Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[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-945-lst945-pkt-838-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-945 - construction, commissioning, Okinawa campaign, China service, decommissioning, MARAD transfer, strike, battle star (live NHHC page, UA-gated: bare curl/webfetch returns 404; verified HTTP 200 with browser UA 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-945 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: 'LST-945 was laid down on 11 August 1944 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 16 September 1944; and commissioned on 9 October 1944. During World War II, LST-945 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto from April through June 1945. Following the war, she saw service in China until early 1946. The ship returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 16 April 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposition on 29 May that same year. She was struck from the Navy list on 19 July 1946. LST-945 earned one battle star for World War II.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Construction trades (Hingham, 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content, no sponsor named, decommissioning port not stated, no yard or repair content. 'Returned to the United States' before decommissioning is in mild tension with muster-roll evidence placing the ship on the Subic Bay-Shanghai run in mid-March 1946 (ev-04) - DANFS does not give the decommissioning location.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-945 (10/16/160945.htm, verified live) - unit assignments, CO list, China-service window, spec block, awards, 'fate unknown' disposition note; NHHC photo NH-93822 shows LST-945 beached with LST-886 at Tinian c. Dec 1944-Sep 1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160945.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-542-class tank landing ship laid down 11 August 1944 at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, MA; launched 16 September 1944; commissioned USS LST-945 9 October 1944, LT. Marshall N. Buell USNR in command. Assigned to LST Flotilla Twenty-One (CAPT. W.H. Brereton USN), LST Group Sixty-Two (CDR. W.M. Gillett USN), LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Four; Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation 1 April-30 June 1945. 'Assigned to China service from 4 February to 26 May 1946.' Decommissioned 16 April 1946; struck from the Naval Register 19 July 1946; one battle star; 'custody transferred, 29 May 1946, to the Maritime Commission, for disposition, fate unknown.' CO list: LT Buell USNR (9 Oct 1944-Dec 1945), LT J.L. Gallagher USNR (Dec 1945-Mar 1946), LTjg E.F. Greiwe USNR (Mar 1946-16 Apr 1946). Spec block: 1,625 t light/4,080 t full; 328 ft oa x 50 ft; 11.6 kt; 2 x GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk reduction gear, 2 shafts 1,700 shp, 3 x 100 kW DC generators; complement 13 officers/104 enlisted; troops 16/147; radio call sign NVUB. Awards: China Service Medal (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1 star), WWII Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (~117 ship complement + embarked troops, 1944-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - dates cross-check cleanly against DANFS and the NARA records. Unit assignment (Flotilla 21/Group 62/Div 124) is a compilation entry of unstated period; the hull's own 1945 action report places it under LST Group SEVEN / Flotilla THREE for the Okinawa assault (ev-03) - likely different assignment periods, not declared a conflict. 'China service 4 Feb-26 May 1946' overlaps the 16 Apr 1946 decommissioning date as printed - reported verbatim. 'Maritime Commission' vs DANFS's 'Maritime Administration' wording difference noted. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-02
-
[4]NARA NAID 101748332, 'USS LST-945 - Rep of opers in the invasion of Okinawa Jima, Ryukyu Islands, 4/1-7/45' (micro serial 133003, report dated 14 April 1945; RG 38, World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories; 12 images; digitized via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 101748332, images 0554-0565; beaching/casualty passage on image 0557; AA action reports 0558-0561; endorsements 0562-0565 (downloaded and OCR-read 2026-10-03)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own action report for the Okinawa assault (all 12 pages downloaded and OCR-read this session; key pages also visually verified) documents: troops embarked ~20 March 1945 in the Solomons area with staging at Ulithi ~25 March; tank-deck cargo details; verbatim: '1808, 2 April beached on reef at Green Beach Two, Okinawa Jima, began unloading cargo. 1031, 4 April, having unloaded 89.9% cargo, retracted. Twelve Construction Battalion men in working detail besides ship's company, using three ducks and three LVT's for transporting cargo to beach. 