Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 451-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: PARTIAL
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-pkt-451-packet-md
-
[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LCI(L) per-hull roster (shipscribe.com scan of the official BuShips publication, text layer) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2, 'Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) (LCI(L))' roster, LCI(L)634-641 rows (builder column: New Jersey S. B. Corp., Barber, N.J.)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official BuShips roster has a per-hull row for this vessel: LCI(L)637 - keel laid 27 May 1944, launched 19 June 1944, date of first commission 24 June 1944; the builder column ('By whom and where built or building') carries New Jersey S. B. Corp., Barber, N.J. for this hull's block (explicit at the head of the LCI(L) 603-onward sequence, carried to 637 by 'do.' ditto entries; next explicit builder change is George Lawley & Son, Neponset, in the following block).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. construction trades (1944); commissioning crew
- Limitations
- Official BuShips data - the authoritative construction/milestone source. Contains no asbestos or material content. Roster predates the ship's 1946 disposal, so it documents construction only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-637 - designation timeline, specifications, campaign record, disposal (page verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150637.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, decommissioned-at-Long-Beach photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 27 May 1944 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Barber, N.J.; launched 19 June 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-637, 24 June 1944; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LCI(L) Flotilla Twenty-Four (CDR A. Vernon Janaotta, USN, as spelled on the NavSource page - 'Jannotta' in the Group 72 war diary) and LCI(L) Group Seventy-Two (LCDR A.T. Baker, USNR); participated in Leyte operations - Leyte landings, 28 and 29 November 1944; decommissioned in 1946; struck from the Naval Register 17 April 1946; sold 9 November 1946; final disposition - fate unknown; earned one battle star for World War II service. Photographic record places the decommissioned hull moored at Naval Station Long Beach, CA, circa 1946 alongside LCI(L)-731, -881, -979 and -980 (Inman Co., Long Beach, via USS LSM/LSMR Association).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); ship's company 4 officers + 24 enlisted plus embarked troops (1944-46); whoever received the hull after sale (1946, identity unknown)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates here concur exactly with the official BuShips roster (ev-01). Page history is credited to 'USS LCI - Landing Craft Infantry, Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1995). Contains no asbestos content; the 1946 sale predates modern ACM-handling regulation and no hazmat or material record for the disposal was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-02
-
[4]War Diary of Commander, LCI(L) Group Seventy-Two, Flotilla Twenty-Four - December 1944 and January 1945 installments (GR 72 FLOT 24 serial 027, submitted to Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, 2 April 1945; scanned official document hosted on NavSource, PDF p. 1-21) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/pdf/150636a.pdf: p.3 (group composition), pp.4-8 (December 1944 entries), pp.9-21 (January 1945 entries incl. ComSerFor7thFlt Leyte duty)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official unit war diary names this hull repeatedly. Group Seventy-Two 'is comprised of twelve (12) LCI(L)s as follows: LCI(L)s 636(GF), 635, 637, 652, 701, 702, 703, 773, 774, 1074, 1075 and 1076,' part of LCI(L) Flotilla Twenty-Four attached to Commander Seventh Amphibious Force, Seventh Fleet. Entries naming LCI(L)-637: 1 December 1944 - with LCI(L)s 635, 652, 1074 on a troop-carrying mission for the 40th Infantry Division from Cape Sudest to Cape Gloucester, New Britain; 13 December - departed Hollandia in convoy for Leyte, P.I., to report to ComSerFor Seventh Fleet for 'transport of Navy replacements, harbor entrance control and such other duty'; 21 December - arrived Leyte and reported to ComSerFor7thFlt (CTF 77.7.2); 24 December - returned to San Pedro Bay from Guiuan, Samar; December 1944 through 1 February 1945 - with LCI(L)s 652 and 773, quartering and subsisting the Salvage and Fire-Fighter Unit, Seventh Fleet, at San Pedro Bay, Leyte.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-12-01 to 1945-02-01
- Population
- Ship's company (4 officers + 24 enlisted) and embarked troops/replacements (Dec 1944-Feb 1945); Salvage and Fire-Fighter Unit Seventh Fleet personnel quartered aboard
- Limitations
- Primary operational document naming this hull - contemporaneous official record. Contains no asbestos or material content; presence in an amphibious assault and harbor-service record does not itself document exposure. Text was OCR-extracted from a 21-page scan with no text layer; minor transcription imperfections possible.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-03
-
