Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 680-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-494-lst494-pkt-680-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-494' - live NHHC page [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC DANFS LST-494 full entry (live page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 10 August 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 11 October 1943, sponsored by Miss Marilyn Elise Stevens; commissioned 18 December 1943. Assigned to the European theater: invasion of Normandy June 1944; invasion of southern France August-September 1944. Then assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto June 1945. Post-war: occupation duty in the Far East until early March 1946; China service mid-March through late May 1946. Decommissioned 29 June 1946; struck from the Navy list 28 August 1946; sold 12 August 1948 to Bosey, Philippines. Earned three battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops
- Limitations
- Authoritative service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. Launch date here (11 October 1943) conflicts by one day with NavSource (10 October 1943) - logged in gaps; the shipbuildinghistory yard table agrees with DANFS at 11 October.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-494 - specification block, campaign table, CO roster, awards, and chronology [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net 10/16/160494 - spec block, campaign table, CO roster, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship. Laid down 10 August 1943 by Missouri [Valley] Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville IN; launched 10 October 1943 (conflicts with DANFS 11 October - logged in gaps); commissioned 18 December 1943, LT. Irving C. Noyes, USNR, in command. Campaign table with date bands: Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944; Invasion of Southern France 15 August-25 September 1944; Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation 29 April-24 June 1945. Pacific assignment chain: LST Flotilla Thirty-Five (CAPT. D.H. Johnston USN), LST Group One Hundred Five (CDR. E.P. Wilson USN), LST Division Two Hundred Ten. Post-war service bands: Navy Occupation Service Medal 2 September 1945-15 March 1946; China Service Medal (extended) 16 March-27 May 1946. Decommissioned 29 June 1946; struck from the Naval Register 28 August 1946; sold for scrapping to Bosey, P.I., 12 August 1948. Three battle stars. Awards block: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive); China Service Medal (extended); American Campaign Medal; Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (2); Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1); World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp). CO roster: LT. Noyes (18 Dec 1943-Mar 1945); LT. Frank Van Deren Coke (Mar-Sep 1945); LT. Paul R. McHail (Sep-Dec 1945); LTjg. W.R. Seidenfaden (Dec 1945-Mar 1946); LT. E.D. DeVane (Mar-29 Jun 1946). Specification block: 2 General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp each), single Falk main reduction gears, 3 diesel-drive 100 kW 230V D.C. ship's service generators, twin propellers 1,700 shp, 11.6 knots trial - a diesel plant with no boilers. Complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers / 147 enlisted; call sign NPHB. Photo captions document the ship underway off North Africa c.1944, beached at Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion 19 June 1944, and at anchor tending a torpedo net off Okinawa c.1945 (courtesy USS LST 494 Association / Robert Hurst).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops (16 officers/147 enlisted capacity)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap and more precise on campaign date bands and the CO roster. Launch date (10 October 1943) conflicts by one day with DANFS (11 October 1943) - logged in gaps. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-02
-
[4]Journal for the 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division - '7: April-June, 1944' (John D. Stromer and Paul W. Lunnie, compilers; Historical Text Archive transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- historicaltextarchive.org/books/22/chapter/7 - entries of 31 May, 1 June, 5 June, 6 June 1944
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A transcribed contemporaneous U.S. Army unit journal documents the embarked-troop population aboard this hull for the Normandy assault: 31 May 1944 - 'Troops aboard LST 494 at 1730 (All organic transportation 3rd Bn plus 43 EM Hq Co)'; 1 June - 'All Battalion transportation and equipment not being carried by personnel ... completely loaded aboard LST #494, U. S. Navy. The ship is anchored in Plymouth Bay, England'; 5 June - 'Moved out of Plymouth Bay at 0230 Hours. Sailed along south with France our destination'; 6 June - assigned landing beach 'Omaha Fox Green'; 'Co. Corley and the Bn. hit Omaha Easy Red Beach between 1800 and 1900 hrs. after vainly trying to get in on Fox Green'; 'Major Carvey with second command group left LST 494 at 2145 hrs. and landed on Omaha Easy Red Beach.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division embarked aboard (incl. attached 33rd Field Artillery Battery C and medical detachments); ship's company
- Limitations
- Third-party transcription of a contemporaneous U.S. Army unit journal; the underlying original (a 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment record) was not inspected against the NARA original this session. Documents the embarked-troop population aboard the hull - personnel presence only; contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-03
-
[5]USS LST 494 Association - 'Full History of LST 494 in the European Theater' by Mike Guarino, and 'History of LST 494' page (live site dead; Wayback Machine captures) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Wayback captures 20060503123036 (European_Theater) and 20030404093946 (History_of_LST_494) of lst494.freeyellow.com
