Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
-
[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-959-lst959-pkt-839-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS Vol. VII (1981), LST-959 entry (verbatim transcription via HistoryCentral; live NHHC canonical URL returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- HistoryCentral, 'History of LST - 951-999,' LST-959 paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS records that LST-959 was laid down 6 October 1944 at Hingham, Massachusetts, by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard; launched 4 November 1944; commissioned 29 November 1944 with Ens. J. H. Giesmann Jr. in command; served in the Asiatic-Pacific theater and the Okinawa Gunto operation in June 1945; performed Far East occupation and China service until mid-May 1946; was decommissioned 13 June 1946 and struck 3 July 1946; and was stripped and destroyed at Subic Bay, Philippines, 10 June 1948. DANFS credits one World War II battle star.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-history documentation only; it identifies no asbestos-containing material, exposure, quantity, or current condition. The official NHHC canonical URL https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-959.html returned 404 on 2026-10-03; this is a live transcription mirror, not an official host.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST-959 (10/16/160959), verified live (HTTP 200) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource header, campaign and medal tables, specifications block, and photograph caption 1016020817.jpg
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource identifies USS LST-959 as an LST-542-class tank landing ship, call sign NKF, assigned to LST Flotilla Twenty-Three, LST Group Sixty-Eight, and LST Division One Hundred Thirty-Six. It gives the Okinawa Gunto assault-and-occupation credit as 8-18 June 1945 and records Navy Occupation Service Medal and China Service Medal eligibility from 25 September 1945 to 23 May 1946. Its class specification block states 328 feet overall, 50-foot beam, 13 officers and 104 enlisted, and two diesel engines producing 1,700 shp; its photo caption places LST-959 with LST-208 on the Whangpoo River at Shanghai on 29 December 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew (1944-46); embarked troops
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not an official registry; the specification block is class-generic. It contains no asbestos content and does not establish installation of any material aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-02
-
[4]ShipbuildingHistory (T. Colton compilation), 'Bethlehem-Hingham, Hingham MA,' per-hull builder table, verified live (HTTP 200) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Bethlehem-Hingham yard table, row 3429
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Bethlehem-Hingham builder table lists yard hull 3429 as LST-959 on a fiscal-1943 contract: laid down 6 October 1944, launched 4 November 1944, delivered 29 November 1944; 29 days on the ways, 25 days in the water, and 54 days keel-to-delivery. The table's disposition column says 'Scrapped 1947.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its build dates agree with DANFS and NavSource. Its 'Scrapped 1947' entry conflicts with DANFS's specific 10 June 1948 destruction date; the conflict is retained as a gap. It contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-03
-
[5]NavSource LST-959 class specification block; compared with the LST-1-class profile's BuShips Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan. 1945) design-table reading [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; LST-1-class profile, ev-lst-1-class-01 and -03
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- LST-959 was a diesel-powered LST in the LST-932-979 machinery block. Class/era evidence identifies the relevant potential application categories as diesel-engine exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings, bulkhead/accommodation insulation, brake linings, valve packing, and electrical insulation. The diesel plant had no boilers or steam turbines, so a boiler/turbine lagging pathway does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (1944); crew and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only. NavSource's class-generic block lists two GM 12-567A engines, while the BuShips grouping cited in the class profile assigns LST-932-979 the GM 12-278A variant; the engine-model conflict is unresolved. Neither source is a hull-specific asbestos material schedule, and this row establishes neither asbestos aboard nor individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-04
-
[6]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 the Navy's asbestos-protection program and described Navy-wide asbestos insulation use before substitution of alternatives in the early 1970s, after this hull was destroyed in 1948.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos-program review
- Limitations
- Program-level context only, not class- or hull-specific. The GAO product page was live but its full text returned HTTP 403 to this automated retrieval on 2026-10-03; no claim about material aboard LST-959 is drawn from it.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-05
-
[7]Batch-7502 search ledger for USS LST-959 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-959-lst959-01 through -07; cl-uss-lst-959-opinion.err and cl-lst-959-docket.err
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No public ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material schedule, or qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS LST-959 was located in the sources searched. CourtListener was not searchable to completion: the required authenticated exact-name opinion query and exact-hull docket query each returned the shared daily-quota stand-down response before producing results.
- Verification
- partial
- 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. CourtListener coverage is an open litigation gap, not a no-result finding, because the authenticated API required a wait of about 6.9 hours and no retry or anonymous query was made. This row establishes neither exposure nor legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-06
-
[8]Archival leads: NARA Record Group 24 deck logs for USS LST-959 (1944-46); Bethlehem-Hingham contract and material records for yard hull 3429; Navy/War Shipping Administration disposition records for Subic Bay destruction [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA RG 24 deck-log series; Bethlehem-Hingham yard hull 3429; DANFS disposition statement
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Undigitized archival leads for LST-959 include her deck logs, Bethlehem-Hingham build records, and disposal/destruction records for the Subic Bay action of 10 June 1948.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Limitations
- Leads only; no digitized record was located and no asbestos content is established by the identified record groups.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-959-lst959-07