Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 471-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LCI(L)-776 — S2 archived line L1128 ("- USS *LCI(L)-776*")
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-pkt-471-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Cotinga (MHC-22) / LCI(L)-776 hull page (last updated 10 November 2017; history credited to USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry,' Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Vessel chronology, campaign table, awards ribbon block, specifications, and photo-caption sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents this hull's full designation chain on one physical hull: LCI-351-class landing craft laid down 10 June 1944 at Commercial Iron Works, Portland, OR; launched 9 July 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-776 on 3 August 1944, LT Eric Karlson USNR in command; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LCI Flotilla Twenty Two (CDR Marion M. Byrd, USN); campaigns: Luzon operation / Lingayen Gulf landing 9-18 January 1945, and Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines / Mindanao Island landings 17-23 April 1945; Navy Occupation Service Medal and China Service Medal (extended) periods 8 September - 20 December 1945, assigned to Commander Yangtze Patrol Force while on China service; decommissioned 20 April 1946; laid up Pacific Reserve Fleet, Bremerton, WA; redesignated LSIL-776 on 28 February 1949; authorized for conversion to Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) in FY 1952; named Cotinga and reclassified AMCU-22 on 7 March 1952; conversion contract placed with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA, begun 21 September 1953, completed 2 April 1954; placed in service, date unknown; reclassified MHC-22 on 7 February 1955; placed out of service 1 January 1960; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold 6 May 1960 to Oaksmith Boat Sales, WA, for use as a fishing boat and renamed F/V Baranof; acquired 1961 by John J. Zappone of Spokane, WA; operated under the British flag in 1967; operated in 1980 under the Panamanian flag by Rogreman Compania Maritima, S.A., as the hydrographic research vessel R/V Chita; final disposition unknown. Awards: Navy Unit Commendation for service in the Salvage, Fire Fighting, and Rescue Unit, Service Force, 7th Fleet, Philippine Islands area, 6 January - 15 February 1945, plus two battle stars for WWII service; Combat Action Ribbon, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2), WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippines Presidential Unit Citation, Philippines Liberation Medal (2). Page gives class/configuration complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted, troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted, and the all-diesel propulsion specifications carried in this record. Photo captions document the 3 August 1944 commissioning crew at Commercial Iron Works (CO LT Eric Karlson; XO E. O. Schwartz; Engineering Officer Ed Murphy; Commissary/Communication Officer Louis 'Lou' Scolnik), the craft en route to Zamboanga with members of Co. E, 21st Regiment, 24th Division aboard, and the craft at an Okinawa ramp circa late 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1980
- Population
- Commercial Iron Works construction trades (1944); LCI(L)-776 crew (1944-46); embarked troops; Pacific Reserve Fleet caretakers; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard conversion trades (1953-54); MHC-22 in-service crew (1954-60); commercial fishing/research crews (1960-1980)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a compiled archival reference rather than the underlying commissioning record or deck log. It documents the dates and disposition statements above, but not asbestos content, the exact striking date, the post-conversion in-service date, or the final fate after 1980. Complement and troop figures are class/configuration specifications, not a ship-specific muster. Photo captions are contributed content credited to named sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-01
-
[3]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF p. 28, row 'LCI(L)-776 | 8/3/1944 | 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists Navy deck-log coverage for LCI(L)-776 from 3 August 1944 through 30 June 1945 (the commissioning date through the Philippine-operations period; the Occupation/China-service and decommissioning months fall outside the listed coverage).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (log coverage)
- Limitations
- This is an inventory/finding-aid entry only. Its endpoints are log-coverage dates, not commissioning/decommissioning or service-end dates, and the underlying logs were not inspected. The entry contains no asbestos or condition information, and the list does not carry the hull's LSIL/AMCU/MHC designations.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-02
-
