Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 811-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-508-lcil508-pkt-811-packet-md
-
[2]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 by Ship Number PDF, p. 24, row 'LCI(L)-508 | 11/30/1943 | 12/5/1944'; RG 24, Entry 118 (NAID 581208)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official wartime Navy log inventory lists deck logs for LCI(L)-508 covering 11/30/1943 through 12/5/1944. These are log-coverage dates, not commissioning/decommissioning dates; the window coincides with the commissioned U.S. service reported elsewhere (commissioned 30 Nov 1943; decommissioned and leased to the United Kingdom 5 Dec 1944), i.e. the logs span her entire U.S. commission. Logs are Record Group 24 holdings, not digitized online.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-11-30 to 1944-12-05 (log coverage); inventory consulted 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Establishes that logs exist and their coverage window; the log contents themselves are unexamined (undigitized - see search_ledger sl-02). Does not by itself document operations, locations, or material conditions aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-508 (10/15/150508) - service timeline, campaign list, specification block, and photo-caption record [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LCI(L)-508 page: 'LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large)' timeline block, campaign table, Specifications block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LCI-351 class; laid down October 1943 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched November 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-508 on 30 November 1943; assigned Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; Invasion of Normandy, 6-25 June 1944; decommissioned and leased to the United Kingdom 5 December 1944; commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LCI(L)-508, date unknown; returned to U.S. Navy custody, date unknown; transferred under terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program to France for use in French Indo-China, 10 December 1946, redesignated RFS LCI-508 (page's own photo captions instead read RFS LCI-9050); struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; mined 3 April 1953 in South Vietnam with 21 seamen dead, never repaired, scrapped 1954 at Saigon; earned one battle star for WWII service. Specs: 158'5.5", 23'3" beam; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; 8 GM 6051-series-71 diesels, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1954
- Population
- Commissioned crew (4 officers, 24 enlisted typical) plus embarked troops
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer archive; the page's history text derives from 'USS LCI: Landing Craft Infantry,' Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1995) - a secondary compilation. Commissioning and UK-lease dates are corroborated by NARA SL44 log coverage; the 1946-12-10 MDAP transfer date and 'RFS LCI-508' designation are NOT corroborated - the page's own photo captions and the French national memorial instead support 'LCI 9050' and a French purchase from the UK in November 1948. Construction dates given at month granularity. Photo captions (Normandy operations; off France 17 Sep 1944; HM LCI(L)-508 crew at Plymouth April 1945; RFS LCI-9050 burning after mining) are veteran/family submissions - ship-specific image context, not official records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-02
-
[4]Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (1953), Part IV, Section 2-16: campaign/service star eligibility listing for amphibious craft (HyperWar transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Awards Manual Part IV sec. 2-16: 'LCI(L) 508: 6 Jan 44 - 25 Jan 44, E5'; legend row 'Invasion of Normandy (including bombardment of Cherbourg), 6-25 Jun 44, E5'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official 1953 awards manual lists 'LCI(L) 508' for campaign credit 'E5' - defined in the same manual as 'Invasion of Normandy (including bombardment of Cherbourg), 6-25 Jun 44' - confirming one battle star in the Normandy operation. The printed eligibility dates for LCI(L) 508 and her entire New Jersey Shipbuilding block read '6 Jan 44 - 25 Jan 44,' a systematic 'Jan' misprint for 'Jun': E5's defined window is June, and sister blocks elsewhere print June dates.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06 (operation); 1953 (manual)
- Population
- Crew eligible for the EAME campaign medal with star
- Limitations
- Manual confirms the campaign credit and star, not presence on a specific beach or on a specific day within the operation. The printed January date range is an internal inconsistency (misprint) in the source itself, disclosed rather than silently corrected. HyperWar is a transcription mirror of an official publication.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-03
-
[5]Naval History and Heritage Command, Operation NEPTUNE - Sunk and Damaged Ships and Craft [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC NEPTUNE sunk/damaged table: 'LCI (L) [Landing Craft Infantry, Large]' block lists 83, 85, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 209, 212, 219, 232, 416, 497, 553 - no 508
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- LCI(L)-508 does not appear on NHHC's Operation NEPTUNE list of sunk and damaged ships and craft - i.e., no official record of her loss or damage in the Normandy operation, consistent with her continued service through December 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06
- Limitations
