Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 452-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LCI(L)-644 | Hull: 644 | Designation: LCI(L) |
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-644-lcil644-pkt-452-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(R)-644 ex USS LCI(L)-644 - timeline, specifications, campaigns, awards, disposal (history sourced to Turner Publishing, USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150644.htm header timeline, Asiatic-Pacific campaign table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 31 May 1944 at New Jersey Ship Building, Barber, N.J.; launched 29 June 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-644, 7 July 1944; reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Rocket) LCI(R)-644, 15 March 1945. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCI Flotilla Sixteen (CDR C. E. Coffin USN), LCI Group Forty-Six (LCDR A. F. Eckelmeyer USNR), LCI Division Ninety-Two. Campaigns: Iwo Jima operation (assault and occupation, 19-25 February 1945) and Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation, 29 March-30 June 1945); occupation duty in the Far East 5 September-7 October 1945. Decommissioned date unknown; struck date unknown; transferred to the Maritime Commission 1 April 1946 for disposal; final disposition unknown; two battle stars. Spec block: 216 t. light / 389 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kts max; propulsion two sets of 4 GM 6-71-series diesels (4 per shaft), GM reduction gears, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp; LCI(L) complement 3 officers + 21 enlisted, LCI(R) 3 + 31; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; LCI(R) armament one 40mm bow mount, four 20mm, two .50 cal MG, six 5" rocket launchers. Photo captions document her off Okinawa with rockets loaded in her Mk 7 launchers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (24 as LCI(L), 34 as LCI(R)); embarked troops up to 188; MarCom/NDRF custodial period (1946-47)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation (history sourced to the Turner Publishing LCI volume), not a primary registry - milestone dates carried as compiled; decommissioning and striking are listed as unknown here (a secondary crew memoir supplies 19 February 1946 - see ev-08). Contains no asbestos or material content. The page's photo-caption chart placing 644 in a reserve task group on L-Day conflicts with the primary action report (see ev-10).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-01
-
[3]NARA, WWII War Diaries: USS LCI(R)-644 - War Diary, April 1945 (NAID 140009152, 2 pages digitized via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 140009152, WWII War Diaries microfilm, 2 digitized pages (Fold3 images 0830-0831)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own war diary for April 1945 documents: 1 April (LOVE Day, Okinawa) - steaming with Southern Tractor Flotilla TG 51.14; rocket launchers loaded at daybreak; three firing runs of salvos toward target square 8178 (72-rocket salvos); during the third run 'a mine burst 30 feet off port bow' and shrapnel injured Lt. R. E. Sweeney, Jr., USNR, transferred to USS LCI(R)-772 for medical attention; then 26 days as control vessel for the ammunition boat pool at Area Peter Two; 6 April survivor search off Point Bolo; 11 April anchor lost riding off Naha; 14 April fired on object resembling midget submarine; 15 April enemy plane downed by her 40mm fire ('burst into flame and fell into the sea to the west'); 18-22 April Ensign T. E. Hairston suspended and restored to duty; 27 April secured from boat-pool duty to daylight screening stations under T.U. 52.20; diary signed by Ensign G. R. Bonnette, USN.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-04
- Population
- LCI(R)-644 crew, April 1945; Lt. Robert E. Sweeney Jr. USNR (wounded, transferred to LCI(R)-772)
- Limitations
- Primary ship-specific record of combat service and crew events; contains no asbestos, material, or health content. Muster-level exposure claims for individuals are not made - the diary documents ship operations and two named-officer events (Sweeney wound; Hairston suspension).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-02
-
