USS LST-507

Evidence

11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).

1. [1]research packet 682-packet.md [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: USS LST-507 (never named)

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-lst-507-lst507-pkt-682-packet-md

2. [2]DANFS, LST-507 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Atlantic crossing, Exercise Tiger loss narrative, casualty figures, strike date (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl; bare curl returns 404 - UA-gated, re-verified HTTP 200 with browser UA 2026-10-02; entry by Robert J. Cressman, published 22-23 April 2019) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS LST-507 entry, full text + spec block + CO table

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS documents for this hull (spec block: displacement 1,490; length 328'0"; beam 50'0"; draft 11'2" limiting / 14'1" maximum; speed 10.8 knots; complement 119; armament 8 40mm, 8 20mm; class LST-1): laid down 8 September 1943 at Jeffersonville, Ind., by Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co.; launched 16 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Raymond C. Fuller; accepted and placed in reduced commission 31 December 1943; sailed from the yard 1 January 1944, arrived New Orleans 8 January, commissioned 10 January 1944, Lt. James S. Swarts, D-V(G), USNR, in command. Shakedown reported 26 January; departed South Pass 19 February for New York (arrived 26 February); Boston 6 March; received tank landing craft LCT-663 as deck cargo 7 March; convoy BK-99 to Halifax (sailed 10 March, arrived 12th); convoy SC-155 for England 14 March; arrived English waters 28 March 1944; reported for duty with the Twelfth Fleet at Falmouth 3 April. Sailed from Brixham 27 April as last of three ships (with LST-499 and LST-289), joining five more for the exercise. During the mid watch ~0135 on 28 April the ship went to general quarters on observed tracer fire; torpedoed on the starboard side, exploding in the auxiliary engine room - lights, fire main lost, fires on tank deck, engine rooms, topside; 282 soldiers embarked with fueled trucks, jeeps and DUKWs; gasoline fires spread. Abandon ship ordered 0230; CO Swarts last off 0235-0240; LST-515 picked up survivors ~0600; Swarts died of exposure and shock aboard, later awarded a posthumous Bronze Star. Survivors: 94 of 165 naval officers and enlisted (5 hospitalized); 151 of 282 soldiers (19 hospitalized). Stricken from the Navy Register 9 June 1944.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1944

   Population

   Construction trades (Jeffersonville, 1943-44); ship's company (165 at loss) + 282 embarked Army (Exercise TIGER units per NHLE, ev-05)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS names the attacking boats collectively (nine German motor torpedo boats of the Fifth and Ninth flotillas: S-100, S-130, S-136, S-138, S-140, S-142, S-143, S-145, S-150); the NHHC Exercise Tiger page attributes the fatal hit to S-130 specifically. The 282-soldier figure traces to the ship's own loss report (see ev-03), where the author notes a water-soaked roster read 294 - he judged the senior Army officer's 282 correct.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-01

3. [3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-507 (10/16/160507.htm, last updated 9 July 2021) - designation timeline, awards, theater assignment, sinking summary, spec block, CO table, photography [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/16/160507.htm header block, awards, narrative, specifications block, CO table

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource documents for this hull: LST-1-class tank landing ship; laid down 8 September 1943 at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN; launched 16 November 1943; commissioned USS LST-507 10 January 1944, LT. James S. Swarts USNR in command; assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater. 'Sunk by a German E-Boat torpedo attack off Slapton Sands, England, 28 April 1944, during Operation Tiger... went down with 16 Army trucks and landing craft on deck and 22 amphibious DUKWs in her hold. Torpedoed by 40-knot German E-boats based in Cherbourg, 202 US servicemen from this vessel were killed. In total US 638 servicemen lost their lives in Exercise Tiger.' Struck from the Naval Register 9 June 1944. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 2,366 t / 4,080 t full (sea-going draft w/1,675-ton load); 328 ft oa x 50 ft; 11.6 kts trial; endurance 24,000 miles @ 9 kts; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP; fuel 4,300 Bbls diesel; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, 3 diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V DC ship's service generators, 2 propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders; radio call sign NDXV. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 28 April 1944), American Campaign Medal, European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal. Photos: at anchor Brixham Harbor 27 April 1944 (day before loss); Convoy T-4 track chart; survivors of LST-507 and LST-531 including Lt. Eugene Eckstam (LST-507 medical officer).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1944

   Population

   Ship's company ~117-119 (spec blocks) / 165 aboard at loss; embarked Army units; embarked troops' vehicles (16 trucks + 22 DUKWs per NavSource)

