Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet 444-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LCI(L)-591 · Hull: LCI(L)-591 · Designation: Landing Craft, Infantry (Large)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-pkt-444-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-591 - construction, commissioning, campaign credit, Project Hula transfer, Soviet service, disposal, specifications (live page verified 2026-09-30; history credited to Turner Publishing 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150591.htm header block, campaign table, disposition block, specifications block, and two photo captions (NARA III-SC-192675; Cold Bay mooring)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 10 March 1944 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 10 April 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-591, 14 April 1944. Assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; campaign credit 'Invasion of southern France, 15 August to 5 September 1944.' Decommissioned and transferred as part of Project Hula to the Soviet Union at Cold Bay, AK, 10 June 1945, designated Soviet Landing Ship DS-35. One battle star for WWII service; ribbon bar shows American Campaign Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. Spec block: 246 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kts max (14 continuous); 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; 75 tons cargo; five single 20mm guns; endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts; two sets of 4 GM diesels (4 per shaft), BHP 1,600, twin variable-pitch propellers. Two photograph captions: (1) NARA photo III-SC-192675 - members of the 30th Inf., 3rd Div. boarding LCI(L)s near Naples, Italy, 24 July 1944, for a practice landing ahead of the southern France invasion, LCI(L)-591 recognizable among eleven vessels; (2) LCI(L)-591 and LCI(L)-585 moored pierside at 'Cold Harbor, AK.' awaiting Soviet transfer - 'Cold Harbor' is a caption slip for Cold Bay (see gaps). The page also prints 'participated in the Soviet invasion of the Japanese Kuril Islands between 18 August and 1 September 1945' and 'Returned to US Naval custody in 1955 and struck from the Naval Register; final disposition fate unknown' - both conflict with the official NHC monograph and are carried as corrections (ev-08), not adopted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1956
- Population
- NJSB construction trades (Mar-Apr 1944); crew 4 officers + 24 enlisted (1944-45); embarked troops up to ~188; Soviet DS-35 crew (1945 onward)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - dates generally track official records but the page is not a primary registry; builder/date/disposal corroborated here by the shipbuilding-history build table, this hull's own NARA action report, and the NHC Project HULA monograph. Two of its lines are Hula-page boilerplate contradicted by the NHC monograph for this hull (ev-08). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-01
-
[3]Shipbuilding-history LCI(L) build table (Naval Marine Archive mirror of the Colton shipbuilding data), LCI(L)-591 row [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalmarinearchive.com/sbh/smallships/lcil.html, LCI(L) hull table row 591 (verified live 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The build table lists: LCI(L) | hull 591 | New Jersey SB, Barber NJ | 14-Apr-44 | 'To the USSR 1945' - corroborating the builder, yard location, completion/commissioning date, and Soviet transfer on the NavSource page. Surrounding rows (585-600) show the same New Jersey Shipbuilding/Barber block; 585, 587, 590, 592, 593 also went 'To the USSR 1945' (the Project Hula transfer group), while 588 went to the Netherlands and 594-596 to the US Army.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- NJSB Barber yard trades (1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary reference table - corroboration of builder/date/disposition, not a primary contract record. Yard contract or hull-number-level detail not carried. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships: USS LCI(L)-591 ship page (ship/21656) - builder, milestones, Convoy UGS 43 sailing, commanding officer listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/21656.html data table and 'Notable events: 23 May 1944, Convoy UGS 43' narrative plus the convoy's 12 June 1944 escort listing (live 200 OK, verified 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Corroborates construction data: built New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. (Barber NJ), launched 10 Apr 1944, commissioned 14 Apr 1944, end service 10 Jun 1945 'Transferred to the USSR 10 June 1945.' Prints 'Laid down 16 Mar 1944' - a six-day conflict with NavSource's 10 March 1944, carried in gaps. Places the hull in Convoy UGS 43, which departed Hampton Roads on 23 May 1944 - the documented transatlantic passage that took this hull from builder's waters to the Mediterranean theater five weeks after commissioning; the convoy's 12 June 1944 escort-group listing names 'USS LCI(L)-591 (Lt.(jg) W.A. Putnam, Jr., USNR)' - corroborating the W.A. Putnam signature on this hull's own NARA action report (ev-05).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew under Lt.(jg) W.A. Putnam, Jr., USNR (May-June 1944)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a meticulously sourced secondary database (Gudmundur Helgason) but not a primary record; the convoy roster and CO listing are its contribution - day-level detail uncorroborated against a primary sailing order. Laid-down date conflicts with NavSource (10 vs 16 March 1944). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-03
