Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet kk-packet.md (1 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS Vance; hull DE-387 (later DER-387); destroyer escort,
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-vance-de387-pkt-kk-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Vance (DE-387) (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division; verbatim HyperWar/ibiblio transcription - live NHHC page returns 404; hazegray transcription at losthistory.net corroborates verbatim) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Vance (DE-387)' - namesake biography, spec block, service narrative, disposition; HyperWar transcription by Patrick Clancey
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 30 April 1943 at Houston, Tex., by Brown Shipbuilding Co.; launched 16 July 1943, sponsored by the mother of the late Lt.(jg) Vance; commissioned 1 November 1943, Lt. Comdr. E. A. Anderson, USCG, in command - a Coast Guard-manned ship and flagship of CortDiv 45. Spec block: Edsall class, 1,200 t, 306 ft, 36 ft 7 in beam, 8 ft 7 in mean draft, 21 kt, complement 186, 3x3in + 2x40mm + 8x20mm + 3x21in TT + 2 dct + 8 dcp + 1 hedgehog. Service: Bermuda shakedown; Norfolk-Port Arthur tanker convoy; DE crew training ship; UGS-33/GUS-33 (New York Navy Yard availability 23 Mar 1944); UGS-39/GUS-39 - off Oran 14 May 1944 attacked a U-boat contact 10 hours with depth charges and hedgehog (relief ships sank U-616 three days later); eight round-trip Mediterranean convoy voyages with availabilities at Boston or New York; fought off German air attack off Oran 14 July 1944; captured surfaced U-873 by prize crew 11 May 1945 (delivered Portsmouth, N.H., 16 May); AA alterations, Pacific too late for combat; pre-deactivation availability mid-October 1945; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs 27 February 1946. Towed to Mare Island Naval Shipyard November 1955 for DER conversion (air-search radar, communications, fighter-direction facilities, enclosure of entire main deck amidships); recommissioned DER-387 at Mare Island 5 October 1956, Lt. Comdr. Albert M. Brouner. Seattle homeport, CortDiv 5, eight northern-Pacific radar early-warning patrols 1957; Pearl Harbor homeport 1 June 1958, CortRon 7 - first ship on the Pacific DEW line and first under the Pacific barrier patrol; communications overhaul at Pearl Harbor early 1961; ocean-station vessel TF-43 Operation Deepfreeze 62 (Dunedin, N.Z., to March 1962); DEW-line patrols off the Aleutians through February 1965; WestPac from March 1965 (TG 52.8 with Brister DER-327 and Forster DER-334); Market Time from 11 April 1965 and three further WestPac deployments (January 1966, January 1967, and the final deployment beginning late 1967; Masher support, Gulf of Thailand interdiction with PCFs and USCG WPBs, ~30 boardings/day, VC fire off Binh Dinh, 56-person rescue near Qui Nhon, Taiwan Strait patrol); returned late 1968 for inactivation; reserve at Inactive Ship Facility Vallejo; decommissioned 10 October 1969; struck from the Navy list 1 June 1975 and scheduled to be used as a target. Seven battle stars for Vietnam service. Namesake: Lt.(jg) Joseph Williams Vance Jr., USNR, torpedo officer USS Parrott (DD-218), Bronze Star at Makassar Strait, killed aboard HMAS Canberra off Savo Island 8-9 August 1942.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (Houston, 1943); USCG-manned crew 1943-46 (design complement 186); USCG crew 1952-54; USN DER crew 1956-69
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, specifications, and service history - not materials or asbestos content. Coverage defect: the entry reads the ship 'remained in mothballs for the next nine years' after the 27 February 1946 decommissioning, omitting the 1952-54 USCG WDE-487 service documented by NavSource and the USCG Historian's Office record - logged in gaps, not silently reconciled. Transcription typos ('February 19844', 'late 1867') carried verbatim. Sponsor's given name differs between transcriptions (ibiblio 'Mrs. Joseph W. Vance' vs hazegray/NavSource 'Mrs. John W. Vance') - in gaps. Live NHHC page returns 404; verbatim mirror transcription cited. Disposal given only as 'scheduled to be used as a target' - no sinking date in DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-01
-
