Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 403-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced; no primary-source page located)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (mirror-sourced; no primary-source page located)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-pkt-403-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, HM LCI(L)-238 ex USS LCI(L)-238 - construction line, campaign credits, transfer/disposal timeline, specification block, photograph captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150238.htm header block, campaign table, specification block, and two photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: 'Laid down, in January 1943 at New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber, N.J.'; launched January 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-238, 6 February 1943. Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater, four campaigns credited (4 battle stars): Sicilian occupation 9-15 July 1943; Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943; West Coast of Italy operations - Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings (page prints '21 April to 1 March 1944', an internally impossible date string - official window is 22 January-1 March 1944, see ev-07); Invasion of Normandy 6-15 June 1944. Decommissioned 15 November 1944 at Sheerness, UK; 'Transferred to United Kingdom (leased) 13 November 1944'; returned to US naval custody 21 May 1946; struck from the Naval Register in 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal (date unknown); sold by the Maritime Commission 18 March 1948, fate unknown. Specification block: 216 t. light / 234 t. landing / 389 t. loaded; 158' 5.5"; complement 2 officers + 21 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; two sets of 4 GM diesels, 4 per shaft, 1,600 BHP, twin variable-pitch propellers. Photo captions place this hull at Newhaven, Sussex, March 1944 (with LCI(L)-9, -13, -14, -16) preparing for the Normandy invasion, and moored at Sheerness circa 14 November 1944 (with LCI(L)-75, -231, -229, -193) ready for turnover to the Royal Navy. History source credit: 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry, Vol. II,' Turner Publishing Co., 1995.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); USN crew and embarked troops (1943-44); RN crew (1944-46); 1948 purchaser
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation tracking official vessel registers - not itself a primary record; its builder attribution ('New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber, N.J.') conflicts with shipbuildinghistory.com and uboat.net and is not carried (see ev-11). Its Anzio date string ('21 April to 1 March 1944') is internally impossible and treated as a typographical error; the ship's own war diary confirms the 22 January 1944 landing (ev-06). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-01
-
[3]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton), 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) - LCI(L)' master production table, plus its George Lawley & Sons (Neponset MA) yard list and New Jersey Shipbuilding (Barber NJ) yard list [other_primary]
- Locator
- lcil.htm master table rows for hulls 236-240; shipyards/yachtsmall/lawley.htm hull row 'LCI(L) 238'; shipyards/emergencysmall/newjersey.htm anomalous '238' row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The master LCI(L) production table lists hull 238: 'LCI(L) | 238 | Lawley & Sons | Neponset MA | 6-Feb-43 | To Britain 1944, returned 1946, sold 1948' - inside a contiguous Lawley block (hulls 209-238 delivered 1 Oct 1942 - 6 Feb 1943), immediately before the New Jersey Shipbuilding block begins at hull 239 (5-Nov-42). The Lawley yard page carries the identical row for hull 238. NOTE: the same site's New Jersey Shipbuilding yard page lists a hull '238' delivered 'Nov-42' 'To Britain 1942' - that row is incompatible with this hull's documented US Navy commissioning on 6 February 1943 and wartime USN service, and is treated as an anomalous entry (see ev-11). Table context: 923 LCI(L)s built at ten shipyards; boats transferred to Britain were redesignated LCHs where configured as flotilla flagships.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943)
- Limitations
- Secondary production compilation, not a primary contract record - but built from Maritime Commission and yard data and internally consistent (monotone delivery dates within each yard block). The 'Delivery' column equals launch/commission-era delivery; for this hull 6-Feb-43 coincides exactly with the documented commissioning date. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships entries for this hull: USS LCI(L)-238 (ship/21155) and HMS LCI(L)-238 (ship/21156) - construction dates and the USN-to-RN transfer sequence [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/21155.html (USN) and ship/21156.html (RN) data tables
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USN record: built by George Lawley & Sons (Neponset, Massachusetts); ordered 31 August 1942; laid down 13 January 1943; launched 4 February 1943; commissioned 6 February 1943; end service 15 November 1944; 'Transferred to the Royal Navy on 15 November 1944 and converted to LCH, Landing Craft Headquarters by the RN; Returned to the USN by the RN on 21 May 1946.' RN record: HMS LCI(L)-238 (same pennant), commissioned 15 November 1944 - the same day as her USN decommissioning at Sheerness; conversion to LCH (Landing Craft Headquarters) noted; returned 21 May 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- RN crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a curated secondary warship database (Gudmundur Helgason), not a primary register - but its per-hull yard attributions check out against shipbuildinghistory's production tables on adjacent hulls (LCI(L)-237 Lawley, LCI(L)-239 New Jersey SB). The LCH conversion is asserted only here; no RN operational record for HMS LCI(L)-238 was located (see gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-03
-
[5]NARA Special List #44 'List of Logbooks of US Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947,' ship-number sort - deck-log holdings for this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 22, row 'LCI(L)-238 / 12/1/1943 / 6/30/1944' (verified by pdftotext extraction, 2026-09-29)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 (ship-number list, PDF page 22) inventories one deck-log holding row for this hull: 'LCI(L)-238, 12/1/1943 - 6/30/1944'. These are log-coverage dates in NARA custody (RG 24), not commissioning/decommissioning dates. The inventoried window covers the tail of her Mediterranean service (January-March 1944 war diaries place her at the Anzio landings and reinforcement runs) and the June 1944 Normandy invasion period, but ends before her November 1944 transfer to the Royal Navy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (coverage window)