-
[5]Richard A. Russell, 'Project HULA: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan' (Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, Washington DC, 1997; U.S. Navy in the Modern World series no. 4, ISBN 0-945274-35-1) - official NHC monograph via HyperWar/ibiblio full-PDF mirror [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC/NewPDFs/USA/USA Project.Hula.Secret.Soviet-American.Cooperation.WWII.pdf - appendix table row 'LCI(L) 591 DS-35 10 June 1956-stricken' (p.~39); photo caption near p.19 (LCI(L)s 585 and 591); p.~34 Popov-Maxwell passage; LCI(L) type description near p.19
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official Naval Historical Center monograph names this hull twice: (1) Appendix 'U.S. Navy Combatant Ships Transferred to the USSR Under Project HULA, May-September 1945' lists 'LCI(L) 591 | DS-35 | 10 June | 1956-stricken' - corroborating the Soviet designation, the 10 June 1945 transfer date, and a 1956 striking (from the US Naval Register while Soviet-held); (2) a photograph caption: 'Wearing camouflage, LCI(L)s 585 and 591 await transfer to the Soviet navy at Cold Bay in spring 1945. As DS-45 and DS-35, respectively, they took part in Soviet operations against Japanese forces in northern Korea. The Soviet navy returned LCI(L) 585 to the U.S. Navy in 1955. DS-35 was scrapped' (photo credited National Archives). Program context from the same monograph: the LCI(L)s transferred at Cold Bay 'measured 159 feet in length and 23 feet, 8 inches at the beam' and 'displaced 387 tons (full load)' with diesel engines and twin propellers; the first Cold Bay-to-Petropavlovsk convoys sailed from late May 1945; Popov informed Maxwell in late August that the LCI(L)s trained by Navy Detachment 3294 in July 'had led the main attack in the Kuril Islands,' while other Hula ships 'participated in operations against enemy positions in northern Korea and on Sakhalin Island.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1956
- Population
- US Navy transfer crews and Soviet receiving crews at Cold Bay (Jun 1945); Soviet DS-35 crew (1945-56)
- Limitations
- Official US Navy historical monograph drawing on US and Russian archives - the authoritative program-level source and the strongest hull-level document located for the Soviet arc. Its hull-specific caption attributes DS-35 to 'operations against Japanese forces in northern Korea' and states 'DS-35 was scrapped,' while NavSource prints a Kuril-Islands participation line and a 'returned 1955' line - a real source conflict carried in ev-08 and gaps, resolved in favor of the official hull-specific source. Transfer date in the appendix is shown by ditto marks under the LCI(L)-584 row's '10 June' entry. 'Stricken' is carried as striking from the US Naval Register; exact scrapping date/place not stated. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-04
-
[6]NARA catalog, NAID 134358021 - 'LCI(L)-591 - Rep of Ops, 8/9-15/44, Invasion of Southern France' (RG 38, WWII War Diaries/Other Operational Records and Histories, series NAID 4697018; micro serial 87160, serial 45, dated 8/21/1944; 1 digitized image; Roll A1153) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/134358021 - file-unit description and 1-image viewer; image medialz/microfilm-publications/WWII_WarDiaries/.../images/0473.jpg
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A digitized one-page US Navy action report authored by this hull (read in full from the scanned image): 'U.S.S. LCI(L) 591, c/o Fleet Post Office, New York, N.Y., 21 August 1944, Serial No. 45,' CONFIDENTIAL, from the Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, via Commander Task Group 84.1 / Commander Task Force 84 / Commander Western Naval Task Force - 'Report of Amphibious Operations conducted against the enemy by this ship in Southern France during the period 9 August 1944 to 15 August 1944.' Contents: embarked Army Beach Group special units 9 August in the LCI(L) mounting area; proceeded to the designated LCI(L) anchorage at Salerno, Italy; underway 12 August by fast assault convoy to staging at Ajaccio, Corsica; assault convoy departed Ajaccio 1630 on 14 August; 'This ship was the second ship in the right hand column of wave number 7(A)'; grounded on an undetermined underwater obstacle 'at exactly 0920, our time to beach'; both ramps put out and troops disembarked into four and a half feet of water; no ammunition expended and 20mm AA guns never called upon; drydocking determined the obstacle tore an 'L' shaped hole about sixteen inches long in the starboard side, rupturing fuel tanks No. 303 and 304 - 'This damage has been repaired this date'; crew 'although inexperienced in Amphibious warfare, performed their jobs in a commendable manner.' Signed W.A. Putnam.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-08-09 to 1944-08-21 (operation and report date)
