Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[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-549-lst549-pkt-688-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-549 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, four WWII campaigns, occupation/China service, decommissioning, striking, sale (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-549 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 4 January 1944 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 25 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. E. A. Oberhuber; commissioned 5 April 1944. WWII operations in the Asiatic-Pacific theater: 'Morotai landings-September 1944; Leyte landings-October and November 1944; Lingayen Gulf landings-January 1945; Mindanao Island landings-April 1945.' Post-war: occupation duty in the Far East and service in China until mid-February 1946; 'returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 28 February 1946'; struck from the Navy list 5 December 1947; sold 23 May 1948 to Consolidated Builder's, Inc., of Morris Heights, N.Y., and subsequently scrapped. Four battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, Evansville, 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. The 'returned to the United States and was decommissioned' clause conflicts with NavSource's SCAJAP/Q078 inactivation-in-the-Far-East account and with the ship's own war history, which places her at Yokohama 18 January 1946 - flagged in gaps, not resolved here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-549 (10/16/160549.htm, last updated 25 June 2021) - campaign tables, occupation/China medal periods, unit assignment, commanding-officer list, spec block, SCAJAP designation, disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160549.htm header block, campaign/medal tables, specifications block, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-542-class tank landing ship laid down 4 January 1944 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 25 February 1944; commissioned USS LST-549 5 April 1944, LT J. M. Hodgson, USNR, in command; radio call sign NEHK. Unit assignment: LST Flotilla Eight (CAPT E. Watts), LST Group Twenty-Three (CDR T. C. Linthicum), LST Division Forty-Five. Campaign table: Western New Guinea ops - Morotai landings 15 September 1944; Leyte op - Leyte landings 16-30 October and 3-29 November 1944; Luzon op - Lingayen Gulf landings 4-18 January 1945; Southern Philippines - Mindanao Island landings 17-23 April 1945. Navy Occupation Service medal periods 2 September-20 October 1945 and 5 November 1945-28 February 1946; China Service Medal (extended) 5 November 1945-28 February 1946 (the page's table prints '5 November 1946' - an apparent typo). Decommissioned 28 February 1946 and assigned to COMNAVFE Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q078; struck 5 December 1947; transferred to the Maritime Commission (MARAD) 23 May 1948; sold for scrapping 23 May 1948 to Consolidated Builders, Inc., Morris Heights, N.Y. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t; 328 ft oa x 50 ft; 11.6 kt trial; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, 2 propellers 1,700 shp, 3 x 100 kW DC generators; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 6 LCVP. CO list: LT Hodgson USNR (5 Apr 1944-28 Dec 1944); LTjg James Donald Mason USN (28 Dec 1944-Jan 1946); LTjg Gordon Byron C. USNR (Jan-28 Feb 1946). Four battle stars.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- USNR/USN ship's company (~117) plus embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - build/campaign dates and disposal cross-check cleanly against DANFS, the BuShips roster, and the ship's own war history, but the SCAJAP/Q078 decommissioning account conflicts with DANFS's 'returned to the United States' (see gaps). The China Service table's '5 November 1946' start year is an apparent typo for 1945. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-02
-
[4]NARA NAID 77707539, 'USS LST-549 - War History' (RG 38, World War II War Diaries series, microfilm A_2107; 9 images; digitized via Ancestry/Fold3 partnership) - read in full 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 77707539, all 9 images downloaded and read 2026-10-02 (transmittal + 7-page history + 18 January 1946 supplement transmittal)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own factual history (forwarded by CO J. D. Mason 31 October 1945, with a continuation forwarded 18 January 1946) documents verbatim: building completed 31 March 1944 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Works, Evansville; Ohio River trial run 1 April; commissioned at New Orleans 5 April 1944; LCT-669 embarked on the main deck 7 April; drydocked Todd-Johnson yard, Algiers, LA, 8-11 April; shakedown St. Andrews Bay; Norfolk load-out of 1,600 tons provisions; convoy via Guantanamo to Cristobal (22 May), a five-day availability painting water tanks, drydocking at Mount Hope, PCZ, 26 May, canal transit 27 May; Bora Bora 18 June; Milne Bay 8 July; LCT-669 launched from the main deck 11 July. New Guinea shuttle service (Cape Sudest, Cape Cretin, Alexishafen, Hollandia, Maffin Bay, Sansapor rear echelon). Morotai invasion (arrived 18 September under enemy air attack; Wakde resupply; convoy air attack 30 September). Leyte (White Beach 22 October under air attack; LST-695 torpedoed in the return convoy 24 October; Yellow Beach resupply 15 November). 