Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet 724-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: **VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-774-lst774-pkt-724-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-774 (NHHC live page) - construction, sponsor, Okinawa Gunto service, occupation/China duty, decommissioning, sale, battle star [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text (single-paragraph entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-774 was laid down 5 August 1944 at Seneca, Ill., by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 31 October 1944 (sponsor Mrs. Priscilla Winn Robertson); commissioned 20 November 1944. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater; participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto April through June 1945. Postwar occupation duty in the Far East and China service until mid-March 1946. Decommissioned 12 July 1946; struck from the Navy list 15 August 1946; sold 17 September 1947 to Consolidated Builders, Inc., Morris Heights, N.Y., and subsequently scrapped. One battle star for WWII service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-1946 (13 officers + ~104 enlisted) and embarked troops
- Limitations
- Ship-history documentation only - contains no asbestos information and does not establish exposure for any individual. The DANFS commissioning-CO attribution (Lt. Joseph H. Gross, USNR) conflicts with NavSource's roster and the ship's own war-diary signature block (L. C. Huntley) - see ev-uss-lst-774-05. Live NHHC page verified 2026-10-03.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-774 (page 10/16/160774) - LST-542 class identification, flotilla assignments, campaign and award periods, specifications, commanding-officer roster, disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160774.htm - header block, campaign/award tables, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource identifies LST-774 as an LST-542-class tank landing ship assigned to LST Flotilla Twenty-Three, LST Group Sixty-Eight, LST Division One Hundred Thirty-Five; credits the Okinawa Gunto operation 2 April to 28 June 1945; lists Navy Occupation Service (2 Sep - 29 Nov 1945) and China Service Medal extended (21 Nov 1945 - 21 Mar 1946) eligibility periods; and gives specifications (328 ft oa, 50 ft beam, 11.6 kt, 2 x GM 12-567A diesels, 1,700 shp, Falk reduction gears, three 100 kW 230V DC ship's-service generators) plus a four-officer command roster (Huntley, Wright, Nigro, Benning). Final disposition: sold for scrapping 17 September 1947 to Consolidated Builders, Inc., Morris Heights, NY. NavSource holds no photographs of this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (page last updated 24 December 2020)
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops, 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Private volunteer-maintained archive, used as a compiled reference - contents corroborate and extend DANFS but are not themselves a government record. No asbestos content. CO roster start date (Huntley, 20 Nov 1944) conflicts with DANFS's commissioning-CO name - carried as a documented conflict, not resolved. Live page verified 2026-10-03.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-02
-
[4]NARA, USS LST-774 War Diary, 4/1-30/45, NAID 140013791 (RG 38, WWII War Diaries; unrestricted; scanned via Fold3, microfilm roll A1623) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 140013791 digital objects, images 1-7 (pp. -1- through -5- of the diary + transmittal); direct image path catalog.archives.gov/medialz/microfilm-publications/WWII_WarDiaries/0007/export_WWII_WarDiaries_1623_201242/images/
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own April 1945 war diary documents the Okinawa assault phase: underway in Task Group 53.7 under ComPhibPac Operation Order A1-45 carrying cargo and passengers of VMF-323 (Marine Air Group 33); anchored Kerama Retto 2 April; fired on three enemy 'Tony' aircraft 3 April (one was hit and crashed into USS LST-599; diary wording) and sent her fire and rescue party to assist that ship; beached at Purple 2 Beach 6 April (retracting a first beaching on a coral head) and unloaded over a pontoon causeway; completed discharge of VMF-323 cargo and passengers 8 April; launched LCT(6)-1417 from her main deck 9 April; departed for Saipan in Task Unit 51.29.13 on 11 April; returned to Okinawa (Chimu Wan anchorages F-38/F-29/F-58) 29-30 April.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-04
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked VMF-323/MAG-33 personnel during the Okinawa assault phase
- Limitations
- Primary ship-generated operational log - positions, anchorages, ammunition expenditure. Contains no asbestos, repair, or material-content information; cited for vessel history only, not exposure. Seven pages read directly (images 0032-0038); approved over the CO's signature (see ev-uss-lst-774-05).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-03
-
[5]NARA, USS LST-774 War Diary, 6/1-30/45, NAID 101736155 (RG 38, WWII War Diaries; unrestricted; scanned via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 101736155 digital objects, images 0735-0738 (diary pp. -2- through -4- visible; p.1 on image 0735-0736)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's June 1945 war diary documents the second Okinawa lift: the convoy rode out the 5 June typhoon (force-10 wind from 100T, sea class 7); LST-774 anchored in the Hagushi anchorage, Okinawa Jima, 8 June; lay at anchor awaiting unload orders 9-15 June; and beached on causeway Charlie, Purple 1 Beach, at 1203 on 16 June to commence unloading - inside the credited Okinawa campaign window (through 28 June).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-06
- Population
- Ship's company during the second Okinawa lift
- Limitations
