Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[1]research packet ox-packet.md (1 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-396-lcil396-pkt-ox-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, IX-212 ex USS LCI(G)-396 (1944-1945) ex USS LCI(L)-396 (1944) - construction/milestone timeline, campaign table, specifications, disposal, photo captions; page history credited to 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry, Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1995); verified live 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150396.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, and photo-caption series (mine-strike aftermath, 728 en route photo)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down December 1943 at George Lawley & Sons Shipyard, Neponset, MA; launched December 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-396, 20 December 1943; reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-396, 15 June 1944; international radio call sign NKCH (November-Kilo-Charlie-Hotel). Asiatic-Pacific Theater; campaign: Western Caroline Islands operation - capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September-14 November 1944. Reclassified Miscellaneous Unclassified IX-212, 23 February 1945; decommissioned and struck, dates unknown; final disposition destroyed 21 March 1946. One battle star for WWII service; Purple Heart note '7 KIA, 20 WIA at Palau, 18 January 1945'. Specifications: displacement 246 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; length 158' 5.5"; beam 23' 3"; speed 16 kts max; LCI(G) armament two 40mm + four 20mm AA mounts, six .50-cal machine guns, ten Mk 7 rocket launchers. Photo captions document: LCI(G)-396 of the 'Black Cat Flotilla 13' at anchor after striking a mine on picket duty in the Palau Islands 18 January 1945, bow blown off from the gun-deck bulkhead forward, 'seven of the crew were killed and more than 20 wounded'; LCI(G)-728, -729, -730 and LCI(R)-732 rendered aid; James P. Sangster QM1 photograph of LCI(G)-728 en route to assist.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- George Lawley & Son construction trades (1943); LCI(L) crew ~28 (1943-44); LCI(G) crew ~70 (1944-45); IX-212 caretaker complement (1945-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its page attributes the history text to the Turner Publishing LCI volume. Milestone dates unverified against DANFS (no DANFS entry exists for this numbered craft - see search_ledger) or NVR (disposed 1946, pre-NVR coverage). No asbestos or material content. 'Laid down December 1943' and 'launched December 1943' are month-level only. Casualty figures here (7 KIA, 20 WIA) differ from the contemporaneous CINCPOA count (4 dead, 3 missing, 27 wounded) - see gaps. 'Destroyed 21 March 1946' is stated without manner, place, or authority.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-01
-
[3]NARA Special List 44, 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' - ship-number listing, PDF p. 17 row 'LCI(L)(G)-396 | 12/20/1943 | 2/28/1945'; printed-page version 'LCI(L)(G)-396 | Dec. 20, 1943-Feb. 28, 1945 | 2' (logbooks) on printed p. 337, verified by direct image fetch of the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center scan (narasl44/363.jpg); NARA PDF verified live 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL44 ship-number PDF p. 17, 'LCI(L)(G)-396' row between LCI(L)(G)-373 and LCI(L)(G)-397; printed p. 337 (ACPL scan narasl44/363.jpg) between LCI(L)-395 and LCI(L)(G)-397
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- SL44 inventories Navy deck logs for this hull as 'LCI(L)(G)-396' covering 20 December 1943 through 28 February 1945 - two logbooks in NARA custody (the combined LCI(L)/LCI(G) styling reflects her mid-1944 gunboat reclassification). The span opens on the documented commissioning date (20 Dec 1943) and closes three days after the documented IX-212 reclassification (23 Feb 1945), where the IX-212 logbook series picks up (see ev-03).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-12-20 to 1945-02-28 (coverage); compiled 1947/1978
- Population
- crew and officers generating the 1943-45 logbooks; NARA College Park holds the physical volumes
- Limitations
- The dates are logbook-coverage dates, not asserted commissioning or decommissioning dates - they corroborate, but do not themselves establish, the administrative milestones. The inventory lists the logs' existence; it does not include their contents. Volume count (2) is a logbook count from the printed edition, not a completeness guarantee; the NARA web PDF lists the same span without a count column. Both the NARA-hosted PDF (p. 17 - the intake's 'PDF page 17') and the ACPL printed-page scan (p. 337) verified this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-02
-
[4]NARA Special List 44 - ship-number listing, PDF p. 13 row 'IX-212 | 3/1/1945 | 7/31/1945'; printed-page version 'IX-212 | Mar. 1-July 31, 1945 | 1' (logbook) on printed p. 329, verified by direct image fetch (ACPL scan narasl44/355.jpg); NARA PDF verified live 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL44 ship-number PDF p. 13, 'IX-212' row between IX-203 and IX-28; printed p. 329 (ACPL scan narasl44/355.jpg) between IX-203 and K-1
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- SL44 inventories a separate single logbook for this hull under her IX-212 designation covering 1 March-31 July 1945 - a series that begins the day after the LCI(L)(G)-396 series ends, consistent with the 23 February 1945 reclassification. The five-month IX-212 coverage documents that the damaged hulk remained administratively active at least into July 1945; the NavSource 'destroyed 21 March 1946' disposition postdates the inventory.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-03-01 to 1945-07-31 (coverage)