- Population
- USN crew (December 1943 - June 1944 window)
- Limitations
- Special List 44 is a holdings inventory - it documents that deck logs exist in NARA custody for the stated window; the logbooks themselves are not digitized in this inventory and were not reviewed. The list shows no coverage for February-November 1943 (commissioning, Sicily, Salerno) or July-November 1944 (post-Normandy and transfer) for this hull - absence from the list does not prove those logs do not exist elsewhere. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-04
-
[6]NARA National Archives Catalog - digitized holdings for this hull: four monthly war diaries (RG 38, WWII War Diaries microfilm) and muster rolls (RG 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search '"LCI(L)-238"' - file units NAID 78241640, 78293908, 78329639, 78379890, 120208442
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Archives Catalog indexes the following ship-specific file units for this hull, all digitized (scanned page images viewable/downloadable): 'USS LCI(L) 238 - War Diary, 12/1-31/43' (NAID 78241640, Roll A764, 9 images); 'USS LCI(L) 238 - War Diary, 1/1-31/44' (NAID 78293908, Roll A814); 'USS LCI(L) 238 - War Diary, 2/1-29/44' (NAID 78329639, Roll A853); 'USS LCI(L) 238 - War Diary, 3/1-31/44' (NAID 78379890, Roll A903); and 'LCI(L) 238 - Muster Rolls' (NAID 120208442, RG 24). The war-diary coverage December 1943 - March 1944 matches the start of the deck-log window in Special List 44.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- USN crew (December 1943 - March 1944)
- Limitations
- Catalog index data - documents the existence and digitization of these records; individual roster material (the muster rolls) and full war-diary text were not exhaustively transcribed. No April-June 1944 war diary for this hull appears in the catalog search results - whether diaries were filed for those months is undetermined. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-05
-
[7]NARA-digitized primary source: USS LCI(L) 238 War Diaries, December 1943 - March 1944 (NAID 78241640, 78293908, 78329639, 78379890; RG 38, WWII War Diaries microfilm rolls A764, A814, A853, A903) [other_primary]
- Locator
- War diary page images: Roll A764 images 0079-0087 (Dec 43); Roll A814 images 0146-0151 (Jan 44, incl. 22 Jan entry); Roll A853 image 0384 (Feb 44); Roll A903 image 0032 (Mar 44) - catalog.archives.gov/id/78241640 et al.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own war diaries (read from the digitized page images) place this hull in LCI(L) Flotilla One, Eighth Amphibious Force, and document: December 1943 - underway from La Pecherie (Lake of Bizerte, Tunisia) for Nisida, Italy, in convoy of 1 LST + 7 LCI(L)s + 3 escorts; moored Baia di Napoli and inner harbor Naples alongside USS LST-385 (3 Dec); Castellammare run (5-6 Dec); back to Bizerte/La Pecherie (7-8 Dec). January 1944 - moored Karouba docks, Bizerte (1-5 Jan); British troops embarked (6 Jan); sailed for Nisida in convoy of 25 American LCI(L)s + 5 escorts (8-9 Jan); practice operation in Golfo di Salerno attached to Assault Group Convoy NAM-1, rehearsal beaching and troop disembarkation (17-18 Jan); embarked Company E, 15th Infantry, 3rd Division - 169 enlisted + 5 officers - at Pozzuoli docks (20 Jan); sailed under operation plan No. 147-43 as a unit of Task Group 81.4 (21 Jan); ANZIO LANDING 22 January 1944 - 'passed Charlie reference vessel at 0210 on way to Green Beach ... Let go stern anchor at 0240 and at 0242 hit Green Beach. At 0245 troops began to disembark, and by 0252 all troops and equipment ashore'; retracted 0303; returned to Pozzuoli moored alongside USS LCI(L)-41 (2155). February 1944 - 156 British troops embarked at Pozzuoli (1 Feb); convoy run toward Anzio, troops disembarked under General Quarters conditions with enemy air formations reported approaching harbor (2 Feb); moored Nisida (3-4 Feb). March 1944 - Pozzuoli fueling dock (1-3 Mar); underway for Palermo, Sicily (4 Mar).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- December 1943 - March 1944
- Population
- USN crew (~23 per spec block); embarked US Army 15th Infantry/3rd Division troops and British troops lifted
- Limitations
- Primary operational record for December 1943 - March 1944 only; it documents movements, convoy assignments, troop lifts, and the 22 January 1944 Green Beach (Anzio) landing - it contains no material, insulation, or asbestos content. Reads are from scanned typescript pages; minor transcription uncertainty on positions/times does not affect the carried facts. The diaries corroborate NavSource's Anzio/Normandy-era campaign credits for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-06
-
[8]NHHC, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (Rev. 1953), Part 4 - official Europe-Africa-Middle East theater campaign windows [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC Awards Manual Part 4, EAME theater campaign table (E1-3, E2, E3/E4, E5 rows)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official EAME campaign windows against which this hull's four battle stars are credited: Sicilian occupation 9-15 July 1943 and 29 July-17 August 1943 (E1-3); Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943 (E2); West Coast of Italy operations 1944 (E3, one star for participation in one or more of) 22 January-17 June 1944, including Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings 22 January-1 March 1944 (E4); Invasion of Normandy, including bombardment of Cherbourg, 6-25 June 1944 (E5).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- USN crew during credited campaigns
- Limitations
- Theater-level campaign definitions, not hull-specific attribution - the ship-level participation credit comes from NavSource (ev-01) and the 22 January 1944 Anzio landing is corroborated by the ship's own war diary (ev-06). NavSource's printed Anzio window '21 April to 1 March 1944' is internally impossible; the official window is 22 January-1 March 1944. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-07
-
[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 (1943) and USN/RN service era (1943-46), as well as the construction era of all ten LCI(L) builders.
