Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]DANFS, LST-540 entry (live NHHC page, verified 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-540 service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS entry for this hull, verbatim: 'LST-540 was laid down on 13 November 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 14 January 1944; sponsored by Ens. Elizabeth B. Mayer, USNR; and commissioned on 22 February 1944. During World War II, LST-540 was assigned to the European theater and participated in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. She was then assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and took part in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto in May and June 1945. Following the war, LST-540 performed occupation duty in the Far East until early January 1946. She returned to the United States, and was decommissioned on 13 January 1946. The ship was transferred to Shipping Control Authority, Japan, where she was lost due to an operational accident on 20 August 1947. The tank landing ship was struck from the Navy list on 23 March 1949. LST-540 earned two battle stars for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1949
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades (1943-44); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Official ship history; contains no asbestos or material content. Internal tension: 'returned to the United States, and was decommissioned on 13 January 1946' conflicts with the crew-authored primary narrative (ev-03) and NavSource's timeline, both of which place the decommissioning in Japan adjacent to the SCAJAP turnover - the DANFS phrasing appears boilerplate shared with sister LST entries (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-01
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-540 page - designation timeline, campaigns, occupation-service periods, commanding-officer list, specifications block (live page, verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160540.htm - header block, campaign table, occupation-service table, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: 'LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship'; laid down 13 November 1943 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 14 January 1944; commissioned USS LST-540 14 February 1944 (conflicts with DANFS 22 February - see gaps), LTjg. Vern F. Veihman USNR in command. WWII assignment: Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater then Asiatic-Pacific Theater; campaigns - Invasion of Normandy 6 to 25 June 1944, Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation) 30 May to 10 June 1945. Pacific command chain: LST Flotilla 37 (CAPT. Riley), LST Group 109 (CDR. E. W. Wilson USNR), LST Division 218. Navy Occupation Service Medal periods: 12-25 September 1945, 15-25 October 1945, 24 December 1945-22 January 1946. 'Decommissioned, 22 January 1946 and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q022. Struck from the Naval Register, 23 March 1949. USS LST-540 earned two battle stars for World War II service. Final Disposition, lost due to an operational accident, 20 August 1947.' Specifications block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full load / 2,366 t; 328 ft o.a.; beam 50 ft; 11.6 kt trial; endurance 24,000 mi at 9 kt; complement 13 officers + 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers + 147 enlisted; boats 2 LCVP; ultimate armament design 2 twin 40 mm, 4 single 40 mm, 12 single 20 mm; propulsion two General Motors 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, three diesel-drive 100 kW 230V DC ship's-service generators, two propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders. CO list: LTjg. Veihman (14 Feb-1 Jun 1944), LT. Oberg (1 Jun 1944-1 Sep 1945), LT. Stevens (1 Sep-7 Nov 1945), LT. Holland (7 Nov 1945-1 Jan 1946), LTjg. Tatti (1 Jan-22 Jan 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1949
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers / 104 enlisted design); embarked troops (up to 16 officers / 147 enlisted); construction trades (1943-44); SCAJAP Japanese crews (1946-47)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its milestone dates generally track DANFS but carry two date conflicts here (commissioning 14 Feb vs DANFS 22 Feb; decommissioning 22 Jan 1946 vs DANFS 13 Jan 1946) - both logged in gaps. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-02
-
[3]'NEPTUNE TO CAMPUS' - ship's-history narrative written aboard LST-540 by crew member S. Robert Sembroff, prologue dated 17 January 1946 (NavSource-hosted PDF, contributed by Larry Fischer; verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource PDF 160540a.pdf, 'NEPTUNE TO CAMPUS' full narrative + prologue
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous crew-authored history of this hull: departed Evansville 10 February 1944 down the Ohio and Mississippi; commissioned 22 February 1944 at Algiers, LA (matches DANFS); loaded LCT-611 on the main deck; sailed 1 March for Norfolk (arrived 10 March); sailed 27 March for Oran escorted by USCGC Ingham; Gibraltar 12 April; at Oran loaded elements of the Free French 1st Armored Division (19 April) and sailed for Great Britain; Swansea 2 May; LCT-611 launched at Penarth. Embarked ~400 British troops 2 June; assigned Fourth Assault Group, first wave, for Normandy; arrived off the beachhead on D-Day; made 33 follow-up trips including two to Le Havre, one up the Seine to Rouen, two to Saint-Michel-en-Greve - 'carrying a total of more than five thousand troops, and over three thousand vehicles' and returning ~2,000 POWs to England. Lost stern anchor and 900 ft of cable in the 19 June storm; near-miss by a 500-lb bomb 21 June; drydocked at Canning Town, London, 20 July. Departed England 27 December 1944; arrived Norfolk 13 