy service, DER conversion and picket duty, Deep Freeze, NRT duty, striking and sale; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + service narrative (ibiblio HyperWar transcription of DANFS vol. 4)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: namesake Ensign Lloyd Jones Mills, USNR, DFC (posthumous), killed 30 July 1942 Aleutians plane crash. Laid down 26 March 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; launched 26 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. James E. Mills; commissioned 12 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. J.S. Muzzy, USCG, in command. Shakedown Bermuda; trained nucleus crews off Norfolk to 10 Jan 1944; transatlantic convoy escort - 1 April 1944 convoy attacked 56 mi west of Algiers by German torpedo bombers, SS Jared Ingersoll torpedoed and set blazing, Mills picked up survivors, boarding party extinguished fires, towed Ingersoll to Algiers with British tug Mindfull; nine escort voyages to Mediterranean/Ireland/UK/France by V-E Day (moored Brooklyn Navy Yard); Pacific via Panama to Adak 8 Jul 1945 (weather station, plane guard, escort); occupation duty Ominato Ko, Honshu, arrived 9 Sep 1945; operated out of Taku and Tuinton, China to 11 Feb 1946; decommissioned Green Cove Springs 14 June 1946. Reclassified DER-383; after radar/electronics installation and enlarged superstructure at Boston Naval Shipyard, recommissioned 3 October 1957; radar picket, North American Continental Air Defense System - 17 pickets of 3-4 weeks on Newfoundland-Azores barrier from 3 Apr 1958 through 28 Jul 1961 plus one off the southeast U.S. coast; Greenland-Iceland-UK Barrier 28 Aug 1961-end 1963. Operation Deep Freeze austral summers 1964-65 and 1966-67 (weather/electronic navigation aid Christchurch NZ-McMurdo; 11,000-mile deployments via Panama to Dunedin, round-the-world return via Suez); underway schoolship off Florida 1965; operational Naval Reserve training ship at Baltimore, Md. from 3 September 1968. [Struck from the Navy list 1 August 1974; sold 12 March 1975.] One battle star, WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned wartime crew (design complement 186); USN DER crew 1957-68; NRT staff/trainees 1968-70
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. DANFS compresses the 1968-70 reserve-training period (reads '3 September 1968' and omits the 27 Oct 1970 final decommissioning; NavSource operational chronology supplies those dates - carried with conflict noted in gaps). DANFS prints 'Jarard Ingersoll' (actual Liberty ship SS Jared Ingersoll) and 'Tuinton, China' (probable OCR/transcription artifact). Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-01
-
[3]Ship-submitted war history, USS Mills (DE-383): Navy Department letter, U.S.S. Mills (DE-383), Serial No. 1164, 22 October 1945, Commanding Officer to Secretary of the Navy - 'Chronological history of the USS MILLS (DE-383)' (scan hosted by NavSource) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource image 06383wh.jpg (Navy Dept. serial 1164, 22 Oct 1945), 3-page scan
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Primary-source operational record written by the ship itself: built by Brown Shipbuilding Co. at Houston - keel laid 26 March 1943, launched 26 May 1943, commissioned 12 October 1943 alongside the Tennessee Coal and Iron dock at Houston, Lt. Comdr. J.S. Muzzy, USCG first skipper; sailed for New Orleans 13 October (Algiers Naval Station 29 Oct); shakedown Bermuda in company with USS Sellstrom (DE-255); returned to Charleston Navy Yard 30 November 1943; departed Charleston 15 December for Norfolk duty with CortDiv 23; convoy UGS-34 to Bizerte via Casablanca with USS Thomas (DE-102), USS Bostwick (DE-103), USS Bronstein (DE-189); seven-day availability at Brooklyn Navy Yard March 1944 then convoy attacked 1 April 1944 - SS Jared Ingersoll torpedoed, survivors hoisted aboard, boarding party led by the executive officer extinguished the fires, Mills towed Ingersoll to beaching at Algiers Harbor; return convoy GUS-36 reaching Brooklyn Navy Yard 2 May; further UGS/GUS convoy cycles (Londonderry, Liverpool, Plymouth, Southampton legs) through spring 1945; repairs at South Boston Navy Yard 3-4 August 1944 during Casco Bay training; departed New York 30 May 1945 for Guantanamo Bay and the Panama Canal (Coco Solo 17 June; canal transit 18-19 June), then San Pedro, San Francisco (Treasure Island), Adak (arrived 9 July), weather patrol and plane guard between Attu and Adak; departed Adak 28 August for Japan occupation duty, anchored Mutsu Bay area and Ominato Harbor September 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- USCG-manned wartime crew (complement ~186); navy-yard availability workers Charleston/Brooklyn/South Boston 1943-45
