USS LST(H)-42

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]DANFS, 'LST-42' (Naval History and Heritage Command) - construction, sponsor, commissioning, campaign list, LSTH redesignation, disposal (ARCHIVED COPY: live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-10-02; Wayback capture 2025-12-09 verified) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS 'LST-42' entry, full text (short-form unnamed-LST entry)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 17 June 1943 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched 17 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. F. M. Leslie; commissioned 30 September 1943, Lt. Roy L. Guy in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific theater - Marshall Islands operation (occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, January-February 1944; occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, February-March 1944); Marianas operation (capture and occupation of Saipan, June-July 1944); Tinian capture and occupation (July 1944); Western Caroline Islands operation (capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, September-October 1944); Iwo Jima operation (assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, February-March 1945). Post-war: redesignated LSTH-42 on 15 September 1945; occupation duty in the Far East and service in China until early April 1946; decommissioned 26 July 1946; struck from the Navy list 25 September 1946; sold 26 March 1948 to the Kaiser Co., Inc., of Seattle, Wash., and subsequently scrapped. 'LSTH-42 earned five battle stars for World War II service as LST-42.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1948

   Population

   Construction trades (Dravo, Neville Island, 1943); Navy crew (1943-46); embarked troops and casualties under the hospital fit (1945-46)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. Canonical live URL (https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-42.html) returned HTTP 404 on 2026-10-02 - the same standing NHHC link-rot defect noted in BATCH-01; the citation URL is therefore the labeled Wayback capture. DANFS's five-battle-star count conflicts with NavSource's four - see gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-01

2. [2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, 'USS LST(H)-42 ex USS LST-42 (1943-1945)' - designation timeline, flotilla/group/division assignment, campaign-date table, awards display, specifications, commanding-officer table, final disposition (live page verified 2026-10-02) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/16/160042.htm header block, campaign table, awards display, specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource documents for this hull: laid down 17 June 1943 at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA; launched 17 August 1943; commissioned USS LST-42 on 30 September 1943, LT. Roy L. Guy, USN, in command; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LST Flotilla Three (CDR. A.A. Ageton USN), LST Group Nine (CDR. S.A. Life USNR), LST Division Seventeen. Campaign table: Marshall Islands operation (Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls 31 January-8 February 1944; Eniwetok Atoll 19 February-2 March 1944); Marianas operation (Saipan 15 June-28 July 1944; Tinian 24-26 July 1944); Western Caroline Islands operation (southern Palau Islands 6 September-14 October 1944); Iwo Jima operation (19 February-3 March 1945). Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-42 on 15 September 1945. Post-war service: Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 8 October 1945-24 March 1946 and 8-16 April 1946; China Service Medal (extended) 25 March-7 April 1946. Decommissioned 26 July 1946; struck from the Naval Register 25 September 1946; 'USS LST-42 earned four battle stars for World War II service'; sold for scrapping 26 March 1948 to Kaiser Co., Inc., Seattle, WA. Awards display: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), China Service Medal (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4), World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Commanding officers: LT Roy L. Guy USN (30 Sep 1943-9 Nov 1944); LT James W. Forbis USNR (9 Nov 1944-Jun 1945); LTjg Robert S. Baldwin USNR, acting (Jun-13 Jul 1945); LT Charles M. Redding USNR (13 Jul-13 Nov 1945); LT Robert T. Stewart Jr. USNR (13 Nov 1945-Mar 1946); LTjg J. R. Van Wagoner Jr. USNR (Mar-Jun 1946); LTjg Martin Knell USNR (Jun-26 Jul 1946). Radio call sign NPGD. Photo captions document the hull launching at Dravo (17 Aug 1943), beached with LST-272 (All Hands, Feb 1945), and landing alongside LSM-47.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1948

   Population

   Dravo construction trades (1943); USN ship's company (1943-46); embarked Marines/Army troops; patients under hospital fit (1945-46)

