Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 410-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LCI(L)-354 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_Landing_Craft_Infantry
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-pkt-410-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(M)-354 ex USS LCI(G)-354 (1944-1945) USS LCI(L)-354 (1943-1944) - construction, designations, unit assignments, campaigns, awards, specifications, disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150354.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions (page last updated 9 February 2024; verified live via firecrawl)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 1 April 1943 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA (LCI-351 class); launched 6 May 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-354, 3 June 1943, LT L. G. Payne, USNR, in command; reclassified LCI(G)-354, 31 December 1944; reclassified LCI(M)-354, 30 April 1945. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCI Flotilla Fourteen (CAPT T. W. Rimer), LCI Group Forty-Two (LCDR A. H. Conners, USNR), LCI Division Eighty-Four. Campaigns: Iwo Jima operation (assault and occupation, 19-21 February 1945); Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation, 26 March - 14 June 1945). Two battle stars; Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Iwo Jima), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (two stars), World War II Victory Medal. Decommissioned, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 1946; transferred to the State Department for disposal, fate unknown. Photographic record: LCI(G)-354 underway off Maui, T.H., 14 January 1945 during Iwo Jima pre-invasion training (COMTASKFOR 51 photographic report, NARA catalog ID 4697018); LCI(G)-354 underway off Naha, Okinawa, during the 18 May 1945 loss of Longshaw (DD-559); LCI(G)-354 beached, captioned in All Hands magazine, July 1944 issue.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); crew 4-5 officers + 24-65 enlisted depending on configuration (1943-46); embarked troops when configured as LCI(L) (up to 6 officers + 182 enlisted)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation drawing on the Turner Publishing 'USS LCI' history (Vol. II, 1995) and NARA-captioned photography, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records but the page itself is secondary. Contains no asbestos content. Decommissioning and disposal dates are imprecise by NavSource's own account.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-01
-
[3]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945: Landing Ships and Craft (official Navy compilation, HyperWar/ibiblio) - LCI(G) and LCI(M) listings [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-lc.html, LCI(G) table row 'LCI(G)-354' and LCI(M) table row 'LCI(M)-351-356'; type-spec headers for LCI(G) and LCI(M)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Navy 1940-1945 ship listing names this hull twice: 'LCI(G)-354 ... 1944-45 ... Converted to Landing Craft, Infantry (Mortar) -- LCI(M)' under the LCI(G) gunboat table, and 'LCI(M)-351-356 ... 1945' under the LCI(M) mortar-ship table. The type headers document the conversions' purpose: LCI(G) 'Converted from Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) -- LCI(L) for close-in fire support of landing operations' (2-3 40mm, 3-4 20mm, 6 .50cal, 10 Mk 7 & 2 Mk 22 rocket launchers; 5 officers, 65 enlisted); LCI(M) 'Converted from LCI(L) and LCI(G)' (1 40mm, 3 4.2-inch chemical mortars, 4 20mm; 4 officers, 49 enlisted), citing Transport Doctrine, Amphibious Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Chapter 27.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew during gunboat configuration (5 officers, 65 enlisted per type header) and mortar configuration (4 officers, 49 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Year-level granularity only - the listing confirms the designation chain (LCI(G) in 1944-45, LCI(M) by 1945) but does not day-date either reclassification; NavSource supplies the day-level dates. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-02
-
[4]NARA Special List #44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number) - deck-log inventory [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf page 16, row 'LCI(L)(G)(M)354 | 6/1/1943 | 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 inventories Navy deck logs for 'LCI(L)(G)(M)354' covering 6/1/1943 - 6/30/1945 (PDF page 16) - the full commissioned wartime period including both reclassifications and both campaigns. The logs are held in Record Group 24, Entry 118 (National Archives Identifier 581208) at Archives II, College Park, MD.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (log coverage); inventory compiled by NARA
- Population
- Crew, June 1943 - June 1945
- Limitations
- Log-coverage dates are NOT commissioning/decommissioning dates - SL44 is a holdings inventory, not a service chronology. The logs themselves are not digitized in the National Archives Catalog (the only LCI hull on the NARA online deck-log list is LCI-874); content is unreviewed - availability of this inventory does not establish what the logs contain. No asbestos content in the inventory itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-03
-
[5]NARA Catalog, 'COM LCI(L) FLOT 14 - War Diary, 6/1-30/45', NAID 77462696 (RG 38, World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, series NAID 4697018) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/77462696 (8 images, transcription available); series catalog.archives.gov/id/4697018
