USS LCI(L)-339

Evidence

20 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-20).

1. [1]research packet 408-packet.md (7 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-lci-l-339-lcil339-pkt-408-packet-md

2. [2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-339 (10/15/150339) - construction, milestones, campaign table, DANFS-quoted loss narrative, personnel awards, specifications, photographs (stated source for history text: USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/15/150339.htm - timeline block, Asiatic-Pacific campaign table, awards block, specifications block, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Documented for this hull: LCI-1 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down circa September 1942 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; launched circa September-October 1942; commissioned USS LCI(L)-339, 30 December 1942; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; campaign credit: Eastern New Guinea operation, Lae occupation, 4 September 1943; 'Lost through enemy action, 4 September 1943 ... at Lae'; struck from the Naval Register 'date unknown'; one battle star; Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive); nine named Purple Heart recipients including ENS Harlan T. Moen and LTjg Fay B. Begor. The page quotes a loss narrative sourced to DANFS: anchored about 150 yards from the beach, attacked by three VAL bombers and three ZERO fighters on the starboard side; LTJG James Tidball, USNR, commanding; strafed stem to stern; bombed at about 1,500 feet - near misses to port and starboard and a direct hit just forward of the pilot house; 'the 339, nonetheless, gained the beach to carry out her mission, though in a sinking condition.' Spec block: displacement 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; length 158' 5.5"; beam 23' 3"; 16 kt max / 14 kt continuous; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; cargo 75 tons; five single 20mm guns (some LCIs added two .50 cal); propulsion two sets of 4 GM 6051-series-71 diesels (4 per shaft), single GM main reduction gears, two 30kW 120V DC generators, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1942); crew (1942-43); embarked troops (operational)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - its stated source for the history text is the 1995 Turner Publishing USS LCI history, not a primary registry. The quoted loss paragraph is attributed to DANFS, but no live DANFS entry for this hull was located this session (NHHC URL patterns and HyperWar mirror 404; hazegray unreachable) - the DANFS attribution is carried as stated, not independently confirmed. Live page verified on navsource.NET (navsource.ORG is dead). Complement and shaft-power figures conflict with the HyperWar BuShips-derived class block (4+24 vs 3+21; 2,320 shp vs 1,600 bhp).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-01

3. [3]War Diary, U.S.S. L.C.I.(L) 339 - ship's own wartime operational diary covering July-October 1943 (8-page typewritten scan, CONFIDENTIAL; hosted on NavSource, contributed by Tom Callahan; NavSource captions it '16 July to 10 October 1943' though the scanned entries begin 4 July 1943) [other_primary]

   Locator

   8-page scan; entries by date; July 4-16 entries appear at PDF page 6 (scan order out of sequence); 4-5 September loss narrative and casualty list at PDF page 7; abandonment/salvage/sinking narrative at PDF page 8; OCR'd in full this session

