Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 715-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity only)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-721-lst721-pkt-715-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'LST-721' (NHHC, history.navy.mil) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'LST-721', full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS: LST-721 was laid down 3 July 1944 at Jeffersonville, Ind., by Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co.; launched 7 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Mary L. Hogan; commissioned 9 September 1944. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: Visayan Island landings (March-April 1945) and the Balikpapan operation (June-July 1945). Postwar occupation duty in the Far East until mid-November 1945. Decommissioned 24 June 1946; struck from the Navy list 15 August 1946; reinstated 21 November 1946; restruck 10 June 1947; sold 8 March 1948 to Green's Bayou Transports, New Orleans, for non-self-propelled operation. Earned two battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Limitations
- Official NHHC/DANFS history; establishes identity, construction, campaigns, awards, and disposition. Contains no asbestos, insulation, or materials information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, 'USS LST-721' (navsource.net archives/10/16/160721.htm, page last updated 9 May 2025) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Per-hull timeline, specification block, commanding-officer table, awards block, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive per-hull page (LST-542 class): laid down 3 July 1944 at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville IN; launched 7 August 1944; commissioned 9 September 1944, LT Robert B. Safford, USNR, in command. Campaigns with dates: Visayan Island landings 18 March and 29 March-3 April 1945; Balikpapan operation 26 June-9 July 1945; occupation service in the Far East 28 September-13 November 1945; decommissioned 24 June 1946; struck 15 August 1946; reinstated 21 November 1946; restruck 10 June 1947; sold 8 March 1948 to Green's Bayou Transports, New Orleans, for non-self-propelled operation. Specifications: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full load / 2,366 t beaching; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, Falk main reduction gear, twin screws 1,700 shp, 11.6 kt; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers / 147 enlisted. Commanding officers: LT Safford (to 29 Nov 1945), LT Donald H. Brown (to 15 Mar 1946), LCDR Robert P. Rudolph (to decommissioning 24 Jun 1946). Awards include two battle stars, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal. Photographic record includes NHHC photo NH 83638 (ship entering San Francisco Bay, c.1945-46), an AWM photo of the ship at Blue Beach, Morotai, and a captioned series placing the hull among LSTs beached at Mindoro (likely CTU 78.7.2 unloading the 41st Infantry Division at Mangarin Bay, 8-10 February 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Limitations
- Volunteer-maintained photo archive; every overlapping date agrees with DANFS. Specification block is class-standard data; the Mindoro photo identification is the contributor's inference (flagged as such in its own caption). Contains no asbestos statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-02
-
[4]Australian War Memorial, collection item C205161 (accession 109228) [museum_official]
- Locator
- AWM collection record C205161, caption and place fields (Halmahera Island, Morotai Island)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Australian War Memorial collection photograph, accession 109228 (collection item C205161), captioned: 'MOROTAI. 12 JUNE 1945. LANDING SHIP, TANK (LST) 721, MOVING INTO BLUE BEACH TO LAND TROOPS OF 7 DIVISION.' An official wartime photograph independently corroborating LST-721 at Morotai on 12 June 1945 landing Australian 7th Division troops - consistent with staging for the Balikpapan operation that began 1 July 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-06-12
- Population
- LST-721 crew and embarked Australian 7th Division troops, June 1945
- Limitations
- Wartime photographic record; establishes the hull's presence and tasking at Morotai on 12 June 1945. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-03
-
[5]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II, NAVSHIPS 250-011 (15 April 1945), LST design table (Shipscribe scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAVSHIPS 250-011, LST (Landing Ships, Tank) section, design/characteristics table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Design-level inference: LST-721 is an LST-542-design-group hull (NavSource class assignment; BuShips grouping LST542-931). The Bureau of Ships Ships' Data 1945 Vol. II (NAVSHIPS 250-011) LST design table records the class-standard plant as 2 x GM 12-567A diesels on twin shafts (about 1,700 shp) - a diesel plant with no boilers and no steam propulsion. Era-consistent asbestos-relevant applications aboard this diesel type concentrate in diesel exhaust and engine-space lagging, gaskets and valve packing, deck coverings and tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and winch/crane brake linings - not boiler or steam-line lagging.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Construction trades (Jeffersonville Boat & Machine, 1944); ship's company 13 officers / 104 enlisted
- Limitations
- Design-table data for the LST type; does not name this hull and contains no asbestos itemization. The applications list is era inference, not a ship-proven material schedule; establishes neither presence nor absence of asbestos aboard this hull, nor quantity or condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-04
-
[6]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) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article landing page, AJIM 11(3):359-373 (Wiley)
- 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 World War II - the era and program under which this 1944 LST was mass-produced at an inland 'cornfield' yard - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard naval and merchant hulls.
- 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, this builder, or the LST type, 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-721-lst721-05
-
[7]Batch-7252 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; NavSource; AWM C205161; NARA catalog; NVR; MARAD ShipHistory; CourtListener API v4; live-web search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-721-lst721-01 through sl-uss-lst-721-lst721-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LST-721 was found in the sources searched. Authenticated CourtListener opinion and docket (RECAP) queries for 'LST-721' returned zero results; the Naval Vessel Register carries no entry (hull disposed 1948, outside NVR's coverage of extant/recent vessels - the LST-721 detail URL redirects to the NVR index); the hull was sold to private commercial interests in 1948 and never entered MARAD/NDRF custody; and DANFS, NavSource, and the AWM record contain no asbestos or insulation-material statement.
- 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 combat-service LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and deck coverings. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-06
-
[8]DANFS, 'LST-721' disposition line (controlling source); Thai-hull collision observed in general web search results [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS disposition sentence; web-search result set for 'LST-721'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Name/pennant collision screening: live-web hits for 'LST-721' include the Royal Thai Navy's HTMS Sichang, which carries pennant number 721 (secondary listings describe a Sichang-class amphibious ship commissioned in RTN service in 1987). That is a different vessel bearing a coincidental pennant number; DANFS records this hull as sold to Green's Bayou Transports for non-self-propelled operation on 8 March 1948, which controls for this record.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- The DANFS disposition is verified and controls; the Thai hull's particulars rest on non-authoritative secondary listings and were not independently verified - they are recorded only so downstream users do not conflate the two hulls.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-07
-
[9]U.S. National Archives catalog search, '"LST-721"' (120 file units, WWII War Diaries / operational records series and related) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search results, file-unit level (e.g., NAIDs 139779900, 139963856, 77464490, 633406548, 633404030)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead (catalog-level, not surveyed): the NARA catalog returns 120 digitized file units matching 'LST-721', including Commander LST Group 66 war diaries covering September 1944-December 1945 (the group whose LSTs were photographed with this hull beached at Mindoro in February 1945 per the NavSource caption), unit action reports for the Panay operation of 18-19 March 1945 (COMTASK-Unit 78.3.2, NAID 633406548), and COM LST GR 66 enemy-aircraft action reports at Lingayen Gulf; WWII ship deck logs are held in RG 24. These records likely document the hull's movements but were not surveyed page-by-page.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946 records
- Limitations
- Catalog-hit-level mapping only; no page-level retrieval performed and no box/digitized-page survey completed. Contents may include this hull's movements; nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-721-lst721-08