Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-526 - construction milestones, theater assignment, campaign list, Project Hula transfer, return/striking, specifications, photograph captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150526.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, Bizerte photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LCI-351-class Landing Craft Infantry (Large): laid down 28 November 1943 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 22 December 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-526, 31 December 1943. Assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; campaigns: Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944; Invasion of Southern France 15 August-25 September 1944. Decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet Union at Cold Bay, AK, 29 July 1945 under Project Hula, designated Soviet landing ship DS-46; participated in the Soviet invasion of the Kuril Islands 18 August-1 September 1945. Returned to U.S. Naval custody in 1955 and struck from the Naval Register. Two battle stars for WWII service; call sign NQZM. Specs: 246 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; 158' 5.5" x 23' 3"; 16 kts max / 14 kts continuous; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troops 6 officers + 182 enlisted; cargo 75 tons; five single 20mm guns; propulsion two sets of four GM diesels (4 per shaft), 1,600 BHP, twin variable-pitch propellers. Photo captions place the craft moored at Bizerte, Tunisia, circa May 1944 alongside seven other LCIs (photo credited to Robert W. Van Keuren, CO of USS LCI(L)-665) and underway, date and location unknown, identified as a U.S. National Archives photo.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1955
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); crew (1943-45); embarked troops (assault lifts 1944); Soviet crew (1945-55)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its stated history source is Turner Publishing 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II (1995). Numbered LCIs have no individual DANFS entries, so milestones cannot be cross-checked against NHHC DANFS. No asbestos or material content. Page verified live at navsource.net on 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-01
-
[2]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - ship-number volume [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf p. 25, LCI(L) block (LCI(L)-521 through LCI(L)-585 range listed)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Special List 44 (PDF p. 25, verified by direct extraction this session) lists Navy deck logs under LCI(L)-526 covering 12/31/1943-1/18/1945 and 2/19/1945-7/28/1945 - i.e., essentially her entire commissioned career, with a one-month coverage gap 1/18-2/19/1945 ending days before her Project Hula transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Crew (1943-45) - names/assignments potentially recoverable from the logs
- Limitations
- Index-level documentation only: establishes that NARA holds deck logs for this hull in RG 24; the logs themselves are not digitized publicly and no log content was reviewed. The 1/18-2/19/1945 coverage gap is unexplained in located sources - log-coverage dates are not service dates. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-02
-
[3]Russell, Richard A., 'Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan,' The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series No. 4, Naval Historical Center, Washington DC, 1997 (HyperWar/ibiblio mirror of the NHC monograph) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Appendix ship-transfer table (PDF p. 44-45); LCI(L) type description pp. 25-26
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Navy-published Project Hula monograph's ship-transfer table lists 'LCI(L) 526 DS-46 29 Jul. [1945] 1955-returned' - corroborating the 29 July 1945 transfer to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay and the 1955 return to U.S. custody. The monograph documents that 30 LCI(L)s were transferred in two fifteen-ship training cycles at Cold Bay (first cycle beginning 7 May 1945), within a program that transferred 149 U.S. naval vessels to the Soviet Union in 1945, and gives the transferred craft's characteristics: 159 ft, 23 ft 8 in beam, 387 tons full load, diesel engines with twin propellers, 12 knots, ~8,000 nm cruising radius, five 20mm guns, crew 8 officers + 32 enlisted, 188 troops.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1956 (program window; table dispositions to 1960)
- Population
- U.S. instructor cadre and Soviet trainee crews at Cold Bay (1945); Soviet crew (1945-55)
- Limitations
- Names this hull only in the appendix transfer table - the monograph contains no ship-specific service narrative for LCI(L)-526 and no asbestos or material content. Its per-craft figures (crew 8+32, troops 188, 387 t) describe the transferred LCI(L)s as a group and differ from NavSource's hull page and the USN 1940-45 listing - variance noted in gaps, not resolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-03
-
