Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 724-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: **VERIFIED** (thin sourcing disclosed)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: **VERIFIED** (thin sourcing disclosed)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-78-lst78-pkt-724-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-78 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Asiatic-Pacific operations, decommissioning, disposal, battle stars (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-78 entry (full entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LST-78 was laid down on 9 February 1943 at Jeffersonville, Ind., by the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co.; launched on 28 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Austin E. Overman; and commissioned on 8 July 1943.' Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater: Gilbert Islands operation (November-December 1943); Marshall Islands operation, occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (January-February 1944); Marianas operation, capture and occupation of Guam (July 1944); occupation of Okinawa (May-June 1945). Decommissioned 8 March 1946; struck from the Navy list 8 May 1946; sold 13 April 1948 to the Kaiser Co., Inc., of Seattle, Wash., for scrapping. Earned four battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Jeffboat construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46); embarked troops
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS gives operation names by quarter, not per-day campaign-credit dates - NavSource carries the credited windows (see ev-02). Disposal is a sale record; scrapping completion is not documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-78 - call sign, awards, unit assignments, campaign-credit dates, specifications, commanding officers, NARA-captioned photographic record (live navsource.net page verified 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160078.htm header block, awards bar, specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline and detail for this hull: international radio call sign NFDU; awards American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4), World War II Victory Medal. Commissioned 8 July 1943, Lt. Cornelius J. Smits, USNR, in command. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific theater under LST Flotilla Thirteen (CAPT. J. G. Sampson USN), LST Group Thirty-Seven (CDR. R. D. Higgins USNR), LST Division Seventy-Three. Campaign-credit windows: Gilbert Islands - Makin and Tarawa 29 Nov-5 Dec 1943; Marshall Islands - Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls 31 Jan-8 Feb 1944; Marianas - Guam 21-25 Jul 1944; Okinawa Gunto - assault and occupation 3 May-30 Jun 1945. Decommissioned 8 Mar 1946; struck 8 May 1946; sold to Kaiser Co., Inc., Seattle WA for scrapping 13 Apr 1948; four battle stars. Spec block: 1,625 t light / 4,080 t full / 2,366 t beaching; 328' oa x 50' beam; 11.6 kt trial; complement 13 officers + 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers + 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP; payload 1,600-1,900 t; armament 2 twin + 4 single 40mm, 12x 20mm; fuel 4,300 Bbls diesel; 2x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, 3x 100 kW 230 V DC ship's-service generators, 2 propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders. Commanding officers: LT Smits (Jul 1943-1944); LTjg E. W. Miller (1944-Feb 1945); LT John Enge (Feb 1945-?). Photographic record: NARA 193851502 (unloading with LST-179, Makin Island, 25 Nov 1943); beached Okinawa circa Apr 1945 with LST-781; beached Okinawa 3 May 1945 with LST-485 carrying LCT-1190 on main deck (NARA photo); alongside LST-343 circa May-Jun 1945; with LST-801 and LST-244, own LCVP-78-1 at open bow, circa 1945 possibly Tinian or Saipan; anchored San Francisco Bay / San Joaquin River preparing for decommissioning and lay-up in Pacific Reserve Fleet, Stockton Group, circa Feb-Mar 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Jeffboat construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46); embarked troops; Kaiser Co. shipbreakers (1948)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates track DANFS and the campaign table tracks the official awards list, but the compilation is the carrier. The Flotilla 13/Group 37/Division 73 assignment and the NHHC 1 May 1945 table (Flotilla Six/Group 18/Division 36, ev-04) are different wartime administrative assignments - both carried as dated. 'Circa April 1945' Okinawa photo caption predates the credited Okinawa window (3 May-30 Jun 1945); caption date is approximate. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-02
-
[4]VADM George Carroll Dyer, USN (Ret.), The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, ch. 17 (Operation GALVANIC), GPO - HyperWar/ibiblio transcription (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ACTC ch. 17, GALVANIC assault sections (evening air attack ~p. 654; assault-phase debarkation ~pp. 662-663)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Named combat role for this hull at the Makin assault (GALVANIC, November 1943): LST-31 and LST-78 carried the amphibious tractors (amtracs) and troops for the first assault wave. On the evening before the landings, at 1926, a Japanese aircraft came in low on the starboard quarter of the formation; LST-31 opened fire, 'followed by LST-78 at a range of approximately 1500 yards,' and the plane burst into flames and crashed into the sea after passing over the bow. Dyer quotes the LST commander's report: 'These LSTs are manned almost entirely by Naval Reserve commissioned and enlisted personnel of limited experience and training. This was their first war mission and first enemy action' - and notes that a successful attack 'might have seriously jeopardized the mission of the Attack Force' because the LSTs carried all the amtracs for the Makin Atoll assault. Assault morning: 'LST-31 debarked 17 LVTs in four minutes; LST-78 debarked 17 LVTs in five minutes'; at 0830 the LVTs from LST-31 and LST-78 landed on the RED beaches on schedule.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-11
