Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 411-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-pkt-411-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(M)-359 ex-USS LCI(L)-359 - construction milestones, reclassification, theater assignment, campaign table, awards, disposal, specifications (history sourced by NavSource to 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150359.htm - header block, 'LCI(L)-351 Class' history lines, Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns table, awards block, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 25 May 1943 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA; launched 21 June 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-359, 2 July 1943; reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Mortar) LCI(M)-359, 30 April 1945. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCI Flotilla Five, then LCI Flotilla Twenty Two (1944-45) under CDR. Paul McD. Smith USN (1944) and CDR. Marion M. Byrd (1944-45). Published campaign credits: Bismarck Archipelago operation (21 to 25 April 1944) with Green Islands landing (15 to 19 February 1944); Western New Guinea operations - Morotai landings (15 September 1944); Luzon operation - Lingayen Gulf landing (4 to 18 January 1945); Manila Bay-Bicol operations - Nasugbu (31 January to 2 February 1945); Consolidation of the Southern Philippines - Palawan Island landings (28 February to 7 March 1945) and Visayan Island landings (18 to 19 March 1945). Five battle stars for WWII; awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5), World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippines Liberation Medal (2). Decommissioned 1946; struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946; sold 13 March 1947, fate unknown. International radio call sign NHYC (November-Hotel-Yankee-Charlie). Spec block: 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kts max / 14 kts continuous; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted (LCI(L)), 4 + 49 (LCI(M)); troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; LCI(M) armament one single 40mm forward, four 20mm, three 4.2-inch chemical mortars in 4x4-ft sandboxes on the well deck with No. 2 troop compartment converted to magazine; propulsion two sets of 4 General Motors '6051 series 71' diesels (4 per shaft), GM main reduction gears, two 30kW 120V DC diesel-drive generators, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (May-Jul 1943); crew: 4 officers + 24 enlisted as LCI(L), 4 + 49 as LCI(M), plus embarked troops (up to 188) during 1943-46 service
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation sourcing this entry to the Turner Publishing LCI history (1995) - milestone dates corroborated here by uboat.net and shipbuildinghistory.com, and the 2 July 1943 commissioning aligns exactly with the NARA deck-log coverage start (ev-04). Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. The published campaign table's paired 'Bismarck Archipelago operation, 21 to 25 April 1944 / Green Islands landing, 15 to 19 February 1944' cell is transcribed as printed. 'Decommissioned in 1946' carries no exact date; the page lists it before the 25 February 1946 striking.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LCI(L)-359 (LCI(L)-359), LCI 351 class - build data and wartime order-of-battle entries transcribed from action-report material [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 21383 - data table ('Ordered/Laid down/Launched/Commissioned', History line) and dated event sections '1 May 1945', '10 Jun 1945', '20 Jun 1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- uboat.net records for this hull: ordered 9 March 1943; built by George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA; laid down 25 May 1943; launched 21 June 1943; commissioned 2 July 1943; 'Reclassified as LCI(M), Landing Craft Mortar on 30 April 1945; Sold on 13 March 1947.' Order-of-battle entries place this hull, under Ens. T.S. Adair, USNR, in three 1945 Borneo-period formations: Task Group 78.1.33 (the LCI(M) Unit, with LCI(M)-362, Lt.(jg) R.W. Kearns) for the 1 May 1945 Tarakan assault under TG 78.1 / USS Rocky Mount (RAdm F.B. Royal) - Operation Oboe One, 'Peter Day'; Task Unit 78.1.34 (LCI(M) Unit, with LCI(M)-362 and LCI(M)-431) for the 10 June 1945 Brunei Bay assault - Operation Oboe Six, 'Zebra Day'; and Task Unit 76.20.55 (a support unit with LCS(L)-46/-58/-60, LCI(R)-71/-72/-74, and LCI(M)-431) in the order of battle dated 20 June 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947; order-of-battle detail April-June 1945
- Population