- Absence from a loss/damage list does not establish presence or absence at a specific beach; it establishes only that the craft was not a reported casualty in the operation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-04
-
[6]Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum, Elsie Deck Log (June 2021), 'Flotilla 11 at Normandy, Gold Beach' by Carl Batzkall; USS LCI National Association Elsie Item No. 17 (June 1996) [museum_official]
- Locator
- 2021JuneElsieDeckLog.pdf pp. 24-25 (Group 31 order of approach; LCI 508 passage); usslci.org ElsieItem-17-Jun-1996.pdf p. 28 (Division Two, Group 31 hull list)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum's Elsie Deck Log (June 2021) publishes Carl Batzkall's account 'Flotilla 11 at Normandy, Gold Beach': Group 31 of nine LCIs (499, 500, 501, 502, 506, 507, 508, 509, 512) approached Gold Beach in three columns; 'The LCI 508 which had brought up the rear of the right-hand column behind the LCIs 506 and 502 made it to Gold Beach without incident. She was able to extend and drop her ramps to disembark her troops.' The group arrived off Gold Beach at 0855 and beached shortly after 0900 on 6 June 1944. A separate Elsie Item newsletter (No. 17, June 1996) describes 'Division Two of Group 31 of Operation Neptune' with the same hull list.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06-06 (events narrated); 1996 and 2021 (publications)
- Population
- Crew and embarked troops on D-Day
- Limitations
- Veteran narratives published by the LCI association/museum decades after the event; the Gold Beach landings detail is consistent with the official E5 campaign credit (ev-03) but is not confirmed by an official operational record - the deck logs covering this date are undigitized (ev-01). Not an exposure record; no material or maintenance information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-05
-
[7]Memorial national des marins morts pour la France (Association Aux Marins) - vessel record 'LCI 9050 - Engin de debarquement' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel page sections: 'Achat de quatre unites au Royaume-Uni en 1948 dont le LCI n 508'; Dinassaut 6 loss narrative (3 April 1953, Tong Doc Loc km 90, 21 dead / 10 wounded, refloated, disarmed April 1954)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official French national memorial to sailors who died for France carries a vessel record for LCI 9050: France purchased four LCI-type units from the United Kingdom in 1948, with LCI no. 508 (built November 1943 in New Jersey, participant in the June 1944 Normandy landings, transferred to the Royal Navy December 1944) taken over by a French crew at Southampton in November 1948. First based at the Bizerte naval base (Tunisia), her armament was modified (one 40 mm gun forward, one 75 mm on the spar deck, four 20 mm, two 7.62 mm machine guns, 81 mm mortars). She reached Saigon in June 1949 escorted by the aviso La Grandiere, joined Dinassaut No. 6 at Vinh Long as its command and fire-support vessel, and was renumbered LCI 9050 in 1951 under NATO numbering. On 3 April 1953, attached to Dinassaut 6 for an operation carrying a Foreign Legion company to the Plaine des Joncs, she anchored for the night after disembarking troops at kilometer 90 of the Tong Doc Loc commercial canal (Saigon-Phu My), near My Thien village at 'Marche 17'; about 0030 she struck a submerged mine and burned. The memorial records 21 dead and 10 wounded among the crew; the hull was refloated, towed to My Tho, and disarmed at Saigon in April 1954.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1948-1954 (French service and loss)
- Population
- French crew of LCI 508/LCI 9050 and embarked Foreign Legion troops (248e unit per association sources)
- Limitations
- French national-memorial record drawing on Roche's Dictionnaire des batiments de la flotte de guerre francaise and veteran testimony - authoritative for the French-service record but not a US custody document. Conflicts with NavSource's US-side account: memorial says France bought ex-RN LCI 508 at Southampton in November 1948, while NavSource says a Mutual Defense Assistance Program transfer to France occurred 10 December 1946 - the mechanism/date conflict is carried in gaps, not resolved. The memorial's '1942' build year is a typo against November 1943 in every other source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-06
-
[8]Memorial national des marins morts pour la France - casualty biography 'Rene Albert Armand Lenouvelle' (MPLF record) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Biography text: '...victime d'une mine en baie de Cholon dans la nuit du 2 au 3 avril 1953... decede le 18 avril 1953 a Saigon des suites de ses blessures'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The French national memorial's casualty biography for Quartermaster Rene Lenouvelle records that the 'landing craft infantry - chaland de debarquement d'infanterie (LCI) 9050' on which he served fell victim to a mine in the bay of Cholon on the night of 2-3 April 1953; gravely wounded in the operation, he died of his wounds at Saigon on 18 April 1953. His unit is listed as the Indochina amphibious flotillas (1945-1954).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1953-04 (loss); 1953-04-18 (death)
- Population
- French crew of LCI 9050
- Limitations
- Official French MPLF ('mort pour la France')-based casualty record; the 'baie de Cholon' location wording differs from the vessel page's 'Tong Doc Loc canal, km 90' - loose geographic usage carried as a minor variant. Documents one named fatality of the loss; not a materials or exposure record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-07
-
