Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, LST-7 (NHHC live page, verified GET 200 on 2026-10-02) - construction, sponsor, operations, decommission/strike/disposal, battle stars [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text (single paragraph)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 17 July 1942 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched 31 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Anna Marvin; commissioned 2 March 1943. Assigned to the European theater in World War II and participated in: Sicilian occupation - July 1943; Salerno landings - September 1943; Invasion of Normandy - June 1944. Decommissioned 21 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 19 June 1946; sold 7 October 1947 to Mr. L. Lewis Green, Jr., of Charleston, S.C., for scrapping. Earned three battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Dravo construction trades (1942); crew (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Short DANFS entry - no spec block, no complement figure, no post-Normandy service detail (September 1944 - May 1946 duty unstated), and decommissioning location not given. Live page verified 2026-10-02 (GET 200; HEAD request returns 404 artifact).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-01
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-7 (10/16/160007) - yard location, CO list, spec block, campaign dates, disposal, photo record (verified live, HTTP 200, 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 160007.htm header block, campaign table, spec block, CO table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 17 July 1942 at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA (yard location precision vs DANFS 'Pittsburgh'); launched 31 October 1942; commissioned USS LST-7, 2 March 1943, LT. Frank O'Neil USN in command; international call sign NFSV. Europe-Africa-Middle East theater; campaigns with exact dates: Sicilian occupation 9-15 July 1943; Salerno landings 9-21 September 1943; Invasion of Normandy 6-25 June 1944. Decommissioned 21 May 1946; struck 19 June 1946; three battle stars; sold for scrapping 7 October 1947 to Lewis Green, Jr., of Charleston, S.C. Commanding-officer succession (compiled by NavSource volunteers): LT Frank O'Neil (2 Mar 1943 - 22 Sep 1944; annotated 'death by suicide in line of duty'), LT Thomas Luther Rhodes (22 Sep 1944 - Jun 1945), LT John F. Kramer USNR (Jun 1945 - Mar 1946), LT Ameda Joseph Bergeron (Mar 1946 - 21 May 1946). Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa; beam 50 ft; 11.6 kt trial; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP; ultimate armament 2 twin + 4 single 40mm, 12 single 20mm; propulsion 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, 3 diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V DC generators, 2 shafts 1,700 shp. Photo record places this hull: ~6 miles SE of Salerno, 9-10 Sep 1943 (George Rodger, Life magazine); Portsmouth, England (officers and crew); underway Plymouth, England, c. Jan 1944; high and dry on Omaha Beach shortly after D-Day, 6 Jun 1944; unloading railroad rolling stock at Cherbourg, France.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island construction trades (1942); ship's company ~117 + embarked troops (1943-46); Charleston SC scrapyard workers (1947 onward)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track DANFS/NVR practice but the CO table (including the O'Neil death annotation) rests on volunteer compilation, not a located primary record. No asbestos content. The Salerno photo is a credited Life/TimeLife image; crew photos are veteran-contributed (Eugene Coughenour, SM/1c USNR).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-02
-
[3]NARA, RG 38 (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), series 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' (NAID 4697018) - USS LST-7 monthly war diaries, digitized [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov file units (NAIDs listed); parent series NAID 4697018
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A near-complete digitized run of this hull's own war diaries exists at NARA: eighteen monthly file units March 1943 (commissioning month) through August 1944 - NAIDs 134145011 (3/2-31/43), 134185299, 134251749, 135898141, 134304740, 135956729, 78202701, 134328900, 136042835, 78244644 (Apr-Dec 43), 78285238, 78320676, 78371060, 78412046, 78448675, 78520154, 78551109, 139734211 (Jan-Aug 44) - plus 'USS LST-7 - Form reports of AA action at Bizerte, North Africa, 8/17-18/43' (NAID 77627347, 5 images scanned via Fold3), documenting the ship's filing of anti-aircraft action reports at Bizerte between the Sicily and Salerno operations. All unrestricted, College Park.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Ship's company during 1943-44 combat-era operations
- Limitations
- Archival lead: existence, series, and digitization verified in the NARA catalog this session; contents NOT extracted - operational detail (positions, port calls, availabilities, any material/work entries) is unmined. War diaries are operational, not material-safety, records; asbestos content is not expected but is unreviewed. No war diary units surface for September 1944 onward in the digitized series.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-03
-
