Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 686-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-pkt-686-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-533' - live NHHC page, published 3 August 2015 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS 'LST-533' full entry (live page verified 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-533 laid down 29 September 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 1 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. H. D. Peoples; commissioned 27 January 1944, Lt. C. E. Hanks in command. Assigned to the European theater in WWII; participated in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. After the war she 'performed occupation duty in Europe until early February 1953.' Named Cheboygan County (LST-533) 1 July 1955 after a county in Michigan. Decommissioned 1 December 1955; recommissioned 18 November 1961 and served the Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; decommissioned again May 1969; struck from the Navy list 15 September 1974. One battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1974 (naval service through striking)
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops up to ~163
- Limitations
- Authoritative service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. The 'occupation duty in Europe until early February 1953' claim is ship-specific (sister LST-532's DANFS entry instead records Atlantic Fleet service) but is not independently corroborated - station locations not documented in sources consulted, and NavSource's CO roster is silent for 1946-1955 (see gaps). DANFS gives May 1969 for the final decommissioning while NavSource says 'after July 1969' - conflict carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Cheboygan County (LST-533) - specification block, campaign table, CO roster, and photo captions citing NARA/USCG stills (page last updated 30 December 2022) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 10/16/160533, specifications block, campaign table, CO roster, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identifies the hull as LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship; international radio call sign NEAN. Specification block: two General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp each), single Falk main reduction gears, three diesel-drive 100 kW 230V D.C. ship's service generators, two propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders, 11.6 knots trial - a diesel plant with no boilers. Complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers / 147 enlisted. Commissioned 27 January 1944, LT. Clarence E. Hanks USN; Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; campaign: Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944; one battle star. Named USS Cheboygan County (LST-533) 1 July 1955; decommissioned 1 December 1955; recommissioned 18 November 1961; decommissioned 'after July 1969'; struck from the Naval Register 15 September 1974; sold for scrapping 1 December 1975 by DRMS. CO roster: LT. Hanks (27 Jan 1944-1946); gap; LT. R.C. Beardslee Jr. (18 Nov 1961-27 Jul 1963); LT. A.E. Buchanan (27 Jul 1963-2 Aug 1965); LT. J.D. Allemang (2 Aug 1965-8 May 1967); LT. L.R. Durkee (8 May 1967-6 May 1969); LT. T.D. Greeson (6 May 1969-15 Aug 1969). Photo captions place the ship beaching at Normandy June 1944 (US Army Signal Corps and USCG photos 26-G-2517, 26-G-2515/NARA 205578624), in a training invasion near Ft. Pierce FL November 1962, and moored at Rodman Naval Station, Panama Canal Zone, mid-1960s. Ribbon bar: American Campaign; Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign (1 star); WWII Victory; National Defense Service Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1975
- Population
- Ship's company ~117 per spec block; embarked troops up to ~163
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos content stated or implied. Decommissioning given as 'after July 1969' conflicts with DANFS 'May 1969' and sits awkwardly with its own CO roster ending 15 August 1969 - in gaps. CO roster is empty between Hanks (to 1946) and the 1961 recommissioning - a documentation gap, not evidence of inactivity (DANFS records occupation duty to February 1953). Final-disposition line names no scrap buyer or yard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-02
-
[4]NARA, 'USS LST-533 - War History,' NAID 77707507 - ship-submitted history, Serial 302, CO to Secretary of the Navy (Public Information Bureau), 5 December 1945, signed C. E. Hanks; RG 38, WWII War Diaries/Other Operational Records and Histories, Microfilm Roll A2107, 4 images digitized via Fold3 [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/77707507; images A_2107 0423-0426 (transmittal letter Serial 302 + Enclosure (A) 'History of USS LST-533' + supplemental material)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-generated primary narrative: built by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, winter 1943; 'formally placed in full commission at New Orleans, Louisiana' 27 January 1944, Lt. C. E. Hanks USN; shakedown at Saint Andrews Bay FL; loaded an LCT at New Orleans; sighted an empty lifeboat of S.S. Peter Finley Dunne in the Gulf; Ambrose Light, Pier #42 North River, Hell Gate, Davisville RI (tank-deck cargo), Boston; departed the U.S. 25 March 1944. Halifax convoy sailed 27 March - over ninety ships in eleven columns; icebergs/field ice forced a course change. 