Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 716-packet.md (2 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-729-lst729-pkt-716-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-729 - build dates, sponsor, commissioning, post-war occupation/China duty, decommissioning, strike, sale for scrap [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative, LST-729 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 12 August 1944 at Jeffersonville, Ind., by the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co.; launched 18 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Mary G. Rowell; commissioned 16 October 1944, Lt. (jg.) S. F. McCarthy in command. Following World War II she performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until late September 1945; returned to the United States and was decommissioned 8 July 1946 and struck from the Navy list 28 August that same year; on 27 October 1947 the ship was sold to the Moore Dry Dock Co. of Oakland, Calif., and subsequently scrapped.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Jeffersonville Boat & Machine construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. DANFS's short entry omits the WWII combat record entirely (Okinawa service documented via NavSource and the ship's own pamphlet, rows ev-02/ev-03). Page verified live 2026-10-03 via firecrawl (history.navy.mil).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-729 - organization assignments, campaign record, service windows, specifications, CO roster [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160729.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship; laid down 12 August 1944 at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN; launched 18 September 1944; commissioned 16 October 1944, LTjg. Fred S. McCarthy, USNR, in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in LST Flotilla Twenty-One (CAPT. W. H. Brereton), LST Group Sixty-Three as flagship (LCDR. R. E. Farnestock), LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Five; participated in the Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 30 June 1945; transported LCT-1268 from Gulfport, MS, to Okinawa. Post-war windows: Navy Occupation Service 13-30 September 1945; China Service (extended) 12-30 September 1945. Decommissioned 8 July 1946; struck from the Naval Register 28 August 1946; earned one battle star for WWII service; final disposition sold for scrapping 27 October 1947 to Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA. Specifications: 1,625 t. light / 4,080 t. full; 328' o.a. x 50'; two GM 12-567A 900hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, two propellers 1,700 shp, 11.6 kts; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted, troops 16 officers / 147 enlisted. Commanding officers: LTjg. Fred S. McCarthy (16 Oct 1944 - 16 Mar 1945); LTjg. Charles Sloan Temple (16 Mar 1945 - 10 Jan 1946); LTjg. John W. C. Guthrie (10 Jan 1946 - 8 Jul 1946). International radio call sign NGAP. Photo captions document the hull at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, 21-25 Nov 1944 with LCT-1268 welded to her main deck, and at anchor in San Francisco Bay circa 1945-46 (NHHC photo NH79100).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Jeffersonville construction trades (1944); crew 13 officers/104 enlisted + embarked troops to 16/147 (1944-46); shipbreakers, Moore Dry Dock, Oakland (1947-48)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates here agree with DANFS on every point checked. Contains no asbestos content. The 1947 scrapping predates modern ACM-handling regulation; no hazmat or material record for the breakup was located. Page verified live 2026-10-03 (navsource.net; the legacy navsource.org domain is dead).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-02
-
[4]'Pacific Anniversary - One Day in 1944: An anniversary history of the USS LST 729' - ship-produced mimeographed cruise pamphlet attributed to Ens. R. F. Juraschok for the Taku farewell dinner, with voyage record and officer list (scanned on NavSource, contributed by Mike Greene; cruise-book PDF at navsource.net/archives/10/16/pdf/160729a.pdf) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 160729h.htm voyage-record table and officer/staff list; pdf/160729a.pdf narrative pp. (Kerama Retto, Hagushi, Saipan refit, Jinsen, Taku sections)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-produced primary document for this hull. Voyage record: departed Jeffersonville 8 October 1944; Baton Rouge, Algiers, shakedown St. Andrew's Bay/Panama City FL (25 Oct - 7 Nov), Pendleton Shipyards New Orleans, Gulfport (LCT-1268 loaded); Panama Canal transit 25 November 1944; San Pedro, Port Hueneme, Pearl Harbor (23 Dec 1944 - 1 Jan 1945), Eniwetok, Ulithi, Kossol Passage, Leyte, equator crossing 21 Feb 1945, Hollandia, Guadalcanal, Russell Islands, Manus, Ulithi; Kerama Retto 2-5 April 1945; Okinawa Shima 5-20 April (with Ie Shima on 20 April) and again 20-29 April; Ulithi, then Saipan 8 May - 12 June 1945; Okinawa 18 June - 1 July; Leyte, Okinawa 29 July - 8 August; Manila, Mindoro, Subic Bay, Leyte, Iloilo; Jinsen, Korea 27-30 September; Okinawa; Manila; San Fernando (Lingayen) 16-21 October; Jinsen 30 October - 1 November; Okinawa; Fusan, Korea 12-17 November; Taku, China arriving 21 November 1945. Pamphlet narrative adds combat detail absent from official sources: a kamikaze dive on the Kerama Retto anchorage, fifteen days beaching/retracting at Hagushi Beach to discharge an ammunition load, a month of 'chipping, painting, refitting' at Saipan, an auxiliary 'boiler breaking down' in cold weather off Jinsen, and repatriation-loading authority duty at Taku for Japanese troops and civilians.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew and embarked troops (Oct 1944 - Nov 1945 itinerary); LCT-1268 crew carried as deck cargo
- Limitations
