Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[1]research packet 642-packet.md (4 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERDICT: UNVERIFIABLE
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-166-lst166-pkt-642-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-166' - live NHHC page [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC live DANFS entry, LST-166 page (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 7 September 1942 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 1 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Vivian Massey; commissioned 22 April 1943, Lt. F. B. Bradley, USCG, in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: Treasury-Bougainville operation (occupation and defense of Cape Torokina, December 1943); Marianas operation (capture and occupation of Saipan, June 1944); Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1945). Postwar occupation duty in the Far East until fall 1945; returned to the United States and decommissioned 3 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 19 June 1946; sold to Dulien Steel Products, Inc., of Seattle, Wash., on 3 November 1947 for scrapping. Earned three battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec, USCG-manned) plus embarked troops
- Limitations
- Authoritative service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. Decommissioning date conflicts with NavSource (3 May vs 9 May 1946); scrapping-sale date conflicts with the MARAD status card (3 November vs 23 September 1947) - both carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-166 - specification block, campaign table, flotilla/group/division assignments, all-USCG commanding-officer roster, and photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 10/16/160166, specifications block, campaign/occupation tables, CO roster, photo captions (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records that USS LST-166 'was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II' (USCG flag banner) and gives a five-officer, all-USCG commanding-officer roster: LT Fred B. Bradley USCG (22 Apr 1943-), LTjg Hilary J. Berry USCG (-9 Aug 1944), LTjg John A. Frauerheim USCGR (9 Aug-15 Nov 1944), LT Lloyd L. Anderson USCGR (15 Nov 1944-22 May 1945), LTjg C. C. Thompson USCG (22 May 1945-). Assignments: LST Flotilla Five (CAPT J. R. Clark), LST Group Thirteen (CDR C. R. Lea), LST Division Twenty-Six; later Flotilla Five (CAPT G. B. Carter), Group Fourteen (CDR R. W. Lejeunesse), Division Twenty-Seven. Campaigns: occupation and defense of Cape Torokina 15 December 1943; capture and occupation of Saipan 15-22 June 1944; assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto 2-15 April 1945. Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 23-26 September 1945 and 2-9 November 1945. Decommissioned 9 May 1946; struck 19 June 1946; sold for scrapping 3 November 1947 to Dulien Steel Products, Inc., Seattle, WA. Specification block: displacement 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft o.a., 50 ft beam; 11.6 kts trial; complement 13 officers/104 enlisted plus troop accommodations 16 officers/147 enlisted; two General Motors 12-567A 900-hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, twin propellers 1,700 shp, three diesel-drive 100 kW ship's-service generators - a diesel plant with no boilers. Ribbon array: Navy Unit Commendation, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific (3), WWII Victory, Navy Occupation with Asia clasp. Photo caption documents LST-166 off Okinawa circa April 1945 in USCG photo 26-G-4438 (National Archives Identifier 205586498) by USCG photographer Cepheus Martin. Page also links LST Flotilla Five war diaries (May and July 1944) and a Nagasaki occupation action report.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- USCG ship's company ~117 per spec block; embarked troops up to ~163
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy and USCG sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos content stated or implied. Decommissioned 9 May 1946 conflicts with DANFS 3 May 1946 - carried in gaps. International radio call sign NGWG. CO roster end date for LTjg Thompson ('9 May 1945') appears to be a typo for 1946; the December 1945 war history is signed by C.O. Thompson.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-02
-
[4]NARA, Record Group 38, 'USS LST-166 - War History' (NAID 77706907) - four-page ship-authored narrative forwarded to SecNav 14 December 1945, signed by commanding officer C. O. Thompson; digitized via Fold3 (microfilm serial 159147) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/77706907 - file unit, 4 digitized images (Fold3 file 302085709), unrestricted access
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own December 1945 war history (all four images reviewed this session) records: commissioned 22 April 1943 at Evansville, Indiana; first voyage down the Mississippi River, where she grounded accidentally and was freed by tug; crew training at New Orleans; test and training program at Panama City, Florida; Guantanamo, Cuba; Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone; transited the Panama Canal into the Pacific 21 June 1943; Balboa to Bora Bora, then Suva Bay, Noumea, Bougainville, and Guadalcanal; roughly eight months shuttling cargo and personnel among the Solomon and Fiji Islands. May 1944: arrived Pearl Harbor staging for Saipan and 'came through the West Lock [sic] incident safely' - i.e., she was present at Pearl Harbor during the 21 May 1944 West Loch ordnance disaster and survived it. 15 June 1944: Saipan D-Day, unloading LVTs of assault troops off the beach under heavy naval bombardment. Then Tarawa, Pearl Harbor, and stateside for crew turnover and repairs. January 1945: returned west with an almost entirely new ship's company via Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Guam, Saipan; stood by at Saipan during the Iwo Jima invasion. Late March 1945: convoyed to Okinawa; initial landings fairly unopposed; from about 5 April, kamikaze attacks drove continuous general quarters and nightly smoke-making. After two weeks she departed for Ulithi to repair a large hole stove in her bottom on a coral head while beaching; repaired, scraped, painted, stored. Second, quieter Okinawa run; trips to Iwo Jima and Guam. At war's end sent to Nagasaki as occupation forces; then the Philippines (Leyte, Bugo, Taloma, San Fernando) via Okinawa while evading a typhoon; a trip to Hiro Wan with occupation troops; back to Saipan; late November 1945 sailed for Pearl Harbor and the U.S., diverted direct to San Pedro, California.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- USCG ship's company; embarked troops
