Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 693-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-578-lst578-pkt-693-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-578 (l20 list entry) - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Pacific campaigns, occupation duty, decommissioning, MSTS transfer, battle stars (verbatim text via Wayback Machine capture 2004-06-26; live NHHC page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS l20/lst-578 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LST-578 was laid down on 4 May 1944 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 19 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. A. B. Morris; and commissioned on 15 July 1944, Lt. D. C. Wooldridge in command.' WWII Asiatic-Pacific operations: 'Leyte landings - November 1944, Lingayen Gulf landing - January 1945, Mindanao Island landings - March and April 1945.' 'Following the war, LST-578 performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-March 1946. She was decommissioned on 22 March 1946 and transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service on 31 March 1952 where she operated as USNS LST-578. LST-578 earned three battle stars for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1952 (entry coverage)
- Population
- MVB&I construction trades (1944); commissioned crew (1944-46); MSTS civil mariners (1952-58)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; terse DANFS list-format entry with no yard, material, or casualty detail and no asbestos content; the entry ends at the 1952 MSTS transfer and does not cover striking or the ROC sale. Cited via Wayback capture of the official page (2004-06-26) - both live NHHC candidate URLs (/content/.../danfs/l/lst-578.html and /research/.../danfs/l/lst-578.html) return 404, the standing NHHC link-rot defect noted in BATCH-01/98/7079; no hazegray mirror exists for this entry (all probed URL variants unreachable 2026-10-02).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USNS T-LST-578 ex USS LST-578 - designation timeline, commanding officers, campaign table, awards display, specifications, ROC Navy disposition (page verified live 2026-10-02, HTTP 200, full text extracted via Firecrawl) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160578.htm header block, campaign table, awards block, commanding-officers table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: LST-542-class; laid down 4 May 1944 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville IN; launched 19 June 1944; commissioned USS LST-578 15 July 1944, LT. D. C. Wooldridge, USN, in command. WWII Asiatic-Pacific Theater campaigns tabulated: Leyte landings 5-18 November 1944; Lingayen Gulf landing 4-19 January 1945; Mindanao Island landings 10-18 March, 24 March-14 April, and 17-23 April 1945. Occupation service in the Far East 29 January to 22 March 1946. Decommissioned 22 March 1946 and assigned to COMNAVFE Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q099. Transferred to MSTS 31 March 1952, placed in service as USNS T-LST-578. Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register in 1958. Sold to the Republic of China in 1958, named ROCS Chung Pang (LST-230); retired from ROC service, decommissioned 23 August 2018; final disposition 'fate unknown'. Three battle stars for WWII. Awards display: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3), WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Medal (Asia clasp), Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal (2) - no China Service Medal. Commanding officers: LT. Darrell Cicero Wooldridge USN (15 Jul 1944 - 2 Dec 1944); LTjg. Harold J. Thompson USNR (2 Dec 1944 - 26 Sep 1945); LTjg. Homer Ellis Mumford USN (26 Sep 1945 - Feb 1946); LTjg. Franklin L. Becker USNR (Feb 1946 - 22 Mar 1946). Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 11.6 kt trial; complement 13 officers/104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers/147 enlisted; propulsion 2 x GM 12-567A 900-hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, 2 shafts, 1,700 shp, twin rudders, 3 x 100 kW 230 V DC diesel-drive generators; diesel fuel capacity 4,300 bbl; armament 2 twin 40 mm + 4 single 40 mm + 12 single 20 mm (ultimate design); call sign NEXI. Photo captions document the ex-hull in ROC service at Kaohsiung and Keelung and its 23 August 2018 decommissioning ceremony (photo courtesy Republic of China Navy).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-2018
- Population
- MVB&I construction trades (1944); commissioned crew (1944-46); SCAJAP-era operators (1946-52); MSTS civil mariners (1952-58); Republic of China Navy crew (1958-2018)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track DANFS but the SCAJAP Q099 redesignation, the 1958 strike year, and the ROC transfer chain carry no primary anchor on the page; 'fate unknown' for final disposition sits against documented 2019/2020 target use and tow-back (see ev-03, ev-04). Campaign window dates and award-device counts are display-level data. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-02
-
[4]Central News Agency (Taiwan), 'F-16 jets test-fire Harpoon missiles hitting target ships, verifying air-to-sea tactics' (2019-07-29, reporter Yu Kai-hsiang) - verbatim text via Wayback Machine capture 2019-07-29; live CNA page serves current-day navigation chrome only [reputable_press]
- Locator
- CNA article aipl/201907290268, body paragraphs (Wayback capture)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CNA documents this hull's post-retirement use as a live-fire target: on the morning of 29 July 2019, multiple ROC Air Force F-16 sorties conducted an anti-ship attack drill, firing two air-launched Harpoon missiles that hit 'two decommissioned target ships, Chung-series landing ships (LST216, LST230)' - LST-230 being this hull as ROCS Chung Pang, hit eleven months after decommissioning.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2019-07-29
- Population
- ROC military exercise personnel (target preparation, range safety, post-shot recovery)
- Limitations
- Taiwan's national wire service dispatch citing unnamed military sources - establishes the target-ship event and hit, not damage extent, sinking, or disposal. Article text is Chinese-language; quoted parenthetical pennants (LST216, LST230) per the article. No asbestos content; a missile strike on a WWII-era hull is a materials-disturbance event for which no ACM-handling documentation is attached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-03
