Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(G)-345 ex-USS LCI(L)-345 page (history compiled from USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry' volumes, Turner Publishing, and Navy records) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource archive page 10/15/150345 (ship entry, campaign table, awards block, and specifications block) - verified live via scrape
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity, construction, and wartime record for this hull: laid down 31 October 1942 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; launched 2 December 1942; commissioned USS LCI(L)-345 on 22 January 1943 (NavSource lists LTjg. H. M. Smith, USNR, in command, dated May 1945); reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Guns) LCI(G)-345 on 15 June 1944; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LCI Flotilla Three (CDR R. Eikel Jr.), LCI Group Nine (LCDR C. J. Starkus), LCI Division Eighteen. Credited campaigns (five battle stars): Marshall Islands operation - occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January-8 February 1944; Marianas operation - Saipan 20 June-16 July 1944, Guam 17-21 July 1944; Tinian capture and occupation 24-28 July 1944; Iwo Jima operation 19 February-16 March 1945; Okinawa Gunto operation 21-30 June 1945. Decommissioned 11 February 1946 at Staten Island, N.Y.; struck from the Naval Register 26 February 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal (date unknown); sold and delivered 9 January 1948 to Mill Basin Ship Repair Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.; fate unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1948
- Population
- Crew (4 officers, 24 enlisted as LCI(L); 5 officers, 65 enlisted as LCI(G)) and embarked troops (up to 6 officers, 182 enlisted), 1943-1946
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled secondary reference (transcribing Turner Publishing USS LCI volumes and Navy award/campaign lists), not a contemporaneous log or action report. Campaign credits and dates are official-list summaries. The page's ribbon block lists a retroactive Combat Action Ribbon for 'Okinawa-19 February 1945,' which conflicts with the hull's credited Okinawa window (21-30 June 1945) - 19 February 1945 was D-Day at Iwo Jima; the label is carried as printed and flagged in gaps. Contains no asbestos information whatsoever.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-01
-
[2]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number), p.17 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, p.17, row 'LCI(L)(G)-345 | 1/26/1943 | 6/30/1945' (verified by pdftotext extraction of the live NARA PDF, 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 inventory (by ship number, PDF page 17) lists Navy deck logs for LCI(L)(G)-345 covering 26 January 1943 through 30 June 1945 - in-scope wartime service documentation held at the National Archives, retrievable for this hull. The entry is filed under the combined 'LCI(L)(G)' designation reflecting this hull's mid-war conversion from LCI(L) to LCI(G). These are log-coverage dates, not commissioning or decommissioning dates: they begin four days after the 22 January 1943 commissioning and end while the vessel remained in service (decommissioned 11 February 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (log coverage)
- Limitations
- The entry is an inventory record only - it establishes that NARA holds logbooks for this hull for the stated span, not their contents. The deck logs themselves were not opened for this record; commissioning-week (22-25 January 1943) and post-June-1945 logs are outside this inventory listing. No asbestos or condition information is contained in the listing.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-02
-
[3]Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 (official wartime fleet organization document) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC online reading room page, 'LCI DIVISION 74 (G)' table row (verified live via scrape, 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The NHHC-published United States Pacific Fleet organization as of 1 May 1945 lists 'LCI 345' under 'LCI DIVISION 74 (G)' - a gunboat division - commanded by Lt. (jg) H. M. Smith (USNR), alongside LCI 80, LCI 437, LCI 566, and LCI 679 (GF). This is an official contemporaneous placement of this hull in the gunboat (G) configuration during the Okinawa-period window, corroborating NavSource's 15 June 1944 reclassification date and Lt. Smith's command tenure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05
- Population
- Wartime crew under Lt.(jg) H. M. Smith, USNR, May 1945
- Limitations
- Fleet-organization snapshot only - establishes assignment and commanding officer as of 1 May 1945, not the hull's full unit history. Division 74 (G) differs from NavSource's wartime assignment listing (LCI Group Nine, Division Eighteen) and from a photo caption placing the craft in Group 8 at Guam; unit assignments churned and the variance is logged in gaps rather than resolved. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-03
-
[4]Naval History and Heritage Command, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (rev. 1953), Part 2 - Unit Awards [other_primary]
- Locator
- Awards manual pt2, Group II unit table, 'LCI (G) Flotilla 3' row (names USS LCI (G) 345); PUC section 'LCI(G) Group Eight' row (verified live via scrape, 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy-Marine Corps Awards Manual unit-award list names 'USS LCI (G) 345' as a member of LCI (G) Flotilla 3, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, cited for 31 January - 28 July 1944 covering the occupation of Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls in the Marshall Islands and the capture and occupation of Saipan, Guam, and Tinian in the Marianas - the Navy Unit Commendation carried on NavSource's ribbon block for this hull. The same manual lists a Presidential Unit Citation for 'LCI(G) Group Eight' for 17 February 1945 at Iwo Jima without enumerating member craft.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (award actions); 1953 (manual)
