Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 490-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-986-lcil986-pkt-490-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-986 - construction, commissioning, flotilla assignment, campaign table, awards, disposition, specifications (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150986.htm header block, campaign table, awards block, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351-class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down (date unknown) at Consolidated Steel Corp., Shipbuilding Div., Orange, TX; launched (date unknown); commissioned USS LCI(L)-986, 18 May 1944. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LCI Flotilla Twenty Two (CDR Marion M. Byrd, USN); campaigns: Luzon operation - Lingayen Gulf landings 9-18 January 1945, and Manila Bay-Bicol operations - Zambales-Subic Bay 29-31 January 1945. Occupation service in the Far East 12 September - 9 December 1945. Decommissioned (date unknown); struck from the Naval Register (date unknown); final disposition: sold 6 January 1947, fate unknown. Awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for service in the Salvage, Fire Fighting, and Rescue Unit, Service Force 7th Fleet, Philippine Islands area, 29 January - 10 June 1945, and two battle stars. Ribbon display additionally shows Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and Philippine Liberation Medal (2). Spec block: displacement 246 t light / 264 t landing / 419 t loaded; length 158'5.5"; beam 23'3"; speed 16 kts max / 14 kts continuous; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; cargo 75 tons; 2-inch plastic splinter protection on gun tubs, conning tower and pilot house; endurance 4,000 mi at 12 kts loaded; armament five single 20 mm; propulsion two sets of 4 GM 6051-series-71 diesels (4 per shaft), GM reduction gears, two 30 kW 120 V DC diesel-driven generators, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp. NavSource cites its history to USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1995).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (1944); commissioning and wartime crew (1944-46); embarked troops (up to 6 officers + 182 enlisted)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation (here drawing on the Turner Publishing veterans' history), not a primary registry - its milestones generally track official records but laid-down/launched/decommissioned/struck dates are undocumented. Contains no asbestos or material content. Ship-specific for identity and milestones only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-01
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[3]NavSource Online: 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' by J.E. 'Jim' Talbert, President, USS LCI National Association - first-person flotilla narrative naming LCI(L)-986 (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150618f.htm, 'History of LCI Flotilla 22' narrative and ship-number roster line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The flotilla roster names LCI(L)-986 among Flotilla 22's 36 ships (Groups 64, 65, 66), and the narrative records that 'the 985, 986, 987, 688, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618 and 619' were received new from the States in late September 1944 after the Morotai operation. The flotilla convoyed from Hollandia to Leyte and Lingayen Gulf (arriving 9 January 1945), where its LCIs made smoke morning and evening to cover the gulf fleet and ran suicide-boat patrols up the Lingayen River; Subic Bay was established as base of operations 21 February 1945; 22 combat landings were conducted across the Philippines. After the surrender the flotilla went via Leyte and Okinawa (13 September 1945) to Jinsen, Korea (21 September, delayed six days by a typhoon), then Taku Bar and upriver to Tientsin for the 3rd Marine Amphibious Corps occupation landing - 'the first of the American Navy in this Chinese section since the Japanese occupation' - and departed for the States in December, decommissioning January 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Flotilla 22 crews and embarked troops (1944-45); occupation-force passengers incl. 3rd Marine Amphibious Corps
- Limitations
- First-person veteran narrative hosted on NavSource - a secondary memoir source, not an official record. The roster names this hull and the narrative describes flotilla movements, but the per-leg detachments list several ships by number; LCI(L)-986 is not individually named on each leg, so the Korea/China occupation itinerary is carried via the roster plus NavSource's documented occupation-service dates (12 Sep - 9 Dec 1945), not as a per-port sighting of this hull. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-02
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[4]Capt. Robert J. Bulkley Jr., USNR (Ret.), At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy (Naval History Division, 1962), Appendix C - Navy Unit Commendation citation text for the Ship Salvage Fire-Fighting and Rescue Unit, Service Force, Seventh Fleet (HyperWar transcription; verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar At Close Quarters Appendix C, NUC citation for Ship Salvage Fire-Fighting and Rescue Unit, Service Force Seventh Fleet
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official citation for the unit to which NavSource attributes this hull's Navy Unit Commendation reads in part: 'For distinguished and extremely meritorious service in support of military operations throughout the Philippine campaign. Accompanying the preliminary bombardment groups and working under continuous enemy attack throughout the assault phase of nine major landings, the Ship Salvage Fire-Fighting and Rescue Unit, Service Force, Seventh Fleet, fought and extinguished 10 major fires, completed emergency battle damage repairs on 69 vessels including combat fleet units, refloated and salvaged 146 badly damaged ships, towed 13 major vessels to safety, and recovered one sunken submarine under heavy mortar fire. In 3 months, the Unit completed the emergency clearing of Manila Harbor... over 350 vessels of all sizes were raised, removed or disposed of along with large quantities of enemy underwater ordnance.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945 (unit operations); 1962 (publication)
- Population
- Unit crews performing salvage/firefighting/rescue on battle-damaged ships, Philippine Islands (1945)
- Limitations
- The citation text is unit-level; its application to this hull rests on NavSource's award attribution (NUC, Philippine Islands area, 29 Jan - 10 Jun 1945), not on the citation itself naming LCI(L)-986. Documents the operational role (firefighting, salvage, rescue aboard battle-damaged vessels in an asbestos-era fleet) without any material-content finding - boarding and fighting fires on damaged 1940s-era ships is an exposure-relevant activity context, not proof of exposure. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-03
