Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive, AMCU-8 ex-LCI(L)-400 - chronology and AMCU-7 class specification block [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 11/0408 - chronology block and 'AMCU-7 Class' specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- AMCU-8 (call sign Nan-King-How-Peter) was laid down 19 December 1943 by the George Lawley and Sons Corp., Neponset, MA; launched 29 December 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-400 on 31 December 1943 under LTJG D. R. Miller, USN; reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-8, 10 March 1945; transferred to the War Shipping Administration in November 1947; fate unknown. NavSource notes no DANFS history exists for AMCU-8. Spec block (LCI(L)-351 class): displacement 216 t light / 234 t landing / 389 t loaded (1945: 387 t); length 158'5.5" (1945: 159'); beam 23'3" (1945: 23'8"); speed 16 kts max (1945: 14.4); complement 23 (1945: 41); troop capacity 188; armament four 20mm plus two .50-cal; propulsion two sets of four 225-bhp GM 6051-71 diesels, GM single reduction gear, twin variable-pitch propellers; 2-inch plastic splinter protection.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (23-41 depending on era/source) plus embarked troops
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; the chronology is corroborated by the shipbuildinghistory.com yard table and NAVPERS-derived awards record. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. No decommissioning or striking date is given for this hull. The specification block is class-generic LCI data, not a hull survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-01
-
[2]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) - LCI(L)' master hull table + 'George S. Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA' yard page [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com LCI(L) table row 'LCI(L) 400'; Lawley yard page hull table row 'LCI(L) 400' and yard-history preamble
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Both tables carry the same hull row: LCI(L) 400, U.S. Navy landing craft, 216 t / 158 ft, delivered 31 December 1943 by Lawley & Sons, Neponset, 'Later AMCU 8, sold 1947?'. Yard history: George S. Lawley Sr. opened his first yacht yard in Scituate in 1866, moved to the former Putnam Nail Works at Point Norfolk, Neponset, in 1909, and built hulls to number 1677, including flying boats and the Navy's first airship DN-1; the yard closed in 1945 after building dozens of WWII landing craft (LCI(L)s, LCS(L)s, and Navy tugs).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1943-1947 (hull entry); 1866-1945 (yard operation)
- Population
- Lawley & Sons Neponset workforce (1943)
- Limitations
- Secondary reference (corroborated by NavSource for builder and delivery/commissioning date). Its 'sold 1947?' disposition is the compiler's inference consistent with the November 1947 WSA transfer, not a documented sale. Contains no asbestos or materials information. George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry - carried in gaps. Rielly's 'American Amphibious Gunboats' Lawley hull list omits 400 (a list omission; both NavSource and the Colton yard table carry it).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-02
-
[3]Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual NAVPERS 15,790 (Rev. 1953), LCI(L) 328-538 battle-star table (transcribed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVPERS 15,790-derived table, 'LCI(L) 400' rows (E219, E5, E7 engagements)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official awards record credits LCI(L) 400 with exactly three World War II engagements, all in the European-African-Middle Eastern theater: convoy UGS-38, 20 April 1944 (E219); Invasion of Normandy including bombardment of Cherbourg, 6-25 June 1944 (E5); and Invasion of Southern France, 15 August-25 September 1944 (E7) - three battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944 (engagements); 1953 (manual revision)
- Population
- Ship's company during the credited engagements, April-September 1944
- Limitations
- Citation is a transcription of NAVPERS 15,790 hosted by a commercial ribbon vendor; the primary manual was not located in digitized public form during this pass. The engagement list is corroborated by crew member Guy Stayton's oral history (Atlantic convoy to England; first wave Juno Beach; 45th Infantry Division to southern France). Does not document asbestos, materials, or refit periods.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-03
-
[4]Oral History Interview with Guy Stayton, 9 August 2001, National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation Oral History Collection, accession OH00286 (22 pp.), via UNT Portal to Texas History [museum_official]
- Locator
- Catalog description and transcript pp. 6-20 (OCR): engine-room duty, Juno landing, southern France passages
