Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 674-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-454-lst454-pkt-674-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-454 - construction, commissioning, Asiatic-Pacific campaign list, decommissioning, strike, disposal, eight battle stars (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl; history.navy.mil is UA-gated - bare curl returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-454 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 10 July 1942 at Vancouver, Wash., by Kaiser, Inc.; launched 14 October 1942; commissioned 26 January 1943, 'Lt. E. R. Swantpn, USNR' in command (sic - OCR-era typo for Swanton). Asiatic-Pacific operations: Eastern New Guinea (Lae and Finschhafen occupations, September 1943; Saidor occupation, January 1944); Admiralty Islands landings (February-March 1944); Hollandia operation (April 1944); Western New Guinea (Biak Island operation, May-June 1944; Morotai landing, September 1944); Leyte landings (October-November 1944); Lingayen Gulf landings (January 1945); Visayan Island landings (March-April 1945); Balikpapan operation (June-July 1945). Decommissioned 25 March 1946; struck from the Navy list 1 May 1946; sold 3 October 1947 to Patapsco Scrap Corp., Baltimore, Md., and subsequently scrapped. Eight battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Construction trades (Vancouver, 1942); ship's company and embarked troops (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. Decommissioning location not stated ('returned to the United States'); no yard, repair, or conversion content - the ship's own war history (ev-03) is the source for fitting-out detail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-454 (10/16/160454.htm, verified live HTTP 200) - designation timeline, campaign table with dates, spec block, commanding-officer list, awards, disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160454.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, CO table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-1-class tank landing ship laid down 10 July 1942 at Kaiser Shipyard, Vancouver WA; launched 15 October 1942 (one day after DANFS); commissioned USS LST-454 25 January 1943 at Portland, OR, LT. Edward R. Swanton USNR in command (one day before DANFS). Campaign dates: Lae 4-5 Sep 1943; Finschhafen 22-23 Sep 1943; Saidor 2-3 and 6-9 Jan 1944; Admiralty Islands 29 Feb-4 Mar and 11-15 Mar 1944; Hollandia 21-26 Apr 1944; Biak 28-31 May, 3-7 and 12-16 Jun 1944; Morotai 15 Sep 1944; Leyte 23 Oct-4 Nov and 10-29 Nov 1944; Lingayen Gulf 4-18 Jan 1945; Visayan Islands 26 Mar, 2-4 and 9-10 Apr 1945; Balikpapan 26 Jun-4 Jul 1945. Decommissioned 25 March 1946; struck 1 May 1946; sold 3 October 1947 to Patapsco Scrap Co., Baltimore MD. Eight battle stars; Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and Philippine Liberation Medal per awards block. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa x 50 ft; 11.6 kt trial; endurance 24,000 mi at 9 kt; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk reduction gear, 3 x 100 kW 230 V DC generators, 2 shafts 1,700 shp; call sign NFGS. CO list: LT Swanton USNR (25 Jan 1943-1 Jun 1944); LT T.B. Horsley USNR (1 Jun-Dec 1944); LCDR D.J. Morrison USNR (Dec 1944-Dec 1945); LTjg R.R. Neill USNR (Dec 1945-25 Mar 1946). Photos document the ship at Saidor (2 Jan 1944, Time-Life/Myron Davis), the Lingayen beachhead with LST-452/456/22 (9 Jan 1945, NARA 205585642 / USCG 26-G-3859), Morotai Blue Beach embarking Australian 7th Division for Oboe 2 (22 Jun 1945, Australian War Memorial), and off Balikpapan.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (~117) plus embarked troops (1943-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - dates cross-check against DANFS and the NARA ship-file war history except the launch/commission one-day variants (see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-02
-
[4]NARA NAID 77707249, 'USS LST-454 - War History' (serial 322-45, 16 November 1945, signed D.J. Morrison, LCDR USNR; RG 38, World War II War Diaries/Other Operational Records and Histories; 6 images; digitized via Fold3, Roll A2107) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 77707249, images 0142-0147 (downloaded and OCR-read 2026-10-02); landing list on image 0144
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own war history (all 6 images downloaded and OCR-read this session) documents: commissioned 'January 25th, at Portland, Oregon' (matching NavSource over DANFS's 26 January); 'fitting out at Astoria' and shakedown to San Diego; loaded at San Francisco; 'finally sailed for the combat zone in the Pacific theatre on March 11, 1943'; served with the SEVENTH Fleet as a member of LST Flotilla SEVEN, Group TWENTY; thirteen assault landings 'with no personnel casualties or damage to the ship'; a landing list adding Woodlark Islands (30 June 1943) and Cape Gloucester, N.B. (26 December 1943) - both absent from the DANFS campaign list - and Yokohoma [sic], Japan (15 September 1945, marked as a post-surrender landing); and an enemy-contact log (Cape Gloucester dive bomber; Admiralty shore bombardment - 'the only LST that has taken part in every landing, assault or otherwise in the South West Pacific' as of 2 March 1944; Morotai bomb near-miss; Leyte torpedo-plane attack 23 November 1944; midget-submarine attack enroute to Lingayen Gulf 5 January 1945, claimed plane kill enroute 7 January, mortar fire at Lingayen 10 January; Cebu midget submarine 26 March 1945; Balikpapan mortar fire 1 July 1945). CO list matches NavSource through Morrison.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-01 to 1945-11
