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-750-lst750-pkt-720-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-750 (NHHC online entry, verified live 2026-10-03 via firecrawl; a second fetch tool returned 404 on the same URL) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-750 entry (full text, ~3 paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official DANFS record for this hull: 'LST-750 was laid down on 7 April 1944 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp., Neville Island; launched on 30 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Clifford S. Heinz; and commissioned on 29 June 1944, Lt. Ralph W. Long, USNR, in command.' Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater; participated in the Leyte landings in October and November 1944. 'She was lost as a result of a Japanese aerial attack off Leyte, Philippines, on 28 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 Leyte' is looser than the documented loss position in the Sulu Sea off Negros (see ev-04, ev-05) - the convoy had departed the Leyte area. Does not establish any asbestos fact.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-01
-
[3]NHHC, 'Casualties: Navy and Coast Guard Ships' - WWII combat-loss listing, Landing Ship, Tank (LST) section (verified live 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Casualties page, 'Landing Ship, Tank (LST)' section, LST-750 entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC's official ship-casualty listing names this hull in its LST section: 'USS LST-750 sunk by Japanese aircraft off Los Negros, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 28 December 1944.' Same section lists LST-738 sunk by kamikaze off Mindoro 15 December 1944 and LST-749 sunk by kamikaze off Mindoro 21 December 1944 - sister Dravo hulls lost in the same Mindoro reinforcement series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-28
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops at loss
- Limitations
- Official confirmation of cause and date of loss. The 'off Los Negros, Leyte' phrasing is geographically garbled - the documented scuttling position (09 deg 01 min N, 122 deg 30 min E, ev-04) is in the Sulu Sea off southwestern Negros Island, far from Leyte and from Los Negros in the Admiralties; treated as 'off Negros' consistent with the position and the 1955 Naval Chronology's 'off Negros, P.I.' (ev-05). Listing gives no casualty count, damage description, or materials content; no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-750 (16/160750) - milestones, campaign table, specifications, commanding-officer list, ribbon display, launch photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160750.htm header, spec block, campaign table, CO list, ribbon display (page last updated 10 April 2015)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull (page banner 'Lost to enemy action, 28 December 1944'): LST-542-class; laid down 7 April 1944 at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pittsburgh, PA; launched 30 May 1944; commissioned 29 June 1944, LT. Ralph W. Long, USNR, in command (his only listed tenure: 29 June - 28 December 1944). Campaign table: Leyte operation, Leyte landings 18 October - 6 November 1944. Final disposition: 'lost as a result of Japanese aerial attack off Leyte, 28 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 40 mm w/ Mk 51 directors, 4 x single 40 mm, 12 x single 20 mm. Ribbon display: Combat Action Ribbon (28 December 1944), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1), WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal (1). Two launching-day photographs (30 May 1944) archived. International radio call sign NGFF.
- 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; armament 'varied with availability' per its own caveat, so the outfit at loss is undocumented. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-03
-
[5]Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (Naval Historical Center / NHHC publication), Chapter VI 1944, 28 December entry (HyperWar transcription, verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USN-Chron-1944.html, '28 December, Thu.' Pacific entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official chronology's detailed account of this hull's loss: 'Japanese air attacks commence against Mindoro-bound TG 77.11 (Captain George F. Mentz); kamikazes crash tank landing ship LST-750 and U.S. freighters William Sharon and John Burke. John Burke, carrying ammunition, explodes, the cataclysmic blast damaging auxiliary Porcupine (IX-126) and motor torpedo boat PT-332... LST-750, hit subsequently by aerial torpedo, is consequently scuttled by destroyer Edwards (DD-619), 09 deg 01 min N, 122 deg 30 min E.' Establishes the operation (Mindoro resupply convoy TG 77.11 from Leyte), the two-hit sequence (kamikaze crash, then aerial torpedo), the finishing ship, and the loss position in the Sulu Sea.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-28
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops; TG 77.11 escorts incl. Edwards (DD-619)
- Limitations
- Authoritative modern official chronology; names this hull. 'Off Leyte' in DANFS resolves to 'departed Leyte area' - the loss position given is off southwestern Negros. Gives no casualty count for this hull, no material description, no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-04
-
[6]United States Naval Chronology, World War II (official Navy chronology hosted via ibiblio PHA collection), 28 December 1944 entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- chr44-12.html, 12/28 Thu entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporary official chronology corroborates the loss: '12/28 Thu. United States naval vessel sunk: LST 750, damaged by aircraft torpedo, off Negros, P. I., 09 d. 01'N., 111 d. 30'E.; sunk by United States forces.' Confirms aerial-torpedo damage, 'off Negros' location, and scuttling by U.S. forces - consistent with Cressman's account of scuttling by Edwards (DD-619).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-12-28
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops at loss
- Limitations
- Coordinate conflict documented: this source prints 111 deg 30 min E while Cressman and uboat.net give 122 deg 30 min E; 111 deg 30 min E lies in the South China Sea far off the Leyte-Mindoro convoy track, so 122 deg 30 min E (geographically consistent with 'off Negros') is carried and the 111 deg 30 min E variant is treated as a probable transcription slip - unresolved at source level. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-05
-
[7]National Archives, Special List No. 44, by Ship Numbers (logbook-holdings index) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF page 53, row LST-750: 6/29/1944 - 11/30/1944
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List No. 44 lists USS LST-750 with Navy logbook coverage from 29 June 1944 (commissioning) through 30 November 1944. Coverage ends 28 days before the sinking - logs for the final month, including the loss action, are absent from the indexed holdings, consistent with loss of the current deck log with the ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-06-29 to 1944-11-30
- Population
- Ship's company during the indexed logbook interval
- Limitations
- The Special List establishes available logbook coverage, not the log contents; it does not identify asbestos, a work task, exposure, disease, or causation. The 1-28 December 1944 gap is inferred to reflect loss with the ship; no alternative explanation (e.g., a surviving December log elsewhere) was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-06
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - documented diesel configuration (ev-03 NavSource spec block) + Corn & Starr 1987 era documentation (ev-08) + GAO HRD-80-2 program review (ev-09) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ev-03 spec block; ev-08; ev-09
- 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-750, 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-750-lst750-07
-
[9]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. DOI resolves but Wiley blocks automated fetch (HTTP 403) - abstract-level content relied on.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-08
-
[10]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 Highlights section
- 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). The review covered asbestos use in Navy ships, removal costs, and compensation programs.
