Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-445 page (history compiled from USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource archive page 10/15/150445 (ship entry, campaign table, occupation/China service table, specifications block, Guadalcanal photo caption); page verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity, construction, and wartime record for this hull: laid down 27 May 1943 at New Jersey Ship Building Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 5 August 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-445 on 17 August 1943; assigned to the 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)). Credited campaigns: Bismarck Archipelago operation (Green Islands landing, 15-19 Feb 1944), Western New Guinea operations (Morotai Island landings, 15 Sep 1944), Western Caroline Islands operation (capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 Sep-14 Oct 1944) - three battle stars. Post-war: Occupation and China service (Commander Yangtze River Patrol Force) 8 September - 21 December 1945. Decommissioned date unknown; struck from the Naval Register date unknown; transferred to the Maritime Commission 29 December 1947 for disposal; final disposition, fate unknown. Photo caption places the hull beached at Guadalcanal 25 February 1944 alongside LCI(L)-435, -436, and -357. Ribbons listed: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), China Service Medal (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3), World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippine Liberation Medal. Radio call sign NQHX.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Crew (4 officers, 24 enlisted) and embarked troops (up to 6 officers, 182 enlisted), 1943-1946
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled secondary reference (transcribing Turner Publishing's USS LCI volume and Navy award lists), not a contemporaneous log or action report. Campaign credits are official-list summaries; decommissioning and striking dates are not given anywhere on the page. Contains no asbestos information whatsoever.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-01
-
[2]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LCI(L)-445 warship record and linked operation event (compiled from action reports) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 21487 (data block; 'Notable events' 5 Aug 1944 convoy narrative citing HMAS Vendetta report of proceedings)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Compiled warship record corroborates construction and assignment for this hull: LCI 351-class landing craft, built by New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. (Barber, New Jersey); ordered 22 March 1943; laid down 27 May 1943; launched 5 August 1943; commissioned 17 August 1943. Its 'notable events' listing names LCI(L)-445 as one of fourteen LCI(L) Flotilla 22 craft in the 5 August 1944 convoy from Langemak Bay to Humboldt Bay escorted by HMAS Vendetta, HMAS Cootamundra, and HMAS Glenelg, sourced to the Report of Proceedings of HMAS Vendetta for August 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Crew during Aug 1944 New Guinea convoy movement
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a reputable privately compiled database drawing on wartime action reports and task-force documents; it is secondary, not a primary source. The 'ordered' date appears only here (not confirmed by NavSource or Colton). No commanding officers are listed for this hull on the site. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-02
-
[3]NavSource-hosted 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' first-person narrative by J.E. 'Jim' Talbert (Flotilla 22 communications staff; USS LCI National Association president), also on usslci.org [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150618f.htm 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' (ship-number roster; Morotai narrative; Aug-Dec 1945 assignments and occupation movements); usslci.org mirror verified live
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A firsthand flotilla history names this hull at unit level: LCI(L)-445 is among the 36 craft of LCI Flotilla 22 and among 'the first 19 of these ships... from the old Flotilla 5.' The narrative names 445 in the LCI unit of Task Group 77.4 for the Morotai invasion (dated 'September 16th' in the narrative - NavSource credits the landing 15 September 1944), during which the LCIs were ordered out of convoy by USS Nicholas (DD-449) to beach independently. Post-surrender, the account lists 445 among the craft 'assigned to Commander Yangtze Patrol Force,' and describes the flotilla's occupation movement - Subic Bay to Okinawa (arriving 13 Sep 1945), Jinsen, Korea (21 Sep 1945, delayed by typhoon), and Taku Bar/Tientsin, China for the 3rd Marine Amphibious Corps landing - before Flotilla 22 departed for the United States in December 1945 and decommissioned in January 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- LCI(L)-445 crew and embarked troops, Aug 1944-Dec 1945
- Limitations
