Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 638-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-126-lst126-pkt-638-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-126 (NHHC page archived at Wayback 2025-12-09; live NHHC page returns 404 - standing NHHC link-rot defect noted since BATCH-01) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-126 entry, full entry text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (DANFS verbatim): 'LST-126 was laid down on 11 June 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 28 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Sam B. Storm; and commissioned on 2 October 1943, Lt. M. A. Cassell in command.' WWII service in the Asiatic-Pacific theater: Marshall Islands operation (occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, January and February 1944); Marianas operation (capture and occupation of Saipan, June 1944); Leyte landings, October 1944. 'Upon her return to the United States, the ship was decommissioned on 17 June 1946 and struck from the Navy list on 23 June 1947. On 14 June 1948, she was sold to the Oil Transport Co., of New Orleans, La., for conversion to merchant service.' LST-126 earned three battle stars for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Commissioning commanding-officer credit conflicts with NavSource (DANFS: Lt. M. A. Cassell; NavSource: Lt. Richard Baker - see ev-09/gaps). Live NHHC URL 404 on 2026-10-02; archived Wayback capture 2025-12-09 cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-126 (10/16/160126.htm, last updated 9 Feb 2024) - designation timeline, organization, campaign table, specifications, commanding-officer roster, Leyte photography [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160126.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, commanding-officer roster, photo-caption table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: LST-1 class tank landing ship; laid down 11 June 1943 at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 28 August 1943; commissioned USS LST-126, 2 October 1943. WWII organization: LST Flotilla Sixteen (CAPT N. W. Sears), LST Group Forty-Six (LCDR J. R. Keeling, USNR), LST Division Ninety-One. Campaigns tabulated with dates: Marshall Islands, occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls 31 January - 8 February 1944; Marianas, capture and occupation of Saipan 15 - 22 June 1944; Leyte landings 20 October 1944. Decommissioned 17 June 1946; struck from the Naval Register 23 June 1947; sold to Oil Transport Co., New Orleans, LA, 14 June 1948 and converted to merchant service; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3); World War II Victory Medal; Philippines Presidential Unit Citation; Philippines Liberation Medal (1). Commanding officers: LTjg. Marion A. Cassell USNR (Ferry Command, 24 Sep - 2 Oct 1943); LT Richard Baker USNR (2 Oct 1943 - Apr 1944); LT Hilmar C. Krueger USNR (Apr - Nov 1944); LT Marion A. Cassell USNR (Nov 1944 - 17 Jun 1946). Photo captions document LST-126 beached at Leyte October 1944 alongside LST-223, including US Army Signal Corps photo SC 254863 (NARA Identifier 80664694) and a view credited to COM PHIB GRU 3 'Report of Participation in Amphibious Ops the Capture of Leyte Is, Philippines' p. 106. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 11.6 kt trial; 24,000 mi at 9 kt; two GM 12-567A 900-hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, three diesel-drive 100 kW generators, two shafts 1,700 shp, twin rudders; complement 13 officers/104 enlisted; troops 16 officers/147 enlisted; 2 LCVP.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46); Oil Transport Co. merchant conversion crews (1948-)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation tracking NVR/DANFS - milestone dates agree with DANFS on this hull. Commissioning CO credit differs from DANFS (Baker vs Cassell - see ev-09/gaps). Contains no asbestos content. 'Fate unknown' means the post-1948 merchant identity/disposition is unrecorded here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-02
-
[4]Hillman, LtCdr Bernard M., USN (Ret.), '50 Yard Line Seats ... for a Show I Would Rather Have Missed - the story of the naval disaster at West Loch' (first-person crew memoir, Emmitsburg Area Historical Society) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Full memoir text; berth T-5 detail; LCVP rescue narrative; medal citation quoted verbatim
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- First-person account by a named crewman (then-Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Bernard M. Hillman) placing LST-126 at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, during the 21 May 1944 disaster: moored at berth T-5 with LST-242 inboard and LST-121 outboard plus two other LSTs, fully combat-loaded for the Saipan invasion (Task Force 52, Northern Attack Force) - including 750 rounds of 5"/38 ammunition stored open under LCT-926 on the main deck, 50 drums of aviation gasoline on the port bow, and 18 LVTs. Hillman and Seaman Steven Sacoolidge took the ship's LCVP into the burning nest and rescued an estimated 30-40 men; LST-126 herself got underway and escaped. Both men received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal at a 15 November 1944 ceremony aboard. The memoir further places the ship at the Luzon invasion (Lingayen Gulf, January 1945) and states she was ordered home in 1945 and converted into an ammunition carrier for the planned invasion of Japan, the conversion finishing as the war ended.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LST-126 crew at West Loch (21 May 1944); survivors rescued from LST-39 et al.; TF 52 staging population
- Limitations
- Memoir-grade source on a community-history site, not an official record - carried as archival lead, not established fact. The West Loch presence is consistent with NHHC's documentation of 29 combat-loaded LSTs staging there for Saipan, but NHHC does not name LST-126. The Luzon participation and ammunition-carrier conversion claims exceed the official record (three battle stars; no conversion noted by DANFS) - carried in gaps pending deck-log verification. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-03
-
[5]National Park Service, 'Evansville, Indiana' (American World War II Heritage City article, updated 5 Sep 2024) - Evansville Shipyard documentation [nps]
- Locator
