Evidence
15 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-15).
-
[1]research packet 682-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: USS LST-503 (never named)
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-503-lst503-pkt-682-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-503 (NHHC live page, verified 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, full text (single-paragraph LST-format entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LST-503 was laid down on 29 July 1943 at Jeffersonville, Ind., by the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co.; launched on 8 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. David E. Eppley; and commissioned on 8 December 1943, Lt. Sam H. Jones, USNR, in command.' DANFS further records: assigned to the European theater during WWII; participated in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944; decommissioned 11 June 1946; transferred to the Republic of China on 4 April 1955; served as Chung Kuang (LST-216); struck from the Navy list on 25 April 1960; earned one battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1960
- Population
- Crew (1943-1946, 1951-1955); construction trades at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine (1943)
- Limitations
- Milestone-level official entry only; contains no asbestos, material, or machinery content and no complement figures. Does not mention the 1951 recommissioning or the Greenland deployment that NavSource records - the DANFS entry predates or skips that service period. Commissioning date conflicts with BuShips roster (8 vs 14 December 1943) - see ev-07.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-503 page (navsource.net, verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160503 - timeline, spec block, CO table, Seiwert account, Blue Bird and 2009 ceremony photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource page for this hull: LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship; laid down 29 July 1943; launched 8 October 1943; commissioned USS LST-503, 8 December 1943; campaigns - Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944; decommissioned 11 June 1946; recommissioned 9 January 1951, homeported NAB Little Creek, Va.; assigned to Operation 'Blue Bird' (Greenland) August 1951 (contemporaneous photos of the ship en route and beached unloading vehicles); decommissioned and transferred to the Republic of China 4 April 1955, named ROCS Chung Kuang (LST-216); struck from the Naval Register 25 April 1960; decommissioned by the ROC 16 February 2009 during a ceremony at Kaohsiung Harbor (ROC Military News Agency photos of the ceremony, the decommissioning crew, and the 35th and last CO, CDR. Chi Bin Kuo; caption notes this was her third decommissioning, ending 53 years of ROC service). Spec block: complement 9 officers + 120 enlisted, troop accommodations 14 officers + 131 enlisted. Page also carries a first-person account by LT. Hilbert H.N. Seiwert, USNR (Ret.), her boat officer, describing six LCVPs sent to Gold Beach on D-Day.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-2009
- Population
- Crew (1943-1946, 1951-1955); ROC Navy crew (1955-2009)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-edited secondary compilation - useful for timeline, specs, and photograph documentation but not a primary source. Two per-page errors identified: (1) builder listed as Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville - contradicted by DANFS, BuShips roster, the ship's own war history, and ROC government source, all giving Jeffersonville (see ev-07); (2) Seiwert account says six LCVPs while the June 1944 war diary (primary) records five small boats lowered under Ens. Seiwert. NavSource is the only located source for the 9 January 1951 recommissioning and Operation Blue Bird details.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-02
-
[4]NARA: 'USS LST-503 - War History', NAID 77707420, RG 38 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), WWII War Diaries microfilm Roll A2107, images 0330-0332; scanned via Fold3 collaboration; digital objects downloaded and read in full 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 77707420, digital objects A_2107/images/0330.jpg-0332.jpg (cover letter LST503/SPM/dgb Ser. 1-46 + Enclosure A 'History of LST 503')
