Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(G)-459 ex USS LCI(L)-459 (page 10/15/150459) - timeline, class specifications, campaigns, awards, loss statement (history from USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, Turner Publishing 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150459.htm header block, awards block, campaign table, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: 'LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large): Laid down, 23 July 1943, at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J. Launched, 2 September 1943. Commissioned USS LCI(L)-459, 11 September 1943. Reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-459, 15 June 1944.' Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment under LCI Flotilla Three; campaigns: Marianas operation - capture and occupation of Saipan 15 June-28 July 1944; Tinian capture and occupation 24-28 July 1944; Western Caroline Islands operation - capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands 6-19 September 1944. 'Sunk during enemy action, 19 September 1944, during the Western Caroline Islands operation. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown.' Three battle stars plus Navy Unit Commendation as a member of LCI(G) Flotilla 3 (31 January-28 July 1944) for occupation of Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls and capture and occupation of Saipan, Guam and Tinian; Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 19 September 1944). Specifications: displacement 246 t light / 264 t landing / 419 t loaded; length 158'5.5"; beam 23'3"; speed 16 kt max; LCI(L) complement 4 officers/24 enlisted, LCI(G) 5/65; troop capacity 6/182; LCI(G) armament two 40mm, four 20mm, six .50 cal, ten MK7 rocket launchers; propulsion 'two sets of 4 GM diesels, 4 per shaft, BHP 1,600, twin variable pitch propellers.' Call sign NQKP. No images of this hull available at NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Construction trades, New Jersey Shipbuilding (1943); crew 1943-44 (LCI(L) spec 28; LCI(G) spec 70); embarked troops (capacity 188)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; it names no commanding officer and gives no stricken date. Its '(1945) LCI Flotilla Six' template line is inapplicable to a hull sunk September 1944 - see correction row and gaps. Contains no asbestos content. Page verified live at navsource.net 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-01
-
[2]U.S. Navy at War, 1941-1945: Official Reports to the Secretary of the Navy by Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (CNO), Appendix C - 'United States Naval Vessels Lost' table (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN-King-C.html, Appendix C loss table, LCI section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official CNO loss table lists 'LCI 459 - Off Palau - 19 September 1944' - the Navy's formal wartime accounting of this hull as a combat loss in the Palau operation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-19
- Population
- Crew at loss (LCI(G) spec complement ~70)
- Limitations
- Official loss record gives location class ('Off Palau') and date only - no cause, no casualty figures, no position coordinates. ibiblio.org/HyperWar is an authorized transcription mirror of the official report; original document is a government publication.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-02
-
[3]Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (Contemporary History Branch, Naval Historical Center, 1999), Chapter VI 1944, entry for 19 September (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN-Chron-1944.html, Chapter VI, entry under '19 September, Tue. - Pacific'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC official chronology entry for 19 September 1944 (Pacific): 'Infantry landing craft (gunboat) LCI(G)-459 is sunk by mine off west side of Peleliu reef.' - fixes the official cause (naval mine) and position (west side of Peleliu reef).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-19
- Population
- Crew at loss
- Limitations
- Official secondary compilation by NHHC staff; cites no per-hull action report inline. Fixes cause as mine - conflicts with 'Gunfire' in the secondary world-war.co.uk loss database (see correction row). No casualty or wreck-position detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-03
-
[4]NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 'Peleliu's Forgotten World War II Battlefield' (2018 expedition), Mission Summary - archived expedition site [other_primary]
- Locator
- Mission Summary page, 'Conclusion' section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- NOAA's Phase I survey summary of the Peleliu underwater battlefield states: 'There is still the location of LCI(G)-459 to confirm, which hit a mine and sank in deep water in the channel off of Amber Beach north of White 1.' - corroborates the mine cause, refines the sinking position (deep-water channel off Amber Beach, north of White Beach 1), and documents that the wreck's location is unconfirmed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2018 (survey mission); 1944 (loss)
- Population
- n/a (wreck-site documentation)
- Limitations
- Mission summary addresses battlefield-survey status, not the ship's material condition - no hazmat or wreck-condition data; the Phase I survey did not cover this wreck. Wreck unsurveyed and unlocated as of the 2018 mission.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-04
-
