Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 696-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-596-lst596-pkt-696-packet-md
-
[2]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, LST-596 entry [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry body (two paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (NHHC) records that LST-596 was laid down 11 July 1944 at Evansville, Indiana, by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 21 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Palmer L. McMichael; and commissioned 14 September 1944. It states that after World War II the ship performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until mid-May 1946, was decommissioned 12 June 1946, struck from the Navy list 25 September 1946, and sold to Bosey, Philippines, on 5 December 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Limitations
- DANFS is the official Navy history but terse for numbered LSTs: it does not name commanding officers, does not describe in-theater WWII operations, and does not say 'for scrapping' for the 1947 sale (NavSource supplies that characterization). DANFS's 11 July 1944 laid-down date conflicts with NavSource's 14 July; the official DANFS date is carried. No asbestos or material-composition information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-596 page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull-data block, specifications block, commanding-officers table, image captions
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NavSource identifies USS LST-596 as an LST-542-class tank landing ship and reports specifications of 328 feet overall length, 50-foot beam, 1,625 tons light / 4,080 tons full-load / 2,366 tons beaching displacement, 11.6 knots trial speed, 24,000-mile endurance at 9 knots, 13 officers and 104 enlisted, troop accommodations for 16 officers and 147 enlisted, and two LCVPs. It lists two General Motors 12-567A 900-hp diesel engines, single Falk main reduction gear, three diesel-drive 100-kW 230-V DC ship-service generators, two propellers producing 1,700 shp, and twin rudders. It records Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment, occupation and China service periods of 15 September 1945 to 10 May 1946, ribbons for China Service (extended), American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, WWII Victory, and Navy Occupation Service (Asia clasp), commanding officers LT Sidney Muskin USNR, LT Russell E. Conyne USNR, and LT George Arthur Dick USN, a photograph of the ship moored at Shanghai on 28 December 1945, and sale 5 December 1947 to Bosey, Philippines, 'for scrapping.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers, 104 enlisted) and embarked troops
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled archive used here where it supplements DANFS (COs, 'for scrapping' characterization, occupation-period dates, ribbons). Its laid-down date (14 July 1944) conflicts with DANFS (11 July) and is not carried as the record date. The page contains no asbestos or material-composition information and does not establish final disposition beyond the reported scrapping sale.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-02
-
[4]National Park Service, Evansville, Indiana place page [nps]
- Locator
- World War II shipyard paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Park Service documents that the Department of the Navy constructed the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. Shipyard, also called the Evansville Shipyard, in February 1942; the forty-acre plant on the Ohio River built 300-by-50-foot LSTs, sustained production of one ship every four days in 1944, and had produced 167 LSTs by February 1945, making it the largest inland producer of oceangoing ships. DANFS identifies that yard as LST-596's builder.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1945
- Population
- Evansville wartime shipyard workforce
- Limitations
- Yard-level production context, not a hull-specific materials record. The NPS page does not name LST-596 and contains no asbestos or insulation statement; it does not establish exposure of any worker or crew member.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (January 1945), LST-542 design-group machinery data; LST-1-class profile background [other_primary]
- Locator
- LST542-931 design-group machinery rows; class profile ev-lst-1-class-03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class/era inference: the LST-542 design group used diesel propulsion rather than boilers. For a 1944 diesel LST, asbestos-relevant applications may have included diesel-exhaust lagging, machinery gaskets and packing, engine-room thermal or acoustic insulation, deck coverings or tile, accommodation insulation, and winch or windlass brake linings. No source located for this record confirms that any listed application was installed aboard LST-596.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- 1944 construction trades and 1944-1946 ship's company
- Limitations
- Class/design and era inference only. The design data establishes diesel machinery, not asbestos content. It does not establish quantity, location, condition, retention, exposure, causation, or legal eligibility for this hull or any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-04
-
[6]U.S. GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 [gao]
- Locator
- Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO's 1979 review states that the Navy's 1975 policy removed and replaced nonasbestos materials only when insulation was damaged or had to be removed for necessary repairs, and that the policy was modified in 1979 to include selectively replacing asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas where repairs would be expected during a ship's next operating cycle. This is program-level context for Navy vessel asbestos management, not a finding about LST-596.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; Navy asbestos program
- Limitations
- GAO reviewed Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, not LST-596 or the Evansville builder yard; the policy period (1975-1979) also postdates this hull's 1947 sale. The page does not establish what materials were aboard this hull, what was removed, or whether any person was exposed. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to plain automated fetches; the page was verified live through a rendering fetch (Firecrawl) 2026-10-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-05
-
[7]National Archives Catalog (catalog.archives.gov), records search for quoted "LST-596" and "USS LST-596" [other_primary]
- Locator
- Catalog search results, fileUnit-level records (WWII war diaries and operation reports series)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- National Archives catalog searches mentioning the hull: a quoted "LST-596" query returns 111 catalog records and a quoted "USS LST-596" query returns 20 records, the surfaced hits being unit-level World War II records - LST group war diaries (COM LST GR 65, 66, 70), amphibious task-unit operation reports, and related command files that reference the hull. No dedicated per-hull deck log, action report, or shipyard work package for LST-596 surfaced in the catalog results.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (record dates)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: catalog hits establish that unit-level records mentioning the hull exist, but the underlying documents were not retrieved or reviewed, and nothing in them is asserted. Does not establish asbestos content, exposure, or any operational detail beyond the catalog titles.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-06
-
[8]Batch-7112 research ledger: DANFS/NHHC, NavSource, NPS, BuShips design data, GAO, NARA catalog, NVR, and CourtListener helper searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-596-lst596-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record was located in the accessible research: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazardous-material disclosure, insulation drawing, material schedule, or museum/registry record naming LST-596 was found. This negative finding is limited by the non-retrieval of the NARA unit records and the absence of the builder yard from the shipyard dataset.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- A failure to locate a public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. The result is an access- and coverage-limited negative finding, not evidence that the hull was asbestos-free and not evidence that any exposure claim is defeated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 authenticated search via cl-auth-search.py; queries "USS LST-596", "LST-596", and LST-596 across opinion and docket types [other_primary]
- Locator
- Authenticated helper output: four zero-result phrase/name queries; two broad-token queries with unrelated sampled results
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener searches completed a full sweep for this hull: exact-name "USS LST-596" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets; exact-phrase "LST-596" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets; unquoted LST-596 returned 125 opinion and 3,515 docket broad token matches whose sampled records were unrelated cases or token/name collisions. No qualifying asbestos-litigation hit naming USS LST-596 was identified, and no litigation hit exists to classify.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Coverage is limited to CourtListener's index: older state, bankruptcy, MDL remand, and non-digitized records are incomplete there, and the unquoted broad result sets were sampled rather than exhaustively document-reviewed. No hit is treated as exposure evidence; a zero result is not proof that no case exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-596-lst596-08