Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
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[1]research packet 813-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-554-lcil554-pkt-813-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-554 page - laid down 15 January 1944 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 11 February 1944; commissioned 16 February 1944, LTjg. E. B. Koehler USNR in command; LCI Flotilla Eleven / LCI Group Thirty-Three, Europe-Africa-Middle East theater; campaigns: Convoy UGS-38 (20 April 1944), Invasion of Normandy (6-25 June 1944), Invasion of Southern France (15 August-16 September 1944); decommissioned and transferred under Project Hula to the Soviet Union at Cold Bay, AK, 29 July 1945, designated Desantiye Suda DS-9; destroyed during the Soviet invasion of the Kuril Islands 18 August 1945; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; three battle stars; call sign NFUR; spec block (eight GM diesels in two sets of four, 1,600 BHP, twin variable-pitch propellers; 4 officers/24 enlisted complement; 6 officers/182 enlisted troop capacity) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel history block, campaign table, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Establishes the hull's construction, commissioning, theater assignment, campaign credits, Project Hula transfer, Soviet designation, and loss - the skeleton chronology of the record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-01-15 to 1945-08-18
- Population
- Ship's crew (1944-45); embarked troops
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained naval-history archive drawing on Navy sources; not itself an official record. Dates corroborated against NARA Special List 44 log coverage (2/16/1944-7/28/1945), the NHHC-published Project Hula monograph transfer table (29 July 1945, DS-9, '1945-combat loss'), and shipbuildinghistory.com yard table ('Feb-44, to the USSR 1945, lost 1945'). Contains no asbestos, hazmat, or crew-health information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-01
-
[3]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - ship-number section lists deck-log coverage for LCI(L)-554: 2/16/1944-7/28/1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 25, LCI(L) block ('LCI(L)-554 2/16/1944 7/28/1945')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds deck logs for LCI(L)-554 covering the full commissioned period from 16 February 1944 through 28 July 1945 - the day before the Project Hula transfer - making them the primary ship-specific documentary source for this hull (movements, personnel, maintenance, supplies).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-02-16 to 1945-07-28
- Population
- Ship's crew (wartime, 1944-45)
- Limitations
- Special List 44 indexes physical logbook holdings only; it does not describe log contents and the logs are not digitized in this source - individual pages must be requested or consulted at NARA. Log-coverage dates are not themselves commissioning/decommissioning documents, though here they bracket the U.S. service period exactly.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-02
-
[4]NHHC Online Reading Room, 'Destroyers at Normandy' (operational narrative hosted by NHHC, citing Morison, The Invasion of France and Germany): at Omaha Beach, after LCT-30 rammed through the offshore obstacles, 'LCI(L)-554 did the same with the help of a covering destroyer, landed her troops and withdrew unharmed. Other landing craft followed where these two had led.' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Omaha Beach narrative paragraph beginning 'Larger landing craft - LCI(L) and LCT - had been unable to penetrate the offshore obstacles' (parenthetical cites Morison pp. 140-141)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official-history narrative naming this hull in the D-Day assault: LCI(L)-554 penetrated the Omaha Beach obstacle belt under cover of a destroyer, landed her troops, and withdrew unharmed - one of the first two larger landing craft to break through.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06-06
- Population
- Ship's crew; embarked troops of the 115th Infantry
- Limitations
- NHHC-hosted official Navy operational history; corroborates the D-Day action independently of the ship's own action reports. Does not address construction materials, asbestos, or post-war disposition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-03
-
[5]DANFS entry for LCI(L)-409 (NHHC): on 26 August 1944 LCI(L)-409 'got underway to return to Pozzuoli in company with LCI(L)-400, LCI(L)-410, LCI(L)-527, LCI(L)-528, and LCI(L)-554, arriving at 1130 on 28 August' - documents LCI(L)-554 in the post-Dragoon Mediterranean shuttle between the Provence coast and Pozzuoli. [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LCI(L)-409 entry, paragraph covering 26 August - 2 September 1944
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC DANFS places this hull operating with the LCI(L) build-up convoy from the southern France beachhead back to Pozzuoli, Italy, 26-28 August 1944 - corroborating Mediterranean service after the Southern France landings.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-08-26 to 1944-08-28
- Population
- Ship's crew
- Limitations
- The hull is named in a sister craft's DANFS entry, not its own - LCI(L)-554 has no dedicated DANFS entry (404 on all candidate NHHC URL patterns; index scan 2026-09-30). Placement detail limited to what the 409 entry states. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-04
-
