Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet 810-packet.md (3 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (thin sourcing)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (thin sourcing)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-pkt-810-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-215 page (navsource.net/archives/10/15/150215.htm) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page header, campaign table, and disposition block; specifications block; embedded photographs including Pozzuoli Bay February 1944 nest
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS LCI(L)-215, an LCI-1 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large), was laid down in 1942 and launched in 1942 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA; commissioned USS LCI(L)-215 on 4 November 1942, LTjg. Donald J. Burch, USNR in command. Assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater: Tunisian operations 27 March-9 July 1943; Sicilian occupation 9-15 July and 28 July-17 August 1943; West coast of Italy / Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings 22, 24, and 29 January 1944; Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944. Decommissioned and leased to the United Kingdom 30 October 1944; returned to U.S. naval custody 14 March 1946; struck from the Naval Register 17 August 1946; earned four battle stars; transferred to the State Department for disposal; sold 13 February 1948, fate unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive citing Turner Publishing's 'USS LCI (Landing Craft Infantry)' Vol. II for this hull's history; campaign dates match the Navy campaign framework. Page contains no asbestos, materials, or insulation information; lays/launch dates given only as 'in 1942' (exact dates from uboat.net — see ev-03). Supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-01
-
[3]U.S. National Archives, Special List 44, list by ship number (sl-44-ship-number.pdf); NARA 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' page (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf p. 22, row 'LCI(L)-215 | 11/4/1942 | 10/30/1944'; series description https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 (List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947), ship-number volume, PDF page 22, inventories Navy deck logs for LCI(L)-215 covering 11/4/1942 through 10/30/1944 — bracketing her U.S. commissioned period to the day (commissioned 4 November 1942; decommissioned and leased to the UK 30 October 1944). The logs are held in Record Group 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), Entry 118 (National Archives Identifier 581208), at the National Archives at College Park.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944 coverage; inventory compiled 1978
- Limitations
- Inventory entry only: the deck-log volumes were not retrieved or reviewed, so their contents (operations detail, personnel, any materials references) are unexamined. Log coverage dates are not commissioning/decommissioning dates — they happen to coincide here. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, 'HMS LCI(L)-215 (LCI(L)-215)' vessel page (ship/21127) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel data table: Built by / Laid down / Launched / Commissioned / History fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Royal Navy service record for HMS LCI(L)-215: built by George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, Massachusetts; laid down 23 September 1942; launched 13 October 1942; commissioned into the Royal Navy 30 October 1944 (the same date NavSource records the U.S. decommissioning and lease); returned to the U.S. Navy 14 March 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a curated secondary compilation of official records; the laid-down and launched dates it supplies are not independently verified against the builder's records in this session. RN employment of the craft between October 1944 and March 1946 is not detailed in the source. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-03
-
[5]John France, 'They Gave Their All: The Loss of LCIs 232 and 219,' Elsie Item No. 75 (USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association newsletter), May 2011, pp. 8-12 — drawing on the 'War Diary, U.S. LCI(L) Flotilla Two' compiled by flotilla members and the Flotilla 2 after-action report of 16 September 1944 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Elsie Item No. 75 pp. 8-12 (Bermuda casualty list naming LCI(L)-215 crewmen; Utah Beach column list including '215'); publisher usslci.org, mirrored on yumpu.com
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS LCI National Association historical record places LCI(L)-215 in LCI Flotilla 2 (Navy-manned): Flotilla 2 sailed from Little Creek, VA for Bermuda on 18 February 1943; on 27 February 1943 a liberty boat returning from USS Mattole at Hamilton, Bermuda swamped, drowning twenty-three LCI sailors including four men of LCI(L)-215 — RM3c Robert C. Gragg, S2c Grant Russel Redding, AS Thomas L. Leonard, and MA3c James Lee Riley. The flotilla then operated in Tunisia, Sicily (July-August 1943), and the west coast of Italy through March 1944; on 20 April 1944 it joined Task Force 81.13 for the UK; on D-Day, ten Flotilla 2 LCIs went under British command to Sword Beach while the remainder — including LCI(L)-215, named in the published column list — approached the Red Beach sector of Utah Beach behind LCI(L)-217, offloading Fourth Infantry Division troops to smaller craft about 1,000 yards offshore.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- LCI(L)-215 crew and embarked troops; four named crew fatalities 1943-02-27 (Gragg, Redding, Leonard, Riley)
- Limitations
- Veterans-association secondary publication quoting wartime primary records (Flotilla 2 War Diary; after-action report; LCI(L)-217 action report) that were not independently inspected this session. Campaign-level facts corroborated by NavSource. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-04
-
[6]ShipbuildingHistory compilation (mirrored at Naval Marine Archive): 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) - LCI(L)' table and 'George S. Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA' yard list [other_primary]
- Locator
- lcil.html row 'LCI(L) 215 | Lawley & Sons | Neponset MA | 4-Nov-42 | To Britain 1944, returned 1946, sold 1948'; lawley.html LCI(L) production table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipbuilder compendium tables record LCI(L)-215 as built by Lawley & Sons, George, Neponset MA, delivered 4-Nov-42, disposition 'To Britain 1944, returned 1946, sold 1948.' The George Lawley & Sons yard list shows the Neponset yard's LCI(L) production run including hulls 209-229+, all 216-ton 158-ft landing craft delivered October 1942-January 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary tables of official construction/disposal data, consistent with NavSource on every overlapping field. 'Delivered' date aligns with NavSource's commissioning date. No asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-05
-