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced document; OCR extraction is clean for narrative pages. Documents no battle damage and no stateside repair availability - consistent with continuous forward-area operations; does not itself mention materials or asbestos. The war history supports the 25 January commissioning date against DANFS's 26 January (conflict carried in gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-03
-
[5]History of LST Flotilla Seven, compiled by LTjg. Phineas Stevens, LST Flotilla Seven (period unit history; NavSource-hosted PDF, contributed by Guy G. Guthridge) [other_primary]
- Locator
- 160018a.pdf, organization section and 1943-45 campaign narrative; LST-454 named at least 12 times
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The flotilla history names LST-454 among the original ships assigned to LST Flotilla SEVEN (organized at Panama City, Florida, February 1943; CDR Richard M. Scruggs USN commanding Group TWENTY) and documents: 'LSTs 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, and 459 also departed from the United States for Australia in March 1943' (consistent with the war history's 11 March 1943 departure); LST-454 at Cape Cretin June-July 1944 on an amphibious-training assignment with LST-474; departure from Humboldt Bay 19 December 1944 to load at Aitape for the Lingayen landings; and arrival at Morotai from Cairns, Australia, 12 June 1945 to stage for Balikpapan.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Ship's company; Flotilla SEVEN staff
- Limitations
- Period-compiled unit history hosted on a volunteer archive (NavSource); provenance is period (LTjg. Stevens, Flotilla SEVEN staff) but the PDF is not itself an archival catalog object - content treated as corroborating unit-level documentation, not a Navy registry. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); NavSource LST-454 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160454.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST-1 design group ran a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, 900 hp each, 1,700 shp total, Falk reduction gear, twin screws - BuShips design table and this hull's NavSource spec block) with no boilers, so the steam-plant lagging pathway of boiler vessels does not apply. Asbestos-relevant applications aboard a 1942 diesel landing ship of this type were the era-standard set - diesel-exhaust and machinery-space lagging, gaskets and packing, accommodation thermal insulation, deck coverings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Kaiser Vancouver construction trades (1942); fitting-out workforce (Astoria, 1943); ship's company/embarked troops (1943-46); 1947-48 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or yard work package was located for LST-454. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution. SDB 1945 v2 link verified live 2026-10-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-05
-
[7]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, HTTP 403)
- 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 construction (1942), her wartime Pacific service, and her 1947 disposal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, reconfirmed 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-06
-
[8]Washington State Department of Ecology, cleanup site 'Kaiser Shipyard Debris Pile' (csid 1831; Facility Site ID 15550 and associated parcels), Vancouver, Clark County [other_primary]
- Locator
- Site description and contaminant table sections; document index (RI/FS 2009, cleanup action plans, monitoring reports)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- WA Ecology documents a 38.4-acre cleanup site of wartime Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard fill debris (1940-1946) - the yard that built this hull. The state's site description lists debris of lumber, metal, glass, slag, firebrick and similar, and a contaminant table of metals, PCBs, petroleum products, solvents, and lead; a remedial investigation/feasibility study and cleanup action plan run 2009-2013 with capping, environmental covenants, and five-year periodic reviews through December 2024. Asbestos is not among the seven contaminant categories tabulated for the site.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940-1946 debris era; 2009-2024 cleanup
- Population
- Present-day site workers/visitors; context for wartime yard workforce
- Limitations