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-29 - same standing defect as Batches 01 and 98) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-08
-
[10]Era inference built on: NavSource specification block (two sets of 4 GM diesels, 8 engines total, 4 per shaft, 1,600 BHP, twin variable-pitch propellers); shipbuildinghistory LCI(L) class data (steel-hulled 158-ft landing craft, 216-389 t); GAO HRD-80-2 program-era documentation (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specification block; shipbuildinghistory lcil.htm class description; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built in early 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel craft of this type and period were exhaust-system lagging, machinery and pipe insulation in the engine room, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, and her total ACM inventory would have been materially smaller than aboard steam-driven ships.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); USN crew (1943-44); RN crew (1944-46); 1948 purchaser/scrappers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or abatement record located for LCI(L)-238. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-09
-
[11]Batch-5029 search ledger (this record): NavSource page; uboat.net USN+RN pages; shipbuildinghistory production tables and yard pages; NARA Special List 44 PDF (verified row); NARA Catalog digitized war diaries and muster rolls; NHHC awards manual; GAO product page; CourtListener API v4; secondary web litigation sweep; MARAD Vessel History Database [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-01 through -13
- 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)-238 / HM LCI(L)-238 was found in the sources searched. CourtListener opinion search '"LCI(L)-238"' returned zero results (one authenticated query completed before the fleet-wide pacing budget was spent; variant spellings and the docket index could not be run this session - see search_ledger and gaps). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; no law-firm 'asbestos aboard LCI(L)-238' marketing page was located at all. NARA holdings are operational records only (war diaries, deck logs, muster rolls) - they contain no asbestos or material content.
- 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 - and the litigation-repository coverage is a partial open gap (one exact-match opinion query ran clean; docket search and name variants remain unrun). The 1948 Maritime Commission sale record does not identify the buyer or post-sale use; no scrapping/hazmat record exists for this hull. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-10
-
[12]Builder-attribution cross-check: shipbuildinghistory.com master LCI(L) table + Lawley yard page (hull 238 = Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA, delivered 6-Feb-43); uboat.net ('George Lawley & Sons, Neponset'); vs NavSource ('New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber, N.J.') and navypedia ('New Jersey SB, Barber'); vs the anomalous '238 / Nov-42 / To Britain 1942' row on the same site's own New Jersey Shipbuilding yard page [other_primary]
- Locator
- lcil.htm master table row 238 + lawley.htm yard list row vs newjersey.htm anomalous row; navsource.net/archives/10/15/150238.htm construction line; uboat.net ship/21155; navypedia brit_aws_lcil.htm row 'LCI(L)238'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource and navypedia attribute this hull to New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber NJ. That attribution is not carried. shipbuildinghistory.com's master production table and its Lawley yard list both place hull 238 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA (delivery 6-Feb-43 - matching the documented commissioning date exactly), as the last hull of a contiguous Lawley block ending at 238 before the New Jersey SB block begins at 239; uboat.net independently lists Lawley. The conflicting line on the site's own New Jersey SB yard page ('238, delivered Nov-42, To Britain 1942') is internally impossible - a hull delivered to Britain in November 1942 could not have been commissioned USS LCI(L)-238 on 6 February 1943 and fought USN campaigns through 1944.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1943 (construction window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating builder attribution, not a material/asbestos claim. The resolution rests on convergent secondary compilations (Colton's production tables + uboat.net) against NavSource's Turner-book-derived line; a Bureau of Ships contract record would settle it definitively - none located online. Launch-date granularity also conflicts: NavSource prints 'January 1943' while uboat.net and navypedia give 4 February 1943.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-238-lcil238-11