[4]NARA, RG 24, series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' (NAID 594996) - 'LST-7, 2/14/43-5/21/46', Microfilm Roll 4264, 270 images scanned via Ancestry [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/126612687; Roll 4264
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- This hull's complete muster rolls are digitized at NARA: file unit 'LST-7, 2/14/43-5/21/46' (NAID 126612687) spans her entire commissioned life - pre-commissioning crew assembly 14 February 1943 through decommissioning 21 May 1946 - 270 scanned images. The authoritative crew-population record for any future exposure-population work.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- All hands who served aboard LST-7, 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Archival lead: roster document - names, ratings, and reporting/detachment dates, not an exposure or material record. Contents not extracted this session. RG 24 deck logs proper (logbooks) for this hull did not surface as a digitized file unit under catalog searches - the physical deck logs remain an open lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-04
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block for this hull (2 x GM 12-567A diesels - diesel plant, no boilers); class profile lst-1-class (BuShips SDB 1945 v2 design data: 2 x GM 12-567A, ~1,700 shp, diesel plant - no boilers); GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; class profile lst-1-class evidence; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LST-1-class tank landing ship built in 1942 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a diesel amphibious ship of this type and period were diesel-exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and valve packing, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, winch/windlass brake linings, and electrical cable insulation. As a diesel ship she carried no propulsion boilers - the boiler/steam-turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island construction trades (1942); ship's company + embarked troops (1943-46); Charleston SC scrapyard workers (1947 onward)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package located for LST-7. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-05
-
[6]Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh regional museum), 'Pittsburgh's LSTs: Remembering the Workhorse of Normandy' (Leslie Przybylek, senior curator) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Heinz History Center blog article, 'Dravo Leads the Cornfield Navy' and 'LSTs at Normandy and Beyond' sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder-program context: Dravo Corporation was lead yard of the five inland 'cornfield navy' LST yards; it gathered prefabricated LST sections from five Pittsburgh-area plants for assembly at the Neville Island yard, welded rather than riveted (a technique that opened the work to all-women welding crews at Dravo and American Bridge). Dravo's workforce grew from ~1,500 to ~25,000 between 1941 and 1945; more than 250 LSTs launched from Dravo and American Bridge together; LST-1 slid down the Neville Island ways on Labor Day, 7 September 1942 - weeks before this hull's launch on the same ways.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island workforce incl. women welders (1941-45)
- Limitations
- Regional museum article - program-level construction context for the builder yard, not a hull record and not a material/hazmat record. No asbestos content. The 53-Pennsylvania-LSTs-at-D-Day figure is program-level; per-hull participation must come from hull records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-06
-
[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 entire construction (1942) and service era (1943-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- 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 - standing defect carried from prior batches); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-07
-
[8]Batch-7227 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource live page; NARA catalog (war diaries, Bizerte AA report, muster rolls); Heinz History Center; GAO product page; NVR (not digitized); shipscribe SDB PDF (dead); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-7-lst7-01 through -15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming USS LST-7 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener sweeps (verified 2026-10-02): '"LST-7" asbestos' opinions = 0 hits; '"LST-7"' unqualified opinions = 2 hits, both name collisions (non-asbestos, non-maritime); '"LST-7"' unqualified RECAP dockets = 82 hits, all OCR noise (Bates stamps, form-field codes) with zero asbestos/mesothelioma content and zero vessel references - classification: NO QUALIFYING ASBESTOS LITIGATION. The only 'asbestos aboard' material surfaced is law-firm marketing content (generic landing-ship and navy-ship listicles - gorilaw.com, asbestos.com, mesotheliomatreatmentcenters.org, mesotheliomahope.com) asserting asbestos 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 1942-built hull sold for scrapping in 1947 pre-dates survey and ACM-handling regulation, so no abatement trail is expected to exist. Digitized war diaries and muster rolls remain unmined. Litigation coverage note: the hull designation is fully swept in opinions and dockets; only the '"USS LST-7"' subset variant and '"LST 7"' space variant are unrun (blocked) - residual coverage gap, not a substantive one. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-7-lst7-08