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The ship's own war diary (CONFIDENTIAL-marked, 8-page scan) documents her final months: 4 July 1943 - stuck on coral (slight list to port, depth of water 3 feet), towed clear at high tide by LCI(L)-340, anchored off Bali Point; 6-10 July - bow repairs at Milne Bay; 15-18 July - Buna run and Milne Bay return with 123 men, 8 officers, 125,000 pounds of supplies; 22-26 July - practice beaching with LCI(L)-537, -536, and Division 49; 7-9 August - Nassau Bay operation in Task Force of 8 LCI(L)s and two destroyers, embarking 139 Australian Army men and 5 officers at Buna, beached Nassau Bay 2255, troops/mail/supplies unloaded under a Japanese reconnaissance-plane sighting that afternoon; 15-18 August - Stringer Beach embarkation and Buna run in TG 76.4.0.5; 18 August - fueled from LST 464; 20-21 August - TG 76.3.1 training landing at Normanby Island with 293 Australian troops; 2 September - loaded units of the Australian 9th Division at Stringer Bay staging area; 3 September - convoy of 5 [type OCR-uncertain] and 19 LCI(L) formed off Buna bound for Red Beach, twelve miles east of Lae; 4 September - during the approach with 'LCI(L) DIV 40 plus LCI(L) 344', at 0705 six Japanese planes (three fighters and three bombers) attacked on the port beam when about 200 yards from the beach: strafing plus bombing, two near misses and one direct hit 'just to port of amidships and just forward of the bridge structure', a hole about seven feet in diameter in the weather deck, holds one/two/three and crew's quarters flooding; about twenty Australians killed and as many more wounded; nine named crew wounded including the doctor, BEGOR Fay B. LT(jg) MC-V(G) USNR ('large shrapnel wounds in both thighs... Dr Begor later died as a result of these wounds aboard the LST 464'); beached in sinking condition; the executive officer of USS SONOMA (salvage tug) sounded the hole on 7 September - no bottom below it, bulkhead between holds three and two demolished, bridge riddled, pilot house and doctor's quarters wrecked; abandoned on orders of the Task Force Commander; 5 September - remaining crew and officers transferred to other Flotilla Seven ships by order of Commander LCI(L) Flotilla Seven, and the commanding officer and a small party reboarded to examine damage and recover service records (all secret and confidential material previously removed); assigned to the TF 76 salvage section but not salvaged under continued enemy air activity; 10 September - hauled off the beach on orders of the U.S. Army ESB beach commander because 'the ship marked the beach for enemy bombers', anchored about 200 yards offshore and 2-3/4 miles east; drifted onto a coral ledge about 150 yards offshore, filled with water over weeks, capsized, lay with her hull awash, then 'slid into deeper water and sank'; 10 October - a salvage party under the Material Officer, Staff CTF 76, with her commanding and engineering officers and part of her crew aboard LCI(L)-71 and -73 under Commander LCI(L) Group 29, identified the spot where she sank but found no trace of the vessel.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1943-07-04 to 1943-10-10

   Population

   ship's company (4 officers + 24 enlisted spec complement); embarked Australian 9th Division troops; Nassau Bay and Lae landing personnel

   Limitations

   Primary-source ship document covering operations and the loss, but contains no materials or asbestos information. Hosted by NavSource (volunteer archive); the underlying record is a wartime Navy war diary of the type held by NARA (RG 38). OCR of the scan is imperfect - petty-officer name spellings in the 5 September reboarding party are approximate, and the convoy composition figure '5 [unreadable] and 19 LCI(L)' is partially illegible. Australian casualty figures in the diary are a field estimate conflicting with the Australian official history (see ev-03 and gaps). Distance figures (200 yards; 100 yards in Dexter; 150 yards in the DANFS narrative) are approximations.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-02

4. [4]David Dexter, 'The New Guinea Offensives' (Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 1 - Army, Vol. VI), Australian War Memorial, 1961, Chapter 12 'Assault on Lae and Nadzab', pp. 331-332 (AWM digitised collection, RCDIG1070185, document 5519511) [other_primary]

   Locator

   AWM collection record C1417292; chapter PDF pp. 331-332 (printed page numbers), footnotes 7-8 (Wall and Reid identifications)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The Australian official history documents the loss: in the fifth wave of seven LCIs approaching Red Beach, when the craft were about 100 yards from shore, six Japanese fighters followed by three bombers flying at 1,500 feet strafed and bombed; twelve bombs were dropped, one of which 'exploded on the deck of LCI-339 just forward of the bridge, killing the commander of the 2/23rd Battalion, Lieut-Colonel Wall, a company commander, Captain Reid, and 5 men, and wounding 28 including 6 officers'; LCI-341 received a near miss flooding two compartments; 'By the skilful handling and determination of Ensign James M. Tidball, LCI-339 landed on time and disembarked the troops'; Tidball radioed the flotilla commander, who ordered him to abandon ship; the crippled LCI 'remained on the beach for a week, a target for Japanese airmen, before it was towed clear, and then it drifted on to a reef'.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1943-09-04 and following week

   Population

   embarked 2/23rd Battalion and other Australian 9th Division troops; ship's company