- Crew-produced mimeographed pamphlet scanned from a family-held copy - authentic ship document but unofficial: OCR'd text contains transcription errors (e.g., 'Falmestock'/'Fairstock' for LCDR Farnestock, 'Jinsen' variants) and gives the commissioning as 15 October against the official 16 October. Not an asbestos record - the 'boiler' mention indicates an auxiliary heating/hot-water boiler (propulsion was diesel), not a material disclosure. Does not establish any material's fiber content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (2x GM 12-567A diesels, LST-542 class); BuShips Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels Vol. 2 (Jan 1945) LST machinery table per the LST-1-class class profile (shipscribe.com scan); GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation (ev-05); ship cruise pamphlet auxiliary-boiler mention (ev-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; LST-1-class class profile evidence ev-lst-1-class-01/-03 (BuShips SDB-1945 v2); GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LST-542-class hull built in 1944 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era; era-standard applications aboard a ship of this type and period were engine-room and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, deck covering, and accommodation insulation. The diesel plant carries no propulsion boiler - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply to the main plant - but the cruise pamphlet's auxiliary-boiler mention indicates a small heating/hot-water boiler aboard, and the amphibious-ship operating pattern (tank deck, ventilation trunks, crow's-nest-to-tank-deck volume) concentrates any insulation exposure in the machinery spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Jeffersonville construction trades (1944); crew machinery-space personnel (1944-46); shipbreakers, Moore Dry Dock (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package located for LST-729. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The auxiliary-boiler lagging pathway rests on a single crew-pamphlet mention, not a design document.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-04
-
[6]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 existence (built 1944, scrapped 1947-48).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- 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, confirmed 2026-10-03) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-05
-
[7]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, et al., 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28(1):9-16 (Jan 1946), PMID 21016030; W.A. Simons Asbestos Trust California Site List (Sep 2020), MOORE DRY DOCK-OAKLAND, CA, Exposure Level H (per Atlas shipyards.json record moore-dry-dock-oakland); methodological critique: Kelly RJ, 'When errors become etched in stone...' New Solut 36(2):138-150 (Aug 2026), PMID 42307414 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed PMID 21016030 (index record; no free full text); PubMed PMID 42307414; shipyards.json moore-dry-dock-oakland product/evidence rows
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- This hull's documented scrapping yard is a documented asbestos work site: LST-729 was sold for scrapping to Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, on 27 October 1947 (DANFS). The Atlas shipyards record for Moore Dry Dock documents amosite pipe covering (block and felt), asbestos boiler block insulation, asbestos gaskets, asbestos millboard, and asbestos deck covering at that yard in the 1942-61 period, sourced to the Fleischer et al. 1946 USMC-commissioned survey of pipe-covering operations in naval-vessel construction and to the W.A. Simons Asbestos Trust site list rating Moore-Oakland Exposure Level H. The 1947-48 demolition of this hull therefore occurred at a yard where asbestos-containing ship materials were in documented use, under no modern ACM-handling regulation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1942-1961 (yard window); 1947-48 (this hull's breakup)
- Population
- Moore Dry Dock shipbreakers/yard workers handling this hull (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record: the Fleischer survey studied new-construction pipe-covering operations, not demolition, and does not name this hull; the Simons list is a trust-fund exposure-site designation, not a work record. No scrapping contract, work package, or material inventory for LST-729's breakup was located - what ACM the hull contained at demolition is unestablished. Fleischer's 'not a dangerous occupation' conclusion is specifically criticized as deeply flawed in Kelly (2026, PMID 42307414); the material-use facts, not that conclusion, are relied on here. The shipyards.json record's PMC link (PMC1525949) resolves to an unrelated tuberculosis book review - the correct index is PMID 21016030; upstream citation defect logged for repair.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-06
-
[8]Batch-7260 search ledger (this record): DANFS live page; NavSource archive page, voyage-record page, and cruise-book PDF; NARA digitized deck-log index; NVR ship-detail check; PubMed; Wikipedia; secondary web sweep; CourtListener (blocked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-729-lst729-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LST-729 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated helper reported the fleet-wide request budget spent on repeated attempts; logged as blocked, not a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no Wikipedia article; the only 'asbestos aboard' material for this hull type is law-firm marketing content (mesowatch.org yard page and similar listicles asserting asbestos without primary sourcing) - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run to a result). NARA deck logs and war diaries for this hull are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-07
-
[9]NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' online index (checked for LST-729); NHHC photograph NH79100 (hull at anchor, San Francisco Bay, circa 1945-46, via NavSource caption) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online LST index entries (named-hull coverage only); NavSource 160729.htm NH79100 caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads for this hull: (1) Deck logs - the NARA digitized deck-log index lists only post-1955 county-named LSTs; LST-729's 1944-46 logs are not in the online collection and remain a physical-holdings lead (Navy deck logs 1941-1959, NARA Washington DC). (2) NHHC photograph NH79100 documents the hull at anchor in San Francisco Bay circa 1945-46. (3) World War II war diaries for LST-729 are the standard RG 38 lead for a combat-deployed amphibious hull; none was retrieved this session.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (records); 2026-10-03 (check)
- Population
- Crew (1944-46) - records existence only
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these is a retrieved work, material, or exposure record. Deck logs would document personnel and movements, not materials; no asbestos content expected or located. NH79100 not independently fetched from NHHC; existence and caption via NavSource.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-729-lst729-08