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Electrician's Mate Guy Stayton served aboard USS LCI-400: he recalled the ship as 'built in Lawless Ship Yard in Boston' (Lawley), about 150 feet long, flat-bottomed, with a crew of 'twenty five men and three officers' and 'two quads of GM marine engines' with two throttles. A 'Black Gang' engine-room sailor, he ran both throttles four-on/eight-off across the Atlantic in a ~200-ship convoy (21-22 days to the Azores, then on to England), slept behind the engine-room switchboard at General Quarters, went in with the first wave to Juno Beach at 0800 on D-Day carrying British troops (grounded 12 hours among mined obstacles; engines shut down with no water to cool the generators), made further Channel runs, then hauled the 45th Infantry Division into southern France (embarkation point recalled as Anzio - 'I think it was') and reached Marseille. Hospitalized five months in Naples with hepatitis, he never returned to the ship; he later served on USS LST-387 and was discharged March 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (service aboard); 2001 (interview)
- Population
- Engine-room crew ('Black Gang'); ship's company ~28
- Limitations
- Primary crew account recorded ~57 years after the events; informal details (ship length, yard name, convoy size) are recollections. The transcript never mentions asbestos, insulation, or lagging - it documents the occupational station (engine room adjacent to the diesel plant) but no material content. Stayton left the ship in late 1944, before the March 1945 AMCU reclassification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-04
-
[5]National Archives, Special List #44, by Ship Numbers (inventory of Navy deck logs) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF page 23, 'LCI(L)-400' row: 12/31/1943 - 2/28/1945
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List #44 lists an LCI(L)-400 log interval of 31 December 1943 through 28 February 1945 - commissioning through eight days before the AMCU-8 reclassification. This is a lead for requesting the underlying deck logs, which would document the ship's 1944 operations, refit periods, and crew.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (log interval)
- Limitations
- Only the inventory was reviewed. Underlying logs were not obtained; coverage ends 28 February 1945, so no log coverage exists for the AMCU-8 period (March 1945 onward) in this inventory. Log contents - maintenance, materials, personnel - are unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-05
-
[6]NavSource Online: Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) & Coastal Minehunter (AMCU/MHC) index + sister-ship pages AMCU-7 (11/0407), AMCU-9 (11/0409), AMCU-10 (11/0410), Blackbird MHC-11 (11/0411) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource AMCU index 11/04idx (class structure); pages 11/0407, 11/0409, 11/0410, 11/0411 (sister chronologies and AMCU spec block)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The AMCU-7 class comprised exactly five LCI(L) conversions - AMCU-7 (ex-589), AMCU-8 (ex-400), AMCU-9 (ex-409), AMCU-10 (ex-513), AMCU-11 (ex-515) - all reclassified 10 March 1945 as Coastal Minesweepers (Underwater Locator), designed to locate mines rather than sweep them; the class is distinct from the 1952-53 bird-named program. Sister records show the conversions were executed: AMCU-7 ran post-conversion sea trials near New London c. March 1945 and deployed to Japan (entered San Francisco Bay 1 April 1946 after 45 days from Kobe); AMCU-9 embarked General Electric employees and Bureau of Ships officers for underwater sound testing off Block Island and Niantic Bay, 1 July-27 August 1945, decommissioned July 1946 at San Francisco; AMCU-10 decommissioned July 1946 and was sold as the tug Mohawk; Blackbird was named 3 January 1955, reclassified MHC-11 on 7 February 1955, decommissioned 2 April 1958 and struck 1960. Executed-AMCU class spec: 387 t, 159 ft, complement 41, armament none. Of 50 AMCUs, all but Bittern (AMCU-43) were conversions; all AMCUs remaining on the NVR were reclassified MHC on 7 February 1955.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1945-1958 (class span); applied to hull 400 1945-1947
- Population
- AMCU-7-class conversion workforces and crews (1945); post-war mine-clearance crews in Japanese waters
- Limitations
- Class/program context from sister-hull pages - establishes what the wartime AMCU-7-class conversion involved and the class's typical fate, NOT what was actually done to hull 400: her own conversion execution, site, scope, and decommissioning are undocumented in the sources searched. Volunteer-compiled archival pages.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-06
-
[7]Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AK-52, 'M/V Husky II' (ex-USS LCI(L) 653 / USS Avocet AMCU-16/MHC-16), Library of Congress [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 data pages 2-8, Historical Context and Minehunter sections, footnotes 7-9, 40-41
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- HAER documents sister-hull construction typical of the type: 159' welded-steel hull; eight six-cylinder General Motors Series 71 diesel truck engines, four per shaft, with variable-pitch propellers; 2-inch plastic splinter protection described as crushed granite pebbles embedded in bitumen; and the later 1952-53 AMCU program in which twenty-five LCI(L)s were converted to coastal underwater-locator minesweepers (fifteen actually recommissioned, eight further conversions cancelled) - a different, later cohort from hull 400's March 1945 reclassification.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1944-1960 (report scope); construction details applied 1943
- Population
- LCI(L)-class crews; AMCU conversion-yard workforces
- Limitations