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own compiled war history (primary document, 3 microfilm images read in full this session): 'The LST 503 was built in the midwest at Jeffersonville, Indiana. After a 7 day cruise down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, the ship was placed in full commission.' Her original crew were 'war hardened veterans of LST duty' - most were survivors of USS LST-333, 'the first LST totally lost to enemy action'; the 23 uninjured officers and men re-formed at Solomons, Md., where the crew ranked No. 1 of ten training crews at ATB Solomons, finishing 29 October 1943. Outfitting at New Orleans and Mobile; two-week shakedown at Panama City, Fla., rated best of eight ships, departing late January 1944. Sailed from Boston 24 February 1944 in convoy for the UK; assigned to British Force Gold forming at Southampton 'to attack the coast of Normandy near Arromanche'; sailed from behind the Isle of Wight on D-1 towing a Rhino ferry. Post-D-Day: months of Channel shuttle service, nightly air raids, and one straddling by the Calais shore batteries. May 1945: 'the 503 led five ships to Trondheim, Norway to land occupation troops.' Departed Plymouth 9 July 1945 as last ship of the last group; arrived New York 24 July 1945 and docked at Brooklyn Navy Yard for 16 hours; then to Norfolk Navy Yard 'for what was planned to be a complete overhaul with alterations and installation of new equipment for the Pacific Theatre. However, all work was cancelled with the arrival of V-J day and the ship left the yard with a numerous amount of unfinished job orders.' Loaded LCT 815 at New York 29 September 1945; final voyage to Jacksonville, Fla., and into the St. John's River Group, Sixteenth Fleet (Green Cove Springs reserve fleet) for preservation. The history is signed by her commanding officer S.P. Moore (LTjg. Shirley P. Moore, USNR, CO 5 November 1945 - 2 February 1946 per NavSource) and forwarded 2 January 1946 from Green Cove Springs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Crew including LST-333 survivor cadre (1943-1946)
- Limitations
- Ship-produced narrative written aboard in January 1946 - authoritative for her own movements and crew origins, though written from memory without stated documentation. Confirms Jeffersonville as builder (a fourth source against NavSource's Missouri Valley error). Documents the Norfolk Navy Yard and Brooklyn Navy Yard interfaces (related_shipyards). Contains no asbestos, insulation, or material content. The 1951-1955 second commission postdates the document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-03
-
[5]NARA: 'USS LST-503 - War Diary, 6/1-30/44', NAID 78508749, RG 38, WWII War Diaries microfilm Roll A1037, images 0242-0248 (CONFIDENTIAL, submitted 1 July 1944); read in full 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 78508749, digital objects A_1037/images/0242.jpg-0248.jpg
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary operational log of the Normandy month (7 microfilm images; the D-Day pages read in full this session). 1 June 1944: 'U.S.S. LST 503, Division 55, Group 28, Flotilla 10, Eleventh Amphibious Force, attached to Force "G" as outlined in Operation Neptune' - moored S-2 Hard, Southampton, loading a British Army unit. 5 June: British Army 24th Lancers aboard; underway 1900 'en route to enemy shores' with Rhino F-4 in tow. 6 June: anchored in the Force 'G' assembly area near Arromanches, France, 1605; 1706 five small boats lowered under Ens. H.H.N. Seiwert, USNR; 1922 anchored in lowering position off King Beach, Gold Area; 2230 the Rhino shoved off in twilight carrying 12 Sherman tanks. 7 June: air-raid general quarters twice before dawn; Rhino ferry cargo runs all day in rough seas - the diary editor judges Rhino ferries 'highly unsatisfactory in any but the calmest protected harbor.' 1947 departed for Southampton in company with other LSTs. 8 June: witnessed a nearby ship explode and burn 0040-0130; anchored off Ryde, then to Gosport. 9 June: moored Driddy's Hard, Portsmouth, embarking Headquarters Co., British 2nd Army; towed two pontoon causeway sections to Bambridge. 10 June: sailed for Pointe de Ver, France; anchored off Courseulles.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-06
- Population
- Crew and embarked British Army (24th Lancers) (June 1944)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous deck-level operational log - the strongest possible source for her D-Day movements; documents Gold Beach (King Beach sector, Arromanches) rather than the vaguer 'Normandy' of secondary sources. Confirms the Seiwert boat detachment (diary: five small boats; Seiwert's later account says six LCVPs - carried as a minor variant). Contains no asbestos, insulation, or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-04
-
[6]National Archives Catalog, exact-title search 'USS LST-503'/'LST-503' (catalog.archives.gov API; 16 titled records, verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Catalog record set: NAIDs 77707420, 78346682, 78361013, 78422179, 78448764, 78508749, 78564838, 78634644, 134374474, 78665076, 139785449, 139811189 (digitized); 6130753, 2761174, 472241508, 175665605 (undigitized)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds a digitized documentary run for this hull: the compiled war history (NAID 77707420, read in full) plus eleven monthly war diaries covering February through December 1944 (NAIDs 78346682, 78361013, 78422179, 78448764, 78508749, 78564838, 78634644, 134374474, 78665076, 139785449, 139811189 - all with digital objects; the June diary read in full). Additional cataloged but undigitized file units for this hull: 'LST 503' file in the Secret and Confidential General Administrative Files series (NAID 6130753, 1944-1945); 'LST-503' in Material Inspection Reports and Related Documentation (NAID 2761174, RG 38); 'USS LST-503' in Casualty Information Reports (NAID 472241508); and 'LST-503' in Microfilm of Ship Engineering Drawings (NAID 175665605).