Evidence
15 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-15).
-
[1]research packet 720-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-749-lst749-pkt-720-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-749 (NHHC online entry, verified live 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-749 entry (full text, ~4 paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS record for this hull: 'LST-749 was laid down on 10 April 1944 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp., Neville Island; launched on 20 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George W. Scott; and commissioned on 23 June 1944, Lt. Ralph B. Flynn in command.' Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater; participated in the Leyte landings in October and November 1944. 'She was sunk by a Japanese aerial attack off the Philippines on 21 December 1944. The ship was struck from the Navy list on 19 January 1945.' One battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island construction trades (Apr-Jun 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (Jun-Dec 1944)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos, materials, or complement content. 'Off the Philippines' is less specific than the NHHC casualties listing's 'off Mindoro' (see ev-02). Does not establish any asbestos fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-01
-
[3]NHHC, 'Casualties: Navy and Coast Guard Ships' - WWII combat-loss listing, Landing Ship, Tank (LST) section [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Casualties page, 'Landing Ship, Tank (LST)' section, LST-749 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's official ship-casualty listing names this hull in its LST section: 'USS LST-749 sunk by Kamikaze aircraft off Mindoro, Philippine Islands, 21 December 1944.' Same section lists LST-460 sunk by kamikaze off Mindoro the same day (same convoy action per USNI eyewitness), and LST-738, LST-472 sunk off Mindoro 15 December 1944 (assault-day echelon).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-21
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops at loss
- Limitations
- Official confirmation of cause, place, and date of loss - more precise than DANFS's 'off the Philippines.' Listing gives no casualty count, damage description, or materials content; no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-749 (16/160749) - milestones, campaign table, specifications, commanding-officer list, ribbon display [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160749.htm header, spec block, campaign table, CO list (last updated 10 April 2015)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull (page banner 'Lost to enemy action, 21 December 1944'): LST-542-class; laid down 10 April 1944 at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pittsburgh, PA; launched 20 May 1944; commissioned 23 June 1944, LT. Ralph B. Flynn USN in command (his only listed tenure: 23 June - 21 December 1944). Campaign table: Leyte operation, Leyte landings 18 October - 6 November and 19-29 November 1944. Final disposition: 'lost as a result of Japanese aerial attack off the Philippines, 21 December 1944'; struck 19 January 1945; one battle star. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 11.6 kt trial; two GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, twin screws, twin rudders, three diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V DC ship's service generators; complement 13 officers / 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers / 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP; ultimate design armament 2 x twin 40mm w/ Mk 51 directors, 4 x single 40mm, 12 x single 20mm. Ribbon display: Combat Action Ribbon (21 December 1944), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1), WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal (1). No photographs of the hull exist in the archive.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Dravo construction trades; 117-man ship's company plus embarked troops
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation tracking NVR/DANFS milestones - dates agree with DANFS here. Spec block is class-standard for LST-542; '2 LCVP' conflicts with Wikipedia's '4 LCVPs' (see gaps). Complement 13 officers conflicts with Wikipedia infobox's 7 officers (see gaps). Contains no asbestos content; no images of this hull are archived.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-03
-
[5]DANFS, Converse (DD-509) - 21 December 1944 rescue entry (verified live 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Converse (DD-509) entry, WWII service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS's entry for destroyer USS Converse (DD-509) documents this hull's loss from the escort's side: 'On 21 December, while escorting the first resupply echelon to Mindoro, Converse came under attack by desperate Japanese suicide planes, and fired to drive them away as well as rescuing 266 survivors of LST-749.' Establishes the operation (first Mindoro resupply echelon), the rescuing vessel, and an official survivor figure of 266.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-21
- Population
- 266 rescued survivors (crew plus embarked troops); Converse (DD-509) rescuers
- Limitations
- Ship-specific for LST-749 (named). 266 is the official rescued-survivor count, not the complement or a casualty figure - total aboard included embarked Army passengers (see ev-06), so those lost cannot be computed from ship's company alone. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-04
-
