Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]research packet 838-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-944-lst944-pkt-838-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS (NHHC), LST-944 entry [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-944 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 11 August 1944 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc.; launched 13 September 1944; commissioned 4 October 1944. WWII service in the Asiatic-Pacific theater: assault and occupation of Iwo Jima (February 1945) and assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (April-June 1945). Returned to the United States and decommissioned 19 December 1945; struck from the Navy list 8 January 1946; sold 26 September 1947 to the Boston Metals Co., of Baltimore, Md., for scrapping. Earned two battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (~13 officers / 104 enlisted) plus embarked troops, 1944-45
- Limitations
- Official NHHC service history - contains no asbestos or material information. Total commissioned service ~14 months; DANFS records no postwar yard availabilities, conversions, or reactivation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (January 1945), LST design table + roster (shipscribe.com scan, text layer extracted) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table (LST932-979 rows, pp. ~168-169 of scan) + roster row 'LST944'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- BuShips roster row 'LST944': built by Bethlehem Steel Co., Hingham, Mass.; laid down 11 Aug 1944, launched 13 Sept 1944, commissioned 4 Oct 1944 - matching DANFS on all three dates. Official design table assigns the LST-932-979 hull block (which includes this hull) 2 x General Motors 12-278A diesel engines, 1,700 shp, 2 shafts via single Falk main reduction gears, 3 x diesel-drive 100 kW 230V DC ship's service generators, 4,320-bbl diesel fuel capacity; dimensions 328 ft oa / 50 ft beam; trial displacement 3,960 t; total accommodations 13 officers / 106 enlisted; design armament 2 twin + 4 single 40-mm AA.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945 (publication); records the 1944 build
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades, 1944
- Limitations
- Official Navy design/roster publication (Jan 1945). The engine-variant figure is a hull-block assignment (LST-932-979), not a per-hull survey; NavSource's page for this hull displays the generic 542-class spec (GM 12-567A) - see ev-09. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-02
-
[4]NHHC-hosted official document: U.S. Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- LST Flotilla Twenty-Five > LST Group 73 > LST Division 146 table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LST-944 is listed under LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, LST Group 73, LST Division 146, with 'Lt. J. H. Floyd (USNR)' in command - independently corroborating the wartime unit assignment and commanding officer given on the NavSource page.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Ship's company, May 1945
- Limitations
- Organizational snapshot as of 1 May 1945 only; no material or materiel content. Confirms unit chain and commanding officer, nothing else.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-03
-
[5]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-944 (10/16/160944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource USS LST-944 page - header data, campaign table, spec block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource page for USS LST-944 ('542-Class Tank Landing Ship'): commissioned 4 October 1944 with Lt. Joseph H. Floyd USNR in command; Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment under LST Flotilla Twenty-Five (CAPT H. E. Richter), LST Group Seventy-Three (CDR L. D. York), LST Division One Hundred Forty-Six; campaign credits Iwo Jima operation 20-28 February 1945 and Okinawa Gunto operation 17 April-7 June 1945; struck 8 January 1946; sold to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, 26 September 1947; two battle stars. Contributed photo captions document: moored Naval Station Pearl Harbor between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945 during the Operation Detachment build-up; beached on Yellow Beach, Iwo Jima, 23 March 1945 with one or both engines out of commission, USS Zuni (ATF-95) alongside assisting; moored Yonabaru Pier, Okinawa, 23 July 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (record)
- Population
- Ship's company + embarked troops, 1944-45
- Limitations
- Volunteer-run photo archive - a secondary compilation, not an official record. Two milestone dates conflict with DANFS (launch 3 Sept vs 13 Sept 1944; decommission 9 Dec vs 19 Dec 1945) and its boilerplate spec block lists GM 12-567A engines, superseded for this hull by BuShips' 12-278A block assignment - all three conflicts carried in ev-09/gaps. Used for CO, unit detail, campaign date ranges, and photographic events only; contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-04
-
[6]NARA catalog, 'LST-944' search (107 file units): muster roll 'LST-944, 10/4/44-12/1/45' (NAID 126609926, 100 images); WWII War Diaries file units Jan-Feb, Mar, May, Jun, Jul, Aug 1945 (NAIDs 139922538, 139955454, 633447262, 101746892, 77474121, 77508362); action report 'USS LST-944 - Rep of ops & act with enemy aircraft during the invasion of Iwo Jima, Bonin Is, 2/21-23/45' (NAID 139932566, 4 images) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search 'LST-944'; NAID 126609926; NAID 139932566