[3]NavSource Online Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Vance (DE-387) page (volunteer archive; lead-level): building/operational data block, specifications, awards ribbons, namesake caption [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource DE-387 page, 'Specifications' block + 'Building and Operational Data' block + awards/caption text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photo-archive data corroborating DANFS and extending it across the gaps DANFS leaves: USCG period - '09 May 1952: Loaned to U.S. Coast Guard, recommissioned as WDE 487 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Cmdr. James C. Waters, USCG, in command, assigned to Honolulu, Hi.' and '16 June 1954: Returned to Navy custody and decommissioned after 2 years and 1 month of service'; reclassified DER-387 on 21 October 1955; decommissioned at San Francisco 10 October 1969 'after 13 years of service'; struck from the NVR 1 June 1975 'with a total of 17 years and 5 months of service'; '1985: Sunk as target'. Spec block: Edsall class, FMR type (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive), 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 geared diesel engines + 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp, 2 screws, 21 kt, 9,100 nm at 12 kt, 1,200 lt/1,590 full tons, complement 8 officers/201 enlisted, armament incl. Mk10 hedgehog and Mk15 torpedo tubes. Flag hoist N-T-H-E, tactical voice call 'Eagle Rock'. Awards ribbons: Combat Action Ribbon, American Campaign, EAME, WWII Victory, National Defense w/1 star, Antarctica Service, Armed Forces Expeditionary, Vietnam Service w/7 stars, RVN Gallantry Cross Unit Citation w/3 stars, RVN Campaign Medal. '(1943-1969) was the first ship to be named in his honor.'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1985
- Population
- USCG crew 1952-54 (Cmdr. James C. Waters commissioning CO); USN DER crew to 1969
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive - lead-level documentation, not an official record; dates and roster unverified against the underlying USN/USCG/NHHC/NARA originals. Conflicts with other sources logged in gaps (WDE designation label, USCG service-date variants, sponsor's name, complement). Nothing on materials aboard. The 1985 sinking is NavSource-level only - no official disposal record located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-02
-
[4]Edsall-class FMR design data (NavSource spec block; DANFS 21-kt spec) + Atlas shipyards.json records for New York Navy Yard ('brooklyn-navy-yard'), Boston Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative (availability/conversion entries); transcribed ship war history (ussvance.com/Vance/387hist/korea/history3fa_a.html) for Charleston post-shakedown repairs and the 40-day Boston availability; NavSource spec block; shipyards.json records 'brooklyn-navy-yard', 'boston-naval-shipyard', 'charleston-naval-shipyard', 'philadelphia-naval-shipyard', 'mare-island-naval-shipyard', 'pearl-harbor-naval-shipyard'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a geared-diesel escort built at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, in 1943: the FMR machinery plant - four Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38D8-1/8 diesels with reduction/reverse gearing, 6,000 shp, 2 shafts, ~21 kt - has NO propulsion boilers and no steam system, so the heavy steam-ship asbestos categories (boiler lagging, steam-line insulation) do not apply. Plausible period applications concentrate in diesel exhaust/muffler insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, accommodation insulation, deck coverings, and friction linings on deck machinery. Yard-period context: every documented availability/conversion site is a yard with yard-level asbestos documentation in the Atlas dataset - Charleston Navy Yard (post-shakedown repairs Dec 1943 per the ship's transcribed war history), New York Navy Yard (Kaylo documented; availabilities Mar 1944 onward 'either Boston or New York' plus the Oct 1945 pre-deactivation availability), Boston Naval Shipyard (John Crane gaskets/sealing documented; convoy-cycle availabilities incl. the 40-day AA-alteration availability May-Jun 1945 per war history), Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (extensive documented product set incl. Eagle-Picher Super 60, Thermasil, Unibestos, Kaylo, Garlock; May 1952 WDE reactivation/commissioning site), Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Unibestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Careytemp, packing/gaskets documented; Nov 1955-Oct 1956 DER conversion enclosing the entire main deck amidships - conversion scope implies disturbance of existing material), Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (pipe covering, insulation blankets, asbestos mud/cloth documented; overhauls 1959, 1961, post-1967).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943 (construction + Charleston post-shakedown); 1944-45 (convoy-cycle availabilities); 1952 (Philadelphia reactivation); 1955-56 (Mare Island DER conversion); 1959-68 (Pearl Harbor overhauls)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades 1943; yard workers at the six documented availability/conversion yards; USCG/USN engineering crews 1943-69
- Limitations
- Class/era and yard-level inference only - not a ship-specific finding. Yard dataset records document the facilities, not this hull's contents; whether era materials aboard DE-387 contained asbestos is undocumented in either direction. The DER conversion's disturbance scope is inference from DANFS's alteration description. Builder Brown Shipbuilding has no Atlas yard record - construction-yard asbestos context is undocumented for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-03
