Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 487-packet.md (1 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-970-lcil970-pkt-487-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-970 (page verified live 2026-09-30; page history credited to 'USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II', Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150970.htm header timeline, campaign table, awards block, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large)'; laid down 8 March 1944 at Consolidated Steel Corp., Shipbuilding Div., Orange, TX; launched 31 March 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-970, 27 April 1944. Credited campaigns: Leyte operation (Leyte landings 5-29 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), Consolidation and capture of Southern Philippines (Visayan Island landings 26 March-11 April and 15-20 April 1945); four battle stars. Post-war: Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp) 8 September-1 October 1945; China Service Medal (extended) 8 October-16 December 1945. Decommissioned, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 1951; sold 1951; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' Spec block: 236 t. light / 264 landing / 419 loaded; 158' 5.5"; beam 23' 3"; 16 kts max; complement 4 officers, 24 enlisted; troops 6 officers, 182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns; two sets of 4 General Motors series-71 diesels (4 per shaft), GM main reduction gear, 2 diesel-driven 30kW 120V DC generators, twin variable pitch propellers, 2,320 shp. Radio call sign NYXT.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1951
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades (1944); crew ~28 plus embarked troops up to ~188 (1944-c.1946); any post-sale owner/operators (1951-?)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track NVR/DANFS-class records but the cited history derives from the Turner Publishing LCI volume (a veterans'-association press), not a government document. Campaign table reflects NavSource's transcription of Navy campaign-credit lists. Contains no asbestos content. 'Decommissioned, date unknown' and 'fate unknown' are NavSource's own limits.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-01
-
[3]Australian War Memorial collection item 017592 (photograph, Jack Band, official Australian war photographer) - 'New Guinea. LCI (landing craft, infantry), no. 970, following US Army Alligator amphibious tracked craft in the Allied landing on Morotai Island in the Moluccas' (verified live 2026-09-30) [museum_official]
- Locator
- AWM collection 017592 (maker Jack Band; place 'Morotai Island'; date 15 September 1944); NavSource 10/15/150970.htm photo captions 1015097001, 1015097002
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Physical-presence documentation of this hull in combat: LCI no. 970 photographed at the Allied landing on Morotai Island, Netherlands East Indies, 15 September 1944, disembarking U.S. Army 31st Division troops in deep water off the reef-blocked beach (NavSource caption adds 'other Flotilla 15 ships' and the 31st Division identification). Morotai predates her first credited battle-star campaign (Leyte, November 1944) - presence at the landing is photographically documented even though NavSource's credited-campaign table does not list the Western New Guinea operation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-09-15
- Population
- LCI(L)-970 crew; embarked 31st Division troops at Morotai
- Limitations
- Establishes presence at the Morotai landing only. The AWM description says 'LCI no. 970' without the USS prefix; the NavSource caption of the same image identifies her as USS LCI(L)-970. No asbestos content. The Morotai/Western New Guinea operation is absent from NavSource's credited-star table - the discrepancy between photographed participation and credited campaigns is unexplained.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-02
-
[4]NARA file unit NAID 80664807 / local ID 111-SCA-2873, 'Philippine Islands - Leyte - Miscellaneous', Photographs and other Graphic Materials, 177 images (catalog page verified live 2026-09-30); the NavSource caption identifies one frame as U.S. Army Signal Corps photo #199457 showing this hull at Leyte [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/80664807 (file unit header); NavSource 10/15/150970.htm caption 1015074902
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A NARA-held Signal Corps album documents this hull alongside USS LCI(L)-749 loading U.S. Army 77th Division troops at Leyte, P.I., 7 December 1944 - probably for the Ormoc Bay landing operation (per the NavSource transcription of the frame caption). The catalog page confirms the album's existence (177-image Leyte series); the specific frame's ship identification rests on NavSource's caption transcription.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-12-07
- Population
- LCI(L)-970 crew; embarked 77th Division troops at Leyte
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the NARA catalog page loads but the per-frame caption text is image-bound; the identification 'LCI(L)-970 and LCI(L)-749... probably for the Ormoc Bay landing' is NavSource's transcription of Signal Corps photo #199457, not separately re-verified at frame level. Establishes presence at Leyte, not work performed or materials aboard. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-03
-