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (record dates)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Catalog-level inventory: the Material Inspection Reports file (INSURV-type) and the Ship Engineering Drawings microfilm are the most asbestos-relevant leads - engineering drawings can carry insulation callouts - but none are digitized and none have been read; no asbestos content can be inferred from their existence. Muster rolls were not surfaced by the exact-title sweep (RG 24 holds ship muster rolls under different titling conventions - an open lead, not an absence finding).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-05
-
[7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1 January 1945 edition), LST characteristics/machinery table and construction roster (shipscribe.com scan with text layer; URL verified live and page-read 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2, LST characteristics/machinery table (LST491-541 group row) and LST construction roster (LST-503 line)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design table (verified directly in the document's text layer this session): the LST491-541 design group - which includes LST-503 - lists 328 ft o.a., 50 ft beam, 11.6 kt, and machinery of 2 x 'G.M. Diesel, 12-567A' engines at 1,700 shaft horsepower. The table's 'Number of Boilers' and steam-condition columns are blank for the LST groups - a diesel plant with no boilers. Roster section lists LST-503 in the Jeffersonville B. & M. Co. block with laid-down 29 Jul 43, launched 8 Oct 43, commissioned 14 Dec 43.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945 (edition)
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Class design table plus a roster line - documents the type's machinery as designed, not this hull's as-built insulation or materials; Ships' Data contains no asbestos or insulation schedules. The roster's 14 Dec 1943 commissioning date conflicts with DANFS/NavSource's 8 December 1943 (see ev-07).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-06
-
[8]Cross-source collation: DANFS LST-503 entry; BuShips SDB1945v2 LST roster; NARA war history NAID 77707420; ROC VAC page; NavSource 160503 and 160502 (sister-page check) - all verified 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Builder: 4-source concurrence vs NavSource per-page line; date: DANFS 8 Dec vs BuShips roster 14 Dec 1943
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Two documented source conflicts resolved or logged for this hull. BUILDER: four independent sources name Jeffersonville Boat & Machine, Jeffersonville, Ind. - DANFS, the BuShips roster (Jeffersonville B. & M. Co. block, LST-501 to LST-510), the ship's own war history ('built in the midwest at Jeffersonville, Indiana'), and the ROC Veterans Affairs Council ('built at the Jeffersonville shipyard in Indiana'). NavSource's LST-503 page alone names Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville - an out-of-block error (Missouri Valley built LST-491 to LST-500; NavSource's own sister pages, e.g. LST-502, give Jeffersonville). Wikipedia repeats the NavSource error. COMMISSIONING DATE: DANFS and NavSource give 8 December 1943; the BuShips roster gives 14 December 1943 - an unresolved primary-source conflict carried in gaps.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Builder is treated as resolved for Jeffersonville on a 4-to-1 concurrence including two primary sources and one foreign government source. Commissioning date remains genuinely unresolved - the record carries DANFS's 8 December in the main field with the BuShips 14 December variant disclosed here and in gaps; a commissioning muster/logbook would settle it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-07
-
[9]Republic of China Veterans Affairs Council, 'LST-216 Chung Kuang warship anchor decommissioning - Taoyuan Veterans Home display unveiling' (official page, Chinese; verified live and machine-translated 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- VAC page body text - ship history paragraph and 2016 anchor-display ceremony description
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official ROC government source for her second career: the Veterans Affairs Council page on the 2016 unveiling of ex-Chung Kuang's bow anchor at the Taoyuan Veterans Home records: LST-216 Chung Kuang was built at the Jeffersonville shipyard in Indiana; entered U.S. Navy service as LST-503 in 1943; participated in the Normandy landing and other landing operations; was transferred to the Republic of China Navy on 29 April 1955 and renamed Chung Kuang, numbered LST-216; was renumbered LST-646 in 1976 and later reverted to LST-216; performed personnel, vehicle, and offshore-island resupply missions including Kinmen resupply during the 823 artillery battle.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1955-2016
