Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 807-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-188-lcil188-pkt-807-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-188 - build/milestone data, campaign table, specifications, photo captions (verified live 2026-09-29) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150188.htm header timeline, campaign table, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: LCI(L)-1-class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 20 November 1942 at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; launched 11 January 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-188, 23 January 1943, at Port Newark, N.J.; assigned to the Mediterranean Theater with four credited campaigns - Sicilian occupation (9-15 July 1943), Salerno landings (9-21 September 1943), West coast of Italy operations (Anzio-Nettuno advanced landing 22 January - 1 March 1944; Elba and Pianosa landings 17 June 1944), and Invasion of Southern France (15 August - 16 September 1944); decommissioned and struck on unknown dates; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 7 March 1947; final fate unknown; awarded four battle stars for WWII service. Spec block: 236 t. light / 419 t. loaded; 158'5.5"; beam 23'3"; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns; twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades (1942-43); crew 4 officers + 24 enlisted (1943-c.1947); embarked troops (up to 188 per lift)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records but are not independently primary-sourced. No asbestos content. 'Fate unknown' leaves post-1947 disposition undocumented. The spec block's engine line reads '6051 series 71' - almost certainly the GM 6-71 series diesel standard to the class; carried as printed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-01
-
[3]NARA Special List No. 44, 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units' - ship-number sequence (archives.gov PDF, p. 21) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 ship-number PDF, p. 21, rows 'LCI(L)-188 1/23/1943-11/6/1943' and 'LCI(L)-188 12/1/1943-6/30/1945'; digitized-log absence checked against archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Special List 44 inventories two runs of deck logs for LCI(L)-188 at the National Archives: 1/23/1943 - 11/6/1943 and 12/1/1943 - 6/30/1945 (PDF p. 21). Coverage thus spans the ship's entire commissioned wartime service (commissioning 23 January 1943 through 30 June 1945) with one ~24-day gap (7-30 November 1943). These logbooks are not among the deck logs digitized in the National Archives Catalog - the digitized set contains no LCI(L)-188 logs (the only LCI entry digitized is Kestrel, AMCU/MHC-26, ex-LCI-874).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-01-23 to 1945-06-30 (coverage); verified 2026-09-29
- Population
- Crew and embarked troops during the logged periods
- Limitations
- Logbook holdings establish that records exist, not their contents - deck logs are administrative records (positions, weather, events) and do not normally document materials or asbestos. The November 1943 gap falls inside the Salerno-to-Anzio interval and is unexplained by the listing. Batch-prompt coverage note cited only the first range; the second range (to 6/30/1945) is confirmed on the same PDF page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-02
-
[4]Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 - June 1944 (Little, Brown, 1954) - Gela landings narrative (Internet Archive full text, verified 2026-09-29) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HUSNO Vol. IX, chapter 'The Gela Landings (dime Force)', pp. 97-98; footnote 7 citing CTG 81.4 Action Report 26 July 1943
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Morison's operational history names this hull at the Gela landings, Sicily, on D-Day (10 July 1943, 'dime Force' sector): 'Three LCIs carrying infantry and a motorized chemical battalion (equipped with 4.2-inch mortars) followed the Rangers' landing craft, and all but two of them grounded on the false beach. LCI-188 managed to float off and make Beach Green, where there were very few mines - for the good reason that the civilians ordered to plant them, a few days earlier, had lost two of their number in the process and the rest had quit.' The accompanying footnote cites enclosures in CTG 81.4 (Capt. Leppert) Action Report of 26 July 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-07-10
- Population
- Crew and embarked infantry/mortar troops during the Sicily assault
- Limitations
- Operational-history narrative only - establishes the hull's participation and a grounding/retraction incident at Gela; no asbestos or material content. Vol. XI (Invasion of France and Germany) full text was checked and does not name this hull - the southern-France landing is documented by photo captions (ev-04), not Morison.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-03
-
[5]NavSource USS LCI(L)-188 photo captions: U.S. Army Signal Corps photo SC 329865 (in U.S. National Archives collections) and companion Flotilla 1 / 3rd Infantry Division combat photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150188.htm image table, captions for images 1015003906, 1015019201, 1015001801, 1015018801-8805 (SC 329865; 3rd Signal Co.)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official photography documents this hull's combat employment: (1) U.S. Army Signal Corps photo SC 329865 (Gann), now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives - LCI(L)-39, -48, -44 and -188 loading French Colonial 9th Infantry Division troops at Porto Vecchio, Corsica, 16 June 1944, for the invasion of Elba; (2) Flotilla 1 LCI(L)s 188, 18, 192, 44 and 189 landing French 9th Colonial Infantry Division troops during the invasion of Elba, 17 June 1944; (3) 3rd Signal Company combat photographs of LCI(L)-188 landing 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division soldiers on the beach of La Croix Valmer, southern France, 15 August 1944 (Operation Dragoon).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-06-16 to 1944-08-15
- Population