'Out of operation from this date until 3 January 1945 because of auxiliary engine trouble' at Hollandia - a ~6-week in-theater machinery repair. Lingayen Gulf 27-29 January 1945 under air attack. Palawan (Puerto Princesa 12 March). Mindanao (167th Infantry to Parang 17-22 April; 31st Infantry Division second Parang run 30 April-3 May; Zamboanga). Ammunition runs Saidor/Finschhafen; Manila 13 June; Subic Bay 15 June; Lingayen 19-21 June; drydocked at Guiuan, Samar, 29 June-1 July 1945; fifteen-day availability at Leyte from 14 August. Occupation/China service: Jinsen and Fusan, Korea; 1,000 Japanese POWs disembarked at Sasebo 14 October; Okinawa; repatriation shuttle (Jinsen, Taku, Sasebo, Kunsan) moving ~1,003 Japanese POWs, 947 Chinese repatriates, 1,000 Japanese civilian repatriates, and 1,032 Korean repatriates; 33rd Special Naval Construction Battalion and 96 tons of winter clothing for the Chinese Nationalist Army to Shanghai and Tsingtao; arrived Yokohama, Japan, 18 January 1946 - where the ship's own history ends.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-03-31 to 1946-01-18
- Population
- Ship's company (1944-46); embarked troops and repatriated personnel in documented numbers
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced record read in full this session; documents movements, cargo, combat events, and maintenance availabilities verbatim - no asbestos, insulation, or material content. The documented drydockings and the Hollandia engine-repair period are machinery/hull work events in which era-standard materials would have been disturbed, but the history names no materials. Ends at Yokohama 18 January 1946 - six weeks before decommissioning - and does not cover the inactivation itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-03
-
[5]NARA ship-titled war diary file units (RG 38, World War II War Diaries): NAID 78593603 'War Diary, 4/5/44 to 6/30/44'; NAID 78599548 'War Diary, 7/1-31/44'; NAID 78629097 'War Diary, 8/1-31/44'; NAID 134372483 'War Diary, 9/1-30/44'; plus NAID 77693357 'War History Supplement' (3 images - duplicate filming of the continuation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAIDs 78593603, 78599548, 78629097, 134372483, 77693357; catalog search 'USS LST-549' (49 file units)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Four monthly war diaries for this hull are digitized and ship-titled, covering commissioning through September 1944 - the commissioning period at New Orleans, the canal transit, the New Guinea shuttle, and the Morotai operation month. The September 1944 unit (14 images) was sampled: daily CONFIDENTIAL-format entries record Humboldt Bay, New Guinea anchorage, anti-aircraft firing practice with ammunition expenditures, formation steaming with LSTs 469/549/18/697 (Division One) and 668/740/666/562 (Division Two), signed by CO J. M. Hodgson Lt. USNR and navigator J. D. Mason Lt.(jg) USN. No monthly war diaries for October 1944-February 1946 were surfaced as ship-titled units - the ship's seven-page factual history (ev-03) is the narrative coverage for the Leyte/Lingayen/Mindanao campaigns and the occupation/China period.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-04-05 to 1944-09-30 (units surfaced)
- Population
- Ship's company (1944)
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: one of the four diary units was sampled rather than all read in full; the war diary record for this hull post-September-1944 was not located as ship-titled digitized units (may exist under parent-unit LST group/flotilla diaries or in undigitized ranges). Diaries are operational logs - no material or asbestos content expected or found in the sample read.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-04
-
[6]NARA NAID 126468942, 'LST-549, 4/5/44-2/1/46' (U.S. Navy Muster Rolls; 301 images; digitized via Ancestry partnership, reel 7206) - cover and representative rolls sampled 2026-10-02 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 126468942, sampled images 000-001 (reel/muster cover), 005 (commissioning-quarter roll), 150 (March 1945 forwarding sheet)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's complete muster rolls - quarterly crew lists for her entire commissioned period, 5 April 1944 through 1 February 1946 - are digitized in a single 301-image file unit. Sampled images show the commissioning-quarter roll with crew names and ratings including engine-room and maintenance trades (Motor Machinist's Mates - MoMM, the diesel-plant rating; shipfitters - SF; gunner's mates), and the forwarding sheet for the quarter ending 31 March 1945 certified by G. J. Borre, Lt.(jg) USNR (Executive Officer) and approved by J. D. Mason, Lt.(jg) USN, Commanding Officer - consistent with the NavSource CO list. These are the primary per-date ship's-company source for any individual-service verification.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-04-05 to 1946-02-01