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates cross-check cleanly against DANFS and the NARA action-report package. The 638 total-Exercise-Tiger toll conflicts with Historic England's 'at least 749' (551 army + 198 naval) - see gaps; the per-ship figure of 202 dead from LST-507 is consistent across NavSource, NHLE, and the loss report's own personnel table (47 dead + 24 missing naval; 131 dead/missing army). Contains no asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-02

4. [4]NARA NAID 78532576, 'COM LST GR 32 - Rep of Act Between LST Convoy & Enemy E-Boats, Night 4/27-28/44 in the English Channel' (RG 38 WWII war-diaries microfilm, Roll A1061, 51 images; downloaded and OCR-read this session) - includes Enclosure (J), USS LST-507's own Loss of Ship report of 2 May 1944 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NAID 78532576; Roll A1061 images 0290-0340; LST-507 loss-of-ship report at images ~0319-0321 (Enclosure J); CTF 125 endorsement ~0322-0325; escort-CO reports/interviews ~0330-0340

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The official U.S. Navy action-report package for the attack that sank this hull, read verbatim at NARA: COM LST Group 32 (CTU 125.11.4) Serial 001, 3 May 1944, SECRET - convoy T-4 (LSTs 515, 496, 511, 531, 58 towing two pontoon causeways, then Brixham section 499, 289, 507 in single column; convoy commander CDR B. J. Skahill USN in LST-515; escort HMS AZALEA). ~0135B gunfire/tracers off the port quarter of the last ship; ~0204B a ship seen afire bearing ~170 relative - '(Later events show that the burning ship was the LST 507)'; ~0218B LST-531 violently enveloped in flames; 0232B radio Portland receipted for the 'Convoy was under E boat attack' message; 0442B convoy leader stopped to pick up survivors; ~0500B HMS ONSLOW arrived; arrived Portland 1150B with 14 litter and 118 ambulatory survivors. CTF 125 first endorsement (Serial 00127, 6 May 1944): assigned escort was ODD HMS SCIMITAR plus corvette HMS AZALEA (Scimitar damaged and did not sail); covering forces of MTBs, motor gunboats, and 4 'O'-class destroyers on a Start Point-Portland Bill line plus a 3-MTB patrol off Cherbourg; all convoy LSTs 'newly arrived in this theater, none having been in the United Kingdom for more than a month'; endorsements recommend air attacks on E-boat bases, more escorts, and patrol-pattern changes. Enclosure (J) is LST-507's own Loss of Ship report, 2 May 1944, submitted by senior survivor Lt.(jg) J. F. Murdock, D-V(S), USNR, the XO, to the Secretary of the Navy: sailed Brixham 27 April with LST-499/289 as rear ship of the section; ~0204B torpedoed on the starboard side - 'Torpedo struck auxiliary engine room and all electric power failed; The main engines stopped. The ship burst into flames'; firefighting futile (power failed, equipment inaccessible); abandoned 0240-0245B with CO Lt. J. S. Swarts; only boats #1 and #2 plus at least two rafts got away; LST-515 arrived ~0442B. Personnel table: NAVY originally aboard 165 - rescued 94 (5 hospital), dead 47, missing 24; ARMY originally aboard 282 - rescued 151 (19 hospital), dead/missing 131; the 282 figure was supplied by Capt. Seibert, U.S. Army, senior army officer aboard (himself among the missing), while a water-soaked roster read 294 - Murdock judged 282 correct. 'No government property was saved'; the ship's records went down (yeoman and senior quartermaster not rescued; the storekeeper's records lost at sea). 'At no time did the LST 507 open fire.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-04-27 to 1944-05-06 (events and report dates)

   Population

   Ship's company 165; embarked Army 282 (per this report); LST-515 rescue population

   Limitations

   Primary ship/unit-produced wartime record, downloaded and OCR-read this session (roll A1061 images ~0290-0340; OCR imperfect on the worst typescript but the quoted sentences were read on the images). Documents the loss operationally - no asbestos or material content. A 30 April preliminary despatch-level report hosted in transcription at exercisetiger.org.uk (non-official host) gives the attack position as 50 deg 07 min N, 2 deg 50 min W and 'two German E Boats'; the surveyed wreck position is further north (ev-05). The endorsement chain is complete through CTF 125 to Cominch.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-03

5. [5]NARA NAID 278490545, 'Murdock, Lieutenant James F.' - RG 38, WWII Oral Histories, Interviews and Statements (series NAID 2990147); recorded 16 August 1944; 26 images + 35 MB PDF digitized; a public transcription is hosted at exercisetiger.org.uk [other_primary]

   Locator

   NAID 278490545 record page + description block; exercisetiger.org.uk 'Lieu. J F Murdock Debrief Transcription'