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-association narrative records: departed Halifax 14 March 1944 in a convoy of 71 other ships carrying LCT-776 on her main deck; arrived Milford Haven 29 March; launched LCT-776 at Southampton 2 April. On D-Day ordered to land troops on the Fox Green sector of Omaha Beach; both launched LCVPs diverted to Easy Red under fire and beach congestion, and one LCVP struck a submerged mined obstacle about 100 yards offshore (troops and crew partly rescued). The ship was additionally designated a hospital ship (an Army doctor and 2 corpsmen, 2 Navy doctors, and 20+ pharmacist's mates aboard). Made 8 landings during the Normandy campaign (2 Omaha, 4 Utah, 2 Juno), landing 1,420 soldiers and 577 vehicles; aided 17 officers and 320 men of the scuttled Polish cruiser Dragon 10 July; passed a drydock hull-integrity inspection 14 July. Departed Naples 12 August and landed 45th Infantry Division troops 15 August. Returned to the United States December 1944 and was refitted to serve as a supply ship for small mine craft; command passed to LT. Frank Van Deren Coke; departed Seattle 15 April 1945 via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Guam to Tinian and Saipan, participating in the latter stages of the Okinawa Gunto operation in June 1945.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops; LCVP boat crews (4-man crews)
- Limitations
- Crew-association narrative (secondary compilation, not an official record); consistent with DANFS/NavSource campaign outline and independently consistent with the transcribed 26th Infantry unit journal on the Fox Green-to-Easy Red diversion. The claimed late-1944/early-1945 refit (conversion toward a supply ship for small mine craft) is a plausible disturbance point for era materials but is unverified; no asbestos or materials content in the source. The association's own summary page gives an internally different convoy detail (joined a 48-ship convoy 10 March 1944) versus the detailed page (departed Halifax 14 March in a convoy of 71 other ships) - unreconciled within the secondary narrative. Cited via Wayback capture - the live site is dead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-04
-
[6]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' Am J Ind Med 12(4):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am J Ind Med 12(4):359-373 (1987), DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700120402
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that WWII-era U.S. shipyards extensively installed asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and gaskets in naval construction - the era in which this hull was built (1943, at an inland Ohio River yard). For a diesel-powered LST with no boilers, the era-relevant applications concentrate in diesel exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and packing, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings; the claimed 1944-45 supply-ship refit and the post-1948 breakup are potential disturbance endpoints.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1943-1948
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers (Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, 1943); wartime crew; breakup-yard workers (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship plus class/type inference; the source does not name this hull or class and does not establish that any specific material aboard this ship contained asbestos. No ship-specific product is verified; the diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-05
-
[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. Neither policy could have applied to this hull - she was sold for scrapping on 12 August 1948, roughly 27 years before the first policy issued.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy documentation for era fleet context only; the policies post-date this hull's disposal entirely, so no hull-specific application was possible. Product page verified live 2026-10-02; the linked full-report PDF was not opened.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-06
-
[8]NARA RG 24 deck logs and WWII war diary for USS LST-494; the underlying 3rd Battalion/26th Infantry unit journal original behind the HTA transcription [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search unparseable; RG 24 logbooks remain the untapped primary record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Hull-specific primary records are expected at the National Archives: RG 24 deck logs and the ship's WWII war diary for LST-494, plus the 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry unit journal whose transcription is cited at ev-03. NavSource photo captions for this hull carry no NARA identifiers, and catalog.archives.gov returned no parseable content to automated fetches this session, so per-hull digitization status is unconfirmed.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (records); 2026-10-02 (access attempt)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - no NARA record for this hull was opened this session; deck logs and war diaries are administrative records and are not asbestos documentation unless inspected.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-07
-
[9]Batch-7000 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS page; HyperWar mirror; NavSource 160494; CourtListener API v4 (opinion and docket searches) and web index; NVR; NARA catalog; LOC Veterans History Project; archive.org; shipyards.json cross-check; general web search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-494-lst494-01 through sl-uss-lst-494-lst494-17
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LST-494 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener API v4 returned zero opinions for the hull-number query 'LST-494' (which subsumes the narrower 'USS LST-494' and 'LST-494 asbestos' opinion queries - a zero-result superset cannot contain narrower hits); the type=r docket query (completed on a later retry once the shared fleet-wide pacing budget cleared) returned a single name collision - Joseph D. Caputo and Ruth N. Caputo, Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy, Bankr. W.D. Pa. 17-21491 (filed 2017-04-12, terminated 2020-12-04) - with no vessel or asbestos-tort reference in the returned record; no docket naming this hull. The site:courtlistener.com web-index cross-check returned only 'LST I LLC'/'LST II LLC' financial-entity name collisions (Lavastone Capital v. Coventry First, S.D.N.Y. 14-cv-7139) - no hull reference.
- 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-built LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener coverage is opinion- and docket-metadata level; state-court and unindexed filings are outside the sweep.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-494-lst494-08