Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 665-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-353-lst353-pkt-665-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-353 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Asiatic-Pacific operations, loss, striking, awards (NHHC page captured 2020-10-24; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-10-02 - archived copy cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-353 entry, full text (short entry, no footnotes)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LST-353 was laid down on 15 July 1942 at the Charleston Navy Yard; launched on 12 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Estelle Lynette Cushman; and commissioned on 27 November 1942, Lt. L. E. Reynolds, Jr., USNR, in command.' Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater; participated in consolidation of the southern Solomons (June 1943); New Georgia Group operations (New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation, July 1943; Vella Lavella occupation, August 1943); and the occupation and defense of Cape Torokina (November 1943). 'On 21 May 1944, she was sunk by internal explosion while moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and struck from the Navy list on 18 July 1944. LST-353 earned three battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1942); crew (1942-44)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-10-02 under both /research/ and /content/history/nhhc/ URL schemes - same standing NHHC link-rot noted in BATCH-01/BATCH-98; citation is the Wayback capture of the NHHC page (archived source, labeled).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-353 (10/16/160353) - designation timeline, unit assignments, campaign table, commanding officers, specifications, NARA-captioned photography (verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160353 header block, campaign table, CO list, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 15 July 1942 at Charleston Navy Yard; launched 12 October 1942; commissioned USS LST-353, 27 November 1942, LT. Luther E. Reynolds, Jr., USNR; assigned to LST Flotilla Five (CAPT. J. R. Clark), LST Group Fourteen (CDR. R. W. Lejeunesse), LST Division Twenty-Seven. Campaign table: Consolidation of southern Solomons 16 June 1943; New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation 2 July 1943; Vella Lavella occupation 31 August 1943; Treasury Island-Bougainville operation, occupation and defense of Cape Torokina 6 and 17 November 1943. 'While moored in the West Loch at Pearl Harbor USS LST-353 was sunk by an internal explosion, 21 May 1944.' Decommissioned, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register 18 July 1944; three battle stars. Commanding officers: Lt. Reynolds (27 Nov 1942-Dec 1943); LTjg. W. P. Hodges, USNR (Dec 1943-21 Mar 1944); LTjg. C. A. Martin, USN (21 Mar-21 May 1944). NARA-captioned photos document: LST-353 beached at Tenaru Beach, Guadalcanal, 16 June 1943, assisting bombed LST-340 in firefighting (action-report photo, NARA ID 134284080, roll A435); unloading at Rendova Island June 1943; Empress Augusta Bay landings 6 and 17 November 1943 (NARA 80-G-202485, 193852167, 193852929, 193852926); Marshall Islands beaching (date unknown, NARA 6676617); and Nissan Island, Green Island Group, 1 March 1944 (NARA 204988528).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1944
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1942); crew and embarked troops (1942-44)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track DANFS/NVR conventions; the NARA identifiers are transcribed from its captions and not independently re-verified at catalog.archives.gov. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-02
-
[4]LST Flotilla Five War Diary, May 1944 (Office of the Commander, LST Flotilla Five, Third Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, dated 1 June 1944; NARA-declassified scan hosted by NavSource; contributed by William L. Williams) [other_primary]
- Locator
- War diary May 1944, 21 May daily entry and end-of-month organization notes (scan pp. ~21, ~27 of 111)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous Navy record of this hull's loss: under 21 May 1944 entries the diary records 'Word was received that LSTs 39 and 353 were destroyed by fire in Pearl Harbor' and notes the ships 'were with Group 14 under temporary command [of] Fifth Amphibious Forces. The cause of fire was not known at that time.' At month's end: 'LST 39 and 353 are removed from our war diary organization since they were completely destroyed by fire at Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1944.' (LST-39 and LST-353 were the Flotilla Five hulls lost; the other four lost LSTs belonged to other organizations.)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- May 1944
- Population
- LST Flotilla Five staff and Group 14 ships; crew of LST-353 (loss event)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous command record naming this hull - reports the loss only as 'destroyed by fire,' cause stated as unknown to the flotilla at the time; the court-of-inquiry causal detail comes from ev-06. OCR used on a 111-page scan; quoted wording verified against the rendered pages but the file is image-only (no embedded text layer). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-03
-
[5]NARA catalog (catalog.archives.gov), RG 38 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' - digitized USS LST-353 ship's war diaries and action reports [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search "LST-353": NAIDs 134271346, 78413920, 78367296, 136041576, 78187198, 78140252, 135938188, 135947449, 134355945, 77627353
