Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
-
[1]research packet 839-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-952-lst952-pkt-839-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-952 - construction, Okinawa service, LST(H)-952 redesignation, decommissioning, stricken, sale for scrapping (NHHC page; live URL returned 404, archived 2024-05-27 capture used) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-952 entry (full text, appendix-style entry)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'LST-952 was laid down on 11 September 1944 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 11 October 1944; and commissioned on 3 November 1944. During World War II, LST-952 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto from April through June 1945. On 15 September 1945, she was redesignated LSTH-952 and performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until early May 1946. She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 1 August 1946 and struck from the Navy list on 22 January 1947. On 10 October 1947, the ship was sold to Luria Bros. & Co., Inc., of Philadelphia, Pa., for scrapping. LST-952 earned one battle star for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-10-03 (same standing NHHC link-rot noted in BATCH-01) - archived capture cited and labeled as archived. DANFS writes the hospital designation as 'LSTH-952'; NavSource writes it 'LST(H)-952'.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-01
-
[3]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II, NAVSHIPS 250-011 (15 April 1945, as amended) - LST design table and vessel roster (shipscribe.com scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 PDF: LST roster p.186-187 (LST952 row; LST906/915 'Bethlehem Steel Co., Hingham, Mass.' block headers); LST design table - LST932-979 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official BuShips documents for this hull: the vessel roster lists 'LST952' - keel laid 11 Sept 44, launched 11 Oct 44, first commission 3 Nov 44 - in the Bethlehem Steel Co., Hingham, Mass. builder block (ditto-marked from the LST906/LST915 block headers). The LST design table assigns the LST932-979 hull block (which includes LST-952): 328 ft oa, 316 ft wl, 50 ft beam, 2,366 t (light) / 4,080 t, 11.6 kt, 2 x G.M. Diesel 12-278A engines, 1,700 shp, 3 x 100kW 230V D.C. diesel-drive ship's service generators, complement 13 officers / 106 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (document coverage)
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); design-level crew establishment 13 officers / 106 enlisted
- Limitations
- The roster row is hull-specific (this ship's build dates and builder); the design-table machinery figures are BLOCK-LEVEL design data for LST932-979, not an as-installed certification for this hull - NavSource's per-hull spec block instead lists 2 x GM 12-567A 900hp (generic LST-542 block text; see correction row ev-10 and gaps). No asbestos or material content. PDF retrieved live 2026-10-03; text-layer page 186-187 (roster) and LST design table rows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST(H)-952 ex USS LST-952 (10/16/160952) - timeline, unit assignments, campaign and service medal dates, commanding officers, specifications, photo record (live .net page; navsource.org is dead) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160952.htm header block, campaign/service tables, commanding-officer table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, MA (page prints '1September 1944' - an apparent transcription slip; BuShips official roster, DANFS, and the Colton yard table all give 11 September 1944 - see correction row ev-10); launched 11 October 1944; commissioned USS LST-952 3 November 1944, LT. George C. Garris, USNR, in command. Asiatic-Pacific assignment: LST Flotilla Twenty-One (CAPT. W. H. Brereton, USN), LST Group Sixty-Three (LCDR. R. E. Farnestock, USNR), LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Six; Okinawa Gunto operation - assault and occupation, 1 April to 28 June 1945. Redesignated LST(H)-952 15 September 1945. Occupation/China service: Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 20 September-3 October 1945 and 15 October 1945-2 May 1946; China Service Medal (extended) 15 October 1945-2 May 1946. Decommissioned 1 August 1946; struck from the Naval Register 22 January 1947; sold for scrapping 10 October 1947 to Luria Bros. & Co., Inc., of Philadelphia, PA. One battle star. Commanding officers: LT. George Cobb Garris, USNR (3 Nov 1944-26 Nov 1945); LTjg. Vladimir Fedorowicz, USN (26 Nov 1945-1 Aug 1946). Photographs document the hull beached (unknown location/date), at anchor in San Francisco Bay circa 1946, and in drydock, contributed in honor of crew member Floyd A. Nehring MM2. Call sign NKEW.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Crew (1944-46): LT. Garris and LTjg. Fedorowicz commanded; MM2 Floyd A. Nehring documented aboard by photo contribution
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - but it is the canonical per-hull amphibious reference and its milestone dates here track DANFS and the BuShips roster except the laid-down typo (see ev-10). The page's generic LST-542 spec block prints GM 12-567A engines while the BuShips design table assigns 12-278A to this hull's block (see ev-10, gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-03
-
[5]shipbuildinghistory.com (Colton & Co. compilation), Bethlehem-Hingham yard page - yard history and per-hull build table (live) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Bethlehem-Hingham yard page: yard history header; build table row hull# 3422 / LST 952
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard-level documentation for this hull's builder: Bethlehem Hingham Shipyards, Inc., was built in 1941 for the construction of destroyer escorts with $35mm from the Navy; it had 16 ways, was managed by Bethlehem Quincy, and at its peak employed over 23,000 people; after the war the yard was closed and liquidated. The per-hull table lists yard number 3422, LST 952: keel 11-Sep-44, launched 11-Oct-44, delivered 3-Nov-44 - 30 days on the ways, 23 days in the water, 53 total days; disposition 'Scrapped 1947.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1947
