Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]DANFS, William D. Porter (DD-579) - verbatim transcription via hazegray.org mirror (Wayback capture 2024-11-27); live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + full service narrative (hazegray dd579txt.htm via web.archive.org capture 20241127115733)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 7 May 1942 at Orange, Tex., by the Consolidated Steel Corp.; launched 27 September 1942 (sponsored by Miss Mary Elizabeth Reeder); commissioned 6 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. Wilfred A. Walter in command. Shakedown Guantanamo Bay; post-shakedown repairs at Charleston, S.C. (arrived 7 September 1943); five weeks of battle practice out of Norfolk with Intrepid (CV-11). On 14 November 1943, while screening Iowa (BB-61) carrying President Roosevelt to the Cairo/Tehran Conferences, she inadvertently fired a live torpedo at Iowa during battle drills; Iowa evaded and the torpedo exploded some 3,000 yards astern. She steamed west to Bermuda, arriving 16 November. Pacific transfer December 1943 via Trinidad, the Panama Canal (12 December), and San Diego (19-21 December); joined TF 94 at Dutch Harbor 29 December. Aleutians antisubmarine escort duty January-August 1944; Kuril strikes on Matsuwa (13 June) and Paramushiro (26 June, in dense fog); a third sortie cancelled early August. Brief San Francisco yard period September 1944; Leyte-area escort November-December 1944; Lingayen Gulf operation with TG 77.2 (VADM Oldendorf) January-February 1945 including pre-invasion bombardment 6 January; Kerama Retto occupation support 25 March-1 April 1945; TF 54 (RADM Deyo) gunfire and covering force 1 April-5 May (over 8,500 rounds of 5-inch; five plane kills); radar picket duty 5 May-9 June (one plane kill, seven more by directed fighters). On 10 June 1945 a lone obsolete 'Val' dive-bomber attacked at 0815; the ship evaded and the plane splashed close aboard, ending up directly beneath the hull before exploding. The ship was lifted out of the water and dropped back, lost power, suffered broken steam lines and fires; after three hours of damage control she heeled to starboard and sank by the stern 12 minutes after the abandon-ship order. DANFS records 'her crew suffered no fatal injuries.' Struck from the Navy list 11 July 1945; four battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1942-43; wartime crew (design complement 273)
- Limitations
- DANFS documents construction, service history, loss, and striking - not materials or asbestos content. Verbatim transcription cited because the live NHHC DANFS page returns 404 (standing NHHC link-rot; hazegray.org DNS was unreachable from this machine, so the Wayback capture of the hazegray transcription was used). The narrative does not name the Charleston or San Francisco repair yards.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-01
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[2]J. M. Caiella, 'Fact or Fiction?', U.S. Naval Institute Naval History Magazine, Vol. 35 No. 3 (June 2021) - live usni.org blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403); Wayback capture used [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2021, 'Fact or Fiction?' - deck-log quotations and debunking paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USNI review of the ship's deck logs for the 14 November 1943 torpedo incident: the DD-579 deck log reads '1436 Torpedo accidentally fired from #2 mount while torpedo battery was exercising at drills. Investigation being held. . . . 1503 Iowa resumed firing AA practice.' Iowa logged the warning at 1438 and made an emergency turn to port at 28 knots; the torpedo detonated in Iowa's wake 'at a distance that reports put at between 100 and 1,000 yards.' An inquiry was held at Bermuda; Chief Torpedoman's Mate Lawton C. Dawson - whose failure to remove the torpedo primer enabled the launch - was transferred for a general court-martial and is known to have been reduced one grade to torpedoman first class. The article DEBUNKS the popular embellishments: no deck-log record supports the anchor-scraping of Cogswell (DD-651), a lost depth charge on 13 November (the logs instead record a No. 3 boiler tube failure), the 'arrest' of the ship or her company, or the Aleutians commandant's-yard shell story; CDR Walter retained command through 30 May 1944 (secondary compilations name the relieving officer as Cmdr. Charles M. Keyes) and retired a rear admiral. The claim that Dawson drew 14 years at hard labor until Roosevelt intervened is described as carried by multiple sources but with 'no readily available proof.' Confirms every man aboard survived the 10 June 1945 sinking.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (events); 2021 (analysis)
- Population
- Crew 1943-1945; Iowa (BB-61) with embarked presidential party
- Limitations
- Reputable specialist naval-history press, not a government record; its deck-log quotations are verified against the named logs but the article is a secondary synthesis. The Dawson sentence/Roosevelt-intervention claim is carried as unproven legend in both this row and the prose - not as fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-02
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[3]The Lost 52 Project / Tiburon Subsea Inc., 'Bonefish Expedition' announcement (New York, 24 March 2026); expedition press coverage via divernet.com [other_primary]
