USS Caddo Parish (LST-515)

Evidence

13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).

1. [1]research packet 683-packet.md [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-caddo-parish-lst515-pkt-683-packet-md

2. [2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-515' - live NHHC page [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC DANFS LST-515 full entry (live page)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   LST-515 was laid down 3 September 1943 at Seneca, Ill., by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 31 December 1943, sponsored by Miss Rebekah Brown; commissioned 28 January 1944. Assigned to the European theater; participated in the invasion of Normandy, June 1944. Postwar: occupation duty 'in the Far East' until mid-November 1952 per DANFS (conflicts with NavSource's Europe-clasp occupation periods and NHHC Mediterranean photography - see gaps); postwar service with the Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Renamed Caddo Parish (LST-515) 1 July 1955 after a Louisiana parish; decommissioned 20 October 1955; recommissioned 2 August 1963; served in Vietnam until transferred to the Republic of the Philippines as grant aid 26 November 1969, serving as Bataan (LT-85). One battle star for WWII; nine battle stars, one Navy Unit Commendation, and one Meritorious Unit Commendation for Vietnam service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1969

   Population

   Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops

   Limitations

   Authoritative service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. The 'occupation duty in the Far East until mid-November 1952' clause conflicts with NavSource's Navy Occupation Service Medal (Europe clasp) periods (1951, 1952, 1954) and with NHHC photography placing the ship at Tarragona (June 1954) and Malta (August 1954) - the Far East wording is carried as printed but treated as suspect; logged in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-01

3. [3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Caddo Parish (LST-515) - specification block, campaign tables, CO roster, awards, and chronology [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net 10/16/160515 - spec block, campaign tables, CO roster, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship. Placed in reduced commission 15 January 1944 for transit to the fitting-out yard at Algiers, LA; commissioned in full 28 January 1944, LT John H. Doyle USN in command. Europe-Africa-Middle East campaign: Invasion of Normandy, 6-25 June 1944. Navy Occupation Service Medal periods (Europe clasp): 4 May-2 November 1951; 8-15 November 1952; 18 May-31 August 1954. Named USS Caddo Parish (LST-515) 1 July 1955; decommissioned 20 October 1955; recommissioned 2 August 1963. Vietnam campaign table lists continuous in-country/contiguous-waters service 1965-1969 (Vietnam Defense through Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969). Transferred to the Philippine Navy and decommissioned 26 November 1969, renamed RPS Bataan (LT-85); struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; final disposition 'fate unknown'. Specification block: 2 General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp each), single Falk main reduction gears, 3 diesel-drive 100 kW 230V D.C. ship's service generators, twin propellers 1,700 shp, 11.6 knots trial - a diesel plant with no boilers. Complement 13 officers/104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers/147 enlisted; call sign NDYR. Photo captions document the ship beached at Tarragona, Spain, 19 June 1954 (US National Archives photo), entering Grand Harbor, Malta, 13 August 1954 (NHHC photo NH 84855), and under way circa 1965.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1969

   Population

   Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops (16 officers/147 enlisted capacity)

   Limitations

   Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap and more precise on campaign date bands, the CO roster, and the Europe-clasp occupation periods. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-02

4. [4]NHHC, 'Exercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands' (A. Bisno, NHHC Communication and Outreach Division, April 2019) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NHHC Exercise Tiger page, 'Convoy T-4 in Lyme Bay' section

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC documents that Convoy T-4 - the convoy attacked by German S-boats off Slapton Sands on the night of 27/28 April 1944 during the Exercise Tiger invasion rehearsal - was 'the charge of Commander Bernard Skahill, USN, embarked on LST-515.' LST-515 was therefore present in the attacked convoy as the convoy commander's embarked ship; LST-507 and LST-531 were sunk and LST-289 was damaged.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-04-28

   Population

   Convoy T-4 crews and embarked Army troops; ship's company

   Limitations

   Official NHHC operational history naming this hull; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. Establishes presence and flagship role in Convoy T-4, not casualty figures for this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-03

5. [5]NHHC H-Gram 029-1, 'Exercise Tiger' (Director's Corner) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NHHC H-gram 029-1, Exercise Tiger section

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC H-gram 029-1 records that after the S-boat attack scattered Convoy T-4, LST-515 - Skahill's flagship - initially drew away under standing no-rescue procedure; the ship's skipper, Lieutenant John Doyle, argued with Skahill to go back for survivors, and the question was put to the crew in a 'voice vote' that carried; Skahill gave in, and LST-515 returned to the scene along with HMS Saladin and 'rescued several hundred soldiers and sailors, many badly burned, and most with advanced hypothermia.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-04-28

