Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 688-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-544-lst544-pkt-688-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-544 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, no-combat-service statement, decommissioning, strike, disposal (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl; bare curl returns 404 - UA-gated) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-544 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 8 December 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 4 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Maudie M. Marlow; commissioned 16 March 1944. 'LST-544 saw no combat service with the United States Navy and was decommissioned on 9 August 1946 and struck from the Navy list on 25 September that same year. On 23 June 1948, the ship was sold to the Willamette Iron & Steel Co. for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (Evansville, 1943-44); ship's company and embarked trainees/passengers (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS's entry is a single paragraph - it does not name the commissioning port (Algiers, LA - supplied by the war diary), give any operational narrative, or state the decommissioning location; no yard or repair content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-544 (10/16/160544.htm, last updated 24 December 2020) - designation timeline, USNR commanding-officer table, unit-less service profile, spec block, awards display, photo captions citing NARA RG 181 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160544.htm header block, awards display, specifications block, CO table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-542-class tank landing ship laid down 8 December 1943 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 4 February 1944; commissioned USS LST-544 16 March 1944, LCDR Ole J. Heggem, USNR, in command; decommissioned 9 August 1946; struck from the Naval Register 25 September 1946; sold for scrapping 23 June 1948 to Willamette Iron and Steel Co., Vancouver, WA. Awards display: American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal only - consistent with DANFS's no-combat-service statement. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full; 328 ft oa x 50 ft; 11.6 kt trial; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk reduction gear, 2 shafts 1,700 shp, 3 x 100 kW diesel-drive DC generators; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; radio call sign NEGF. CO table: LCDR Heggem 16 Mar 1944-Mar 1945; LT S.F. Drips Mar-Dec 1945; LT M.H. Mayo Dec 1945-Mar 1946; LTjg L.E. McBride Mar-Jun 1946; LTjg D.R. Sutton Jun-9 Aug 1946. Photos document the ship beached (Christmas card dated 25 December 1944, location unknown) and loading bombs / moored pierside at the U.S. Naval Magazine, Indian Island, WA (captions cite un-numbered US Navy photos in RG 181, Wartime History of US Naval Magazine Indian Island, Seattle NARA).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- USNR ship's company (~117) plus embarked training crews, UDT passengers, and transient personnel (1944-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - dates cross-check cleanly against DANFS and the NARA war diaries (Heggem at commissioning, Drips's signature on the July-November 1945 diaries). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-02
-
[4]NARA file units, 'USS LST-544 - War Diary' March-July 1944 (RG 38 World War II War Diaries, digitized via Fold3): NAID 78382288 (3/16-31/44, roll A905, 3 images); NAID 78445746 (4/1/44-5/31/44, roll A978, 10 images); NAID 78520191 (6/1-30/44, roll A1049, 4 images); NAID 78546983 (7/1-31/44, roll A1074, 4 images) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAIDs 78382288, 78445746, 78520191, 78546983 - all images downloaded and OCR-read 2026-10-02
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's March-July 1944 war diaries (all 21 pages downloaded and OCR-read this session) document: commissioning 16 March 1944 at U.S. Naval Section Base, Algiers, LA, by the representative of the Commandant, 8th Naval District; Dry Dock No. 1, Todd Johnson Dry Dock, Inc., Algiers/New Orleans, 18-20 March; deperming and full ammunition load at USN Supply Depot / US Naval Ammunition Depot, New Orleans; port main engine casualty off Pilottown 24 March (overheated camshaft and bearings) and one-week repair availability granted by Commandant 8th ND; Gulf transit to St. Andrew's Bay, Panama City, FL, for LST shakedown (early April); arrival USNATB Little Creek, VA, 11 April; Chesapeake Bay training-ship operations under ComLSTFlot 9 / LST Group 26 / CTU 20.8.2 - Cornfield Harbor, Point Lookout, Cove Point, Drum Point, Hog Point, MD, measured-mile runs off Annapolis, Craney Island defueling (20 Apr), Norfolk Navy Yard Portsmouth Berth 5 (1-4 June); verbatim 'Training crews 4497 and 4498 reported aboard for temporary duty, Ens. D.C. Wooldridge in charge. Crews consisted of 14 officers and 199 men' from ATB Camp Bradford (8 June, relieved 21-22 June by crews 4502/4503); gunnery and beaching exercises with Army and Seabees; magnetic-range towing with LST-545 under ComServRon 5 (21-24 July); Quantico, VA, moored for operations with the Marines (29-31 July).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-03-16 to 1944-07-31