[4]DANFS, Cotinga II (AMCU-22) entry - verbatim transcription (live NHHC page https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cotinga-ii.html returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-30; Wayback capture 2024-05-26 exists) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Cotinga II entry (amcu22.htm transcription)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The DANFS entry for the second USS Cotinga is a stub naming this hull: 'LSIL-776 (q.v.) was named Cotinga and reclassified AMCU-22 on 7 March 1952.' The entry also gives the namesake (a passerine bird of South and Central America).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1952
- Limitations
- Stub entry only - confirms the name/reclassification event and date but adds no construction, service, or material detail. Live NHHC page 404s (standing NHHC link-rot); the verbatim transcription on the hazegray mirror at losthistory.net was fetched live. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-03
-
[5]NavSource Online, 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' - veteran-authored unit narrative naming this hull [other_primary]
- Locator
- Flotilla 22 ship list (includes '776'); post-surrender assignment paragraph; Lingayen and Philippine-landing narrative sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A Flotilla 22 crew member's unit history names LCI(L)-776 among the flotilla's ships and specifically assigns her, with LCI(L)-777, LCI(L)-1032, LCI(L)-1033, and eight others, to Commander Yangtze Patrol Force when the flotilla broke up after 15 August 1945 - corroborating the China-service assignment on the hull's NavSource page. The narrative describes the flotilla's Lingayen Gulf employment (smoke-making on the gulf's outer edge, Lingayen River anti-suicide-boat patrols), the first post-1941 merchant convoy escort into Manila Bay (1 March 1945), Subic Bay basing, and landings at Legaspi, Parang (Mindanao, 17 April 1945, landing the 24th Infantry Division), Zamboanga, and Basilan.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LCI Flotilla 22 crews, including LCI(L)-776 (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Veteran-authored narrative hosted by NavSource, not an official unit history; ship assignments and events are firsthand-recollection sourcing. It names the hull in the flotilla and Yangtze Patrol lists but does not narrate LCI(L)-776's individual movements. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-04
-
[6]NavSource Online Mine Warfare Ship Type Index, Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) (AMCU) / Coastal Minehunter (MHC) [other_primary]
- Locator
- AMCU/MHC index header narrative and conversion table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The AMCU/MHC type index documents the class context for this hull's conversion: coastal minesweepers (underwater locator) 'were designed to locate mines and other underwater obstacles, rather than to sweep them'; of the 50 AMCUs, all except one (Bittern, AMCU-43, purpose-built) were originally other craft - this hull among the LCI(L) conversions; and all AMCUs on the Naval Vessel Register were reclassified Coastal Minehunters (MHC) on 7 February 1955, matching this hull's documented MHC-22 reclassification date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1951-1955 (AMCU program window)
- Limitations
- Type-level context page; documents the program and the class-wide 7 February 1955 MHC reclassification, not conversion work content aboard this specific hull. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-05
-
[7]Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record HAER AK-52, M/V Husky II (USS LCI(L) 653), LCI(L) 351-class written history and documentation [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 written history pp. 5-6 (class design and propulsion); p. 8 (post-war conversion insulation note)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The NPS HAER record for sister craft USS LCI(L)-653 documents the LCI(L) 351-class design: welded-steel construction, 159 ft overall, powered by eight six-cylinder General Motors Series 71 diesel truck engines, four per propeller shaft, with variable-pitch propellers, 16-knot maximum speed - an all-diesel plant with no boiler or steam system. Applied as class/design context only, the asbestos-relevant systems for this hull would be period diesel-craft applications such as engine exhaust lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation; no application is documented aboard LCI(L)-776 itself.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 design and construction era
- Limitations
- HAER documents a sister hull and the LCI(L) 351-class design, not LCI(L)-776. The word 'asbestos' does not appear in the record; it does not state that asbestos was installed on either hull or identify products, quantities, locations, removal, or present-day presence. The listed applications are research prioritization/inference only. (The spray-on insulation the HAER text describes was installed during the post-war civilian fish-processing conversion of Husky II, not the naval era.)
