Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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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-686-lcil686-pkt-458-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-686 - construction timeline, campaigns, awards, specifications, disposal (history credited to 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry, Vol. II', Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150686.htm class header, campaign table, occupation/China service table, specifications block, and photo captions (Ormoc Bay DOD film frame, NARA ID 23459 / local ID 111-ADC-9694; SC 266310 Bohol)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 5 May 1944 at George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA; launched 15 May 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-686 22 May 1944. Asiatic-Pacific service: Leyte landings 19-29 November 1944; Ormoc Bay landing 7-8 December 1944 (with LCI(L)-613 and LCI(G)-578 of LCI Flotilla 15, landing 77th Division troops; the Ormoc Attack Group endured ~10 hours of continuous air attack, losing USS Mahon DD-364 and USS Ward APD-16 to kamikazes with USS Liddle APD-60 and USS Lamson DD-367 severely damaged and LSM-318 abandoned); Mindoro landings 12-18 December 1944; Nasugbu 31 January and 4-5 February 1945 (Manila Bay-Bicol); Visayan Island landings 26 March-14 April and 18-20 April 1945 (Bohol Island 11 April 1945, landing 3rd Battalion, 164th Regiment, Americal Division - US Army Signal Corps photo SC 266310). Postwar: Navy Occupation Service 8-25 September 1945; China Service (extended) 26 September-16 December 1945. Four battle stars for WWII service. Decommissioned and stricken dates unknown; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 24 February 1948; final disposition unknown. Specs: 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; two sets of 4 GM 6051-series-71 diesels (4 per shaft), single GM main reduction gears, twin variable-pitch propellers 2,320 shp; 16 kts max; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troops 6 officers + 182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1944); crew (28) and embarked troops (up to 188) 1944-45
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its history text is credited to the published USS LCI association history (Turner, 1995) rather than to NHHC. Decommissioned/stricken dates and post-1948 fate are unknown even to this source. Contains no asbestos content. Page verified live at research time (navsource.net is the surviving domain; navsource.org is dead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-01
-
[3]NARA Special List 44, List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - ship-number edition, p. 27: 'LCI(L)-686 5/22/1944 6/30/1945' [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 27, LCI(L) block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists Navy logbook coverage for LCI(L)-686 running 22 May 1944 through 30 June 1945 - the logs themselves are held at the National Archives. The coverage start coincides with her documented commissioning date; the coverage end is a logbook-holdings bound, not a decommissioning or striking date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-05-22 to 1945-06-30 (coverage)
- Population
- Crew and embarked personnel recorded in deck logs, 1944-45
- Limitations
- Log-coverage endpoints are holdings bounds only: the 6/30/1945 end date is a Special List coverage cutoff shared by most WWII-era entries, not evidence of decommissioning (her documented China service ran to 16 December 1945). Whether this hull's logs are digitized in the NARA catalog is unverified (catalog is JS-rendered; catalog API v2 returned the app shell, not records). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-02
-
[4]Shipbuilding History, George S. Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA yard table (updated 25 January 2019) - hull-by-hull production list [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/yachtsmall/lawley.htm, Contract Award 30-Jun-43 block, hull row 1487
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Lawley yard production table records LCI(L) 686 as yard hull number 1487 under Navy Contract Award of 30 June 1943, type 'Landing Craft' (216d/158-ft series), delivered 22 May 1944, disposition 'Sold 1948?' - corroborating the NavSource construction/commissioning sequence and the 24 February 1948 Maritime Commission transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Secondary private compilation (long-standing shipyard reference), not a primary registry - it independently corroborates NavSource but is not itself authoritative. The 'Sold 1948?' disposition carries the source's own question mark - post-transfer fate unconfirmed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-03