[5]ShipbuildingHistory (Tim Colton), Consolidated Steel Orange TX construction table - builder's hull numbers and dispositions for the LCI(L) block (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Consolidated Orange table, yard hull 1264 row (LCI(L) 943-982+ block)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard-table corroboration for this hull: Consolidated Steel Orange builder's hull 1264 = LCI(L)-970, 260 t., ordered 10 December 1943, delivered April 1944, 'Struck 1951'. The same table documents the sibling block (yard nos. 1237-1276, LCI(L) 943-982+) and their varied fates - several sisters to the USSR 1945, others converted to AMCU minesweepers or expended as targets - establishing that this hull's 'Struck 1951 / sold 1951' is a yard-table-verifiable datum, not a NavSource-only claim.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1951
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades
- Limitations
- ShipbuildingHistory is a specialist secondary compilation (Tim Colton's build tables) - authoritative in practice for builder-hull mapping but not a government registry. Dates are month-level ('Apr-44'); it does not state the decommissioning or sale date for this hull beyond 'Struck 1951'. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-04
-
[6]uboat.net Allied Warships entry for USS LCI(L)-970 (LCI 351 class) - milestone corroboration and action-report transcription of two operations naming this hull (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/22035.html - specifications table and 'Notable events' entries dated 5 Aug 1944 and 24 Mar 1945
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Corroborates build data (Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange; laid down 8 Mar 1944; launched 31 Mar 1944; commissioned 27 Apr 1944) and adds two operational details: (1) 5-7 August 1944 - this hull joined an LCI(L) Flotilla 22 convoy Langemak Bay to Humboldt Bay escorted by HMAS Vendetta, HMAS Cootamundra and HMAS Glenelg, straggled with LCI(L)-328, and reached Aitape under escort on 7 August; (2) 24-26 March 1945 - at the Cebu landing (Operation Victor II) she was one of sixteen LCI(L)s of Task Unit 78.2.3, TG 78.2, under Lt. W.A. Moore, Jr., USNR; COMLCI(L)FLOT 15 (T/Cdr. W.V. Deutermann) rode LCI(L)-972 in the same unit - consistent with the 'Flotilla 15' attribution in NavSource's Morotai caption.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-08 to 1945-03
- Population
- LCI(L)-970 crew under Lt. W.A. Moore, Jr., USNR (March 1945); earlier crew under undocumented CO
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a secondary warship directory; its 'notable events' transcribe Allied action reports but are not themselves the primary documents. The CO name (Lt. W.A. Moore, Jr., USNR) and flotilla assignment hold at the Cebu date only - earlier/later COs and any flotilla reassignments are undocumented here. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-05
-
[7]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'U.S. Coast Guard-Manned LCI(L)s' (the official list of the 28 Coast Guard-manned hulls) and '104th Medical Battalion... Aboard LCI(L)-94 on D-Day' (Consolidated Steel Orange yard employment) (both verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil USCG-Manned LCI(L)s hull list; 'Aboard LCI(L)-94 on D-Day' article
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Crewing status by exclusion: the USCG Historian's Office documents that the Coast Guard manned 28 LCI(L)s (Flotillas 4/10/35; hulls 83-96, 319-326, 349, 350, 520, 562, 581, 583). LCI(L)-970 is not among them - she was Navy-manned (and the Cebu order of battle lists her CO as USNR, a Navy reservist). The same office's LCI(L)-94 article supplies yard context for her builder: Consolidated Steel built LCI(L)s at Orange, Texas, employed 20,000 people at its wartime peak, and 912 LCIs were built overall.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- LCI(L)-970 Navy/USNR crew; Consolidated Steel Orange workforce (~20,000 peak, program-wide context)
- Limitations
- The page never names LCI(L)-970; Navy manning follows by exclusion from the official 28-hull CG list, not by a positive crewing record for this hull - muster rolls would confirm. The 20,000-employee/912-LCI figures describe the wartime program generally; the '912' is total LCI production across yards, not Consolidated Orange alone. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-06
-
[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 commissioned service era (1944-c.1946; struck 1951).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; Navy crews; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, re-confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource LCI-351-class spec block (all-diesel GM series-71 plant, no steam); ShipbuildingHistory Consolidated Orange table (yard hull 1264, Apr 1944 delivery); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos-use era, see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; shipbuildinghistory.com Consolidated Orange table row 1264; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled diesel landing craft built March-April 1944 at a wartime mass-production yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a craft of this type and period were machinery and exhaust thermal insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in a confined steel hull. As an all-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
- 1944-1951
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades (1944); crew ~28 + embarked troops (1944-c.1946); post-sale owner/operators unknown
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-970. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Small 419-ton craft carried far less insulation scope than steam warships.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-08
-
[10]Johns-Manville Corp. v. United States, 13 Cl. Ct. 72 (U.S. Claims Court, Aug. 6, 1987) (Nettesheim, J.) - omnibus contribution action by asbestos manufacturer against the United States over shipyard-worker claims, tried on a 15-claimant test basis across four WWII shipyards including 'the Consolidated Steel Corporation Shipyard ("Consolidated") in Orange, Texas' (opinion text verified live via CourtListener 2026-09-30) [court_record]