- A veteran's first-person memoir published on NavSource and the USS LCI National Association site - primary eyewitness material at flotilla level, but not an official record; individual-hull participation is explicit only where the ship number is named (roster, Morotai unit list, Yangtze Patrol assignment). The Korea/Taku-Tientsin movements are narrated at flotilla level. Morotai is dated 16 September in the narrative vs 15 September on the Navy campaign list - flagged in gaps. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-03
-
[4]Shipbuilding History (Colton), U.S. Navy LCI(L) production table - row 'LCI(L)-445 | New Jersey SB | Barber NJ | 17 Aug 1943 | to NDRF 1947' [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net LCI(L) table, row for LCI(L)-445 - verified live via scrape 2026-09-30 (plain curl gets HTTP 500/406 from this host; the original shipbuildinghistory.com domain redirects to this mirror)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Colton production table independently corroborates builder (New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ) and delivery/commissioning date (17 August 1943), and records the post-service disposition as 'to NDRF 1947' - entry into the Maritime Commission's National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1947 rather than an immediate sale. This is consistent with NavSource's 'transferred to the Maritime Commission 29 December 1947 for disposal' and refines it: the hull went to reserve-fleet layup under MARAD custody in 1947, with no subsequent sale or scrapping record located in either source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- Compiled secondary production table; the 'to NDRF' shorthand does not document which reserve-fleet site, how long the hull was held, or its ultimate disposal - fate remains undocumented after 1947. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-04
-
[5]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.24 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, p.24, row 'LCI(L)-445 | 8/17/1943 | 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 24) lists Navy deck logs for LCI(L)-445 covering 17 August 1943 through 30 June 1945 - in-scope service documentation held in Record Group 24, retrievable for this hull. These are log-coverage dates, not commissioning or decommissioning dates: the coverage start coincides with the documented 17 August 1943 commissioning, and the coverage ends while the vessel was still in service (muster rolls continue to June 1946; Maritime Commission transfer December 1947).
- 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 logs were not opened for this record. Post-June-1945 logs (occupation/China service and the return stateside through mid-1946) are outside this inventory listing. No asbestos or condition information is contained in the listing.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-05
-
[6]NARA National Archives Catalog: 'LCI(L) 445 - Muster Rolls' (file unit, 269 digitized images via Ancestry partnership, span Sep 1943 - Jun 1946); plus digitized ship war diaries 'USS LCI (L) 445 - War Diary, 8/17-25/43' (id 78143134, 9 images), 'USS LCI (L) 445 - War Diary, 8/26-31/43' (id 78146567, 6 images), 'USS LCI(L) 445 - War Diary, 9/1-30/43' (id 135954489, 49 images, via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov record ids 120323909 (muster rolls), 78143134, 78146567, 135954489 (war diaries) - verified via catalog API search and record-page HTTP checks, 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Archives Catalog indexes digitized ship-specific records for this hull: the LCI(L) 445 muster-roll file unit runs 269 scanned pages with roll dates from 30 September 1943 through 12 June 1946 - extending documented crewing well past the deck-log coverage end (June 1945) and confirming the hull remained in service into mid-1946. Three hull-specific war-diaries are digitized (commissioning week 17-25 Aug 1943; 26-31 Aug 1943; and September 1943). Unit-level war diaries for her parent formations are also indexed - COM LCI(L) FLOT 5 (Jan and Jun 1944) and COM LCI(L) FLOT 22 (Sep 1944, May 1945) among them.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Crew of record, Sep 1943 - Jun 1946
- Limitations
- Catalog-level verification: record metadata and digital-object counts were read from the catalog API (record pages live-checked, 2026-09-30); the images themselves were not opened. Muster rolls and war diaries are personnel/operations records - they document crewing and movements, not materials; any asbestos content would be incidental. Flotilla-level diaries describe unit operations, not this hull specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-06
-
[7]Veterans' Memorial Hall / Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center (St. Louis County, Minnesota), 'David F. Polski' service story - 'Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class, serving in Naval hospitals in the Continental United States ... and aboard USS LCI (L) 445' [other_primary]
- Locator
