Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
-
[1]research packet 663-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-338-lst338-pkt-663-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'LST-338' (Naval History and Heritage Command ship-history entry; live NHHC page) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text (full entry); live page verified 2026-10-02; HyperWar mirror transcription https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/LST/lst338.html matches verbatim
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: LST-338 was laid down 17 July 1942 at the Norfolk Navy Yard; launched 8 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. R. I. Coleman; commissioned 20 December 1942, Lt. D. A. Stratton, USNR, in command. Assigned to the European theater: Sicilian occupation (July 1943), Salerno landings (September 1943), Invasion of Normandy (June 1944). Decommissioned 6 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 23 June 1947; sold 3 December 1947 to the Southern Trading Co., Philadelphia, Pa., for conversion to merchant service. Earned three battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades (1942); ship's company Dec 1942 - May 1946; embarked troops (campaigns)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. DANFS is silent on the ship's berthing between decommissioning (1946-05-06) and sale (1947-12-03) and on post-sale fate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-338 page (10/16/160338.htm; last updated 5 May 2023) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource header timeline, campaign table, specification block, commanding-officer table, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive per-hull record: LST-1-class tank landing ship; laid down 17 July 1942, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth VA; launched 8 November 1942; commissioned USS LST-338 20 December 1942, LT. Darrell A. Stratton, USN, in command; assigned Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater - Sicilian occupation 9-15 July 1943, Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943, Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944; decommissioned 6 May 1946; struck from the Naval Register 23 June 1947; three battle stars; sold to Southern Trading Co., Philadelphia PA, 3 December 1947 for conversion to merchant service; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.' Specification block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 11.6 kt trial; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted, troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 2 GM 12-567A 900-hp diesels, Falk reduction gears, 3 x 100 kW DC diesel-drive generators, twin screws 1,700 shp. Photo captions document the hull at Gela Sicily 10 July 1943 (Army Signal Corps SC series, NARA-held), Salerno September 1943 (NARA NAID 205578959 / 26-G-09-24-43(2), USCG photo), the Normandy beachhead June 1944, railroad-car loading tests with LST-356 probably at Southampton, and the ship 'equipped with Brodie gear, at anchor off NAB Little Creek, VA., circa 1946.' Commanding officers listed: Stratton (Dec 1942 - Apr 1945), Daubenspeck (Apr-Aug 1945), Catoe (Aug-Dec 1945), Riker (Dec 1945 - 6 May 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Ship's company 1942-46; embarked troops; any 1946 Brodie-device test personnel
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track DANFS and all match here. Photo-caption details (Brodie gear circa 1946; CO list) rest on contributor attributions, not independently verified records. Contains no asbestos content. Specification conflicts vs HyperWar (complement, light displacement) noted in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-02
-
[4]NHHC, 'Recollections of Pharmacist Mate Frank R. Feduik on USS LST 338,' in Recollections of the Invasion of Normandy (adapted from 'A Corpsman Remembers D-Day,' Navy Medicine 85, no. 3 (May-Jun 1994): 13-17) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Feduik section, 'LST-338' through 'After VE-Day' subsections; index page https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/oral-histories/wwii/oral-histories-of-world-war-ii.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC-published oral history: Pharmacist's Mate Frank R. Feduik served aboard LST-338 from England (spring 1944) through the end of the European war. His account states: LST-338 was the command ship for flotilla 12, group 36; the ship crossed to Normandy after the D-Day postponement, received orders 8 June to unload cargo on Omaha Beach via LCT shuttle, took wounded aboard, and made about 60 further Channel crossings; in December 1944 she ferried 'snow weasel' tracked vehicles during the Bulge period; rails welded to her tank deck let her carry railroad cars to purpose-built ramps at Cherbourg and Le Havre; she made about a dozen runs carrying German POWs to England; and she made a Seine River run behind German lines to pick up French Forces of the Interior. After VE Day she loaded cargo at Belfast and crossed the North Atlantic.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LST-338 ship's company, spring 1944 - mid-1945 (Feduik's service window); embarked troops, casualties, and POWs
- Limitations
