Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 810-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- 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-217-lcil217-pkt-810-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-217 page - construction, commissioning, campaign credits, specifications, disposal chain, photo captions (history text credited to Turner Publishing, 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/10/15/150217.htm - history block, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-1 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down October 1942 at George Lawley & Sons Corp., Neponset, MA; launched November 1942; commissioned USS LCI(L)-217, 14 November 1942; international radio call sign NBUE. Assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater with campaign credits: North African occupation / Tunisian operations 27 March - 9 July 1943; Sicilian occupation 9-15 July and 28 July - 17 August 1943; West Coast of Italy operations, Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings 22 January, 28 January, 1 February 1944; Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944. Decommissioned and leased to the United Kingdom 3 November 1944; returned to U.S. Naval custody 14 March 1946; sold by the U.S. State Department to France 19 March 1946 and redesignated RFS L9046; struck from the Naval Register 17 April 1946; four battle stars for WWII service. Spec block: displacement 236 t (light) / 264 t (landing) / 419 t (loaded); 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kts max / 14 kts continuous; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns; 2-inch plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower, and pilot house; two sets of 4 GM diesels (4 per shaft), GM main reduction gears, two 30kW diesel-drive DC generators, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp; endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts loaded. Photo captions place the hull nested with LCI(L)-215/-218/-219 in North Africa ca. 1943, massed at Bizerte 6 July 1943 loading for Sicily (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 176486, NARA collections), and in French service as RFS L9046 on the Song Luc Nam, Tonkin, 1952.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1952
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1942); U.S. Navy crew (1942-44); embarked Army troops (1943-44); Royal Navy crew (1944-46); French Navy crew (1946-forward)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; the history block credits Turner Publishing's USS LCI Vol. II (1995), which is not independently checkable here. Month-level laid-down/launch dates conflict with uboat.net's day-level values (see gaps). No asbestos or material content anywhere on the page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-01
-
[3]NHHC photo catalog, 80-G-252368 'Normandy Invasion, June 1944' - official U.S. Navy photograph record naming this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.navy.mil photo catalog page 80-G-252368 (Title, Description, Catalog # fields)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC catalog record: 'USS LCI(L)-217, with a barrage balloon in tow, en route for the French coast on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.' Documents this specific hull participating in the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-06-06
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew and embarked troops, Normandy invasion force (June 1944)
- Limitations
- Physical-presence documentation only - a single official photograph caption; establishes where the hull was on 6 June 1944, nothing about materials or asbestos. Page verified live via firecrawl; a plain webfetch request returned 404 (bot-filtered), content confirmed identical to the indexed caption.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-02
-
[4]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (ship-number list PDF) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf p.22, 'LCI(L)-217 ... 11/14/1942 ... 8/31/1944' row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 inventories Navy deck logs for LCI(L)-217 covering 11/14/1942 to 8/31/1944 (ship-number list, PDF page 22) - spanning essentially the entire U.S. commissioned service period from commissioning through about two months before the 3 November 1944 decommissioning/lease to the United Kingdom. Concrete archival lead for wartime operations records: deck logs of this era typically record position, personnel, and significant events.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Limitations
- Finding-aid entry verified (PDF p.22 row extracted and confirmed); the underlying logs were not retrieved or read. Date ranges describe holdings, not independently verified events, and do not establish that the logs discuss materials, asbestos, or yard work. The September-October 1944 window before the UK lease is outside the inventoried run.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-03
-
[5]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation, njscuba.net mirror), Landing Craft Infantry (Large) construction table [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/lcil/ - LCI(L)-217 table row and Lawley & Sons block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Construction-table row for this hull: 'LCI(L)-217 | Lawley & Sons | Neponset MA | 14 Nov 1942 | to Britain 1944, to France 1946 as L-9046' - independently corroborating the builder, commissioning date, and the Britain-to-France disposal chain. The surrounding table documents George Lawley & Sons as the builder of a large contiguous LCI(L) block (LCI(L)-209 through the LCI(L)-370s, including the -G, -R, -M, and -FF conversions) out of Neponset.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Lawley & Sons construction workforce (1942-43 block)
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation of shipbuilding contract data, not a primary source; the table's date column is the commissioning date (values match NavSource/DANFS for adjacent hulls). 'L-9046' rendering differs slightly from NavSource's 'RFS L9046.' No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-04
-
[6]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, 'HMS LCI(L)-217 (LCI(L)-217) of the Royal Navy' vessel page [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/21131.html vessel data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary registry entry documenting the Royal Navy phase: 'Built by George Lawley & Sons (Neponset, Massachusetts, U.S.A.); Laid down 28 Sep 1942; Launched 25 Oct 1942; Commissioned 3 Nov 1944; Returned to the USN on 14 March 1946 and transferred to France by the USN on 19 March 1946.' The 3 November 1944 RN commissioning coincides exactly with NavSource's U.S. decommission/lease date, and the return/transfer dates match NavSource.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Royal Navy crew under lease (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (Gudmundur Helgason's Allied Warships database); day-level laid-down (28 Sep 1942) and launch (25 Oct 1942) values conflict with NavSource's month-level October/November 1942 - carried in gaps, not resolved. 'Commissioned' here is the RN commissioning under lease. No asbestos content; no commanding officers listed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-05