- NPS article, Evansville Shipyard paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NPS documentation of this hull's builder yard: 'In February 1942, the Department of Navy constructed the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. Shipyard, also called the Evansville Shipyard. Placed along the Ohio River, the forty-acre plant built 300 feet by 50 feet wide landing ship tanks (LST). Shift workers maintained rapid production throughout the war, resulting in one ship every four days in 1944 and a total of 167 LSTs produced by February 1945,' plus 13 ammunition lighters and 17 oceangoing barges - the 'largest inland producer of oceangoing ships.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Evansville Shipyard workforce (~17,000 wartime workers per regional histories; NPS does not give a yard figure)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record - LST-126 is not named; establishes the wartime mass-production environment in which this hull was built. Contains no asbestos or material information. Completed vessels transited ~1,110 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans for final outfitting (secondary sources).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-04
-
[6]Consolidated era inference built on: Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); NavSource spec block for this hull; LST-1 class profile (class-f worktree, lst-1-class.class.json) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB 1945 v2 LST design table (propulsion group); NavSource specifications block; class profile ev-lst-1-class-03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a diesel-powered LST-1-group amphibious ship built mid-1943: the GM 12-567A diesel plant carries no boilers, so the steam-pipe/boiler lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; asbestos-relevant applications standard to the type and era were engine and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets and valve packing on machinery and piping, deck coverings, accommodation and bulkhead thermal/acoustic insulation, and winch/windlass brake linings - installed within a hull whose tank deck and berthing spaces concentrated workers in confined compartments. The hull's 1945-48 period included a claimed ammunition-carrier conversion (unverified) and a documented merchant conversion - any such interior rework is an era-consistent disturbance pathway, not a documented event.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville construction trades (1943); ship's company and embarked troops (1943-46); any conversion-yard trades (1945; 1948)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, survey, or work package located for LST-126. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-05
-
[7]Woolsey v. Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., 119 Ind. App. 391, 88 N.E.2d 54 (Ind. Ct. App. 1949) (aggregator transcription; reporter volume also transcribed '87 N.E.2d 54' - see limitations) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text (Industrial Board findings; employment window; affirmation)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Occupational-disease litigation at this hull's builder yard, decided at the merits level against the claimant: the widow of Elbert Woolsey, a Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron pipe fitter who worked 'in the compartment of ships' at the Evansville yard June-November 1944 and died 29 October 1945, claimed compensation under the Indiana Workmen's Occupational Diseases Act alleging death from inhaling fumes and gases of welded galvanized metal. The Industrial Board majority found no compensable occupational disease; the Court of Appeals affirmed the award for the employer 17 October 1949. This is a documented in-hull-compartment occupational-disease claim at the yard contemporaneous with this hull's construction cohort - NOT an asbestos claim.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1949 (exposure window; opinion)
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville ship's-compartment pipe fitters and welding-adjacent trades (1944)
- Limitations
- Yard-level litigation context only: non-asbestos (metal-fume) claim, decided against the plaintiff on causation - per litigation-stage discipline this is a merits-level negative for that claimant and is not exposure evidence for any hull. Does not name LST-126. Citation rests on an aggregator full-text transcription; its '87 N.E.2d 54' note conflicts with the 88 N.E.2d 54 / 119 Ind. App. 391 cite carried elsewhere - reporter volume unconfirmed pending CourtListener verification (CL paced this session).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-06
-
[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 (1943) and service era (1943-48).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- 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 session) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-07
-
[9]Batch-6696 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback; NavSource live; NPS Evansville article; Hillman crew memoir; shipbuildinghistory.com yard table; NARA catalog (JS-rendered); CourtListener (paced); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-126-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LST-126 was found in the public sources searched. The authenticated CourtListener opinion index (type=o) returned zero hits for 'LST-126' - no published opinion names this hull; the docket index (type=r) could not be queried - the fleet request budget was paced on four attempts this session - logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era inference supports likely presence of era-standard products, but nothing hull-specific. The docket-index search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run to completion); unpublished district-court and MDL-875 proceedings are not covered by the opinion index. RG 24 deck logs, BuShips work packages, and any Oil Transport Co. conversion records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-08
-
[10]Commissioning-officer cross-check: DANFS entry ('Lt. M. A. Cassell in command'); NavSource header ('LT. Richard Baker, USNR, in command') and commanding-officer roster (Cassell 'Ferry Command' 24 Sep - 2 Oct 1943, then Baker); Hillman memoir ('commissioned on October 2, 1943, Lt. M. A. Cassell in command') [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-126 entry; NavSource header + CO roster; Hillman memoir construction paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- DISCREPANCY documented: DANFS and the first-person crew memoir credit Lt. M. A. (Marion A.) Cassell as commanding officer at commissioning on 2 October 1943; NavSource's page header credits Lt. Richard Baker while its own CO roster shows Cassell in 'Ferry Command' through 2 October and Baker commencing 2 October - the two accounts of who took command at commissioning cannot both be read as literally correct. DANFS carried in the record fields; the NavSource variant is preserved here rather than silently dropped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943
- Limitations
- Corrects/documents a milestone conflict, not a material or exposure claim. Both names are verified as actually holding command of this hull (Cassell also commanded Nov 1944 - Jun 1946, including at the Navy and Marine Corps Medal ceremony). Resolution requires the commissioning directive or deck log - carried in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-126-09