-
[5]Board of Veterans' Appeals decision, Citation Nr. 1123890 (docket 10-05 465, decided 23 June 2011, Cleveland RO) + VA 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' ship list (38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(iii) presumption list; verbatim republication hosted by Ohio Dept. of Veterans Services and Mobile Riverine Force Assoc.) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BVA decision Citation Nr. 1123890, Findings/Reasons (NPRC water-date report; personnel-file service aboard USS Vance DER-387 Nov 1964-Apr 1966); VA ship list DER section, 'USS Vance (DER-387)' entry
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- Official VA records name this hull - in the herbicide (Agent Orange) channel, not asbestos. (1) The VA herbicide-presumption ship list carries 'USS Vance (DER-387) entered inland Qui Nhon Bay/Harbor on January 20, 1966.' (2) BVA Citation Nr. 1123890 (2011): the veteran served aboard USS Vance DER-387 November 1964-April 1966 (personnel file); NPRC verified the ship in the official waters of the Republic of Vietnam 16 May-7 June 1965 and 28 June-3 July 1965; claim for chronic myeloid leukemia via herbicide presumption DENIED - no duty/visitation in the Republic of Vietnam shown (decision also quotes a USS Vance 'plan of the day' of 2 March 1966 authorizing hostile-fire pay and bullet-proof jackets for boarding parties).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1965-1966 (service); 2011 (adjudication)
- Population
- USN crew aboard DER-387 in Vietnam waters 1965-66 incl. the 2011 claimant (yeoman, Nov 1964-Apr 1966)
- Limitations
- Herbicide-exposure records only - they establish nothing about asbestos aboard this hull and are included to mark the documented exposure-adjudication channel for this crew. Ship-list entry cited via verbatim republications (state veterans agency + veterans' association); the live publichealth.va.gov list page was not directly fetched (URL format changed). The BVA decision itself is a direct va.gov official record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-04
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion index type=o; RECAP dockets type=r) for exact name 'USS Vance' and hull numbers 'DE-387' / 'DER-387' / 'WDE-487' via cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-vance-de387-08 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep: exact-name query '"USS Vance"' (type=o) returned 1 result - Berndtson v. Lewis, 465 F.2d 706 (4th Cir. 1972), a mandamus petition inside the Arnheiter libel litigation; 'USS Vance' names this hull because Lt. Cmdr. Marcus A. Arnheiter commanded DER-387 in 1965-66 (see ev-08) - classified OTHER LITIGATION, non-asbestos. Hull-number query '"DE-387"' (type=o) returned 9 hits, all string collisions on manual review (Puerto Rico Spanish-language text, docket/address numerals, unrelated references); none vessel- or asbestos-related. The '"DER-387"' and '"WDE-487"' opinion queries and the RECAP-docket queries repeatedly hit the fleet-wide pacing budget ('momentarily spent'); per-query final status in search_ledger. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull located in the completed queries.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Opinion index swept for exact name (1 hit - non-asbestos other litigation) and 'DE-387' (9 collisions); the remaining queries were intermittently blocked by the shared fleet pacing budget - see search_ledger sl-08 through sl-11 for final per-query status. The sweep does not cover state-court records, trust claims, or non-U.S. jurisdictions. 'Vance' is a high-collision surname (Vance v. Ball State, Vance v. Terrazas, SEC/corporate uses) - any future hit needs collision classification rather than automatic attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-05
-
[7]Batch-4285 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + HyperWar/hazegray mirrors, NVR, NavSource, USCG Historian's Office (history.uscg.mil + hosted official-record scans), VA ship list + BVA decisions, Atlas shipyard dataset, CourtListener API v4, NARA catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-vance-de387-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no ACM survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material-condition report, or litigation naming this hull was found in the public sources searched. No preservation-era documentation can exist - the hull was sunk as a target in 1985 and was never a museum, memorial, or NDRF asset. Unlike short-lived DE hulls, this ship had a 26-year commissioned career (1943-69) plus a 1955-56 full conversion, so exposure-relevant yard periods are numerous but all are documented only at yard level.