6 April 1944 a German submarine torpedoed and sank two Norwegian merchant ships on either side of LST-533 (three men lost total; submarine believed sunk). Anchored in the Solent off the Isle of Wight 16 April 1944; worked half a dozen south-coast ports; Plymouth Harbor air raid night of 28 May. Combat loading for the invasion 3 June 1944 in the Helford River, Cornwall ('Frenchman's Creek') - units of the 136th Infantry, U.S. Army, taken aboard; convoys recalled 4 June, sailed 5 June in Convoy B-3 (support group towing pontoons, timed ~24 hours after H-hour). Land sighted 0859 and anchored off Vierville-sur-Mer 1100 on 7 June; debarked infantry by LCVPs; 'equipped as a hospital ship' - first returning boats brought casualties; attempted beaching 1950 on 8 June failed on the beach gradient; retracted and Rhino barges completed unloading by midnight. Returned to England with 40 Army casualties; regular cross-channel ferry service from Portland, Dorset; fall 1944 ports Cherbourg, Le Havre, Rouen; last channel trip V-E Day 8 May 1945 - totals 42 round trips, 7,199 troops, 2,701 vehicles, 637 passengers, 701 prisoners. Plymouth overhaul; embarked a PT boat, 96 former POWs and 24 French Merchant Marine passengers; departed Eddystone Light 14 June 1945. Norfolk 1 July 1945; New York; Davisville; Hoboken NJ shipyard for Pacific-bound alteration/modernization - half-complete at V-J Day (14 August 1945); work resumed in part; Chesapeake Bay refresher; Navy Day at Camden NJ; then general duty under COMSERVLANT hauling cargo Portland ME-Newport RI as of 5 December 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Ship's company; embarked 136th Infantry units; casualties handled as an equipped hospital ship; returning POWs and passengers
- Limitations
- Ship-submitted wartime history written by the CO - the most detailed primary account located; it ends 5 December 1945, so it does not cover the 1946-1953 European occupation duty DANFS records, the 1955-1969 period, or disposal. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information. Says 'units of the 136th Infantry' embarked for D-Day - a Wikipedia claim of 29th Infantry Division transport (citing a YouTube stock-footage link) conflicts and is not carried; see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-03
-
[5]Cheboygan News (Cheboygan Daily Tribune), '"You Call, We Haul:" The USS Cheboygan County,' Matthew J. Friday, 5 August 2018 - local-history feature on the namesake ship [reputable_press]
- Locator
- cheboygannews.com story/news/2018/08/05 (live page verified 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Adds postwar operational detail beyond DANFS: after returning to the U.S. 1 July 1945 she stayed in active service with the Atlantic Fleet, providing supplies to bases in Cuba, Panama, Bermuda, Newfoundland, and Africa, and was commended for battle efficiency; reassigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean in spring 1954; 'later in the year' assigned to the top-secret 'Project Caesar' - the cover name for the Navy's SOSUS undersea-surveillance installation program (per official Navy histories of SOSUS). June 1955 to Chester, Pennsylvania for inactivation overhaul; renamed that period 'to honor that proud county in Michigan'; Green Cove Springs FL 1 September 1955; decommissioned 1 December 1955; reactivated 18 November 1961; reported participation in the Cuban missile blockade of October 1962; decommissioned May 1969; struck September 1974; sold for scrap 1 December 1975. Ship's motto 'You Call, We Haul.' Awards listed: American Campaign, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign (with battle star), WWII Victory, National Defense Service Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1975
- Population
- Ship's company across the postwar and recommissioned periods
- Limitations
- Local newspaper history feature compiled for the namesake county - reputable press, not an official Navy source; the Sixth Fleet/Project Caesar and Cuban-blockade details are not corroborated by DANFS or NavSource and are carried at press level. Article loosely dates the renaming 'that same month' (June 1955) against DANFS's 1 July 1955 - DANFS date carried. Gives complement 'seven officers and 104 enlisted' against NavSource's 13/104 - in gaps. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-04
-
[6]Naval Cover Museum wiki, 'CHEBOYGAN COUNTY LST 533' - name/designation history, postmark artifacts, awards list [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/CHEBOYGAN_COUNTY_LST_533 - postmark table and designation history
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Volunteer philatelic archive documenting artifacts of this hull: commissioning period 'November 18 1961 to May 1969' (corroborates DANFS's May 1969 decommissioning against NavSource's 'after July 1969'); a packet-boat duplex postmark, Balboa, Canal Zone, 26 April 1967 - physical artifact placing the ship in the Canal Zone, consistent with the NavSource photo at Rodman Naval Station in the mid-1960s; namesake 'a county in Michigan'; career awards American Campaign, EAME w/ 1 battle star, WWII Victory, National Defense Service Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1961-1969
- Population
- Ship's company, Canal Zone operations 1967
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled museum wiki; its value here is the physical postmark artifact, which is primary. Note 'the ship had no postal facilities' - the Balboa postmark is a packet-boat marking applied ashore, documenting the ship's Canal Zone presence rather than onboard post office operation. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-05
-