- Locator
- lost52project.org/Bonefish-Expedition.html (24 March 2026 release text); divernet.com 'Lost 52 Project finds 4 deep WW2 shipwrecks'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The wreck of USS William D. Porter (DD-579) was located in late 2025 by the Lost 52 Project led by Tim Taylor (CEO, Tiburon Subsea Inc.) during the Bonefish Expedition, which also located USS Drexler (DD-741), USS Bonefish (SS-223), and the Japanese merchantman Konzan Maru; announced 24 March 2026. The release states the Porter 'met her fate after a series of similar fateful events, with 61 wounded and no loss of life.' Expedition press coverage reports the destroyer wrecks were found at depths of about 3.8 km using multibeam echo-sounder survey and 4D-modeling photogrammetry. Exact wreck coordinates were not publicly released.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2025-2026 (discovery); 1945 (loss)
- Population
- Expedition team; no crew fatalities (61 wounded per release)
- Limitations
- The discovering organization's own announcement - primary source for the discovery event, self-published; no government (NHHC) confirmation of the identification was located as of this research date. The release's '61 wounded' figure is not in DANFS and is carried as attributed. Exact position withheld; the ~3.8 km depth is from secondary press coverage of the expedition. Says nothing about hull materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-03
-
[4]U.S. Naval Academy Notables page - official Medal of Honor citation, Lt. Richard M. McCool Jr., USS LCS(L)(3)-122, action of 10-11 June 1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- usna.edu Notables MOH citation text; seapowermagazine.org 'LPD to be Named for Navy Medal of Honor Recipient' (2018)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official Medal of Honor citation for Lt. Richard M. McCool Jr., commanding USS LCS(L)(3)-122, records that on 10 June 1945 during radar picket duty off Okinawa he 'aided materially in evacuating all survivors from a sinking destroyer which had sustained mortal damage' - the destroyer being USS William D. Porter per Navy League (seapowermagazine.org) and National WWII Museum accounts, which also name LCS(L)(3)-86 as assisting. Confirms from an official source that the crew evacuation was completed without loss of life.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1945-06-10/11
- Population
- DD-579 crew evacuated at sinking (all survived); LCS(L)(3)-122 and -86 rescue crews
- Limitations
- The citation does not name the destroyer (Porter identification comes from Navy League and WWII Museum accounts of the same action); it corroborates the rescue, not any detail of materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-04
-
[5]Destroyer History Foundation, Consolidated Shipbuilding Orange TX builder page; Texas Historical Commission marker program (Consolidated Steel / Supervisor of Shipbuilding markers, Orange, TX); NavSource DD-579 photo index citing NARA 19-LCM ship folder; DANFS specifications block [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS spec block; destroyerhistory.org/destroyers/orange builder page; THC marker texts (hmdb.org m=116221, m=116218); navsource.net/archives/05/579.htm NARA 19-LCM photo captions
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer built May 1942-September 1943 with a four-boiler/60,000-shp geared-steam-turbine plant (DANFS spec block: 35.5 kt, cl. Fletcher; class design 4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, GE turbines) would have carried period-standard asbestos boiler and steam-line insulation, turbine lagging, gaskets, packing, fireproofing, and deck coverings. The builder yard - Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, TX - built twelve Fletcher hulls (DD-569 through DD-580) under a 9 September 1940 federal contract as documented by Texas Historical Commission markers and destroyerhistory.org; the Orange yard is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset and no asbestos/industrial-hygiene documentation for it was located. NavSource's DD-579 captions document Charleston Navy Yard modifications on 24 September 1943 (from NARA 19-LCM DD-579 folder photos) - a documented post-shakedown availability aboard this hull; NARA RG 19 'General Information Books' per-vessel material specifications are an unretrieved archival lead.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades 1942-43; Charleston Navy Yard workers Sept-Oct 1943; crew 1943-45
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding. No ship-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or asbestos statement exists for DD-579; the wreck's interior material condition is undocumented and unsurveyable at ~3.8 km depth. Does not quantify material or establish any individual's exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-05
-
[6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships - the major shipboard application being thermal insulation for machinery, equipment, and piping systems - and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s, placing DD-579's construction (1942-43) and entire commissioned service (July 1943 - June 1945) inside the documented asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full report text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403 - product-page description used).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-06
