Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LC(FF)-628 ex USS LCI(L)-628 (1944-1945) - construction, commissioning, designation, assignment, campaign, and postwar timeline; specifications; stated source is USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150628.htm - header block, LCI-351 class data lines, campaign table, awards block, specifications block, commanding officers list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 8 May 1944 at New Jersey Ship Building Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 5 June 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-628, 10 June 1944, LT. C. F. Higgins USNR in command; redesignated Landing Craft (Flotilla Flagship) LC(FF)-628, 31 December 1944. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LC(FF) Flotilla Twenty-Three (LCDR R. H. Brazeal / LCDR Dennis L. Francis), LC(FF) Group Sixty-Eight (LT. O. G. Howell), LC(FF) Division One Hundred Thirty-Six. Campaigns: Iwo Jima operation - assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February - 3 March 1945; Okinawa Gunto operation - assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1-3 April 1945. Postwar: Occupation service in the Far East 6 December 1945 - January 1946; decommissioned, date unknown; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, March 1946; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; final disposition unknown. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 battle stars); World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Medal (Asia clasp). Spec block: 246 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns; two sets of four GM diesels, four per shaft, BHP 1,600, twin variable-pitch propellers. No photographs of this hull held.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew 1944-c.1946 (4 officers + 24 enlisted per spec; actual aboard population per NARA muster rolls, ev-02); embarked troops up to 182 enlisted + 6 officers; flag staff of LC(FF) Division 136 / Group 68 / Flotilla 23 after 1944-12-31
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its stated source here is the Turner Publishing USS LCI volume, a veterans-association history, not a Navy document. Dates and campaign assignments generally track BuShips/CNO records but the 'decommissioned date unknown' and 'struck date unknown' entries leave those fields unresolved. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-01
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[2]NARA, 'LCI(L) 628 - Muster Rolls', NAID 120285891, RG 24 Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (file unit, microfilm, unrestricted; 27 digital images scanned under the NARA-Ancestry collaboration) - commissioning report and quarterly rolls June-December 1944 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 120285891, fileUnit 'LCI(L) 628 - Muster Rolls'; digital objects 120285892-120285918 (Ancestry file 32860_245694); commissioning cover = object 120285892
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized primary record for this hull: NAVPERS 605 commissioning report cover sheet for 'U.S.S. LCI(L) 628' on the tenth day of June, 1944, certified by Executive Officer Dudley J. Fitts and approved by Commanding Officer Charles F. Higgins, forwarded 11 June 1944 via Fleet Post Office New York, stamped received 12 July 1944. The Report of Changes lists enlisted crew received 10 June 1944 from U.S. Naval Receiving Station, Pier 92, New York, N.Y. - the roll names each man with service number, rating, enlistment date and place (first page: Bernard Benedict W. F1/c; Brin Henry PhM2/c; Carroll Samuil J. S2/c; Clay Mahon W. S2/c; Click Lurty G. Jr. S2/c; Cook Richard E. S2/c; Corty Ernest L. S2/c; Davis John W. S2/c; DelVecchio Anthony F. S1/c; Ellis Albert V. MoMM3/c; Gemmill Ralph C. Cox; Hambrook Frank McC. F1/c; Hirsch Julius A. S1/c; Jasper Albert B. S2/c; Jarve Alver R. S2/c - all USNR or USN-I). A handwritten annotation on the cover reads 'Comm. 6-10-44 to 7-16-46 (decom)' - an apparent archives notation of the hull's commissioned span, which if accurate places decommissioning 16 July 1946 (NavSource leaves the date unknown - see gaps). Rolls on file cover June through December 1944 (10 June, 30 June, 31 July, 31 August, 30 September, 10 October, 31 October, 30 November, 31 December).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (rolls located); annotation suggests through 1946-07-16
- Population
- Commissioning crew of LCI(L)-628 - CO LT Charles F. Higgins USNR, XO Dudley J. Fitts, and the enlisted men named in the June-December 1944 rolls (spec complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Archival record, not an exposure record: muster rolls document who was aboard, not materials aboard or any exposure. The '7-16-46 (decom)' annotation is handwritten and unattributed - treated as a lead, not a confirmed date. Coverage located runs June-December 1944 only; 1945-46 rolls were not surfaced in this search but likely exist in the same RG 24 series. NARA catalog page is JS-rendered; the record and its images were verified via the NARA catalog search proxy and direct image fetch.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-02
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[3]shipbuildinghistory.com (Colton), 'New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ' - yard profile and hull list tabulating LCI(L) 628: US Navy, Landing Craft, Jun-44, 'Struck 1956' [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com New Jersey Shipbuilding yard table, row LCI(L) 628
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent build-list corroboration: New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ, was 'an assembly line for LCIs on Arthur Kill, in Barber, a community immediately to the east of Perth Amboy'; yard management was taken over by Todd Shipyards in 1942 at the Navy's request and the yard closed after the war. Hull list carries LCI(L) 628: US Navy, Landing Craft, June 1944, 'Struck 1956' - a stricken date NavSource does not give.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (build); 1956 (alleged strike)