- Limitations
- Scan of the ship's own 1945 chronological history - primary for operations and yard availabilities, but it says nothing about construction materials or asbestos. Yard availabilities named (Charleston Navy Yard, Brooklyn Navy Yard, South Boston Navy Yard) are operational facts; any asbestos-disturbance inference from them is era inference, not a documented finding. Low-resolution scan partially legible; convoy designations transcribed conservatively.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-02
-
[4]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Mills (DE-383) - specifications block, building/operational chronology, photo captions (secondary compilation; links NHHC DANFS entry and official war history scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/383.htm - 'Building and Operational Data' block, specifications block, photo caption sequence
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary-compilation operational chronology supplementing DANFS: reclassified DER-383 on 1 November 1956 while in reserve, conversion commenced at Boston Naval Shipyard; recommissioned 3 October 1957, Escort Squadron 16, Newport, R.I.; administrative control shifted at Key West 1 September 1968 to Commander, Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34; decommissioned and placed 'in service' at Norfolk 26 September 1968 as NRT ship, Washington Naval District at Baltimore; arrived Baltimore 20 October 1968, NRT ship at Fort McHenry (ResDesDiv 342); decommissioned at U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center, Fort McHenry 27 October 1970; struck from the NVR 1 August 1974; sold for scrapping 12 March 1975. Photo captions document: Boston Naval Shipyard August 1960; drydocked James S. Munro Shipyard, Chelsea, Mass. 9-24 January 1964 then Bromfield Corp. Shipyard, East Boston for repairs, sea trials Boston Harbor 30 March 1964; decommissioned hull in Philadelphia reserve fleet winter 1972-October 1973. Specifications: Edsall class, FMR type (Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines, 6,000 shp, 2 screws), 21 kt, complement 8 officers/201 enlisted.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1956-1975
- Population
- USN DER crew 1957-68; shipyard workers Boston NSY 1956-57 and 1960, Munro/Bromfield 1964; NRT staff/trainees Baltimore 1968-70
- Limitations
- NavSource is a secondary compilation, not an official source - used here to resolve the post-1968 timeline DANFS compresses and to document yard periods; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. The 1968/1970 dates and the 1964 Munro/Bromfield repair period rest on this compilation plus its reproduced photo captions; not independently confirmed against official records. The spec line's '4 diesel-generators' item coexists with the class's documented FMR reduction-geared (not diesel-electric) drive - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-03
-
[5]Edsall-class design data (FMR geared-diesel type distinction vs. Cannon DET class; two builders: Consolidated Steel, Orange TX (47) and Brown Shipbuilding, Houston (38); 85 completed) + Atlas shipyard dataset, Boston Naval Shipyard record (tier-3 asbestos-era yard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Edsall-class design overview (FMR/DET distinction); shipyards.json record 'boston-naval-shipyard' (tier 3)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: an Edsall-class destroyer escort built 1943 with a Fairbanks-Morse reduction-geared diesel plant (the 'FMR' type - submarine-type engines, geared drive substituted for the Cannon class's diesel-electric plant) would have carried era-standard asbestos applications appropriate to a diesel-driven ship - exhaust insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, brake linings, and deck coverings - but no boilers or steam-line lagging; conversion yard Boston Naval Shipyard is documented at yard level in the Atlas dataset (tier 3), and documented yard periods for this hull (Boston NSY conversion 1956-57, presence Aug 1960; Munro/Bromfield repairs Jan-Mar 1964) fall in the asbestos era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1970