- Eyewitness memoir published ~50 years post-event; NHHC-hosted adaptation of the Navy Medicine article. Supports service history and crew living/working detail only - no asbestos, insulation, or material content. Operational figures ('about 60' crossings, 'about a dozen' POW runs) are the veteran's recollection, not log-derived counts.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-03
-
[5]Beck, Alfred M., Abe Bortz, Charles W. Lynch, Lida Mayo, and Ralph F. Weld, The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany, U.S. Army in World War II: The Technical Services, CMH Pub 10-22 (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1985), p. 131 [other_primary]
- Locator
- p. 131 (Sicily/Gela chapter); index s.v. 'LST-338: 131'; official CMH PDF verified live via Firecrawl 2026-10-02 (curl bot-gated, HTTP 403); passage text cross-verified against archive.org full-text scan corpsofengineers00beck
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- U.S. Army Center of Military History official history (United States Army in World War II series) names this hull at the Gela landings: 'Early on D-day LST-338 ran a ponton causeway ashore. The causeway's crew rigged it amid falling shells, and by 1030 the LST had unloaded and pulled away.' Context of the passage is the 10 July 1943 DIME-force landings at Gela, Sicily (531st Shore Engineers; causeway anchoring problems on DIME beaches noted).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-07-10
- Population
- LST-338 crew and embarked Army shore-engineer causeway crew, 10 July 1943
- Limitations
- Official operational history naming this hull - documents the Sicily D-Day unloading. No asbestos or material content. Does not state which beach sector or cargo manifest; 'ran a ponton causeway ashore' refers to deploying the ship's embarked pontoon causeway, not beaching the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-04
-
[6]NHHC photo catalog record SC 180443 (Army Signal Corps Collection, U.S. National Archives) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SC 180443 catalog page, Description field
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC photographic catalog records SC 180443: 'Sicily Invasion, July 1943. Unloading troops and supplies on the Gela invasion beaches on D-Day, 10 July 1943. Broached LCVP at right is from USS Barnett (APA-5). Next LCVP to the left is from USS Monrovia (APA-31). In the background are USS LST-338 (right) and USS LST-344 (left). Photographed by Paris. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-07-10
- Population
- Ship's company and Army shore parties at Gela, 10 July 1943
- Limitations
- Archival photograph placing the hull at the Gela D-Day beachhead 10 July 1943 - presence documentation, not a work or material record. No asbestos content. Related NARA-held photography of the same hull at Gela (III-SC-18043/18044/18045/180446/180452/180453), Salerno (NAID 205578959), and Normandy is captioned on the NavSource page but the NAIDs were not independently opened this session (NARA catalog JS-gated).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-05
-
[7]USNA Nimitz Library Special Collections & Archives, MS 415 finding aid (usna.edu); NHHC, S-112 Norfolk Naval Shipyard Photo Collection description page [museum_official]
- Locator
- MS 415 finding aid Box 13 Folder 85; NHHC S-112 page https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/alphabetical---donations0/n/s-112-norfolk-naval-shipyard-photo-collection.html (both verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Two archival holdings name this hull: (1) U.S. Naval Academy Special Collections, MS 415 'World War II Ship Action Reports, 1942-1945' finding aid, Box 13 Folder 85: 'U.S.S. LST-338 (Landing Ship - Tank), June 1944. Operations in Northern France.' (2) NHHC donation collection S-112 'Norfolk Naval Shipyard Photo Collection': 105 B&W photographs of WWII construction at Norfolk Naval Shipyard listing LST-333 through LST-352 under construction and launching - LST-338 is explicitly in the listed range - plus 'one copy of statistical report of LST shipbuilding, and assorted paper materials related to LST construction.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1944 (record creation window)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only: the action report and the construction photographs/papers were not retrieved or read - holdings are confirmed by institutional finding aids, contents unexamined. The LST construction papers and shipbuilding statistical report in S-112 are the most promising located lead for any builder material documentation on this hull. No asbestos content established.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-06
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - NavSource/BuShips machinery data for the LST-1 design group + documented era amphibious-ship construction practice (no hull-specific material schedule located) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class technical data (lst-1-class profile); NavSource specification block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this diesel-powered LST: LST-338's GM 12-567A diesel plant carried no boilers, so the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway does not apply; era-standard asbestos-relevant applications for the type are diesel exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings and tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, winch/crane brake linings, and valve packing.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947 (plus undocumented merchant period)
