Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[1]research packet le-packet.md (13 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-whitehurst-de634-pkt-le-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Whitehurst (DE-634) (namesake, builder, dates, service narrative, striking, disposal; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 21 March 1943 at San Francisco by Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched 5 September 1943 (sponsor Mrs. Robie S. Whitehurst, mother of the namesake, Ens. Henry Purefoy Whitehurst, Jr., killed aboard Astoria CA-34 at Savo Island 9 August 1942); commissioned 19 November 1943. Pacific service from February 1944: New Hebrides/New Guinea escort, Wakde and Biak landings; TU 77.7.1 oiler screen for the Leyte campaign; 29 October 1944 destroyed Japanese submarine I-45 (which had sunk Eversole DE-404) on a fourth depth-charge attack; Okinawa screening April 1945; 12 April 1945 a 'Val' dive-bomber crashed the forward superstructure at the port side of the pilothouse, fires enveloped the bridge, the plane's bomb passed through the hull and exploded off the starboard bow - 21 of 23 wounded transferred to Vigilance (AM-324) were saved. Kerama Retto temporary repairs; reached Pearl Harbor 10 May 1945 for repairs and alterations during which she was converted to a floating power station; departed 25 July 1945; supplied electrical power to Manila August-October 1945 and to dredge YM-25 at Guam into 1946. Decommissioned 27 November 1946; Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs, January 1947. Recommissioned 1 September 1950 for Korea (three battle stars, 25 February-19 September 1951); Far East to 1955; Pearl Harbor/Guam operations with Trust Territory surveillance and SAR into 1956; June-July 1957 filmed 'The Enemy Below' portraying USS Haynes (DANFS spells it 'Hagnes'); October 1957 Naval Reserve training ship, 13th Naval District, Seattle; overhaul at Seattle February-April 1958; Group II ASW reserve ship July 1958; decommissioned to 'in service' status (DANFS transcription misprints the date as '6 December 1968' - the correct year is 1958 per NavSource and secondary compilations); recommissioned 2 October 1961 for the Berlin crisis; WestPac deployment February-July 1962 (Subic Bay, South China Sea, Gulf of Siam, Sapporo); decommissioned 1 August 1962 to Group II in-service NRT status at Seattle; 1963 removal of 40mm mounts and the ship-to-shore power reels; 17 January 1965 collision with Norwegian freighter SS Hoyanger in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, both ships grounded; home port shifted to Portland, Oregon, replacing McGinty (DE-365); taken out of service and struck from the Navy list 12 July 1969; sunk as a target by Trigger (SS-564) 28 April 1971. Six WWII and three Korean battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- Bethlehem Steel San Francisco construction trades 1943; wartime crew; Naval Reserve training crews 1957-1969
- Limitations
- DANFS documents service history and specifications, not materials or asbestos content. The transcription's '6 December 1968' decommissioning date is a misprint (sequence and secondary sources fix 1958) - carried in gaps. DANFS does not state a death toll for the 12 April 1945 kamikaze hit; casualty figures circulating elsewhere (association log estimate ~25 killed/25 severely wounded; one compilation reads 42 dead of crew 213) conflict and are carried in gaps. Mirror transcription cited because the live NHHC page returns 404.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-01
-
[3]NavSource Destroyer Escort Photo Archive, USS Whitehurst (DE-634) - building/operational data timeline and NHHC-photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/06/634.htm - 'Building and Operational Data' block and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Volunteer-compiled operational timeline consistent with DANFS and supplying command/detail granularity: commissioned at Pier 6, Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco; decommissioned at Green Cove Springs 27 November 1946; recommissioned 1 September 1950 (Cmdr. Malcolm G. Evans; homeport Pearl Harbor, CortDiv 112); Enemy Below filming June-July 1957; assigned NRT 13th Naval District Seattle 4 October 1957 (ResCortDiv 112); decommissioned to 'in service' at the U.S. Naval Supply Depot, Seattle, 6 December 1958; recommissioned for the Berlin crisis 2 October 1961 (Lt. Comdr. Donald L. MacLane, USNR; Escort Squadron 7); decommissioned to 'in service' Group II NRT at Seattle 1 August 1962 (ResDesDiv 273); homeport changed 20 October 1968 to the Swan Island Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Portland; placed out of service 12 July 1969 at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, and struck from the NVR with 21 years 10.5 months service; sunk as target by USS Trigger (SS-564) 28 April 1971. Photo captions include July 1945 Pearl Harbor inclining tests noting the TEG (floating power station) conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- NRT crews, Seattle and Portland 1957-1969
- Limitations
- Secondary volunteer compilation, not an official record; consistent with DANFS on every shared fact checked and used here only for date/locational detail DANFS lacks. The 1958-overhaul yard is not identified ('overhauled at Seattle'); the disposal berth at the PSNS inactive-ship facility is stated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 1 (Jan 1945), DE design groups 2-3 (TE); navypedia per-block boiler-manufacturer map; Atlas shipyard dataset record 'bethlehem-shipbuilding' [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v1 pp. 234-235 design-group table; navypedia us_de_te block map; shipyards.json 'bethlehem-shipbuilding'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference: the Buckley class (BuShips design groups 2-3) is the turbo-electric destroyer-escort design - 2 'D' express-type boilers at 435 psi/750 deg.F feeding GE turbo-electric machinery, 12,000 shp, 2 shafts - i.e., a full steam plant, the feature that makes TE/WGT escorts the most asbestos-relevant DE designs. The class-profile navypedia block map assigns Combustion Engineering boilers to the DE-633-644 block (this hull). Period-standard asbestos applications for a 1943 steam-escort build would include boiler and fireroom insulation, steam-line and turbine lagging, valve/flange gaskets, machinery packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. Builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding (San Francisco/Union Iron Works) is a documented yard in the Atlas shipyard dataset.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1971