- Population
- ROC Navy crew (1955-2009)
- Limitations
- Official ROC government page read in machine translation - a strong source for ROC-service facts and a fifth confirmation of the Jeffersonville builder. Transfer date given as 29 April 1955 vs NavSource's 4 April 1955 (delivery vs acceptance-date distinction likely; logged in gaps). Establishes the correct 1976 renumbering as LST-646 against Wikipedia's erroneous LST-686. Does not state a 2009 decommissioning or the 2019 target expenditure in this text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-08
-
[10]Central News Agency (Taiwan), 'F-16 fires Harpoon hitting target ship - anti-ship tactics verified' (29 July 2019; live page verified and machine-translated 2026-10-02) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- CNA article body - target-ship identification line naming LST-216 and LST-230
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Final disposition documented: CNA's 29 July 2019 report on the ROC live-fire exercise records that F-16s fired two air-launched Harpoon missiles striking 'two decommissioned Chung-class landing ships' - and names them: LST-216 (ex-USS LST-503) and LST-230. The exercise validated anti-ship tactics off Taiwan's coast. The report establishes the hull's use as a missile target and her being struck; it does not state whether the hull sank.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2019-07-29
- Population
- n/a (hull unmanned as target)
- Limitations
- State news agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan) - authoritative for this ROC military exercise. Establishes 'used as target and struck' only; 'sunk' would require a source this record does not have - do not upgrade the claim. A companion Taiwan News report confirms the exercise date and decommissioned-ship targets without naming hulls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-09
-
[11]GAO, Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979; released Oct 22, 1979); full text retrieved via rendered fetch of the GAO PDF 2026-10-02 [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 transmittal letter and 'NAVY'S POLICY ON USE OF ASBESTOS' section (verbatim text captured 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos era this hull was built within: per the Navy, 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables,' and thermal insulation 'was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships'; product specifications for thermal insulation were changed to asbestos-free in 1973, the formal elimination policy issued October 1975, and 'some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978.' A WWII-built diesel amphibious ship delivered December 1943 and serving the USN to 1955 sits squarely inside the documented asbestos-use era; her ROC service to 2009 extends the era-inference window but no ROC-era material record was located either.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 report; covers practices through the 1970s
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; WWII-built fleet (era context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation - names no hull and no class; supports era context only. Fieldwork was performed at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. Says nothing about ROC Navy maintenance-era materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-10
-
[12]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications for this hull (LST-491 class, diesel plant); BuShips SDB 1945 v2 LST491-541 design-group row (2x GM 12-567A diesels, boiler columns blank); LST-1-class profile (lst-1-class.class.json) consolidated era application list [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; SDB1945v2 LST table; class profile era-inference row
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- As a diesel-powered landing ship built 1943, LST-503 carried no boilers or steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway does not apply. Era-standard asbestos-relevant applications aboard a ship of this type and period: diesel-engine exhaust lagging and exhaust-manifold gaskets; engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation; deck coverings (e.g., deck tile compounds of the period); bulkhead and accommodation-space insulation; winch, windlass, and crane brake linings; electrical cable insulation; gaskets and packing in piping and machinery.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-2019
- Population
- Jeffersonville construction trades (1943); USN ship's company and embarked troops (1943-46, 1951-55); ROC Navy crew and shipyard workers (1955-2009); target-tow/disposal crews (2019)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, survey, or work package located for LST-503. Names era-standard application categories, not confirmed installed materials aboard this hull; no quantity, no manufacturer attribution. No asbestos-specific record was located for the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine yard (see ev-12). The 1955-2009 ROC service era is outside every located material record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-11