[7]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), 'Missouri Valley Bridge, Evansville IN' - wartime yard production table [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Missouri Valley Bridge production table, row for yard hull #58 / LST-533
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-side production record: the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Company yard at Evansville, Indiana, on the Ohio River, was built for the war effort, produced 171 LSTs, was destroyed by fire in 1946, and is now a parking lot (ways visible at low water). LST-533 appears as yard hull #58: FY1943, keel laid 9/29/1943, launched 12/1/1943, delivered 1/27/1944 - 63 days on the ways, 57 days in the water, 120 total days; disposition 'Struck 1974.' The surviving museum LST-325 in Evansville came from the same wartime yard program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1974
- Population
- Yard workforce (1943-1944 construction); construction-period crew
- Limitations
- Independent shipbuilding-history database widely used for U.S. yard production data; corroborates DANFS/NavSource build dates exactly. Documents construction and delivery only - no asbestos, materials, or hazmat information. 'Delivered' 27 Jan 1944 coincides with the DANFS/war-history commissioning date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-06
-
[8]NARA catalog search '"USS LST-533"' - 141 file units; and '"Cheboygan County"' - 1,873 results including deck-log file units for this hull (e.g., 'Cheboygan County (LST-533) - November 1966,' NAID 204711948, RG 24 Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov searches '"USS LST-533"' and '"Cheboygan County"'; NAID 204711948 (November 1966 deck log); NAID 77707507 (war history, cited as ev-03)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-generated primary records exist at NARA beyond the war history: deck logs in RG 24 (Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations) covering at least the recommissioned period (e.g., November 1966, NAID 204711948), plus group-level records (COM LST GR 49 war diaries) in RG 38. These logs could document yard availabilities, repair periods, and station detail for the 1961-1969 period and may hold the missing 1946-1955 detail.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1961-1969
- Population
- Ship's company, 1961-1969 (deck-log period located)
- Limitations
- Archival lead, not an asbestos finding: deck logs document operations and locations, not materials or insulation. Not all catalog hits are this hull - 'Cheboygan County' results include Michigan-county civil records; the 141 'USS LST-533' file units are mostly series-level matches and were not enumerated page by page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-07
-
[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 and program under which this hull was built (1943, wartime LST mass production at an inland Ohio River yard). 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 1945 Hoboken alteration, the June 1955 Chester inactivation overhaul, and the November 1961 reactivation are additional disturbance events.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1943-1976
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers (Evansville, 1943); wartime crew; yard workers (1945 Hoboken, 1955 Chester, 1961 reactivation); 1975-76 shipbreakers (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-cheboygan-county-lst533-08
-
[10]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 - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place on active Navy hulls for decades.
- 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 that postdates this hull's service: she decommissioned in May 1969 and was stricken 15 September 1974, before either policy existed, and was sold by DRMS in December 1975. 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-cheboygan-county-lst533-09
-
[11]Batch-7043 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC live page; NavSource 160533; NARA catalog and digitized war history (NAID 77707507) and deck log (NAID 204711948); Cheboygan News 2018; Naval Cover Museum; shipbuildinghistory.com Missouri Valley Bridge production table; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener API v4 and web index; shipyards.json [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-01 through sl-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LST-533 / Cheboygan County was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener API opinion queries '"LST-533"' and '"LST 533"' returned zero results; '"Cheboygan County"' returned 179 opinion results that are name collisions with the Michigan county (e.g., Sunrise Resort Association Inc. v. Cheboygan County Road Commission, Mich. 2023). The filtered opinion query '"Cheboygan County" asbestos' and the docket-level sweep were blocked by fleet-wide CourtListener request pacing during this pass; a web-index fallback over courtlistener.com returned only collisions (a Cheboygan Area Schools Michigan case cited inside a Vermont asbestos opinion; an unrelated docket phone-number match for '533').
- Verification
- verified
- 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, and the hull's disturbance history (1945 Hoboken alteration, 1955 inactivation overhaul, 1961 reactivation) and 1975-76 scrapping are undocumented for hazmat. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Docket-level litigation coverage is incomplete due to the documented fleet-pacing block; the 'asbestos'-filtered opinion query could not be run.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-cheboygan-county-lst533-10