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous crew-authored ship narrative - informal in tone, written before disposal decisions; contains no asbestos or materials information and no post-November-1945 events. 'West Lock' is the author's spelling of West Loch; the document gives no date (the disaster was 21 May 1944 per CNRH). Evansville is on the Ohio River - the narrative's 'up the Mississippi River' phrasing is loose geography for the Ohio-Mississippi route.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-03
-
[5]NARA catalog, RG 38 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' (series 4697018) - digitized LST-166-specific file units: War History (NAID 77706907); Nagasaki occupation report (NAID 77539179); command file 'LST-166, 6/30/43-1/18/45' (NAID 126475139); monthly war diaries covering 11/1943 (78234948), 12/43-1/44 (78340548), 2/44 (78351223), 3/44 (78424641), 4-7/44 (78557630), 12/44-1/45 (139860337), 2/45 (139900004), 3-4/45 (139992166), 6/45 (101712431), 7/45 (83565335), 8/45 (77505084) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search '"LST-166"' (615 results, 610 available online 2026-10-02); file units listed above
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds a substantial digitized, ship-specific record set for LST-166 - verified live in the catalog: the four-page War History (reviewed, ev-03); 'USS LST-166 - Report of operations in the occupation of Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan, 9/24-26/45' (NAID 77539179, 2 images, unrestricted - matches the 23-26 September 1945 occupation period NavSource records and confirms the Nagasaki landing documented in the war history); a consolidated file 'LST-166, 6/30/43-1/18/45' (NAID 126475139); and at least eleven monthly/periodic war-diary file units spanning November 1943 through August 1945, all scanned under the Fold3/NARA collaboration and access-restricted to none.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (record period)
- Population
- USCG ship's company; embarked troops
- Limitations
- Existence, titles, dates, and digitization status verified from catalog pages; only the War History's images were page-reviewed this session - war-diary and Nagasaki-report contents are cataloged but not read line-by-line here. Operational records are not asbestos records by nature; any material-handling detail would be incidental. WWII-era deck logs for this hull sit in RG 24 and were not separately itemized this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-04
-
[6]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - LST-166 (Detail 5996) with digitized disposal status card (/cards/5996_AF.jpg) [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- ShipHistory Detail 5996; status-card image https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/cards/5996_AF.jpg (reviewed 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The digitized MARAD status card (image reviewed) documents the disposal file: vessel at U.S. Naval Station, San Diego, Calif.; 'Declared surplus by Navy Dept. 6-24-46'; 'Sold to Dulien Steel Products, Inc. Sept. 23, 1947 for scrapping of hull under PDX-385 for $9,376'; 'Offered for scrapping of hull under PDX-385 opening 9/8/47'. The MARAD detail page fields add Year Built 1943 and Fate 'Sold - Scrap'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1946-1947
- Population
- Shipbreaking workforce (Dulien Steel Products, Seattle, 1947-48) - endpoint only
- Limitations
- Authoritative for government custody/disposal milestones. Sale date 23 September 1947 (card) conflicts with DANFS/NavSource 3 November 1947 - consistent with contract-vs-delivery sequencing but not resolved; carried in gaps. Card does not name a builder - the page's 'Shipyard: American Bridge Company' field is addressed in the correction row. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition-survey information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-05
-
[7]MARAD ShipHistory Detail 5996 shipyard field vs. DANFS, NavSource, and the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron yard production table [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD Detail 5996 field table; DANFS LST-166 entry; NavSource 160166; shipbuildinghistory.com Missouri Valley yard table row 'hull #10 / pennant 166'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The MARAD detail page lists 'Shipyard: American Bridge Company' for LST-166. That field is not corroborated: DANFS states the hull was built at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; NavSource records Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; and the Missouri Valley yard production table assigns yard hull #10 to pennant LST-166 (keel 7 Sep 1942, launched 1 Feb 1943, delivered 22 Apr 1943). The MARAD status card itself names no builder. The record carries Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville as builder; the MARAD field is treated as a database stub error.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Limitations
- Documents a source conflict rather than resolving it beyond attribution: American Bridge Co. (Ambridge, PA) did build LSTs in other hull blocks, making the MARAD stub a plausible mis-keyed builder field. If the MARAD database were somehow correct, the DANFS/NavSource/yard-table agreement would still control absent contrary primary evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-06
-
[8]shipbuildinghistory.com - Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville IN yard table and yard history [other_primary]
- Locator
- Missouri Valley Bridge yard table, row '10 / No name / LST / 166' (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron production table lists yard hull #10 = LST-166: keel laid 7 September 1942, launched 1 February 1943, delivered 22 April 1943 (147 days on the ways, 80 in the water, 227 total), disposition 'Scrapped 1947'. The page documents that the Evansville Ohio River yard was built for the war effort and closed after the war (the plant was destroyed by fire in 1946), that Missouri Valley built 171 LSTs at Evansville plus LCTs, lighters, and seaplane derricks at a Leavenworth, KS plant, and that a preserved LST museum ship (USS LST-325) sits at Evansville.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Evansville construction workforce (yard-level)
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary shipbuilding reference; dates agree with DANFS/NavSource on all overlapping points. Yard-level context only - contains no asbestos, materials, or workforce-exposure information; 'delivered' equals commission date for this inland war contract.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-07