1200, 7 April, completed unloading off shore. Considerable delay caused by lack of vehicles for transporting cargo.' Casualty section: 'Dressing Station in Wardroom and Sick Bay fully equipped'; 'Personnel performance and casualties - No remarks.' Two anti-aircraft action reports (ANGLE A and B) document engagements with a torpedo bomber and a fighter (the second 'appeared to be a suicide attack on own ship'), 40mm and 20mm ammunition expended, no hits on ship, plane crashing ~2,000-3,000 yards distant; claim language: 'we believe we greatly assisted in destroying this plane.' Endorsement chain, all visually verified: First endorsement 10 May 1945, Commander LST Group SEVEN (E.B. Garrigus), flagship USS LST-451, forwarding via LST Flotilla THREE - Amphibious Group FOUR - Amphibious Forces Pacific - FIFTH Fleet - CinCPac (ComLSTGrp7 styled 'Com RED UNIT of TU 53.3.1'); Second endorsement 17 June 1945, Commander LST Flotilla THREE (Arthur A. Ageton, CTU 53.3.1), verbatim: 'By copy of this endorsement, U.S.S. LST 945 is credited with two (2) "SURE-ASSISTS"'; third and fourth endorsements, Commander Amphibious Group FOUR and Commander Amphibious Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet, forwarding without comment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-03 to 1945-06 (report covers Mar-Apr 1945 events; endorsements through Jun 1945)
- Population
- Ship's company plus embarked troops; 12 Seabee working detail (Apr 1945)
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced record; OCR extraction is partial on the carbon-copy pages (the cover letter and parts of the narrative pages are ribbon-degraded) - quoted passages were re-verified by direct image display. The report's 'Solomons area' staging port name is illegible in this scan and is not asserted. Documents combat/logistics events, not materials: no asbestos or material content, no repair or yard content. The Green Beach Two reef beaching is stated without damage assessment in the legible text. Report predates the NavSource-listed Flotilla 21/Group 62 assignment attribution - periods differ.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-03
-
[5]NARA NAID 126609759, 'LST-945, 10/9/44-4/30/46' (RG 24, Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities; Roll No. 4989; 166 images; digitized via Ancestry) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 126609759; commissioning muster image 00010; March 1946 change reports images 00150/00152; final-quarter roster image 00155 (sampled 2026-10-03)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's complete muster-roll file, covering her entire commissioned life (9 October 1944-30 April 1946), is digitized; sampled images (not all 166 read) document: the commissioning muster ('AS OF COMMISSIONING ... for the month ending 9th day of October, 1944') - enlisted crew received 9 October 1944 from 'R/S Boston, Mass.', roll signed by J.L. Gallagher, Executive Officer (later CO, Dec 1945-Mar 1946 per NavSource); the Report of Changes for month ending 31 March 1946 - ship sailed 'from Subic Bay, Luzon, P.I., to Shanghai, China' (report dated 16 March 1946), and on 26 March 1946 transferred demobilizing veterans 'To USS ORVETTA (IX-157) FFT to U.S. for disc.' (Auth: Alnav 131-46) while receiving replacements 'From: CTU 70.2.3' (Auth: ComServPac ltr. Ser. 3898 of 4-19-44) - entries include personnel received from 'U.S. Naval Shipyard, Subic Bay, P.I.'; the final quarterly muster for the quarter ending 1 April 1946 listing the crew alphabetically with receive dates clustering on 9 Oct 1944 (commissioning), 11 Dec 1945, and 26 Mar 1946 (Subic Bay turnover).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-10-09 to 1946-04-30
- Population
- Ship's company 1944-46 (individual-named roll); embarked troops and passengers as passenger lists within the roll
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced personnel records. Sampled images only (reel leader, instruction sheets, commissioning muster, March 1946 change reports, final-quarter roster, reel trailer) - the full 166-page roll was not tabulated, so no muster-derived crew total is asserted and intermediate ports/operations between Oct 1944-Mar 1946 are not claimed from this source. Contains no asbestos or material content. Personnel events (crew reception, demobilization transfers) at R/S Boston and U.S. Naval Shipyard Subic Bay are administrative, not documented repair events.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan, verified live HTTP 200 2026-10-03); NavSource LST-945 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160945.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST-542 design group ran a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, 900 hp each, single Falk main reduction gear, twin screws 1,700 shp - BuShips design table and this hull's NavSource spec block) with no boilers, so the steam-plant lagging pathway of boiler vessels does not apply. Asbestos-relevant applications aboard a 1944 diesel landing ship of this type were the era-standard set - diesel-exhaust and machinery-space lagging, gaskets and packing, accommodation thermal insulation, deck coverings - aboard a hull built at a Bethlehem wartime emergency yard (Hingham, MA) inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (GAO HRD-80-2).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); ship's company/embarked troops (1944-46); any post-MARCOM breakers or ROCN-era crews if the secondary disposition claim holds
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package was located for LST-945; no repair/refit availability is documented for this hull (unlike sibling LST-790's diary-documented conversion). Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-05
-
[7]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 1944 construction at Bethlehem-Hingham, her Pacific and China service, and her 1946 disposal.