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized ship-specific records covering LST-944's entire commissioned life exist in the National Archives catalog: a 100-image muster-roll file unit (personnel by name), six monthly war-diary file units for 1945, and a 4-image Iwo Jima action report.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-10-04 to 1945-12-01 (record coverage)
- Population
- ship's company enumerated by name in the muster roll
- Limitations
- Scans are untranscribed ('Transcription: Not Started') - contents not reviewed page-by-page this session. These are operational and personnel records; whether they contain repair, machinery-casualty, or material detail relevant to asbestos pathways is unverified. The 23 March 1945 engine casualty (NavSource photo caption) would likely appear in the March 1945 war diary.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-05
-
[7]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P, 'A Health Survey of Pipe Covering Operations in Constructing Naval Vessels,' Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology 28(1):9-16 (January 1946), 'published by permission of the U.S. Navy' (toxicdocs.org document-archive copy) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Article pp. 9-16, introductory survey scope + 'Pipe Covering Material' section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- U.S. Public Health Service survey documenting that amosite asbestos was 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels': adopted for turbine insulation in 1934 and extended to valves, fittings, and flanges; pipe covering first used on naval vessels in 1937 and 'used on the great majority of naval combat vessels built during' WWII. Pipe coverers were X-rayed in two Government navy yards and two Navy contract yards; dustiness was considerable and a few employees had apparent asbestosis.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- Survey conducted 1943-44; published January 1946
- Population
- Pipe coverers/insulators at Navy and contract yards - construction-era trades
- Limitations
- Era-level government-authorized health survey, not a hull record: yards are anonymized (A-D); it names no vessel, class, or builder, and its 'combat vessels' wording does not explicitly cover amphibious auxiliaries like LSTs. Documents contemporaneous asbestos-insulation practice in naval-vessel construction - the same era and activity in which this hull was built (1944).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-06
-
[8]Consolidated era inference - BuShips SDB-1945 v2 machinery data (this record ev-02) + era naval-vessel construction practice documented by Fleischer et al. (ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ev-02 machinery data + ev-06 era documentation
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Diesel-propelled LST of the LST-932-979 block: no boilers or steam plant, so the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway does not apply. Era-standard asbestos-relevant applications aboard a vessel of this type and period: diesel exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, machinery packing, deck coverings and tile, accommodation and bulkhead insulation, winch and crane brake linings. Built August-October 1944 at Bethlehem-Hingham inside the documented WWII asbestos-construction era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); ship's company + embarked troops (1944-45); Boston Metals scrapping workers (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, survey, or work package located for LST-944. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-07
-
[9]Batch-7487 search ledger (this record): DANFS; BuShips SDB-1945 v2; NHHC Pacific Fleet Organization; NavSource; NARA catalog; NVR; firecrawl web sweeps; CourtListener (blocked) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-944-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, scrapping ACM documentation, or verified litigation naming USS LST-944 was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated fleet helper reported the shared daily quota exhausted (~7.2 h to reset); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Web sweeps surfaced only law-firm marketing content (e.g., a mesothelioma-treatment-centers 'LST 542' page asserting 'boiler room' and 'steam pipes' asbestos - products a diesel LST did not carry in boiler form), 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (quota-blocked, not run). NARA war diaries/muster roll are digitized but untranscribed. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-08
-
[10]DANFS + BuShips SDB-1945 v2 roster (authoritative) vs NavSource LST-944 page (conflicting secondary) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page header/spec block; SDB roster row 'LST944' + LST932-979 design-table rows; DANFS entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source conflicts resolved in favor of the authoritative records: (a) launch date - DANFS and BuShips roster both give 13 September 1944; NavSource prints 3 September 1944 (outlier, not carried); (b) decommission date - DANFS gives 19 December 1945; NavSource prints 9 December 1945 (outlier, not carried); (c) propulsion - BuShips assigns the LST-932-979 block GM 12-278A engines; NavSource's page displays the generic 542-class spec GM 12-567A (not carried). DANFS and BuShips values are carried throughout this record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Conflicts documented so downstream consumers do not propagate NavSource's variant dates or generic spec block. NavSource remains the sole located source for CO name, unit-chain detail, campaign date ranges, and the 23 March 1945 Iwo Jima engine-casualty photo caption.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-944-09