[6]NHHC Online Reading Room, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945': LCI 554 listed under LCI(L) Flotilla Thirty-Six (Lt. Cdr. T. Gore, USNR), LCI Group 108, LCI Division 216, in company with LCI 951, 551, 557, 945, and 946. [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- LCI(L) Flotilla Thirty-Six > LCI Group 108 > LCI Division 216 listing
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- An official NHHC fleet-organization document assigns LCI(L)-554 to the U.S. Pacific Fleet (Flotilla 36, Group 108, Division 216) as of 1 May 1945 - documenting the ship's move from the Mediterranean/European theater to the Pacific in the weeks before the Project Hula transfer. The other hulls in Division 216 (551, 557, 945, 946) were likewise transferred to the USSR under Project Hula.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Ship's crew
- Limitations
- Organizational listing only - no operational narrative, and no asbestos or materials content. Confirms assignment on a single date; departure dates from the Mediterranean and the ship's passage route are not shown in this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-05
-
[7]Richard A. Russell, 'Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan' (Naval Historical Center, 'The U.S. Navy in the Modern World' series no. 4, 1997; ISBN 0-945274-35-1; scanned PDF via HyperWar/ibiblio): appendix transfer table (p. 39) lists 'LCI(L) 554 - DS-9 - 29 Jul. - 1945-combat loss'; narrative (pp. 30-31): 16 American-built LCI(L)s recently acquired at Cold Bay unloaded the second wave at Shumshu and 'Japanese shore batteries destroyed five of the vulnerable LCI(L)s.' [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- pp. 30-31 (Shumshu assault narrative); p. 39 (appendix ship-transfer table, 'LCI(L) 554 / DS-9 / 29 Jul. / 1945-combat loss')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Naval Historical Center monograph on Project Hula identifies LCI(L)-554 by name in the transfer table: transferred to the Soviet Navy as Desantiye Suda DS-9 on 29 July 1945, disposition '1945-combat loss' - one of five ex-LCI(L)s destroyed by Japanese coastal artillery during the 18 August 1945 landing on Shumshu, the last amphibious assault of WWII. The monograph also records the program scale: Navy Detachment 3294 trained some 12,000 Soviet officers and men and transferred 149 ships at Cold Bay, including the 30 LCI(L)s.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-07-29 to 1945-08-18
- Population
- Soviet crew of DS-9; embarked Soviet naval infantry (August 1945)
- Limitations
- Authoritative NHC publication compiled from U.S. and Russian archives; the appendix gives the transfer date and loss disposition but no precise striking date or casualty count for DS-9 (the NavSource photo caption states most of the DS-9 crew may have been killed - that detail rests on the caption, not the monograph). Cited URL is the HyperWar mirror of the NHC publication; the NHHC live site does not host this PDF.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-06
-
[8]NavSource transcription of LCI(L)-554 action reports: (1) CO's report of 12 June 1944 - sailed from Weymouth 5 June 1944 in Convoy Group One LCI(L) (35 craft) under the Western Naval Task Force; carried 200 officers and men of 1st Battalion Headquarters and Company D, 115th Infantry (Lt. Col. R. C. Blatt); beached Dog Green sector, Omaha Beach, at 1100 on 6 June under machine-gun and shell fire; retracted 1110; (2) XO's personnel action report of 20 June 1944 (Ens. J. J. Terranella) - six beachings in three days off Omaha, over 1,800 troops unloaded, 39 casualties evacuated on two beachings, no casualties to ship or embarked personnel. [other_primary]
- Locator
- Action report page - serial-less report dated 12 June 1944 and personnel action report dated 20 June 1944
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own after-action record, transcribed: LCI(L)-554 delivered 200 troops of the 115th Infantry to Dog Green, Omaha Beach, on D-Day and made six beachings over three days, landing more than 1,800 troops and evacuating 39 wounded without casualties aboard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06-05 to 1944-06-09
- Population
- Ship's crew; 200 embarked troops (1st Bn HQ + Co D, 115th Infantry) at the first beaching; 1,800+ troops carried across six beachings
- Limitations
- Transcription of primary documents hosted on a volunteer archive; wording assumed faithful to the originals held in NARA action-report files. Establishes D-Day employment and embarked populations only - no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-07
-
[9]Class/era inference built on: NavSource LCI(L)-351 class spec block for this hull (two sets of four GM diesels, four per shaft, 1,600 BHP, twin variable-pitch propellers) and NPS/HAER OR-180 data pages for sister ship LCI(L)-713 ('Propulsion: Eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines'; designer Bureau of Ships) - the class was diesel-powered and carried no boilers or steam piping. [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block (this hull); HAER OR-180 data pages, 'Propulsion' field (sister ship LCI(L)-713)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era-consistent inference for the type: diesel-powered LCI(L)s lacked the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway of steam combatants; plausible era-standard asbestos applications aboard a 1944 amphibious craft of this class are limited to exhaust-system lagging, engine gaskets and packing, electrical-cable insulation, and asbestos-cement/insulation board in joiner and accommodation spaces. None of these applications is documented aboard this specific hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (construction); 1944-45 (service)
