Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 491-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LCI(L)-998 — listed as a commissioned US Navy hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-998-lcil998-pkt-491-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LC(FF)-998 ex USS LCI(L)-998 - construction, designation timeline, flotilla assignments, campaigns, disposal (history from Turner Publishing 'USS LCI Landing Craft Infantry' Vol. II, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150998.htm header block, timeline, campaign table, specifications block, photo credits
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351-class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 14 April 1944 at Consolidated Steel Corp., Shipbuilding Div., Orange, TX; launched 11 May 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-998 on 31 May 1944, LT. W. J. Huff, USNR, in command; converted/redesignated Landing Craft Flotilla Flagship LC(FF)-998 on 31 December 1944. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater as staff ship of LC(FF) Flotilla Twenty-Three (LCDR R. H. Brazeal USN), Group Sixty-Nine (LT T. T. Brooks USN), Division One Hundred Thirty-Nine. Campaigns: Iwo Jima operation (assault and occupation, 19-25 February 1945) and Okinawa Gunto operation (1-3 April 1945); two battle stars. Decommissioned March 1946; laid up Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; final disposition fate unknown. Specs: 236 t light / 419 t loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kt max; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troops 6 officers/182 enlisted; five single 20mm guns; two sets of four GM 6-71-series diesels (4 per shaft), twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp; two 30 kW 120V DC ship's service generators; IRCS NZCT. Photo credits: HyperWar US Navy in WWII; Coast Guard Heritage Museum, Di Rosario Collection (LC(FF)-998 escorting ships to Okinawa, March 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades (1944); ship's company 4 officers + 24 enlisted plus embarked troops; flotilla staff (LC(FF) role)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation drawing here on Turner Vol. II - the canonical per-hull reference for unnamed landing craft but not a primary registry. Its struck date and fate are explicitly unknown on this page; secondary sources claiming a target-sinking fate conflict (see ev-08 and gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-01
-
[3]'Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 - Landing Ships and Craft' (HyperWar transcription of official USN compilation), LC(FF) section listing LC(FF)-998 among Landing Craft, Flotilla Flagships [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar ships-lc.html, LC(FF) table row 'LC(FF)-998' and LC(FF) class spec note
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official USN landing-craft tabulation lists LC(FF)-998 in the LC(FF) - Landing Craft, Flotilla Flagships series (commissioned 1943-44 program). LC(FF) class note: converted from LCI(L) to carry flag officers and crew - displacement 387 t, length 160', complement 3 officers + 21 enlisted in flag-configured form, 8 GM diesels (4 per shaft), twin variable-pitch screws.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (program window)
- Population
- Flotilla/group staffs embarked on flag-configured craft
- Limitations
- Official-program listing confirms the LC(FF)-998 designation and the type's flag-ship role, but is a program table, not a hull history - no builder, dates, or fate. The class complement line (3 officers/21 enlisted) reflects flag-configured staffing and differs from the LCI(L) spec block carried in ev-01. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-02
-
[4]Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual, NAVPERS 15,790 (Rev. 1953) ship-credit lists as republished at officialmilitaryribbons.com: occupation/China-service list crediting 'LC (FF) 998' for Navy Occupation Service 10 Nov 45 - 15 Apr 46; campaign-credit list crediting 'LCI 998' P33-1 Iwo Jima 19-26 Feb 45 and P34-1 Okinawa Gunto 1-3 Apr 45 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Occupation/China-service list, 'LC (FF) 998' row; LCI-995-to-1055 campaign list, 'LCI 998' rows
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Navy award-credit lists document: (1) campaign credit for this hull - P33-1 Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 Feb - 26 Feb 1945, and P34-1 Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1-3 Apr 1945; (2) Navy Occupation Service credit for 'LC (FF) 998' spanning 10 November 1945 to 15 April 1946 - post-surrender occupation duty in the Far East, consistent with the crew narrative's Sasebo run (ev-04).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- Ship's company during occupation service, 10 Nov 1945 - 15 Apr 1946
- Limitations
- Republished SecNav/NAVPERS credit lists on a commercial ribbon site - secondary republication of official data, not the manual scan itself; transcription errors possible. Iwo Jima window (through 26 Feb) varies one day from NavSource (through 25 Feb) - logged in gaps. Occupation credit extends past the documented March 1946 decommissioning (credits can include post-decommission transit windows; unresolved tension noted in gaps). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-03
