Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 673-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-448-lst448-pkt-673-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS (NHHC), LST-448 - build, campaign, loss, and awards entry (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-448 entry (published 2015-08-03; entry dated 2005-10-25)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-448 was laid down 10 July 1942 at Vancouver, Wash., by Kaiser, Inc.; launched 26 September 1942; commissioned 23 December 1942. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: consolidation of the southern Solomons (June 1943) and the Vella Lavella occupation (October 1943). 'The tank landing ship was damaged by Japanese dive bombers off Vella Lavella, Solomons, on 1 October, suffering some casualties among her embarked New Zealand troops. The LST was taken under tow by tug Bobolink but sank while underway on 5 October south of Vella Lavella. She was struck from the Navy list on 26 October 1943.' Earned two battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Crew (1942-43); embarked New Zealand troops (Oct 1943)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history; contains no asbestos or material content. DANFS gives no casualty count and does not name the firing detail; the BuShips damage report (ev-03) is the fuller primary account.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-448 - LST-1 class design specifications, award display, loss summary, and photo captions incl. NARA-referenced BuShips damage report image and Maravari memorial-plaque photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160448.htm header, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions 1016044801-1016044806
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline and spec block for this hull: laid down 10 July 1942 at Kaiser, Inc., Vancouver, WA; launched 26 September 1942; commissioned 23 December 1942. Campaigns: consolidation of the southern Solomons (June 1943); New Georgia Group operation - Vella Lavella occupation (1 October 1943). Bombed 1 October off Vella Lavella; sunk 5 October 1943 off the Solomon Islands while under tow by USS Bobolink (AT-131); struck from the Naval Register 26 October 1943. Earned Navy Unit Commendation and two battle stars; award display includes Combat Action Ribbon (1 October 1943) and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2). Specs: displacement 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, troop accommodations 16 officers + 147 enlisted; propulsion two General Motors 12-567A 900-hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, three diesel-driven 100 kW ship's-service generators, two propellers, 1,700 shp, twin rudders - a diesel plant with no boilers. Photo captions document LST-448 beached at Kissing Point, Townsville, Australia (May-July 1943, from the 20th Naval Construction Battalion cruise log, NARA), a reproduced page of BuShips damage report 94721 for this hull (NARA identifier 78672524), and memorial plaques at Maravari, Vella Lavella commemorating New Zealand soldiers and crew members lost in the 1 October 1943 bombing.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- Crew (1942-43); embarked NZ troops; Kaiser Vancouver construction trades (1942)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates corroborate DANFS exactly; the reproduced BuShips report page was independently verified this session against NARA NAID 78672524 (ev-03). Plaque captions report ~15 New Zealand soldiers lost; casualty counts differ across sources (see ev-08 correction row). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, War Damage Report No. 46: 'LST Report of Torpedo, Projectile, Bomb and Fire Damage Including Losses in Action to 12/7/43' - LST-448 section, report pages 53-54 + Plate X (NARA NAID 78672524, 112-image digitized file unit; LST-448 pages retrieved and read via NARA IIIF image service, 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog.archives.gov/id/78672524, file-unit images for report pp. 53-54 + Plate X (IIIF frames ~0752-0754 in the digitized sequence); report contents page maps 'LST 448 - Plate X - Page 53 - Bomb - Solomon Islands - 10/1/43 - Sunk'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary Navy engineering record of the loss of this hull. On 1 October 1943 LST-448 was beached at Vella Lavella unloading a cargo of ammunition and gasoline when attacked at 0936 by three enemy planes; she took three direct bomb hits and one near miss, and a fourth hit during a second attack later in the day. Bomb No. 1 passed through the 3-inch gun platform and main deck and detonated in the crew's quarters, compartment C-205-EL, starting a fire there and in the commissary store room. Bombs Nos. 2 and 3 detonated at the main deck (cargo hatch and frame 16 port), and their detonations ignited the gasoline/ammunition cargo - within minutes the fire engulfed the entire tank deck. Fragments penetrated the auxiliary engine room and ruptured the shell; machinery spaces flooded; the ship lost all power and fire-main pressure and was abandoned at 0950. At 1130 LST-485 came alongside with seven hose lines and portable gasoline-driven pumps; a second bombing attack renewed the fire via bomb No. 4 (main deck, frame 21 starboard), which ruptured diesel oil tank A-418-F, and the ship was abandoned a second time. Salvage parties returned 2-3 October and extinguished the fire; on the morning of 5 October Bobolink (AT-131) pulled LST-448 free and took her in tow south toward Carter City, but progressive flooding continued and she sank while in tow late that afternoon, going down by the stern. The report's table of contents records disposition 'Sunk' and notes that of the LSTs damaged by enemy action up to 7 December 1943, LST-448 'was the only one actually to have been lost at sea.' Damage-plate caption: fire started by hits 2 and 4 'gutted ship'; bulkheads and decks aft of frame 26 'severely distorted by fire and torn by fragments.' The section is based on the C.O. LST-448 action report (LST448/A16-3 of 9 October 1943) and the Comdr. LST Group 15, Flot. 5 action report (Serial 0015 of 12 October 1943).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-10-01 to 1943-10-05 (report published 1943-12-07)