- Population
- IX-212 caretaker/log-keeping complement, March-July 1945
- Limitations
- Logbook-coverage dates, not service or status assertions; the entry's existence does not say where the hulk lay, what it was used for, or when it left service. Not located in the batch-4770 PRIMARY record - new lead added by this consolidation. Contents unexamined; volume count (1) from the printed edition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-03
-
[5]Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas, 'Operations in the Pacific Ocean Areas, January 1945' (contemporaneous official operational report; digitized scan hosted by Wikimedia Commons), item 399; full-text verified this session [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF p. 73 (report printed p. 65), item 399, 'C. Casualties to Vessels' section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official report text (item 399): 'LCI(G) 396. Early in the morning of 18 January, LCI(G) 396, while on patrol in the vicinity of the PALAU Islands, struck a mine. The bow of the craft forward of frame Number 40 was blown off and sunk. Casualties were 4 dead, 3 missing, and 27 wounded. The craft was decommissioned and reclassified as IX 212.' - establishes the mine strike, the structural loss (bow forward of frame 40), the contemporaneous casualty count, and the LCI(G)-396-to-IX-212 identity.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-01-18
- Population
- LCI(G)-396 crew at Palau (LCI(G) complement ~5 officers + 65 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous summary: 'early in the morning' conflicts with the LCI(G)-728 action report's 1201 (noon) observation time (see gaps); '4 dead, 3 missing' is the immediate count, later accounts total 7 dead (see ev-08). Establishes the casualty event and identity chain, not construction details, asbestos content, exposure, causation, or the exact administrative effective dates. Item 399 prints on digitized PDF p. 73 (report printed p. 65) of this scan - the batch-4770 record cited 'PDF p. 72'; the paragraph content is on p. 73 of the verified file (locator corrected).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-04
-
[6]USS LCI National Association, Elsie Item newsletter No. 96 (March 2017), 'Letters to the Editor' - verbatim excerpts from the USS LCI(G)-728 action report covering the rescue and salvage of LCI(G)-396 off Urukthapel Island, Palau, 18 January 1945 (the underlying document is NARA NAID 139956845); verified live 2026-09-30 (http scheme; PDF fetched and extracted this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Elsie Item No. 96 (Mar 2017), pp. 12-13, 'Letters to the Editor' and photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The 728's action report excerpts document the event minute-by-minute: explosion observed at 1201 with 'considerable smoke' and 'a decided starboard list'; 728 went to general quarters at 1217 and closed through several moored mines near the fringing reef of Urukthapel Island; the entire bow 'had been blown off just forward of the deckhouse'; eight casualties recovered from the water by 1252; alongside the 396 at 1252, then agreement that 728 would carry all casualties to the hospital at Peleliu while LCI(G)-729 towed the wreck; at 1330 twenty additional casualties transferred (28 total); enemy shore batteries opened with two-gun salvos of five-or-six-inch guns as the ships pulled away; casualties delivered to Army DUKWs off Orange Beach, Peleliu, at 1542. LCI(G)s 729 and 731 and LCI(L) 732 are named as also rendering aid.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-01-18
- Population
- crews of LCI(G)-396 and assisting craft (728, 729, 730/731, 732), 18 January 1945
- Limitations
- Veterans-association newsletter reproducing excerpts of an official action report received from Earl M. Kile Jr. (a 728 survivor); the excerpted text is quoted verbatim but is a republication, not the NARA original (NAID 139956845, unexamined). The newsletter mistypes the year as '1943' in its framing text - the event is 18 January 1945 per every primary source. Hull-number detail inside the excerpt (731, LCI(L) 732) differs slightly from NavSource's caption list (730, LCI(R)-732) - see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-05
-
[7]NARA catalog records located via Digital Public Library of America mirror (provider: National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference): NAID 83524408 'LCI(G)-396 - Rep of striking min and subsequent opers in the Palau Islands Area, 1/18/45'; NAID 139956845 'LCI(G)-728 - Rep of rescue ops & salvage of USS LCI(G) 396 off Urukthapel Is, Palau Is on 1/18/45'; war diaries NAID 78528875 (6/1-30/44), 78622970 (7/1-31/44), 78626182 (8/1-31/44), 139819941 (10/1/44-12/31/44), 139903812 (1/1-31/45); muster rolls NAID 120184965; DPLA search verified live 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- DPLA phrase search '"LCI(G) 396"' (8 results, all NARA College Park - Textual Reference); item pages mapping to catalog.archives.gov/id/83524408, /139956845, /78528875, /78622970, /78626182, /139819941, /139903812, /120184965