- Population
- Ship's company, 5 April 1944 - 1 February 1946 (per-date rosters)
- Limitations
- Primary personnel record; four of 301 images sampled, not read in full - per-date totals and the full rating distribution were not extracted. Documents who served aboard, not materials or exposure; contains no asbestos content. Coverage ends 1 February 1946, before the 28 February decommissioning.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-05
-
[7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), vessel roster - LST-549 line (shipscribe.com scan at corrected URL, verified live 2026-10-02; the 2026-09-16 class-profile URL path shipscribe.com/styles/usnaux/sdb/ is dead, site reorganized under /pubs/) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2, vessel roster LST section (LST549 row under Missouri Valley B. & I. Co., Evansville)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official BuShips vessel roster lists LST-549 under the Missouri Valley B. & I. Co., Evansville block with laid-down 4 January 1944, launched 25 February 1944, commissioned 5 April 1944 - matching DANFS exactly and confirming builder and dates from the Navy's own Ships' Data volume. The roster carries this hull within the LST542-931 design group.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Construction trades (Evansville, 1944)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific roster line for build dates only; the roster contains no material or asbestos content. Confirms but adds nothing beyond DANFS.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-06
-
[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-549 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table (LST542-931 machinery and hull rows); NavSource 160549.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST542-931 design group ran a diesel plant (2 x G.M. Diesel 12-567A, 1,700 shp on 2 propellers - BuShips design table; the table's boilers/steam-conditions columns are empty for all diesel LST groups) 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 valve packing, accommodation thermal insulation, and deck coverings - inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (GAO HRD-80-2; Corn & Starr 1987).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Evansville construction trades (1944); ship's company/embarked troops (1944-46); 1948 scrapping workforce
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package was located for LST-549. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy's Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (B-163375, October 18, 1979) - full text via Wayback Machine capture (live gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, reconfirmed 2026-10-02); archived copy labeled accordingly [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 summary letter (Conclusions, Navy's Policy sections) and Enclosure I, via Wayback capture 20260810022152
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos era at program level: 'thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos' aboard Navy ships; 'recently constructed Navy ships have little or no asbestos thermal insulation, other Navy ships contain large quantities of asbestos' (1979); thermal-insulation product specifications were changed in 1973 to specify asbestos-free materials, but 'some ships were delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978'; the Navy's no-asbestos policy was issued in October 1975. This hull's 1944 construction, wartime service, and 1948 disposal all predate every documented control milestone in the report. Fieldwork was performed at the Long Beach and Norfolk naval shipyards.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 (documenting practices through the WWII-postwar era)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. GAO's fieldwork yards (Long Beach, Norfolk) do not include Evansville or any LST builder; the report does not name LST-549 or LSTs as a type.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-08
-
[10]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) - DOI resolves to Wiley (publisher page bot-gated; citation verified via DOI resolution 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and program under which this LST-542-class hull was built at an inland wartime yard in 1944 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization, with asbestos diseases manifesting among shipyard workers twenty years later.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or this yard and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-09