- Crew; French 9th Colonial Infantry Division troops (Elba); 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division troops (southern France)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - photographs establish presence and embarked units at named operations, not material conditions aboard. SC 329865 is identified by Signal Corps catalog number but the NARA catalog record was not independently fetched (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered). Contributors' captions are NavSource secondary apparatus resting on the underlying official photography.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-04
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[6]National WWII Museum, 'First American Pope Is the Son of a D-Day Veteran' (Sean Scanlon, PhD, June 13, 2025; based on NARA St. Louis OMPF documents and a 13 May 1945 Chicago Tribune profile); corroborated by NARA, 'Louis Prevost's Official Military Personnel File' (archives.gov) and U.S. Department of War feature coverage [museum_official]
- Locator
- nationalww2museum.org article (OMPF-based narrative, LCI(L)-188 command paragraph); archives.gov/st-louis/highlights/louis-prevost-ompf; war.gov news article 4180629
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Lt.(jg) Louis Marius Prevost - father of Robert Francis Prevost, elected Pope Leo XIV on 8 May 2025 - commanded this hull late in the war: the National WWII Museum account, built from his Officer OMPF at NARA St. Louis, documents his commissioning (Ensign USNR, 24 November 1943) and service aboard USS LST-286 at Omaha Beach and Operation Dragoon, and reports that a 13 May 1945 Chicago Tribune servicemember profile 'announced that Prevost ... was promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade, and placed in command of the USS LCI(L)-188, a Landing Craft Infantry (Large) vessel operating in the Mediterranean theater.' A veterans' shadowbox record (Together We Served) dates his transfer aboard to 27 October 1944. NARA holds and published pages from his OMPF (NAID 518262759 officer file; NAID 518262903 enlisted file).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (command window); sources 1945-2025
- Population
- Lt.(jg) Louis M. Prevost; LCI(L)-188 crew under his command (late 1944-1945)
- Limitations
- Vessel-history fact only - a named individual's documented command of this hull. It is NOT an exposure record and makes no asbestos claim for Prevost or any individual. The precise embarkation date (October 1944 per a self-reported veterans' profile vs. command announcement May 1945 per the contemporaneous Tribune) is unresolved - see gaps. NARA's own highlights page confirms the OMPF exists but does not state the hull assignment; the hull link rests on the museum account and its Tribune citation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-05
-
[7]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30 - Sep. 2, 1944); documented in shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json record federal-shipbuilding-kearny; introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX (1990) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json yard_id federal-shipbuilding-kearny (ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944 and products_documented); toxicdocs.org document d/4ayjMMY2q6pqomB4eDk5Nq9op (verified live 2026-09-29)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- This hull's builder yard has documented wartime asbestos product use: the Owens-Illinois industrial health survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny (30 August - 2 September 1944) recorded insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts taken during cutting and fitting; the yard record additionally documents Owens-Illinois Kaylo pipe/boiler insulation, W.R. Grace Monokote fireproofing, and Garlock gaskets for the 1940-48 window. LCI(L)-188's construction (Nov 1942 - Jan 1943) sits inside that wartime asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944 (survey); applicable era 1940-48
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding construction trades, Kearny NJ (1940-48 window; this hull built Nov 1942 - Jan 1943)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record - no material list, work order, or survey names LCI(L)-188, and the survey postdates her launch by ~20 months (it characterizes the yard's wartime asbestos environment, not this craft's outfit). As a small diesel landing craft she carried no boilers or steam lines - the yard's boiler-insulation products are less probative for this hull than for steam vessels. Does not establish materials installed aboard, quantity, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (description; full text blocked to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's entire construction (1942-43) and service era (1943-c.1947).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- 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 - GAO's fieldwork covered naval shipyards, not landing craft. Full text not retrieved this session (gao.gov product-page description used; the page's automated-fetch block is a standing limitation).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-07
-
[9]Batch-4986 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NARA Special List 44 PDF + digitized-log index; NHHC DANFS (absent); Morison HUSNO Vol. IX and XI full texts; National WWII Museum + NARA OMPF page; shipyards.json; CourtListener API v4 (4 queries); NVR (not applicable); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-188-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-188-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LCI(L)-188 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero hits for all variants checked - 'LCI(L)-188' (opinions), 'LCI-188' (opinions), 'LCI(L)-188' (dockets/RECAP), 'LCI 188' (opinions) - no qualifying case, no name collisions. A secondary web sweep surfaced no law-firm listicle or marketing claim for this hull (contrast sister-hull coverage on such sites).
- 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 1942-43 combat landing craft would not ordinarily have received an asbestos survey, and 'fate unknown' post-1947 forecloses disposal-record review. Undigitized deck logs (RG 24) and MARAD disposal files are open archival leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-188-08