- Documents a sister hull (LCI(L)-653) and the 1952-53 program, not this hull or the 1945 AMCU-7-class conversions - class/program-level evidence. The word 'asbestos' does not appear anywhere in the 23-page report; the splinter-protection material is described as granite pebbles in bitumen, with no asbestos stated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-07
-
[8]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' Am J Ind Med 12(4):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am J Ind Med 12(4):359-373 (1987), DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700120402
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that WWII-era U.S. shipyards extensively installed asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and gaskets in naval construction - the era and production system in which this hull was built. For a diesel-powered landing craft with no boilers, the era-relevant applications concentrate in diesel exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and packing, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1943-1947
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers (Neponset MA, 1943); wartime crew and embarked troops
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship plus class/type inference; the source does not name this hull or class and does not establish that any specific material aboard this craft contained asbestos. No ship-specific product is verified; the diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels. The hull left Navy custody in 1947 - relevance is to historical (wartime and possible conversion-yard) exposure only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy documentation that never governed this hull: she left Navy custody in November 1947, roughly three decades before either policy existed. Context for the era fleet picture only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403); content via product-page description, consistent with prior batches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-09
-
[10]Naval Cover Museum wiki, 'AMCU 8' page - designation history and postmark catalog [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/AMCU_8 - designation history list and postmark table (Locy 2z, 1946-07-20)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Naval Cover Museum catalogs a 1946 cover for USS AMCU-8 with a Locy Type 2z postmark dated 20 July 1946 (the museum notes the ship had no postal facilities, so dates reflect postmarking devices). This independently corroborates that hull 400 remained in naval service under the AMCU-8 designation in mid-1946 - between her March 1945 reclassification and November 1947 WSA transfer.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 1946
- Population
- Ship's company, mid-1946
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained philatelic catalog; the cover itself was not inspected and the catalog derives dates only from museum holdings. Confirms in-service status at a point in mid-1946 but establishes nothing about location, duty, or material condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-10
-
[11]CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches (this record's search_ledger CL rows) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows CL01-CL05; research/uss-amcu-8-amcu8/cl-*.json
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located in completed CourtListener searches: zero opinion-index results for 'AMCU-8'/'AMCU 8' and for 'LCI(L)-400'/'LCI-400'/'LCI 400'; zero results for 'LSIL-400'/'LSI(L)-400'/'LSI-400' variants; docket-index queries returned zero results on all hull identifiers and 'USS AMCU-8'. No pleading, discovery, trial, or appellate exposure finding exists in the searched indexes.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 2026-09-23
- Limitations
- CourtListener coverage cannot exclude unindexed or unavailable litigation; a small landing craft's hull number is a low-collision token, so zero hits are meaningful within index scope but not proof no filing ever named the vessel. Docket-level coverage details and any throttled/unfinished queries are recorded in the search ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-11
-
[12]Batch-1678 search ledger (this record): NavSource AMCU-8/index/sister pages; shipbuildinghistory.com LCI(L) and Lawley yard tables; NAVPERS 15,790-derived awards table; National Museum of the Pacific War oral history OH00286; NARA Special List #44; HAER AK-52; CourtListener API v4; shipyards.json yard check; MARAD vessel history; Naval Cover Museum; uswarships.jounin.jp compilation [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-01 through sl-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LCI(L)-400, LCIL-400, LSIL-400, or AMCU-8 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The crew oral history never mentions asbestos; the HAER sister-hull record never uses the word. The hull left Navy custody in November 1947 and its fate is unknown; no NRHP/NHL designation, museum record, or surviving-hull disclosure exists to carry a present-day materials statement.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-23
- Study period
- 2026-09-23
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-built naval craft is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and a March 1945 underwater-locator conversion of undocumented site and scope may have added or disturbed material. The finding addresses documentation only: no source establishes asbestos presence or absence aboard this hull, and none establishes or defeats any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-8-amcu8-12