[4]HyperWar/ibiblio, 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945: Landing Ships and Craft' - LCI(L)-351 class entry and hull-disposition listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-lc.html, 'LCI(L)-351 Class' spec block and hull table (LCI(L)-521-527 row)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The contemporaneous-pattern Navy listing records hull group 'LCI(L)-521-527' as 'Lend-Lease to USSR' - LCI(L)-526 falls inside that documented range. Its LCI(L)-351 class spec block: 385 tons full load; 160'4" x 23'3"; draft 5'8" forward and aft (full load); 15.5 knots; armament 5 x 20mm; complement 4 officers + 25 enlisted; capacity 9 officers + 200 enlisted or 75 tons cargo; two sets GM diesel engines, twin variable-pitch screws, 1,600 BHP.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Crew (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Group-range corroboration: the listing does not give 526 an individual line (it is covered inside the 521-527 range) and its class figures (4+25 crew, 9+200 troops, 385 t, 160'4") differ from NavSource's hull page (4+24, 6+182, 419 t, 158'5.5") - variance logged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-04
-
[5]Naval Marine Archive (Picton, ON) shipbuilding-history compilation, 'New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ' - yard description and vessel-delivery table [other_primary]
- Locator
- New Jersey Shipbuilding yard narrative paragraph; hull-delivery table row LCI(L) 526
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder was a wartime emergency yard: an LCI assembly line on Arthur Kill at Barber (a community immediately east of Perth Amboy, later absorbed into Perth Amboy and now called Maurer). Management was taken over by Todd Shipyards in 1942 at the Navy's request; the yard closed after the war. The compilation's delivery table lists 'LCI(L) 526 | US Navy | Landing Craft | Dec-43 | To the USSR 1945, struck 1955' - corroborating builder, delivery month, and disposition.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding / Todd-managed yard trades (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation corroboration, not an official registry - the yard's Todd-management and Arthur Kill detail rests on this single source. The table's 'Dec-43' is delivery era granularity, consistent with the documented 31 December 1943 commissioning. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-05
-
[6]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications for this hull (two sets of four GM diesels, twin variable-pitch propellers - no steam plant); Corn & Starr 1987 (ev-07); GAO HRD-80-2 (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Synthesis of NavSource spec block (diesel propulsion, this record ev-01) with WWII shipbuilding asbestos documentation (ev-07, ev-08)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A 1943-built Navy amphibious craft sits squarely inside the documented WWII-era asbestos-use window for U.S. shipbuilding. As a diesel-driven craft she carried no boiler or steam plant, so the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; era-standard applications plausible aboard a vessel of this type and period were engine-exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1955
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); engine-room ratings and crew (1943-45); Soviet crew (1945-55); any post-return disposal workers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-526. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; asbestos loading on a 159-ft diesel landing craft would be materially less than on a steam-driven ship. No quantity, no location, no manufacturer attribution, no individual exposure or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-06
-
[7]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II - the era and mass-production program under which this 1943 LCI(L) was built - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or the LCI(L) type and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. DOI resolves to the Wiley article page (verified 2026-09-30).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-07
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- 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 1943 construction and her full U.S. and Soviet service era.
- 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. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-08
-
[9]Batch-5247 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NARA Special List 44 (official PDF extracted); NHC Project Hula monograph (HyperWar mirror); HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945' landing-craft listing; Naval Marine Archive yard compilation; NHHC DANFS (no entry exists); NVR (no entry exists); CourtListener; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-526-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-526-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed/opinion-level case naming USS LCI(L)-526 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener queries '"LCI(L)-526"' returned 0 opinions (type=o) and 0 dockets (type=r), both verified this session; name-variant queries ('LCI-526', 'LCI 526') were interrupted by fleet-wide API pacing - see search_ledger for exact coverage. Secondary web sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing listicles (asbestos-ships.com, mesotheliomaveterans.org, navyshipexposure.com and similar) asserting asbestos aboard landing craft with no primary sourcing - 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 - era construction practice makes some asbestos content plausible, and deck logs/builder work packages are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-526-09