- Population
- LST-78 crew and embarked troops, Makin assault (Nov 1943)
- Limitations
- Official-history narrative quoting action reports and the LST commander's log (Dyer's cited footnotes). Vessel-history content only - establishes presence and a named combat action at Makin, not any material or exposure condition aboard. HyperWar is a verbatim transcription of the GPO edition, not the Government publication itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-03
-
[5]NHHC, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 - LST flotilla/group/division order of battle with commanding officers (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Pacific Fleet Organization 1 May 1945, 'LST FLOTILLA SIX' > 'LST GROUP 18' > 'LST DIVISION 36' table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official fleet organization table, 1 May 1945: LST 78 is listed in LST Flotilla Six (Capt. J. S. Laidlaw), LST Group 18 (Comdr. P. Neikum, Jr., USN-Ret.), LST Division 36 - 'LST 78 ... Lt. J. Enge (USNR)' - alongside LST 70, LST 84, LST 122, LST 713, and LST 779. Corroborates the NavSource commanding-officer list (Lt. John Enge from February 1945) at the opening of her credited Okinawa window (3 May 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Lt. J. Enge and LST-78 ship's company (May 1945)
- Limitations
- Point-in-time administrative assignment (1 May 1945); differs from the NavSource-carried Flotilla 13/Group 37/Division 73 assignment - wartime LST flotilla reassignment is routine and both are carried as dated facts. Command/officer listing is a personnel datum, not an exposure record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-04
-
[6]NARA photograph, NAID 193851502 / US Army Air Corps photo # A63172AC (metadata transcribed in NavSource captions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA NAID 193851502 (transcribed via NavSource 10/16/160078.htm photo caption)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA-held photograph documents this hull in the Makin landing operation: 'US Army soldiers unloading gasoline drums from USS LST-179 and USS LST-78 during landing operations on Makin Island, Gilbert Islands, 25 November 1943' (Army Air Corps photo). Physical-presence documentation placing the hull on the Makin beachhead during GALVANIC - consistent with the Dyer narrative's first-wave amtrac role (ev-03).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-11-25
- Population
- LST-78 and LST-179 crews; Army unloading party, Makin (Nov 1943)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: establishes presence on the Makin beachhead, not materials aboard. The caption date (25 November) precedes the credited Gilbert Islands campaign window (29 Nov-5 Dec) - caption dating is from the photo record, campaign-credit dating from the awards list; both carried as stated. NARA catalog page is JS-rendered and returned an error page to automated fetch; NAID, local ID, and caption transcribed via NavSource - direct catalog verification open.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-05
-
[7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945) - LST design table and roster (shipscribe.com scan, text layer; file verified live 2026-10-03 at relocated /pubs/ path) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table (LST1-490 group rows; machinery and fuel rows) and LST roster (LST78 entry, no annotation)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips design data for this hull's design group (LST1-490): two G.M. Diesel 12-567A engines, 1,700 shp; single Falk main reduction gears; three 100 kW 230 V DC ship's-service generators; fuel 4,320 bbls; armament 2 twin + 4 single 40mm; 328 ft x 50 ft, 2,366 t light / 4,080 t trial, 11.6 kt. The Jan 1945 roster lists LST78 with no loss/transfer annotation - in service as of the edition date, consistent with her documented operations.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-01
- Population
- n/a (design data)
- Limitations
- Class design-table data for the LST1-490 group, not a hull-specific material schedule - establishes the diesel plant (no boilers/steam) that bounds the asbestos-relevant systems, but names no insulation material and says nothing about asbestos. Roster annotation absence confirms only that she was not annotated as lost/transferred by Jan 1945.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: BuShips SDB1945v2 machinery data (diesel plant, no boilers); NavSource specifications (2x GM 12-567A, Falk gears, twin screws); class-profile era note for diesel amphibious construction (LST-1 class profile, class-f record, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST1-490 machinery rows; NavSource spec block; lst-1-class class profile era note
