Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 609-packet.md (3 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LST-790 | Hull: LST-790 | Designation: LST, later LST(H)-790 (landing ship, tank (hospital))
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-pkt-609-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-790 - construction, sponsor, commissioning, Iwo Jima/Okinawa campaigns, LST(H)-790 redesignation, decommissioning, strike, disposal (live NHHC page, fetched via Firecrawl; bare curl returns 404 - UA-gated, re-verified HTTP 200 with browser UA 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-790 entry, full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: laid down 11 June 1944 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched 19 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John Halifax; commissioned 22 September 1944. Asiatic-Pacific operations: assault and occupation of Iwo Jima (Feb 1945) and assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (Apr 1945). 'Redesignated LST(H)-790 on 15 September 1945'; occupation duty in the Far East until mid-December 1945; decommissioned 27 May 1946; struck from the Navy list 3 July 1946; sold 5 May 1948 to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, Pa., for scrapping. Two battle stars for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (Pittsburgh, 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. Decommissioning location not stated ('returned to the United States'); no yard or repair content - the 1945 conversion availability is documented only in the ship's war diary (ev-04).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LST(H)-790 ex USS LST-790 (10/16/160790.htm, last updated 27 September 2024) - designation timeline, USCG manning, unit assignments, spec block, commanding-officer list, awards, disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160790.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents for this hull: LST-542-class tank landing ship laid down 11 June 1944 at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA; launched 19 August 1944; commissioned USS LST-790 22 September 1944, LT Paul O. Ritter USCGR in command - the page banner states 'USS LST-790 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II.' Assigned to LST Flotilla Twenty-Nine (CAPT. C.H. Peterson USCG), LST Group Eighty-Six (CDR. S.R. Sands USCG), LST Division One Hundred Seventy-One. Campaign table matches DANFS (Iwo Jima 20-28 Feb 1945; Okinawa Gunto 1-10 Apr 1945). Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-790, 15 September 1945; Navy Occupation service 2 Sep-1 Nov 1945 and 20 Nov-14 Dec 1945; decommissioned 27 May 1946; struck from the Naval Register 3 July 1946; sold for scrapping May 1948 to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA. 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 NGYR. Awards: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Iwo Jima), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 battle stars), Navy Occupation (Asia clasp). CO list: LT Ritter USCGR 22 Sep 1944-27 Oct 1945; LTjg W.M. Hamer USCG 27 Oct 1945-27 May 1946. Photos document the ship beached at Iwo Jima (Feb-Mar 1945) and at anchor in San Francisco Bay (1945-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- USCG 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. The USCG-manning banner and USCG unit commanders are corroborated by the war diary's Commandant-USCG distribution and USCG officers. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-02
-
[4]NARA NAID 139965751, 'USS LST-790 - War Diary, 1/1/45 to 2/28/45' (serial 65-45, 1 March 1945; RG 38, World War II War Diaries; 7 images; digitized via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 139965751, images 1-7 (downloaded and OCR-read 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's January-February 1945 war diary (downloaded and OCR-read this session; typescript ribbon partially degraded) documents Pearl Harbor-area operations before Iwo Jima: berthing at Iroquois Point; embarking equipment and ~405 personnel (25 officers, ~380 enlisted) of the 779th AAA AW Battalion (Sm) for exercises at Maalaea Bay, Maui (early January); loading at West Loch berth T-11 (vehicles, rations, ammunition on the tank deck; an LCT carried on the main deck); and sortie 24 January 1945 for Eniwetok in the Iwo Jima staging convoy under CTG/Capt. James G. Sampson, USN (LST Flotilla 13 references), LST-646 as CTG ship. The diary's document list references a 'General Action Report, IWO JIMA, 20 - 28 February 1945' - corroborating the DANFS/NavSource campaign dates.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-01 to 1945-02
- Population
- USCG ship's company; embarked 779th AAA AW Bn and USMC cargo detachments (Jan-Feb 1945)
- Limitations
- Primary ship-produced record; OCR extraction is partial because the carbon-copy ribbon is faded - the February (Iwo Jima assault-phase) pages are largely illegible in this scan, so combat narrative detail was not captured. No asbestos or material content. The referenced Iwo Jima action report is a separate unfollowed archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-03
-
[5]NARA NAID 77567604, 'USS LST-790 - War Diary, 10/1-31/45' (serial 225-45, dated 20 October 1945, signed P.O. Ritter; consolidated narrative actually covering 28 April - 20 October 1945; RG 38 war-diaries series, micro serial 149965; 17 images; digitized via Fold3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NAID 77567604 pages 1-17; conversion sentence on narrative page covering the San Francisco Bay Area section (image 5 of 17)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The consolidated war diary (all 17 pages OCR-read this session) documents the hull's 1945 repair and conversion availability verbatim: returned to the mainland 'for overhaul on account of damaged starboard bow door (Iwo Jima) and bottom holes in forward void tanks (Okinawa)' (Saipan-Pearl 28 Apr-16 May, towing LSM-143; Pearl-San Francisco 17-26 May, TU 13.12.4). San Francisco Bay 26 May-3 July: ammunition off-load at NAD Mare Island, then Pier 6 Treasure Island 'for thirty (30) days availability at the Naval Frontier Repair Base there'; two ComPhibTraPac inspections (Capt. C.D. Headlee); 'In dry dock at Hurley Marine Works, Oakland' 12-19 June 'to check screws and shafts, repair bottom holes and paint (plastic) bottom'; degaussing, NAD Mare Island ammunition load, full-power run and gun test 29-30 June; and 'Among other things accomplished in the San