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades, peak ~23,000 (1941-45); crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (Colton & Co.) - the canonical open-source yard table; its build dates corroborate the BuShips roster and DANFS exactly. Documents the yard as a workplace site, not the ship's material content; the yard closed postwar, so no postwar overhaul population. No asbestos content on the page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-04
-
[6]USNI Naval History Magazine, Barrett Tillman, 'Mercy Afloat' (Vol. 34 No. 4, August 2020) - LST(H) casualty-evacuation program context (live page 403 to automated fetch; archived 2024-04-16 capture used) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- 'Mercy Afloat' article, Pacific LST(H) paragraphs; Wayback capture 2024-04-16 (live usni.org returned 403)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Context for this hull's 15 September 1945 LST(H) redesignation: 'Anticipating a huge butcher's bill for the potential invasion of Japan in November 1945, 36 LSTs were to be designated LST(H)s. The Operation Olympic LSTs would embark a complete surgical team with medical personnel and supplies for transport of wounded from landing beaches on Kyushu.' LST(H)s 'configured for casualty treatment and evacuation, were not designated hospital ships because they did retain armament. Their minimal sick bays usually were tended by one or two pharmacist's mates. With additional personnel, 150 cots could be installed, but when necessary up to 370 cases could be accommodated in troop quarters and on the tank deck.' The war ended before the Olympic conversion program operated; secondary literature reports the 15 September 1945 redesignation order became largely a formality as the designated LSTs shifted to occupation and troop-return duty - consistent with LST-952's documented post-surrender occupation and China service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- Ship's company + embarked medical personnel (surgical team, pharmacist's mates) and casualties (design-intent populations)
- Limitations
- Class/program-level context: explains the LST(H) designation this hull received, but does NOT document the physical scope of her conversion (berthing, medical fit-out, or material changes) - the conversion's extent aboard this hull is undocumented (see gaps). USNI does not date the batch order; the 15 September 1945 effective date comes from secondary literature. Reputable secondary press, not an official record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-05
-
[7]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P, 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946 Jan;28:9-16 (PMID 21016030) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 21016030 (J Ind Hyg Toxicol 1946 Jan;28:9-16)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Wartime federal documentation that asbestos products were standard in U.S. Navy vessel construction during this hull's build era: the industrial-hygiene survey examined pipe coverers at two Government Navy yards and two Navy contract yards after dustiness and suspected asbestosis were noted in pipe-covering operations. The contemporaneous published record describes amosite (South African asbestos) as the pipe-covering material 'frequently employed' on naval vessels, with asbestos cloth and asbestos cement likewise in use, and documents the trade operations (layout/cutting, band-saw cutting, cement mixing, installation) that generated airborne fiber during wartime ship construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (survey and publication)
- Population
- Navy-yard and contract-yard pipe coverers/insulators, wartime construction era
- Limitations
- Era/program-level documentation only: surveyed the pipe-covering TRADE at four yards circa 1944-45 - it does not name this hull, this yard, or Bethlehem-Hingham. Establishes that asbestos pipe covering and related products were in use in Navy construction in this period; does not establish materials aboard, individual exposure, quantity, or causation for LST-952. PubMed record carries no abstract; content description is at article-abstract level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: DANFS construction record (1944, Bethlehem-Hingham); BuShips Ships' Data 1945 v2 LST design table (diesel plant, no boilers); Fleischer 1946 wartime pipe-covering survey (see ev-06); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use era (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS + BuShips design table + Fleischer 1946 + GAO HRD-80-2 (rows ev-01, ev-02, ev-06, ev-08)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A tank landing ship built September-November 1944 at a wartime emergency yard for U.S. Navy account sits inside the documented asbestos-use era for naval construction; era-standard applications aboard an LST of this design were thermal insulation and pipe covering (amosite-type felt per era documentation), machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and electrical insulation. As a diesel-powered ship she carried no boilers - the steam-boiler lagging pathway does not apply; the confined engine-room and accommodation spaces remain the relevant exposure geometry. Her September 1945 LST(H) hospital redesignation implies interior accommodation/medical-space rework of undocumented scope - a typical disturbance point for installed materials.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); ship's company (1944-46); any medical-detachment and casualty populations under LST(H) service (1945-46); scrappers at Luria Bros. disposal (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package located for LST-952. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The LST(H) conversion's physical scope aboard this hull is undocumented - treated as an exposure-relevant event, not evidence of added or removed material.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-07
-
[9]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 (1944) and service era (1944-47).