- 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. The hull no longer exists in recoverable form, so no present-day survey is possible; whether era materials aboard contained asbestos is undocumented in either direction. Construction-era yard records, the DER-conversion work packages, and the USCG Historian file are paper leads only (ev-07).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-06
-
[8]NARA RG 19 (BuShips contract specifications / General Information Books) for DE-387's Brown Shipbuilding construction and RG 24 deck logs 1943-69; Mare Island Naval Shipyard DER-conversion work orders/job orders Nov 1955-Oct 1956; Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1952 reactivation records; Boston/New York Navy Yard availability records 1944-45; USCG Historian's Office WDE-487 file (27-page official record mailed to the USS Vance Association December 2001; scans hosted at ussvance.com/Vance/387hist/korea/, original in USCG HQ Historian's Office custody); INSURV and target-disposal records for the 1975 striking and 1985 sinking - all undigitized or not located online [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 19/RG 24/Mare Island and Philadelphia yard record series (undigitized); USCG Historian's Office WDE-487 file (scans: ussvance.com/Vance/387hist/korea/cg history start.html)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for hull-level material documentation not yet retrieved: (1) NARA RG 19 per-vessel specifications and ships-data books covering DE-387's construction at Brown Shipbuilding, and RG 24 deck logs 1943-69; (2) Mare Island conversion work orders/job orders for the Nov 1955-Oct 1956 DER conversion - the likeliest paper trail for material disturbance aboard this hull; (3) Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1952 reactivation records and the 1943-45 Charleston/Boston/New York Navy Yard availability work records; (4) the USCG Historian's Office WDE-487 official record (commissioning, stations, vessel-movement records, decommissioning - a 27-page package confirmed to exist in USCG HQ custody, scans hosted by the veterans' association); (5) the ship-submitted official WWII war history ('History of the U.S.S. Vance (DE-387)') - a first-person crew-authored ship document transcribed at ussvance.com/Vance/387hist/korea/history3fa_a.html ('Copy received from Ted Bolinger at the 2002 Reunion'), which is the source for the CortDiv 45 roster (Lansing DE-388, Durant DE-389, Calcaterra DE-390, Chambers DE-391, Merrill DE-392 under Cmdr. E. J. Roland, USCG), the Charleston Navy Yard post-shakedown repairs (Dec 1943), the 40-day Boston Navy Yard AA-alteration availability (May-Jun 1945), commissioning by Capt. D. C. Redgrove USN at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Docks, and prize-crew officer Lt. Carlton J. Schmidt USCGR for U-873; (6) INSURV/disposal file for the 1975 striking and the 1985 target sinking.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1985 (records); 2026 (lead status)
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these holdings were pulled or digitized; contents unknown. They establish nothing about materials aboard. NARA catalog returns an empty/SPA response to programmatic fetches (standing limitation, re-confirmed 2026-09-28). The hosted USCG scans are a facsimile of an official record whose original is in USCG HQ custody.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-07
-
[9]Berndtson v. Lewis, 465 F.2d 706 (4th Cir. 1972) (CourtListener opinion 305204); Arnheiter v. Ignatius, 292 F. Supp. 911 (N.D. Cal. 1968) (law.justia.com full text); Arnheiter v. Random House, Inc., 578 F.2d 804 (9th Cir. 1978) (casemine/vLex full text) [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener cluster 305204 (Berndtson); Justia F.Supp. 292/911 (Arnheiter v. Ignatius) - factual recital naming 'U.S.S. Vance, a Destroyer Escort'; 9th Cir. No. 76-1753 per curiam (Arnheiter v. Random House)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Non-asbestos litigation naming this hull exists - the 'Arnheiter Affair' command-relief/libel cluster. Arnheiter v. Ignatius (N.D. Cal. 1968) recites that on 22 December 1965 Lt. Cmdr. Marcus A. Arnheiter 'was assigned to the command of the U.S.S. Vance, a Destroyer Escort under assignment for duty in the Vietnam war theatre'; he was summarily relieved 31 March 1966 after 99 days. Arnheiter v. Random House (9th Cir. 1978) is the libel appeal over Neil Sheehan's book about the affair ('the Vance, on patrol duty during the Vietnam war'), decided on New York Times v. Sullivan public-official grounds (summary judgment affirmed). Berndtson v. Lewis (4th Cir. 1972) is a mandamus petition by the officer Arnheiter sued for libel - the sole 'USS Vance' hit in the CourtListener opinion index.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1965-1966 (events); 1968-1978 (litigation)
- Population
- DER-387 crew during Arnheiter's 99-day command, 22 Dec 1965 - 31 Mar 1966 (Vietnam deployment)
- Limitations
- OTHER LITIGATION, not asbestos: these opinions concern command relief and defamation; they contain no exposure, materials, or asbestos content. Included so the hull's litigation surface is documented accurately and a 'USS Vance' opinion hit is not mistaken for an exposure case. Only the Berndtson hit was returned by the name search; Ignatius and Random House were located via legal-search corroboration of the underlying affair, not separate hull-name hits.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-vance-de387-08