Francisco Bay Area, was installation of eight twin 20mm guns and conversion of ship for use for casualty evacuation.' Seattle 7-16 July (Pier 91; Sound Construction Company docks, Lake Union Canal 9-14 July, loading vehicles and 136 Army personnel; Blake Island ammunition 15 July). Then Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Saipan (surrender-day 40mm firing 15 Aug); Okinawa 4-11 Sep (Oroku Point beaching 7 Sep - two bow-door hinges sprung; Hamasaki 8-10 Sep loading 440th Signal Const. Bn. + 1937th Engr. Co.; collision damage from LST-878); first Tokyo Bay lift 11-15 Sep (beached Yokohama Landing 6 on 15 Sep - the DANFS LST(H) redesignation date); second lift Tokyo Bay-Okinawa-Tokyo Bay 19 Sep-4 Oct (Ie Shima, Fifth Air Force load 26-27 Sep: 17 officers/159 enlisted, 92 vehicles, ~1,240 tons); typhoon evasions 18 and 29 Sep; demobilization transfers (14 men to USS Garrard APA-84; 101 aboard) at Yokohama 4-12 Oct; Leyte Gulf via TU 32.6.16, anchored Tolosa Beach/San Pedro Bay 20 Oct 1945. Crew turnover since commissioning ~22 per cent.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-04-28 to 1945-10-20
- Population
- USCG ship's company (~117) plus yard trades at Naval Frontier Repair Base Treasure Island and Hurley Marine Works (May-July 1945); Sound Construction Co. docks (Jul 1945); embarked troops/patients and demobilizing personnel
- Limitations
- Documents the yard events and their dates verbatim, not the work content: the diary does not itemize materials, does not say 'asbestos,' and does not name the conversion contractor or the casualty-evacuation fit-out scope (berths, medical spaces). The association with the hospital-ship refit is by sequence (conversion accomplished by early July 1945; LST(H) redesignation 15 September 1945). 'Naval Frontier Repair Base, Treasure Island' and 'Hurley Marine Works, Oakland' are the diary's own renderings; neither is a shipyards.json entry. OCR of this diary is clean; a displayed-page spot check confirmed the conversion sentence verbatim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (1945), LST design table (shipscribe.com scan); NavSource LST-790 spec block; lst-1-class class profile (class-f worktree, 2026-09-16) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 v2 LST design table; NavSource 160790.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: the LST-542 design group 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 1944 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 documented May-July 1945 Treasure Island/Hurley Marine Works availability including 'conversion of ship for use for casualty evacuation' (war diary, ev-04) added interior rework aboard this hull inside the Navy's asbestos-use era.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Dravo construction trades (1944); USCG ship's company/embarked troops/patients (1944-46); Treasure Island and Hurley Marine Works yard trades (1945 availability); 1948 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or conversion work package was located for LST-790/LST(H)-790. 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-790-lsth790-05
-
[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 (1944), 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-790-lsth790-06
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[8]CourtListener API v4 search (authenticated, fleet-paced helper), opinion and docket indexes [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-08 through -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: exact-phrase "LST-790" returned 0 in the opinion index and 1 hit in the docket index - Boy Scouts of America, Bankr. D. Del. No. 20-10343, a tokenized name collision (the string match occurs inside that mega-docket's filing text, not as a vessel reference); "LST 790" asbestos in opinions returned 0; "LSTH-790" in opinions returned 0. No asbestos case naming this hull.
- 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 qualifying result means no located docketed case/opinion naming this hull, not proof none exists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-07
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[9]Batch-6477 search ledger (this record): DANFS; NavSource; NARA catalog + two war-diary file units read in full; casualty-report file unit; 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-790-lsth790-01 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-790/LST(H)-790 was found in the public sources searched. The strongest ship-specific documentation is operational (war diaries) and confirms a documented May-July 1945 San Francisco Bay availability with drydocking and casualty-evacuation conversion - a relevant repair/refit 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-790-lsth790-08
-
[10]NARA catalog, "LST-790" - ~110 file units (fuzzy relevance; ship-titled units: war diaries NAIDs 77567604 and 139965751) plus NAID 472241654 'USS LST-790' Casualty Information Report (RG 24, Bureau of Naval Personnel, paper-only at College Park - NOT digitized); parent-unit diaries 'COM LST GR 86' (Nov 1944 - Dec 1945 run) digitized [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov "LST-790" and "USS LST-790" result sets; NAID 472241654 record page
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary archive coverage for this hull is digitized but incomplete: the war-diary file units surfaced cover January-February 1945 (NAID 139965751) and the consolidated 28 April-20 October 1945 narrative filed under October (NAID 77567604). Ship-titled diaries for March-April 1945 (Okinawa assault period) and November-December 1945 (occupation wind-down/return) were not surfaced; the parent-unit COM LST GR 86 monthly diaries are digitized and are the coverage bridge. A BuPers Casualty Information Report file unit exists for 'USS LST-790' (NAID 472241654) but is paper-only at College Park - its existence indicates casualty reporting for the hull; content unknown. The diary-referenced 'General Action Report, IWO JIMA, 20-28 February 1945' is a further unfollowed lead.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company (1944-46); researchers
- Limitations
- Archival-lead row: the casualty report and any March-April/November-December 1945 ship diaries were not read or confirmed; WWII deck logs proper for this hull are not in the digitized deck-log program checked; RG 181 yard work-package records for the 1945 Treasure Island/Hurley Marine Works availability are an open archival lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lst-h-790-lsth790-09