[5]Robin L. Rielly, American Amphibious Gunboats in World War II: A History of LCI and LCS(L) Ships in the Pacific (McFarland, 2013, ISBN 9781476602141), Chapter 4 'The Central Pacific Campaigns' - Peleliu narrative citing unit action reports [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Chapter 4, Peleliu section (LCI(G)-458 action-report account; footnotes 35-37)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Published account (citing unit action reports) of this hull's loss: at 1120 on 19 September 1944, LCI(G)s 458 and 459 stood off White Beach One to provide rocket support for troops ashore; 459, just off the reef and coming into position for her rocket salvo, 'disappeared in a large explosion' - it was not initially clear whether an artillery round from shore or a mine had struck her - 458's commanding officer Lt.(jg) Francis W. Cole Jr. observed the loss through field glasses. She was severely damaged amidships with a hole ten feet in circumference in her starboard side and a forty-five-degree list; LCI(G)-458 went to her aid, and 458 seamen Arthur L. Davies, James Bricker, and Albert L. Rice boarded and searched the sinking ship, finding no survivors aboard. Within minutes 459 lurched to port and went under bow first. All hands were saved, including a Marine officer and two Marine non-commissioned officers aboard as liaison; nine men were injured, including the commanding officer Lt.(jg) J. R. Rann and LCI Group Nine commander Lt. Cmdr. Robert Eikel. At the operation, 459 sailed in LCI Group Nine Unit 2 (452, 453, 455, 456 [group flagship], 458, 459, 460, 463, 470) under Lt. Cmdr. Eikel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-19
- Population
- Crew at loss (~70 per LCI(G) spec) + 3 Marine liaison personnel; nine injured incl. CO
- Limitations
- Secondary published synthesis (McFarland), sourced to unit action reports (chapter notes 35-37); read via an online mirror, bibliographic record verified at Google Books. Names the CO, the rescue ship, and the injury count - details not in the official loss table. The eyewitness could not initially distinguish mine from artillery hit; the official chronology and NOAA fix the cause as mine.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-05
-
[6]USS LCI National Association, 'Honor, Valor, Sacrifice' - LCI casualty/damage table (association-compiled; states list may be incomplete) and companion 'In Memorial' PDF (Elsie Item #100, March 2018) [other_primary]
- Locator
- usslci.org honor-valor-sacrifice searchable table, row '(G) | 459'; In-Memorial PDF (no 459 section)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The association's casualty/damage table carries this hull: '(G) 459 - September 19, 1945 [sic] - PTO - Palau, Caroline Islands - Sunk + - Naval mine.' No KIA/WIA name rows are nested under the 459 entry, and the 459 hull does not appear in the companion PDF honor roll of LCI sailors killed in action - consistent with Rielly's account that all hands were saved (nine injured).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-19 (event); 2018 (list publication)
- Population
- Crew at loss
- Limitations
- Veterans-association compilation, not an official casualty report; it misprints the loss year as 1945 (correct: 1944) and flags its own list as possibly incomplete. Absence of name rows under the hull entry is not proof of zero casualties - it is the association's record as published. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-06
-
[7]NARA Special List #44, 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' (by ship number), RG 24 finding aid, PDF page 17 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 17, row 'LCI(L)(G)-459 9/11/1943 8/31/1944'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists Navy deck logs under 'LCI(L)(G)-459' covering 9/11/1943-8/31/1944 (MM/DD/YYYY) - the commissioned-life logbook series for this hull in RG 24. These are log-coverage dates, not commissioning/decommissioning dates; the series ends three weeks before the sinking (the September 1944 period and the loss itself are covered by unit-level operational records instead).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-09-11 to 1944-08-31 (coverage)
- Population
- Crew 1943-44 (log-keeping population)
- Limitations
- Finding-aid coverage listing only - logs are physical/textual records at NARA College Park; digitization status not verified this session (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and unfetchable). A deck-log series is an archival lead, not an exposure or loss record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-07
-
[8]NARA at College Park (via Digital Pasifik / DPLA), 'COMPHIBGR 5 - Rep of the amphibious op to capture Peleliu & Angaur Is, Palau Is, 9/8/44 - 10/14/44' - microfilm serial 118559, serial 0054, dated 16 October 1944, NAID 139980805 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Digital Pasifik item 391856 -> catalog.archives.gov/id/139980805
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Commander, Amphibious Group 5 action report covering the Peleliu and Angaur amphibious operation (8 September-14 October 1944) is the located operation-level record for the action in which this hull was sunk on 19 September; it is held at NARA College Park as microfilm serial 118559 (serial 0054).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-08 to 1944-10-14 (report coverage)
- Population
- n/a (record series)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the report was not read this session; it is the operation-level record, and any per-hull loss report/action annex for LCI(G)-459 would sit inside it or in RG 38 operational files. Content unverified beyond the catalog description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-08
-
[9]Frank D. Morris, 'Bazooka Boats,' Collier's Magazine, 11 November 1944 (NavSource transcription) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Collier's article, conversion-program paragraphs
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporary press account of the LCI-to-gunboat conversion program in which this hull participated: LCIs converted by removing the bow landing ramps and welding multiple rocket-launcher racks to the steel well deck with an electrical firing system run to the bridge - 'the entire conversion job required only a couple of days'; gunboats then led assault waves within rocket range of the beach, a deliberately exposed close-in role.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- LCI(G) crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Contemporary journalism for the type, not this hull - establishes what the LCI(G) conversion entailed and the role 459 was performing when sunk (rocket support off the reef edge). No material-content or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-09