   Limitations

   NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track DANFS and the ship's war diaries but are compiled. Contains no asbestos content. Its four-battle-star count and Eniwetok start date (19 Feb) conflict with DANFS (five stars) and Wikipedia (9 Feb) - see gaps; the CO table conflicts with the ship's war history on the Stewart-to-Knell relief sequence - see gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-02

3. [3]NARA Catalog, 'USS LST-42 - War History' (file unit NAID 77706763, microfilm Roll A2106, RG 38 war-diaries series; digitized via Fold3, catalog image files 0187-0191) - typed five-page ship-authored history covering 30 September 1943 to 1 February 1946 [other_primary]

   Locator

   catalog.archives.gov/id/77706763; microfilm Roll A2106 images 0187-0191 (5 pp.); Fold3 scan (first image https://www.fold3.com/image/302085487)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   The ship's own contemporaneous war history (read and transcribed via OCR this session) documents for this hull: 'put into full commission' 30 September 1943 at the Dravo yard, Pittsburgh, PA; down the Mississippi to New Orleans for a two-week shakedown including Panama City, Fla.; to San Diego via the Panama Canal, arriving 12 December 1943. 6 January 1944 embarked 150 Marines plus a tank deck of vehicles for Port Allen, Kauai; departed 20 January for Kwajalein (arrived 1 February; embarked an additional 350 Marines); landing on Roi and Namur (history reads 10 February - see limitations); broached on a reef - dent in the auxiliary-engine-room bilges - and stranded until 12 February; returned to Pearl Harbor 23 March. On 21 May 1944 present during 'a terrific explosion at Pearl Harbor, involving several LSTs' (the West Loch disaster): XO Lt.(jg) James W. Forbis, 1st Lt. Ens. Robert S. Baldwin, and S1c Ira E. Cleveland were recommended for decorations; Cleveland received the Navy-Marine Corps Medal under a CinCPac (Adm. Nimitz) citation, Forbis and Baldwin the same decoration on 5 March 1945. Then Eniwetok (7 June), Saipan D-Day (15 June), and a 17 June 1944 enemy-aircraft action: a Japanese fighter dropped a small bomb 50-100 yards off the starboard bow and crossed the ship at low altitude; no hits scored (matching the digitized action report NAID 83562315). Tinian landing 24 July with Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates, USMC, and staff embarked; Solomons operations 27 July-4 September; Peleliu: departed 4 September, arrived D-Day 15 September, remained to 3 October - sniper fire from the beach wounded a Marine (not serious); to Espiritu Santo, where Lt. Guy was relieved by Lt. Forbis on 9 November 1944. Russell Islands (29 December), Ulithi (30 January 1945), Saipan (10 February), Iwo Jima arrival 19 February: a 23 February dive-bomber attack in convoy (three bombs, no damage); ordered off during first beaching attempt, struck a reef while retracting damaging screws and rudder, and was towed to the beach by a Coast Guard LST to unload under sniper fire; lost the 3,000-lb stern anchor and 100 feet of cable 25 February; a 27 February shell hit the main deck and set fire to gasoline drums - five named crewmen who extinguished it received Bronze Stars. Towed to Saipan (arrived 7 March); temporary repairs, then Eniwetok; departed 14 April for home via Pearl Harbor, arriving Seattle 13 May 1945 for repairs at the Winslow Shipbuilding Co. and the Puget Sound Navy Yard; repairs completed early August. Lt. C. M. Redding relieved Lt. Forbis 13 July 1945; Lt. Robert Stewart Jr. relieved Lt. Comdr. Redding 13 November 1945; Lt.(jg) Martin Knell relieved Lt. Stewart Jr. 10 January 1946. Departed 19 August for Pearl Harbor, then Okinawa arriving 14 October 1945 (just after the major typhoon); garrison duty carrying Army mobile equipment from Ie Shima to Naha and Hagushi, Okinawa, until the ramp was damaged. More than 40,000 nautical miles navigated since commissioning including 19 trips of 1,000+ miles (longest nonstop Pearl Harbor-Okinawa, 4,064 nm); no battle casualties among the ship's company in five invasions; five Bronze Stars, three Navy-Marine Corps Medals, and eight Navy Commendation Ribbons presented over 26 months of service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-09-30 to 1946-02-01 (document coverage)