-
[5]United Daily News (Taiwan), 'Back from the ordeal: Chung Pang served as target ship, did not sink, towed back to Kaohsiung port' (2020-07-17, reporter Cheng Chia-wen) - verbatim text via Wayback Machine capture 2020-07-24; live udn.com URL returns 404 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- UDN news story 10930/4708867, full body (Wayback capture)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- UDN documents this hull's use as a missile target in the Han Kuang 36 exercise: two decommissioned vessels served as targets - frigate Chi Yang (FF932) and tank landing ship 'Chung Pang' (LST-230, this hull). Per Ministry of National Defense imagery, Chi Yang was hit by a submarine-launched SUT torpedo and presumed sunk; Chung Pang, target for Hsiung Feng and Harpoon anti-ship missiles (HF-3 fired by PG-618 Tuo Chiang, Harpoon by FFG-938 Ning Yang, shore-based HF-2 by the Hai Feng battalion, 15 July 2020 off Jiupeng, Pingtung), was towed on the morning of 17 July 2020 by the rescue ship Da Tun (ARS-556) back to the naval pier at Qijin, Kaohsiung, with at least two missile holes visible near the waterline. UDN notes exercise missiles typically carry telemetry instruments instead of high-explosive warheads and that lightly damaged target hulls are towed back, repaired, and reused.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2020-07-15/17
- Population
- ROC exercise and salvage personnel aboard Da Tun (ARS-556) and handling crews at Qijin pier (July 2020); any later repair or disposal workforce undocumented
- Limitations
- Reputable national press with named byline, drawing on MND-released exercise imagery and reader photographs of the towed hull - establishes the missile hits, non-sinking, and tow-back to Qijin, not the hull's subsequent disposal. Article text is Chinese-language. ROC naval target preparation (fuel/ammunition removal, possible interior stripping before expendable use) is implied but not documented - a hull-disturbance pathway with no ACM-handling record attached.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-04
-
[6]Military News Agency (ROC) dispatch carried by ETtoday, 'Running resupply under the 823 artillery fire - Chung Pang warship formally decommissioned after a sixty-year career' (2018-08-24, datelined Kaohsiung 23 Aug, reporter Hsu Chen-wei); corroborated by CNA, 'Historic battlefield ship Chung Hai - Kinmen County coordinating with MND on in-place preservation' (2020-05-21, https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aloc/202005210388.aspx, live) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- ETtoday article body (Military News Agency dispatch); CNA aloc/202005210388 paragraphs on the 2018 handover plan
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Military News Agency documents this hull's ROC Navy retirement: Navy Fleet Command held the 'Chung Pang warship decommissioning ceremony' at Zuoying Naval Base on 23 August 2018, presided over by the fleet commander (Vice Admiral Liu), surrendering ship's flag, seals, name board, and a ship model - closing a sixty-year ('one sexagenary cycle') Taiwan service career described as including resupply operations under the 1958 Second Taiwan Strait (823 Artillery) Crisis. CNA separately documents that the Navy had planned to decommission Chung Pang at Kinmen on 23 August 2018 and hand her to Kinmen County Government as a substitute for sister ship Chung Hai (LST-201) in a battlefield-heritage display program - a plan halted over moored-hulk safety and maintenance cost concerns, after which the hull instead entered target-ship use (ev-03, ev-04).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2018-08-23 (ceremony); 2017-2020 (Kinmen plan window)
- Population
- ROC Navy crew and veterans at retirement (2018); Kinmen display/handover workforce that would have received the hulk (plan not executed)
- Limitations
- The decommissioning ceremony is official-military-press content carried by a commercial outlet (ETtoday) and cross-verified against live CNA coverage; exact ceremony venue detail varies between 'Zuoying base' (MNA) and 'Kaohsiung Xinbin pier' (secondary aggregator) - Zuoying carried per the official dispatch. The 823-crisis resupply claim is the agency's ceremonial-history characterization, not a log-level record. The Kinmen plan is documented as planned-then-halted, never executed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-05
-
[7]National Park Service, 'Places of WWII History in Evansville, IN' - Evansville Shipyard documentation [nps]
- Locator
- NPS article, 'Evansville Shipyard' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documents this hull's builder and build environment: 'The Navy built Evansville Shipyard on 40 acres of land on the city's west side. Within four months after the plant was first announced in February 1942, the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company began production on Evansville Shipyard's first landing ship tank (LST).' The yard produced 167 LSTs by February 1945 at one ship every four days during 1944 - this hull's construction window (May-July 1944) - and 'in January 1946, a fire destroyed Evansville Shipyard.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1946
- Population
- Evansville Shipyard workforce - Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron construction trades (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Builder-level documentation, not a hull record - the page does not name LST-578 and yard totals are not hull-specific output figures. The article's '300 feet long' ship description is a popular-article approximation (the LST-542 design was 328 ft oa per NavSource/BuShips data). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-06
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - BuShips Ships' Data 1945 Vol. 2 LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-08); Atlas LST-1-class class profile (ships-worktrees/class-f/lst-1-class.class.json) design/materials assessment for the LST-542 group [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design table; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy enclosure response (attachment #1 discussion); class-f LST-1-class profile asbestos_application assessment