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding trades, Barber NJ (1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary compiled reference (Colton shipbuilding tabulation), not a primary registry: corroborates builder and month/year and supplies an unverified 'Struck 1956' date that conflicts with nothing in NavSource but is not itself documented - carried in gaps, not asserted. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-03
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[4]Historic American Engineering Record (NPS) HAER No. OR-180, 'LCI(L)-713' (Justine Christianson, 2012) - written historical and descriptive data for an LCI-351-class sister; NRHP listing NRIS 07000300 (listed 12 April 2007) [haer]
- Locator
- HAER OR-180 written data pp. 1-3 (Type of Craft; Principal Measurements; Description; Historical Information)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official documentation of this hull's class: LCI-351 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large), a U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships standard design; principal measurements 158'-5.5" x 23'-3", draft (loaded) 5'-4" fwd / 5'-11" aft, displacement (loaded) 387 tons, maximum speed 16 knots; eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines in four pairs coupled to two shafts with variable-pitch propellers; welded 1/4-inch steel plate, two decks with troop compartments and crew space below, deckhouse with mess/wardroom/galley, enclosed foredeck housing a centerline ramp (the post-1 June 1944 configuration with cylindrical pilothouse), five single 20mm Oerlikon guns; approximately 1,051 LCIs of the type constructed in ten U.S. shipyards during WWII. Hull 628 falls in the same LCI-351 class as the documented exemplar.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (class construction window); document compiled 2012
- Population
- LCI-351-class crews and embarked troops, 1942-45 era
- Limitations
- Class documentation derived from the LCI(L)-713 NRHP nomination and AFMM sources - describes the type and sister hull, not this vessel; establishes design and machinery for the class, not materials aboard LCI(L)-628. The HAER short form names no insulating or hazardous materials - it neither supports nor refutes asbestos aboard the class. Loaded-displacement figure (387 t.) differs from NavSource's 419 t. - flagged in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NavSource LCI-351-class spec block (GM diesels, no steam plant); HAER OR-180 class description (welded steel BuShips design, 8x GM 6-71); GAO HRD-80-2 program context (ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; HAER OR-180 (class design); GAO HRD-80-2 (era context)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A Bureau of Ships-designed welded-steel landing craft built May-June 1944 at a Todd-managed New Jersey yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard marine applications aboard a small diesel landing craft of this period would center on engine and exhaust lagging in the machinery space, gaskets and valve packing in piping, and electrical insulation. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, and asbestos extent aboard a 158-ft LCI was materially smaller than aboard steam combatants; but the confined spaces of a small craft concentrate whatever insulation was present for a complement of 28 plus embarked troops.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-c.1946 (active service); reserve lay-up from March 1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding trades (1944); commissioning crew (NARA rolls, ev-02); wartime crew + embarked troops; flag staff after 1944-12-31; any postwar inactivation/reserve caretakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-628 or any LCI-351-class craft. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity, no manufacturer attribution. Small-craft diesel plant limits the candidate scope relative to steam vessels.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-05
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[6]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 1944 construction and 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 or the LCI-351 class. 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-628-lcil628-06
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[7]Batch-5351 search ledger (this record): NavSource live page; NARA catalog search + muster-roll images; shipbuildinghistory.com yard list; HAER OR-180 PDF; NPS NRIS; USS LCI National Association site; GAO product page; CourtListener API v4 (opinion and docket searches); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-628-01 through -09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials list, or litigation naming USS LCI(L)-628 / LC(FF)-628 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener API v4 returned zero results across three authenticated searches (2026-09-30): opinions on 'LCI(L)-628'/'LC(FF)-628'/'LCI-628' = 0; dockets on the same plus 'LCI(L) 628'/'LC(FF) 628' = 0; a broad opinion sweep on 'LCI 628'/'USS LCI' = 0. A secondary web sweep surfaced no qualifying case or asbestos claim specific to this hull; generic law-firm 'asbestos on Navy ships' listicles do not name this hull and are excluded by source policy regardless.
- 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. Numbered landing craft are thinly documented generally; deck logs, BuShips work items, and any disposal/scrapping records are undigitized leads (RG 24 muster rolls located through December 1944 only in this search). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-628-lcil628-07