Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 655-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-277-lst277-pkt-655-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS / NHHC, LST-277 ship history page (ARCHIVED COPY cited: live NHHC URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-277.html returns 404 as of 2026-10-02; Wayback capture 2024-12-13 verified) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS LST-277 entry, full text (Wayback capture 20241213213933)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (verbatim DANFS): 'LST-277 was laid down on 31 May 1943 at Ambridge, Pa., by the American Bridge Co.; launched on 5 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. W. D. Guernsey; and commissioned on 24 October 1943.' WWII Asiatic-Pacific operations: Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (February 1944); capture and occupation of Saipan (June 1944); Leyte landings (October 1944); Nasugbu at Manila Bay operation (January 1945); assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (March through June 1945). Post-war: occupation duty in the Far East until early February 1946; decommissioned 12 February 1946; served with the Shipping Control Authority, Japan, 20 May 1949 until 31 March 1952; transferred that date to the Military Sea Transportation Service 'where she served until struck from the Navy list on 1 February 1973'; sold to the Chilean Navy 2 February 1973, served as Commandante Toro (LST-97). 'LST-277 earned five battle stars for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1973
- Population
- American Bridge construction trades (1943); ship's company + embarked troops (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history; contains no asbestos, material, or survey content. Live NHHC page 404s (standing NHHC link-rot defect noted since BATCH-01) - archived Wayback capture cited and labeled as such per citation-hygiene rule; the canonical live URL is preserved in citation_value for the record. DANFS uses 'sold' for the Chilean transfer; armada.cl records it as a military-assistance-pact transfer - wording difference only, same event and date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-277 / USNS T-LST-277 / Comandante Toro (LST-97) - timeline, commanding officers, Okinawa command structure, campaign table, specifications, Chilean service and disposal (live page verified 2026-10-02; last updated 16 Feb 2024) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160277.htm - header block, CO table, campaign table, specifications block, Chilean service note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline and detail for this hull: laid down 31 May 1943 at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA; launched 5 September 1943; commissioned 24 October 1943, LTjg. Edward B. Watson Jr., USNR, in command. CO table: Watson (24 Oct 1943 - Feb 1945), LTjg. Robert P. Kenney, USNR (Feb 1945 - 13 Feb 1946). WWII campaigns tabulated with dates: Kwajalein/Majuro 1-5 Feb 1944; Saipan 17-24 Jun 1944; Leyte 20 Oct 1944; Nasugbu 31 Jan 1945; Okinawa Gunto 25 Mar - 24 Jun 1945 - during Okinawa under LST Flotilla Three (CDR A. A. Ageton), LST Group Seven (LCDR E. B. Garrigues), LST Division Thirteen. Occupation service 20 Oct 1945 - 12 Feb 1946; decommissioned 12 Feb 1946; five battle stars; awards list includes Philippines Presidential Unit Citation and Philippines Liberation Medal. SCAJAP Q055 from 20 May 1949; MSTS USNS T-LST-277 from 31 Mar 1952; out of service and struck 1 Feb 1973; sold to Chile 2 Feb 1973 as Comandante Toro (LST-97); retired from Chilean service 24 Oct 1977; 'Final Disposition, disposed of as a target, 12 December 1977.' Photo captions further document the ex-hull in Chilean service at anchor off Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), 18 April 1976. Specs: two GM 12-567A 900hp diesels, Falk reduction gears, three 100kW 230V DC diesel-drive generators, two propellers 1,700shp, 11.6 kt; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; callsign NZHO.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1977
- Population
- American Bridge construction trades (1943); ship's company + embarked troops (1943-46); SCAJAP/MSTS crews (1949-73); Chilean Navy crew (1973-77)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track DANFS/NVR where those exist (all concordant here). Contains no asbestos content. The 1977 'disposed of as a target' entry is corroborated by the Chilean Navy's official unit history (ev-03); '12 December 1977' corresponds to the Chilean disposal-authorization decree date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-02
-
[4]Armada de Chile (Chilean Navy, official), 'Barcaza Comandante Toro 1' unidades-historicas page; plus Revista de Marina (official Chilean Navy journal) memoir 'El rescate de la LST Toro en San Felix' (No. 973, published 20 Dec 2019) [other_primary]
- Locator
- armada.cl unidades-historicas unit page; revistamarina.cl/articulo/el-rescate-de-la-lst-toro-en-san-felix