-
[5]Eisenhower Foundation, 'Ike's Soldiers' veteran profile: Warren White, USN, USS LCI (FF) 998 (firsthand service narrative) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Eisenhower Foundation soldier profile page, biography section (verbatim quotes in finding)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Firsthand crew narrative for this hull: White reported aboard at San Diego 5 October 1944; the craft sailed 10 October, taking ten days to Pearl Harbor; radar equipment installed about 1 January 1945 (crewman sent ashore to radar school); then 'a staff ship for the Coast Guard Commander... outfitted with the latest radio equipment'; departed for the Marshall Islands; carried 3rd Marine Division troops to Iwo Jima (invasion began 19 February 1945; Marines left the ship in the third wave; ship lay about 200 yards below Mount Suribachi at the first flag-raising; stayed in the invasion area seven days); then Saipan and Leyte, departing Leyte 25 March 1945 for the Okinawa invasion of 1 April (kamikaze struck an adjacent ship; shrapnel casualties among nearby crews); landed troops on day two, departed after the eighth day for the Caroline Islands (arrived 17 April); via Saipan (10 June) to Leyte to stage for the invasion of Japan; at Leyte when the surrender was announced 10 August; then sailed with the flotilla to Sasebo Harbor, Japan, for occupation duty. White served Mar 1944 - Apr 1946, rated Radarman 3c.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-10 - 1946-04
- Population
- Crew 1944-46; embarked flotilla staff (USCG commander); embarked troops (3rd Marine Division element)
- Limitations
- Veteran oral history collected by a foundation - firsthand but memory-based, written decades later; it is a vessel-history narrative only and makes NO exposure claim (this record makes no asbestos claim for White or any individual). The page's biography text truncates mid-sentence at the Sasebo passage in the fetched copy. 'Staff ship for the Coast Guard Commander' documents embarked CG flotilla staff - the craft itself remained a Navy-manned USS vessel (998 is not on the USCG historian's CG-manned LCI(L) list).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-04
-
[6]Era inference built on: NavSource LCI-351-class specifications (diesel-only plant, no boilers); HyperWar official USN LC(FF) class table (8 GM diesels, flag-converted LCI(L)); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era context (ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; HyperWar LC(FF) class note; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built April-May 1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a diesel craft of this type and period were diesel-engine exhaust lagging, gaskets and valve packing, machinery-space thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings, and electrical insulation within a small, fully enclosed hull volume. As a diesel craft she carried no boilers or steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; the plausible applications are the diesel-craft set above.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange construction trades (1944); crew and embarked troops/staff (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, survey, or work package located for LCI(L)-998/LC(FF)-998. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product terms are normalized era descriptions; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The LC(FF) conversion (added radio/radar spaces) is undocumented as to materials.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-05
-
[7]Board of Veterans' Appeals, Citation Nr. 9828426, Docket No. 94-15 783 (decided 23 September 1998; appeal from VA RO Houston) [court_record]
- Locator
- VA vetapp98 decision text, Findings of Fact 1-2 and Reasons and Bases (testimony passages)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Government adjudication touching this hull's builder yard and era: a veteran employed at Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, TX, 1942-1946 as a 'Driller (IV)' in the boilermaker department ('operating a compressed air drill to drill, ream and countersink steel plates' - new hull construction work during this craft's build window) claimed asbestos exposure. The Board found as fact that he was NOT exposed to asbestos during his Orange-yard employment but WAS exposed when serving aboard Navy vessels in service - he described asbestos-coated pipes throughout the smaller ships on which he served, sleeping aboard within a foot of asbestos-coated piping, and dust knocked off pipes when guns fired. Service connection was granted for asbestos-related lung disease (asbestosis claim denied).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1998 (decision); exposure windows 1942-46
- Population
- Consolidated Steel Orange boilermaker-department trades (1942-46); Navy small-ship crews (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Individual-claim adjudication, not a yard-wide or ship-wide determination: 'not exposed at the yard' is a finding about THIS claimant's duties (driller), not proof the Orange yard used no asbestos; 'exposed aboard Navy vessels' names no vessel and no product - not attributable to this hull. Benefit-adjudication standard (preponderance) - not a tort finding against any defendant.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-06