- Crew under Ens. T.S. Adair, USNR (May-June 1945 per transcription)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a well-regarded secondary compilation; the dated sections transcribe wartime action-report task-organizations, but this record did not examine the underlying primary reports. The commanding-officer attribution (Ens. T.S. Adair, USNR) rests on this transcription only - 'We don't have any commands listed' is the page's own caveat on formal command history. The 20 June 1945 entry's operation context (Balikpapan/Oboe Two staging vs. continued Brunei-area support) is inferred from the order of battle; NavSource's published campaign table does not include the May-June 1945 Borneo operations, so these stand on the uboat transcription plus the USNA finding-aid corroboration (ev-03). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-02
-
[4]U.S. Naval Academy, Nimitz Library Special Collections & Archives, MS 415 'World War II Ship Action Reports, 1942-1945' finding aid - entry for U.S.S. LCI (M)-359 [other_primary]
- Locator
- MS 415 finding aid, entry 'U.S.S. LCI (M)-359 (Landing Craft - Infantry), June 1945', Box 11 Folder 77
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Nimitz Library Special Collections holds an action report filed by this hull: 'U.S.S. LCI (M)-359 (Landing Craft - Infantry), June 1945 - Minesweeping operations for Operation Oboe Six (Battle of North Borneo) in the Brunei Bay area (Borneo).' Box 11, Folder 77. This is a ship-filed primary report establishing June 1945 operations at Brunei Bay in support of the Oboe Six minesweeping effort - corroborating the uboat.net order-of-battle transcription (ev-02).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- June 1945
- Population
- Crew (June 1945)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the finding-aid entry verifies the report's existence, ship, date, and subject; the document itself is undigitized and was not examined - contents, any damage/sickness reporting, or material detail cannot be claimed from it. 'Minesweeping operations' in the catalog description reflects the report's subject coverage; the LCI(M) role in Oboe Six was mortar fire support around the sweep areas, not mine disposal. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-03
-
[5]NARA Special List #44 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947', by Ship Numbers - LCI(L)(M)-359 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, page 19, entry 'LCI(L)(M)-359 7/2/1943 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds deck logs for this hull: Special List 44 (ship-number ordering, PDF page 19) lists 'LCI(L)(M)-359 - 7/2/1943 to 6/30/1945'. Coverage begins on the commissioning date (2 July 1943) and runs through the WWII-period inventory cutoff, establishing continuous in-service documentation for the wartime life of the hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-07-02 to 1945-06-30
- Population
- Crew (1943-1945 coverage window)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the inventory proves the logs' existence and coverage dates - these are log-coverage bounds, not asserted commissioning/decommissioning dates (though the start coincides with the documented commissioning). The '(M)' in the NARA listing reflects her April 1945 mortar reclassification applied to the log series. The logs are not in NARA's digitized deck-log list (navy-online); physical RG 24 retrieval would be required. No asbestos content expected in deck logs, but logs are the primary source for crew movement, availabilities, and yard periods.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-04
-
[6]'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' (wartime Navy Department compilation, HyperWar/ibiblio reproduction) - LCI(M) type section listing LCI(M)-359 [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-lc.html, section 'LCI(M) -- Landing Craft, Infantry (Mortar)', table row 'LCI(M)-359'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official-era listing places this hull in the LCI(M) - Landing Craft, Infantry (Mortar) - section with a 1945 commissioning-column entry, corroborating the mortar conversion. Type-level specification given for LCI(M)s: armament 1 x 40mm, 3 x 4.2-inch chemical mortars, 4 x 20mm; complement 4 officers + 49 enlisted; 8 GM diesels, twin screws; converted from LCI(L) and LCI(G) hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Crew (1945-46, LCI(M) configuration)
- Limitations
- Reproduction of an official wartime catalog on HyperWar (ibiblio, UNC-hosted). It confirms the designation and type characteristics but gives no hull-specific dates beyond the year column and no operational detail. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-05
-
[7]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton compilation), George Lawley & Sons production table - LCI(L) 359 row and Lawley LCI(L) run [other_primary]
- Locator
- lawley.htm production table, LCI(L) section, row 'LCI(L) 359'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Lawley yard table lists 'LCI(L) 359 - US Navy - Landing Craft - type 216d, 158 ft - 2-Jul-43 - Later LCI(M)359, sold 1947', corroborating builder, delivery/commissioning date, conversion, and disposal. Lawley built the contiguous LCI(L) 351-373+ run at Neponset; the same table shows sisters LCI(L)-351 through -370 built May-September 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943)