-
[13]NIOSH (CDC Stacks): Hudock et al., 'Preliminary Survey Report: Pre-Intervention Quantitative Risk Factor Analysis for Ship Construction Processes at Jeffboat LLC, Jeffersonville, Indiana' (2000, DOI 10.26616/NIOSHEPHB22911a) and 'In-Depth Survey Report: The Effect of Weld Process and Ventilation Method...' (2000, DOI 10.26616/NIOSHEPHB22911b) - abstracts read 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks records cdc/174862 and cdc/174863 (plus related Jeffboat records cdc/174864, 174867, 174872, 174876, 174877)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The only located government industrial-hygiene records for this hull's builder: NIOSH surveyed Jeffboat (Jeffboat LLC / Jeffboat Shipyard, American Commercial Barge Lines, Jeffersonville, Indiana) in 1999-2000 under a Maritech-funded shipbuilding ergonomics program - a pre-intervention quantitative risk-factor analysis (rake frame subassembly, angle-iron handling, confined-space welding, shear press) and an in-depth study of weld process and ventilation effects on confined-space welders (weld fume and musculoskeletal load). The survey set does not address asbestos and describes the modern commercial barge yard, not 1943 LST construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1999-2000 surveys (57 years after this hull's construction)
- Population
- Jeffboat welders/shipfitters, circa 2000
- Limitations
- Yard-level records that do not document asbestos - carried as a searched-source result (negative for asbestos scope), not evidence of yard asbestos conditions. A ~2000 ergonomics/weld-fume study says nothing about 1943 LST construction conditions; the Jeffboat of ACBL is the corporate descendant of Jeffersonville Boat & Machine. No asbestos-era Jeffboat survey was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-12
-
[14]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py (authenticated, fleet-paced) - query log in search_ledger sl-14 through sl-18, 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-503-14 through sl-uss-lst-503-18
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener searches for this hull returned no qualifying litigation. Completed this session (authenticated API v4 via the fleet-paced helper): '"LST-503"' opinions - zero results; '"USS LST-503"' opinions - zero results; '"LST-503"' dockets (RECAP) - zero results; '"LST 503"' opinions - zero results. The ROC-name variants ('"Chung Kuang"'/'"LST-216"') were blocked by the shared fleet pacing budget on repeated spaced attempts - logged as blocked, not as negative results. No asbestos, exposure, or vessel-related litigation naming this hull was located in any completed query.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Coverage incomplete: both ROC-name variants ('"Chung Kuang"', '"LST-216"') are open queries, blocked by fleet pacing at session end - re-run when budget resets. Four zero-result queries on the hull number establish a partial negative only; the ROC-name variants are also high-collision strings whose hits would need careful name-collision review. CourtListener does not index state-court dockets comprehensively. No hits to classify upward - all completed queries returned empty sets.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-13
-
[15]Batch-7011 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource 160503; NARA war history NAID 77707420 and war diary NAID 78508749 (read in full) plus 16 cataloged records; BuShips SDB1945v2; ROC Veterans Affairs Council; CNA 2019; Taiwan News; GAO HRD-80-2 full text; CDC Stacks Jeffboat records; NVR; shipyards.json; CourtListener API v4; Wikipedia (secondary cross-check); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-503-01 through sl-uss-lst-503-20
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or verified litigation naming USS LST-503 (or ROCS Chung Kuang) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The NVR carries no detail page for this hull - expected, as the Naval Vessel Register generally excludes vessels disposed of before 1987 and this hull was transferred out in 1955. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no law-firm or marketing pages naming this hull at all - a cleaner result than most LST hulls. The digitized ship's documents read in full (war history, June 1944 war diary) contain no asbestos, insulation, or material content.
- 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 - the hull was built inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era, served two navies across 66 years, and was expended as a target in 2019 with no modern ACM-handling record located. Undigitized NARA leads (Material Inspection Reports NAID 2761174; Ship Engineering Drawings NAID 175665605) are the most asbestos-relevant unread records. ROC-era maintenance and target-prep files were not located at all. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-503-14