Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet jk-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-perkins-dd377-pkt-jk-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Perkins II (DD-377), Naval Historical Center / history.navy.mil - live page returns 404; verbatim text via NHHC Wayback capture (2013) and losthistory.net/hazegray mirror (dd377txt.htm), text identical [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Perkins II entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 15 November 1934 at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Wash.; launched 31 December 1935, sponsored by Mrs. Larz Anderson; commissioned 18 September 1936, Lt. Comdr. Samuel P. Jenkins in command. Spec block: dp. 2,300 (f.); l. 341'3"; b. 34'8"; dr. 17'; s. 35 k.; cpl. 204; a. 4 5", 12 21" tt., 2 dct.; cl. Mahan. Service: Destroyers Scouting Force then Battle Force, San Diego homeport; Mare Island overhaul at Pearl Harbor attack (7 Dec 1941); convoy escort; radar installation at Mare Island Jan 1942; ANZAC Squadron from Feb 1942; screened TF 11/TF 17 carriers at Tulagi strikes opening Battle of the Coral Sea and Louisiade Archipelago/Jomard Passage intercept; Australia/NZ convoy escort through mid-1942; propeller repairs New Zealand then Pearl Harbor repairs with additional radar and 40mm guns (Aug-Sep 1942); Espiritu Santo 27 Nov 1942; Battle of Tassafaronga 30 Nov 1942 (8 torpedoes, no hits; assisted Pensacola); Tulagi operations and Nouméa availability through Jan 1943; TF 10 Apr 1943; flagship DesRon 5, led Smith/Conyngham/Mahan on Huon Gulf sweep and Finschhafen bombardment night 22-23 Aug 1943; Bulu-Buso bombardment and Red Beach cover 4 Sep; Lae shelling to 8 Sep; Finschhafen fell 2 Oct; escort duty Huon Gulf; departed Milne Bay for Buna 28 Nov 1943; shortly before 0200 on 29 Nov the Australian troopship Duntroon rammed her portside amidships; splitting in two, Perkins went down taking four of her crew, approximately 2 miles off Ipoteto Island. Earned 4 battle stars WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1934-1943
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1934-36; wartime crew (complement ~158-204)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service history, and loss - not materials or asbestos content. Spec block reflects wartime-era figures (cpl. 204 vs class design ~206 and NavSource 158; conflicts in gaps). Mirror transcriptions cited because the live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim text verified identical across the Wayback NHHC capture and the hazegray mirror.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-01
-
[3]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'USS Perkins (DD-377), 1936-1943' ship history page (verbatim mirror, HyperWar/ibiblio) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Library ship history paragraph block (ibiblio HyperWar mirror)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC Online Library record for this hull: 'a 1480-ton Mahan class destroyer built by the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington... commissioned in September 1936'; operated with the Scouting Force and Battle Force; sent southwest Pacific early 1942; Battle of the Coral Sea May 1942; 'present when Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbor, Australia' end of May 1942; Hawaii repairs August 1942; Battle of Tassafaronga late November 1942; May 1943 joined forces for offensive operations against Japanese positions on north shore New Guinea; August-October 1943 campaign to recapture Lae, Salamaua and Finschhafen; 'On 29 November 1943, while steaming off northeastern New Guinea, USS Perkins was rammed and sunk by the Australian troopship Duntroon. Four of her crew lost their lives in this tragic accident.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1936-1943
- Population
- Wartime crew
- Limitations
- Official NHHC ship-history page - documents service history and confirms the DANFS four-casualty figure; contains no asbestos, materials, or survey information. Conflicts with secondary sources reading nine lost are carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-02
-
[4]Mahan-class machinery/design data, Destroyer History Foundation (sourced to Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book for USS Mahan and USS Cummings, plus Friedman); NavSource DD-377 photographic index (hull block); Atlas shipyards.json record 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' (DTIC AD0715808; PMID 1065583; EPA Superfund WA2170023418) [other_primary]
- Locator
- destroyerhistory.org Mahan class 'General Information' propulsion block; NavSource DD-377 'As Built' block; shipyards.json 'puget-sound-naval-shipyard' evidence rows
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: a Mahan-class destroyer built 1934-36 at Puget Sound Navy Yard with a four-boiler high-pressure steam plant (4 Foster Wheeler boilers, 465 psi/645 deg F; GE geared turbines, 50,000 shp, 2 shafts; class design) would have carried period-standard asbestos in boiler and turbine insulation, steam-line lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder yard Puget Sound NSY is a documented asbestos site in the Atlas yard dataset: airborne asbestos studies of insulators/pipe coverers (DTIC AD0715808, 1970), peer-reviewed documentation of amosite/chrysotile exposure during ship overhaul and rip-out work (PMID 1065583, covering 1962-72), and EPA Superfund listing. NARA RG19 General Information Book per-hull material specifications are the archival lead for hull-level specs.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1934-1943 (hull); 1962-1972 (yard studies)
- Population
- Puget Sound Navy Yard construction trades 1934-36; wartime crew 1936-43
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - no ship-specific document establishes asbestos aboard this hull. The Puget Sound yard studies post-date Perkins's 1934-36 construction by roughly three decades (1962-72 overhaul era); they characterize the yard's asbestos regime, not this hull's materials. The hull sank in 1943, so no post-war abatement or survey record can exist. NARA GIB retrieval not performed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-03
-
[5]Navy Department Communiqué No. 493 (January 1944), ibiblio Pearl Harbor Attack / Navy communiqué transcript collection [other_primary]
- Locator
- January 1944 communiqués page, N.D. Comm. No. 493, item 1
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Navy Department public communiqué announcing the loss: 'In the early morning of November 29, 1943, the U.S. Destroyer Perkins was sunk as the result of a collision, off the southeast coast of New Guinea... The next of kin of the casualties in the Perkins have been notified.' Confirms the loss event and date at the level of official announcement.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-11-29 / 1944-01
- Population
- Wartime crew and next of kin
- Limitations
- Announces the sinking and casualty notification only; gives no casualty count, no position detail beyond 'off the southeast coast of New Guinea,' and no material information. No asbestos relevance beyond dating the hull's loss.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-04
-
[6]Batch-3362 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC, NHHC Online Library, Navy communiqué file, NavSource, class profiles, wreck-survey and abatement searches, CourtListener API v4 name + hull-number sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-perkins-dd377-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, sampling report, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation finding names this hull in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull sank in 1943, so post-war abatement and museum-survey records cannot exist; no published wreck survey or salvage/material record was located.