- Limitations
- Secondary trade-history compilation; consistent with NavSource and uboat.net on all overlapping fields. The '2-Jul-43' column is a delivery/completion-style date that coincides with the documented commissioning date. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-06
-
[8]NavSource-hosted 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' by J.E. 'Jim' Talbert (President, USS LCI National Association) - flotilla roster and Morotai task-group listing naming the 359 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150618f.htm - roster line, 'Task Group 77.4' Morotai paragraph, post-war breakup paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The flotilla memoir's roster includes the 359 among Flotilla 22's 36 ships ('Ship No. ... 357 - 358 - 359 - 360 ...'), noting 'the first 19 of these ships were from the old Flotilla 5.' It lists the 359 by number in 'The LCI Unit of Task Group 77.4' for the Morotai assault (beaching 16 September 1944 per the narrative) and describes the flotilla's Hollandia staging, the Lingayen Gulf convoy (TF 78), Subic Bay operations, and post-war breakup - during which the 359 does not appear in the final assignment lists, consistent with her April 1945 departure for mortar conversion.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew; Flotilla 22 staff
- Limitations
- First-person memoir hosted on NavSource - secondary, not a primary record; used for flotilla context and the explicit task-group listing of this hull. Dates inside the narrative are the memoirist's. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource + HyperWar spec blocks (diesel-powered LCI(L)-351-class hull, 8 GM diesels, no steam plant); 1943 build at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (see ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource/HyperWar spec blocks (propulsion); GAO HRD-80-2 (era); Lawley yard attribution (ev-01, ev-06)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built May-June 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this type and period were engine and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and thermal insulation or deck covering in accommodation spaces. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, and the material scale is far smaller than a steam combatant's, though the confined-hull-volume dynamic of a 158-ft amphibious ship applies.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); crew 1943-46; any in-theater conversion trades for the April 1945 LCI(M) refit (conversion yard undocumented); post-sale handlers (1947)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for this hull. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Small diesel landing craft carried materially less insulation than steam ships - do not read this as 'documented asbestos aboard.'
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-08
-
[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 (1943-47).
- 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. The GAO description centers on insulation aboard ships generally; how much of that program applied to small diesel landing craft is not quantified. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30 - same standing defect as prior batches) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-09
-
[11]Batch-5083 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull + flotilla pages; uboat.net; USNA MS 415 finding aid; NARA SL44 ship-number PDF; HyperWar official ships list; shipbuildinghistory.com yard table; CourtListener (authenticated, 3 queries); NVR; GAO; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LCI(L)-359 / LCI(M)-359 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener (authenticated API v4) returned zero results for '"LCI(L)-359"' in opinions, for '"LCI-359" OR "LCI(M)-359" OR "LCIL-359"' in opinions, and for the same hyphenated set in dockets. A secondary web sweep surfaced no asbestos or litigation content naming this hull - the nearest name collision is USS Woodson (DE-359), and generic law-firm ship lists do not carry this numbered craft.
- 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 - era-consistent presence remains plausible but undemonstrated for this hull. Space-separated CourtListener spellings ('"LCI(L) 359"', '"LCI 359"') were NOT run: the fleet-wide pacing budget was spent at session time - logged as deferred in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Undigitized leads remain (NARA deck logs 1943-45; USNA MS 415 Box 11 F77 June 1945 action report; Lawley yard records; the April 1945 conversion work). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-359-lcil359-10