- 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. Fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk - not Dravo. Product-page description verified live via firecrawl; full report PDF not retrieved (curl blocked, HTTP 403).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-09
-
[11]NIOSH, 'Industrial hygiene survey report, Dravo Corporation, Engineering Works Division, Neville Island, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania' (Bloom, Dooley, Peguese; IWS 74-46; survey July 1981, report 1985) - CDC Stacks record [other_primary]
- Locator
- CDC Stacks 233199 record, NIOSH-provided abstract; report IWS 74-46, 1-80 pp.
- 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 in the inner hull area. 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 on the Engineering Works Division line, 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-750-lst750-10
-
[12]uboat.net Allied Warships database, 'USS LST 750 (LST 750)' - loss position, scuttling, and milestone table (secondary compilation) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/11812.html warship table + history line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- uboat.net's record for this hull: 'Damaged by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft off the south-west coast of Negros island, Philippines. Scuttled by USS Edwards in position 09 deg 01 min N, 122 deg 30 min E.' Build table agrees with DANFS on all milestones (laid 7 April / launched 30 May / commissioned 29 June 1944; ordered 16 September 1943). Its narrative independently corroborates Cressman's kamikaze/scuttle account and the 09 deg 01 min N, 122 deg 30 min E position.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation - corroborating only; the controlling sources are DANFS, the NHHC casualties listing, and Cressman. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-11
-
[13]CourtListener authenticated v4 search via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [other_primary]
- Locator
- Helper diagnostic: 'DAILY QUOTA EXHAUSTED: server asked to wait 42000s (~11.7h)' - exit 2, 2026-10-03
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The required authenticated CourtListener sweep could not be completed: the helper reported the fleet-shared daily quota exhausted on the first query attempt ('LST-750', type=o), with a server-requested wait of ~42,000 s (~11.7 h). No CourtListener search result is classified as a litigation hit or as a negative result.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- This is an access/quota gap, not a litigation negative. It establishes neither the presence nor absence of any qualifying asbestos litigation, exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. Re-run 'LST-750', 'USS LST-750', 'LST 750' (type=o and type=r) after quota reset.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-12
-
[14]Batch-7284 search ledger (this record): DANFS LST-750; NHHC casualties listing; NavSource; Cressman chronology; US Naval Chronology; NARA Special List 44; uboat.net; NIOSH Dravo survey; GAO product page; Corn & Starr; shipyards.json; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-750-lst750-01 through -15
- 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-750 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 ~11.7 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 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 for the final month went down with the ship (SL-44 coverage ends 30 Nov 1944); 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-750-lst750-13
-
[15]NARA, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' - official research guide mapping asbestos-relevant record series (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA asbestos research guide: Cartographic Branch (S39/S48, 19-Hull, 19-Micro), RG 19 correspondence (hull + QM/yard filing), GIB, 19-LCM/19-NN sections
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's official asbestos-research guide maps the record series that would hold this hull's material records: RG 19 'Hull Series' Ship Engineering Drawings arranged by hull number under 'S' filing codes - 'S39-Insulation and Lagging' and 'S48-Piping' are the codes most relevant to asbestos research, though the guide notes such drawings are 'relatively rare' in the paper series, with the 19-Micro microfilm series (1945-1955) holding more detailed drawings; RG 19 BuShips correspondence filed by hull designation (this hull: 'LST750') and by private-contractor shipyard file 'QM/Dravo'; General Information Books going deck by deck; and 19-LCM/19-NN photographs including construction/launching images arranged by hull number. The guide expressly states these series support 'documenting if a particular US naval ship has or does not have asbestos material aboard' - i.e., they are research leads, not themselves evidence of asbestos presence.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944 records
- Limitations
- Research-pathway documentation only: the guide names record series, not their contents for this hull. Whether LST750-folder S39/S48 drawings, QM/Dravo correspondence, or a General Information Book for this hull exist - and what any of them contain - is unknown until surveyed in person at NARA College Park. NARA itself cautions the series 'do not themselves provide direct evidence' of asbestos aboard. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-750-lst750-14