- Yard-environmental context only - documents the builder yard's wartime debris stream, not this hull's materials; the absence of asbestos from the site's contaminant table does not establish that no asbestos passed through the yard, and nothing here speaks to shipboard conditions.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-454-lst454-08 through -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-454" returned 0 in the opinion index and 0 in the docket index; "LST 454" asbestos in opinions returned 0. No case or docket naming this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes published opinions and RECAP dockets - state-court filings, unreported settlements, MDL-875 pleading-level vessel lists, and non-digitized dockets are outside coverage. A zero result means no located docketed case/opinion naming this hull, not proof none exists. The spaced-variant query completed after two waits on the fleet hourly pacing gate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-08
-
[10]Batch-6957 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + ship-file war history read in full + one war-diary file unit read; BuShips SDB 1945 v2; GAO product page; CourtListener API (opinion + docket); WA Ecology cleanup-site registry; Flotilla SEVEN unit history; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-454-lst454-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or qualifying case naming LST-454 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational (the ship's own war history and war diaries) and records no battle damage and no post-deployment stateside repair availability - no documented yard event aboard this hull inside the asbestos-use era beyond initial construction and fitting-out.
- 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 - construction at a wartime Kaiser yard sits squarely inside the Navy's asbestos-use era, and era-standard insulation was typical for the type. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-09
-
[11]NARA catalog, "LST-454" - 466 fuzzy-relevance file units; ship-titled units: war history NAID 77707249 plus 13 digitized war diaries covering 9/1-18/43 (NAID 78212130), 10/1-7/43 (136011080), 10/8-10/43 (135984044), 10/11-31/43 (135997751), and monthly diaries 1/44-9/44 (78288840, 78333493, 78390909, 78413937, 78463813, 78512988, 78551186, 78607108, 134370363); COM LST GR 20 and COM LST FLOT 7 parent-unit diaries also returned [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov "LST-454" result set (466 units, fuzzy ordering); NAID 135997751 images 0188-0209
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary archive coverage for this hull is digitized but incomplete: the 14 ship-titled file units surfaced cover the war history plus diaries for September 1943-September 1944 only. No ship-titled diaries were surfaced for February-August 1943 (fitting-out/deployment period), November-December 1943, or October 1944-March 1946 (Lingayen through decommissioning); the parent-unit COM LST GR 20 / COM LST FLOT 7 monthly diaries are digitized and are the coverage bridge. The October 11-31, 1943 diary file unit (NAID 135997751, 22 images) was downloaded and OCR-read this session - handwritten daily position pages documenting convoy shuttle runs off the New Guinea coast (Cape Sudest, Oro Bay, Buna, Lae, Goodenough area), with no repair or yard events. WWII deck logs proper for this hull are not in the digitized deck-log program checked.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (1943-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: unsurfaced ship-titled diaries may exist on unit microfilm rolls not indexed under the ship name; the October 1943 diary is handwritten and OCR extraction is rough, so minor entries may have been missed; RG 181 yard work-package records (Kaiser Vancouver, Astoria fitting-out) are an open archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-10
-
[12]Oregon Historical Society Digital Collections - The Bo's'n's Whistle (Kaiser Vancouver yard newspaper), Oregon Shipyard Edition, Vol. 4 No. 16, catalog description referencing 'Vancouver Shipyard built Tank Landing Ship, the USS LST 454, "Slats"' [other_primary]
- Locator
- OHS Digital Collections, The Bo's'n's Whistle Oregon Shipyard Edition v4n16 record (bot-gated)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Oregon Historical Society's digital collection indexes a wartime Kaiser-yard newspaper article on LST-454 under the name 'Slats' - contemporaneous yard documentation of this hull's construction. The OHS site is bot-gated; the catalog description was obtained via search indexing only and the article text was not read.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942
- Population
- Kaiser Vancouver yard workforce (1942)
- Limitations
- Access-limited lead: digitalcollections.ohs.org returns a browser-verification interstitial to automated fetch (reconfirmed 2026-10-02); the nickname 'Slats' and any construction detail rest on the catalog description, not the article text - do not treat as verified until the issue is read.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-454-lst454-11