Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 651-packet.md (5 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (hull identity; see caveat)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (hull identity; see caveat)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-238-lst238-pkt-651-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'LST-238' (NHHC; live page returned 404 on 2026-10-02 - archived Wayback capture of 2024-05-27 cited and labeled as archived) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-238 entry (full entry text quoted)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS verbatim: 'LST-238 was laid down on 5 March 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 13 June 1943; sponsored by Miss Ester Behme; and commissioned on 9 July 1943. The tank landing ship saw no active service with the United States Navy. On 16 June 1943, she was transferred to the United Kingdom and was returned to United States Navy custody on 13 February 1946. LST-238 was struck from the Navy list on 12 March 1946 and was sold to the Ships & Power Equipment Corp., of Barber, N.J., on 12 March 1948 for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades (Mar-Jul 1943); brief USN commissioning detail (9-16 Jul 1943); Royal Navy crew (Jul 1943 - Feb 1946)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. The printed transfer date '16 June 1943' is internally inconsistent (it precedes her 9 July 1943 commissioning and falls three days after launch) - a typographical error; the coherent date is 16 July 1943 per NavSource and uboat.net (see ev-09 correction row). Live NHHC page 404s; archived capture cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LST-238 (160238.htm) - construction/transfer timeline, Royal Navy service narrative, ONI-1945 specifications, disposition (live URL verified 200 on 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 160238.htm header block, Royal Navy history block, specifications block, photo caption (St Peter Port, Operation Nestegg)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline and narrative for this hull: LST-1 class; laid down 5 March 1943 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 13 June 1943; 'saw no active service with the United States Navy'; transferred to the United Kingdom 16 July 1943; commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-238 16 July 1943; sailed from Norfolk, VA 16 August 1943 as part of 9th Flotilla bound for the invasion of the Andaman Islands (subsequently canceled); assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; participated in the Invasion of Normandy June 1944; operated in shuttle service between Tilbury, Ostend and Antwerp; participated in relief of the Channel Islands in Operation 'Nestegg'; paid off at Norfolk, VA 12 February 1946; returned to US Navy custody 13 February 1946; struck from the Naval Register 12 March 1946; sold for scrapping 12 March 1948 to Ships and Power Equipment Corp., Barber, N.J. Page carries an ONI-1945 specification block (1,625 t light / 4,080 t full; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 12 kt max; 24,000 mi at 9 kt; complement 9 officers/120 enlisted; troops 14 officers/131 enlisted; 6 LCVP; RN-fit armament of one 12-pdr AA multi-barrel mount, six single 20 mm, four FAM mounts; two GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk reduction gear, three diesel-drive 100 kW generators, two propellers, 1,700 shp, twin rudders) and a photograph of HM LST-238 entering St Peter Port Harbour, Guernsey, during Operation Nestegg.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Royal Navy crew, 9th Flotilla (1943-46); embarked troops; Norfolk transfer/payoff details (Aug 1943, Feb 1946); shipbreakers, Ships & Power Equipment Corp., Barber NJ (1948)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestones generally track DANFS/NVR and here agree with DANFS on all shared dates; the ONI-1945 spec block is an Office of Naval Intelligence transcription but the underlying document is not independently reproduced. Contains no asbestos content. The 1948 scrapping predates modern ACM-handling regulation; no hazmat or material record for the breakup was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-02
-
[4]UK National Archives (TNA, Kew), ADM 1/29440 - 'Awards to 2 officers of HM LST 238 for services during air raid on Calcutta Dec 5 1943' (Admiralty correspondence and papers; catalog C4850549) [other_primary]
- Locator
- TNA Discovery record C4850549, piece ADM 1/29440
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A ship-specific Admiralty record at The National Archives (UK) documents HM LST-238 present at Calcutta during the Japanese air raid of 5 December 1943 - awards were made to two of her officers for services during the raid. This independently corroborates the NavSource narrative of the 9th Flotilla's deployment toward the Andaman Islands operation before recall to Europe, and identifies the file series (ADM 1) where further ship-specific Royal Navy administrative records exist.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- HM LST-238 officers and crew present at Calcutta, December 1943