-
[10]shipbuildinghistory.com (T. Colton), 'New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ' - emergency-yard profile and hull-by-hull delivery/disposition table [reputable_press]
- Locator
- New Jersey Shipbuilding page, yard description and LCI delivery table row 459
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Yard table corroborates this hull's builder and delivery block: 'LCI(L) 459 - US Navy - Landing Craft - Sep-43 - Sunk 1944.' Yard profile: New Jersey Shipbuilding was an LCI assembly line on Arthur Kill at Barber, N.J. (community east of Perth Amboy, now Maurer); management was taken over by Todd Shipyards in 1942 at the Navy's request and the yard was closed after the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Private secondary reference compilation, not an official registry - used to corroborate builder identity and yard character; the table's 'Sunk 1944' matches the official record. No asbestos or hazmat content for the yard. New Jersey Shipbuilding is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-10
-
[11]Era inference built on: NavSource class specifications (LCI-351 class, diesel propulsion - 'two sets of 4 GM diesels, 4 per shaft'); LST-1 class profile pattern for diesel amphibious craft (Atlas class-f record); 1943 U.S. amphibious-vessel construction practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; LST-1-class class-profile inference pattern
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A 1943-built diesel-powered landing craft sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era, but this hull carried no steam plant - no boiler or turbine lagging pathway exists. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a landing craft of this type and period were diesel engine and exhaust lagging, gaskets and valve packing, thermal/acoustic insulation in accommodation spaces, electrical insulation, and deck coverings/mastics; the 1944 gunboat conversion (rocket racks welded to well deck, armament added at a conversion yard) added welding/refit scope typical of where insulation disturbance occurred.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); conversion-yard workers (1944, location undocumented); crew and embarked Marines (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, or work package exists or can exist for a hull sunk 13 months after launch with the wreck unsurveyed. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. The conversion yard for this hull is undocumented - the location and scope of her LCI(G) refit is a gap.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-11
-
[12]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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 and service era (1943-44).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-12
-
[13]Batch-5176 search ledger (this record): NavSource; official CNO loss report (HyperWar); NHHC Cressman chronology; NOAA OER mission summary; Rielly (McFarland 2013); USS LCI National Association honor-roll table + In-Memorial PDF; NARA SL44; Digital Pasifik/NARA catalog; Collier's 1944; shipbuildinghistory.com; NVR (no entry - pre-1987 disposal); NHHC DANFS (all candidate URLs 404); CourtListener (fuzzy pass + exact-phrase opinion and docket passes, all completed); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-459-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming LCI(L)-459 / LCI(G)-459 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener searches completed 2026-09-30 via the authenticated helper: unquoted 'LCI(G)-459' opinion pass returned 518 ranked hits, all 'LCI' corporate-name collisions (e.g., Provenzano v. LCI Holdings, 6th Cir.; Lippert Components/LCI Industries cases); exact-phrase passes '"LCI-459"' and '"LCI(G)-459" OR "LCI(L)-459"' (type=o) and the combined docket-index pass (type=r) each returned zero results - no case in the opinion or docket indexes names the Navy hull. The hull's status forecloses the usual asbestos records entirely: sunk in action 19 September 1944, no postwar service, no scrapping, wreck unsurveyed (NOAA 2018).
- 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; for this hull the question is archaeologically moot unless the wreck is located and surveyed (NOAA: location 'to confirm'). Litigation search coverage: opinions and dockets for exact hull designators exhausted - deeper RECAP attachment-text sweeps were not run (hull-number-only vessel sunk in 1944; no plausible litigation surface). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-13
-
[14]Source-defect cross-check: NavSource 10/15/150459 (flotilla line); NHHC Cressman chronology (mine); world-war.co.uk warloss table (gunfire); uss-lci.org honor-roll table (year misprint); uboat.net warship page (laid-down date variant) [other_primary]
- Locator
- world-war.co.uk warloss_889usa.php row LCI(G)-459; NavSource flotilla line; uss-lci.org table row; uboat.net ship/21501
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS carried, not propagated: (1) world-war.co.uk lists the loss cause as 'Gunfire' - the official NHHC chronology, NOAA mission summary, and the LCI association table all say naval mine; carried as a secondary-source defect. (2) NavSource's assignment line lists '(1945) LCI Flotilla Six' - inapplicable template carryover to a hull sunk September 1944; the hull's documented assignment is LCI Flotilla Three / LCI Group Nine. (3) The uss-lci.org table prints the loss date as 'September 19, 1945' - a year misprint; all official sources fix 19 September 1944. (4) Laid-down date: NavSource 23 July 1943 vs uboat.net 22 July 1943 - NavSource carried; variant unresolved.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (events); source dates vary
- Limitations
- Correction row documents source defects only; it adds no new facts. The mine determination is official (NHHC chronology, NOAA) but was initially uncertain to the on-scene eyewitness (Rielly: 'not clear if artillery round or mine') - both carried, classified to the official finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-459-14