Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 460-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-696-lcil696-pkt-460-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-696 (archive 10/15/150696); page attributes history to USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page sections: awards/ribbons header; ship-history paragraph (Flotilla 37, Group 109 flagship, occupation dates, lay-up, fate); Specifications block (LCI-351 class)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Build and service timeline for this hull: laid down 3 June 1944 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, MA; launched 12 June 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-696, 17 June 1944. Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment: LCI Flotilla Thirty-Seven (LCDR J. P. Moore); LCI Group One Hundred Nine - this hull carried the group flagship role - under LCDR J. W. Detwiler USNR. Post-war occupation service in the Far East 18-22 October 1945 and 17-25 December 1945 (Navy Occupation Medal with Asia clasp). Decommissioned, date unknown; laid up Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, March 1946; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; final disposition fate unknown. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (no battle stars shown), World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Medal (Asia clasp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (service record); page last updated 2019-08-23
- Population
- Ship's company: 4 officers + 24 enlisted (spec block); embarked troops up to 6 officers + 182 enlisted
- Limitations
- NavSource is a curated photographic/historical archive, not a primary record; the page attributes its narrative to the Turner Publishing LCI history (secondary). No deck-log, commissioning-document, or disposition facsimile is presented for this hull. The page does not address asbestos or materials in any way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Navy Department, 'Ships' Data - U.S. Naval Vessels', Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-011, 15 April 1945); Google-digitized scan mirrored at ShipScribe [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-011, ship-list LCI(L) section, row 'LCI(L)696' (scan PDF p. 224)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official BuShips ship-list row for this hull: builder 'George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Mass.' under contract dated 15 March 1944; keel laid 3 June 1944; first launched 12 June 1944; commission 17 June 1944 - identical dates to the NavSource timeline. The ditto-marked block places sister hulls LCI(L)-671 through at least LCI(L)-714 in the same Lawley Neponset contract series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (build); publication 1945-04-15
- Limitations
- Ship-list table only: builder, contract date, keel, launch, commission - no service history and no material/equipment detail for this hull. Host is a third-party scan mirror (ShipScribe); the underlying document is the official April 1945 BuShips publication. Does not address asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-02
-
[4]Naval History and Heritage Command, Navy Department Library Online Reading Room, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (archived copy - live NHHC URL returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-30) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Table under 'LCI(L) FLOTILLA THIRTY-SEVEN' > 'LCI(L) GROUP 109' > 'LCI(L) DIVISION 217', row 'LCI 696 (GF)' (printed document p. 85)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization listing shows 'LCI 696 (GF)' - group flagship - inside LCI(L) Division 217, LCI(L) Group 109, LCI(L) Flotilla Thirty-Seven, corroborating NavSource's flagship notation. The hull's commanding-officer field is blank in the listing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-01 (snapshot)
- Limitations
- Organization snapshot as of 1 May 1945: records assignment and flagship flag, not operations, not the dates the assignment began or ended, and nothing about materials aboard. Cited via Wayback Machine capture of 2024-07-11 because the live NHHC page 404s (standing NHHC link-rot pattern).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-03
-
[5]National Archives, Special List 44 - List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947; 'Ships by Signal Number Designation' (ship-number list) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF p. 27, row 'LCI(L)-696' (begin 6/17/1944, end 6/30/1945)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists logbook coverage for LCI(L)-696: begin 17 June 1944, end 30 June 1945 - the commissioning-day-through-mid-1945 log run held in the listed series (RG 24, Bureau of Naval Personnel entry).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-06-17 to 1945-06-30 (coverage window)
- Population
- Ship's company during the logged period
- Limitations
- SL44 records which logbooks the Archives held at compilation - coverage endpoints are accession boundaries, NOT commissioning/decommissioning dates. This hull's logs after 30 June 1945 (through the March 1946 Columbia River Group lay-up) are not in this list; post-1941 deck logs sit with Archives II, College Park, and are undigitized. Log contents are page-level records; no asbestos relevance is implied.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-04
-
[6]Greeneville Sun (Greeneville, TN), 'Major Leaguer Was All-American WWII Veteran' (5 November 2015) - published service recollection of crew member Rance Pless [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Article body, sections 'At Okinawa' and 'A Vast Armada'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A veteran crew member's published recollection places this hull on Pacific service: an LCI flotilla transit via Pearl Harbor and the Marshall Islands; at Okinawa around war's end, where surrendered Japanese soldiers were transferred to the LCIs for handling; then a return to Pearl Harbor - Pless piloted the ship after the captain was sent home early - and on to San Diego.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (events recollected); article published 2015-11-05
- Population
- Ship's company (wartime crew, incl. Rance Pless)
- Limitations
- Single-veteran retrospective published 70 years after the events; used for service narrative only. The article's 'six diesel motors' figure is not adopted for the propulsion spec (NavSource spec block lists two sets of four GM diesels). No battle-star or combat campaign claim is drawn from this account - NavSource shows none for this hull. Does not address asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-05
-
[7]City of Boston, Boston Landmarks Commission, '219-220 Putnam Nail / George Lawley & Son Shipyard' landmark study report (draft amended March 2024) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Study report, Lawley-yard history sections (address block and yard narrative)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official municipal study documents the builder's yard site at 12-12R Ericsson St., Dorchester (Boston) - the former Putnam Nail works the Lawley yard occupied - and describes George Lawley & Son as a 'prominent builder of yachts and naval vessels through two world wars' and a principal Neponset-area employer (about 400 skilled workers) that ceased operation in 1945-46.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (relevant build year); report 2024
- Population
- Lawley yard workforce (~400 skilled workers, per report)
- Limitations
- Builder-site context only: does not name this hull, does not list the LCI(L) contract, and surveys historic buildings rather than shipboard construction. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource LCI-351 class spec block (GM 6051 series-71 diesel propulsion, twin shafts - no steam plant); BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. II vessel-type and builder listing (ev-02); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use documentation (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block (propulsion); NAVSHIPS 250-011 listing; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-engined amphibious landing craft built at a U.S. yard in mid-1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a craft of this type and period were thermal insulation and lagging on diesel machinery and exhaust runs, gaskets and valve packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing, deck coverings, and coatings - inside a 158-ft steel hull of confined compartments. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant: the boiler/turbine 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
- Lawley construction trades (1944); ship's company (1944-46); reserve-fleet lay-up crews and any disposal/scrapping trades (1946-)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-696. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity and no manufacturer attribution for this hull. LCI(L)s were austere mass-produced craft; insulation scope aboard was materially less than on steam combatants.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-07
-
[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 1944 construction and 1944-46 commissioned service.
- 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-696-08
-
[10]Batch-5426 search ledger (this record): NavSource live page; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 v2 (ShipScribe mirror); NHHC Pacific Fleet organization (Wayback); NARA Special List 44 ship-number PDF; Greeneville Sun veteran account; City of Boston landmarks study; GAO product page; CourtListener (fleet pacing); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-696-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-696 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener could not be queried to completion this session - the fleet-wide pacing budget was repeatedly spent (helper exit 2) and one accepted request timed out; logged as blocked/pending in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; only veteran/genealogy mentions and law-firm-style listicle content (excluded by source policy).
- 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 U.S.-built Navy craft is era-consistent with asbestos use; nor does it establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Litigation repository search is an open gap (paced out, not run). Deck logs after June 1945, BuShips contract files, and disposal records are undigitized leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-696-09