- vets-hall.org story page 'David F. Polski' (verified live via scrape, 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A county veterans-history collection documents a named crew member of this hull: David F. Polski of Eveleth, Minnesota, enlisted 18 June 1942, served as Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class in stateside naval hospitals and aboard USS LCI(L)-445, and was discharged 25 September 1945. Source credited is 'Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project, 255.' This documents that a hospital-corpsman rating was carried aboard and identifies one crew member by name, rating, and discharge date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Individual crew member (Polski), 1943-1945 window
- Limitations
- Veterans-history project summaries are compiled biographical records; no dates aboard are given for Polski's LCI(L)-445 tour beyond his 1942-45 service window, and the collection was not reviewed beyond the cataloged service summary. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-07
-
[8]Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record HAER AK-52, M/V Husky II (USS LCI(L) 653) - LCI(L) 351-class written history and documentation [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 written history, pp. 4-6 (351-class redesign, construction, propulsion, splinter armor) and fn.7 (New Jersey Shipbuilding hull blocks); NavSource specifications block for this hull's engine fit
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- LCI(L)-445 is an LCI(L) 351-class craft - the redesign that first appeared in LCI(L) 351 (delivered May 1943), carrying the deck house the full width of the hull, a cylindrical pilot house, and enlarged troop-compartment hatches; craft of this hull's delivery window (Aug 1943) still used the two side landing gangways (the centerline bow-ramp fit post-dates June 1944 hulls, and 445 is not among the ramp-fitted numbers listed). Propulsion was eight six-cylinder General Motors Series 71 diesels, four per shaft - 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. HAER also documents that the class's '2-inch plastic splinter protection' armor was crushed granite pebbles embedded in bitumen - i.e., the splinter armor itself was not an asbestos material. HAER footnote 7 confirms this hull's builder block: 'New Jersey Shipbuilding built LCIs 239 to 318, 423 to 657, 782 to 821, and 866 to 884' (445 falls in 423-657).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Construction trades (Barber NJ, 1943); wartime crew in confined engine-room and accommodation spaces
- Limitations
- Class/design inference only - HAER AK-52 documents a sister craft (LCI(L) 653) and the LCI(L) design generally; it does not name this hull and does not itself assert asbestos content in wartime construction (its two insulation mentions are a 1980s fishing-tender refrigerated-hold conversion, excluded as asbestos 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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights block (full-text PDF link listed on page; direct curl 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed Navy efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure (fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards) and documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships, did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s, and under its 1975 policy removed asbestos only when damaged or when removal was required for repairs - 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 or even this craft type (HRD-80-2 concerns larger Navy vessels and shipyards). Product page verified via live scrape 2026-09-30; direct fetch of gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to plain curl - content via the product-page Highlights text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-09
-
[10]Batch-5161 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page and Flotilla 22 history; NARA Special List 44; NARA Catalog digitized-record search; uboat.net; Colton production table; NHHC/DANFS index and Pacific Fleet organization check; LOC Veterans History Project; CourtListener API v4 opinion and RECAP docket searches; web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-14
- 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-445 / LCI(L)-445 was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion searches for '"LCI(L)-445"', '"LCI-445"', and '"LCI" asbestos landing craft' each returned zero results, as did a docket search for '"LCI(L)-445" OR "LCI-445"'; yard-level searches for '"New Jersey Shipbuilding" asbestos' returned zero in both the opinion and docket indexes. No individual DANFS entry exists for this numbered landing craft. Web sweeps surfaced no asbestos claim naming this hull and no law-firm ship-list hit for it.
- 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 1943 combat-built landing 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 went to the reserve fleet in 1947 with ultimate fate undocumented, so no modern survey can exist unless the hull is identified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-445-lcil445-10