Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 650-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (thin post-transfer sourcing disclosed)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (thin post-transfer sourcing disclosed)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-237-lst237-pkt-650-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 'LST-237' (NHHC live page, verified 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-237 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-237 was laid down 9 February 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 8 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Sollitt; commissioned 30 June 1943; saw no active service with the United States Navy; transferred to the United Kingdom 12 July 1943; returned to US Navy custody 11 February 1946; struck from the Navy list 26 February 1946; sold to Bosey, Philippines, 5 November 1947 and converted for merchant service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Limitations
- DANFS is the authoritative US Navy history but is terse for UK-transferred LSTs: it does not record the Royal Navy service record, gives the custody-return date as 11 February 1946 (NavSource records paid off at Singapore and return at Subic Bay on 16 March 1946 - conflict logged in gaps), and contains no asbestos, survey, or material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, Amphibious Photo Archive, 'HM LST-237' page (verified live at navsource.net 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource HM LST-237 page, timeline and specifications blocks; photo caption table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Royal Navy service record: commissioned into the RN as HM LST-237 on 12 July 1943; sailed from Norfolk, VA., 16 August 1943 with the 9th Flotilla bound for the (subsequently canceled) Andaman Islands invasion; assigned Europe-Africa-Middle East theater - West Coast of Italy operations 1944, Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings, Invasion of Normandy June 1944, then shuttle service between Tilbury, Ostend and Antwerp; with 'W' Task Force worked down the Arakan coast of Burma, participated in the recapture of Rangoon, the invasion of Malaya at Morib and Port Swettenham, then Singapore and Bangkok doing relief work repatriating ex-POWs; paid off at Singapore and returned to US Navy custody at Subic Bay, Philippines, 16 March 1946. Page carries class specification block (13 officers/104 enlisted; 2 x GM 12-567A diesels, 1,700 shp, 11.6 kt) and an Imperial War Museums photograph (B 5154, Sgt. Laing, No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit, 4 June 1944) showing HM LST-237 with bow doors open during Normandy preparations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Royal Navy crew and embarked troops, 1943-1946 (campaign context)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary archive, not an official record; campaign list is unattributed but consistent with RN operational histories. The 16 March 1946 Subic Bay return conflicts with DANFS's 11 February 1946 custody date (see gaps). No asbestos or material content. IWM object record for photo B 5154 not separately verified at iwm.org.uk.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships entry 'USS LST 237 (LST 237)'; shipbuildinghistory.com Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron yard table (hull #25); Naval Historical Society of Australia article on Lt. Peter Smith RANVR, Gunnery Officer of LST 237; naval-history.net Royal Navy naval-parties roster (LST Party 4164) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/11331.html; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/missourivalley.htm (row 25); https://navyhistory.au/yachties-piece-lieutenant-peter-smith-ranvr-rtd-a-roy-boy-at-war/ (verified live 2026-10-02); naval-history.net/xBW-RNNavalParties.htm (party 4164)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary corroboration of DANFS dates: ordered 16 April 1942; laid down 9 February 1943; launched 8 June 1943; commissioned (US) 30 June 1943; US end of service 12 July 1943 for transfer to the Royal Navy; returned to USN 16 March 1946; sold 5 November 1947. Builder yard table records LST-237 as Missouri Valley hull #25, delivered 6/30/43, 'To Britain 1943, sold private 1947.' A Naval Historical Society of Australia article built on Lt. Peter Smith RANVR's service aboard as Gunnery Officer records the ship based at Devonport then Harwich, loading 50th Division troops and sailing for Normandy the evening of 5 June 1944, arriving off Gold Beach (Arromanches) at 11 am on 6 June and anchoring beside HMS Ajax; reinforcement runs continued until steering problems caused a collision at Southampton holing her bow, after which she went to Appledore, Devon, for experiments launching LCTs from LSTs. The naval-history.net roster of Royal Navy naval parties records LST Party 4164 aboard LST 237 in 1945 - entries at Bombay (September 1945) and Cochin (October-December 1945), consistent with the NavSource Far East timeline.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Limitations
- All secondary compilations (uboat.net, shipbuildinghistory.com, naval-history.net derivatives, navyhistory.au memoir article): consistent with DANFS but not independent primary documentation; the 16 March 1946 return date follows NavSource against DANFS's 11 February 1946. 'Ordered 16 April 1942' rests on uboat.net only. The Normandy narrative detail is a veteran recollection published by the NHSA - reliable color, not an operational record extract.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-03
-
[5]BBC WW2 People's War archive, story A2493407, 'A Night at the Opera: Life Onboard Landing Craft LST237' (Thomas McFarlane, RN Able Seaman gunner; contributed 5 April 2004; verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BBC People's War story A2493407, body text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Firsthand Royal Navy crew account naming LST237: Able Seaman Tom McFarlane describes the crew collecting the ship at the 'Missouri Shipbuilding Yard, Evansville, Indiana,' then Philadelphia, Oran and Bizerta; troop landings in Sicily and Italy; carrying US Rangers to Anzio; Adriatic convoy work; and being wounded by a near-miss bomb while on gun duty. Corroborates the ship's Mediterranean employment in the NavSource timeline.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (recollected; published 2004)