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered tank landing ship built in early 1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (GAO: substitution did not begin until the early 1970s - see ev-09). With no boilers or steam plant aboard, the era-standard asbestos-relevant applications for a vessel of this type and period were: engine-room and diesel-exhaust lagging, thermal/acoustic insulation in machinery spaces, gaskets and valve packing on the salt-water/fuel/lube systems, deck coverings and tile, and bulkhead/accommodation insulation in crew and troop spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Jeffboat construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46); Kaiser Co. shipbreakers (1948)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LST-78. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. The diesel plant removes the boiler/turbine lagging pathway; the remaining pathways are stated at design-class level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-07
-
[9]National Park Service, NRHP Registration Form and continuation sheets, USS LST-325 (Vanderburgh County, IN; received 2009) - LST type design and machinery description (PDF verified live 2026-10-03) [nps]
- Locator
- NRHP nomination, Section 7 continuation sheets (general specifications; main propulsion diesel engines; Falk reduction gear) and Section 8 (significance)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documentation of the LST type: 'The Tank Landing Ship or LST was the only ship designed and built for the Navy with the capability to land on beaches, unload troops and supplies and then retract off the beach' - 328 ft x 50 ft, shallow-draft flat-bottom hull with bow doors and stern-anchor retraction gear, tank deck 230 ft; 'powered by two diesel engines,' maximum speed about 11.5 kt. The nomination's machinery section describes the same diesel architecture the BuShips table assigns to the LST1-490 group (GM 12-567A engines, Falk reduction drive with pneumatic clutch, twin 7-ft screws, 1,700 screw hp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2009 (nomination); 1942-1945 (type)
- Population
- n/a (class design context)
- Limitations
- Nominates sister hull LST-325 (LST-542 design group), not this hull - carried for class-level design/machinery corroboration only; the wartime LST design series shares the diesel architecture but LST-78 is not named. Contains no asbestos content and no material schedule.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-08
-
[10]NIOSH Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch report 229-11a, 'Pre-Intervention Quantitative Risk Factor Analysis for Ship Construction Processes at Jeffboat LLC, Jeffersonville, Indiana' (ergonomics; surveys Nov 1999-2001) (PDF verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NIOSH 229-11a, 'II. PLANT AND PROCESS DESCRIPTION / IIA. INTRODUCTION - Plant Description' (scanned PDF; text verified via local OCR, page ~9)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Government documentation of this hull's builder yard: NIOSH records that 'Jeffboat is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the Ohio river from Louisville, Kentucky. The shipyard has been in business at its present location since 1939, initially known as the Howard Ship Yards, then as the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, or Jeffboat, making 123 landing craft, 26 submarine chasers, and hundreds of other vessels for the U.S. Navy during World War II' - confirming the builder's identity, site continuity (1939-2018), and its WWII landing-craft production of which this hull was one. The report notes the plant employed ~975 production employees at survey time and describes itself as 'America's Largest Inland Shipbuilder.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1999-2001 (survey); yard history 1939-forward
- Population
- Jeffboat workforce (modern era surveyed 1999-2001); WWII production workforce (historical note)
- Limitations
- Yard-identity and ergonomics documentation only - the 1999-2001 surveys address musculoskeletal risk factors in modern barge construction; the report contains NO asbestos evaluation and does not characterize wartime materials. The '123 landing craft' figure is the report's summary count of the yard's WWII output, not a per-type roster. Does not establish any material or exposure condition aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-09
-
[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 (1943) and service era (1943-46).
- 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 - standing defect since Batch 01); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-10
-
[12]Batch-7316 search ledger (this record): live NHHC DANFS; NavSource (.net, verified); Dyer ACTC ch. 17 via HyperWar; NHHC Pacific Fleet organization 1 May 1945; NARA NAID lead; BuShips SDB1945v2 full text; NPS LST-325 NRHP nomination; NIOSH Jeffboat survey; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-78-01 through -13
- 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-78 was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - authenticated API helper reported the fleet daily quota exhausted (server-requested wait ~11 h to reset) and per batch rules was NOT retried; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. A secondary web sweep for '"USS LST-78"/"LST-78" + asbestos/mesothelioma/litigation' returned no qualifying case and no vessel-specific law-firm coverage - an unusually clean result, but not a substitute for the unrun docket searches.
- 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). NARA deck logs (RG 24), Jeffboat wartime work packages, and any scrapping-contract records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-78-11