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers / ~104 enlisted design complement); embarked New Zealand troops; salvage working parties 2-5 Oct 1943
- Limitations
- Authoritative primary record of the hull's loss - full LST-448 section images (report pp. 53-54 and Plate X, file-unit images ~61-63) retrieved and read directly this session. It documents structural/fire damage only: no asbestos or insulation-material statement, no casualty count. Confirms the hull burned internally (crew's quarters, commissary stores, tank deck gutted by fire) and went to the bottom - relevant context for any material-fate inference, but not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-03
-
[5]Gillespie, Oliver A., The Pacific (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45, Historical Publications Branch, Wellington, 1952) - Vella Lavella chapter, 1 October 1943 beach attack passage and footnote (NZETC digital edition; text verified against the 22battalion.org.nz PDF mirror of the NZETC edition) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Gillespie, The Pacific, Vella Lavella chapter (NZETC edition), passage on the 25 September and 1 October beach attacks and footnote on 209 Light Anti-Aircraft Battery casualties
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The New Zealand official history documents the 1 October 1943 attack in which this hull was fatally damaged: 'Two of the flights were caught on the beach by Japanese aircraft - the first on 25 September when seventeen Americans were killed, and another on 1 October when low-flying bombers came out of the sun and caught two landing craft while they were unloading.' The associated footnote records: 'Fifty-two men were killed and many wounded in this attack. The first bomb scored a direct hit on one of 209 Light Anti-Aircraft Battery's guns, killing Sergeant M. J. Healy, of M Troop, and fifteen of his detachment, and destroying the LST by fire.' The BuShips damage report's contents table shows two LSTs bombed at Vella Lavella/Solomon Islands on 1 October 1943 - LST-334 (returned to service) and LST-448 (sunk) - matching the 'two landing craft' of the NZ account; the LST 'destroyed by fire' is this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-10-01
- Population
- NZ 209 Light Anti-Aircraft Battery (M Troop) and other embarked/beach personnel; crews of both unloading craft; US personnel (17 Americans killed in the earlier 25 Sep attack per the same passage)
- Limitations
- Official NZ history corroborates the attack and supplies casualty figures (52 killed total in the attack; 15 New Zealanders of 209 LAA Battery at one gun), but does not print the hull number - the identification of the destroyed LST as LST-448 is by cross-reference to the BuShips report, which is sound but is inference at the source level. '52 killed' covers both struck craft and the beach party, not LST-448 alone. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan via pubs index; URL verified live 2026-10-02 - the earlier styles/usnaux path now 404s) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB-1945 v2, LST design table and roster section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this diesel-powered LST-1-group hull (BuShips design group LST-1 through LST-490): the class design carries no boilers - propulsion is 2x GM 12-567A diesels (900 hp each, 1,700 shp, twin screws via Falk reduction gears) with diesel-driven ship's-service generators. Asbestos-relevant applications aboard this type in 1942 construction were therefore concentrated in diesel-engine exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room and machinery-space thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, winch/windlass brake linings, valve packing and flange gaskets, and electrical insulation - not boiler or steam-line lagging.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (construction era); design table as of 1945
- Population
- Kaiser Vancouver construction trades (1942); ship's company (1942-43)
- Limitations
- Class/design inference only: the SDB-1945 v2 LST table establishes the machinery fit for the design group but names no insulation materials; era construction practice supplies the application list. No hull-specific material schedule, insulation survey, or contractor record located for LST-448. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; establishes no individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-05
-
[7]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) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- 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 emergency-construction program under which this Maritime Commission-contract hull (MC hull 968) was built at Kaiser Vancouver in 1942, and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in American yards.