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized ship-specific primary records for this hull located in the NARA catalog (Fold3-scanned microfilm): War Diaries for June (NAID 134271346), July (78140252), August (135938188), September (78187198), and November 1943 (136041576), and March (78367296) and April 1944 (78413920); plus action reports for AA action 25 July 1943 (135947449), Vella Lavella 31 August 1943 (77627353), and Cape Torokina 17 November 1943 (134355945). Spot-check of the April 1944 diary images confirmed content: minor repairs alongside a repair ship at Purvis Island 4-7 April; arrival at Pearl Harbor about 20 April (entrance buoys 1656); an LCT placed on deck; five-day engine-overhaul availability granted.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- LST-353 crew (1943-44 record periods)
- Limitations
- Archival lead: catalog metadata verified and April-1944 images spot-checked (handwritten/typed columnar pages, low-confidence OCR aside from the noted entries). December 1942-February 1943 and the loss month (May 1944) diaries did not surface in the catalog query; full-page reading of each diary not performed. No asbestos content expected or found in the pages examined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-04
-
[6]HABS HI-222, 'Naval Magazine Lualualei, West Loch Branch, LST Wreckage,' Historic American Buildings Survey (National Park Service), written historical and descriptive data (1994; historian Katharine Bouthillier, Spencer Mason Architects) [nps]
- Locator
- HABS HI-222 data pages (hi0347data.pdf), 'History' and 'Description' paragraphs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documentation of the West Loch LST wreckage site and the disaster in which this hull was lost: 'Thirty-four ships preparing for Operation Forager, destined for Saipan and Guam, were located in West Loch Harbor on May 21, 1944, when ammunition being transferred from an LST ship exploded. Flames and fragments were sent over many of the other ships in the harbor, setting off other explosions. The casualty toll was 163 dead and 396 injured, and six LST's and some smaller amphibious craft were lost.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 (documentation compiled 1994)
- Population
- West Loch servicemembers and dock workers, 21 May 1944
- Limitations
- SCOPE CAVEAT: the standing wreckage documented by HI-222 is the beached hull of LST-480 (plus a beached LVT and a T-10 mooring barge), not LST-353 - this hull's wreckage was salvaged and dumped offshore. The record is cited for the disaster event and site, in which this hull participated as the explosion's origin; it does not document LST-353's surviving remains. Item page HTML returned 403 to automated fetch on 2026-10-02; data-pages PDF verified live at cdn.loc.gov (redirects to tile.loc.gov, HTTP 200). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-05
-
[7]Howard E. Shuman, 'The Other Pearl Harbor Disaster,' Naval History Magazine (U.S. Naval Institute), Vol. 2 No. 3, July 1988 - account drawn from the Naval Court of Inquiry record at the Naval Historical Center and NARA (live page 403 to automated fetch 2026-10-02; archived copy cited) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI article text: 'The Disaster Strikes,' 'The Six Doomed Ships,' 'The Secret Disaster,' 'Conclusions' sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Court-of-inquiry-derived account of this hull's loss: moored at berth T-8 with seven other loaded LSTs; welding had occurred at LST-353's stern during the day and was secured by 1500; about 1500 'one enlisted man was smoking on the forecastle in [the] immediate vicinity of the gasoline drums secured there' (court finding); at 1508 the initial explosion erupted aboard LST-353, centered at the bow of LCT-963 (carried on her main deck), where Army troops were unloading heavy mortar ammunition; further explosions at 1511 and 1522; LST-353 drifted leeward and sank near berth T-9 at 1650 in about 30 feet of water with part of her forecastle above the surface, LCT-963 sinking with her. The court (report dated 29 June 1944, classified secret until 1 January 1960) attributed magnitude to gasoline stowage near high-explosive ammunition and nested combat-loaded vessels; found the initial explosion most likely from one or more M-3 mortar shells while noting gasoline vapor could not be excluded; ruled out sabotage; and found 'a deplorable lack of the observance of elementary safety precautions... particularly on the 353, 39, and 179.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 (report/endorsement June 1944; declassified 1960)
- Population
- LST-353 crew and embarked Army troops; West Loch berth population, 21 May 1944
- Limitations
- Secondary account (professional naval press) reporting the official record - not itself the court of inquiry transcript, which is held at NARA/NHHC collections per the author. Casualty aggregate and causal findings consistent with NPS HABS HI-222 and official-history references. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-06
-
[8]San Diego Union-Tribune, 'Navy recalls bravery at WWII's West Loch Disaster' (19 May 2009, 65th-anniversary coverage); Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 'West Loch disaster 80 years ago prompted military reforms' (22 May 2024) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- SDUT 2009 article body; Star-Advertiser 2024 article body incl. printed correction
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Anniversary press documenting the loss site, eyewitness/board-of-inquiry testimony, and a wreck-identity correction relevant to this hull. SDUT 2009 (drawing on 'dozens of decades-old military documents' and board-of-inquiry testimony): about 100 enlisted men and one officer of the Army's 29th Chemical Decontamination Company - a nearly all-Black unit with no ordnance-handling training - backed trucks onto LST-353, raised them on the elevator, and slid boxes of mortar ammunition down a chute from LCT-963 into truckbeds; eyewitnesses (Tech 5 Caldwell, Pvt. Cleveland, Tech 5 Morgan) described the first explosion at the elevator; LST-353 'ended up across the channel from the ammunition depot dock'; more than a third of the day's dead belonged to the 29th; 44 sets of unidentified remains lie in 36 Punchbowl graves re-marked 'Unknown, West Loch Disaster, May 21, 1944.' WRECK-IDENTITY CONFLICT documented: SDUT's own 2009 body text says the visible rusted bow is LST-353's, while its own AP photo caption, the NPS HABS HI-222 record, and the Star-Advertiser's printed correction identify the surviving hulk as LST-480 - 'the last to remain in place' - expressly correcting earlier reports that identified it as LST-353.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2009/2024 coverage of 1944 event