[4]NARA, WWII War Diaries: COMTASK-UNIT 52.20.1 (Commander, RCM & Rocket Support Division One, LCI(L) Group Sixty-Three) - Action Report, Invasion of Okinawa Shima, 15 March-21 April 1945 (NAID 140041874, 6 pages digitized via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 140041874, WWII War Diaries microfilm, report serial 019 dated 22 April 1945 (Fold3 images 0601-0606)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The division action report lists Task Unit 52.20.1 as 'comprised of LCI(R)s 644(F), 650, 707, 771, 772, and 1077' - LCI(R)-644 carried the (F) division-flagship marker under Commander RCM & Rocket Support Division One. The unit's LOVE Day (1 April 1945) mission was firing 5.0-inch spin-stabilized rockets on western Okinawa from target square 8179U to 1500 yards deep toward square 8278U; the six vessels commenced firing at 0820(I) and 'vessels of this unit loaded launchers eight times in three firing runs firing approximately 200... rockets per ship each firing run, a total of approximately 510 rockets fired by each vessel between 0820 and 0954.' The report records that at 0955 USS LCI(R) 644(F) 'caused an enemy mine to explode... Shrapnel from the exploding mine landed on the deck of the ship and injur[ed] Lieutenant Robert E. Sweeney, Jr., USNR, LCI(R) Group Sixty-Three Communications' officer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-03-15 to 1945-04-21
- Population
- LCI(R)-644 crew and embarked division staff, March-April 1945
- Limitations
- Primary unit-level action report naming this hull as division flagship and documenting her firing runs and mine event; no asbestos or material content. Establishes assignment to LCI(R) Group Sixty-Three / CTU 52.20.1 for the Okinawa operation - NavSource carries her under Group Forty-Six / Division Ninety-Two (likely the Iwo-era organization; unresolved - see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-03
-
[5]NARA, WWII War Diaries: USS LCI(R)-644 - Report of anti-aircraft action off Okinawa Shima, Ryukyu Islands, 15 April 1945 (NAID 140002729, 2 pages); plus a second AA action report for 28 April 1945 (NAID 140030958, 2 pages) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 140002729 (Fold3 images 0478-0479) and NAID 140030958 (images 0517-0518)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-generated AA action report (dated 16 April 1945): at night 1,000 yards off White Beach One, Okinawa, five enemy planes observed, three taken under fire by her 1-40mm and 2-20mm guns; 64 rounds of 40mm and 130 rounds of 20mm expended (5% of service allowance); naked-eye detection, local control throughout. A second report covers AA action 28 April 1945. Both reports are routed via Commander LCI(R) Group Sixty-Three (CTU 52.20.1) and CTG 52.20.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-04-15; 1945-04-28
- Population
- LCI(R)-644 gun crews, April 1945
- Limitations
- Primary ship-specific combat record; no asbestos or material content. Corroborates the war-diary air-defense narrative for 15 April (one plane observed downed); the second (28 April) report's contents were indexed but not individually reviewed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-04
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[6]NARA muster rolls for this hull, two file units digitized via the Ancestry partnership: 'LCI(L) 644 - Muster Rolls' (NAID 120196350, 34 images, 7 July 1944 - February 1945) and 'LCI(R) 644 - Muster Rolls' (NAID 120196385, 39 images, March 1945 - 19 February 1946); plus digitized war diaries for July, August, September, and October 1945 (NAIDs 77471593, 77504623, 77532092, 77570515) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA file units 120196350 and 120196385 (College Park, unrestricted; scanned from microfilm, Ancestry dbid 1143)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds digitized muster rolls covering this hull's entire commissioned period: the LCI(L) 644 file unit begins 7 July 1944 (commissioning day) and the LCI(R) 644 file unit ends 19 February 1946 - the date a crew memoir gives as her decommissioning at San Pedro, corroborating it. Muster rolls document the crew by name and rating for every period covered - the strongest available exposure-population documentation for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- All officers and enlisted carried aboard LCI(L)/LCI(R)-644, 1944-07-07 to 1946-02-19
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the rolls establish who served and when - they contain no asbestos, material, or health information, and this record makes no exposure claim for any named individual. The terminal muster-roll date supports but does not itself state the decommissioning event.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (GM 6-71-series diesel plant, no steam machinery); shipbuildinghistory.com LCI(L) build tables (LCI-351-class design, New Jersey Shipbuilding Barber NJ block 642-651); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos-use era; see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; shipbuildinghistory.com LCI(L) table row for hull 644; GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel diesel-powered landing craft built May-July 1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard asbestos applications aboard a 1944 craft of this type were thermal insulation on machinery and diesel-exhaust runs, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation, concentrated in the small engine room and living spaces of a 158-foot hull. With no steam plant, the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of larger combatants does not apply, but the confined-space exposure dynamic applies to a 24-34-man crew plus up to 188 embarked troops.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or construction work package located for LCI(L)-644. 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-644-06