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A digitized war diary exists for this hull's parent formation: Commander LCI(L) Flotilla 14, war diary for 6/1-30/45 - the final month of the Okinawa Gunto campaign in which LCI(M)-354 served. The file unit holds 8 images, all transcribed, unrestricted, in the NARA WWII war-diaries series (116,110 file units, ~1.99M digital objects, partially digitized).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- June 1945
- Population
- LCI Flotilla 14 staffs and unit crews, June 1945
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the file unit is verified to exist and be digitized, but its contents were not reviewed this session - whether it names or reports LCI(M)-354 is unverified (flotilla diaries report formation-level operations). The parent series catalog page notes that small units 'often provide less information.' No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-04
-
[6]Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, 'Amphibious Operations: Capture of Iwo Jima' (CominCh P-0012), official Navy bulletin (HyperWar/ibiblio mirror) - Chapter II gunboat/mortar plans and Chapter V UDT-reconnaissance narrative [other_primary]
- Locator
- Iwo-2.html (ch. II): LCI(M) mortar plan, Gunboat Support Group paragraphs, post-landing fire-support narrative; Iwo-5.html (ch. V): 17 Feb UDT reconnaissance, '12 LCI(G)'s had been hit'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official Iwo Jima operation bulletin documents the employment pattern in which LCI(G)-354 fought: a Gunboat Support Group of two six-ship LCI(G) units and two six-ship LCS(L) units delivering 4.5-inch rocket salvos ahead of the assault waves, and an LCI(M) mortar plan - 'the rapid rate of fire, high trajectory and long range of the 4".2 chemical mortar' - with 18 LCI(M)s positioned for the landing and 12 more on call. During the 17 February UDT beach reconnaissance, LCI(G)s in close support drew Japanese mortar and artillery fire - 'Between 1200 (K) and 1145 (K) 12 LCI(G)'s had been hit,' with relief gunboats replacing damaged ships. After the landings, mortar units delivered nightly harassing fire and an LCI(G) ran nightly anti-evacuation patrols until the island was secure.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- February-March 1945
- Population
- LCI(G)/LCI(M)/LCS(L) gunboat crews at Iwo Jima, February-March 1945
- Limitations
- Type/unit-level operational documentation: names LCI(G) and LCI(M) units and tactics at Iwo Jima but does not name hull 354 in the digitized text (grep of report chapters produced no '354' mention). Ship-specific presence rests on the NavSource battle-star/campaign record and the COMTASKFOR 51 photograph; the specific task-unit assignment (TU 52.6.5) is documented only in secondary literature citing the CTU 52.6.5 action report. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-05
-
[7]NHHC Online Library photo captions, 'Iwo Jima Operation - Minesweeping and Underwater Demolition Team Activities, 17-19 Feb. 1945' (Naval Historical Center collection, HyperWar/ibiblio mirror) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- iwo-3m.htm narrative paragraph and photo captions NH 65309, NH 65317
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC captions document the LCI(G) gunboat combat environment at Iwo Jima: on 17 February 1945 'seven LCI(G) gunboats moved inshore to provide rocket and gunfire support for UDT "frogmen"'; Japanese coast-defense guns, mortars and light arms opened fire 'with devastating effect'; LCI(G)-474 was sunk, eight other gunboats badly damaged, 44 gunboat crew members killed and more than 150 injured; LCI(G)-449's commanding officer LT(jg) Rufus G. Herring received the Medal of Honor. Caption NH 65309: 'Several Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) [LCI(G)] moving in to support Underwater Demolition Teams off Iwo Jima, 17 February 1945. Most of these LCI(G)s were badly shot up by Japanese defenses.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- February 1945
- Population
- LCI(G) gunboat crews at Iwo Jima, 17-19 February 1945
- Limitations
- Unit-level combat context for the LCI(G) type at Iwo Jima - the captions do not identify which specific gunboats beyond 474 and 449 took part, and LCI(G)-354's participation in the 17 February UDT-cover action specifically is NOT documented (her documented presence is the 19-21 February assault period). The ibiblio page mirrors NHHC Online Library captions verbatim. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-06
-
[8]NHHC H-Gram 026, 'Marshalls 1944' (official NHHC historical publication on the Eniwetok operation, February 1944) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- H-Gram_026.pdf, assault-force composition and Parry Island D-day narrative (text extracted via firecrawl)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC documents the origin of the LCI(G) gunboat type this hull became: after Tarawa, the assault forces incorporated '24 new Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) modified as gunboats with 40-mm, 20-mm, and .50-caliber canons and machine guns, with some cannons configured to fire 72 rockets to impact just before the first troops hit the beach' - the conversion program that produced LCI(G)-354's configuration. The H-Gram also documents the type's vulnerability: at Parry Island, Eniwetok, 22 February 1944, six LCI gunboats maneuvering to support the landing took friendly fire from USS Hailey (DD-556) in smoke-reduced visibility - LCI-442 lost 6 killed/5 wounded, LCI-440 took 7 killed/39 wounded.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (conversion program origin)