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[5]G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum - Lawley Family Collection, Coll. 279 (1839-1990, ca. 500 items) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Coll. 279 collection overview, Abstract and Scope/Content (Series 2: company papers)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Lawley Family Collection holds the business papers of George Lawley and Son (South Boston/Neponset yards) including vessel records, cost sheets, scantlings, owners, wage information, lists, time sheets, and petitions - the likeliest surviving archive of build and material documentation for the Neponset yard that built this hull (yard hull 1487). The collection history also confirms George Lawley & Son worked for the U.S. Navy from 1901 and operated at Neponset until its demise in 1946.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1839-1990 (collection); relevant era 1943-46
- Population
- Lawley yard trades and records, to 1946
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the collection scope is described at series level; whether it retains hull-1487-specific construction or material lists is undetermined without a finding-aid pull or site visit. A yard archive is evidence about the builder, not documentation of materials installed aboard this hull. No asbestos content in the catalog description itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-04
-
[6]USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association, 'Elsie Item' No. 98 (September 2017), p. 8 - excerpt from 'Monster Seven-Seven' by LCDR R. William Clark, LCI(G)-77 [other_primary]
- Locator
- ELSIEITEM-98-Sep-2017.pdf, p. 8, 'Monster Seven-Seven' excerpt
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A firsthand veteran memoir of the LCI-family gunboat LCI(G)-77 records asbestos gloves kept at a 20mm gun mount as shipboard equipment: 'I got asbestos gloves from a 20 mm mount to use in picking up burning rockets rolling around in the fire and threw them over the side.' Documentary evidence that asbestos personal-protective equipment was carried aboard the WWII LCI type - the same craft family and 20mm armament fit as this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-45 (memoir period); published 2017
- Population
- LCI-family gun crews (era context)
- Limitations
- LCI(G)-77 is a sister-type gunboat conversion, not LCI(L)-686 - class/era evidence only, not a hull finding. The passage names the equipment item (asbestos gloves) but nothing about insulation or other asbestos aboard; it documents one PPE application aboard the type, not quantity or extent.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-05
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[7]GAO, Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (October 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 letter text, 'Navy's Policy on Use of Asbestos' section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that asbestos thermal insulation was 'the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships,' that 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables,' and that product specifications were not revised to asbestos-free thermal insulation until 1973 (elimination policy October 1975) - meaning every WWII-era hull, including this 1944 landing craft, was built decades before the substitution era, and older ships 'contain large quantities of asbestos.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979 (report); describes pre-1973 construction era
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (era context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull - HRD-80-2 surveyed Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and 1970s-construction hulls, not WWII landing craft. A diesel-powered LCI had far less insulation scope than steam combatants; the report does not segment by vessel type. Full text retrieved via Firecrawl PDF extraction - direct download returns HTTP 403 to curl (access method disclosed).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-06
-
[8]Batch-5415 search ledger (this record): NavSource amphibious archive; NARA Special List 44 ship-number PDF; shipbuildinghistory.com Lawley yard table; Mystic Seaport Coll. 279 finding aid; USS LCI National Association journal; GAO HRD-80-2; NHHC DANFS (no entry); NVR (excluded by coverage policy); CourtListener (exact-phrase opinions clean; variants fleet-paced); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, build-material list, or verified litigation naming LCI(L)-686 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search on the exact phrase '"LCI(L)-686"' returned 0 results; variant queries ('"LCI-686"', '"LCI(L) 686"', '"LCI 686" asbestos') and the RECAP docket search were blocked by the fleet-wide pacing stand-down this session - partial coverage, logged honestly in search_ledger. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; 'asbestos aboard' material exists only in law-firm marketing content (asbestos-ships.com landing-craft page, mesowatch.com Lawley yard page - banned source class asserting asbestos without primary sourcing), plus a hull-number collision with USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) marketing pages.
- 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 - and the litigation repository search remains partially open (exact-phrase opinions clean; variant and docket queries unrun). Deck logs (SL44-documented coverage to 30 June 1945), Lawley yard papers (Mystic Coll. 279), and any Maritime Commission disposal file are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-686-lcil686-07