[7]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-215 page — photograph attachments including the Denis Murray contribution (PDF 150215a) and the Pozzuoli Bay/North Africa/England photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/10/15/pdf/150215a.pdf (Murray photo collection); photo captions at navsource.net/archives/10/15/150215.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photographic documentation of the hull survives in the NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive, including a contributed collection from the family of Quartermaster Peter Murray, who served aboard USS LCI(L)-215, and images of the craft nested with other Flotilla 2 LCIs in North Africa (circa 1943), at Pozzuoli Bay (February 1944), and in England (circa 1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Crew of USS LCI(L)-215 (photographic record)
- Limitations
- Photographs and captions only — establish that the hull operated where recorded and that named crewmen served aboard; contain no asbestos, materials, or condition information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-06
-
[8]NPS National Register of Historic Places nomination/continuation sheet, USS LCI-713 (NRHP 07000300, listed 2007-04-12) — engineering description of the class plant; NavSource LCI-1 class specifications block [nps]
- Locator
- NRHP 07000300 continuation sheet, engineering-significance and compartment-description sections; class spec block at navsource.net/archives/10/15/150215.htm
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class and era inference only: the LCI-1 class carried a diesel plant — two sets of four General Motors series-71 engines (eight total) with twin variable-pitch propellers — with no boilers or steam system. The National Register nomination for sister ship USS LCI-713 (same builder, George Lawley & Sons, Neponset) describes the class internal arrangement: engine room with eight GM 6-71 diesels in two banks of four, an engine exhaust system with both above-water and underwater runs, and a gasoline-motored winch for the bow ramp. For a 1942 steel combatant of this type, era-consistent asbestos applications were engine exhaust lagging and machinery insulation, gaskets and valve packing, electrical insulation, winch/ramp-machinery brake and clutch linings, and deck coverings — insulation products of this era commonly contained asbestos fiber.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Construction trades (George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, 1942); engine-room and deck crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation, not a hull record: the NRHP nomination describes sister ship LCI-713 and nowhere states 'asbestos' for any component — asbestos presence aboard LCI(L)-215 is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, present-day presence (hull sold 1948, fate unknown), individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-07
-
[9]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II — the era and program under which this LCI-1 class landing craft was mass-produced — and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard Navy and merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. DOI resolves for human browsers; returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (bot-blocking), so content verified via abstract/secondary access.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-08
-
[10]U.S. General Accounting Office, 'Status of Navy's Program to Reduce Potential Health and Safety Risks From Asbestos Exposure' (HRD-80-2, 1979) — product page [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (title/abstract level)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO report HRD-80-2 documents U.S. Navy use of asbestos insulation in ship construction and overhaul of the era, the government program context in which this 1942 landing craft was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- Report 1979; era covered includes 1940s construction
- Population
- Navy ship crews and shipyard workers (program context)
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy documentation; does not name this vessel or any LCI(L), and establishes only that asbestos insulation was Navy-standard in the era. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches — product-page description used; full-text pull remains an open lead. No ship-specific claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-09
-
[11]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'U.S. Coast Guard-Manned LCI(L)s — Landing Craft Infantry (Large)' (history.uscg.mil) [other_primary]
- Locator
- List of LCI(L)s section — hull-by-hull roster; narrative of Flotilla 4/10/35
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The U.S. Coast Guard's official roster of Coast Guard-manned LCI(L)s lists 28 hulls (LCI(L)-83 through -96, -319 through -326, -349, -350, -520, -562, -581, -583). LCI(L)-215 is not on it — the craft was Navy-manned, consistent with her documented LCI Flotilla 2 assignment (a Navy flotilla).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- A negative datum: absence from the Coast Guard roster establishes Navy manning only; it does not itself document the flotilla assignment (that rests on the association record, ev-04). Page returns 403 to plain curl but is live for browsers/Firecrawl. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-10
-
[12]Batch-5004 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NARA Special List 44 ship-number PDF; uboat.net Allied Warships; shipbuilder compendium; USS LCI National Association Elsie Item 75; NPS NRHP 07000300; USCG Historian's Office roster; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, government materials record, or docketed case naming LCI(L)-215 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The sole official materials-adjacent record consulted for the type — the NRHP nomination for Lawley-built sister LCI-713 — describes the plant and compartments without any asbestos or insulation-material statement. CourtListener opinion searches for 'LCI(L)-215', 'LCI-215', and 'LCI 215', and a docket/RECAP search for 'LCI(L)-215', all returned zero results.
- 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 steel combatant built in 1942 is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. One class-level CourtListener sweep ('landing craft' asbestos) remained queue-blocked by fleet pacing at time of writing (see ledger).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-11
-
[13]NARA 'Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives' (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208); Mystic Seaport Museum Collections & Research, Lawley Family Collection (coll 279); UK National Archives ADM series (Royal Navy records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA series description and logbook guidance; research.mysticseaport.org/coll/coll279/ (Lawley Family Collection scope note)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved — require research-room or subscription access; no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 Entry 118 (NAID 581208) holds the deck logs inventoried in Special List 44 for 11/4/1942-10/30/1944 at Archives II, College Park — WWII Navy deck logs are also digitized on subscription platform Fold3 in the NARA-partnered collection; (b) Mystic Seaport Museum coll. 279 (Lawley Family Collection) holds George Lawley & Son business papers — vessel records, cost sheets, and wage information — that may document materials and labor for the Neponset LCI run; (c) Royal Navy service records for HMS LCI(L)-215 (October 1944-March 1946) would be at The National Archives (UK), ADM series — not surveyed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only — no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-215-lcil215-12