Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 607-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (existence/hull/class); (H)-redesignation, builder, and — real identity: USS LST-243** (no proper name); hull number **LST-243**; LST-1-class
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-pkt-607-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-243 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Pacific campaign list, LSTH-243 redesignation, decommissioning, strike, disposal (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl; bare curl returns 404 - UA-gated) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-243 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 26 April 1943 at Evansville, Ind., by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched 9 July 1943, sponsored by Miss Marybeth Malsie; commissioned 9 August 1943, Lt. F. H. Blaske, USNR, in command. Asiatic-Pacific operations: Gilbert Islands (Nov-Dec 1943), occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (Jan-Feb 1944), capture and occupation of Guam (Jul 1944), capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands (Sep-Oct 1944), Lingayen Gulf landings (Jan 1945). 'Redesignated LSTH-243 on 15 September 1945'; occupation duty in the Far East until early January 1946; decommissioned 9 January 1946; struck from the Navy list 17 July 1947; sold 2 April 1948 to Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, N.Y., for scrapping. Five battle stars for World War II service as LST-243.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (Evansville, 1943); ship's company and embarked troops (1943-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS's 'returned to the United States and was decommissioned' conflicts with NavSource's same-day assignment to COMNAVFE/SCAJAP as Q006 - unresolved (see gaps). No yard or repair content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST(H)-243 ex USS LST-243 (10/16/160243.htm, last updated 25 June 2021) - designation timeline, unit assignments, spec block, commanding-officer list, awards, disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160243.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-1-class tank landing ship laid down 26 April 1943 at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN; launched 9 July 1943; commissioned USS LST-243 9 August 1943, LT. Floyd H. Blaske USNR in command. Assigned to LST Flotilla Thirteen (CAPT. J.G. Sampson), LST Group Thirty-Eight (LCDR. M.F. Stiling), LST Division Seventy-Six. Campaign table matches DANFS (Gilberts 20 Nov-5 Dec 1943; Marshalls 31 Jan-8 Feb 1944; Guam 21-25 Jul 1944; southern Palaus 6 Sep-14 Oct 1944; Lingayen Gulf 9 Jan 1945). Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-243, 15 September 1945; occupation duty 2 September 1945 - 9 January 1946; decommissioned 9 January 1946 'and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP) redesignated Q006'; struck 17 July 1947; sold for scrapping 2 April 1948 to Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, N.Y. 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 officers / 147 enlisted; radio call sign NHBX. Awards: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5 battle stars), Navy Occupation (Asia clasp), Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Liberation Medal. CO list: LT Blaske 9 Aug 1943-9 Apr 1945; LT Cutts 9 Apr-Jun 1945; LTjg Taylor acting Jun-4 Jul 1945; LT Stiller 4 Jul-23 Nov 1945; LTjg Canfield 23 Nov 1945-9 Jan 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- Ship's company (~117) plus embarked troops and, as LST(H), medical staff/patients (1945-46)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - dates cross-check cleanly against DANFS and the NARA war diaries except the post-decommissioning disposition (SCAJAP Q006 vs DANFS's US return - unresolved, see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-02
-
[4]NARA NAID 77707008, 'USS LST-243 - War History' (2 pp., RG 38, World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories; micro serial 159165; received Office of Naval Records 18 January 1946; digitized via Fold3/DPLA) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 77707008, pages 1-2 (downloaded and read 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's own war history (both pages read, this session) documents: built by Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company, Evansville; 'commissioned on July 31, 1943' (conflicts with DANFS 9 August 1943 - see gaps); fitting out at New Orleans, shakedown at St. Andrews Bay, Fla.; Naval Hospital personnel, fuel oil, supplies and an LCT embarked at New Orleans; Panama Canal transit to Pago Pago, Samoa; US Marine troops, LVTs and combat equipment onward to the Ellice Islands for training. Tarawa 20 November 1943 - 'completed launching of LVTs while under fire,' then lighter work between transports and beaches. 'A period of repairs in drydick [drydock] at Pearl Harbor, T.H.' preceded Kwajalein (beached D-1 day, 31 January 1944). ComLSTGroup 38 staff (CDR E.A. McFall) embarked for the Hollandia action (reserve capacity, April 1944). Marianas 15 June 1944 - torpedo-plane attack repelled, one enemy plane credited; 25 days as reserve at Saipan; Eniwetok resupply and 'essential repairs.' Guam 21 July 1944 - assault phase carrying LVTs and assault personnel; 'for four days it remained in the attached area receiving wounded and unloading ammunition.' Palaus 15 September 1944 assault; nine days in the attack area. Lingayen Gulf 9 January 1945 assault - 'the first LST to be completely unloaded on the Lingayen Beach,' under frequent air attack. April 1945 return to the US: 'went into drydock in San Diego, California and was overhauled'; then Seattle (Army troops, rolling stock, pontoons); at war's end in the Marshall Islands; postwar runs Okinawa, Tokyo Bay, Leyte, Aomori; COs Cutts (April 1945), Stiller (July 1945), Canfield (23 November 1945); 'end of December 1945... being prepared for decommissioning.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops (1943-45); wounded received aboard at Guam (Jul 1944); yard trades at Pearl Harbor drydock (Dec 1943-Jan 1944 window) and San Diego (spring 1945)
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced narrative, but retrospective typescript (compiled late 1945, received 18 Jan 1946) - it states a 31 July 1943 commissioning that conflicts with DANFS/NavSource (9 August 1943); the Pearl Harbor repair drydock is not named (Pearl Harbor Navy Yard identification inferred); the San Diego 'overhaul' line omits the yard that the May-June 1945 war diaries name. Receiving-wounded duty at Guam predates the formal (H) designation. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-03