- 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, this yard, or LSTs specifically and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-06
-
[8]Washington State Dept. of Ecology, cleanup-site record: 'Kaiser Shipyard Debris Pile,' Vancouver, Clark County, WA (Facility Site ID 15550, Cleanup Site ID 1831) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ecology cleanup site page csid=1831 - History and Contaminants sections (7 listed contaminants; none asbestos)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- State environmental record for this hull's builder yard: debris and material from Kaiser Vancouver shipyard operations was used as fill at a 38.4-acre Vancouver site between 1940-1946, including lumber, metal, glass, slag, firebrick, and similar debris. Documented site contaminants are metals (incl. lead) and petroleum products; the record does not list asbestos. The yard itself was developed beginning 1942 for construction of cargo and combatant auxiliaries for the Pacific war; this hull was built there the same year.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940-1946 (deposition window); cleanup reviews through 2024
- Population
- Kaiser Vancouver workforce (~30,000+ at early-1943 peak per NPS); later site occupants
- Limitations
- Yard-level environmental record only - documents that shipyard debris existed and was contaminated (metals/petroleum), but the contaminant list contains NO asbestos entry; this is context for the builder yard, not an asbestos finding for the yard and certainly not for this hull. Supports no exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated, fleet-paced helper): all four executed queries returned count=0 on 2026-10-02 - "LST-448" opinions, "USS LST-448" opinions, "LST 448" opinions, "LST-448" dockets (type=r) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-448-06 and sl-uss-lst-448-07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No CourtListener opinion or docket hits for this hull: authenticated API v4 searches on 2026-10-02 returned 0 results for "LST-448" (type=o), "USS LST-448" (type=o), "LST 448" (type=o), and "LST-448" (type=r dockets, document_count=0). No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Clean negative across the executed name/hull variants in both opinion and docket indexes. A 1943 combat loss with a ~10-month service life is an unlikely litigation subject; still, absence of located dockets does not establish that no claim was ever filed (filings not reaching a published opinion or RECAP-indexed docket would not surface), and nothing here bears on any individual's exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-08
-
[10]Batch-6950 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource 160448; NARA NAID 78672524 (full LST-448 section retrieved); NZETC Gillespie The Pacific; shipbuildinghistory Kaiser Vancouver roster; NPS Kaiser Vancouver article; WA Ecology csid 1831; NVR (out of coverage window); CourtListener (4 queries, all clean 0-hit negatives); secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-448-01 through sl-uss-lst-448-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, material schedule, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure exists or could exist postwar - the hull burned, was gutted by fire (BuShips report: 'FIRE STARTED BY HITS 2 AND 4 GUTTED SHIP'), and sank in Solomon Islands waters on 5 October 1943. No docketed case or opinion naming LST-448 was located (CourtListener API v4: 'LST-448', 'USS LST-448', 'LST 448' opinions and 'LST-448' dockets all returned 0 hits, 2026-10-02). The only 'asbestos aboard' material found in web sweeps is law-firm marketing listicle content asserting asbestos on generic LST pages 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 - a 1942 diesel LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull's wartime destruction means no survey was ever possible. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. The asbestos content of the wreck site (an engine-room insulation residue question) is undocumented and likely unrecoverable.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-09