- Population
- Bethlehem San Francisco construction trades 1943; crew 1943-1969
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding: no material schedule, survey, or contract specification naming this hull was located, and the boiler-manufacturer block map is navypedia-sourced and unverified against contract documents. Establishes no quantities and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-03
-
[5]United States v. The Motor Ship Hoyanger, 265 F. Supp. 730 (W.D. Wash. 1967), No. 17038 - United States 'as owner of the USS WHITEHURST' libelant [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion caption and factual recital, 265 F. Supp. 730
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published federal opinion naming this hull: the United States, 'as owner of the USS WHITEHURST,' sued the owner of the Norwegian motor ship Hoyanger (Westfal-Larsen & Co.) in admiralty over the 17 January 1965 collision in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in which the destroyer escort took a five-foot stern gash and grounded. Classification: OTHER LITIGATION - admiralty/collision, not asbestos. This is the sole opinion-level CourtListener hit for 'USS Whitehurst.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1965 (collision); 1967 (opinion)
- Population
- n/a (admiralty property litigation)
- Limitations
- Collision-damage litigation only; contains no asbestos, exposure, or materials content. Documents that the hull's casualty litigation concerned collision liability, not personal injury.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-04
-
[6]usnavyresearch.com index of NARA 14th Naval District war-damage files, entry 6: 'USS WHITEHURST DE634 Battle damage repairs - Information Concerning'; USS Whitehurst association site (de634.org) confirming veterans obtained NARA deck logs [other_primary]
- Locator
- usnavyresearch.com 'WDR 14th U-Z' index, entry 6; de634.org deck-logs page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-specific undigitized records exist: a 14th Naval District (Pearl Harbor) war-damage file titled 'USS WHITEHURST DE634 Battle damage repairs - Information Concerning' is indexed in a NARA-holdings research index - the closest thing to a hull-level materials/repair record for the April 1945 kamikaze damage and May-July 1945 Pearl Harbor repair-and-TEG-conversion yard period. Crew deck logs for the hull are held at NARA College Park (the crew association states veterans obtained copies). Not retrieved.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Crew aboard during 12 April 1945 casualty and May-July 1945 repair period; Pearl Harbor yard workers 1945
- Limitations
- Index-level lead only - the file's contents are unexamined and may or may not describe insulation/materials; usnavyresearch.com is a private index of NARA holdings, not the archive itself. Deck logs document movements/personnel, not materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-05
-
[7]USS Whitehurst DE-634 crew-association site (de634.org, DESA-affiliated), Vietnam/1960s index page [other_primary]
- Locator
- de634.org/vietnam.htm intro block; de634.org/Don_Prock_AE-Battle.htm; tf116.org mirror of VA ships list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The crew association's Vietnam-era page states: 'The Whitehurst has lost a number of veterans to cancer, some Asbestos related and others from Agent Orange Exposure.' The same site documents a veteran's multi-year effort (via NARA-obtained deck logs showing Da Nang Harbor entry) to have DE-634 recognized for Agent Orange presumption, and reports a VA DIC grant for a Whitehurst veteran's lung-cancer death as service-connected (per the site's quoted 2009 VA letter - 'the veteran's lung cancer is a condition which the VA associates with Agent Orange exposure'). A copy of the VA 'Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents' list searched this session contains multiple DE/DER hulls but NOT DE-634.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- claim-era ca. 2007-2009; site maintained to present
- Population
- DE-634 crew veterans (per association statement, unquantified); 1962 Vietnam-deployment crew
- Limitations
- Unsourced association editorial claim - not a roster, not a death registry, not litigation, and not official documentation of asbestos exposure or asbestos-related disease aboard this hull. The Agent Orange material concerns herbicide, not asbestos, and is included only as exposure-claims context; the VA ship-list copy searched is a mirror of the VA Compensation Service list and may be incomplete or dated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-06
-
[8]Batch-4426 search ledger (this record): DANFS verbatim transcription (ibiblio/HyperWar); NavSource operational archive; CourtListener exact-name and hull-number queries; NARA-holdings index; VA herbicide ship list; crew-association site [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-whitehurst-de634-01 through sl-uss-whitehurst-de634-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DE-634: no hull ACM survey or abatement record (the hull was expended as a target in 1971, so no preservation-era record exists), no museum hazmat disclosure, and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming the hull. CourtListener opinion search for 'USS Whitehurst' returned exactly one published opinion - the 1967 Hoyanger admiralty collision case (other litigation, ev-04). 'DE-634' opinion query and RECAP docket sweeps were attempted under the shared fleet CourtListener budget; results as recorded in search_ledger rows sl-05 through sl-07.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943 steam-plant escort is era-consistent with asbestos insulation, and the documented 1945 battle-damage repair period would have disturbed original materials. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Unexamined NARA war-damage file is the strongest remaining lead (ev-05).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-whitehurst-de634-07