January 1945; navy-yard availability to 10 March 1945; via Coco Solo (17 March) and Port Hueneme (30 March) to Seattle - Lake Washington Shipyard availability from 7 April; departed 16 April with 1079th Aviation Engineers aboard; Pearl Harbor 27 April; Eniwetok 13 May; diverted Guam to Saipan 20 May, embarked 806th Aviation Engineers; sailed 24 May; anchored off Ie Shima 30 May. At Okinawa: beached at Hagushi 6 June, grounded on coral, retracted 9 June with tug assistance sustaining heavy damage (seven tanks ripped open, starboard propeller shaft misaligned in two places, hole in bottom hull, fresh-water system polluted); repaired at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, to 24 July; second Okinawa trip - unloaded at Naha 5 August. Post-surrender: Leyte/Batangas occupation lifts; sailed 6 September for Yokohama in Phase One of Operation CAMPUS (arrived 15 September); shuttle trips Manila-Batangas-Yokohama; Shiogama run 20-25 December; back at Yokohama 27 December; ordered to begin decommissioning 28 December. Documents the SCAJAP context firsthand: northern Japan needed coal and the US was leasing LSTs to Japan - 'all LST's operating in the Pacific whose numbers are below 660 will be decommissioned and turned over to the Japs.' Prologue dated 17 January 1946 expects decommissioning 'within forty-eight hours' - consistent with the NavSource 22 January date and placing the decommissioning at Yokohama, not after a return to the US as DANFS phrases it.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-46; embarked troops (British assault troops June 1944; Free French armor April 1944; 1079th and 806th Aviation Engineers 1945; occupation troops Sept-Dec 1945); ~2,000 repatriated POWs
- Limitations
- Primary-source contemporaneous narrative written by a crew member as a souvenir history, not an official record: dates within are crew recollection (e.g., 'slid down the ways ... February 10th, 1944' conflicts with the official 14 January launch - almost certainly records departure from Evansville after fitting-out, not launch). Contains no asbestos or material content; it is a service history, not an exposure record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-03
-
[4]Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (NHHC), 1945 chapter (HyperWar/ibiblio transcription, verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN-Chron-1945.html, entries under '5 June, Tue.' and '7 June, Thu.'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official chronology entries naming this hull off Okinawa: 5 June 1945 - 'Tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by operational casualty off Okinawa'; 7 June 1945 - 'tank landing ship LST-540 is damaged by grounding, 26 deg 21'N, 127 deg 45'E' (Hagushi anchorage area). These bracket the crew-narrated event: beached 6 June on coral at Hagushi, retracted 9 June with heavy underwater damage, repaired at Leyte through 24 July (ev-03).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-06
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops during Okinawa operations (June 1945); service-squadron repair crews at San Pedro Bay, Leyte (June-July 1945)
- Limitations
- Chronology records casualty events only - no work record, material content, or asbestos information. 'Operational casualty' (5 June) vs 'grounding' (7 June) vs the crew history's 6 June beaching/9 June retraction are consistent as one evolving casualty narrated across days; exact-day mapping is approximate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-04
-
[5]NavalCoverMuseum, LST 540 page - ship name and designation history table (live page, verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/LST_540 - 'Ship Name and Designation History' table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Designation-history table for this hull: keel laid 13 November 1943, launched 14 January 1944; USS LST-540 commissioned 22 February 1944 - decommissioned 13 January 1946 (both dates match DANFS, against NavSource's variants); 'Q-022 (SCAJAP) - Transferred to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for the Japanese Merchant Marine (SCAJAP) and redesignated; LOST due to an operational accident August 20 1947; Struck from Naval Register March 23 1949.' Two battle stars noted. Page labels the class 'LST-511 Class Tank Landing Ship' - a third label variant (NavSource says LST-491 class; BuShips design group for this hull is LST491-541; there is no official 'LST-511 class' - see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1949
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled philatelic/naval-history museum index, not a primary registry; its value here is corroborating the DANFS commission/decommission dates and the Q-022 designation sequence. The 'LST-511 class' label appears to be a typo for LST-491 class. No asbestos content; no postmarks on file for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-05
-
[6]ShipbuildingHistory.com (Tim Colton), Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville IN yard table - hull 65, LST-540 (live page, verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- missourivalley.htm yard table, row 65 (LST-540)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder-yard production table for this hull: MVB&I yard hull no. 65, LST no. 540 - keel 11/13/43, launched 1/14/44, delivered 2/22/44 (62 days on the ways, 101 days keel-to-delivery); disposition column 'Lost at sea 1947'. Yard context: Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron's Evansville plant was a purpose-built wartime 'cornfield' yard on the Ohio River that built LSTs and closed after the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville construction trades (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary production-table compilation (Colton's shipbuilding history project); dates corroborate DANFS and the crew history (delivery = commissioning 22 Feb). 'Lost at sea' is a disposition summary, not an accident description. No asbestos content; the yard was a wartime emergency facility with no postwar continuation, so no yard hazmat file series exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-06