   Limitations

   Official secondary history (1961) summarising wartime action reports - authoritative on the Australian side (named 7 dead: Wall, Reid, and 5 men; 28 wounded) but a field-estimate conflict exists with the war diary's 'about twenty Australians... killed and as many more wounded'; figures are carried, not adjudicated (see gaps). Calls the CO 'Ensign James M. Tidball' vs NavSource's LT(jg) - rank discrepancy in gaps. Aircraft count (six fighters + three bombers) also conflicts with the war diary (three + three) and the CR/Manson account (three Zeros + seven Mitsubishi bombers). No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-03

5. [5]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LCI(L)-339 (LCI(L)-339), LCI 1 class - milestones, commanding officer, disposition [other_primary]

   Locator

   uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/21362.html - data table and History line

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   uboat.net confirms builder (Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston, Texas), laid down 30 Sep 1942, launched 30 Oct 1942, commissioned 30 Dec 1942, and records 'Lost 4 Sep 1943 - USS LCI(L)-339 (LT(jg) James Tidball, USNR) was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Lae, New Guinea on 4 September 1943.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   crew (1942-43)

   Limitations

   Secondary warship database, not a primary registry; exact milestone dates here are more precise than NavSource's 'circa' entries and agree with the shipbuildinghistory yard table. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-04

6. [6]HyperWar/ibiblio, 'US Navy Landing Ships/Craft, 1940-1945' (BuShips-derived ships list) - LCI(L)-1 class block and per-hull table [other_primary]

   Locator

   ships-lc.html - 'LCI(L)-1 Class' spec block and hull row 'LCI(L)-339 ... 4 Sep 43' (lost marker)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The official-data compilation lists this hull with a lost marker: row 'LCI(L)-339 ... 1942-44 ... 4 Sep 43 (no details)', confirming the hull's LCI(L)-1 class placement, in-service era, and loss date. The class spec block on the same page gives LCI(L)-1 class characteristics: displacement 387 tons full load; length 160'; beam 23'3"; draft 5'4" fwd / 5'11" aft full load; speed 15.5 kt; armament 4 x 20mm; complement 3 officers + 21 enlisted; capacity 6 officers + 182 troops or 75 tons cargo; '2 sets G.M. diesel engins [sic]; twin variable-pitch screws, 1600 BHP'.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   class-level crew context

   Limitations

   Enumeration-level coverage only: the hull appears as a single row with a loss flag and 'no details', and the figures are the class block, not hull-measured values. Conflicts with NavSource's ship-page spec block on complement (3+21 vs 4+24) and shaft power (1,600 bhp vs 2,320 shp) - logged in gaps, not adjudicated. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-05

7. [7]shipbuildinghistory.com, Brown Shipbuilding (Houston) yard production table - hull 43 row (compiled official production records) [other_primary]

   Locator

   brown.htm production table, row 43 (LCI(L) 339); adjacent rows 42 (LCI(L) 338) and 44 (LCI(L) 340) corroborate the LCI block

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The Brown Shipbuilding production table lists this hull as yard hull number 43: 'LCI(L) 339 - Landing Craft - laid down 30-Sep-42, launched 30-Oct-42, delivered/commissioned 30-Dec-42 - Lost at Lae 4-Sep-43', matching uboat.net's milestones and sharpening NavSource's 'circa' build dates.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1942)

   Limitations

   Secondary compilation of official production records, not a primary registry; the delivered/commissioned column is read as the commissioning date consistent with NavSource. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-06

8. [8]NARA, Special List #44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, by Ship Numbers (archives.gov PDF, 137 pp., 2015 compilation of the 1978 finding aid) [other_primary]

   Locator

   sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 23, row LCI(L)-339; series context: archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy/ (RG 24 Entry 118, NAID 581208)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The Special List 44 ship-number index inventories Navy deck logs for this hull: PDF page 23, row 'LCI(L)-339 ... 12/30/1942 ... 6/30/1943' - i.e., logbooks covering 30 December 1942 (her commissioning date) through 30 June 1943 exist in the National Archives logbook holdings (RG 24, Entry 118, NAID 581208 per NARA's logbooks page).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943

   Population

   crew (Dec 1942 - Jun 1943 log coverage)