- 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 returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-10-03 - standing defect since BATCH-01); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-08
-
[10]Batch-7495 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback; BuShips SDB-1945 v2 full text; NavSource (.net); Colton yard table; USNI via Wayback; PubMed; GAO product page; CourtListener (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep; NARA logbook lead; NavalCoverMuseum; hazegray/ibiblio mirrors [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-952-lst952-01 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-952 / LST(H)-952 was found in the public sources searched. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the authenticated API helper reported the fleet daily quota exhausted (server-requested wait ~24,935s, ~6.9h); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content (e.g., gorilaw.com landing-ships page asserting asbestos in 'many Navy Vessels' built before the 1980s) - 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-exhausted, not run). Deck logs, BuShips/BuSandA conversion work packages for the LST(H) redesignation, and any disposal/inspection records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-09
-
[11]Cross-source date/spec check: BuShips SDB-1945 v2 roster (LST952: keel 11 Sept 44); DANFS archived text ('laid down on 11 September 1944'); Colton yard table (keel 11-Sep-44); NavSource page ('1September 1944'); Wikipedia (1 September 1944, citing NavSource); BuShips design table (LST932-979: 2 x GM 12-278A) vs NavSource generic spec block (2 x GM 12-567A) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips SDB1945v2 roster p.186-187 + LST design table; NavSource 10/16/160952.htm header/spec block; archived DANFS text; Colton yard table row 3422; Wikipedia USS LST-952 infobox
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION (two items): (1) Laid-down date - NavSource prints '1September 1944' and Wikipedia repeats 1 September, but the official BuShips roster, DANFS, and the Colton yard table all agree on 11 September 1944; the NavSource line is an apparent dropped-digit transcription slip ('1September' vs '11-Sept'). Record carries 1944-09-11. (2) Engine model - NavSource's generic per-hull spec block lists 2 x GM 12-567A 900hp diesels, but the official BuShips design table assigns the LST932-979 block (which contains this hull) 2 x GM 12-278A diesels; NavSource's spec text is boilerplate repeated across LST-542 pages. Record carries the BuShips block design.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944 (build data)
- Limitations
- Corrects circulating secondary errors, not a material claim. For the engine model: the BuShips table is block-level DESIGN data - whether the as-installed engines in this specific hull matched the block design is not independently certified (no hull-specific machinery record located); residual uncertainty noted in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-10
-
[12]NARA, 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1992' (RG 24) - series-level record for deck-log custody [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/594258 (series); catalog search for LST-952 file units returned no digitized result
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations series (1941-1992) covering this hull's commissioned period (1944-46); no digitized deck log file unit for LST-952 was located in the public catalog this session. Deck logs for her Okinawa, LST(H), occupation, and China-service periods would document operations, any medical detachment embarked, and in-port availabilities relevant to the LST(H) conversion question.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (log coverage sought)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: series-level coverage verified; hull-level file units for LST-952 were not located in the digitized catalog (the VA Blue Water Navy deck-log digitization concentrates on Vietnam-era service). Physical logs, if held, are at NARA College Park. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-952-lst952-11