Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 458-packet.md (5 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-pkt-458-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-685 - construction, commissioning, campaigns, disposal (history credited to 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II, Turner Publishing 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150685.htm header block, campaign table, occupation/China service table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 2 May 1944 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA; launched 11 May 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-685, 17 May 1944. WWII Asiatic-Pacific Theater campaigns: Leyte operation (Leyte landings 16 October - 29 November 1944; Ormoc Bay landing 7-8 December 1944); Luzon operation (Mindoro landings 12-18 December 1944); Manila Bay-Bicol operations (Nasugbu 31 January 1945 and 4-5 February 1945); Consolidation and capture of the southern Philippines (Visayan Island landings 26 March - 11 April 1945 and 15-20 April 1945). 'USS LCI(L)-685 earned four battle stars for World War II service.' Ribbon array: China Service Medal (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4 stars), WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal (2 stars). Postwar: Navy Occupation Service 8-25 September 1945; China Service (extended) 29 September - 16 December 1945. Decommissioned, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 5 June 1946; sold 7 November 1946; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' IRCS NPWN. Spec block: displacement 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; length 158' 5 1/2"; beam 23' 3"; 16 kts max (14 continuous); complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; cargo 75 tons; five single 20mm guns; propulsion - two sets of 4 GM '6051 series 71' diesels (4 per shaft), single GM main reduction gears, two diesel-drive 30kW 120V DC ship's-service generators, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp. Photo captions document the ship underway (date/location unknown) and beached alongside USS LCI(L)-965 (date/location unknown).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (May 1944); ship's company 4 officers + 24 enlisted; embarked troops up to 6 officers + 182 enlisted during Leyte/Luzon/southern-Philippines operations
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation crediting the Turner Publishing LCI history - milestone data, not a primary registry; dates here are corroborated by NARA SL-44 (commissioning) and shipbuildinghistory.com and uboat.net (builder/delivery/sale). Decommission date is explicitly 'date unknown' in the source - carried as unknown, not guessed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-01
-
[3]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), US Navy Small Ships - LCI(L) build table, njscuba.net mirror (canonical shipbuildinghistory.com path 404s; mirror is the live URL) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/lcil/ row 'LCI(L)-685'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent build-table corroboration for this hull: 'LCI(L)-685 | Lawley & Sons | Neponset MA | 17 May 1944 | sold 1946' - builder, yard location, delivery date (matching the 17 May 1944 commissioning), and 1946 sale. The same table situates the hull inside Lawley & Sons' LCI production block (rows 658-693 sequential at Neponset, March-June 1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Secondary reference compilation (Tim Colton's shipbuildinghistory.com, njscuba.net mirror - the canonical shipbuildinghistory.com URL returns 404; the mirror is the live site). Its date column is 'delivered' - for these craft delivery coincides with commissioning, but the table does not label it a commissioning date. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-02
-
[4]NARA Special List 44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number): LCI(L)-685 logbooks held in RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel), coverage 5/17/1944 - 6/30/1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 27, row 'LCI(L)-685 5/17/1944 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's own finding aid documents a surviving deck-log run for this hull: LCI(L)-685, coverage 5/17/1944 through 6/30/1945. The begin date coincides exactly with her documented commissioning date (17 May 1944) - consistent with a deck log opened at commissioning. These logs are the primary-source lead for her actual steaming history: Leyte, Ormoc Bay, Mindoro, Nasugbu, and Visayan-period operations and the crew rosters they embed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Commissioned crew, May 1944 - Jun 1945 log window
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: a finding-aid entry proves the logs exist at NARA, not what they contain. Per the finding aid's nature, coverage endpoints are log-run endpoints, NOT decommissioning or striking dates - the 6/30/1945 end is not evidence she left service then (logs simply were not forwarded beyond that window; she is documented in the Far East through December 1945). Logs are paper holdings; the digitization status of this specific run was not confirmed (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and unfetchable from this session). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-03
-
