Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[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-397-lcil397-pkt-ox-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(G)-397 ex USS LCI(L)-397 page (history drawn from Turner Publishing 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, 1995; Navy campaign tables; LCI-351 class spec block; crew-family photo captions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page 10/15/150397: timeline, Asiatic-Pacific campaign table, awards block, specifications block, photo captions 1015039701-04 (incl. 'off Okinawa')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS LCI(L)-397 was laid down 10 December 1943 at George Lawley & Sons Shipbuilding Corp., Neponset, MA; launched 19 December 1943; commissioned 23 December 1943; reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-397 on 15 June 1944. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCI Flotilla Three (1944); for 1945 NavSource prints LCI Flotilla Six (CDR A.R. Montgomery), LCI Group Eighteen - flagship, LCDR E.L. Yates - LCI Division Thirty-Five. Credited campaign: Western Caroline Islands operation, capture and occupation of the southern Palau Islands, 6 October to 14 November 1944 - one battle star. Postwar: occupation service in the Far East 2 September to 2 December 1945 (Navy Occupation Medal, Asia clasp); decommissioned date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission 20 August 1947; final disposition unknown. Photo captions place the ship at anchor off Okinawa (undated).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Ship's crew (LCI(G) complement: 5 officers, 65 enlisted)
- Limitations
- NavSource reproduces the Turner Publishing volume and Navy campaign tables - secondary compilation of official data, not itself a primary document. The 1945 flotilla/group assignment conflicts with the official NHHC Pacific Fleet organization of 1 May 1945 (Group 39/Division 77(G) under Flotilla Thirteen - see ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-03). The printed Palau participation window (6 Oct-14 Nov 1944) differs from the official campaign period (6 Sep-14 Oct 1944 per NHHC). Page contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-01
-
[3]National Archives and Records Administration, Special List #44 - List of Logbooks of US Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947, by Ship Number (RG 24, Entry 118) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 17, line entry 'LCI(L)(G)-397 12/23/1943 6/30/1945'; NHHC deck-log access page: https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/services-and-policies/deck-log-access.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 (ship-number volume) inventories Navy deck logs for LCI(L)(G)-397 covering 12/23/1943 to 6/30/1945 (PDF page 17) - the commissioning-era span through the wartime-log boundary. Unclassified deck logs of the 1941-1983 period are held at the NARA Modern Military Branch, College Park, MD (per NHHC deck-log access guidance).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-12-23 to 1945-06-30 (log coverage)
- Limitations
- These are log-coverage dates, not asserted commissioning/decommissioning dates (commissioning is independently corroborated by NavSource and uboat.net at 23 Dec 1943). Log contents were not examined; the hull does not appear in NARA's online digitized deck-log index, which is organized by ship name - digitization status unconfirmed. Logs would document movements/muster, not materials or asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-02
-
[4]Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 (official wartime organization table) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PacFlt 1 May 1945 org chart, LCI Flotilla Thirteen section: 'LCI GROUP 39 ... LCI DIVISION 77 (G) ... LCI 397 (GF) ... Lt. J. C. Carlson (USNR)'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official U.S. Pacific Fleet organization for 1 May 1945 lists 'LCI 397 (GF)' - group flagship - under LCI Flotilla Thirteen (Comdr. M. B. Brown), LCI Group 39 (ComLCIGrp 39: Lt. Cdr. E. L. Yates USNR), LCI Division 77 (G), with Lt. J. C. Carlson (USNR) listed against the hull; division mates LCI 460, 470, 727, 728.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Ship's crew; LCI Group 39 staff embarked (flagship)
- Limitations
- Conflicts with NavSource's printed 1945 assignment (Flotilla Six / Group Eighteen / Division Thirty-Five, same group commander E.L. Yates) - consistent with a mid-1945 renumbering or a stale secondary listing; unresolved and flagged in gaps. The 1 May 1945 fleet listing places the hull administratively; it does not by itself establish participation in the Okinawa campaign, and the ship's single battle star is for the Palau operation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-03
-
[5]Naval History and Heritage Command, Casualties: Navy and Coast Guard Ships, World War II (sunk/damaged ship and craft list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Casualties page, 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Gunboat) (LCI(G))' and 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) (LCI(L))' sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's WWII casualty list itemizes every sunk LCI(G) (82, 365, 459, 468, 474) and LCI(L) (1, 20, 32, 85, 91, 92, 93, 219, 232, 339, 416, 497, 553, 600, 684, 1065) - LCI(L)-397/LCI(G)-397 does not appear: the hull was not among the war losses, corroborating the postwar disposition record (struck 1946; Maritime Commission transfer 20 August 1947).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Limitations