- Population
- 29th Chemical Decontamination Company (Army stevedores); LST-353 crew, May 1944
- Limitations
- News-anniversary sourcing; the Union-Tribune URL verified live 2026-10-02 while the Star-Advertiser URL returned 403 to automated fetch (content confirmed via search-index text; flagged). Neither source is an official record; per-ship casualty breakdown for LST-353's own crew is not given in any located source (the 29th Decontamination Co. share is reported, not the ship's). SDUT 'nine of the landing ships were destroyed' reconciles to six LSTs plus three landing craft. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-07
-
[9]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-011, 15 April 1945), LST design table and roster (shipscribe.com scan; URL migrated from /styles/usnaux/sdb/ path verified by 2026-09-16 class session - new live URL verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB-1945 v2 LST design table (characteristics) + LST roster line 'LST353'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Official BuShips class data for this hull's type: LST-1-group tank landing ship - 328 ft oa, 50 ft beam, 11.6 kt, two GM 12-567A diesels ~1,700 shp with geared drive (diesel plant, no boilers; class accommodation 13 officers/~106 enlisted). Era inference: a mid-1942 naval-built diesel LST carried era-standard applications - diesel exhaust lagging, gaskets and valve packing, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings, bulkhead/accommodation insulation, winch/crane brake linings, and electrical insulation - manufactured in the period when asbestos was reserved for shipbuilding. The roster section lists LST-353 among built hulls.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Construction trades at Charleston Navy Yard (1942); crew (1942-44); salvage personnel (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation only - the BuShips table does not name LST-353's materials and the roster's loss annotations are OCR-scrambled in the scan; no ship-specific insulation schedule exists for this hull. Establishes no quantity, no manufacturer, no exposure for any individual. Diesel plant means no boiler/steam-line lagging pathway.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-08
-
[10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- 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 existence (built mid-1942, destroyed May 1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; Navy asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; 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, same standing defect as BATCH-01/BATCH-98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-09
-
[11]NHHC-derived biographical entry and Medal of Honor citation for BM2 Owen F. P. Hammerberg (from official publication 'Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy,' p. 130), via HyperWar/ibiblio transcription (verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio HyperWar Online Library, 'US People - Hammerberg, Owen F.P.' (citation text; NH 101647 halftone caption)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documents hands-on salvage work inside the sunken West Loch wrecks after this hull's loss: on 17 February 1945 BM2 Hammerberg, Pacific Fleet Salvage Force, died effecting the rescue of two fellow divers 'trapped in a cave-in of steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud' at West Loch - posthumous Medal of Honor, the only Navy diver MoH of WWII.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- February 1945
- Population
- Pacific Fleet Salvage Force divers, West Loch (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Context only: the citation does not identify which sunken LST the divers were under (LST-353 sank in ~30 ft of water near T-9 per USNI; the hull worked here is unidentified). Establishes that salvage divers tunneled under West Loch LST wreckage in 1944-45 - the salvage-worker population - not that it was this hull. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-10
-
[12]Batch-6892 search ledger (this record): DANFS via archived NHHC capture; NavSource 10/16/160353 (live); LST Flotilla Five war diary scan; NARA catalog ship's war diaries/action reports; NPS HABS HI-222; USNI court-of-inquiry account; anniversary press; BuShips SDB-1945 v2; GAO HRD-80-2 (blocked); CourtListener sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-353-01 through sl-uss-lst-353-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LST-353 was found in the sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion sweeps 'LST-353' and 'USS LST-353' returned zero hits and docket sweep 'USS LST-353' returned zero hits on 2026-10-02; remaining variant/docket sweeps were throttled by the fleet pacing budget and are logged as blocked, not negative. STRUCTURAL POINT: the hull was destroyed by explosion/fire and scuttled offshore in 1944, so no postwar survey, abatement, museum, or donation-condition record can exist for this vessel - the absence of modern documentation is expected, not merely unlocated.
- 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 during her 1942-44 service - era inference supports the standard wartime applications. Deck logs (RG 24) and the full May-1944 flotilla/district records are undigitized leads; the court of inquiry transcript itself (NARA/NHHC collections) was not directly retrieved. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-353-11