[5]NARA Special List 44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (ship-number list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf p. 26, LCI(L)-637 row: 6/24/1944 - 6/30/1945; digitized-logs list checked at https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Special List 44 records deck-log coverage for this hull from 24 June 1944 through 30 June 1945 (ship-number list, p. 26) - i.e., NARA holds this vessel's logs spanning commissioning through the war's final year. Coverage start coincides with the documented commissioning date. The logs sit in RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel, Entry 118) but are not among the digitized deck logs in the National Archives Catalog (the 1941-and-later digitized list contains no LCI(L) entries).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (log coverage); listing current as of SL44 compilation
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: SL44 documents that logs exist and their coverage span - it does not digitize them, and log-coverage endpoints are not commissioning/decommissioning dates. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LCI(L) design table for the 351-1098 design group (shipscribe.com scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LCI(L) design data table, LCI(L) 351-1098 row (characteristics and machinery columns)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- BuShips official design data for the LCI(L) 351-1098 group (which includes this hull): 159 ft overall / 153 ft waterline, extreme beam 23 ft 8 in, trial displacement ~387 t, trial speed 14.4 kt, main engines G.M. Diesel 6051 series 71, 2,320 shp, single G.M. main reduction gears, 2 propellers, diesel-driven ship's service generators (120V DC) - an all-diesel craft with no steam plant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- n/a (design documentation)
- Limitations
- Class/design-group documentation, not a hull record - the table covers the whole LCI(L) 351-1098 design group. It establishes machinery type (all-diesel, no boilers or steam lines) used here only to bound the plausible asbestos pathway; it contains no asbestos or material content and names no insulation products.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: BuShips SDB1945v2 design table (all-diesel LCI(L) 351-1098 group); NavSource specifications (GM diesel plant, 30 kW diesel-driven generators); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB1945v2 LCI(L) 351-1098 design table; NavSource 10/15/150637.htm specifications; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel amphibious landing craft built in 1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a craft of this type and period were engine and exhaust lagging on the diesel plant, gaskets and valve packing in fuel/lube/cooling systems, electrical insulation, accommodation-space insulation, and deck coverings. As an all-diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46); any post-sale operators/scrappers (1946+, identity unknown)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or builder's spec sheet was located for LCI(L)-637. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-06
-
[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 construction (1944) and service era (1944-46).
- 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 returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-07
-
[9]Batch-5361 search ledger (this record): BuShips SDB1945v2 roster + design table; NavSource 10/15/150637.htm; Group 72 war diary scan; NARA Special List 44 + digitized-logs list; NHHC DANFS + Normandy sunk/damaged list; CourtListener API v4 (opinion + docket + broader sweeps); GAO product page; secondary-web disposal sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming LCI(L)-637 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener was queried this session - exact name and hull-number variants returned zero opinions and zero dockets; broader sweeps ('USS LCI' + asbestos; 'landing craft' + asbestos; LCI(L) + asbestos) surfaced only non-qualifying hits (a 1996 maritime personal-injury appeal and a 2017 ASBCA contract decision, neither involving asbestos claims or this hull). Deck logs exist (SL44 coverage 24 Jun 1944 - 30 Jun 1945) but are not digitized.
- 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 - the craft was built and served inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Undigitized deck logs, builder work packages, and the 1946 disposal chain (buyer identity unknown) are open leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-08
-
[10]NHHC, Sunk and Damaged Ships and Craft (Operation Neptune loss/damage list) - name-collision check for hull number 637 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC sunk-and-damaged list, LCT(6) section rows; NHHC DANFS ship-histories check for lci-l-637.html (404)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION/collision guard: the NHHC Normandy sunk-and-damaged list contains a row '637 - DAMAGED,' but it sits under the 'LCT(6) [Landing Craft, Tank (Mark VI)]' header - it is LCT(6)-637, a different vessel type. This hull, LCI(L)-637, was still on the ways/fitting out at Barber, N.J. (laid down 27 May, launched 19 June, commissioned 24 June 1944) and could not have been at Normandy on 6 June 1944; her documented service was Pacific-only (Leyte, New Britain, Hollandia). No DANFS individual entry exists for LCI(L)-637 (NHHC ship-histories URL lci-l-637.html returns 404; individual LCI(L) DANFS pages exist for select hulls only).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Corrects a potential table misread, not a material claim. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-637-lcil637-09