[9]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, USS LCI(L)-320 asset history - official type description and specifications for Coast Guard-manned LCI(L)s [other_primary]
- Locator
- USCG Historian's Office LCI(L)-320 page, 'Propulsion: 8 x GM diesels; twin shafts (4 diesels per shaft); 1,600 hp; twin variable-pitch propellers'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The LCI(L) type was propelled by 8 General Motors diesel engines, twin shafts (4 diesels per shaft), with twin variable-pitch propellers - all-diesel, with no boilers, turbines, or steam lines. The high-density asbestos systems of steam-era warships (boiler lagging, steam-line insulation, turbine gasketing) therefore did not apply to the type. Any asbestos aboard would be confined to era-typical fittings of the 1943-44 emergency-construction period - machinery and exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical/wiring insulation, and deck or bulkhead compounds - at small inventory relative to steam vessels. No LCI(L) material schedule or asbestos survey was located.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (construction era)
- Population
- LCI(L) crews and embarked troops (type context)
- Limitations
- Type-level documentation, not a hull record - the USCG page documents sister craft LCI(L)-320 (LCI(L)-1 class, earlier configuration) and does not name LCI(L)-508 or mention asbestos. Asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven; no basis for asserting presence, quantity, or absence. LCI(L)-351-class spec corroboration comes from NavSource (ev-02). USCG's 1,600 hp figure differs from NavSource's 2,320 shp and the French memorial's 1,800 cv - power-figure variant logged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-08
-
[10]Naval History and Heritage Command, National Museum of the U.S. Navy - 'Landing Craft Infantry (Large)-10 (USS LCI(L)-10)' photography and class-description page [museum_official]
- Locator
- Page lead paragraphs (class description) beneath the LCI(L)-10 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's National Museum of the U.S. Navy describes the LCI(L) type: Navy-designed craft launched by the hundreds; approximately 157 feet long, speeds up to 14 knots, crew of 24 officers and men, four 20mm guns; the first version debarked troops by catwalks and ramps while later versions used bow doors; the same hull was modified into mortar, gunboat, and rocket versions and flotilla flagships. The page's sister-craft example (LCI(L)-10) illustrates this hull's exact service pattern: EAME theater, Normandy, then decommission, lease to the Royal Navy, return to U.S. custody, and postwar disposal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- WWII (class description)
- Population
- LCI(L) crews and embarked troops (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level description published on a sister hull's page, not LCI(L)-508-specific. Rounded class figures (157 ft, 14 knots, crew of 24, four 20mm) differ slightly from the detailed transcription for this class (158 ft 5.5 in, five 20mm guns, 4 officers + 24 enlisted) - variants not reconciled. Contains no materials or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-09
-
[11]Batch-5229 search ledger (this record): NARA SL44 + online deck logs; NavSource; NHHC DANFS index + NEPTUNE loss list; Navy Awards Manual 1953; USCG Historian; French national memorial; CourtListener API v4; NVR; MARAD Vessel History Database; usslci.org / AFMM; press and asbestos-specific web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-508-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-508-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or litigation naming LCI(L)-508 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS entry exists for this hull; NARA logs are undigitized. CourtListener returned zero opinions for 'LCI(L)-508', 'LCI-508', and 'LCI 508', and zero dockets/documents for 'LCI(L)-508' - full negative litigation coverage across searched variants. The MARAD vessel-history search was blocked by access limits - logged as an access gap, not a negative result.
- 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; a 1943 emergency-program hull carries no surviving public material documentation either way. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener coverage spans the exact hull designation in both opinion and docket indexes plus two spelling variants in opinions; litigation records outside those indexes (state courts, PACER-only filings) are not covered.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-10
-
[12]National Archives and Records Administration record groups RG 24 (Entry 118) and RG 19; Service historique de la Defense, Vincennes (mapped, not retrieved) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-508-02 and sl-uss-lci-l-508-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival path for any deeper record: NARA RG 24, Entry 118 (NAID 581208) holds this hull's wartime deck logs (11/30/1943-12/5/1944 per SL44) - the primary source for her beach assignments, damage, and material condition; RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) holds LCI(L) design/construction records as the path to any materials-level specification. On the French side, the Service historique de la Defense (Vincennes) holds Marine nationale records covering Dinassaut 6 and LCI 508/9050. None of these holdings is digitized; no retrieval was performed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping is a research path, not evidence about this hull; holdings' contents were not examined and their coverage of this specific craft's materials is unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-508-11