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[5]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton), Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange TX yard table - LCI(L) construction batch rows (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com consolidatedorange.htm, LCI(L) batch rows (yard hulls 1279-1281: LCI(L)-985/-986/-987) and yard-history narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The yard's build table lists LCI(L)-986 as Consolidated Orange yard hull 1280, 260 tons, in the LCI(L) batch ordered under the 10 December 1943 contract, delivered May 1944, with fate 'Struck 1946'. The same table shows sisters LCI(L)-970 through LCI(L)-1033 on the same contract with April-June 1944 deliveries, and documents the yard's wartime output including Fletcher- and Gearing-class destroyers and destroyer escorts built at the same site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Secondary shipyard-records compilation, not an official register - consistent with NavSource's 'delivered/commissioned May 1944' window (commissioned 18 May 1944) but supplies no per-hull laid-down or launched dates for the LCI(L) batch (columns blank; 10 Dec 1943 is the batch contract date, not a keel date). Its 'Struck 1946' supplies the stricken year NavSource lacks but is itself unverified against the Naval Register. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-04
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[6]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (all-diesel GM 6-71 plant, no steam); shipbuildinghistory Consolidated Orange yard table (wartime construction site); HyperWar 'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945' LCI(L) class table; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; shipbuildinghistory yard table; ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-lc.html class table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A steel-hulled diesel landing craft built in wartime 1944 at a U.S. emergency-program shipyard sits inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard diesel amphibious craft of this period were engine and exhaust lagging on the eight GM 6-71 diesels and muffler runs, machinery gaskets and valve packing, electrical and cable insulation, and friction materials (brake/clutch linings) in the bow-ramp and stern-anchor winches - all within the LCI(L)'s characteristically confined, poorly ventilated hull spaces. As a diesel-powered type she carried no steam plant, so 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
- 1944-1947 (documented Navy life); post-sale unknown
- Population
- Consolidated Steel construction trades (1944); engine-room and deck-crew ratings (1944-46); any post-sale civilian operators (1947-?)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, work package, or deck-log entry was located for LCI(L)-986. Names era-typical applications on the type, not confirmed installed materials aboard this hull. No quantity. The LCI(L)'s all-diesel plant and small size make its asbestos footprint materially smaller than a steam warship's; inference accordingly narrower.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-05
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[7]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 0940502, Decision Date 10/26/2009, Docket No. 06-27 687 (RO Providence, RI) - service-connection claim for a lung disorder, to include as due to asbestos exposure (verified live 2026-09-30); sister-hull construction data via NavSource 10/15/150981.htm (LCI(L)-981: Consolidated Orange, commissioned 15 May 1944, verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- va.gov vetapp09 0940502.txt - Introduction, service-history paragraph (~line 390-405), ORDER and REMAND sections
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A VA adjudication record naming two sister LCI(L)s: the veteran served November 1943 - October 1947 aboard USS LCI(L)-685 and USS LCI(L)-981 (the latter a Consolidated Orange sister delivered May 1944, commissioned three days before -986) as a motor machinist's mate, second class - the engineering rating on LCI(L)s. The Board recorded that his service personnel records 'do not specifically demonstrate that he was exposed to asbestos as part of his duties. Given his shipboard duties in the Navy, however, the Board will address the Veteran's claim as though he [had] asbestos exposure at those times.' The claim was reopened and REMANDED for further development (VA examination and etiological opinion); no merits finding on exposure causation or disease was made.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1947 (service); 2009 (decision)
- Population
- LCI(L) engineering ratings (motor machinist's mates), WWII-era Pacific service (class context)
- Limitations
- Administrative benefits adjudication, not a tort finding and not a ship survey: names sister hulls LCI(L)-685 and -981, never LCI(L)-986. The 'as though' posture is the VA's standard assumption-for-development on shipboard engineering claims, not a finding that asbestos was documented aboard any named hull. Disposition classified at its stage: reopened and remanded for development - nothing adjudicated on the merits. No material or quantity information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-06
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[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 (1944-46), and ending decades after her 1947 sale.
- 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) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-07
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[9]Batch-5634 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship and flotilla pages; HyperWar official-history tables and NUC citation; shipbuildinghistory yard table; DANFS index; VA BVA decisions index; secondary web litigation sweep; CourtListener (blocked - see ledger row sl-09); NARA catalog (JS-rendered); NavalCoverMuseum; usslci.org/AFMM museum materials [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-986-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-986-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LCI(L)-986 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener returned zero hits for the exact hull-number query "LCI(L)-986" in both the opinion and docket indexes (authenticated API v4, 2026-09-30); name variants "USS LCI(L)-986" and "LCI-986" could not be run before the fleet-wide pacing budget spent again (see sl-09). The hull was sold out of government ownership 6 January 1947 with fate unknown - there is no surviving hull, museum custodian, or post-sale record to inspect, and no deck log or work package is digitized. A secondary web sweep surfaced no qualifying case naming this hull; the only 'asbestos aboard' material pattern is generic law-firm listicle content covering 'LCI' types without primary sourcing - 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 - 1944 wartime construction is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The CourtListener negative covers the exact hull-number string only; name variants remain unrun (blocked, not negative). NARA RG 24 deck logs and builder work packages are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-986-08