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Per the NARA catalog description: 'Murdock, Lieutenant James F., USNR, USS LST-507, In Normandy Invasion Exercises: The LST-507 was lost when torpedoed by E-boats off the English coast while engaged in pre-invasion maneuvers in April 1944. Lieutenant Murdock, who gives a good account of the incident, was the executive officer of the LST-507. Recorded on 16 August 1944.' This is the Office of Naval Records and Library's post-loss debrief of the senior surviving officer - the firsthand official narrative behind much of the DANFS account. A full public transcription (exercisetiger.org.uk document archive) adds: Murdock identifies himself as 'former Executive Officer of the LST 507, and senior surviving officer'; the ship was 8th/last in column; torpedoed approximately 0203 on the starboard side in the vicinity of the auxiliary engine room.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944 (statement recorded 16 August 1944)

   Population

   Lt. James F. Murdock (XO, senior survivor); ship's company

   Limitations

   Archival-lead row: the catalog description was read verbatim and the file is fully digitized (26 images + PDF); the 35 MB PDF itself was not downloaded this session - content beyond the catalog abstract is carried via the non-official transcription at exercisetiger.org.uk, cross-checked where it overlaps DANFS and the loss report (consistent). No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-04

6. [6]Historic England, National Heritage List for England entry 1463496 - 'USS LST-507', Scheduled Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, first listed 29-Apr-2020 (fetched via Firecrawl; bare curl HTTP 403) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NHLE 1463496 official list entry: Summary, Reasons for Designation, History, Details, Legal sections

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The UK statutory list entry documents the wreck's present status and condition: 'USS LST-507 comprises a Landing Ship, Tank that was torpedoed on 28th April 1944 during a full scale rehearsal for D-Day. The wreck is a military maritime grave and remains the property of the US Government.' Location: Lyme Bay, off Sidmouth, Devon (NGR SY4843961677, SY4855261553). Scheduled for period (material record of D-Day preparations), rarity (one of only two surviving LSTs in UK waters), potential (primary archaeological source for Exercise TIGER), survival (broken and inverted in two sections but 'largely intact' per recent remote-vehicle survey), and group value (co-located with LST-531, NHLE 1463495). History section: Exercise TIGER was the last full-scale rehearsal for Force U (Utah Beach); embarked for the exercise were nearly 500 US Army personnel of the 478th Amphibious Truck Co., 557th Quartermaster Railhead Co., 33rd Chemical Co., 440th Engineer Co., 1605th Engineer Map Depot Detachment, 175th Signal Repair Co., 3206th Quartermaster Service Co., and 3891st Quartermaster Truck Co., with two 1/4-ton, one 3/4-ton, and thirteen 2-1/2-ton trucks, 22 amphibious vehicles, and live ammunition; struck amidships in the auxiliary engine room just after 0200; abandoned ~30 minutes later; 'partially floated until dawn when it was sunk by gunfire from a British destroyer'; 202 army and navy servicemen lost from LST-507 of at least 749 US personnel killed in the attack. Detail: wreck in two parts - bow door/ramp open to the west; stern completely upside down showing twin skeg keels and propeller guards; 'the propeller and stern of an Infantry Landing Craft (LCI), carried by LST-507' visible; 2014 Hydroid AUV survey (with Royal Navy MASTT data) confirmed positions of LST-507 and 531; 2018/19 Historic England survey confirmed two inverted sections, capsized on sinking, largely intact though corroding, 40mm ammunition observed in the bow area. Not designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act - scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979; divers may dive but wreck and contents are protected. The dead are commemorated annually at the Exercise TIGER memorial, Torcross, Devon.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944 loss; 2014-2019 surveys; 2020 designation

   Population

   202 dead remain associated with the wreck (grave site); dive/archaeological community (protected access)

   Limitations

   UK government heritage record, authoritative for designation and wreck condition. Two internal quirks to note: the entry calls the ship 'a military maritime grave' yet states it is 'not designated as a military maritime grave' (the legal status is scheduling under AMaAA 1979, not a PMRA 1986 designation - the distinction is legal, not factual); and it dates the ship 'launched at Jeffersonville... in September 1943' - DANFS/NavSource have keel laid 8 September and launched 16 November 1943. Its 'LCI' label for the wrecked landing craft is not reconciled with DANFS's documented deck cargo LCT-663 - see gaps. Contains no asbestos content; the wreck's fabric (whatever insulation materials were aboard in 1944) lies undisturbed under statutory protection.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-05

7. [7]NHHC, 'Exercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands' (28 April 1944 topic page, fetched via Firecrawl) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   NHHC Exercise Tiger page, 'Convoy T-4 in Lyme Bay' through 'Six Weeks Later' sections