-
[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 construction (1944) and entire service era (1944-46, reserve through at least 1956).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- 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 this batch family) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-07
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[9]Disposition-conflict documentation: shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton) Consolidated Steel Orange yard table, hull 1292 row ('LCI(L) 998': contract 10-Dec-43, delivery May-44, 'Sunk as target 1956'); uswarships.jounin.jp LCFF table ('LCFF-998': stricken 1956/7/28, Atlantic Reserve Fleet Green Cove Springs, sunk as target 1958/3/28) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com consolidatedorange.htm yard table hull 1292; uswarships.jounin.jp/lcff.htm LCFF-998 row; NavSource 10/15/150995.htm and 10/15/150996.htm sister-hull dispositions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- DISPOSITION CONFLICT (unresolved): NavSource, the canonical per-hull reference, records decommissioning March 1946, layup in the Pacific Reserve Fleet Columbia River Group, struck date unknown, fate unknown. Two secondary compilations assert a later fate NavSource lacks and disagree with each other: Colton's yard table lists the hull 'Sunk as target 1956'; the jounin LCFF table lists stricken 28 July 1956, layup in the ATLANTIC Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, FL, and sunk as target 28 March 1958. The reserve-fleet entries themselves conflict (Pacific/Columbia River vs Atlantic/Green Cove Springs). This record carries NavSource's version and logs the secondary claims as unverified.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1946-1958
- Population
- Reserve-fleet layup and (if the secondary claims hold) target-sinking personnel, 1956-58
- Limitations
- Both fate claims rest on secondary compendia without cited primary register pages; neither could be verified against NVR (pre-1987 disposal out of scope) or a MARAD card (none located). Sister-hull cross-check is ambiguous: jounin's 'sold 28 Dec 1946' for LCFF-988 matches NavSource exactly, supporting its data quality - but NavSource documents Green Cove Springs for sister LCI(L)-995 and Columbia River for LCI(L)-996, so either layup is class-plausible. The target-sinking claim, whichever year is right, implies Navy custody post-striking - no disposal record located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-08
-
[10]NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' online list (named-vessels coverage only); NavSource photo credits for this hull citing HyperWar US Navy in WWII and the Coast Guard Heritage Museum, Di Rosario Collection [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov logbooks/navy-online (no LCI entries in digitized list); NavSource 150998 photo credits; RG 24/RG 38 series descriptions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for this hull: (1) deck logs 1944-46 rest in RG 24 paper holdings at Archives II, College Park - NARA's digitized online deck-log list covers named vessels only and carries no LCI(L)-998 entry; per NARA, unlisted logs are requested via archives2reference@nara.gov. (2) The Coast Guard Heritage Museum's Di Rosario Collection holds a photograph of LC(FF)-998 escorting shipping to Okinawa, March 1945 (NavSource image credit). (3) Flotilla 23 / Group 69 / Division 139 unit records and Iwo Jima/Okinawa action reports for the flagship rest in RG 38 operational archives.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (records coverage); 2026-09-30 (access status)
- Limitations
- Leads, not retrieved records: deck logs are undigitized for this hull; the museum photograph is known only via its NavSource credit; flotilla action reports are inferred holdings, not individually verified. None carries asbestos content unless retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-09
-
[11]Batch-5646 search ledger (this record): NavSource live fetch; HyperWar official LC(FF) table; NAVPERS 15,790 credit lists (republished); Eisenhower Foundation crew narrative; shipbuildinghistory + jounin disposition check; VA BVA decision; DANFS/NHHC check; NVR check; NARA logbook list; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-998-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LCI(L)-998 / LC(FF)-998 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - every authenticated request was refused by the fleet-wide pacing limiter (~114/hr shared budget); logged as blocked, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; asbestos-marketing listicles assert asbestos aboard Navy vessels generically without naming this hull and were excluded by source policy regardless.
- 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 Navy construction of any type is era-consistent with asbestos use. The litigation-repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). Deck logs, builder work packages, reserve-fleet and disposal records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-998-10