[6]Cmdr. Berry D. Willis Jr., USNR (Ret.), 'Witness to a Spectacle,' U.S. Naval Institute Naval History 22(2), April 2008 - first-person eyewitness account from USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History April 2008 article, attack-narrative paragraphs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Published eyewitness account of this hull's loss: then-Ensign Willis watched from USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570), escorting a resupply convoy from San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, to Mindoro on 20-21 December 1944. During the 21 December attack by ~20 Japanese planes (three P-38 Lightnings as convoy CAP), one kamikaze hit LST-460; 'Down he came, and once more huge columns of smoke gushed forth from another ship, LST-749, that was hit.' A third plane grazed the Liberty ship Juan de Fuca. LST-460 listed and was abandoned; men jumped into the sea and a destroyer swimmer rescued suffering men onto rafts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-21 (event); 2008 (publication)
- Population
- Convoy escorts and LST crews, first Mindoro resupply echelon
- Limitations
- A memoir published 63 years after the event by a participant - eyewitness texture (columns of smoke, simultaneous multi-ship attack) rather than an action report; does not describe the hit point on this hull, casualties, or any material. Confirms convoy composition and the multi-victim attack context. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-05
-
[7]Utah State University Special Collections, finding aid for Edward A. Ferguson World War II correspondence, 1943-2007 (USU_COLL MSS 303), via Archives West [other_primary]
- Locator
- Archives West finding aid xv05856, Biographical Note + Content Description; USU COLL MSS 303
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival collection documenting this hull's loss and the embarked-passenger population: Edward A. Ferguson, a U.S. Army surveyor (240th Engineers Construction Battalion), was aboard LST-749 en route to Mindoro 'when a kamikaze attack hit his ship, the LST # 749, which caused it to sink. Ferguson had to dive overboard and swim to a nearby boat to be rescued.' The finding aid documents one named death: George 'Red' Akers, 'a shipmate and close personal friend of Ferguson's who was killed when LST # 749 sank in the Sulu Sea in December 1944.' Collection: ~300 outgoing letters (1943-46) 'includ[ing] descriptions of kamikaze attacks,' incoming condolence correspondence from Akers's widow, and a 2007 document 'The Sinking of LST #749 (an update 10-2-07)'; companion ~500-page unpublished memoir 'Reminiscences of War' (Book Coll 58, #91).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-21 (event); 1943-2007 (collection)
- Population
- Embarked Army passengers incl. Ferguson (240th Engineers); ship's company
- Limitations
- Archival lead: the finding aid summarizes the collection; individual letters and the 2007 sinking document were not retrieved - firsthand casualty detail likely richer than indexed. Confirms a death aboard and the Army-passenger population, but is not an official loss report and contains no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-06
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design data (ev-08) + Corn & Starr 1987 era documentation (ev-09) + LST-1-class profile record ev-lst-1-class-03 (batch class-f worktree) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB-1945 v2 LST design table; class profile ev-lst-1-class-03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LST-542-class tank landing ship built April-June 1944 sits inside the documented WWII asbestos-shipbuilding era. The LST design's diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A) carries no boilers - the boiler/turbine steam-lagging pathway does not apply. Era-typical applications for the type are diesel-exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and winch brake linings. The hull's 1944 loss forecloses any postwar abatement, conversion, or preservation record: whatever materials were aboard went down with the ship in the Sulu Sea.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island construction trades (Apr-Jun 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (Jun-Dec 1944)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LST-749, and none can exist post-loss. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product terms are normalized era descriptions; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-07
-
[9]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST design table + roster (shipscribe.com scan, text layer) - as verified in the LST-1-class profile record [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table + roster section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design data for the LST-542 group covering this hull: 328 ft oa, 50 ft beam, ~2,366 t light / 3,960-4,080 t trial, 11.6 kt, 2 x GM 12-567A diesels 1,700 shp (blocks 932-979 and 1060-1080 carried the GM 12-278A variant - not this hull); accommodations 13 officers / 106 enlisted; roster lists hull blocks with transfer/loss/cancellation annotations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- LST-542 design population
- Limitations
- Class design table, not a hull record - establishes the machinery type and design complement only. Complement figure (106 enlisted) differs slightly from NavSource's per-hull 104 (see gaps). Contains no asbestos or material content; relied on via the class-profile verification, not re-fetched this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-08
-