   Limitations

   Archival lead only - log-coverage dates are NOT commissioning/decommissioning dates and say nothing about materials. Coverage begins on the commissioning date and ends 30 June 1943, more than two months before the loss; the ship's final period (July-September 1943) is instead covered by the surviving war diary (ev-02), suggesting the last logbooks were not recovered or were never inventoried. Whether the inventoried logs are digitized in the National Archives Catalog could not be verified - catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and the archives.gov digitized-logs list is name-keyed and does not enumerate numbered landing craft. PDF verified live at research time (byte-identical download, MD5 639e2f28...).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-07

9. [9]Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 102389 photo record - LTjg Fay B. Begor, MC-V(G), USNR, USS LCI(L)-339 [museum_official]

   Locator

   NH-102389 page, Title and Caption fields

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NHHC's official photo-caption record for NH 102389 documents the ship's medical officer and names the hull: 'Lieutenant Junior Grade Fay B. Begor MC-V(G), USNR Circa September 1942. Received commission 4 September 1942; wounded in action at Lae, New Guinea, 4 September 1943, on board USS LCI (L)-339; died of wounds 9 September 1943 on board USS LST-464. Awarded Navy Cross (posthumously) and USS BEGOR (APD-127) was named for him.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1943 (caption dates); page accessed 2026-09-30

   Population

   ship's company medical personnel; wounded treated aboard

   Limitations

   Official .mil record; documents the officer's wounding aboard this hull, death aboard LST-464, the posthumous Navy Cross, and the Begor (APD-127) namesake. Contains no materials or asbestos information. Page is JS-rendered - verified live via firecrawl; plain fetch returns 404.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lci-l-339-08

10. [10]Navy Cross citation, LT(jg) Fay B. Begor, MC-V(G), USNR - transcribed on NavSource's USS Begor (APD-127) page (award document: Commander, 7th Fleet Serial 7611, 26 Nov 1943) [other_primary]

    Locator

    NavSource 10/04/04127a.htm - 'Navy Cross Citations' block (full citation text)

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    The posthumous Navy Cross citation for LT(jg) Fay Broughton Begor, MC, USNR (service number 0-182912) names this hull: 'for distinguished service ... while serving as Medical Officer on board the Infantry Landing Craft U.S.S. LCI(L), THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE (LCI(L)-339), that beached in the vicinity of Japanese occupied Lae, New Guinea, on 4 September 1943. Though his ship was attacked repeatedly by enemy aircraft, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Begor courageously continued to care for the wounded in the face of enemy bombing and strafing attacks, with total disregard for his personal safety, until he was fatally wounded.' Award authority: Commander, 7th Fleet, Serial 7611 (26 November 1943); born 15 October 1916, New York, NY.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1943 (action and award)

    Population

    ship's company; wounded under treatment

    Limitations

    Official award-document text hosted by a volunteer archive; the underlying 7th Fleet award serial is the primary record. Corroborated by the NHHC NH-102389 caption (ev-08). Documents combat conduct and casualty, not materials. No asbestos content.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-09

11. [11]U.S. Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, 22 November 1993 (Hon. Robert K. Dornan) - 'The Forgotten Fleet of World War II - Coast Guard-Manned Gunboats in the Pacific', inserting Frank A. Manson, 'Assault Against New Guinea', Sea Classics, September 1993 (govinfo.gov GPO-CRECB-1993-pt22, pp. 32093-32094) [other_primary]

    Locator

    GPO-CRECB-1993-pt22-3-3.pdf, printed pp. 32093-32094 (LCI 339 and LCI 341 passages)

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    A federal-document narrative gives a detailed account of the loss: at 0705 'seven Mitsubishi bombers and three Zeros came diving down from the mountains'; LCI 339 'was approaching the beach, dropping her stern anchor and in no position to maneuver'; three Zeros strafed her bow to stern; two near-miss bombs 'exploded in the water to port and to starboard' and a third bomb 'bore into the deck amidships, blasting a jagged hole seven feet across, buckling decks, rupturing bulkheads... The doctor's quarters were smashed and the pilothouse wrecked beyond recognition'; 'Listing badly to port the LCI made a dying lunge onto the beach'; 'Twenty Australian soldiers had been killed and just as many wounded. Eight Americans were wounded, among them the ship's doctor, Lieutenant (jg) Fay B. Begor, who lay with both thighs shattered by shrapnel. He died a few days later aboard the LST 464' - described as the converted landing ship fitted out as a first-line hospital ship of the Seventh Amphibious Force. The same passage recounts LCI-341's damage and the mortal wounding of her captain LT(jg) Robert W. Rolf on 6 September (Rolf died on the operating table; USS Rolf DE-362 was later named for him - namesake not independently verified this session).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1943