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Chilean Navy official record for this hull (as Comandante Toro, LST-97, prior name 'USS LST 277'): 'Transferida al Gobierno de Chile de acuerdo al Pacto de ayuda Militar del 02 de febrero de 1973' (transferred under the military assistance pact); 'Construida en los Astilleros American Bridge Co. Ambridge'; taken out of service ('dada de baja') by Resolucion D.G.S.A. RES. N4500/3197-6 Vrs. of 24 October 1977; disposal authorized by D.S. (M) N 92 of 12 December 1977; 'Fue utilizada como blanco para la artilleria' - used as an artillery target. Revista de Marina documents operational Chilean service: the Toro carried the Naval Engineers company, construction materials, and a helicopter to Isla San Felix for the 'proyecto Gato' runway build, grounding repeatedly on Playa Carolina during beaching operations before being refloated (memoir, undated in text but within the 1973-77 service window).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1973-1977
- Population
- Chilean Navy crew and embarked naval-engineer personnel (1973-77)
- Limitations
- Official Chilean Navy source for the 1973-77 period; Spanish-language. Contains no asbestos content. Establishes expended-as-target disposition - contradicts secondary sources (Wikipedia infobox/body) that print 'scrapped December 1977' (see correction row ev-09). The Revista de Marina memoir's exact operation date is not printed in the article text; the San Felix grounding described is an operational incident, not a career-ending loss (the ship returned to service; baja was by decree in Oct 1977).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource ship-specific specification block (two GM 12-567A diesels, no boilers) + DANFS build dates (1943, Ambridge) + LST-1-class design data (BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 2 LST design table, per class profile ev-lst-1-class-01) + GAO HRD-80-2 program-era documentation (ev-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160277.htm specifications block; class-level design data; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LST-1-class tank landing ship built May-October 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Because she carried no steam plant, the boiler/turbine lagging pathway does not apply; the era-standard asbestos-relevant applications for the type were diesel-exhaust lagging and exhaust-system gaskets, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation-space insulation, machinery packing, and winch/boat-handling brake linings. The confined tank-deck and engineering spaces of the LST design concentrated whatever insulation the ship carried.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1977
- Population
- American Bridge construction trades (1943); ship's company + embarked troops (1943-46); SCAJAP/MSTS crews (1949-73); Chilean Navy crew (1973-77)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, work package, or testimony located for LST-277. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; establishes no quantity and no individual exposure. The ship's 1977 expenditure as a target forecloses any present-day hull survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-04
-
[6]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; Navy policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - spanning this hull's entire US-era life (1943-1973).
- 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, not hull-specific; supports era context only. Full text not retrievable - gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch (confirmed again 2026-10-02); content via product-page description. This hull left US service in 1973, before the policies described took effect - they describe the era's conditions, not any remediation event aboard her.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-05
-
[7]United States Steel Corp. v. The United States, 367 F.2d 399 (Ct. Cl. 1966) - opinion documenting BuShips contract NObs-458 and the Ambridge wartime LST program (opinion text verified via published-reporter reproductions; CourtListener opinion ID pending - CL API fleet-paced at drafting time) [court_record]
- Locator
- 367 F.2d 399, opinion facts section (contract NObs-458; Ambridge employment figures)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A federal Court of Claims opinion documents this hull's builder and build program: the Bureau of Ships contracted with American Bridge Company (a U.S. Steel component) for construction of tank landing ships at Ambridge, PA - contract NObs-458 dated 'as of February 15, 1942' covering 40 LSTs, with work under letter of intent from 15 February 1942; sections fabricated at the Ambridge plant and assembled in an adjoining Navy shipyard purpose-built for WWII production and leased to the company; shipyard employment peaked at 7,623 in May 1944. The opinion sitsuates this hull's 1943 construction inside a documented mass-production wartime yard program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- American Bridge Ambridge workforce, ~7,000-9,000 peak (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Yard-level contract/labor documentation, not a hull record - the opinion does not name LST-277, assigns no contract number to a specific hull, and contains no asbestos or material content. Pension-cost dispute (Wunderlich Act review), not exposure litigation. Secondary compiler uboat.net lists this hull 'Ordered 15 Feb 1942' - consistent with the NObs-458 letter-of-intent date but not officially confirmed as her contract assignment.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-06
-
[8]US EPA Superfund (CERCLA) site profile, 'USX CORP AMERICAN BRIDGE DIV', Park Street, Ambridge PA 15003 - EPA ID PAD004372975 [other_primary]
- Locator
- EPA CERCLA site profile PAD004372975, Ambridge PA