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the catalog entry (title, reference, covering dates 1943-1944, closure status open) was retrieved via the TNA Discovery API; the document itself is a paper/microform record at Kew, not digitized - contents beyond the catalog description unverified. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-03
-
[5]uboat.net Allied Warships: HMS LST 238 (LST 238) - Royal Navy command listing, convoy/movement records, decommission; and companion US Navy page ship/11332.html (decommissioned 16 July 1943 for transfer) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/12242.html (RN page: commands table, notable events/convoy CJ 9A); ship/11332.html (USN page: commission/decommission dates)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net's Royal Navy page for this hull lists commanding officers T/A/Lt.Cdr. John Malcolm Cunningham, RNR (Feb 1944 - 8 Aug 1945) and T/A/Lt.Cdr. Stanley Rodger Pearson, RNVR (8 Aug 1945 - 12 Feb 1946), and transcribes Admiralty movement records placing LST 238 in convoy CJ 9A, which departed Calcutta 22 December 1943 for Colombo; LST 238 was detached with LST 180 and arrived at Madras 25 December 1943 under escort of HMS Quality - corroborating the Indian deployment before reassignment to Europe. The page cites its sources as the report of proceedings of HMAS Quiberon for December 1943, the war diary of USS LST 21, and ADM 53/116830 + ADM 199/643 (Admiralty records at Kew). The companion US Navy page records commissioning 9 July 1943 and 'Decommissioned on 16 July 1943 for transfer to the Royal Navy' - the coherent transfer date that resolves the DANFS '16 June' typo (see ev-09).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Royal Navy officers and crew (1944-46 command window)
- Limitations
- uboat.net is a specialist secondary compilation built largely from Admiralty movement and convoy records; the underlying primary documents are not independently reproduced here. Command listing does not name a pre-February-1944 commanding officer. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-04
-
[6]D-Day & Normandy Fellowship, memoir of Sub-Lieutenant Hugh Spensley, RNVR - first-person account of service aboard LST 238 during the Normandy operation [other_primary]
- Locator
- ddnf.org.uk/memories/h_spensley/ - account text and 1943 officers photograph caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A named Royal Navy officer's first-person account documents shipboard service aboard LST 238 in the Normandy operation: 'I was a Sub-Lieutenant RNVR in LST (Landing Ship Tank) 238 during the Normandy operation, acting as a watch-keeper and the gunnery officer.' He describes the ship's armament in use ('six light anti-aircraft guns, which we did use, and one anti-submarine gun'), return to Portsmouth for repairs after the assault, and subsequent shuttle runs to the liberated ports of Ostend and Antwerp; a photograph caption names the 1943 officers - Sampson (Engineer), Dallas (First Lieutenant), Cunningham (Captain), Giles (Navigating Officer), and Spensley (Gunnery Officer).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Royal Navy crew including named officers (Sampson, Dallas, Cunningham, Giles, Spensley), Normandy and shuttle-service period 1944-45
- Limitations
- A veterans'-association memoir - firsthand but unpublished testimony, decades after the fact; corroborates NavSource on Normandy and the Ostend/Antwerp shuttle. Establishes a named-person shipboard presence (population documentation); it is not an exposure record and contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 2 LST design table (diesel machinery specification; shipscribe.com scan via class profile ev-lst-1-class-01); ONI-1945 spec block for this hull (NavSource); era amphibious-ship construction practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design table (class profile); NavSource ONI-1945 spec block; GAO HRD-80-2 era framing
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An LST-1-class diesel tank landing ship built March-July 1943 sits inside the documented asbestos-use era for U.S. naval construction (GAO: the Navy did not begin substituting alternative insulation until the early 1970s). Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel LST of this period were engine exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings and tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, valve packing, and winch/crane brake linings. As a diesel ship she carried no boilers - the steam-plant lagging pathway of larger combatants does not apply, but accommodation, machinery-space, and deck-material applications remain.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades (1943); Royal Navy crew (1943-46); Norfolk payoff-period personnel (1946); shipbreakers (1948)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LST-238. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Royal Navy fit-out/maintenance may have substituted British materials; no RN-side material record was located. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-06