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel tank landing ship built May-July 1944 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. As a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A, no boilers), the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; era-standard applications for a 1944 diesel amphibious ship were diesel exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, flange and valve gaskets, valve packing, winch and crane brake linings, and electrical insulation. GAO documents that asbestos persisted in non-insulation shipboard applications (electronic equipment, electric cabling, piping systems, and equipment brakes and clutches) even after the 1973 specification change.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-2020
- Population
- MVB&I construction trades (1944); commissioned crew (1944-46); SCAJAP/MSTS operators (1946-58); Republic of China Navy crew and any undocumented refit/maintenance workforce (1958-2018); target-preparation and recovery crews (2019-2020)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, work package, or survey located for LST-578. Names era-standard applications for the type, not confirmed installed materials aboard this hull. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-07
-
[9]GAO, Navy's Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979; publicly released Oct 22, 1979) - full text retrieved this session via Firecrawl (https://www.gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf) [gao]
- Locator
- HRD-80-2 report letter and Navy enclosure response (attachment #1 discussion)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documents the Navy asbestos era covering this hull's entire U.S. service life: the Navy enclosure states 'Each ship has several types of asbestos containing materials installed; however, thermal insulation for machinery, equipment and piping systems has been the major application of asbestos'; even after thermal-insulation use was eliminated, 'there remain a few shipboard applications where technically acceptable substitute asbestos-free [materials were unavailable]' - asbestos in electronic equipment, electric cabling, piping systems, and equipment brakes and clutches; specifications calling for asbestos-free thermal insulation date from late 1973, yet ship-sets bought under earlier specifications meant 'some ships were delivered with asbestos thermal insulation since 1973' (as late as May 1978).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 (report); asbestos-use era documented through 1978 deliveries
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation - fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards and the report does not name this hull or any amphibious ship; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this vessel. Full text retrieved via Firecrawl extraction of the GAO PDF (imperfect OCR; quoted passages verified against the rendered text).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-08
-
[10]Woolsey v. Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., 88 N.E.2d 54, 119 Ind. App. 391 (Ind. App. Oct. 17, 1949) [court_record]
- Locator
- 88 N.E.2d 54; 119 Ind. App. 391; decided 1949-10-17
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- An occupational-disease claim litigated against this hull's builder during its construction window - OTHER LITIGATION, not an asbestos case: Elbert Woolsey worked for Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company 'as a pipe fitter in the compartment of ships' from June 21, 1944 to November 11, 1944 - overlapping LST-578's launch (19 June 1944) and commissioning (15 July 1944) fitting-out window - and his estate alleged death from poisoning by fumes and gases from welding galvanized metal. The Industrial Board found no occupational disease arising out of employment; the Indiana Appellate Court affirmed the award. The record documents that occupational-disease litigation reached this yard's ship-compartment workforce during the LST build era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- MVB&I Evansville ship-compartment trades (1944); Indiana occupational-disease claimants
- Limitations
- A welding-fume occupational-disease claim, NOT an asbestos exposure case - classified as other litigation under litigation-stage discipline; the affirmed Board award is a merits outcome finding no work-related disease, i.e., a negative merits result for that claimant, not exposure evidence. Names the builder's workforce generally, not this hull. Reporter citation verified against two independent legal indexes in prior batch work (batch-7079); no URL carried (blocklisted aggregators excluded).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-09
-
[11]Batch-7092 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback; NavSource live; NVR probe; CNA and UDN via Wayback; Military News Agency via ETtoday live; CNA aloc live; NPS Evansville; GAO full text; CourtListener authenticated searches; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-578-lst578-01 through sl-uss-lst-578-lst578-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, MARAD/MDAP transfer material, or qualifying litigation naming USS/USNS LST-578 (T-LST-578, SCAJAP Q099, ROCS Chung Pang, LST-230) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated searches 2026-10-02 returned zero across the board for the hull ('"LST-578"' o=0/r=0; '"USS LST-578"' o=0/r=0; '"LST 578"' o=0/r=0); the ROC name '"Chung Pang"' returned o=0 and a single docket hit that is a name collision (a creditor name in the Celsius Network bankruptcy service affidavits), not the vessel. Secondary web sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing listicles asserting asbestos aboard WWII-era LSTs generically, without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- 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 - a 1944 diesel amphibious ship is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation and components, her SCAJAP/MSTS operating periods are undocumented at record level, her six-decade ROC Navy career implies undocumented refit work, and her documented use as a missile target (2019, 2020) is a hull-disturbance pathway with no ACM-handling record located. RG 24 deck logs, SCAJAP/MSTS files, and ROC Navy service/disposal records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-578-lst578-10