Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]research packet 607-packet.md (6 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LST-213** (no proper name); hull number **LST-213**; designation
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-h-213-lsth213-pkt-607-packet-md
-
[2]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), 'LST-213' - Naval History and Heritage Command ship history page (archived Wayback capture 2025-02-02; live NHHC URL returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-213 full entry (Wayback capture 20250202220609 of history.navy.mil DANFS page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: laid down 21 December 1942 at Seneca, Ill., by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 16 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Marvin Sack; commissioned 7 July 1943. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater; operations: (a) capture and occupation of Saipan, June-July 1944; (b) Tinian capture and occupation, July-August 1944; (c) Leyte landings, October-November 1944. Redesignated LSTH-213 on 15 September 1945; occupation duty in the Far East until late November 1945; returned to the United States; decommissioned 11 March 1946; struck from the Navy list 5 March 1947; transferred as a sale 26 June 1947 to American Military Government, Korea. Three battle stars for World War II service as LST-213.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Ship's company (13 officers/104 enlisted spec) plus embarked troops and, as LST(H), patients/casualties handled
- Limitations
- Authoritative service history; contains no asbestos, insulation, or hazardous-material information. Live NHHC page returns 404 (standing NHHC link-rot defect); the Wayback capture of the official page is cited and labeled as archived.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST(H)-213 ex USS LST-213 - specification block, flotilla/group assignments, campaign table, commanding-officer roster, and photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource page 10/16/160213, full record incl. awards bar, campaign table, CO roster, spec block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: international radio call sign NGDM; laid down 21 December 1942 at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL; launched 16 June 1943; commissioned USS LST-213, 7 July 1943, LT Julian S. Gravely Jr., USNR, in command. Asiatic-Pacific assignments: LST Flotilla Five (CAPT G.B. Carter, USN), LST Group Fifteen (CDR V.K. Busck, USN), LST Flotilla Three (CDR A.A. Ageton, USN), LST Group Eight, LST Division Fifteen. Campaigns as printed: Saipan capture/occupation 15 June-20 July 1944; Tinian capture/occupation '24 to 20 July 1944' [printed range is internally inconsistent]; Leyte landings 30 October 1944. Participated in the rescue of survivors after the sinking of Gambier Bay (CVE-73) during the Battle of Samar, 25 October 1944. Redesignated LST(H)-213, 15 September 1945; occupation service in the Far East 2 September-25 November 1945; decommissioned March 1946 and transferred to COMNAVFE Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q095; struck 5 March 1947; sold 26 June 1947 to American Military Government, Korea. Specification block: 2x General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp each), Falk main reduction gear, 3x diesel-drive 100 kW 230V DC ship's-service generators, twin propellers 1,700 shp, 11.6 kt trial - diesel plant, NO boilers; complement 13 officers/104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers/147 enlisted. Photographs: LST-213 launching LCT-81 at Betio Anchorage, Tarawa Atoll, 4 January 1944 (Library of Virginia, US Army Signal Corps collection); LST-213 beached alongside LCT-743 at Okinawa during occupation duty.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1947
- Population
- Ship's company ~117 per spec block; embarked troops up to ~163; SCAJAP period crew 1946
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archival page quoting Navy sources; consistent with DANFS where they overlap. Spec data are equipment descriptions only - no asbestos content stated or implied. Printed campaign dates contain anomalies (Tinian '24 to 20 July 1944' is an impossible range; DANFS reads 'July and August 1944'). The CO roster's '10 October 1944' start for LT Hoppock conflicts with the Court of Claims finding that he assumed command 8 January 1944 - see correction row ev-uss-lst-h-213-10.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-02
-
[4]Hoppock v. United States, 176 Ct. Cl. 1147 (1966), No. 33-62, U.S. Court of Claims (per curiam); precursor timeliness ruling Hoppock v. United States, 163 Ct. Cl. 87 (1963) [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion, 176 Ct. Cl. 1147, adopted commissioner's findings (esp. findings 6-15 on LST-213 operations); CourtListener opinion 8614736; precursor 163 Ct. Cl. 87 at CourtListener 8614218
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- OTHER LITIGATION, NOT ASBESTOS: merits-adjudicated disability-retirement-pay claim by George Hoppock, USNR (USNA Dec. 1941), the ship's second wartime commanding officer. Court findings of fact name this hull repeatedly: Hoppock assumed command of LST-213 on 8 January 1944 at Funafuti, Ellice Islands, at age 25; the ship had 'a company of 110 men and 8 officers' and could accommodate approximately 400 Marines with equipment; she made unescorted supply runs to air bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands; while being staged at Pearl Harbor for the Saipan invasion she narrowly escaped an explosion and fire that destroyed seven or eight neighboring ships (description consistent with the 21 May 1944 West Loch disaster - identification is inference, not stated by the court); she carried first-wave Marines to Saipan and Tinian and landed first/second-echelon personnel at Leyte, enduring up to 26 air raids in one hour and surviving a nearby ammunition-dump explosion; while leaving Leyte Gulf she picked up 212 survivors of 'two sunken vessels, the Hoel and Casco Bay' [as written in the opinion]; she rode out a typhoon with 70-foot waves; at Lingayen Gulf (Luzon) she had hull trouble, collided with another ship, and a fire broke out. Hoppock was medically removed from command 27 February 1945; the court awarded disability retirement pay under Sec. 4, Naval Aviation Personnel Act of 1940, less VA amounts received.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945 service period; litigation 1962-1966