- Population
- Norfolk Navy Yard construction trades (1942); crew 1942-46; any conversion-yard workers post-1947 sale
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-level insulation survey, material list, work package, or construction record was located for LST-338. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; establishes no quantity and no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-07
-
[9]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan, text layer) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table; PDF verified live HTTP 200 on 2026-10-02 at this URL (earlier /styles/usnaux/sdb/ path now 404)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Bureau of Ships 'Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels,' Vol. 2 (January 1945) official design table for the LST design groups: 328 ft oa, 50 ft beam, ~2,366 t light / 3,960-4,080 t trial displacement, 11.6 kt, 2 GM 12-567A diesels at 1,700 shp for the LST1-490 and other main blocks (blocks 932-979 and 1060-1080 carried GM 12-278A); accommodations 13 officers / ~106 enlisted. LST-338 falls in the LST1-490 group.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Official BuShips design-group data - the authoritative class machinery source; documents the design LST-338 was built to, not as-built deviations aboard this hull. Contains no asbestos statement; machinery data only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-08
-
[10]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987), PMID 3555021 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373; PMID 3555021 verified via NCBI eutils 2026-10-02 (publisher DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.4700110311 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and program under which LST-338 was mass-produced at a Navy yard - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-09
-
[11]NAVFAC, Norfolk NSY Environmental Restoration site descriptions; EPA Superfund site profile VA1170024813; shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json norfolk-naval-shipyard evidence rows [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVFAC Norfolk NSY Site Descriptions index (verified live 2026-10-02); EPA cumulis site profile id=0302841
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- LST-338's builder, Norfolk Naval Shipyard (Norfolk Navy Yard), Portsmouth VA, is a documented asbestos-use yard: EPA Superfund site VA1170024813 (listed 1999); NAVFAC environmental-restoration site descriptions document asbestos among wastes disposed of at the yard (incl. Paradise Creek disposal area, 1945-1983 window). The shipyard dataset's verified product list for this yard includes asbestos insulation products (Thermobestos, Marinite, Transite, Kaylo, Unibestos), pipe insulation and lagging, gaskets and packing, deck coverings, bulkhead fire barriers, and welding blankets.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1999
- Population
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard trades and tenants, incl. LST construction ways, 1942-1945 era
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record: establishes that asbestos was handled, used, and disposed at the yard that built this hull in the WWII era - it does not establish what materials were installed aboard LST-338 specifically. Superfund documentation centers on disposal areas and building contamination; asbestos is not a CERCLA COC in the 2010 ROD (metals/organics drove the remedy).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-10
-
[12]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 to automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-02; content via product-page description)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships; standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. This spans LST-338's entire construction and U.S. service window (1942-1947).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 (report); policy window 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not ship- or class-specific; supports era context only. LST-338 was sold out of service 1947 - before the documented policy windows - so this bears on construction-era material installation only, not on any post-1975 condition (there is none; the hull's subsequent fate is undocumented).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-11
-
[13]This record's search ledger (CourtListener API v4 results; secondary-web sweep) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-338-06 and sl-uss-lst-338-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming LST-338 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener (authenticated API v4): '"LST-338"' opinions 0 hits; '"LST 338"' opinions 0 hits; '"USS LST-338"' opinions 0 hits; '"LST-338"' dockets 0 hits - all four query variants returned zero on 2026-10-02. Secondary web sweep surfaced no qualifying case - only law-firm marketing content of the kind that lists LST hulls generically as asbestos-bearing 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. Deck logs, Norfolk Navy Yard construction records (see ev-06 S-112 lead), and any post-sale conversion or merchant-registry records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-338-12