- Population
- LCI(G) Flotilla 3 crews, Jan-Jul 1944
- Limitations
- The NUC row names this hull explicitly and is ship-specific. The Group Eight PUC entry does not list member craft; whether LCI(G)-345 was in Group Eight on 17 February 1945 is not established by this source (a NavSource photo caption places her in 'Flotilla 3, Group 8' at Guam in July 1944, but the USMC Iwo Jima monograph's damaged-craft list for the 17 February action - 474, 441, 473, 438, 449, 457, 466, 471, 450, 346, 348 - does not include 345, and her NavSource Iwo Jima campaign window starts 19 February). PUC eligibility for this hull is unconfirmed and logged in gaps. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-04
-
[5]U.S. Navy and U.S. National Archives photo captions, USS LCI(G)-345 off Guam, 18 July 1944 (via NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive, images 1015034502/1015034503); HyperWar U.S. Navy Radio Call Sign Book section 18 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 10/15/150345 photo table (captions for images 1015034502, 1015034503); HyperWar CallSigns-18 LCI(G) section, row 'LCI (G) 345 | NJVC'; NHHC casualties page LCI(G) section (345 absent)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- U.S. Navy photo documentation places this hull alongside USS Honolulu (CL-48) off Guam on 18 July 1944, transferring three wounded crew (W. J. Williams S1/c, H. I. Smith GM3/c, R. L. Jones) for treatment of shrapnel wounds suffered as part of 'Flotilla 3, Group 8' gunboats giving fire support for UDTs preparing Guam beaches four days before W-Day; NavSource's ribbon block records three Purple Hearts (WIA) for 18 July 1944 at Guam. The Navy radio call-sign book lists 'LCI (G) 345' under call sign NJVC, matching NavSource's NJVC entry. The NHHC casualties list of sunk/damaged craft does not include LCI(G)-345 - she survived the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-07-18
- Population
- Crew members W. J. Williams, H. I. Smith, R. L. Jones (wounded in action); full wartime crew
- Limitations
- Photo-caption provenance runs through the USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association calendars and NavSource - contemporaneous photos with compiled captions, not an action report; casualty details rest on the caption text. Caption calls Jones 'CO'; rating abbreviation is unclear and no command implication is asserted. Absence from the NHHC combat-loss list is corroborative context, not a health/exposure record. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-05
-
[6]Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record HAER AK-52, M/V Husky II (USS LCI(L) 653) - LCI(L)-class written history and documentation [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 written history, design/construction narrative and principal-dimensions/propulsion block (pp. 1, 6); NavSource specifications block for this hull's engine fit
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- LCI(L)s were diesel-powered landing craft of a utilitarian wartime Bureau of Ships design (designed May 1942 at British Admiralty instigation; over 900 built; ~158 ft, welded steel, twin-screw). This hull's propulsion was two sets of four General Motors Series 71 diesel engines, four per shaft (2,320 shp) - an all-diesel plant with no boilers or steam system, so the asbestos-relevant applications aboard are the era-standard diesel-craft items: engine exhaust and muffler lagging, thermal/acoustic insulation in the engine room and accommodations, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. This hull (No. 345) is an early-design craft predating the LCI(L)-351 deckhouse redesign.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Houston TX, 1942-43); wartime crew in confined engine-room and accommodation spaces
- Limitations
- Class/design inference only - HAER AK-52 documents a sister craft (LCI(L) 653, later design group) and the LCI(L) type generally; it does not name this hull and does not assert asbestos content (its two insulation mentions are 1980s commercial-conversion spray-on insulation, not WWII naval construction - excluded as era evidence). No ship-specific material list exists for this hull; asbestos presence aboard is era- and design-level inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity, products installed, or present-day presence (hull fate unknown since 1948).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-06
-
[7]American General Ins. Co. v. Ariola, 187 S.W.2d 585 (Tex. Civ. App. - Galveston 1945), CourtListener opinion 4203871 [court_record]
- Locator
- 187 S.W.2d 585, No. 11705 (Tex. Civ. App. 1945) - statement of facts: double-bottom scraping work, 2 Dec 1942 injury, 22 Dec 1942 death, no respirators furnished
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A published Texas appellate opinion records that Louis Ariola, a ship scraper/painter's helper employed by Brown Shipbuilding Co., was working in a ship's double-bottom (a confined space roughly one to two feet high, entered through a manhole) on 2 December 1942 - during this hull's construction window at the same yard (laid down 31 October 1942; launched 2 December 1942). He inhaled steel and rust scalings, developed pneumonia, and died 22 December 1942; testimony recorded that no masks or respirators were furnished to workers on the job. A jury found the respiratory injury compensable and the appellate court affirmed. The case documents airborne-particulate occupational exposure and litigated respiratory disease at the builder's yard during this hull's build.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942 (injury); 1945 (opinion)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding yard workforce (ship-scraper/painter's-helper trade), December 1942