   Population

   USN ship's company (1943-46); embarked Marines/Army; Dravo yard workers; West Loch response participants; Winslow Shipbuilding and Puget Sound Navy Yard repair trades (May-Aug 1945); LST(H) conversion-yard workers (unlocated)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific contemporaneous narrative; contains no asbestos or material content. OCR transcription of a microfilmed typed document - minor OCR artifacts possible in names/dates (the '10 February' Roi-Namur landing date falls outside the official Kwajalein operation window 31 January-8 February and may be an original typo or OCR misread). The 'terrific explosion at Pearl Harbor' 21 May 1944 is the West Loch disaster per official records; the history does not name the event or state that LST-42 herself was damaged - it documents presence and crew heroism only. Its Knell relief date (10 January 1946) conflicts with the NavSource CO table (Van Wagoner March-June 1946, Knell June-26 July 1946) - see gaps. No asbestos claim is made for any named individual.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-03

4. [4]National Archives, Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 (by ship number), p. 45 of PDF [other_primary]

   Locator

   sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 45, 'LST-42' row; cross-check NARA 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' page (LST-42 absent)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NARA's Special List 44 inventories Navy deck logs for LST-42 covering 30 September 1943 through 30 June 1945 (entry 'LST-42 | 9/30/1943 | 6/30/1945'), confirming that dated contemporaneous Navy records for this hull exist in NARA custody for the commissioned WWII period. The logbooks themselves are not digitized in the National Archives Catalog (the NARA digitized deck-log list contains no LST hull below LST-515 as of 2026-10-02).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-09-30 to 1945-06-30

   Population

   Crew of record during log coverage (1943-45)

   Limitations

   Log-coverage dates are an inventory of extant records, not commissioning documentation - the 9/30/1943 start coincides with the DANFS/NavSource commissioning date. The logs were not individually reviewed; their content (weather, positions, personnel entries) is operational, not material-history documentation. No asbestos relevance is claimed from this source.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-04

5. [5]NARA Catalog, RG 38 WWII war-diaries microfilm file units (Fold3-digitized) - USS LST-42 monthly war diaries, action reports, and war history [other_primary]

   Locator

   catalog.archives.gov search 'USS LST-42' file units (17 surfaced); sample page NAID 134323872

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The National Archives Catalog holds digitized contemporaneous records for USS LST-42: monthly war diaries 9/30-10/31/43 (NAID 134323872), 11/1-30/43 (136022785), 12/1/43-1/31/44 (78368982), 2/1-29/44 (78363348), 3/1-31/44 (78390857), 4/1-30/44 (78456407), 5/1-31/44 (78512919), 6/1-30/44 (78579741), 7/1-31/44 (78593589), 8/1-31/44 (139736237), 9/1-30/44 (134374375), 10/1-31/44 (78664668), 11/1-30/44 (139770677), and 8/19-30/45 (77505064); the five-page 'USS LST-42 - War History' (77706763, see ev-03); 'Rep of Ops in the Invasion of the Palau Is, 9/4/44 - 10/2/44' (139753291); and 'Rep of action against enemy aircraft off Saipan Island, Marianas, 6/17/44' (83562315, Micro Serial 139364 / Serial 283 per the Digital Pasifik mirror of the NARA metadata).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-09 to 1945-08 (digitized coverage)

   Population

   Crew of record (1943-45)