   Population

   Convoy T-4 survivors (Army and Navy); LST-515 ship's company

   Limitations

   Official NHHC historical summary; contains no asbestos or materials information. The H-gram text names 'Jones' as putting the voice-vote question - an apparent error for skipper Doyle (no Jones appears elsewhere in the account); carried here without resolving the name. The H-gram's 'several hundred' figure differs from the veterans'-association account citing 132 survivors (see ev-05); both are carried as written.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-04

6. [6]Mobile Riverine Force Association, 'History of The USS Caddo Parish (LST-515)' [other_primary]

   Locator

   mrfa.org Caddo Parish (LST-515) history page

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Veterans'-association ship history adds operational detail: Caddo Parish was one of eleven LSTs of Landing Ship Squadron TWO (LANSHIPRON-2) out of the U.S. Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA; served with the U.S. Expeditionary Force in the Dominican Republic in 1965; in December 1965 was refitted with single 40mm gun mounts fore and aft and transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving Chu Lai, South Vietnam, March 1966; operated with the Mobile Riverine Force out of Vung Tau in a combat-support role; and in a March 1969 rocket attack at Dong Tam took three or four direct hits to port (one rocket entering the berthing compartment nearest the galley), wounding four men, with repairs made at Subic Bay before returning to Delta ports (Nha Be, Dong Tam, Can Tho/Bien Thuy).

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-1969

   Population

   Ship's company 1963-1969; embarked/riverine personnel supported

   Limitations

   Veterans'-association compilation - secondary sourcing, not an official record. Exercise Tiger survivor count (132, attributed to gunnery officer Brent Wahlberg) is a single-source figure differing from NHHC's 'several hundred.' Awards tally here ('(10) Battle Stars') conflicts with DANFS's nine battle stars - DANFS is carried. Refit and repair events are plausible disturbance points for era materials but carry no materials or asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-05

7. [7]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Caddo Parish (LST-515) awards page - Secretary of the Navy citation texts [other_primary]

   Locator

   navsource.net 10/16/160515a - citation texts

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The awards page reproduces the Meritorious Unit Commendation citation to LANDING SHIP SQUADRON TWO 'for meritorious service from 1 September 1968 through 1 May 1969 in providing armed logistic support throughout Southeast Asia and, specifically, in the hostile environment of the Mekong Delta,' under operational control of Commander, Military Sea Transportation Service, Far East - the squadron to which Caddo Parish belonged during the cited period. The page also reproduces a Navy Unit Commendation citation to U.S. Naval Support Activity, Saigon (16 March 1966-30 April 1972).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1968-09-01 to 1969-05-01 (MUC); 1966-1972 (NUC, NSA Saigon)

   Population

   LANSHIPRON-2 and ship's company, Sep 1968-May 1969

   Limitations

   Unit-citation texts are official but apply to the squadron/activity, not to this hull individually; they document the context of her cited Vietnam service, not an asbestos or materials condition. Applicability of the NSA Saigon NUC to this ship's company as attached personnel is not stated and is not asserted.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-06

8. [8]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (January 1945), LST tabulated data and roster (shipscribe.com scan with text layer) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SD-1945 v2, LANDING SHIP, TANK (LST) tabulated data pp. 168-175 (PDF pp. 185-192) and List of Naval Vessels LST roster

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The official BuShips design table groups LST-515 in the LST491-541 block: 328 ft overall / 316 ft waterline, 50 ft beam, ~2,366 tons light / 3,960-4,080 tons trial, 11.6 knots trial, machinery '2 G. M. Diesel, 12-567A' at 1,700 shp through Falk single reduction gears, 3 diesel-driven 100 kW 230V D.C. ship's service generators, 4,320 bbl diesel fuel, 2 twin and 4 single 40mm plus 20mm battery, accommodations 13 officers and ~106 enlisted - a diesel plant with no boilers, consistent with the NavSource spec block for this hull.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1945 (document); applied 1943-1944

   Population

   LST-491 design-group construction workforce; ship's company (design level)