- Primary ship-generated operational log; no asbestos, repair, or material-content information - cited for vessel history only. Four-page unit read directly. Confirms the ship remained on the Okinawa operation into mid-June, consistent with DANFS's 'April through June 1945' wording.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-04
-
[6]Commissioning-CO conflict across DANFS, NavSource, and the ship's own war diary: DANFS 'Lt. Joseph H. Gross, USNR' vs NavSource roster 'LT. Huntley, L. C., USNR (20 November 1944 - December 1945)' vs war-diary signature 'L. C. HUNTLEY, Lieut., USNR, Commanding Officer' (April 1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 140013791 image 7 (signature block, p. -5-); NavSource 10/16/160774.htm commanding-officers table; DANFS LST-774 entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The April 1945 war diary's approval block is signed by L. C. Huntley, Lieutenant, USNR, as Commanding Officer - primary-source proof that Huntley commanded the ship during the Okinawa operation. NavSource's roster credits Huntley from the commissioning date (20 November 1944) through December 1945. DANFS instead names Lt. Joseph H. Gross, USNR, as commissioning CO. The war diary does not cover November 1944, so the commissioning-ceremony attribution itself is not directly resolved by the diary.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-11 to 1945-04
- Limitations
- Correction is partial: the diary proves Huntley was CO by April 1945 and NavSource lists him from commissioning, but neither conclusively rules out a Gross commissioning followed by an early relief. DANFS cannot be confirmed against a primary commissioning record located this session. Flagged for follow-up via the ship's commissioning report/deck log (RG 24, undigitized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-05
-
[7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945) - LST design-group table and build roster (shipscribe.com scan; note: URL relocated from the /styles/usnaux/sdb/ path cited in the lst-1-class profile) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2: LST design table rows for group 'LST542-931' (dimensions, machinery: 'G.M. Diesel, 12-567A', 1,700 shp) and build-roster row 'LST774 ... Chicago B. & I. Co., Seneca, Ill. ... 5 Aug 44 ... 31 Oct 44 ... 20 Nov 44'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The official BuShips design table places LST-774's block (LST542-931) in the diesel LST design: 328 ft oa, 50 ft beam, ~2,366 t light / 4,080 t trial, 11.6 kt, two General Motors 12-567A diesels, 1,700 shp, and the build roster confirms her Seneca construction dates matching DANFS. Diesel propulsion means no boiler or steam-turbine lagging aboard; the era-typical asbestos applications for the type (engine/exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, deck coverings, accommodation insulation) are carried as era inference only.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Construction trades (Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca, 1944); ship's company and embarked troops
- Limitations
- Design documentation, not a hull record - the table does not name this vessel's material fit and never states 'asbestos'; asbestos content aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Does not establish quantity or present-day presence (hull scrapped 1947-48).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships constructed during the WWII era and that overexposure reports were concentrated in shipyard insulation work - the era program context for a 1944-built hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979 (report); WWII-era exposure window
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; WWII-era ship construction crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level documentation, not hull-specific; does not name this vessel or any LST. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-07
-
[9]ATSDR / Illinois Department of Public Health, Health Consultation: Union Mechling Company site (a.k.a. National Marine), Seneca, Grundy County, IL (2005) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ATSDR health consultation PDF, 'Site History' section (site sections incl. 'Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI) Company section')
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- A federal health consultation documents the post-war environmental history of the ~66-acre Seneca riverfront site whose tenants included a 'Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI) Company section' - the builder's Prairie Shipyard footprint. The consultation evaluates soil/groundwater contamination from petroleum waste, pesticide waste, lead, and PCBs across site sections including the former CBI section.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1997-2005 (consultation); site industrial era 1941+
- Population
- Present-day site vicinity (post-industrial); wartime Prairie Shipyard workforce referenced historically
- Limitations
- Yard-site context only, not a hull record: the document contains NO asbestos findings - its contaminant scope is petroleum, pesticides, lead, and PCBs. It documents that the builder's site was environmentally reviewed; it neither establishes nor rules out asbestos use in wartime LST construction there.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-08
-
[10]Batch-7310 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS live page; NavSource amphibious archive; NARA catalog (war diaries + deck-log check); BuShips SDB 1945 v2; ATSDR; NVR; general-web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-774-01 through sl-uss-lst-774-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or verified litigation naming LST-774 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener itself was quota-blocked this session - litigation status is open, not negative. The ship's digitized war diaries (two months read page-by-page) are operational logs containing no asbestos-related entries.
- 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 1944 hull scrapped in 1947-48 predates routine hazmat documentation. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-774-09