    Population

    ship's company and embarked Australian troops, 4-6 September 1943

    Limitations

    Published in a federal document but the underlying source is a 1993 popular-history magazine article, not an official record - narrative detail (paint-scraper bombs, 'dying lunge', Sonoma as 'one of those tough little bulldogs') is journalistic corroboration only. Aircraft count (7 bombers + 3 Zeros) and American casualty figure (8 wounded) conflict with the war diary (3+3; 9 named wounded) - carried in gaps, not adjudicated. The tribute's framing is 'Coast Guard-manned gunboats', but this hull was Navy-manned (see ev-12). No asbestos content.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-10

12. [12]USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association, 'Elsie Item' newsletter No. 110 (September 2020), LCI loss list (compiled by the veterans' association) [other_primary]

    Locator

    ElsieItem-110-Sep-2020.pdf, loss list item 13 and adjacent photo caption (p. 13)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    The USS LCI National Association's published loss list corroborates the loss: '13. USS LCI(L)-339 Lae New Guinea, 4 September 1943, by aerial bombing', accompanied by a photograph captioned 'LCI(L) 339 at Lae New Guinea settled on the bottom showing the damage from a Japanese Bomb'.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    list published 2020; event 1943-09-04

    Limitations

    Veterans'-association publication - a compiled memorial list, not an official record; corroborates the loss only. Contains no materials or asbestos information.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-11

13. [13]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'U.S. Coast Guard-Manned LCI(L)s - Landing Craft Infantry (Large)' - official list of the 28 USCG-manned hulls and the 1943 CNO-USCG manning agreement [museum_official]

    Locator

    USCG Historian's Office page - 'List of LCI(L)s' (28 hulls enumerated); corroborating crew roster in war diary casualty list (ev-02)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    The U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office publishes the complete list of the 28 Coast Guard-manned LCI(L)s: hulls 83-96, 319-326, 349, 350, 520, 562, 581, and 583. LCI(L)-339 does not appear - and her own war diary's crew roster is entirely USNR (Tidball, Moen, Begor, and the enlisted casualty list all carry USNR designations). This hull was Navy-manned, not Coast Guard-manned - correcting Wikipedia's article, which erroneously states she was 'commissioned in 1942 by the United States Coast Guard' and labels her an 'LCI(L)-351-class' craft (all structured sources place hulls 1-350, including 339, in the LCI(L)-1 class).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1943 (manning); page accessed 2026-09-30

    Limitations

    A class-level list used for a hull-level negative determination: exclusion from the official 28-hull USCG-manned list plus an all-USNR wartime crew roster together establish Navy manning. Wikipedia is not cited as a source anywhere in this record - its errors are noted only as corrections. Page verified live via firecrawl (plain fetch returns 403).

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-12

14. [14]National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places nomination, USS LCI-713 (NRIS 07000300, listed 12 April 2007) - Section 7 as-built description and builder table [nps]

    Locator

    NPS NRHP nomination 07000300, Section 7 'As Built' (pp. 1-3 of continuation) and Section 8 builder table; asset PDF fetched live via npgallery.nps.gov GetAsset (MD5-verified copy in sibling batch-5049)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    A federal register nomination documents the LCI(L) type's construction from a surviving sister hull: 'generally constructed of 1/4" steel plate... constructed entirely throughout with welding... designed for rapid assembly line production'; two decks; fuel tanks 130 tons diesel; engine room held eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines 'arranged in two banks of four engines each' driving twin four-foot variable-pitch propellers; dual above/underwater exhaust systems; a dedicated oil tank feeding a smoke generator. The nomination's builder table records 'Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas - 32 [LCIs built]'. Explicitly noted design change: the earlier -1 class (this hull's class) carried 'a landing ramp on each side of the bow' versus LCI-713's later center-ramp arrangement.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1942-1945 (type documentation)