-
[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 (1943-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- 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 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-07
-
[9]Woolsey v. Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., 88 N.E.2d 54, 119 Ind. App. 391 (Ind. Ct. App. Oct 17, 1949), No. 17,878 - CourtListener opinion 3428445 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text at 119 Ind. App. 391-392 (employment description); CourtListener opinion 3428445
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Occupational-disease litigation is documented at this hull's builder during the class construction era: the estate of Elbert Woolsey, employed by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron as 'a pipe fitter in the compartment of ships' from 21 June to 11 November 1944, brought an Indiana Workmen's Occupational Diseases Act claim alleging death from inhaled fumes and gases of galvanized metal being welded; the Industrial Board found no occupational disease arising out of the employment and the Court of Appeals affirmed denial of compensation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades, Evansville (1944 employment window)
- Limitations
- Yard-level context, NOT an asbestos case and not a finding for this hull: the claim was welding-fume poisoning, it names no vessel (the decedent worked aboard ships under construction at the yard one year after LST-238's block), and the claim was denied - a merits-level negative for that claimant, not exposure evidence. Carried only to document that occupational-disease litigation reached the builder's in-hull confined-space trades during the era. Does not establish materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-08
-
[10]Date cross-check: DANFS LST-238 entry (prints '16 June 1943' for transfer to the United Kingdom) vs NavSource timeline (transferred 16 July 1943; commissioned into RN 16 July 1943) and uboat.net USN page ('Decommissioned on 16 July 1943 for transfer to the Royal Navy') [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-238 entry ('16 June 1943'); NavSource 160238.htm ('16 July 1943'); uboat.net ship/11332.html ('Decommissioned on 16 July 1943 for transfer')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: DANFS prints the transfer date as '16 June 1943' - internally impossible, since it precedes the ship's own 9 July 1943 U.S. commissioning and falls three days after her 13 June launch, while she was still fitting out. NavSource and uboat.net both carry 16 July 1943 for the transfer/Royal Navy commissioning, and the uboat.net USN page explicitly records decommissioning 16 July 1943 for transfer. The 16 July 1943 date is carried in this record; '16 June 1943' is a typographical error propagated wherever the DANFS text is reprinted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943
- Limitations
- Corrects a one-month date error in the DANFS text, not a material claim. DANFS itself is the highest-authority source otherwise used; the correction rests on internal inconsistency plus two independent secondary compilations agreeing on 16 July. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-09
-
[11]Batch-6784 search ledger (this record): DANFS (archived NHHC page); NavSource; NVR; UK National Archives Discovery API; uboat.net; D-Day & Normandy Fellowship memoir; CourtListener authenticated API (opinion and RECAP docket indexes); GAO product page; shipyards.json lookup; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-238-lst238-01 through -16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming USS LST-238 / HM LST-238 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion searches for 'LST-238', 'LST 238', and 'USS LST-238'/'HM LST-238'/'HMS LST 238' returned zero results; the single RECAP docket hit for 'LST-238' (Supreme Fuels Trading FZE v. Sargeant, III, S.D. Fla. 9:23-cv-80633, a RICO fuel-trading dispute) is an incidental token match inside a 491-page filing - a name collision, not litigation naming this vessel. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material located is law-firm marketing content (e.g., asbestos-ships-style listicles 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 - it means no ship-specific public documentation was found. An asbestos-qualified RECAP docket query could not be completed while the fleet request budget was momentarily spent (paced) - residual coverage gap logged in the ledger. Royal Navy deck logs and Admiralty records (ADM 53/ADM 1 at Kew) and any scrapping-contract records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-238-lst238-10