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The former American Bridge division site at Ambridge (builder of this hull) appears in EPA's CERCLA inventory with status 'Not on the NPL' / 'NFRAP - Site does not qualify for the NPL based on existing information' - a government record that the industrial site underwent Superfund assessment and was closed without listing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1980s-1990s (assessment era)
- Population
- n/a - site record
- Limitations
- Site-level environmental record for the builder's plant, not a vessel record: no contaminant detail shown on the public profile page, no asbestos-specific finding, and the assessment postdates shipbuilding by decades. Does not establish or defeat anything about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-07
-
[9]NARA still-picture records cited in NavSource captions: NAID 193835249 (804th Engineer Aviation Battalion boarding LST-277 and LST-274, Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1944, US Army Air Corps photo A63574A); NAID 193832778 (LST-277 in background as USS PCS-1404 refuels en route to Saipan, 15 June 1944, photo A63650A.C.); plus US Navy photo of LST-277 beached with LST-461, LST-917 and LST-571 unloading across pontoon causeways, probably Lingayen Gulf, c. January 1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 193835249 and NAID 193832778 (catalog.archives.gov); NavSource 10/16/160277.htm photo captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-held photographs document this hull's physical presence and operations: embarking the Army's 804th Engineer Aviation Battalion at Pearl Harbor 27 May 1944 (pre-Marianas), underway to Saipan 15 June 1944, and beached unloading across pontoon causeways probably at Lingayen Gulf circa January 1945. These are archival leads for operational history - presence documentation, not material or work records. RG 24 deck logs for this hull (1943-46; plus MSTS-era logbooks) are the untapped next-level source and are not publicly digitized.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew + embarked 804th Engineer Aviation Battalion (May 1944); crews at Lingayen beaching (Jan 1945)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only: NARA catalog pages are JS-rendered and could not be independently fetched this session (same access defect as Batch-98); NAIDs and captions transcribed via NavSource photo captions, so direct verification is open. Photographs establish presence, not work performed or materials aboard. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-08
-
[10]Batch-6814 search ledger (this record): DANFS via archived NHHC; NavSource live; Armada de Chile official; Revista de Marina; EPA CERCLA profile; CourtListener API v4 via fleet-paced helper; secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-277-lst277-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LST-277 / T-LST-277 / Comandante Toro (LST-97) was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero opinion hits for 'LST-277' and one docket-index hit classified as a name collision (an OCR-scanned environmental-trust exhibit in the Motors Liquidation Co. chapter-11 docket, Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 09-50026 - the string appears inside an attachment, not as a party or ship allegation; 2026-10-02). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no ship-specific asbestos documentation of any kind; the only 'asbestos aboard LSTs' material found 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 - the hull's 1977 expenditure as a target forecloses present-day survey, and era-consistent materials were likely installed. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Litigation coverage limitation: query variants 'LST 277' (space), 'T-LST-277', and 'Comandante Toro' were not run - the fleet pacer closed before they could be queued (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-09
-
[11]Designation/disposition cross-check: Wikipedia USS LST-277 article (secondary) vs DANFS, NavSource, and Armada de Chile official records [other_primary]
- Locator
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_LST-277 body text vs infobox; armada.cl unit history; NavSource disposition line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS to circulating secondary-source errors: (1) The Wikipedia article body states she 'was laid down on 31 May 1943 at American Bridge Co., Seneca, Indiana' - wrong yard; Seneca, Illinois was a Chicago Bridge & Iron yard, while American Bridge Co. was at Ambridge, PA (confirmed by DANFS, NavSource, armada.cl, and Wikipedia's own infobox, which prints 'American Bridge Co., Ambridge'). (2) Wikipedia's infobox and mirrors print 'Scrapped, December 1977' / 'sold for scrap' - contradicted by the Chilean Navy's official unit history, which records use as an artillery target ('utilizada como blanco para la artilleria'), corroborating NavSource's 'disposed of as a target, 12 December 1977.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1977 (disposition window)
- Limitations
- Corrects secondary-source defects, not material claims. Wikipedia is not cited as a record source - used only to document the circulating errors. Grokipedia (AI-generated) compounds these with an impossible 'ran aground March 1980 ending her career' claim (the ship was decommissioned October 1977); noted here so the error is documented, not propagated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-277-lst277-10