- Population
- USNR ship's company (~117); ATB Camp Bradford rotating training crews (~213 per cycle); embarked Army/Seabee/Marine exercise participants; yard trades at Todd Johnson DD, Norfolk Navy Yard, Craney Island
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced records; OCR extraction is partial on heavily ribbon-degraded pages (the opening April pages are the weakest) - load-bearing entries quoted were legible in the scan. No asbestos or material content: the diaries document the yard events and their dates, not the work content. Diaries for August 1944-June 1945 were not surfaced - the hull's East-Coast-to-Pacific transition falls inside that coverage gap.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-03
-
[5]NARA file units, 'USS LST-544 - War Diary' July-November 1945 (RG 38, digitized via Fold3): NAID 83565348 (7/1-31/45, roll A1852, 4 images); NAID 77490324 (8/1-31/45, roll A1871, 4 images); NAID 77532589 (9/1-30/45, roll A1919, 3 images); NAID 77570873 (10/1-31/45, roll A1958, 4 images); NAID 140081508 (11/1-30/45, roll A2000, 4 images) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAIDs 83565348, 77490324, 77532589, 77570873, 140081508 - all images downloaded and OCR-read 2026-10-02; conversion sentence on 8 August entry (NAID 77490324 image 2); 'voyage repairs' sentence on 29 November entry (NAID 140081508 image 4)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's July-November 1945 war diaries (all 19 pages downloaded and OCR-read this session) document: member of LST Group 95 / LST Flotilla 32; in Dry Dock No. 3, Navy Yard Pearl Harbor, through 2 July 1945; Maui-area training incl. AA drone-target firing; general cargo load at Berth King 12, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard (17-18 July); embarkation of Underwater Demolition Teams 24 and 25 (26 officers, 174 men) at Kahului, Maui, and lift to Oceanside, CA (21-31 July, TU 13.11.60); offload at Oceanside, San Diego Concrete Yards south outfitting dock, and San Pedro; San Francisco from 5 August; verbatim 'Moored starboard side to port side of LST 872 at Bethlehem Steel Company Shipyard, San Francisco, California, Wharf 7. In shipyard to complete conversion to Ammunition Carrier' (8-10 August); passenger lift to Pearl Harbor (20-29 August, TU 06.12.5 with LST-270/224/969); West Loch layover September incl. 13 September material inspection; departure for Seattle 29 September as lead of TU 13.11.96 (LST-872, LST-270, SC-1294); Seattle arrival 10 October, ammunition discharge at Pier 46 North, reporting to Commandant 13th Naval District; Lake Union Drydock Co., Seattle, drydock 23-30 October (bottom cleaning, sea chests); verbatim 'Operating on detached duty hauling ammunition for Commandant 13th Naval District' (1 November); ammunition loading at U.S. Naval Magazine, Indian Island, WA (5-15 November) via Lake Union ship canal and government locks; open-ocean ammunition dumping ~48N 127W (20 November) under Coast Guard escort; gale refuge Bull Harbor, Hope Island, B.C. (22-25 November); and verbatim 'to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., to get voyage repairs' - moored Pier 6 Berth Baker Dog alongside LST-71 (29-30 November).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-07-01 to 1945-11-30
- Population
- USNR ship's company (~117); embarked UDT 24/25 teams (200) and transient passengers; yard trades at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Bethlehem Steel SF, Lake Union Drydock Co., Puget Sound NSY; Indian Island ordnance handlers
- Limitations