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; USCG-manned crew 1943-46; USN crew 1957-68; yard workers at conversion/repair periods
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. The geared-diesel plant means the largest asbestos categories of steam ships (boiler and steam-line insulation) do not apply; does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure. No asbestos scope is documented for the 1956-57 conversion or any repair period. Builder Brown Shipbuilding is absent from the Atlas yard dataset - yard-level asbestos documentation for the construction period could not be checked there.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-04
-
[6]U.S. Coast Guard (MyCG) feature on Lt. Bobby Wilks, USCG aviator - HU-16E open-sea landing and medical evacuation from USS Mills near Cay Sal Bank, summer 1963 [other_primary]
- Locator
- MyCG News article (mycg.uscg.mil), paragraphs on the Mills medevac
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official USCG publication documents this hull on operational picket duty in summer 1963 (GIUK/barrier era): a Mills crewman required air evacuation near Cay Sal Bank; Lt. Wilks landed an HU-16E in the ship's wake and recovered the sailor - corroborates the DANFS picket-era timeline and this hull's at-sea operating status in 1963.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1963
- Population
- DER crew summer 1963
- Limitations
- Feature article about the aviator, not the ship - establishes operating context only. The remembered '27 knots' exchange is anecdotal and exceeds the documented 21-kt design speed; not carried. No materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-05
-
[7]Ray Dan Pierce v. United States, 365 F.2d 292 (10th Cir. 1966) - the only exact-name 'USS Mills' hit in the CourtListener opinion index [court_record]
- Locator
- 365 F.2d 292, opinion text para. 2 (assignment and AWOL recital); CourtListener cluster 272917
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal opinion names this hull in a non-asbestos context: appellant Pierce, a 17-year-old sailor 'assigned to the USS Mills which was stationed at Key West, Florida,' went absent without leave and was convicted under 18 U.S.C. 871 for writing a threat against the President; the court affirmed (threat-in-jest instruction not required). Classification: other litigation / incidental vessel reference - the ship is the defendant's duty station, not an exposure site; the criminal question has nothing to do with asbestos. The facts predate the August 1966 opinion, so the opinion independently documents DER-383 stationed at Key West in the mid-1960s - consistent with the later documented Key West administrative-control shift of 1 September 1968.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- facts pre-1966; opinion 1966
- Population
- DER crew at Key West, mid-1960s
- Limitations
- NOT qualifying asbestos litigation - a criminal appeal in which the hull is incidental scenery. Establishes only the vessel's Key West station at an undated point before August 1966; says nothing about materials, asbestos, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-06
-
[8]Batch-4281 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS transcription; ship-submitted 1945 war history (NavSource scan); NavSource operational chronology and photo captions; USCG feature; Atlas shipyard dataset; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries (opinion index + RECAP dockets) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-mills-de383-05 and sl-uss-mills-de383-06
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-383/DER-383: no hull ACM survey, no abatement contract, no hazmat disclosure, and no qualifying asbestos case names the vessel. CourtListener sweep: 'USS Mills' opinion query returned one hit (Pierce v. United States - non-asbestos criminal case, ev-06); 'USS Mills' RECAP docket query returned no results; 'DE-383'/'DER-383' queries returned 16 opinion and 152 docket hits, all identifier collisions (docket-entry '[DE 383]' references, 'de' docket-type codes, unrelated commercial/criminal/bankruptcy cases) - none vessel-related.
- 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 materials were standard at build (1943) and conversion (1956-57); does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. RECAP coverage is incomplete for pre-2000s federal dockets, so a negative sweep does not rule out unindexed or non-digitized litigation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-mills-de383-07