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-06
-
[8]DTIC AD0715808, 'Asbestos Exposure and Control at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard' (1970) - indexed abstract; plus EPA Superfund listing WA2170023418 (shipyard-exposure-map yard record, ev-puget-sound-naval-shipyard-01/02/03/09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DTIC citation AD0715808 (abstract via search index); Atlas shipyards.json yard_id puget-sound-naval-shipyard; EPA cumulis site profile 1001107
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Government documentation of asbestos work at this hull's 1953-54 conversion yard: the 1970 DTIC report abstract states that a two-and-a-half-year chest X-ray comparison across the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard workforce found pulmonary abnormalities in 21% of pipe coverers and insulators handling asbestos, versus 3.5% of boilermakers with some asbestos/silica exposure and under 1% of clerical workers with no known industrial-dust exposure, with measured time-weighted exposures below the then-current 5 mppcf Threshold Limit Value and engineering controls recommended. The yard's Atlas shipyard record additionally documents thermal insulation, gaskets, electrical systems, deck tiles, fireproofing, and refractory asbestos products at PSNSY and its EPA Superfund listing (WA2170023418).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1970 (report); conversion event 1953-1954
- Population
- Puget Sound Naval Shipyard pipe coverers, insulators, and boilermakers (survey-era; conversion-window trades 1953-54 by inference)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record: the study postdates the 1953-54 AMCU-22 conversion and does not name this hull or describe work performed on it. It establishes that asbestos-handling trades worked at the conversion yard in the documented era, not that asbestos was removed from or installed aboard MHC-22/AMCU-22. Full text blocked: apps.dtic.mil returned HTTP 403 on 2026-09-30; content above is from the report's indexed abstract and the Atlas yard record - the 40-150 f/cc rip-out figure in the yard record was not independently verified this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-07
-
[9]National Archives, Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessels up through 1961 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Sections on Bureau of Ships RG 19 correspondence, shipyard research, specification files, and ship engineering drawings
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's asbestos research guide directs researchers to Bureau of Ships Record Group 19 correspondence arranged by ship designation/hull number, shipyard files, component correspondence, specification files, and ship engineering drawings when researching asbestos aboard pre-1961 U.S. Navy vessels. Those hull-specific records - including any Puget Sound Naval Shipyard conversion work package for AMCU-22 (1953-54) - were not inspected for LCI(L)-776.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- This is research guidance, not evidence that asbestos was aboard this hull or that the relevant LCI(L)-776/AMCU-22 records survive. No RG 19 correspondence, specification file, drawing, survey, or conversion work package was reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-08
-
[10]CourtListener authenticated API v4 search via cl-auth-search.py: opinion queries '"LCI(L)-776"', 'Cotinga', '"AMCU-22"', '"LSIL-776"', '"MHC-22"', '"USS Cotinga"' each returned count 0; docket query 'Cotinga' returned 6 dockets, all reviewed and classified name collisions (in-document text matches for the cotinga bird genus inside environmental/copyright case filings - Northern Plains Resource Council v. Shannon, Center for Biological Diversity v. Zeldin, NYT v. Microsoft, Bartz v. Anthropic, DPH Holdings, Motors Liquidation); hull-number docket variants remained unrun at the fleet pacing gate [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-10 and -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos-litigation record naming this hull was located in the completed CourtListener opinion sweep: zero opinion hits for LCI(L)-776, Cotinga, AMCU-22, LSIL-776, MHC-22, and USS Cotinga, and zero vessel-related dockets for Cotinga (all six hits were bird-genus text collisions). The sweep is partial on the docket side only: hull-number docket variants (LCI(L)-776, LSIL-776, AMCU-22, MHC-22) were not completed before the fleet pacing gate closed.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- A bounded CourtListener search is not proof of no litigation: unindexed dockets, RECAP gaps, and the unrun hull-number docket variants are open. Classifying the six Cotinga dockets as name collisions rests on case-name/context review, not full-text reads of every filing. No litigation-stage classification was needed - no hit named the vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-09
-
[11]Batch 5506 bounded source review and search ledger (NavSource, DANFS/hazegray, NARA Special List 44, NARA asbestos guide, NVR, HAER AK-52, DTIC, EPA, CourtListener, secondary web sweep) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, material list, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or product identification was located for this hull in any designation in the bounded Navy, NARA, HAER, NavSource, DTIC, EPA, CourtListener, and public-source review completed for this batch. Asbestos presence aboard this hull therefore remains unknown; the only asbestos assessment carried is class/era inference and conversion-yard documentation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- A bounded negative search is not proof that the vessel lacked asbestos. The CourtListener sweep was partial (two opinion variants and docket hull-number variants unrun at the pacing gate), undigitized deck logs/RG 19 records/conversion work packages may exist, and the hull's survival past 1980 as R/V Chita is untracked. Undigitized records may change the assessment.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-776-lcil776-10