Evidence
4 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-4).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-396' (NHHC page archived 2024-12-14; live NHHC URL returned 404 on 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, paragraphs 1-3
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-396 was laid down 28 September 1942 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched 23 November 1942, sponsored by Miss Ann Hathaway Callis; and commissioned 23 December 1942, Lt. E. W. White in command. DANFS assigns her to the Asiatic-Pacific theater's New Georgia Group operation, including the New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation in July 1943 and Vella Lavella occupation in August 1943. She was sunk by accidental fire and explosion off the Solomon Islands on 18 August 1943, struck from the Navy list 3 September 1943, and earned one battle star and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked personnel during 1942-1943 service
- Limitations
- Ship-specific authoritative history, but it contains no asbestos, insulation, hazardous-material, crew-exposure, or product-identification information. The live NHHC page was unavailable at research time; this is explicitly an archived capture of the official page, not a live citation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-396-lst396-01
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[2]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of the U.S. Navy at the National Archives, by Ship Number [other_primary]
- Locator
- Special List 44 PDF, LST-396 entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's logbook finding aid lists LST-396 logbooks for 1 June 1943 through 31 July 1943. The listing identifies a hull-specific primary-record series for the ship's final operational period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-06-01 to 1943-07-31 (listed logbook coverage)
- Limitations
- The finding aid establishes record availability, not the content of the logbooks. The logbooks were not retrieved or reviewed in this research pass and therefore do not establish any asbestos condition, repair, cargo, exposure, or loss detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-396-lst396-02
-
[3]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373; DOI metadata
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed occupational-history literature addresses asbestos policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding, the period in which LST-396 was built. It supplies era context for research prioritization only; no hull-specific asbestos material is identified for LST-396.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- World War II shipbuilding; applied here only to 1942 construction context
- Population
- World War II shipbuilding workforce (era context; not a hull-specific cohort)
- Limitations
- Class/era context only. The article does not name LST-396, Newport News Shipbuilding, an LST-1-class material specification, or a product installed aboard this hull; it cannot support a finding that asbestos was present aboard LST-396. The DOI resolved to a live publisher URL that returned automated-access HTTP 403, so metadata and bibliographic details were verified through live indexed publisher results; full text was not reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-396-lst396-03
-
[4]Batch-6937 research ledger: NHHC DANFS (live and archived), NARA Special List 44, Naval Vessel Register, NavSource archival index, Firecrawl search service, and authenticated CourtListener helper [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-396-lst396-01 through sl-uss-lst-396-lst396-06
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, or materials inventory was located in the completed non-CourtListener sources searched. One authenticated CourtListener exact-hull docket query for 'LST-396' returned zero results; the required full exact-name and hull-number opinion/docket sweep was not completed because the fleet helper throttled the exact-name opinion request before results were returned.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02 research sweep
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard the vessel and does not establish or defeat exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. This is a scoped negative research finding, not a finding that the hull was asbestos-free. The one CourtListener zero-result query is not a completed litigation sweep; remaining CourtListener queries are an explicit gap.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-396-lst396-04