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (Barber NJ, Jan-Feb 1944); ship's crew (1944-45); Soviet DS-9 crew (1945)
- Limitations
- Design- and era-level inference only - no construction specification, material invoice, survey, or crew account naming this hull was located. LCI(L)s were austere mass-produced amphibious craft; the actual extent of asbestos-containing materials installed is undocumented. Does not establish presence, quantity, or any individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-08
-
[10]Historic American Engineering Record OR-180, LCI(L)-713, Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum, Portland, OR (Library of Congress): NPS written historical and descriptive data for the last surviving LCI-351 class craft - class dimensions 158'-5-1/2" x 23'-3", loaded displacement 387 tons, 'Propulsion: Eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines,' designer Bureau of Ships. [haer]
- Locator
- HAER OR-180 data pages (or0606data.pdf), 'Type of Craft' and 'Propulsion' fields
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Federal documentation of the sole surviving sister ship establishes the LCI(L)-351 class configuration - a diesel-driven craft with no steam plant - which bounds the asbestos-relevant systems analysis for the class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- HAER documentation; vessel built 1944
- Population
- Restoration/museum crews on LCI(L)-713 (contemporary)
- Limitations
- Sister-ship documentation, not a record for this hull. The HAER data pages contain no asbestos or hazardous-materials discussion; the record consists of photographs and brief data pages, not a full materials inventory.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-09
-
[11]GAO, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (published 18 October 1979): Navy-wide review of asbestos exposure protection at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - 'thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos' aboard Navy ships; Navy policy was to remove asbestos insulation only when damaged or needed for repairs (1975), modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page, Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level federal documentation that the U.S. Navy's major shipboard asbestos use was thermal insulation for machinery, equipment, and piping - the era context for any asbestos applications aboard a 1944-built Navy craft.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979 (report); program coverage WWII-era shipbuilding through the 1970s
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - fieldwork sites)
- Limitations
- Program-level report, not hull- or class-specific, and post-dates this vessel's 1945 loss - carried strictly as Navy-wide era context. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to direct automated fetches of the full PDF (confirmed 2026-09-30); the product-page highlights were verified live via scrape and the quoted language is from the indexed report summary.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-10
-
[12]Batch-5275 search ledger (this record): NavSource main page and action-report transcription; NARA Special List 44 ship-number PDF; NHHC DANFS index and sister-ship entry; NHHC online reading room (Destroyers at Normandy; Pacific Fleet organization 1 May 1945); NHC Project Hula monograph; LOC HAER OR-180; Naval Vessel Register; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; CourtListener API v4; USS LCI National Association publications; shipbuildinghistory.com [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-554-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-554-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no hull survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming LCI(L)-554 or DS-9 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The vessel was destroyed in combat in August 1945, so no post-war survey, mothballing, or scrapping-phase hazmat history exists to document.
- 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 - 1944 construction makes era-standard materials plausible. CourtListener returned zero hits at both the opinion level (type=o) and the docket level (type=r) on 2026-09-30 - a verified negative for indexed litigation, though filings never reaching an indexed docket cannot be excluded. Does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-11
-
[13]HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' stub page for LCI(L)-554 carries unfilled template text - 'Built at __________, and commissioned 1943' - contradicted by the verified record: built at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber NJ; commissioned 16 February 1944 (NavSource; NARA Special List 44 log coverage begins 16 February 1944). [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar LCIL-554 stub page, class spec block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A circulating secondary page asserts a 1943 commissioning and a blank builder for this hull; both are template placeholders. The verified dates are: laid down 15 January 1944, launched 11 February 1944, commissioned 16 February 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- The stub page's spec block is generic LCI(L)-351 class data and additionally conflicts with NavSource on displacement (216/234 t. vs. 246/264/419 t.) and complement (3 officers/21 enlisted vs. 4 officers/24 enlisted) - nothing from that page is asserted as this hull's data in this record; the class spec block follows NavSource and HAER.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-554-12