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The NHHC Exercise Tiger narrative names this hull's attackers and the failure chain: Exercise Tiger was the full-scale rehearsal to ready Rear Admiral Don P. Moon's Force U (221 vessels in and around Lyme Bay by 27 April) for Utah Beach. Convoy T-4 had two assigned escorts but HMS Scimitar was rammed by an American LCT and could not join, leaving corvette HMS Azalea (Lt. Cdr. George C. Geddes, RN) as sole escort; convoy commander CDR Bernard Skahill, USN, aboard LST-515. British radar and coastal gunners sighted S-boats but a frequency mis-assignment kept the LSTs deaf to the warning (sailing orders omitted the frequency-change instruction). S-130 and S-150 closed on LST-507; S-130 scored the hit into the auxiliary engine room that killed power shipwide; 282 soldiers' fueled vehicles turned the tank deck into an inferno; abandon ship within half an hour. LST-531 was hit ~0217, sank in under 10 minutes with reports of 467 of 496 men lost; LST-289 took an S-145 torpedo in the stern and reached Dartmouth (photos 80-G-K-2054/2055). LST-515 returned about two hours later and recovered survivors from 42-degree water; total death toll 'approached or exceeded 700 - more than would die in the actual landings at Utah Beach.' The disaster drove an Allied sea/air campaign that destroyed the German S-boat force at Le Havre on 14 June 1944. Medical officer Lt. Eugene E. Eckstam's eyewitness account ('We sailed along in fatal ignorance') anchors the NHHC telling.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-04-27 to 1944-06-14

   Population

   Convoy T-4 crews and embarked troops (~749 dead total exercise-wide per NHLE)

   Limitations

   NHHC interpretive topic page (secondary official synthesis citing Tent, Lewis, Morison, German KTB records and the action reports) - consistent with the primary action-report package (ev-03) on the essentials. Its S-130 attribution for the fatal hit is source-level detail beyond DANFS. Toll stated as 'approached or exceeded 700' - other official sources give 638-749; see gaps. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-06

8. [8]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan, verified live 2026-10-02); NavSource LST-507 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160507.htm specifications block; class-f lst-1-class.class.json ev-01/ev-03 (background only)

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era inference for this hull: the LST design ran a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, ~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 1943-44 diesel landing ship of this type were the era-standard set: diesel-exhaust and machinery-space lagging, gaskets and valve packing, accommodation thermal insulation, deck coverings/tile, and winch/windlass brake linings. Construction fell inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era and the federal wartime asbestos-allocation regime for shipbuilding; the builder was a wartime inland ('cornfield') yard running to emergency schedules.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1944

   Population

   Jeffersonville Boat & Machine construction trades (1943-44); ship's company and embarked troops (Jan-Apr 1944)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or build-specification asbestos itemization was located for LST-507, and none is expected to exist in public sources (15-week service life, wartime loss, records lost with the ship per the loss report). Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution. The wreck's undisturbed fabric in Lyme Bay is itself the only surviving material record - protected as a scheduled monument and military grave.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-07

9. [9]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 entire existence (built 1943-44, sunk April 1944).

   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-507-lst507-08

10. [10]CourtListener API v4 searches (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and docket indexes, six queries [court_record]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-507-lst507-07 through -12

    Finding type

    litigation_documented

    Finding

    No qualifying litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-507" returned 0 hits in both the opinion (type=o) and docket (type=r) indexes; "USS LST-507" returned 0 in both indexes; "LST 507" asbestos returned 0 in opinions; "Exercise Tiger" asbestos returned 0 in opinions. No case, docket, or opinion naming this hull was found in CourtListener's coverage.

    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 anywhere. Note also the structural context: this hull's only personnel were wartime servicemen (Navy crew and embarked Army), and it sank 15 weeks after commissioning - the typical postwar civilian-yardworker exposure-and-suit pathway barely applies.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-09

11. [11]Batch-7015 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NHHC Exercise Tiger; NARA catalog + action-report file unit read in part + Murdock oral-history record; Historic England NHLE 1463496; BuShips SDB 1945 v2; GAO product page; CourtListener API x6; NIOSH HHE database; NVR; secondary web sweep [other_primary]

    Locator

    search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-507-lst507-01 through -17

    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-507 was found in the public sources searched. The hull's documentation is unusually deep operationally (official loss-of-ship report, convoy action report, endorsement chain, escort-officer interview transcripts, XO oral-history debrief, UK scheduled-monument entry) but contains no material or asbestos content. Structurally: the ship lived 15 weeks in commission, sank with all aboard-ship material in 1944, and the wreck lies protected in situ - there was no repair career, no decommissioning availability, no scrapping, and no museum phase at which asbestos documentation typically surfaces.

    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 yard inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era makes era-consistent materials plausible, but nothing ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lst-507-lst507-10