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[5]NARA NAID 101726809, 'USS LST-243 - War Diary, 6/1-30/45' (RG 38 war-diaries series, micro serial 130552); corroborated by NAID 140020552, 'USS LST-243 - War Diary, 5/1-31/45' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 140020552 p.28 (entries 1, 2-5, 6-31 May 1945); NAID 101726809 p.29 (entries 1-27, 28-29, 30 June 1945)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The May 1945 war diary documents: arrival San Diego Bay from Pearl Harbor 1 May 1945 (moored alongside LST-276, Pier #2); ammunition off-load at the Ammunition Dock alongside LST-213 (2-3 May); alongside ARL-16 at Pier #2; Mole Pier; and on 6 May 1945 'proceeded to drydock, entering drydock #1, Concrete Ship Building Yards, San Diego, Calif., at 0705.' The June 1945 war diary documents: '1-27 June 1945 - In drydock #1, Concrete Ship Yards, San Diego, Calif., undergoing a complete overhauling and conversion. On 20 June at 1800, were towed from drydock and moored Stbd., to outfitting dock, Concrete Ship Yards, San Diego, Calif. Where overhauling was continued.' Gunnery and engine tests in operating area MM 44 on 28-29 June; fueling and deperming 30 June. This is the ship's documented 1945 yard availability - the physical conversion associated with the 15 September 1945 LST(H) redesignation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- May-June 1945
- Population
- Ship's company (~117) plus yard trades at the San Diego conversion availability (May-June 1945)
- Limitations
- Documents the yard event and its dates verbatim, not the work content: the diary does not itemize materials, does not say 'asbestos,' and does not name the conversion type - the association with the hospital-ship refit is by sequence (overhaul+conversion May-June 1945; LST(H) redesignation 15 September 1945). 'Concrete Ship (Building) Yards' is the diary's own rendering; the likely facility (Concrete Ship Constructors, National City) is not confirmed and is not a shipyards.json entry.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); NavSource LST-243 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160243.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST-1 class ran a diesel plant (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, 1,700 shp total, Falk reduction gear, twin screws - 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 1943 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 - and the LST(H) conversion added a documented 1945 tank-deck-to-hospital interior rework (war diary, ev-04) inside the Navy's asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1948
- Population
- MVB&I construction trades (1943); ship's company/embarked troops/patients (1943-46); San Diego yard trades (1945 conversion); Pearl Harbor drydock trades (1944); 1948 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or conversion work package was located for LST-243/LST(H)-243. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities; no manufacturer attribution. SDB 1945 v2 link verified live 2026-10-02 (older /styles/usnaux/ path in the class profile has rotted to 404 - corrected here).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-05
-
[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 construction (1943), her Pacific service, the documented 1945 conversion availability, and her 1948 scrapping.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- 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 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-06 through -09
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-243" returned 0 in the opinion index and 0 in the docket index; "LST 243" asbestos in opinions returned 0; "LSTH-243" in opinions returned 0. An OR-broadened docket query ("LST-243" OR "LSTH") exploded to ~1,800 tokenized noise hits and was discarded as unbounded. Numbered-hull name collisions: none located.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes published opinions and RECAP dockets - state-court filings, unreported settlements, MDL-875 pleading-level vessel lists, and non-digitized dockets are outside coverage. A zero result means no located docketed case/opinion naming this hull, not proof none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-07
-
[9]Batch-6462 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + war-history and war-diary file units; BuShips SDB 1945 v2; GAO product page; CourtListener API (opinion + docket); NIOSH HHE search; NVR; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-01 through -15
- 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-243/LST(H)-243 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational (war diary + war history) and confirms a 1945 San Diego overhaul-and-conversion availability - a relevant repair event - but no primary source read names asbestos aboard this hull.
- 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 - construction at a wartime inland yard and a documented 1945 yard conversion sit squarely inside the Navy's asbestos-use era. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-08
-
[10]NARA catalog, "LST-243" - 310 file units, substantially a complete digitized run of this hull's WWII War Diaries (Dec 1943 - Oct 1945) plus the War History, all RG 38; plus NavSource-hosted crew cruise log (160243a.pdf) and the Peleliu operation-plan annex (160243b.pdf) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov "LST-243" result set; NavSource 160243.htm 'more photos and information' PDF links
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A deep primary archive exists for this hull and is digitized: ~310 NARA file units under "LST-243," dominated by the monthly war-diary run (representative NAIDs: war history 77707008; 12/43 78478770; 3/44 78367260; 6/44 78551136; 7/44 78571793; 10/44 78646402; 11/44 139770729; 12/44 139811171; 2/45 139903921; 4/45 139984067; 5/45 140020552; 6/45 101726809; 7/45 101766851; 8/45 83550755; 9/45 140081435; 10/45 77590375). NavSource additionally hosts a crew member's cruise log (Anthony Caserta, RM/1c; 160243a.pdf, downloaded - image scan) and the Western Caroline Islands attack landing order / Beach White Peleliu CTF 32 plan appendix (160243b.pdf). Only the war history and the May-June 1945 diary pages were read in full this session.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- Ship's company (1943-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: the diary months covering the Pearl Harbor drydock period (Dec 1943-Jan 1944) and remaining months were not individually read; the RG 181 conversion work package for the San Diego yard is an unfollowed lead; WWII deck logs proper for this hull are not in the digitized deck-log program checked (online list covers later-era vessels).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-243-lsth243-09