-
[11]Archival leads named inside the primary damage report itself: C.O. LST-448 action report, letter LST448/A16-3 of 9 October 1943; Comdr. LST Group 15, Flotilla 5 action report, LSTGR15/A16-3 Serial 0015 of 12 October 1943 (LST Task Group report); plus standard holdings - RG 24 deck logs (Dec 1942 - Oct 1943, digitization status unconfirmed), RG 38 war diaries [other_primary]
- Locator
- Action-report references cited in BuShips War Damage Report No. 46, LST-448 section header (report p. 53, NAID 78672524); NARA RG 24 deck-log guidance at https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The BuShips damage report's LST-448 section cites two action reports that remain the richest untapped primary sources for this hull: (a) the commanding officer's action report of 9 October 1943, and (b) the LST Task Group commander's report of 12 October 1943 - both likely held in NARA WWII action-report series. RG 24 logbooks should hold the ship's deck logs for her entire commissioned life (23 December 1942 - 5 October 1943); whether the LST-448 logs are digitized was not confirmed (NARA catalog loose-text search is too imprecise to resolve hull-number records; the 1941-1959 deck-log digitization program is ongoing). Neither source is expected to contain asbestos statements, but the action reports may carry crew/casualty particulars and outfitting details.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-relevant documents is unknown and unlikely. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-10
-
[12]Correction / discrepancy record: uboat.net warship entry for LST-448 ('Bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft west of Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands in position 07o45'S, 156o30'E on 1 October 1943'); Navy Memorial Navy Log entry ('Nineteen of her men perished in the attack'); NavSource memorial-plaque captions (~15 New Zealand soldiers); Wikipedia USS LST-448 (DANFS-consistent dates; MC hull 968, yard no. 152) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/11509.html; navylog.navymemorial.org/lst-448; NavSource 160448 photo captions; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_LST-448; shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/kvancouver.htm; Wilson Strait wreck-vicinity claim from a TracesOfWar search snippet (tracesofwar.com page blocked automated fetch, HTTP 403 - snippet-only attribution, unverified)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS: (a) uboat.net compresses the loss into a single event - 'bombed and sunk... on 1 October 1943' at position 07o45'S, 156o30'E. The BuShips report and DANFS establish two distinct events: bombed/beached at Vella Lavella on 1 October; sank under tow on 5 October south of Vella Lavella. The uboat position is therefore the bombing-area position, not necessarily the sinking position; the sinking position is not documented in located sources (secondary dive-site material places the wreck in the Wilson Strait vicinity, consistent with a tow south toward Carter City). (b) Casualty figures differ by source and by population counted: NZ official history - 52 killed in the 1 October beach attack overall (both struck craft + beach), incl. 15 New Zealanders of 209 LAA Battery; Navy Memorial Navy Log - 'nineteen of her men perished' (US ship's company); NavSource plaque caption - 15 NZ soldiers. DANFS says only 'some casualties.' These are different populations, not necessarily conflicting; no consolidated official casualty figure located. (c) Wikipedia/shipbuildinghistory supply MC hull 968 and Kaiser yard no. 152 - secondary roster data consistent with DANFS build dates; carried as identifiers with secondary-sourcing flagged.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-10-01 to 1943-10-05
- Population
- NZ 209 LAA Battery detachment; ship's company
- Limitations
- Resolves secondary-source compressions and figure variants; does not change the primary timeline (DANFS + BuShips report control). Casualty figures are attributed by population and remain unreconciled - flagged in gaps rather than merged. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-448-11