- Population
- Commanding officer (plaintiff); ship's company 110 enlisted + 8 officers per findings; ~400 embarked Marines (Saipan/Tinian first waves)
- Limitations
- Pension/benefits litigation, not an asbestos or exposure case - the disability at issue was psychiatric ('nervousness, apprehension, insomnia and anorexia, loss of weight, impairment of memory and mental confusion'), never attributed to asbestos or any material exposure; classified at merits stage (Court of Claims judgment for plaintiff). The opinion's 'Hoel and Casco Bay' attribution conflicts with NavSource's Gambier Bay (CVE-73) framing - Casco Bay (CVE-70) was not sunk at Samar; carried as written, discrepancy in gaps. Combat-detail findings support vessel history only; they establish no asbestos content or individual asbestos exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-03
-
[5]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton / Maritime Business Strategies data), 'Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca IL' - Prairie Shipyard production table, LST 213 row [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com emergency-large yards, chicagobridge.htm, LST 213 table row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard production record for this hull: Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL ('Prairie Shipyard' - the Navy requisitioned the facility in 1942 and invested $6mm in its improvement; 200-acre site on the east side of town; postwar sold to Union Mechling 1949). LST 213 row: U.S. Navy, Landing Ship Tank, laid 21 December 1942, launched 16 June 1943, delivered/commissioned 7 July 1943 - consistent with DANFS.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1942-1943 (construction)
- Population
- Chicago Bridge & Iron Seneca construction workforce (yard-level)
- Limitations
- Commercial shipbuilding-history compilation consistent with DANFS on every shared field; contains no asbestos or materials information. Documents the inland wartime yard only - does not name material suppliers, subcontractors, or specs.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-04
-
[6]Tadlock MD, Sobocinski MLS, 'US Navy Surgical Teams Fight to Save Lives on WWII Amphibious Warships,' Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons 110(5), May 2025 - LST(H) platform history citing NHHC and BuMed sources [reputable_press]
- Locator
- ACS Bulletin May 2025 article, LST-464 history and LST(H) program sections; DANFS/NavSource for this hull's redesignation date
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The LST(H) designation this hull carried from 15 September 1945 identifies the medically augmented combatant-LST type: armed, grey-hulled LSTs fitted for far-forward surgical care and casualty evacuation - not Geneva-protected hospital ships. Documented exemplar LST(H)-464 (converted at Sydney 1943) carried 60 hospital bunk beds, 4 surgical beds, an operating room, sterilizing room, dental office, laboratory, dressing room, and X-ray room, staffed by 6 medical officers and 35 hospital corpsmen, and treated 4,846 combat casualties in the Philippines campaign. LST-213's redesignation date (15 September 1945, per DANFS/NavSource) postdates the Japanese surrender (2 September 1945); this hull performed occupation duty in the Far East 2 September-25 November 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (type); 1945-09-15-1946 (this hull's designation)
- Population
- Casualties/patients aboard LST(H)-type platforms (type context); embarked medical staff
- Limitations
- Type-level context: documents what an LST(H) was, not what this hull physically received. The extent of medical outfitting actually installed aboard LST-213 is undocumented - the 15 September 1945 redesignation postdates the Japanese surrender (2 September 1945), and secondary literature describes the late-war group as largely administrative conversions used to return troops; no physical-conversion record for this hull was located. The '36 LSTs' group figure and the Operation Olympic association circulate in secondary sources and are not primary-verified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-05
-
[7]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' Am J Ind Med 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am J Ind Med 11(3):359-373 (1987), DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311; BuShips Ships' Data 1945 v2 LST design table via class profile
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed scholarship documents that WWII-era U.S. shipyards extensively installed asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and gaskets in naval construction - the era in which this hull was built (1942-43, Chicago Bridge & Iron's inland Seneca, IL 'Prairie Shipyard'). For a diesel-powered LST with no boilers, the era-relevant applications concentrate in diesel engine and exhaust-system insulation, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation and cable, deck coverings, accommodation insulation, and winch/windlass brake linings.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (study scope); applied 1942-1947