    Population

    LCI(L) construction trades (all yards, 1942-44); crew accommodations as designed

    Limitations

    Class/era context only - the nominated hull is LCI-713, a later LCI(L)-351-class boat (George Lawley & Son, Neponset MA, commissioned October 1944), NOT this hull and NOT this class sub-variant; the -1/-351 design differences (side ramps vs center ramp; round vs square conning tower in the type literature) are real, though hull, engine, and systems fundamentals carry over. The document contains NO asbestos or insulation-materials content - its silence on materials other than steel plate does not establish their absence aboard this hull.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-13

15. [15]Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II', Naval History (U.S. Naval Institute), June 2025, vol. 39 no. 3 [reputable_press]

    Locator

    USNI Naval History June 2025 article, 'Building Different Types of Naval Vessels' and 'Recruiting and Training Shipyard Workers' sections

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    Builder context for this hull's construction: Brown Shipbuilding Company of Houston was established in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown & Root with $9 million in Navy funding, on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel, where the narrow waterway forced sideways launches; employed more than 25,000 workers at peak from late 1942; used assembly-line section fabrication; and built 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 32 Landing Craft Infantry, 61 destroyer escorts, and 254 LSMs. LCI(L)-339 was one of the yard's 32 LCIs (yard hull no. 43 per the shipbuildinghistory table).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1941-1946

    Population

    Brown Shipbuilding workforce (peak >25,000, from late 1942)

    Limitations

    Yard- and program-level context only - the article contains no asbestos, materials, or industrial-hygiene content; labor documentation concerns discrimination/absenteeism/strikes, not hazardous materials. Workforce figures establish population scale at the builder, not any individual's exposure. No ship-specific content for hull 339.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-14

16. [16]Era inference built on: NavSource ship-page spec block (diesel propulsion, plastic splinter armor); HyperWar BuShips-derived LCI(L)-1 class block (GM diesels, 1,600 BHP); NPS NRHP 07000300 as-built description (all-welded 1/4" steel plate, 8 x GM 6-71 diesels, dual exhaust systems); GAO HRD-80-2 and Corn & Starr (Navy/WWII asbestos-use era - see ev-16) [other_primary]

    Locator

    NavSource spec block; HyperWar ships-lc.html class block; NPS NRHP 07000300 Section 7; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; Corn & Starr AJIM 11(3)

    Finding type

    asbestos_application

    Finding

    A small diesel-powered amphibious landing craft built in late 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard shipboard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were diesel-engine exhaust lagging (the class carried dual above/underwater exhaust systems), machinery thermal insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel craft she carried no boilers or steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply. The confined engine room and below-deck accommodation compartments (crew racks; troop compartments) concentrate whatever era-standard materials were installed in a small enclosed volume.

    Verification

    inferred

    Role

    supporting

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1942-1943

    Population

    Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1942); crew (1942-43); embarked troops (operational)

    Limitations

    Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package exists for LCI(L)-339 (the hull was lost in 1943). Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution. The NRHP nomination for a sister hull documents 1/4" welded steel construction and lists materials only as 'METAL: steel' without addressing insulation or asbestos - silence in that source is not evidence of absence.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-15

17. [17]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979); 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) [gao]

    Locator

    GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403); Corn & Starr AJIM 11(3):359-373, doi.org/10.1002/ajim.4700110311 (verified live via firecrawl; plain fetch 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 (1942-43). Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in U.S. shipbuilding - the era and program under which this 1942 naval landing craft was built.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1979 (GAO); 1987 (Corn & Starr); era documented 1940s

    Population

    Navy shipyard workers; WWII shipbuilding trades (program context)

    Limitations

    Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. GAO full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, re-confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description, same standing block noted in BATCH-01/98. Corn & Starr documents WWII shipbuilding asbestos policies generally; neither source names this vessel or the LCI(L) type.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-16

18. [18]Naval History and Heritage Command, Underwater Archaeology Branch - Sunken Military Craft Act policy page (Pub. L. 108-375, title XIV, enacted 2004-10-28; implementing rule 32 CFR 767) [other_primary]