- 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 - period steam-plant construction makes era materials plausible; the record simply contains no hull-level proof. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-05
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 opinion-index sweep (type=o): "USS Perkins" = 0 hits; "U.S.S. Perkins" = 0 hits; "DD-377" = 0 hits [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener /api/rest/v4/search type=o, quoted exact-name and hull-number queries, 2026-09-27
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No published opinion anywhere in the CourtListener corpus names USS Perkins or hull DD-377. Exact-name queries returned zero results across the opinion index.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27 (index coverage)
- Limitations
- Opinion index only - unreported dispositions, pleadings, and non-indexed filings are outside scope. A zero result does not prove no asbestos claim ever alleged exposure aboard this hull; it proves no published opinion naming it was found. 'Perkins' is also a common surname and a law-firm name (Perkins Coie), so unquoted queries are noise - quoted exact-phrase queries were used.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-06
-
[8]CourtListener RECAP docket-index hits for "USS Perkins": Guthrie v. General Electric Co., 3:07-cv-02542 (N.D. Cal., filed 2007, P.I.-Asbestos); Hewitt v. Allis Chalmers Corp. Product Liability Trust, 3:07-cv-03474 (N.D. Cal., filed 2007, P.I.-Asbestos); United States v. QTC Medical Services, 2:14-cv-08961 (C.D. Cal., False Claims Act) [court_record]
- Locator
- Guthrie 3:07-cv-02542 N.D. Cal. RECAP doc 24 p.28 (exposure table 'USS PERKINS (D-877)'); Hewitt 3:07-cv-03474 doc 1 p.3 and p.26 ('USS PERKINS (DD-817)' recital / 'USS Perkins DD-877' fact sheet); QTC 2:14-cv-08961 doc 18 (FCA amended complaint)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- All three raw docket hits resolve to non-qualifying classifications for this hull. Guthrie: RECAP exhibit (ECF, notice-of-removal exhibit at doc 24 p.28 - reviewed via document OCR) lists 'USS PERKINS (D-877)' as an exposure site for plaintiff's service 30 Oct 1969 - 31 July 1972 as a boiler tender - the Gearing-class DD-877, impossible for DD-377 (sunk 1943). Hewitt: notice-of-removal recital and plaintiff fact sheet allege exposure aboard 'USS PERKINS (DD-817/DD-877)' during Machinist Mate service 1955-1968 - again DD-877. United States v. QTC Medical Services is a False Claims Act qui tam (VA medical-exam contractor), not asbestos litigation. No qualifying asbestos proceeding names DD-377.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2007-2019 (litigation windows)
- Population
- Guthrie plaintiff (USN boiler tender 1968-72); Hewitt decedent Ronald Hewitt (USN Machinist Mate 1955-68) - both aboard DD-877, not this hull
- Limitations
- Docket-text resolution is pleading-stage material even where a vessel match existed; here the matches resolve to a different hull (DD-877) or a non-asbestos case, so nothing in these dockets supports any finding about DD-377. RECAP documents are scanned; resolution by OCR of the indexed PDFs, which is sufficient for hull-number discrimination but not a merits review.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-07
-
[9]NARA archival leads: RG 24 deck logs for DD-377 (1936-1943); RG 19 Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book entries (Mahan class / this hull); Navy court of inquiry record for the Duntroon collision (San Francisco, December 1943 - existence reported by secondary sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog.archives.gov (search gated by JS front end); destroyerhistory Mahan class page citing BuC&R General Information Book (Mahan/Cummings) as source 1
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Unretrieved primary records that could contain hull-level material information: NARA RG 24 deck logs for this hull (1936-1943, WWII logs at Archives II); the Bureau of Construction and Repair General Information Book series (RG 19) which holds per-vessel material specifications; and the Navy court of inquiry into the collision (a December 1943 San Francisco inquiry holding the commanding officer, executive officer, and officer of the deck accountable is reported by secondary sources - the Duntroon Society newsletter cited via Wikipedia - not verified against the Navy record).
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - none retrieved or reviewed; no content claim made. The court of inquiry's existence is secondary-source reporting only. NARA catalog search is JavaScript-gated and could not be queried programmatically in this session; whether DD-377 deck logs are digitized is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-perkins-dd377-08