-
[9]Navy Department, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (NAVPERS 15,790, rev. 1953), Part 2 - Unit Awards, Navy Unit Commendation listing, NHHC Online Reading Room [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVPERS 15,790 rev. 1953, Part 2 Unit Awards, 'Landing ships and crafts' NUC table, row 'USS LST 166' (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official awards manual lists under Navy Unit Commendation (Group I): 'USS LST 166: 18 Sept 43 - 10 Apr 44 - Solomon Islands' - documenting that LST-166's Navy Unit Commendation was earned for service in the Solomon Islands during that period, which aligns with the war history's account of roughly eight months shuttling cargo and personnel among the Solomons and Fijis and with the Cape Torokina operation of December 1943.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (commendation period); manual rev. 1953
- Population
- USCG ship's company, Sep 1943 - Apr 1944 (all present aboard during the commended service are authorized the ribbon)
- Limitations
- Award listing gives ship, period, and location only - no citation text, no description of the specific actions commended, and no material or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-08
-
[10]NHHC Online Reading Room - 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945', LST Division 26 listing [other_primary]
- Locator
- US Pacific Fleet Organization 1 May 1945, Amphibious Forces, LST Division 26 table row (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization roster lists 'LST 166, Lt. L. L. Anderson (USCG)' under LST Division 26 - an official, dated confirmation that the hull remained Coast Guard-manned at the close of the Okinawa operation and corroborating NavSource's all-USCG commanding-officer roster (Anderson in command 15 Nov 1944 - 22 May 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- USCG ship's company
- Limitations
- Fleet-organization snapshot at one date; contains no material, condition, or asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-09
-
[11]Commander, Navy Region Hawaii (CNRH), 'West Loch Disaster' official history page [other_primary]
- Locator
- CNRH About/History/West-Loch-Disaster page (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CNRH documents the West Loch disaster: on 21 May 1944, 34 ships were gathered in Pearl Harbor's West Loch when an explosion aboard LST-353 at 3:08 p.m. set off chain explosions and fires among landing ships loading ammunition for the Marianas operation; 163 men were killed and 396 wounded, and six LSTs were lost. LST-166's own war history records that she 'came through the West Lock [sic] incident safely' - she was present in Pearl Harbor staging for Saipan during the disaster and survived it.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-05-21
- Population
- West Loch disaster casualties and surviving crews (event context)
- Limitations
- Anchors the event the ship's war history references; the CNRH page does not itself name LST-166 among the gathered ships - her presence is established by her own NARA war history (ev-03), not by this source. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-10
-
[12]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' Am J Ind Med 11(3):359-373 (1987) - DOI verified against CrossRef metadata [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am J Ind Med 11(3):359-373 (1987), DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311 (Wiley page 403-blocks automated fetch; CrossRef metadata verified the citation)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that WWII-era U.S. shipyards extensively installed asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and gaskets in naval construction - the era in which this hull was built (1942-43). For a diesel-powered LST with no boilers, the era-relevant applications concentrate in diesel exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation and cable, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings; the 1947-48 shipbreaking at Dulien Steel Products, Seattle is the documented end-of-life disturbance event.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1942-1948
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers (Missouri Valley Evansville, 1942-43); wartime crew; shipbreaking workers (1947-48) - era context
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship plus class/type inference; the source does not name this hull or class and does not establish that any specific material aboard this ship contained asbestos. No ship-specific product is verified; the diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-11
-
[13]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 on 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place on active Navy hulls for decades.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy documentation that never governed this hull: she left naval service in May 1946 and was scrapped by 1948, decades before either policy existed. Context for the era fleet picture only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch); content via product-page description, consistent with prior batches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-12
-
[14]Batch-6724 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS; NavSource 160166; NARA catalog (war history images reviewed; 11+ ship-specific file units); NHHC awards manual; NHHC fleet organization; MARAD status card; shipbuildinghistory.com; CNRH West Loch; CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-166-lst166-01 through sl-uss-lst-166-lst166-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LST-166 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No federal historic designation applies - the hull was scrapped 1947-48. CourtListener opinion search for the quoted ship name returned zero results; the bare hull-number query returned only name collisions (unrelated civil and criminal matters containing the tokens 'LST' and '166'), none involving this vessel - no qualifying or other litigation naming this hull located at opinion level.
- 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 - a 1942-43-built LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull's destruction in 1947-48 precludes any present-day survey. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Docket-level (RECAP type=r) coverage was incomplete at session close due to the fleet-wide CourtListener pacing limiter - logged in the ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-166-lst166-13