-
[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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-07
-
[9]'The Nineteen Month Odyssey of LCI 644' by James H. Erngren (Gunner's Mate aboard), The Elsie Item, USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association newsletter (scanned via yumpu) [other_primary]
- Locator
- The Elsie Item scan, 'The Nineteen Month Odyssey of LCI 644' (yumpu document 38719050)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A crew memoir by a Gunner's Mate who served aboard states: 'The LCI(L) 644 was built at the shipyards in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and commissioned 18 July, 1944. She was decommissioned on 19 February 1946 at San Pedro, California,' and describes picking up supplies at Hudson River piers in New York after commissioning. The 19 February 1946 decommissioning date is corroborated by the digitized muster rolls, which terminate on that date (ev-05).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- LCI(L)/LCI(R)-644 crew (memoir author a Gunner's Mate)
- Limitations
- Secondary veteran-association memoir, not an official record - its 18 July 1944 commissioning date conflicts with NavSource's 7 July 1944 (corroborated by the first muster roll, 7 July 1944; NavSource date carried, memoir variant in gaps). The decommissioning date it supplies is treated as secondary-sourced pending an official decommissioning document. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-08
-
[10]Batch-5369 search ledger (this record): NavSource page (verified live); NARA catalog (war diaries, AA action reports, CTU 52.20.1 action report, muster rolls - digitized); NHHC DANFS (no entry); NVR (no entry); CourtListener authenticated opinion + docket searches (zero results); secondary web sweep (marketing collisions only) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-644-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LCI(L)-644 / LCI(R)-644 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener returned zero results in both the opinion index and the RECAP docket index for the hull designations - a clean negative, not a blocked query. The only 'asbestos' web content attaching to '644' is law-firm marketing for USS Stembel (DD-644) and USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644) - different hulls, excluded as name collisions.
- 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 - a 1944-built steel landing craft sits squarely in the documented asbestos-use era. Construction work packages, deck logs, and Maritime Commission disposal records are undigitized or unlocated leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-09
-
[11]Correction cross-check: NavSource L-Day task-organization photo chart (navsource.net/archives/10/15/150644.htm, caption on image 1015102450) vs NARA primary records (NAID 140041874 CTU 52.20.1 action report; NAID 140009152 April 1945 war diary) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource photo caption (image 1015102450, TG 52.20 chart); NARA NAID 140041874 page 1; NAID 140009152 page 1
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: The NavSource page's photo-caption chart of LCI(R) rocket targets for the L-Day (1 April 1945) Okinawa bombardment places LCI(R)-644 in reserve task group 52.20.3. The primary records contradict this: the CTU 52.20.1 action report lists TU 52.20.1 'comprised of LCI(R)s 644(F), 650, 707, 771, 772, and 1077' with 644 as division flagship, and her own war diary records three rocket firing runs on the beach that morning plus the 0955 mine event. She was a firing unit of Division One, not a reserve unit.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-04-01
- Limitations
- Corrects a secondary-source task-organization placement using primary records; not a material or asbestos claim. The NavSource chart may reflect a different planning phase (pre-assault lineup vs execution); the discrepancy is recorded, not adjudicated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-644-10