- Population
- Royal Navy enlisted crew (single named crew member)
- Limitations
- User-submitted oral history hosted on the BBC People's War archive - self-reported, unverified against service records, and explicitly disclaimed by the BBC ('content created by our users'). Carried as an archival lead for crew-history research only; establishes no official finding and no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-04
-
[6]Woolsey v. Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., 119 Ind. App. 391, 88 N.E.2d 54 (Ind. App. 1949) - CourtListener opinion 3428445, No. 17,878, filed 1949-10-17, Royse J. [court_record]
- Locator
- 119 Ind. App. 391; 88 N.E.2d 54; decided 17 October 1949
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed denial of an occupational-disease claim by the estate of Elbert Woolsey, a pipe fitter employed inside ship compartments at the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. Evansville yard from June to November 1944; the claim alleged poisoning from inhaling welding fumes and gases from galvanized metal, and the Industrial Board found death resulted from other causes. Documents contemporaneous occupational-disease litigation against this hull's builder during wartime LST production.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 employment; 1949 opinion
- Population
- Wartime Evansville shipyard workforce (pipe fitter decedent)
- Limitations
- Yard-level litigation naming the builder only - does not name LST-237 or any specific hull; the exposure claimed was welding fumes, NOT asbestos, and the claim was denied on the merits. Affirmance of a defense win is a negative result for that claimant, not evidence of any condition aboard this vessel. Opinion verified on CourtListener (cluster 3428445) 2026-10-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-05
-
[7]National Park Service, 'Evansville, Indiana' (American World War II Heritage City article, verified live 2026-10-02) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS Evansville article, 'In February 1942...' paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documents the builder yard: the Department of the Navy constructed the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. shipyard ('Evansville Shipyard') in February 1942 on a forty-acre site on the Ohio River, building 300 x 50 ft LSTs at one ship every four days in 1944 and a total of 167 LSTs by February 1945 - the 'largest inland producer of oceangoing ships.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Evansville wartime industrial workforce (context)
- Limitations
- Yard-level context: documents the facility that built this hull but names no individual hull and contains no asbestos, material, or exposure information. NPS's 167-LST total differs slightly from shipbuildinghistory's 171-hull enumeration - a yard-output tally discrepancy, not material to this record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-06
-
[8]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (January 1945), LST design table and roster (shipscribe.com scan) - as compiled in the LST-1-class class profile (lst-1-class.class.json, evidence ev-lst-1-class-01/-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB 1945 v2, LST machinery/design table; class profile evidence rows ev-lst-1-class-01 and -03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/design inference for diesel-powered LST-1-class hulls: the BuShips 1945 design data records the class plant as 2 x General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp each) on two shafts - no boilers, so the classic steam-plant lagging pathway does not apply. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard the type were concentrated in diesel exhaust lagging and manifold/muffler insulation, gaskets and valve packing, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, deck coverings and tile, and brake linings on winches and bow-door machinery. Wartime construction at a 1942-45 US emergency yard falls inside the documented period of extensive asbestos use in American shipbuilding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Evansville, 1943); RN crew and embarked troops (class context)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no material schedule, survey, or hull record names LST-237. Absence of boilers narrows but does not eliminate the exposure pathway. Does not establish quantity, specific products, or exposure of any individual; ship-proven status would require hull-level documentation that was not located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-07
-
[9]Batch-6783 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; NavSource hull page; uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory.com; NPS Evansville article; BBC People's War; naval-history.net; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches; Naval Vessel Register; Wikipedia; merchant-fate searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-237-01 through sl-uss-lst-237-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or court decision naming LST-237 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion searches returned zero results for exact phrases '"LST-237"', '"USS LST-237"', and '"LST 237"'; unquoted 'LST-237' returned 161 fuzzy hits, all name collisions or unrelated matters (e.g., 'LST Investments'); no qualifying asbestos litigation names this hull.
- 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 construction materials make presence a reasonable inference, never ship-proven. The hull was Royal Navy-operated, so any UK-side claims would not appear in US court indexes searched; UK National Archives (ADM series) and UK litigation sources are an unworked lead. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-237-lst237-08