- Absence from the loss list establishes survival, not damage-free service; the list covers sunk/captured/destroyed craft, not every damaged one. Not an asbestos record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-04
-
[6]NavSource LCI-351 class specifications block on the LCI(G)-397 hull page (propulsion plant, armor, complement, armament) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Same hull page, 'Specifications' block (LCI-351 class)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No ship-specific or LCI-class asbestos material schedule was located. Era/design inference for a 1943 U.S. Navy diesel landing craft: the class spec block documents twin-screw General Motors diesel propulsion (two sets of 4 GM 6051-series 71 diesels, 4 per shaft, 2,320 shp; two 30 kW diesel-drive generators) - no boilers or steam plant, so the boiler/turbine-lagging pathway dominant on steam combatants does not apply. Remaining era-typical applications aboard craft of this type and date: diesel exhaust/manifold lagging, exhaust and engine gaskets, engine-compartment thermal/acoustic insulation, electrical cable insulation, valve packing, deck coverings, accommodation bulkhead insulation, and winch brake linings - materials manufactured with asbestos fiber under wartime Navy procurement.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Construction trades (Neponset, 1943); engine-room crew (wartime)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - the spec block documents the platform (diesel plant, fittings), not materials content; no asbestos is mentioned by the source and no LCI material schedule was located. Establishes no quantities, locations, or individual exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-05
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (title/description)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - i.e., original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. Program-level context for WWII-era hulls including landing craft.
- 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 document; this hull was disposed of to the Maritime Commission in 1947, before the program described existed - the report explains the era's insulation practices and later Navy policy, not this craft's material content. gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches on 2026-09-30 (same standing defect as batches 01/98); citation is to the report title/number and product-page description - full text not pulled this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-06
-
[8]The Elsie Item no. 96 (March 2017), official publication of the USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association - Flotilla 13 war-diary excerpts and the LCI(G)-728 action-report transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- Elsie Item 96, pp. 5-6 (war diary of Flotilla 13 supply runs to the Palau blockading force; LCI(G)-728 action report excerpt)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The association newsletter reproduces wartime primary documents describing LCI Flotilla Thirteen ('Black Cats') picket/blockade operations around the bypassed Palau Islands, January-March 1945, including the 18 January 1945 action in which LCI(G)-728 - a documented Division 77(G) mate of LCI(G)-397 in the 1 May 1945 fleet organization - aided the mined LCI(G)-396 off Urukthapel and took her casualties to the hospital at Peleliu. This characterizes the duties of the formation LCI(G)-397 served in during late 1944-mid 1945.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-01 to 1945-03 (documents reproduced in 2017 publication)
- Limitations
- Veterans-association newsletter transcribing primary documents - a secondary reproduction. LCI(G)-397 is not named anywhere in the transcribed material: this is formation-level context, not a hull event. The newsletter prints the mine-strike year as '1943' in one caption; NavSource's LCI(G)-396 page and the action narrative date it 18 January 1945.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-07
-
[9]Batch-5107 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 opinion searches; NARA SL44; NHHC org chart and casualty list; NavSource; uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory.com; usslci.org; general web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, material schedule, museum hazmat disclosure, or case naming LCI(L)-397/LCI(G)-397 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search returned zero hits on two hull-name query sets; the CourtListener docket index could not be queried this session (fleet pacing throttle) and is logged as blocked, not negative.
- 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 craft was built in 1943 under wartime Navy procurement. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The craft left Navy custody in 1947; post-transfer exposure documentation was not located either.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-397-lcil397-08