- Population
- LCI(L)-591 crew during the southern France assault; embarked Army Beach Group units
- Limitations
- Digitized primary document - catalog metadata verified live and the single scanned page was read in full this session (image 0473.jpg). Documents the operation and battle damage; an operational record, not a material record - contains no asbestos or material content. The '15 August 1944' beaching is D-Day for the southern France (Dragoon) assault; the report does not name the beach.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-05
-
[7]NARA catalog, NAID 120242119 - 'LCI(L) 591 - Muster Rolls' (RG 24, Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities; 133 digitized images, Ancestry partnership; first muster roll dated 30 June 1944). The catalog search also surfaces NAID 120233853 'LCI(L) Flotilla 28 - Muster Rolls' under this hull's query - flotilla assignment itself is not stated in located sources (see gaps). [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/120242119 (133 images, first image 1944-06-30); index block /id/118967602
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized personnel records naming this hull: 133 muster-roll images for LCI(L) 591 are online (crew rosters by reporting period, first muster roll 30 June 1944), and the ship appears in the muster-roll index block 'USS K-1 (SSK-1) to USS LCI(R)-651' (NAID 118967602).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LCI(L)-591 crew (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Catalog metadata verified live; page-image contents not individually reviewed. Muster rolls are personnel records - no material or asbestos content. They are leads for building a crew roster, which this record does not do.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-06
-
[8]NARA Special List No. 44, List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - ship-number sequence, PDF page 26 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 26, row 'LCI(L)-591 | 4/14/1944 | 6/9/1945' (verified via pdftotext extraction)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Special List 44 (by ship number) lists Navy deck logs held by NARA for LCI(L)-591 covering 4/14/1944-6/9/1945 - logbook coverage running from her commissioning date through 9 June 1945, the day before her 10 June 1945 Soviet transfer (log-coverage dates, not commissioning evidence; the cutoff is consistent with the transfer date - US Navy logging stops when the hull leaves US custody).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-04-14 to 1945-06-09
- Population
- LCI(L)-591 crew (1944-45 logging window)
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the list establishes that logs exist in NARA holdings for that window. A catalog search of the digitized WWII deck-log file units returned no file unit titled for LCI(L)-591 under either tested name form (38 results reviewed for "LCI(L)-591"/"LCI(L) 591" - none is a deck-log file unit), so these logs were not located online - physical-holdings lead only. A deck log is an operational record, not a material survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-07
-
[9]Cross-source check: NHC Project HULA monograph (appendix row 'LCI(L) 591 | DS-35 | 10 June | 1956-stricken'; photo caption 'they took part in Soviet operations against Japanese forces in northern Korea... DS-35 was scrapped'; p.~34 'LCI(L)s trained by Navy Detachment 3294 in July had led the main attack in the Kuril Islands') vs NavSource LCI(L)-591 page ('participated in the Soviet invasion of the Japanese Kuril Islands between 18 August and 1 September 1945'; 'Returned to US Naval custody in 1955 and struck from the Naval Register; final disposition fate unknown') [other_primary]
- Locator
- Russell/Project HULA PDF appendix p.~39 table row; photo caption near p.19; p.~34 Popov-Maxwell passage; NavSource 10/15/150591.htm vs 10/15/150585.htm (identical boilerplate pattern)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION/CONFLICT: NavSource credits ex-LCI(L)-591 (DS-35) with participation in the Soviet invasion of the Japanese Kuril Islands, 18 August-1 September 1945, and prints 'Returned to US Naval custody in 1955 and struck from the Naval Register; final disposition fate unknown.' Both lines are boilerplate repeated verbatim across NavSource's Project Hula LCI(L) pages, and both conflict with the official NHC monograph's hull-specific evidence for this hull: its appendix gives DS-35's disposition as '1956-stricken' (not '1955-returned' - the appendix marks genuinely returned hulls like DS-45/LCI(L)-585 '1955-returned'), and its photograph caption states 'DS-35 was scrapped' and attributes to DS-45 and DS-35 'Soviet operations against Japanese forces in northern Korea' - while separately reporting that the Kuril main attack was led by the July-trained LCI(L)s (the later 29 July-4 September transfer group), not the 10 June group that included DS-35. The Kuril-attack attribution and the 1955-return line are therefore unproven/wrong for this hull; the record carries 'northern Korea operations, stricken 1956, scrapped' per the official source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1956
