Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 809-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-20-lcil20-pkt-809-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-20 (page 10/15/150020; history credited to 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry, Vol. II,' Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150020.htm header block, campaign table, 'Final Disposition' line, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down September 1942 at New York Shipbuilding, Camden, N.J.; launched October 1942; commissioned USS LCI(L)-20, 11 December 1942; assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater, LCI Flotilla 1. Campaigns: Sicilian occupation 9-15 July 1943; Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943; Anzio-Nettuno advanced landing 22 January 1944. Final disposition: lost to enemy aircraft action off Anzio beach, 22 January 1944; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; earned three battle stars. Spec block: displacement 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; length 158' 5.5"; beam 23' 3"; speed 16 kts max; complement 4 officers, 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers, 182 enlisted; propulsion - two sets of 4 General Motors series-71 diesel engines, 4 per shaft, GM main reduction gears, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp, two 30kW diesel-drive generators. Photo captions document: direct bomb hit aft of midships at Anzio; craft abandoned while still disembarking troops; HMS LCI(L)-274 and USS LCI(L)-39 beached alongside.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Crew (4 officers, 24 enlisted) and embarked troops (up to ~188) during Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio landings, 1943-44; New York Shipbuilding construction trades, Sep-Dec 1942
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - its stated source here is the Turner Publishing LCI volume, not DANFS; milestone dates corroborated by shipbuildinghistory.com and the NHC-derived HyperWar listing. Live page verified 200 OK on 2026-09-29 (navsource.net is the current domain; navsource.org is dead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-01
-
[3]HyperWar/ibiblio transcription of 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' (Naval Historical Center compilation), Landing Ships and Craft - LCI(L) tabulation [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-lc.html, LCI(L) table, row LCI(L)-20
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Naval Historical Center-derived landing-craft tabulation lists 'LCI(L)-20, 1942-44, 22 Jan 44 (no details)' - an official-compilation corroboration of the hull's service window (1942-1944) and loss date (22 January 1944) independent of NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Tabular listing only - confirms existence, service window, and loss date; 'no details' is the entry's own note. No campaign detail, no builder, no asbestos content. Transcription hosted at ibiblio/HyperWar of an NHC publication.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-02
-
[4]ShipbuildingHistory (Tim Colton), 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) - LCI(L)' construction tabulation, most recent update 4 May 2015 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/lcil.htm, LCI(L) build table, row #20; type-description preamble
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Colton's yard-level build table lists: 'LCI(L) 20 | New York SB | Camden NJ | 11-Dec-42 | Lost at Anzio 22-Jan-44' - corroborating builder (New York Shipbuilding, Camden), the 11 December 1942 delivery/commissioning date, and loss at Anzio 22 January 1944. The same table documents that 923 LCI(L)s were built by ten shipyards, that the first 350 boats (the design group covering LCI(L)-20) were the 158.5-foot / 216-ton-light configuration, and that variants LC(FF), LCI(G), LCI(M), LCI(R) diverged from this base design.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades, Sep-Dec 1942
- Limitations
- Shipbuilding-history compilation, not a government registry - but consistent with NavSource on all overlapping fields for this hull and is the standard reference for LCI(L) build data. Its 'Delivery' column corresponds to commissioning. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-03
-
[5]USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association, 'Final Chapter of the Story of the USS LCI(L) 20' (Part 2 of 2; submitted by Robert E. Wright Jr., son of LCI(L)-20 crewman Robert E. Wright; posted April 2017, Elsie Item No. 96) [museum_official]
- Locator
- usslci.org article body; embedded captions and block-quoted loss-report excerpt
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The national association published, from crew-family-held wartime documents: (1) the commanding officer's action report, identifying Lt.(jg.) Frank Chambers as CO and covering the events leading to abandonment and burning on the beach; (2) an excerpt of the ship's loss report (printed '11 February 1943' - a typographical slip; the report postdates the 22 January 1944 loss): 'The force of the explosion ripped open the fuel oil day tanks and covered the engine and crew's quarters with approximately 800 gallons of fuel oil which caught on fire after the explosion... The explosion also destroyed the fire mains, water pump and handy billies... Orders were given to flood the magazine, but that was impossible due to the fact that the mains had parted,' with all hands ordered to abandon ship when the ammunition risked detonating; (3) a photograph captioned as the ship under a January 20, 1943 training exercise at Solomons, Maryland, and Flotilla 1 landing rehearsals on the North African coast before Sicily; (4) the 2016 wreck identification - Italian dive team U.B.O.A.T. (LtC Claudio Morino) located a wreck 60-70 yards off the Anzio shore and, using class drawings, the action report, and the aground photograph, concluded it is USS LCI(L)-20.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944; wreck identification 2016; publication 2017
- Population
- Crew under Lt.(jg.) Frank Chambers at the loss; embarked troops disembarking under fire; wreck-site divers (2016)
- Limitations
- Veterans' association publication (museum-allied; AFMM LCI-713 alliance) reproducing wartime documents and family-held materials - the quoted loss report and action report are wartime primary documents, but access here is via the association's transcription, not the archives themselves (see archival_lead row). Wreck identification is association/amateur-team level, not an official Navy or Italian-government survey. The '1943' loss-report date is a printing error - the ship was lost 22 January 1944. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-04
-
[6]USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association, 'The Elsie Item' No. 96 (March 2017), LCI(L)-43 eyewitness account of the Anzio landing, p. 16 [museum_official]
- Locator
- ELSIEITEM-96-Mar-2017.pdf, p. 16 (page footer 'Elsie Item March 2017'), LCI(L)-43 narrative