[5]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LCI(L)-685 (LCI(L)-685), LCI 351 class - build data and wartime event reconstruction (Task Group 78.2 order of battle, Operation Victor II / Cebu landings) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship page 21750 (spec block; 'Notable events' 24 Mar 1945 TG 78.2 / TU 78.2.3 order of battle)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net repeats the Lawley/Neponset build (laid down 2 May 1944, launched 11 May 1944, commissioned 17 May 1944, 'Sold on 7 November 1946') and reconstructs her part in the 24-28 March 1945 Cebu landings (Operation Victor II): LCI(L)-685, Lt. P.T. O'Hare USNR commanding, sailed in Task Unit 78.2.3 - the 16-LCI(L) unit of the TG 78.2 attack force that departed Leyte 24 March 1945 - under LCI(L) Flotilla Fifteen (T/Cdr. W.V. Deutermann USN, embarked in LCI(L)-972). The entry's stated sources are the action reports of COMTASKGR 74.3 and COMTASKGR 78.2 on Cebu City operations - a ship-specific primary-derived operational record matching the NavSource 'Visayan Island landings' campaign window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Ship's company under Lt. P.T. O'Hare USNR; embarked troops, Cebu assault echelon (Mar 1945)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary database (Guomundur Helgason's uboat.net); the order-of-battle reconstruction and officer attribution are compiled from the cited Navy action reports but are not themselves a Navy-primary presentation. Single documented operational sighting; the other campaigns rest on NavSource/Turner. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-04
-
[6]HAER OR-180, LCI(L)-713 (Historic American Engineering Record, NPS, Library of Congress) - class design and construction documentation for a Lawley-built sister hull [haer]
- Locator
- HAER OR-180 written historical and descriptive data (4 pp.), tile.loc.gov storage-services PDF
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Federal engineering documentation of the class and builder for this hull: LCI(L)-713 is the LCI-351-class sister of LCI(L)-685, built at the same George Lawley & Son yard at Neponset to the same standard Bureau of Ships design ('a standard design developed by the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships'). HAER records the class construction: welded 1/4" steel plate; two decks; engine room containing four pairs of General Motors 6-71 diesel engines connected to two shafts and variable-pitch propellers; deckhouse with troop accommodations, mess, wardroom, galley; five single 20mm Oerlikon guns; transport capacity 182 enlisted + 6 officers; approximately 1,051 ships of the type built in ten U.S. yards during WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 design documentation
- Population
- class-wide construction trades; embarked troop populations class-wide
- Limitations
- Sister-hull documentation, not this hull: HAER documents LCI(L)-713 (keel 7/27/1944) and the class design generally - LCI(L)-685 is not named in it. The HAER text names NO asbestos or insulation material; it cannot support a materials claim for 685 or even for 713. LCI(L)-713 also represents the post-1-June-1944 'modified design' (cylindrical pilothouse, centerline ramp); 685 was completed in May 1944 and is of the earlier configuration - ramp/pilothouse details do not transfer.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-05
-
[7]MIT Museum collection record - George Lawley & Son (shipyard, Neponset, Massachusetts) and McInnis-Lawley Collection (Lawley yard plans archive). ARCHIVED COPY cited: live page returns HTTP 429 (Vercel security checkpoint) to automated fetch; Wayback capture 2024-07-22 verified verbatim [museum_official]
- Locator
- Wayback captures: web.archive.org/web/20240722121536/.../organization/1754 (George Lawley & Son) and web/20250517092807/.../collection/mcinnis-lawley-collection ('about 1,700 sheets representing approximately 150 designs'; 'shut down in 1946, after producing hundreds of ships for the World War II effort')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder of this hull is a documented, extinct yard: MIT Museum's collection record describes George Lawley & Son, Neponset MA, operated by three Lawley generations from the 1860s to the 1940s, builder of yachts and working vessels 'including dozens of World War II landing craft, before closing in 1946.' The McInnis-Lawley Collection at MIT holds roughly 1,700 plan sheets across ~150 Lawley designs - a live archival lead for LCI(L) construction drawings of this hull's own yard (the related-objects list includes an item titled 'LCI(L)', object 1988.075R.001).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1866-1946 (yard); 1944 (this hull's build)
- Population
- Lawley yard workforce (construction era)
- Limitations
- Builder-level context, not a hull record - the museum page does not name LCI(L)-685. It corroborates that the yard existed at Neponset, built WWII landing craft, and closed in 1946 (after which no yard records program, NIOSH-era survey, or abatement contractor could plausibly exist). The 1,700-sheet plans collection is a lead, not a retrieved source; whether LCI(L) sheets are among them beyond the single titled object is unverified. Cited URL is a Wayback archive capture (2024-07-22) - the live page is behind a Vercel bot-check returning HTTP 429 (reconfirmed 2026-09-30); archive, not live, is cited per citation hygiene.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource LCI-351 spec block and HAER OR-180 class construction record (welded-steel hull, eight GM 6-71 diesels, variable-pitch props); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use era documentation (see ev-08); USPHS 1946 contract-yard survey (see ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; HAER OR-180 description; shipyard-exposure-map era product conventions