- Population
- WWII-era shipyard workers (Chicago Bridge & Iron Seneca, 1942-43); wartime crew - era context
- Limitations
- Era-level scholarship plus class/type inference; the source does not name this hull or class and does not establish that any specific material aboard this ship contained asbestos. No ship-specific product is verified; the diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the exposure-relevant scope relative to steam vessels. End-of-life disturbance is undocumented: the hull was sold into Korean custody in 1947 and her ultimate scrapping is not recorded in the sources consulted.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-06
-
[8]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: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 toward selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place on active Navy hulls for decades.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review (not this hull)
- Limitations
- Program-level Navy documentation that never governed this hull: she left naval service in March 1946 and U.S. custody in June 1947, decades before either policy existed. Context for the era fleet picture only. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403); content via product-page description, consistent with prior batches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-07
-
[9]National Archives and Records Administration catalog - Record Group 38 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' series (ca. 1942-1946), which contains per-ship LST war-history entries (example located: USS LST-464 war history, catalog id 77707313); plus RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations' (1941-1992) and the Library of Virginia US Army Signal Corps photograph collection (LST-213 at Betio Anchorage, 4 January 1944) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov/id/77707313 (LST-464 war history, RG 38 series entry); NavSource photo captions citing Library of Virginia Signal Corps collection
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's RG 38 war-diaries series and RG 24 logbooks are the primary-source track for this hull: per-ship LST war histories exist in the catalog for class sisters (e.g., LST-464). An LST-213 war diary and 1943-1946 deck logs, if digitized, would document the hospital-fit scope after the 15 September 1945 redesignation, the extent of the Leyte typhoon damage, the Lingayen collision, and in-service material events; an LST-213-specific entry was not located via public catalog search this session. At least one wartime photograph of this hull survives in the Library of Virginia's US Army Signal Corps collection (LCT-81 launch at Betio, Tarawa, 4 January 1944, per NavSource caption).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1947 (record period)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the series is verified to exist and to contain class-sister entries; no LST-213-specific catalog item was located or reviewed, and nothing in the series is an asbestos record by nature.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-08
-
[10]Batch-6458 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC via Wayback capture; NavSource 160213; shipbuildinghistory.com CB&I Seneca table; uboat.net; CourtListener API v4 (opinions and RECAP); NARA catalog; ACS Bulletin; DVIDS/USNI West Loch coverage [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-h-213-01 through sl-uss-lst-h-213-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or asbestos litigation naming USS LST-213 / LST(H)-213 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The single CourtListener hit naming the hull (Hoppock v. United States) is a disability-retirement-pay case with no asbestos content - classified 'other litigation,' not an asbestos record. CourtListener RECAP docket index returned zero hits across all name variants.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1942-43-built LST is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, and the hull's 1947 sale into Korean custody precludes any present-day survey. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-09
-
[11]CORRECTION row - NavSource CO roster vs. Court of Claims findings of fact, Hoppock v. United States, 176 Ct. Cl. 1147 (1966) [court_record]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160213 CO roster; Hoppock v. United States 176 Ct. Cl. 1147, findings
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource's commanding-officer roster gives LT George Hoppock's command start as '10 October 1944 - 1944,' which is internally inconsistent with the same roster's end date for his predecessor (LT Gravely, '7 July 1943 - 10 January 1944'). The Court of Claims findings, based on the service record and testimony, state that Hoppock 'assumed command of the LST 213' on 8 January 1944 at Funafuti, Ellice Islands. The primary court record controls: Hoppock commanded from January 1944 until his medical removal on 27 February 1945 (NavSource's '10 October 1944' is carried as a typographical error for January 1944). NavSource's printed campaign table also contains an impossible Tinian range ('24 to 20 July 1944'); DANFS reads 'July and August 1944.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Limitations
- The correction resolves NavSource's internal inconsistency against a primary judicial finding; residual uncertainty remains in the exact handover day (8 vs 10 January 1944) and in the unnamed period when LTjg. Oliver is rostered (NavSource '1944 - 4 July 1945' overlaps Hoppock's medical-removal timeline - possibly an acting-gap entry).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-213-10