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- First-person account from a crewman of USS LCI(L)-43 in the same convoy: on 21 January 1944 LCI(L)-43 loaded 157 paratroopers at Pozzuoli and formed up astern of LCI(L)-20 and LCI(L)-221 in Task Force 81.5, Flotilla One, Group III; on the morning of 22 January the minesweeper USS Portent (AM-106) struck a mine and sank approximately 100 yards astern; at 1033, over Red Beach, eight German Focke-Wulf 190s bombed and strafed the landing craft. 'The LCI(L) 20 was about thirty yards abeam on our port side and received a direct hit from a 500 pound bomb. Men on deck were thrown in the water on the port side. The bomb went down through the crew's quarters and exploded underneath the ship.' LCI(L)-38 nearby was damaged; the Beach Master ordered the craft to move out.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-01-21/22
- Population
- LCI(L)-20 crew and embarked troops at the loss; LCI(L)-43, -38, -221 crews as witnesses
- Limitations
- Eyewitness memoir published by the veterans' association 73 years after the event - a primary recollection consistent with the wartime loss report but not itself a contemporaneous document. Identifies munitions (500-lb bomb, FW 190s) and damage path consistent with the loss report. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-05
-
[7]NARA archival lead: wartime action report and loss report for USS LCI(L)-20 (documents of the type held in RG 38, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations - WWII action and operational reports) plus any deck logs (RG 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Association-quoted action report and loss report; prospective repositories NARA RG 38 (action/loss reports), RG 24 (deck logs)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The commanding officer's action report and the ship's loss report for LCI(L)-20 demonstrably exist - both are quoted at length in the USS LCI National Association's publication from crew-family-held copies (ev-04). Official-file copies are archival leads: WWII ship action reports and loss reports of this type are held by the National Archives (RG 38); deck logs, if they survived, are in RG 24. These are the most likely repositories for any ship-specific material documentation ever created for this hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944 (documents); research window 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the documents' existence is proven by the association's quotations, but the specific NARA holdings were not pulled or catalog-verified this session; neither document type is known to contain any material/asbestos content. Deck logs for small amphibious craft are frequently not extant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (diesel plant, small craft); shipyard-exposure-map documented asbestos product list for New York Shipbuilding/Camden (Pabco Six-Ply Super Caltemp block, Ehret 85% magnesia, JM Transite panels, asbestos gaskets, packing, asbestos-coated welding rods, wire insulation, felt insulation); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; shipyards.json product list for new-york-shipbuilding (yard evidence tier 1); GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled landing craft built in autumn 1942 at New York Shipbuilding sits inside both that yard's documented asbestos-use era and the Navy's asbestos-insulation era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel craft of this type and period were engine and exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, and interior felt/joiner materials. As a diesel-powered craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway of larger vessels does not apply - but the confined-space crew-quarter exposure dynamic applies.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- New York Shipbuilding construction trades (1942); crew of 28 plus embarked troops (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package exists or is expected for a landing craft lost in combat in 1944. Names era-standard applications and yard-documented products, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution for this hull. The ship lies as a war loss off Anzio; no abatement scenario applies.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-07
-
[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 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) and service era (1942-44).
- 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. Full text not retrieved - gao.gov blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403 confirmed 2026-09-29, same standing defect as Batch-98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-08
-
[10]Batch-4997 search ledger (this record): NavSource (live); NHC-derived HyperWar landing-craft listing; Colton shipbuilding table; USS LCI National Association article + Elsie Item No. 96 PDF; CourtListener API v4 opinions and RECAP dockets; NVR; NHHC DANFS index; general web asbestos/litigation sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, material list, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LCI(L)-20 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-29): opinion search for the hull-number variants returned zero results; the docket index returned four hits, all name collisions in unrelated filings (Boyd v. TDCJ, prisoner civil rights, E.D. Tex.; Zommick v. Lewis Construction Company LLC, labor, D. Ariz.; Barstad v. Wright, prisoner civil rights, W.D. Wash.; Narkiewicz-Laine v. Scandinavian Airlines Systems, contract, N.D. Ill.) - none asbestos, none naming the vessel. Web sweeps for asbestos/mesothelioma claims naming this hull surfaced nothing; unlike major combatants, no law-firm marketing listicle targets this landing craft.
- 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 - era materials would have been present at construction per the inference row. Litigation coverage caveat: a veteran's state-court claim would not necessarily appear in CourtListener's opinion/RECAP indexes, and a 1944 loss foreclosed any post-war survey or abatement documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-09
-
[11]Designation cross-check: uboat.net Allied Warships entry for USS LCI(L)-20 (ordered 3 Jun 1942; laid down 16 Sep 1942; launched 9 Oct 1942; commissioned 16 Nov 1942; lost 22 Jan 1944) vs NavSource (laid down September; launched October; commissioned 11 December 1942) and shipbuildinghistory.com (delivery 11-Dec-42) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/20846.html data table; NavSource header block; shipbuildinghistory.com LCI(L) table row #20
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: uboat.net carries a materially different milestone set for this hull - commissioned 16 November 1942, laid down 16 September 1942, launched 9 October 1942 - versus NavSource's commissioned 11 December 1942 (with September/October month-only build dates) and shipbuildinghistory.com's delivery of 11-Dec-42. The NavSource/Colton date pair (11 December 1942) is carried in this record as the two-source-consistent value; uboat.net's 16 November 1942 is logged as an unresolved variant. All sources agree on the loss: bombed/sunk by German aircraft off Anzio, Italy, 22 January 1944.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating date discrepancy, not a material claim. Both build-date sets are secondary compilations; neither cites the builder's trials/delivery document. Loss date and manner are consistent across all sources. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-20-lcil20-10