- Population
- LCI(G) conversion crews and gunboat crews, 1944-45
- Limitations
- Program- and type-level documentation: establishes what an LCI(G) was and how the type fought, not anything about hull 354 specifically. The events described (Eniwetok, February 1944) predate this hull's gunboat conversion. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (8 GM diesels, 4 per shaft; GM reduction gears; twin variable-pitch screws, 2,320 shp; two 30 kW diesel ship's-service generators - no steam plant); official Ships 1940-1945 LCI(G)/LCI(M) type headers ('8 GM diesels, twin screws'); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; ships-lc.html LCI(G)/LCI(M) type headers; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built April-June 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era, but the asbestos-relevant plant aboard is limited: diesel engines (no boilers, no turbines, no steam lines), so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam combatants does not apply. Era-standard applications aboard WWII small diesel amphibious craft of this type were machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and accommodation/joiner insulation in the confined 158-foot hull. Her two conversions (1944 gunboat, 1945 mortar) entailed armament, magazine, and compartment work at forward-area bases - a disturbance pathway for whatever materials were aboard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); crew 1943-46; conversion/yard workers at forward-area bases (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or conversion work package located for this craft. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Small diesel auxiliaries carried markedly less asbestos-bearing insulation than steam combatants; inference may overstate actual material. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-08
-
[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 entire construction (1943) and 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. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403 - standing access defect also logged in Batches 01 and 98) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-09
-
[11]Batch-5078 search ledger (this record): NavSource; official Ships 1940-1945 landing-craft listing (HyperWar); NARA SL44 deck-log inventory; NARA digitized deck-log list; NARA RG 38 war-diaries series; Cominch Iwo Jima bulletin; NHHC Online Library captions; NHHC H-Gram 026; NHHC DANFS; Naval Vessel Register; CourtListener opinion + docket indexes; secondary web litigation sweep; USS LCI National Association site [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming LCI(L)-354, LCI(G)-354, or LCI(M)-354 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion and RECAP/docket searches on the hyphenated name variants each returned zero results. Notably, the usual law-firm 'ships with asbestos' listicles do not name this hull - no marketing-source assertions were found to exclude.
- 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. CourtListener coverage is limited to the queries run (hyphenated designation variants; see ledger for unhyphenated-variant status). Deck logs, conversion work packages, and action reports are undigitized or unreviewed leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-10
-
[12]Designation-date cross-check: NavSource designation line (LCI(G) 31 Dec 1944; LCI(M) 30 Apr 1945); official Ships 1940-1945 listing (LCI(G) 1944-45; LCI(M)-351-356 block 1945); uboat.net warship entry 21378 ('LCI(G) ... 31 December 1943'); NavSource All Hands July 1944 photo caption already styling her LCI(G)-354; secondary literature (Rielly, American Amphibious Gunboats in World War II) placing LCI(G)-354 in Mortar Gunboat Unit TU 52.6.5 at Iwo Jima while still (G)-designated [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource header/designation line + All Hands photo caption; ships-lc.html LCI(G)/LCI(M) tables; uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/21378.html; erenow mirror of Rielly ch. 'Iwo Jima' (TU 52.6.5 listing)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CONFLICT/CORRECTION: (1) uboat.net prints the LCI(G) reclassification as 31 December 1943 - a probable transcription error: the official Navy 1940-1945 listing gives the LCI(G) commissioning span as 1944-45, and NavSource and sister-ship records carry 31 December 1944; the 1943 date is carried by no other source. (2) The administrative designation dates lag the physical configuration: a photo captioned LCI(G)-354 ran in the July 1944 issue of All Hands - five months before the official 31 December 1944 reclassification - and secondary literature documents her serving in Mortar Gunboat Unit Five (TU 52.6.5, LCI(G)s 351, 352, 354, 355(F), 356) at Iwo Jima in February 1945, three months before the official 30 April 1945 LCI(M) designation. Physical conversion ahead of administrative redesignation is documented for the type ('their physical changes were ahead of the administrative changes').
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (designation window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a circulating date variant and flags the designation-vs-configuration gap; it does not change the carried dates (NavSource day-level dates retained, consistent with the official 1944-45/1945 spans). The mortar-unit assignment itself rests on secondary literature citing the CTU 52.6.5 action report - the primary report is an undigitized lead. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-354-lcil354-11