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Eight ship-specific primary records exist in the NARA catalog for this hull: the ship's own action report for the mine strike and subsequent operations (83524408); the assisting gunboat's rescue/salvage report (139956845); five war-diary installments spanning June 1944-January 1945 (the January 1945 diary covers the strike); and the muster-roll series. These are the primary-source leads for hull-level construction, damage, and repair documentation - including anything the reports say about material damage and salvage work.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06 to 1945-01 (diaries and reports); muster-roll span unverified
- Population
- crew of LCI(G)-396 (muster rolls, war diaries); ship's officers (action report); LCI(G)-728 officers (rescue report)
- Limitations
- Located via DPLA's mirror of NARA catalog metadata; catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and its public API was not exercised this session, so digitization status and full contents are unverified. Presence of a war diary or action report does not indicate asbestos content; no asbestos term appears in the located metadata.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-06
-
[8]Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, World War II Unaccounted-for list, North Carolina report - row: 'FOXX, CHARLES V | COX | NAVY | 06567720 | LCI(G)-396; UNITED STATES NAVY RESERVE | 1/18/1945 | NON RECOVERABLE | PALAU'; verified live via Firecrawl 2026-09-30 (page renders as HTML report table; direct curl returned HTTP 403) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DPAA WWII unaccounted-for North Carolina report, 'FOXX, CHARLES V' row (alphabetical F section)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- DPAA identifies Coxswain Charles V. Foxx, U.S. Navy Reserve (service no. 06567720), assigned to LCI(G)-396, non-recoverable at Palau on 18 January 1945 - corroborating the vessel, date, and Palau casualty context for one named sailor. Foxx is also one of the seven dead listed on the association honor roll (ev-08).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-01-18
- Population
- Charles V. Foxx, Coxswain, U.S. Navy Reserve
- Limitations
- Corroborates vessel, date, and casualty context for one sailor only; does not document materials, asbestos, other casualties, or exposure. The URL is a North-Carolina-specific report rendering - service-number and unit fields read verbatim this session; the report's internal pagination is inapplicable to the HTML rendering.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-07
-
[9]USS LCI National Association, Elsie Item newsletter No. 109 (June 2020), Memorial-Day KIA honor roll 'assembled by many members of the Association from official reports filed during the war years 1942 to 1945'; verified live 2026-09-30 (http scheme; PDF fetched and extracted this session) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Elsie Item No. 109 (Jun 2020), Memorial-Day honor-roll section, 'LCI(G) 396' entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The honor roll's Pacific-Theater entry: 'LCI(G) 396 / Sunk 1/18/1945 SWPA / Palau Islands by mine' followed by seven KIA names - James R. Wirtz, John P. Mannino, Bobby G. Ozbirn, Delonda J. Self, Robert J. Calvert, Oliver E. Cole, Charles V. Foxx. The seven-man roster is consistent with NavSource's '7 KIA' and reconciles the contemporaneous CINCPOA '4 dead, 3 missing' (the missing were later counted dead).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-01-18
- Population
- the seven LCI(G)-396 dead, 18 January 1945
- Limitations
- Veterans-association compilation described by its editors as incomplete ('a list, but not the complete list') though drawn from wartime official reports; 'Sunk' is loose phrasing - the bow section sank while the hulk survived to become IX-212. Roster corroborated at the unit/date level by CINCPOA and DPAA; individual names beyond Foxx not independently verified. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-08
-
[10]Historic American Engineering Record, LCI(L)-713, HAER No. OR-180 (Library of Congress), short-form record; verified live and full text extracted this session [haer]
- Locator
- HAER OR-180, principal-measurements, description, and historical-information sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- HAER documents the LCI-351-class design this hull belongs to: welded 1/4-inch steel plate, Bureau of Ships design, 158'5.5" x 23'3", propelled by eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines (four pairs to two shafts, variable-pitch propellers), ~1,051 ships of the type built in ten shipyards; George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA, was a class builder (the yard that built this record's subject).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (LCI(L)-713 construction); class context 1942-45
- Population
- LCI-351-class design and construction cohort
- Limitations
- Federal documentation for a different LCI-351 hull (713, built after the June 1944 design modification - round pilothouse, centerline ramp) - class context, not a hull record for 396 (an earlier, pre-modification build). Establishes neither identical equipment nor asbestos-containing material aboard this vessel; no asbestos/insulation material discussion appears in the record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-09
-
[11]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979); product page verified live via Firecrawl 2026-09-30 [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 highlights block