- Limitations
- Resolves a boilerplate-vs-hull-specific conflict in favor of the official hull-specific source; it is not disproven that DS-35 also operated in Kuril-area waters - the record carries the conflict rather than suppressing it. NavSource's error plausibly derives from the shared photo and boilerplate copied across Hula-LCI pages (the caption it mirrors actually describes sister ship 585's 1955 return and 591's scrapping). Not a material or asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-08
-
[10]USCG Historian's Office, 'U.S. Coast Guard-Manned LCI(L)s' reference page and hull list (44 hulls: Flotilla 4/10/35 boats 83-96, 319-326, 349-350, 520, 562, 581, 583, et al.) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil USCG-Manned LCI(L)s page, hull list (44 entries; 591 absent - verified 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LCI(L)-591 does not appear on the Coast Guard Historian's list of USCG-manned LCI(L)s - confirming she remained Navy-manned throughout her US service (consistent with her USNR commanding officer Lt.(jg) W.A. Putnam, Jr. in the UGS 43 convoy listing and the 'W.A. PUTNAM' signature on her action report). Same-block hulls 562, 581 and 583 do appear on the USCG list - Navy manning is not inferable from hull number alone, so the negative-list check is carried explicitly.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LCI(L)-591 Navy crew (1944-45)
- Limitations
- An official negative-list check - absence from the 44-hull USCG roster, not a manning document for this hull. USCG Historian site blocks direct curl fetches (HTTP 403); content verified via firecrawl render. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-09
-
[11]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (GM diesel plant, BHP 1,600, diesel-drive generators - no steam plant); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos-use era, ev-11); NARA physical logbook holdings (ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; shipyards.json yard list (no NJ Shipbuilding entry, 37 yard_ids checked); GAO HRD-80-2 context
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built March-April 1944 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel craft of this type were diesel exhaust and muffler lagging, gaskets and valve packing in engine and piping systems, electrical insulation on wiring and in control panels, and thermal insulation in the confined machinery spaces. As a diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam ships does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1956
- Population
- NJSB construction trades (1944); crew 28 (1944-45); embarked troops (transient, up to ~188); Soviet DS-35 crew (1945-56)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, builder's spec sheet, or work package located for LCI(L)-591. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. New Jersey Shipbuilding is not in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset, so no yard-level product list was attached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-10
-
[12]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 construction (1944) and US Navy service era (1944-45).
- 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-591-lcil591-11
-
[13]Batch-5312 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page; uboat.net ship page; shipbuilding-history build table; NARA catalog (action report, muster rolls, muster-roll index block, Flotilla 28 muster-roll file unit); NARA Special List 44 PDF; NHC Project HULA monograph; USCG-manned LCI(L) roster check; NHHC DANFS and photo-index checks; NVR check; CourtListener (8 queries, all zero); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-01 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 USS LCI(L)-591 (or Soviet DS-35) was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener authenticated API v4 returned zero hits on all eight completed queries ("LCI(L)-591" type=o and type=r; "LCI(L) 591" type=o and type=r; "LCI-591" type=o and type=r; "LCIL-591" type=o and type=r) - a completed negative, not a blocked search. The hull's June 1945 transfer to the USSR, Soviet service as DS-35, and scrapping in Soviet custody foreclose the usual US-side abatement/museum/scrapping documentation trail that produces ship-specific asbestos records.
- 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. Undigitized deck logs (SL44 window 4/14/1944-6/9/1945), NJSB build records, and Soviet/Russian service records are open leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-591-lcil591-12