Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 628-packet.md (4 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity confirmed; post-
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-somervell-county-lst1129-pkt-628-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, 'Somervell County' entry (Naval History and Heritage Command) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text, full narrative; header line (dp. 3,960; l. 328'; b. 50'; dr. 11'2"; s. 11.6 k.; cpl. 119; trp. 147; a. 8 40mm.; cl. LST-542)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents this hull by name: LST-542-class tank landing ship, laid down 29 November 1944 by Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, Ill.; launched 22 February 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth P. Leatzow; commissioned 6 March 1945, Lt. J. K. Marshall in command. After shakedown at St. Andrews Bay, Fla., she transited the Panama Canal (28 April 1945), reached Pearl Harbor 29 May (towing the distressed patrol craft YP-642 in on the final leg, after answering her 27 May distress signal), arrived Leyte Gulf 15 July, and was assigned to the 7th Fleet for Philippines-to-Okinawa transport. From September 1945 to 30 January 1946 she ran occupation and repatriation shuttles among Japan, Korea (Jinsen/Pusan), and China (Taku), including carrying 1,000 Japanese POWs from Jinsen to Sasebo. She returned via Pearl Harbor carrying LCT-1244, moved from San Francisco to Astoria, Oreg., on 25 April 1946, and was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 31 July 1946 with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Puget Sound. Struck from the Navy list 1 November 1958.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Ship's company (~119 per DANFS header) plus embarked troops (147 berthing); repatriation passengers (Japanese POWs, Korean and Chinese repatriates)
- Limitations
- DANFS is a ship-history narrative; it contains no asbestos, hazmat, crew-health, or material-composition information and ends the record at striking. Does not establish exposure, quantities, or post-sale disposition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-01
-
[3]DANFS, 'LST-1129' entry (Naval History and Heritage Command) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-1129 entry, final paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The separate DANFS LST-1129 entry records the hull's naming event: 'On 1 July 1955, the ship was redesignated Somervell County (LST-1129) (q.v.) after a county in Texas. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1958.' The renaming occurred while the ship lay in reserve (decommissioned 31 July 1946) - the 1955 county-name program covered surviving reserve LSTs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1955-1958
- Limitations
- Confirms the name and its date but no asbestos-relevant content; the 'mid-February 1946' China-service endpoint here differs slightly from the 30 January 1946 repatriation endpoint in the Somervell County entry - a minor internal DANFS variance.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-02
-
[4]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, 'USS Somervell County (LST-1129) ex USS LST-1129 (1945-1955)' page (last updated 6 December 2024) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LST-1129 page: awards block, assignment block, specifications block, commanding-officers table, disposition line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource's per-hull page adds unit assignment (LST Flotilla Thirty-Three, CAPT C. A. Legg; LST Group Ninety-Nine, CDR W. W. Johnson; LST Division One Hundred Ninety-Seven), awards (China Service Medal extended; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp, qualifying period 10 September 1945 to 20 February 1946), commanding officers (LT John K. Marshall USNR, 6 Mar 1945-20 Dec 1945; LTjg Edward A. Rietmann USNR, 20 Dec 1945-May 1946; LTjg Robert V. Winkler USNR, May 1946-31 Jul 1946), machinery specifications (two General Motors 12-567A 900-hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gear, three diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V D.C. ship's-service generators, two propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders), and armament fit (2 twin + 4 single 40 mm, 12 single 20 mm ultimate design). 'Final Disposition, fate unknown.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1958
- Population
- Ship's company 13 officers + 104 enlisted (NavSource itemization); troop accommodations 16 officers + 147 enlisted
- Limitations
- NavSource is the canonical volunteer-curated per-hull reference - reliable for names/dates/assignments but secondary to DANFS for narrative; its 'fate unknown' is superseded for the sale event by the NAVSEA disposal list (row ev-...-05). Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-03
-
[5]NAVSEA, SEA 21 Inactive Ships Program Office, 'Ship History' hull disposal list (28 June 2011), PDF table of Hull ID / Hull Name / Rmvl Date / Final Disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- PDF table, LST block (row follows LST 1128 Solano County 1-Mar-60 MAP; precedes LST 1134 Stark County 16-May-66 MAP)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official NAVSEA inactive-ships disposal table lists 'LST 1129 | SOMERVELL COUNTY | 27-Jun-59 | SOLD' - the hull was removed/sold 27 June 1959, seven months after being struck 1 November 1958.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1959