[10]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
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- 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 WWII - the era and program under which this LST-542-class hull was mass-produced in spring 1944 - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard wartime hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or the LST program specifically and does not establish that asbestos was aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-09
-
[11]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 and service era (1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- 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), product-page description used, consistent with prior-batch practice.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-10
-
[12]NIOSH, 'Industrial hygiene survey report, Dravo Corporation, Engineering Works Division, Neville Island, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania' (Bloom, Dooley, Peguese; survey July 1981, report 1985) - CDC Stacks record [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks 233199 record, NIOSH-provided description
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The only government industrial-hygiene record located for this hull's builder: NIOSH surveyed Dravo's Engineering Works Division at Neville Island in July 1981 - 37 years after this hull launched, during barge/towboat construction - evaluating occupational exposure to paint solvents, metals, and nuisance dust. Lead and nuisance-dust concentrations exceeded OSHA standards; a solvent mixture exceeded NIOSH criteria. The survey had no asbestos scope. No NIOSH or other government asbestos evaluation of the Dravo Neville Island WWII shipyard was located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1981 (survey); 1985 (report)
- Population
- Dravo Neville Island Engineering Works Division painters/trades (1981)
- Limitations
- Yard-level record, not a hull record; documents 1981 peacetime conditions, not the 1944 wartime LST line. Its non-asbestos scope is disclosed so the yard's asbestos documentation remains honestly empty - absence of a located asbestos survey of the yard is not evidence asbestos was absent.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-11
-
[13]uboat.net Allied Warships database, 'USS LST 749 (LST 749)' - loss position and milestone table (secondary compilation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/11813.html warship table + history line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source conflict documented: uboat.net's record for this hull carries laid down 16 April 1944, launched 27 May 1944, commissioned 26 June 1944 - conflicting with DANFS/NavSource on all three dates (10 April / 20 May / 23 June 1944). DANFS is adopted as controlling. uboat.net is retained only for the reported loss position 11 deg 13 min N, 121 deg 04 min E ('Sunk of[f] Mindoro, Philippines ... by Japanese kamikaze aircraft') - consistent with NHHC's 'off Mindoro' and the Sulu Sea location in the USU finding aid.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Secondary database; its milestone dates are rejected in favor of DANFS. Loss position is its only carried value and is itself unverified against a primary chart - flag before reuse. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-12
-
[14]Batch-7282 search ledger (this record): DANFS LST-749 + Converse; NHHC casualties listing; NavSource; USNI eyewitness; USU/Archives West; uboat.net; NIOSH Dravo survey; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); shipyards.json; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-749-lst749-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, material schedule, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LST-749 was found in the public sources searched. The 1944 loss forecloses postwar documentation pathways (no conversion, museum, or scrapping record can exist). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated helper reported the fleet daily quota exhausted (server-requested wait ~11.8 h); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos' material naming the hull's builder is law-firm marketing content (gpwlaw.com Dravo article, asbestos-ships.com yard page) asserting asbestos use without hull-level 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 - a spring-1944 amphibious hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials. The litigation-repository check is a genuine open gap (blocked, not run). Deck logs (NARA RG 24) and Dravo build records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-13
-
[15]NARA naval-records guidance: RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) deck-log series; WWII deck logs held at NARA, largely undigitized for minor combatants [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 deck-log series (NARA College Park); Dravo contract-material records via RG 19/RG 178 paths - not retrieved
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival lead (not retrieved): LST-749's deck logs for her six-month commissioned life (23 June - 21 December 1944), if extant, sit in RG 24 deck-log series at NARA College Park - the authoritative record of the sinking, casualty accounting, and any material notes. Dravo Corp. WWII production records for the Neville Island LST line (contract NObs series via RG 19/RG 178 paths) are a second lead for builder-installed material schedules. No retrieval performed; NARA catalog is JS-rendered and no digitized log for this hull was located.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-749-lst749-14