- Locator
- 13 Cl. Ct. 72, slip op. at 'The Test Claimants' (4 test yards incl. Consolidated), 'Consolidated, a newly built contract yard in Orange, Texas...' (Smith deposition), 'A & M was Johns-Manville's TSU at Consolidated' (supply chain)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published trial-court findings document wartime asbestos conditions at this hull's builder yard: three of the fifteen test claimants were Consolidated Orange workers; test claimant W.D. Smith, an electrician, testified by deposition that aboard ships under construction 'the working atmosphere aboard ships was confined and hot,' he 'usually worked on engines or turbines in the lower section of the hull aboard ship while insulation workers were insulating steam pipes over his head,' and asbestos-containing material left on catwalks powdered and fell on him, with no respirator warning. The court found Johns-Manville's products reached Consolidated through distributor Asbestos & Magnesia Materials Co. ('A & M') under a blanket contract, with orders approved through BuShips under Navy priority ratings. The opinion states Consolidated 'constructed more than 130 destroyers and destroyer escorts during the war' and more broadly that 'all Navy ships used asbestos products in the boiler and engine rooms' (a generalization from steam-vessel testimony - see limitations).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- WWII through 1945 (exposure window); opinion filed 1987
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange shipyard trades (incl. electricians, insulators, all in-hull trades); 3 test claimants at Consolidated; ~4.5M wartime shipyard workers nationally per opinion
- Limitations
- Yard-level trial findings, not hull evidence: LCI(L)-970 - and landing craft generally - are not named anywhere in the opinion. Smith's 'steam pipes over his head' testimony describes destroyer/destroyer-escort construction; LCI(L)-970 was an all-diesel craft with no steam plant, so the specific steam-lagging scene does not transfer to this hull. What the record establishes is that asbestos-containing products were supplied to, and asbestos dust exposure occurred among trades at, the Orange yard during this hull's construction window. Disposition precision: Johns-Manville's contribution claims against the U.S. failed (no privity for private-yard supplies; claims found unforeseeable) - the exposure testimony survives as factual narrative within a published opinion resolving the manufacturer's contract claims, not as adjudicated worker-liability findings; the underlying worker claims were closed settlements/judgments referenced by the action.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-10
-
[11]Darrel Franklin v. USX Corp., 87 Cal. App. 4th 615 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001) - returned by the 'Consolidated Steel' asbestos query; reviewed and classified as a name collision (verified live via CourtListener 2026-09-30) [court_record]
- Locator
- 87 Cal. App. 4th 615 at facts section ('the assets of WPS were purchased by Consolidated Steel Corporation of California')
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- SEARCH-RESULT CLASSIFICATION, not exposure evidence: this published opinion's 'Consolidated Steel' is Consolidated Steel Corporation of California (Con Cal), appearing as a party in the corporate-succession chain - Con Cal bought the Western Pipe & Steel (WPS) shipyard's assets in 1945-48 and the exposure site was WPS's South San Francisco yard, where the plaintiffs' decedent's parents worked. It is the same corporate family as LCI(L)-970's builder (Consolidated Steel Corp.) but a different yard (Wilmington/South San Francisco operations, not Orange, TX) and a different role (asset purchaser, not employer at the exposure site). Recorded to document the query's disposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-2001 (corporate history); WWII-era exposure alleged at WPS South San Francisco
- Limitations
- Name collision at the yard level: the opinion contains no Orange, Texas exposure evidence. Kept as a context_only classification row so the query hit is accounted for; it is not yard documentation for this hull's builder.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-11
-
[12]Batch-5618 search ledger (this record): NavSource (live); NHHC DANFS (404, no entry); NVR (no entry, pre-1987 disposal); NARA catalog deck-log series + NAID 80664807; AWM 017592; ShipbuildingHistory; uboat.net; USCG Historian's Office; GAO product page (403); archive.org; secondary web litigation sweep; CourtListener opinions+dockets+variants+yard query (see ledger) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-01 through -16
- 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)-970 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero hits for 'LCI(L)-970' in opinions, dockets, and hull-number variants ('LCI-970', 'LCIL-970', 'LCI(L) 970'); the yard-level 'Consolidated Steel' asbestos query surfaced Johns-Manville Corp. v. United States (yard-level wartime exposure documentation for the builder - carried as ev-10) plus one name collision (Franklin v. USX, ev-11). A secondary web sweep surfaced only law-firm marketing content for the unrelated USS Caron (DD-970) - a hull-number collision - and no qualifying case naming this landing craft.
- 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. Numbered landing craft rarely appear in named litigation; deck logs, builder work packages, and any post-sale owner records are undigitized leads. CourtListener docket-side coverage of the variant spellings was not run (fleet pacing) - the pennant itself was searched in both o and r, and all opinion variants returned zero. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-970-lcil970-09