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed the Navy's efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure, including the use of asbestos in Navy ships - documenting the Navy's asbestos era spanning this hull's 1943 construction and 1943-46 service life. (Per the standing record: the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s.)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era covered includes 1943-46
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and ship crews of the asbestos era
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Direct curl returns HTTP 403 (standing limitation since batch 01) - content via product-page highlights; the 26-page full report PDF (gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf) is linked but was not extracted this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-10
-
[12]Rushworth, Denis H., 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal 117(2), 2005, pp. 35-48, DOI 10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x; verified live via Firecrawl 2026-09-30 (direct curl 403) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- NEJ 117(2) 2005 article record + abstract, ingentaconnect art00012
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed Naval Engineers Journal article (American Society of Naval Engineers) documents that asbestos 'was once used in U.S. Navy shipboard pipe and machinery thermal insulation and in many other shipboard products,' that crew aboard 'Navy ships built during and following WWII' were among those exposed, and that 'the most likely source of their Navy shipboard exposures was thermal insulation' because the materials were 'dry, friable, and easily accessible.' Covers this hull's construction and service era at the practice level.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2005 (article); WWII-era practice documented
- Population
- WWII-and-later Navy ship crews; shipyard insulation workers
- Limitations
- Era/practice-level documentation - names no hull and no product list for this vessel; establishes the Navy-era practice, not installed materials aboard LCI(L)-396. Abstract-level read; article body not retrieved. No quantity, product, or individual exposure data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-11
-
[13]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (diesel propulsion: two sets of 4 GM '6051 series 71' diesels, 4 per shaft; GM main reduction gears; twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp; two diesel-driven 30 kW 120 V DC ship's-service generators); HAER OR-180 class record (eight GM 6-71 diesels, welded-steel construction); GAO HRD-80-2 (ev-10); Rushworth NEJ 2005 (ev-11) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 150396.htm specifications block; HAER OR-180; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; NEJ 117(2) 2005
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A geared-diesel landing craft built December 1943 at George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA, sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel amphibious craft of this type and period were engine and exhaust thermal insulation/lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; exposure-relevant confined spaces were her engine room and machinery spaces. Exposure-relevant windows: December 1943 construction; December 1943-January 1945 service; the 18 January 1945 salvage period alongside and towing the burned/damaged hulk; IX-212 caretaker period March-July 1945.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943); crew (1943-45), esp. engine-room personnel; salvage parties aboard the mine-damaged hulk (Jan 1945); IX-212 caretaker complement (1945); any disposal/destroy work crews (1946)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for this vessel; the January 1945 salvage work scope is documented only as narrative action-report excerpts (ev-05), not a repair specification. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-12
-
[14]Batch-5106 search ledger (this record): NavSource main page; NARA SL44 official PDF + ACPL printed-page scans (both designations); CINCPOA January 1945 report; Elsie Items 96/109; NARA catalog war-diary/action-report/muster-roll NAIDs via DPLA; DPAA NC unaccounted-for list; HAER OR-180; GAO HRD-80-2; NEJ 117(2); CourtListener API v4 (opinions hyphenated + docket hyphenated returned 0; spaced-variant opinion and remaining docket queries blocked by fleet pacing); NHHC casualties page; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-396-01 through -16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, material schedule, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-396 / LCI(G)-396 / IX-212 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion-level search ('LCI(G)-396' OR 'LCI(L)-396' OR 'LCI-396' OR 'IX-212') returned count 0 and docket-level search of the hyphenated designations returned count 0 (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-30); spaced-variant opinion queries and remaining docket queries repeatedly hit the fleet pacing cap and are logged as blocked, not as negative results. The only asbestos-adjacent web material is generic landing-craft/Navy marketing content (asbestos/mesothelioma law-firm pages) that does not name this hull - 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. CourtListener coverage is partial: two clean zero-result queries plus queries blocked by fleet pacing - residual litigation-check gap remains open. NARA deck logs (SL44: 2 logbooks under LCI(L)(G)-396, 1 under IX-212), the ship's own 18 Jan 1945 action report (NAID 83524408), the 728 rescue/salvage report (NAID 139956845), five war diaries, and muster rolls are unexamined primary leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-396-13