- 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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, reconfirmed 2026-10-03) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search via authenticated fleet-paced helper (cl-auth-search.py) - NOT EXECUTED to completion [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-945-lst945-08 and -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation status UNDETERMINED this session: the mandatory CourtListener check was attempted ('LST-945', opinion index) but the helper returned DAILY QUOTA EXHAUSTED (~7.1 h to reset) and instructed no retries; remaining planned queries (opinion and docket indexes, hull-number variants, asbestos-qualified) were not executed. No asbestos case naming this hull is asserted to exist or not exist - the classification is 'not searched', pending a post-reset run.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- A blocked search is an access gap, not a negative finding: absence of a CourtListener result here proves nothing either way. Even a completed CourtListener search would cover only published opinions and RECAP dockets - state-court filings, unreported settlements, MDL-875 pleading-level vessel lists, and non-digitized dockets remain outside coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-07
-
[9]Batch-7488 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + two ship-titled file units (action report read in full via OCR; muster roll sampled); BuShips SDB 1945 v2; GAO product page; NVR; NIOSH HHE search; secondary web sweep (CourtListener blocked - quota) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-945-lst945-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or qualifying case naming LST-945 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational (action report and complete muster roll) - it confirms combat unloading, postwar China service, and personnel turnover but documents no repair, conversion, or material-content event aboard this hull.
- 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 - construction at a wartime Bethlehem yard and diesel-era systems sit squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. Litigation sweep specifically is incomplete (CourtListener quota block - see ev-07).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-08
-
[10]NARA catalog, 'LST-945' - ~204 file units (fuzzy relevance); ship-titled units are the action report (NAID 101748332) and the complete muster roll (NAID 126609759), both digitized; parent-unit diaries (COM LST GR 7/62/63/110, COM NAV FOR OKINAWA) digitized and are the coverage bridge; MARAD vessel disposition cards (RG 357 analog holdings) are the indicated lead for the post-1946 'fate unknown' gap [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov 'LST-945' and 'USS LST-945' result sets (204/35 hits, fuzzy ordering); NAID record pages
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary archive coverage for this hull is digitized but partial: the only ship-titled operational unit surfaced is the Okinawa action report (Apr-Jul 1945 framing, serial 133003); no ship-titled monthly war diaries or deck logs for Oct 1944-Mar 1945 (transit/shakedown), Aug 1945-Jan 1946, or the Feb-Apr 1946 China-service period were surfaced. The complete muster roll (166 images) is the personnel-coverage bridge for the entire commissioned life. Parent-unit war diaries in the same series (LST Group SEVEN - the hull's documented Okinawa-period unit; LST Flotilla 21/Group 62 - the NavSource-listed assignment) are digitized and would bridge operational gaps. Post-MARCOM disposition ('fate unknown'/'to Taiwan 1946' secondary claims) resolves only through MARAD vessel-history records (RG 357, largely non-digitized).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (1944-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: intermediate operational periods were not read at ship level (none surfaced); the 166-image muster roll was sampled, not fully read - intermediate port calls and any repair events recorded in passenger/change reports were not exhausted. The ROCN transfer claim is a secondary-source lead only; MARAD cards were not checked.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-945-lst945-09