Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]DANFS, LST-38 (NHHC) - construction, sponsor, commissioning, campaign list, LST(H)-38 redesignation, decommissioning, strike, sale, battle stars [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-38 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-38 was laid down 14 April 1943 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched 27 July 1943, sponsored by Miss Bertha Karpinski; commissioned 3 September 1943. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (January-February 1944), Admiralty Islands landings (March-April 1944), Hollandia operation (April 1944), capture and occupation of Guam (July 1944). Redesignated LST(H)-38 on 15 September 1945; occupation duty in the Far East until mid-November 1945; decommissioned 26 March 1946; struck from the Navy list 1 May 1946; sold 5 December 1947 to Ships and Power Equipment Co., Barber, N.J., and subsequently scrapped. Earned four battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Vessel history only - the DANFS entry contains no asbestos, material, or survey information and carries no spec block for this hull. Page verified live 2026-10-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-01
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST(H)-38 ex-USS LST-38 (archive 10/16/160038) - organization assignments, campaign dates, specifications, commanding officers, NARA-captioned photography [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource archive 10/16/160038, full page including specifications block and commanding officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents: LST Flotilla Thirteen / LST Group Thirty-Nine / LST Division Seventy-Eight assignments; campaign dates (Kwajalein-Majuro 31 Jan-6 Feb 1944; Admiralty Islands 28 Mar-1 Apr 1944; Hollandia 21-27 Apr 1944; Guam 21-25 Jul 1944); LST(H)-38 redesignation 15 September 1945; occupation service 23 September-30 November 1945; decommissioned 26 March 1946; struck 1 May 1946; sold for scrapping 5 December 1947. Class specifications aboard the page: two General Motors 12-567A 900hp diesel engines, single Falk main reduction gear, two propellers (1,700 shp) - a diesel plant with no boilers. Photographic record includes NARA RG 111 photo SC 259917 (LST-38 beached at Finschhaven, New Guinea, April 1944, with LST-122, LST-221, LST-456) and a six-officer commanding-officer roster.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-maintained archival transcription site, used here for organization/campaign detail, specifications, and photographic captions; its laid-down date conflicts with DANFS (see ev-uss-lst-38-03). No asbestos or material content. Page verified live 2026-10-02 on navsource.net (navsource.org is dead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-02
-
[3]Laid-down date cross-check: NavSource archive 10/16/160038 vs DANFS LST-38 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource header block; DANFS LST-38 entry, first paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Laid-down date conflict: NavSource states 'Laid down, 12 May 1943, at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA'; DANFS states 'laid down on 14 April 1943 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.' The two sources also locate the yard differently (Neville Island vs Pittsburgh - the Dravo Neville Island yard is in the Pittsburgh area, so the location difference is descriptive; the date difference is a genuine conflict). DANFS is carried as the headline value (1943-04-14); the conflict is logged in gaps.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943
- Limitations
- Unresolved one-month conflict between the two authoritative references; no primary keel-laying document located to arbitrate. Does not affect any asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-03
-
[4]Era inference built on: NavSource LST-1-class specification block carried on the LST-38 page (2x GM 12-567A diesels, no boilers) and the LST-1 class profile (class-f/lst-1-class.class.json, class notes; BuShips SD-1945 v2 design grouping) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; class-f/lst-1-class.class.json class_notes and era-application row
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a 1943 diesel-powered LST-1-class hull: with no boilers aboard, the steam-lagging pathway does not apply; asbestos-relevant applications for the type were GM diesel exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, machinery valve packing, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings. LST-38's wartime service as a standard LST and late-war LST(H) casualty-evacuation conversion is consistent with era-standard fitted insulation; the LST(H) conversion added interior medical spaces whose fit-out followed standard 1945 practice.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Dravo, Pittsburgh/Neville Island, 1943); ship's company; shipyard workers at any wartime availabilities
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-level asbestos record names LST-38; the class profile itself records that no member has a located ship-level asbestos record. Establishes no quantities, no fiber content, and no exposure for any individual. The LST(H)-38 conversion scope (what interior rework was actually done) is not documented in the sources searched.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-04
-
[5]In re: Dravo LLC-Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc., and Certain Affiliated Entities, Nos. 33 & 34 WAP 2024 (Pa. decided May 22, 2026) [court_record]
- Locator
- Majority opinion (Brobson, J.), Part I Factual Background and Part VI Conclusion; URL verified live 2026-10-02
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania records that beginning in at least the early 1990s plaintiffs sued Dravo Corporation (LST-38's builder, then a Pittsburgh-based heavy-industry company) alleging asbestos-related injuries, the claims 'typically ... based on allegations of exposure to asbestos during Dravo's operations from the 1940s through the 1980s'; hundreds of asbestos claimants asserted claims against Dravo by the July 13, 2020 claim bar date in Dravo's court-supervised LLC dissolution. The opinion itself is a successor-liability/veil-piercing disposition: the Court reversed the Superior Court and reinstated summary judgment for Carmeuse Lime, holding the LLC Act barred the untimely underlying claims. It establishes the builder's asbestos-litigation posture, not exposure facts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s-1980s (alleged exposure window); litigation through 2026
- Population
- Dravo operations workforce (company-wide, 1940s-1980s - includes but is not limited to shipbuilding)
- Limitations
- Builder/company-level context only - the opinion does not name the Neville Island yard, LST-38, or any vessel; the underlying Asbestos Claims were allegations resolved through a dissolution claims-bar process, not adjudicated exposure findings. Per litigation-stage discipline this row is classified down as pleading-era allegations and carries no ship-specific weight.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-05
-
[6]NARA: digitized USS LST-38 war diaries (multiple file units, e.g. NAIDs 78278065, 77532450, 135960009, 139998587) and muster rolls 'LST-38, 9/3/43-2/1/46' (NAID 126555385, RG 24 microfilm roll 4282) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search 'LST-38' (603 hits); muster-roll file unit NAID 126555385; catalog API verified 2026-10-02
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA catalog lists ship-specific primary records for LST-38: war diaries covering September 1943-August 1945 (digitized, online via the catalog) and muster rolls for the full commissioned period 3 September 1943-1 February 1946 (microfilm roll 4282; scanned under the NARA-Ancestry collaboration, unrestricted, but delivered through the Ancestry Institution portal). These are the operational and personnel records that would anchor any future crew-level exposure research for this hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1943-1946 (roster-level in muster rolls)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - war diaries and muster rolls document operations and personnel, not materials; they contain no asbestos information. Muster-roll images sit behind the Ancestry Institution access portal (not freely downloadable from NARA). Deck logs for this hull were not located in the digitized catalog during this session - logged as a gap.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-06
-
[7]Batch-6920 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; NavSource 10/16/160038; NARA catalog (war diaries, muster rolls); CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches; Pennsylvania state courts (builder litigation posture); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-38-01 through sl-uss-lst-38-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming USS LST-38 / LST(H)-38 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion searches for 'LST-38' and for 'USS LST-38' / 'LST(H)-38' / 'LSTH-38' returned zero; the docket search for 'LST-38' returned five hits, all name collisions in unrelated litigation (Whirlpool v. Nordson; JTR Enterprises v. Motivation; Harvard v. Zurich American; Mathis bankruptcy; Seroquel MDL-1769 garbled-OCR exhibit) - none is an asbestos case naming this vessel. The only asbestos content naming LSTs in secondary web results is law-firm marketing material, 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 - a 1943 wartime amphibious build is era-consistent with fitted asbestos applications (see ev-uss-lst-38-04). Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-38-07