- Limitations
- Yard-level, not hull-level: the opinion does not name LCI(L)-345 or tie the decedent's work to any vessel, and the exposure was steel/rust particulate - it is NOT an asbestos finding. It documents hazardous confined-space respiratory conditions at the builder during wartime production. Merits posture: jury verdict affirmed on appeal (compensable accidental injury, not occupational disease). No individual exposure or disease claim is made for any crew member of this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-07
-
[8]American General Ins. Co. v. Amerson, 187 S.W.2d 912 (Tex. Civ. App. - Galveston 1945), CourtListener opinion 4173102 [court_record]
- Locator
- 187 S.W.2d 912, No. 11704 (Tex. Civ. App. 1945) - statement of facts: lung injury 26 May 1943 from smoke/gas fumes; jurisdictional holding on late filing
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A second published Texas appellate opinion from the same insurer docket records a Brown Shipbuilding electrician's lung injury 'caused by inhaling smoke and gas fumes' on 26 May 1943, while the yard's wartime construction program (including LCI(L) production) was active. The trial court awarded compensation for six weeks' total and fifteen weeks' partial disability from the lung injury; on appeal the lung-injury claim was held jurisdiction-barred for late filing (claim filed June 1944, past the six-month limit), and the separately-appealed hernia total-disability award was reversed on evidence-sufficiency grounds.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943 (injury); 1945 (opinion)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding yard workforce (electrician trade), 1943
- Limitations
- Yard-level, not hull-level: the opinion does not name any vessel and the exposure was smoke/gas fumes, not asbestos. The lung-injury compensation was never adjudicated on the merits - the appellate disposition was a limitations/jurisdiction bar; classified at that stage. Documents occupational airborne-exposure litigation at the builder during wartime production, not an asbestos condition aboard this or any hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-08
-
[9]Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas, 'Brown, George Rufus' entry (Brown Shipbuilding Company history) [other_primary]
- Locator
- TSHA Handbook of Texas Online, 'Brown, George Rufus' entry, paragraph on Brown Shipbuilding (verified live via scrape, 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Texas State Historical Association documents that the Brown brothers formed the Brown Shipbuilding Company on the Houston Ship Channel in 1942; the yard built 359 ships during World War II and employed 25,000 people, earning the Army-Navy 'E' and a presidential citation. This is the yard that built this hull (laid down 31 October 1942).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce (~25,000)
- Limitations
- Builder-level history only - documents the yard's wartime scale and workforce, not conditions aboard this specific hull. Contains no asbestos information; the yard's asbestos record is addressed separately through the occupational-injury opinions (ev-07, ev-08). Brown Shipbuilding is not an entry in the companion shipyards dataset; the physical yard passed to Todd Shipyards post-war.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-09
-
[10]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 construction (1942) and entire service era (1943-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- 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 or even this craft type (HRD-80-2 concerns larger Navy vessels and shipyards). Full text not retrieved - gao.gov blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403); content via product-page description, consistent with prior batch records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-10
-
[11]Batch-5068 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page; NARA Special List 44 by-number PDF; NHHC Pacific Fleet organization 1 May 1945 and Navy-MC Awards Manual; NHHC WWII casualties list; HyperWar call-sign book; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP docket searches; LOC HAER AK-52; TSHA Handbook; shipbuildinghistory (Colton) LCI(L) production table; uboat.net; banned-source web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed asbestos case naming LCI(L)-345 / LCI(G)-345 / LCI-345 was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion searches for hyphenated and spaced hull-number variants returned zero results, and the RECAP docket search returned zero; a 'Brown Shipbuilding' + asbestos opinion search returned zero, and the twelve 'Brown Shipbuilding' opinion hits overall were reviewed - the only health-related ones are the two 1945 workmen's-compensation respiratory cases carried as yard-level context (ev-07, ev-08). No individual DANFS entry exists for this numbered landing craft (NHHC URL check returned 404).
- 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 - as a 1942-43 combat-built Navy craft the hull sits inside the documented Navy asbestos era. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present, and does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The vessel was sold in 1948 with fate unknown, so no modern survey can exist unless the hull is identified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-345-lcil345-11