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A welded-steel diesel landing craft built May 1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a naval craft of this type and period were thermal insulation and engine/exhaust lagging in the machinery space, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation within the confined hull volume. As a direct diesel-drive craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - but the small-craft confined-space exposure dynamic (28-man crew plus embarked troops in a 158-ft hull) applies.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1944); ship's company + embarked troops (1944-46); unknown post-sale civilian owners/yard crews
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or construction drawing was located for LCI(L)-685. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The class's own federal documentation (HAER OR-180) names no asbestos either way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-07
-
[9]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 (May 1944) and Navy 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 or to landing craft. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30 - same standing defect as prior batches); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-08
-
[10]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P. 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels.' J Ind Hyg Toxicol. 1946 Jan;28(1):9-16. PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PMID 21016030 (bibliographic record verified via NCBI E-utilities 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The U.S. Public Health Service's wartime health survey of pipe-covering (insulation) operations on naval vessels under construction at contract shipyards documented asbestos insulation work - predominantly asbestos pipe covering (85%-magnesia and similar) cut and fitted aboard hulls during outfitting - across the same contract-yard system that built this ship in May 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 survey (published Jan 1946)
- Population
- Contract-shipyard pipe coverers/insulators, WWII naval construction
- Limitations
- Era documentation only - surveyed contract yards did not include Lawley/Neponset and no hull of this class is named; establishes that Navy-contract construction used asbestos insulation materials in this period, not that this hull carried any specific product. Note: the study's methodology is criticized in Kelly RJ, 'When errors become etched in stone,' New Solutions 2026 (PMID 42307414) - its dust measurements understate exposure; use as era context, not an exposure estimate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-09
-
[11]Shuman v. United States, 765 F.2d 283 (1st Cir. 1985) - appellate opinion describing the Navy's 1943 'Minimum Requirements for Safety and Industrial Health in Contract Shipyards' and wartime asbestos-dust conditions at a Navy contract yard (Justia republication; live page returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch - Wayback capture 2015-09-23 verified; CourtListener ID not retrievable this session - fleet pacing) [court_record]
- Locator
- 765 F.2d 283, 'Factual Background' / Minimum Requirements discussion
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The First Circuit recounts district findings that the Navy and Maritime Commission's 'Minimum Requirements' (promulgated January/February 1943, binding on Navy contract yards) dealt in part with asbestos-dust hazards, that Navy inspectors observed open asbestos and dust conditions in contract-yard work areas, and that upper-echelon Navy officials knew by 1940 that asbestos dust posed a significant health hazard - documenting the regulated asbestos regime under which Lawley built this hull in 1944.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (regime); opinion 1985
- Population
- Contract-shipyard workers under Navy/Maritime Commission jurisdiction (1943-45 regime)
- Limitations
- Era/regulatory context via a court's summary of trial findings about Bethlehem's Fore River yard - not about Lawley or this hull, and the government ultimately prevailed on discretionary-function grounds (exposure findings unreversed but claim barred). Establishes the Navy contract-yard asbestos-control regime existed during this build, nothing more. Justia URL cited; live page blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403), content verified via Wayback capture 2015-09-23 - the URL field points at the canonical Justia location, archive verification disclosed here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-10
-
[12]Batch-5414 search ledger (this record): NavSource live fetch; shipbuildinghistory.com mirror; NARA Special List 44 full PDF; uboat.net; HAER OR-180 (LCI(L)-713); MIT Museum (Wayback); PubMed eutils; Shuman F.2d (Wayback-verified Justia); CourtListener API (partially run - see below); DANFS structural check; NVR; usslci.org; secondary web litigation/asbestos sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, litigation, or docketed case naming USS LCI(L)-685 was found in the sources searched. CourtListener opinion search returned zero hits for '"LCI(L)-685"' (authenticated API, 2026-09-30); remaining variant forms and the docket-index query were intermittently blocked by the fleet pace budget - see search_ledger for exact scope. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and - notably - no law-firm marketing claim naming this specific hull (the hull is too obscure for the listicle mills; nothing to exclude on source-policy grounds).
- 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 RG 24 deck-log run (5/17/1944-6/30/1945), the Bureau of Naval Personnel muster-roll file unit for this hull (RG 24, College Park; file-unit NAID not located via the JS-rendered catalog), any Bureau of Ships construction drawings (MIT's McInnis-Lawley collection is the lead), and the 1946 sale/disposal contract are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-685-lcil685-11