    Locator

    SMCA policy summary, paragraphs 1-3 (verified live via firecrawl; plain fetch returns 404 - JS-rendered)

    Finding type

    regulatory

    Finding

    Under the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, this hull's wreck in Papua New Guinea waters remains U.S. Navy property regardless of location or passage of time and may not be disturbed without a Navy permit; NHHC notes that sunken military craft can contain oil or other hazardous materials. No survey, condition assessment, or materials record for this wreck was located - the war diary records she capsized and slid into deeper water, and the October 1943 salvage party 'found no trace of the vessel'.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    context

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    2004-present (statutory regime); wreck since September 1943

    Limitations

    Legal-status framework applying to all sunken U.S. military craft including this wreck; it presumes continued title but says nothing about materials condition aboard this hull. The wreck is unsurveyed; whether any hazardous material remains aboard is undocumented.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-17

19. [19]National Archives and Records Administration record groups RG 24, RG 38, RG 19 (mapped, not retrieved) [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger row sl-uss-lci-l-339-15

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    Archival path for any deeper record: NARA RG 24 deck logs (the SL44 window 12/30/1942-6/30/1943) are the ship's surviving logbooks; RG 38 (CNO wartime records) holds the original war diary of which the scanned document is a copy, LCI(L) Flotilla Seven / Group 19 war diaries and any action or loss reports for the Lae operation - a formal Report of Loss analogous to LCI(L)-1's may exist there; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds LCI(L) design and Brown Shipbuilding construction correspondence and any materials specifications; the wartime 2nd ESB/TF 76 records (RG 338/RG 407 Army records) cover the salvage orders documented in the war diary. None of these holdings is digitized; no retrieval was performed.

    Verification

    unverified

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    context_only

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    2026-09-30

    Limitations

    Record-group mapping is a research path, not evidence about this hull; holdings' contents were not examined and their coverage of this specific craft's materials is unknown.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-18

20. [20]Batch-5061 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship page and hosted war-diary scan; uboat.net; NARA Special List 44 ship-number PDF (live, MD5-verified); shipbuildinghistory Brown yard table; HyperWar BuShips-derived list; AWM Dexter official history chapter PDF; NHHC NH-102389 record and USCG-manned LCI(L) list (firecrawl); Congressional Record insertion (govinfo); USS LCI National Association loss list; NPS NRHP 07000300 (LCI-713); USNI Naval History June 2025; GAO product page; Corn & Starr AJIM; CourtListener authenticated API (opinion + docket sweeps; two spacing variants pending); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-339-01 through -16

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, crew-exposure study, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-339 was found in the public sources searched. The hull was lost in September 1943 - decades before surveys, abatement contracting, or hazmat-disclosure regimes existed - so such documentation cannot exist from the usual channels. CourtListener (authenticated API v4): 'LCI-339' opinions 0 hits; 'LCI(L)-339' dockets 0 hits; 'LCI-339' dockets 0 hits; the only non-zero query, 'LCI(L)-339' opinions (625 hits), collides on the 'LCI' acronym - the reviewed first page is all name collisions (LCI International telecom matters; correctional-institution and construction-fund 'LCI' entities), no ship-related opinion. Two spacing variants ('LCI(L) 339', 'LCI 339', opinions) remained deferred by the fleet rate pacer at session end - disclosed, not asserted as negatives; given clean zeros on both hyphenated spellings in both types, residual risk is negligible. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos' material is law-firm marketing content (mesotheliomaveterans.org's Brown Shipbuilding page, which does name LCI(L)-339 among the yard's hulls while asserting untraceable blanket claims - excluded by source policy).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    2026-09-30

    Limitations

    Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was never surveyed and the wreck lies unsurveyed off Red Beach. A negative finding is a documentation result, not evidence of absence of exposure or of eligibility/ineligibility for any claim. CourtListener coverage is near-complete but not total (two spacing variants stayed pacer-deferred). Sunken-hull claims, if any, would name defendants (builders, manufacturers), not the hull number, so a hull-name litigation negative does not establish that crew members never filed claims; RECAP coverage of wartime-era litigation is inherently thin.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lci-l-339-19