- Documents the yard events and their dates verbatim, not the work content: no diary itemizes materials, says 'asbestos,' or names the conversion/repair work-package scope. The ammunition-carrier conversion is a documented event aboard this hull; its material content (any added interior insulation/magazine fit-out) is unestablished by these sources. OCR of this run is clean except the September file's unit-composition line; the October diary is used for the task-unit roster.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); NavSource LST-544 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160544.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST-542 design group 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 1944 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 - and the documented 1944-45 yard events aboard this hull (New Orleans drydocking and engine availability, Norfolk Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor drydock, the Bethlehem Steel San Francisco ammunition-carrier conversion, Lake Union drydocking, and Puget Sound NSY voyage repairs) placed interior and machinery rework aboard this hull inside the Navy's asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades (1943-44); USNR ship's company/trainees/passengers (1944-46); yard trades at six documented facilities (1944-45); 1948 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or conversion work package was located for LST-544. 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-544-lst544-05
-
[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 (1943-44), training-ship service, the documented 1944-45 repair/conversion availabilities, and her 1948 scrapping.
- 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-544-lst544-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-544-lst544-09 through -12
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-544" returned 0 in both the opinion and docket indexes; "LST 544" asbestos in opinions returned 0; exact-name "USS LST-544" in opinions returned 0. Zero hits of any kind - no collisions, no vessel-list pleadings surfaced. No asbestos case 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 qualifying result means no located docketed case/opinion naming this hull, not proof none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-07
-
[9]Batch-7055 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + nine war-diary file units read in full via OCR; RG 24 muster-roll unit probe; BuShips SDB 1945 v2; GAO product page; CourtListener API (opinion + docket); NIOSH HHE search; NVR; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-544-lst544-01 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-544 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational (nine digitized war diaries) and confirms six distinct 1944-45 yard events aboard this hull including a documented ammunition-carrier conversion - all inside the Navy's asbestos-use era - but no primary source read names asbestos aboard this hull.
- 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 inland yard and six documented yard availabilities sit squarely inside the Navy's asbestos-use era. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-08
-
[10]NARA catalog, "LST-544" / "USS LST-544" - 172 and 78 file units respectively (fuzzy relevance); ship-titled units are the nine digitized war diaries read this session; plus NAID 118967604 'USS LSM-144 to USS LST-1005' (RG 24, 2,968 images) spanning this hull's muster rolls by title range [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov "LST-544" and "USS LST-544" result sets; NAID 118967604 record page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary archive coverage for this hull is digitized but has two gaps: ship-titled war-diary file units surfaced cover March-July 1944 (four units) and July-November 1945 (five units). No ship-titled diary was surfaced for August 1944-June 1945 (the East-Coast-to-Pacific transition period) or December 1945-August 1946 (decommissioning run-up); parent-unit COM LST GR 95 diaries (July-October 1945) and COM LST FLOT 9 / COM LST GR 26 diaries (1944 shakedown era) are digitized and bridge at unit level. A 2,968-image RG 24 file unit, 'USS LSM-144 to USS LST-1005' (NAID 118967604), spans this hull's muster-roll pages by title range, but its images did not resolve to direct JPEG download this session (HTML shell response); the exact page segment for LST-544 is undetermined. No BuPers casualty report for 'USS LST-544' was surfaced in the searches run.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (1944-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: the muster-roll unit's contents were not read or confirmed page-level; WWII deck logs proper for this hull were not located in the catalog searches run (deck-log microfilm rolls for other LSTs surfaced as fuzzy matches). RG 181 yard work-package records for the six documented availabilities, and any ammunition-carrier conversion plan files, are open archival leads.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-544-lst544-09