-
[11]NPS, 'Evansville, Indiana: Comparing and Connecting WWII Home Front Cities' (Teaching with Historic Places lesson) - Evansville Shipyard production record and workforce (live NPS page, fetched via Firecrawl 2026-10-02) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS lesson page, caption text and lesson introduction
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NPS documents the yard that built this hull: the Evansville Shipyard - established 1942 on 45 acres of riverfront - employed over 19,000 workers at its height and in three years built 24 ships, 167 LSTs, and 35 other war craft, more LSTs than any other shipyard in the country; a fire swept through the plant in January 1946 and nothing remains of the operation. The April 1944 Secretary of the Navy message reproduced in the lesson records the Evansville yard carrying the highest LST quota of any yard in the nation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Evansville Shipyard workforce (over 19,000 at height)
- Limitations
- Yard-level context only - the article does not name LST-549, describes no materials, and says nothing about asbestos; it documents the workforce scale and production tempo of the yard that built this hull, nothing more.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-10
-
[12]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and RECAP docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-549-lst549-10 through -14
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-549" returned 0 hits in the opinion index; "USS LST-549" returned 0 hits in opinions and 0 hits in RECAP dockets (authenticated API v4, 2026-10-02). "LST-549" in the RECAP docket index returned one hit - Valerus Compression Services LP v. Lone Star Transportation LLC (E.D. Wis., 1:10-cv-00517, filed 2010), a Carmack Amendment trucking dispute in which 'LST-549' appears as a part/serial-style string - classified a name collision, not a qualifying case. The hull designation is also the full name - no separate name-collision class exists for a number-only LST.
- 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. The variant query '"LST 549" asbestos' could not be completed this session - fleet pacing gate engaged on both attempts; see search_ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-11
-
[13]Batch-7060 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + five ship-titled file units (war history read in full; war diary and muster rolls sampled); BuShips SDB 1945 v2; NPS Evansville lesson; GAO HRD-80-2 via Wayback; Corn & Starr 1987; CourtListener API (opinion + docket); MARAD Vessel History; NVR; NIOSH HHE search; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-549-lst549-01 through -20
- 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-549 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational and personnel (the ship's own war history, four war diaries, complete muster rolls, and the BuShips roster line) - none 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 LST yard sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-12
-
[14]NARA catalog, 'USS LST-549' - 49 file units (fuzzy relevance); ship-titled units: war history NAID 77707539, war history supplement NAID 77693357, war diaries NAIDs 78593603 / 78599548 / 78629097 / 134372483, muster rolls NAID 126468942; incidental mentions inside other ships' later-1960s logs (post-scrapping, non-qualifying) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov 'USS LST-549' result set (49 file units) and series-594258 'LST-549' result set (64 units, all incidental)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary archive coverage for this hull is digitized but incomplete: ship-titled units surfaced cover the full factual history (Apr 1944-Jan 1946), four monthly war diaries (Apr-Sep 1944), and the complete muster rolls (Apr 1944-Feb 1946). No ship-titled deck log units were surfaced in the digitized logbook series (series 594258) - deck logs for this hull, if extant, sit in undigitized or differently-titled ranges. No ship-titled unit covers October 1944-January 1946 at diary granularity except the war history itself; parent-unit LST Flotilla 8 / Group 23 diaries are the coverage bridge. RG 181 yard work-package records for the Evansville construction, and any Bureau of Ships repair/availability files for the documented availabilities (Todd-Johnson, Mount Hope, Hollandia, Guiuan, Leyte), are open archival leads.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Ship's company (1944-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: parent-unit diaries, undigitized deck logs, and yard work-package records were not retrieved. Incidental 'LST-549' mentions inside later ships' 1960s-era logs were disregarded (the hull was scrapped in 1948).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-549-lst549-13