-
[7]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches (type=o opinions and type=r dockets), 2026-09-27, via the fleet-paced helper only [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-08 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweep (authenticated API v4, fleet-paced, 2026-09-27): 'USS William D. Porter' (type=o) returned ZERO hits - no published opinion names the ship; 'DD-579' (type=o) returned ZERO hits - no published opinion cites the hull number; 'William D. Porter' (type=o) returned 17 hits, ALL classified as name collisions - persons named William D. Porter in property, probate, criminal, and insurance opinions dated 1845-2009 (e.g., WEIN II LLC v. Porter, N.C. App. 2009, a land dispute naming a defendant William D. Porter; In re Spencer, R.I. 1887, a will case naming a grand-nephew William D. Porter) - none references the vessel or asbestos. Docket index (type=r): 'USS William D. Porter' ZERO dockets; 'DD-579' ZERO dockets; 'William D. Porter' returned 3 dockets, ALL name collisions - two personal Chapter 7 bankruptcies (N.D. Ohio 14-52824; M.D.N.C. 05-51189) and a Motors Liquidation Co. (GM) Ch. 11 service-list exhibit (S.D.N.Y. 09-50026, ECF 6847-3) in which 'William D. Porter' occurs once as a person in a 1,446-page affidavit-of-service exhibit. Classification: no qualifying asbestos litigation for DD-579 located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 2026-09-27
- Limitations
- Litigation search coverage is limited to CourtListener-indexed state/federal opinions and federal dockets; unindexed state trial-court filings and settled MDL-875 claimant records are not covered. 'USS Porter' unqualified is high-collision (DD-59, DD-356, DD-800, DDG-78, plus TB-6) and was not treated as naming this hull absent a hull-number or date-window match. The GM-bankruptcy hit is asbestos-adjacent (an asbestos-claims committee exists in that case) but the William D. Porter there is a creditor person, not the vessel. No search can prove the absence of all possible litigation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-07
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[8]Batch-3551 search ledger (this record): DANFS via hazegray/Wayback; USNI Naval History deck-log review; Lost 52 Project announcement; USNA MoH citation; NARA Special List 44; NARA asbestos research guide; Atlas shipyards.json builder check; NavSource; THC/destroyerhistory.org builder history; CourtListener sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located for DD-579: no hull survey exists or was generated, no abatement contract or hazmat disclosure exists, and no primary record naming asbestos aboard this hull was found in the sources searched. The exposure-record pathways that produce ship-specific records for other hulls - postwar yard abatement records, museum-ship disclosures, veteran litigation naming the hull - are structurally absent: the ship sank in combat 10 June 1945 (before asbestos documentation practice), lies at approximately 3.8 km off Okinawa as a U.S. Navy sunken military craft, and was never in service during the asbestos-litigation era.
- 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 - a 1942-43 steam destroyer's era-standard insulation applications are documented at class/era level, and the sunken hull plausibly retains its 1943-45 materials, but no interior characterization exists and none is feasible at this depth. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-08
-
[9]NARA Special List 44 (named-vessel deck log spans); NARA 'Researching Navy Asbestos Exposure' guided topic; NARA RG 19-LCM DD-579 ship folder (photo captions via NavSource); RG 38 WWII action reports [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 'William D. Porter (DD-579) 7/6/1943-6/10/1945'; archives.gov/research/military/navy/guided-topics/asbestos; navsource.net/archives/05/579.htm (19-LCM citations)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holdings for this hull identified but not retrieved: Special List 44 lists William D. Porter (DD-579) deck logs spanning 7/6/1943-6/10/1945 - the complete commissioned span, ending the day of sinking; NavSource photo captions document a DD-579 folder in the NARA 19-LCM (Bureau of Ships ship photographic) group including as-completed and post-Charleston-modification configuration shots; the ship's WWII action reports (Lingayen, Okinawa operations) sit in RG 38; and any surviving record of the November 1943 Bermuda inquiry into the Iowa torpedo incident would be in Navy General Court-Martial / inquiry records. NARA's Navy asbestos research guide maps the relevant series for hull-level material inquiry (RG 19 ship files, General/Ship Information Books, S39 insulation drawings). BuShips hull spec files for DD-579 are not digitized.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-27
- Study period
- 1943-1945 records; indexed 2026
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - the records exist per NARA indexes and NavSource citations but were not retrieved or reviewed. Deck logs, photo folders, and GIB/SIB files may document material work aboard but no content is asserted here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-william-d-porter-dd579-09