-
[7]MIT Museum, George Lawley & Son organization record (McInnis-Lawley Collection) [museum_official]
- Locator
- mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/organization/1754 (Description, Related objects); mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/collection/mcinnis-lawley-collection
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Institutional documentation of this hull's builder: 'Three generations of the Lawley family built fine yachts and working vessels at their yard in Neponset, Massachusetts from the 1860s to the 1940s... The yard built both wood and steel vessels, including dozens of World War II landing craft, before closing in 1946.' The McInnis-Lawley Collection holds roughly 1,700 plan sheets covering approximately 150 designs, including LCI(L) material (object 1988.075R.001) - a design-archive lead for the class drawings Lawley produced as the LCI(L) design yard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946 (yard's wartime window)
- Population
- Lawley & Sons Neponset workforce (1942-43)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation only; does not name LCI(L)-217 and contains no asbestos or material content. The design-yard role for the LCI(L) type rests on secondary literature; MIT's collection confirms Lawley LCI(L) plans survive. Whether hull-217-specific drawings are in the collection is unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (steel-hulled LCI-1 class, diesel plant); NARA SL44 service-dates confirmation; Shipbuilding History Lawley block; GAO HRD-80-2 and Lemen & Landrigan 2021 era documentation (ev-08, ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; NARA SL44 row; era documentation at ev-08/ev-09
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled diesel landing craft built October-November 1942 at a commercial New England yard sits inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era (specifications did not go asbestos-free until 1973). Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were thermal insulation and lagging around diesel exhaust manifolds/mufflers and machinery spaces, gaskets and flange packing, valve packing, electrical insulation in cable runs, and joiner/fireproof bulkhead panels. As a diesel craft she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - but the small hull (158 ft, 236-419 t) with a crew of 28 working a below-deck engine room retains the confined-space exposure dynamic.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1942); U.S./RN/French crews (1942-forward); any repair-yard trades during availabilities
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work order located for LCI(L)-217. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. The NavSource spec block's '2-inch plastic splinter protection' is armor padding, not thermal insulation, and is not claimed as ACM.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-lcil217-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 highlights and report text (product page + PDF, fetched via firecrawl)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos era that fully spans this hull's construction and service: 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables'; thermal insulation 'was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships'; product specifications for thermal insulation 'had been changed in 1973 to specify the use of asbestos-free materials,' yet 'some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978'; and 'thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos.' A vessel built and commissioned in 1942 predates the substitution era by three decades.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era covered spans WWII-1978
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; ship crews in asbestos-era vessels
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. GAO fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - not Lawley Neponset. Full report text (gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf) retrieved via firecrawl extraction this session; direct curl to the asset returned 403.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-lcil217-08
-
[10]Lemen RA, Landrigan PJ. 'Sailors and the Risk of Asbestos-Related Cancer.' Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(16):8417. PMID 34444165 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed abstract, PMID 34444165 (IJERPH 2021 Aug 9;18(16):8417)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed review documenting that 'chrysotile and amphibole asbestos were used extensively in ship construction for insulation, joiner bulkhead systems, pipe coverings, boilers, machinery parts, bulkhead panels, and many other uses,' and that sailors 'both work and live at their worksite' - establishing the era-level shipboard-exposure background against which any 1942 naval vessel must be read.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 20th-century naval construction era
- Population
- Naval/merchant sailors generally (era context)
- Limitations
- Fleet-era epidemiology review; does not name this hull, this vessel type, or landing craft generally; describes typical construction materials mostly on larger vessels. Cannot be read as evidence of asbestos aboard LCI(L)-217 specifically - included as era context only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-lcil217-09
-
[11]Batch-5006 search ledger (this record): NavSource page; NHHC photo catalog; NARA Special List 44 PDF; Shipbuilding History; uboat.net; MIT Museum; GAO full text; PubMed; CourtListener (opinions searched; dockets pace-limited); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-217-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-217, HMS LCI(L)-217, or RFS L9046 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion searches returned zero results for 'LCI(L)-217' and for the variant set 'LCI-217' / 'LCI(L) 217' / 'LCIL-217'; the CourtListener docket-type search could not be completed this session (fleet pace limiter) and is logged as blocked, not a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing content (a mesowatch.org George Lawley yard page and ship-asbestos listicles) asserting yard-era asbestos exposure without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy. Batch intake ('No PRIMARY match at any tier under the checked LCI/LSI spellings, same-number conversions, or documented renumberings') is consistent with this result.
- 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. The litigation-repository search is partially open (docket type pending); deck logs (NARA SL44 coverage) and any French-era survey or disposal records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-217-lcil217-10