   Limitations

   Archival lead: file units were verified to exist in the catalog; the monthly diaries and action reports were not individually page-reviewed (the war history, ev-03, was read in full). Coverage gap: no LST-42 file units surfaced for December 1944-July 1945 (including the Iwo Jima period) or September 1945 onward - the war history narratively covers the gap. War diaries/action reports are operational documents - they do not document hull materials. No asbestos content expected or claimed.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-05

6. [6]U.S. Third Fleet / Western Attack Force TG 32.3 (Peleliu Transport Group, ComTransGroup 3, 8thPhib), Attack Landing Order No. L7-44, Pavuvu, Russell Islands, 23 August 1944 (NavSource-hosted scan; OCR-read this session); companion document 'Beach White Peleliu - CTF 32 Operation Plan A501-44 Appendix 4 to Annex D' (NavSource 160243b.pdf) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/18/pdf/180782a.pdf p.1, task-organization line 32.13.6 'LST Reserve Unit'; NavSource 10/16/pdf/160243b.pdf (beach description appendix, no hull names)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   A contemporaneous operation order names this hull: in the 23 August 1944 attack landing order for the Peleliu operation, the task organization lists LST-42 among the LST Reserve Unit (32.13.6, Commander Hardin) with LSTs 272, 607, 159, 487, and 222. This independently confirms the NavSource/DANFS-documented Western Caroline Islands operation entry (capture and occupation of the southern Palau Islands, 6 September-14 October 1944) and the war history's account of arriving Peleliu on D-Day 15 September 1944. The companion CTF 32 OpPlan appendix describes Beach WHITE 1 on the southwest coast of Peleliu - the beach environment into which the ship's boats and cargo were put; it does not itself name the hull.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-08-23 (order date); operation 1944-09-06 to 1944-10-14

   Population

   USN ship's company and embarked troops, Peleliu operation (Sep-Oct 1944)

   Limitations

   Contemporaneous operational document; establishes task-organizational assignment and landing participation, not material condition. OCR of a typed scan - the unit line reads 'LSTs 272, 607, 073-or-673 (ambiguous glyph), 159, 42, 487, 222'; the ambiguous sibling number is not asserted. Contains no asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-06

7. [7]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (Jan 1945), LST1-490 design table (shipscribe.com scan, live URL verified 2026-10-02 - note moved path: former /styles/usnaux/sdb/ URL now 404) + NavSource LST-42 specifications block [other_primary]

   Locator

   SDB1945v2 LST design table (LST1-490 lines: 328'0" o.a., 50'0" beam, 2,366/4,080 t, 11.6 kt; machinery '2 G.M. Diesel 12-567A, 1,700'; Falk gear; 3 x Diesel 100 kW 230V DC); NavSource 10/16/160042.htm specifications block

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   Era/design inference for this diesel-powered hull: LST-42 carried two General Motors 12-567A diesel engines (900 hp each, 1,700 shp, single Falk main reduction gear, two propellers, twin rudders, three 100 kW 230V DC diesel-drive generators - NavSource spec block matching the BuShips SDB 1945 v2 LST1-490 design table, which lists the class at 328 ft o.a., 50 ft beam, 11.6 kt trial). With no steam plant aboard, the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; era-standard asbestos-relevant applications for a 1943 amphibious hull of this type were diesel-exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, machinery gaskets and valve packing, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and brake linings on winches/cranes. Documented repair windows aboard this hull - the February 1944 Kwajalein reef-stranding damage (auxiliary-engine-room bilges), the May-early August 1945 Seattle availability at Winslow Shipbuilding Co. and the Puget Sound Navy Yard (screw/rudder and cumulative damage), and the 1945 LST(H) conversion - are exposure-relevant event classes in the era.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1943-1948

   Population

   Dravo construction trades (1943); crew (1943-46); repair-yard workers (Seattle, May-Aug 1945); conversion-yard workers (1945); 1948 shipbreakers (Kaiser Co., Seattle)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or repair/conversion work package located for LST-42. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The BuShips table documents the class machinery plant; it does not itself enumerate insulation materials.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-07