   Limitations

   Design-group table, not a hull record: it documents the LST491-541 standard design, not materials installed aboard hull 515 specifically, and contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. Note the class profile's prior citation URL (shipscribe.com/styles/usnaux/sdb/SDB1945v2.pdf) is stale (404 on 2026-10-02); the live location is shipscribe.com/pubs/SDB1945v2.pdf.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-07

9. [9]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 in which this hull was built (1943, at the Chicago Bridge & Iron inland 'cornfield' yard at Seneca, Illinois). For a diesel-powered LST 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; the documented December 1965 refit and the March-April 1969 Subic Bay repair period are potential disturbance points.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1943-1969

   Population

   WWII-era shipyard workers (Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca, 1943-44); wartime and Vietnam-era crew; repair-yard workers (era context)

   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 ship contained asbestos. No ship-specific product is verified; the diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-08

10. [10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]

    Locator

    GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section

    Finding type

    gov_survey

    Finding

    GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. These policies post-date this hull's U.S. Navy custody - she was transferred to the Philippine Navy on 26 November 1969 - so neither could have applied to her during U.S. service.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    1979

    Population

    Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)

    Limitations

    Program-level Navy documentation for era fleet context only; the policies post-date this hull's U.S. custody entirely, so no hull-specific application was possible. Product page retrieved via firecrawl 2026-10-02 (direct curl returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches - standing GAO block); full report PDF linked on the page was not opened.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-09

11. [11]NavalCoverMuseum (Universal Ship Cancellation Society), CADDO PARISH LST 515 - name/designation history [other_primary]

    Locator

    navalcovermuseum.org CADDO PARISH LST 515 - Ship Name and Designation History

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    A collectors'-society name/designation history supplies disposition dates absent from NavSource: struck from the Naval Register 15 September 1979; sold to the Philippines 5 March 1980; struck by the Philippine Navy 1989; fate unknown. The strike-sale sequence is consistent with foreign-transfer disposal practice but is not verified to a primary register document.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    1969-1989

    Limitations

    Secondary compilation (philatelic museum wiki); the 15 September 1979 strike date and 5 March 1980 sale date are not confirmed by a primary source - NavSource reports 'date unknown' for the strike. The page header's 'LST-511 Class' label is an apparent error for LST-491 (all primary sources agree); not carried. No asbestos or materials content.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-10

12. [12]National Archives, Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog - Caddo Parish (LST-515) entry; NARA Catalog series 594258 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations' [other_primary]

    Locator

    archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online - Caddo Parish (LST-515) accordion; catalog.archives.gov search "LST-515" (series 594258)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    NARA's deck-log index lists Caddo Parish (LST-515) with digitized monthly logs for 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969 within series 594258 (Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations); a catalog search for "LST-515" returns ~955 file units (e.g., 'Caddo Parish (LST-515) - October 1967', NAID 7081652). WWII-era (1944-1946) and 1963-1965 logs are not in the digitized set listed.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    1966-1969 (digitized coverage)

    Population

    U.S. Navy crew (logs period)

    Limitations

    Record-location lead only: deck logs are administrative records that may or may not contain material/repair information; they were not reviewed page by page and no asbestos-relevant content is represented as found. Digitized coverage begins with the Vietnam-era recommissioned service; wartime logs exist in RG 24 but are not listed as digitized.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-11

13. [13]Batch-7023 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS entry and NHHC Exercise Tiger/H-gram pages; NavSource 160515 and 160515a; NARA deck-log index and catalog; BuShips SD-1945 v2 (shipscribe); GAO HRD-80-2; NavalCoverMuseum; NVR; CourtListener API v4 via authenticated helper; shipyards.json cross-check [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-01 through sl-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-17

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LST-515 / USS Caddo Parish was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero opinions for the exact phrase "LST-515" and 5 hits for "Caddo Parish" qualified by LST - all name collisions (Louisiana Caddo Parish jurisdiction cases - e.g., Rodessa Oil & Land Co. v. Perkins, La. App. 2012); no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    2026-10-02

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1943-built LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The CourtListener sweep is PARTIAL: the "LST-515" opinion query and the "Caddo Parish"+LST opinion query completed (0 and 5-collision results), but the fleet-wide authenticated pacing limiter blocked the "LST-515" docket, "LST 515" opinion, "USS Caddo Parish" opinion, and "Caddo Parish" docket queries - an access gap, not a no-litigation conclusion. CourtListener coverage is opinion- and docket-metadata level; state-court and unindexed filings are outside the sweep.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-caddo-parish-lst515-12