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block for this hull (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, no boilers); BuShips Ships' Data 1945 v2 design data for the LST-491 group (328 ft o.a., 50 ft beam, ~1,700 shp diesel plant - retrieved via shipscribe.com for the LST-1/491/542 class profile 2026-09-16, now 404 - see search_ledger); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 160540 specifications block; BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design table (via class profile); GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A tank landing ship built 1943-44 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard asbestos applications for a diesel amphibious auxiliary of this period: engine-exhaust and machinery lagging, gaskets and valve packing on piping and machinery, thermal/acoustic insulation in accommodation spaces, and deck coverings. The plant is diesel (two GM 12-567A, 1,700 shp) - no boilers - so the steam/boiler lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; exposure relevance concentrates in engine-room/exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, interior insulation, and any deck-covering products. Wartime damage-control and repair events documented aboard this hull (coral-grounding repair at Leyte June-July 1945; navy-yard availabilities at Norfolk Jan-Mar 1945 and Lake Washington Shipyard April 1945) are the classic disturbance pathway for installed-era materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1947
- Population
- MVB&I construction trades (1943-44); engine-room and ship's-company personnel (1944-46); navy-yard and service-squadron repair trades during documented availabilities (1945); SCAJAP Japanese crews (1946-47)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, survey, or work package located for LST-540. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The repair/availability events are documented as shipboard events; any asbestos content of the disturbed materials is inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-07
-
[8]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 construction (1943-44) and service era (1944-47).
- 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 blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-02); content via product-page description. Same standing limitation as Batch-01 and Batch-98.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-08
-
[9]Batch-7051 search ledger (this record): DANFS live NHHC; NavSource 160540 + crew-history PDF 160540a; Official Chronology 1945 (HyperWar); NavalCoverMuseum; shipbuildinghistory MVB&I table; NVR; CourtListener API v4 (opinions searched, dockets fleet-paced); NARA; GAO; SCAJAP war diary scan; secondary litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-540-01 through sl-uss-lst-540-18
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LST-540 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion index (type=o) returned zero hits for 'LST-540' and 'LST 540' (authenticated queries, 2026-10-02); the docket index (type=r) could not be queried - fleet-wide request budget paced (logged as blocked, not a negative result). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard LST' material is law-firm marketing content - excluded by source policy. No asbestos-related event is expected in the loss record: the hull was lost to an operational accident in Japanese waters in 1947, decades before modern ACM-handling regulation.
- 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 - era-consistent installation is a reasonable inference, not a ship-proven fact. The CourtListener docket search is a genuine open gap (fleet-paced, not run); deck logs (RG 24) and BuShips work-package records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-09
-
[10]SCAJAP / Naval Shipping Control Authority War Diary (Oct 1945), Enclosure (A) - 'List of Japanese Merchant Vessels Operating Under SCAJAP Control' (Fold3-sourced scan mirrored at mansell.com); plus NARA RG 24 deck-log series; plus Warship International 'Comments and Corrections' (JSTOR 44895725) [other_primary]
- Locator
- mansell.com Fold3 scan (SCAJAP War Diary, Enclosure A); catalog.archives.gov (RG 24 deck logs); JSTOR 44895725
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Open archival leads for this hull's post-decommissioning phase and loss: (1) the SCAJAP war-diary enclosure lists Japanese-operated vessels under SCAJAP control - the series is the authoritative register in which Q-022 should appear, but the retrieved scan (8.8 MB) has no text layer and the Q-022 listing could not be verified this session; (2) RG 24 deck logs for LST-540 (1944-46) exist at NARA per the NHHC deck-log-access page but are not digitized; (3) Warship International's 'Comments and Corrections' column (JSTOR stable 44895725) states 'LST-540 accidentally destroyed 20 Aug 1947' per the search snippet - full text not retrieved (paywalled), consistent with DANFS.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Population
- SCAJAP Japanese crews (1946-47)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only - none verified to full text this session: the SCAJAP PDF is an unOCR'd image scan, NARA's catalog is JS-rendered, and the JSTOR item is paywalled. None carries asbestos content. The SCAJAP war-diary series (and any appended casualty/loss reports through 1947) is the likeliest primary source for the 20 Aug 1947 accident details.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-540-10