8. [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 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 (1943) and service era (1943-46).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   context_only

   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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403 - standing defect confirmed 2026-10-02); content via product-page description.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-08

9. [9]Batch-6468 search ledger (this record): DANFS (Wayback capture; live NHHC 404); NavSource hull page (live) and hosted operational documents (OCR); NARA Special List 44; NARA Catalog war-diary/action-report/war-history file units; NARA digitized deck-log list; USCG at War Vol. VI Appendix B; BuShips SDB 1945 v2 (shipscribe); GAO product page; CourtListener API v4 (authenticated fleet helper); secondary web sweep [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-09 through -14

   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-42 / LST(H)-42 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener: exact-phrase opinion search 'LST-42' returned zero results; 'LST 42' opinion search returned zero; 'LST-42' and 'LST 42' docket searches each returned the same four non-vessel name collisions (a bankruptcy case, a New York municipal case, a 2026 Tennessee civil case, a SEIU labor case); 'LST(H)-42' docket search returned zero. A VA Board of Veterans' Appeals decision (Citation 1622519, 2016) surfaced by the secondary sweep concerns a USS Wasp bomb-exposure claim - a name collision, not this hull. Law-firm marketing pages asserting generic asbestos aboard LSTs as a class (gorilaw.com 'Asbestos on Landing Ships' and similar listicles) were excluded by source policy. CAVEAT: 'LST(H)-42' and 'USS LST-42' opinion searches could not be completed this session (helper-enforced fleet pacing stand-down) - logged as blocked, not as a negative result.

   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 - era construction practice makes installed asbestos plausible, and the parenthesized-alias opinion search remains UNSEARCHED this session (fleet pacing; logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result). The hull was scrapped after the 1948 sale, decades before modern ACM-handling documentation. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-09

10. [10]Cross-source consistency check: DANFS entry (five battle stars; struck 25 September 1946); NavSource hull page (four battle stars; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal display '(4)'; struck 25 September 1946); Wikipedia USS LST-42 article (secondary; five battle stars; infobox 'Stricken 19 June 1946' vs body 'struck from the Navy list on 25 September 1946'; infobox and body misprint the hospital designation as 'LST(H)-41'; body misdates occupation duty 'until early April 1945'); ship's war history CO sequence vs NavSource CO table [other_primary]

    Locator

    Wikipedia USS LST-42 infobox/body (retrieved 2026-10-02); NavSource 160042.htm awards display and CO table; war history NAID 77706763 p.4; DANFS disposition paragraph

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    CORRECTIONS carried on this hull: (1) battle-star count conflict - DANFS and Wikipedia say five; NavSource says four and displays the Asiatic-Pacific medal with '(4)'. DANFS's five is carried. (2) Wikipedia's infobox gives 'Stricken 19 June 1946' while its own body, DANFS, and NavSource all give 25 September 1946 - the 25 September date is carried. (3) Wikipedia twice misprints the post-1945 designation as 'LST(H)-41' (a different hull, the Dravo-built sister) and misdates occupation duty 'until early April 1945' (correct: April 1946 per DANFS/NavSource); neither error is propagated. (4) Command-sequence conflict: the ship's war history states Lt.(jg) Martin Knell relieved Lt. Robert Stewart Jr. on 10 January 1946, while NavSource lists Stewart to March 1946, then LTjg J. R. Van Wagoner Jr. (March-June 1946), then Knell (June-26 July 1946); the conflict is unresolved. (5) Eniwetok operation start-date variant: NavSource 19 February 1944 vs Wikipedia 9 February 1944 (DANFS gives month only).

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    correction

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    1944-1948 (fact window)

    Limitations

    Corrects circulating secondary-source errors and records a primary-vs-secondary conflict, not material claims. Wikipedia is used only as a cross-check surface; no Wikipedia text is cited as a record source for hull facts. No asbestos content.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lst-h-42-lsth42-10