- Population
- Disposal/scrapping-yard workers (if scrapped) - pathway asserted by inference only, not by this source
- Limitations
- The table's disposition code 'SOLD' does not identify the buyer or state whether the hull was scrapped, converted, or resold; neighboring rows use more specific codes ('SCRAP SALE', 'MARAD scrap sale', 'SUNK', 'MAP'), so 'SOLD' cannot safely be read as 'scrapped.' NavSource's 'fate unknown' and secondary registries' 'scrapped 1958' both conflict with or undercut this record in detail - the sale event itself is official, the aftermath is not documented here. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-04
-
[6]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. 2 (January 1945), LST design table + roster (shipscribe.com scan, current URL - the class-profile-era path shipscribe.com/styles/usnaux/sdb/SDB1945v2.pdf now returns 404) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LST design table and hull-block roster (LST-1129 falls in the Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca IL block, LST-542 design group)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for this diesel-powered LST: the BuShips 1945 design table documents the LST-542-series machinery (two GM 12-567A diesels, ~1,700 shp, Falk reduction gears - a diesel plant with NO boilers), which removes the steam-lagging pathway and concentrates asbestos-relevant applications in engine exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and winch brake linings; 1944-45-era insulation, gasket, and friction products commonly contained asbestos fiber.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Construction trades at Chicago Bridge & Iron, Seneca (1944-45); engine-room and maintenance crew (1945-46)
- Limitations
- Class/design documentation plus era-materials inference - the table names no individual hull and lists no insulating material composition; asbestos presence aboard THIS hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Establishes no quantities and no exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-05
-
[7]NARA Catalog: COM LST GR 99 - War Diary, 6/1-30/45 (NAID 77464508, digitized microfilm via Fold3 collaboration) and 98 sibling file units returned by catalog search 'LST-1129', including USS LST-1129 casualty-information file unit NAID 472241787 (RG 24, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Casualty Information Reports - paper only, National Archives at College Park) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search 'LST-1129' (99 results, 94 digitized); NAID 77464508 (war diary, roll A1736); NAID 472241787 (casualty reports, container 60)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NARA catalog returns 99 file units matching 'LST-1129': predominantly digitized WWII war-diary file units of the ship's operational group (COM LST GR 99 - LST Group Ninety-Nine, the unit NavSource assigns this hull to) plus an undigitized Bureau of Naval Personnel 'Casualty Information Reports' file unit titled 'USS LST-1129' (NAID 472241787, loose paper sheets, College Park). The casualty file's contents are unexamined - it may document personnel casualties aboard or merely routine reporting.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Limitations
- Archival lead, not an extracted record: the war-diary images were not page-read this session, and the casualty file is not digitized. No asbestos content established. A digitized per-hull deck-log file unit for LST-1129 (Mar 1945-Jul 1946) was not located in the 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations' series this session, though sister hulls' logs are cataloged there.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-06
-
[8]Batch-6618 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 opinion/docket sweeps ('Somervell County', 'Somervell County asbestos', 'LST-1129'); NHHC; NavSource; NAVSEA; NVR; NARA catalog; MARAD-adjacent disposition registries; live-web search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed asbestos case naming LST-1129 or USS Somervell County was found in the sources searched. CourtListener 'Somervell County' returned 268 opinion hits that are Texas county-government litigation (name collision with Somervell County, Texas, the ship's namesake); 'Somervell County' + asbestos returned exactly one hit - William Boyd v. Texas Utilities Electric Co. (Tex. App.-Waco 2009), an asbestos suit filed in the 249th District Court of Somervell County, Texas - a county-venue collision, not a ship case.
- 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 is consistent with retained asbestos-bearing materials. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present; does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener coverage: opinion index swept; hull-number and docket sweeps subject to fleet pacing this session - see search_ledger for exact result states.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-somervell-county-lst1129-07