Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 630-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-pkt-630-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, Sweetwater County (LST-1152) - NHHC page (archived capture 2024-05-26; live page returns 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block (archived NHHC page)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (DANFS narrative): laid down 5 March 1945 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Works, Seneca, Ill.; launched 8 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Alice H. Kline; commissioned 30 June 1945, Lt. Frank W. Hickson, Jr., USCGR, in command. 'The ship, manned by a Coast Guard crew, completed fitting out at New Orleans, La., and moved to Mobile, Ala., on 5 July for propeller repairs'; shakedown in the Galveston Bay area, returned to New Orleans 23 July; departed 2 August for Seattle via the Panama Canal (transited 9 August) and Bremerton, arrived Seattle 30 August; sailed for Hawaii 8 September, arrived Pearl Harbor 19 September; departed 20 October for Okinawa; operated at various Okinawan ports 8 November - 25 December 1945; Apra Harbor, Guam; began return voyage to Pearl Harbor 2 January 1946 (there 17-22 January); ordered back to the west coast; called at San Francisco; operated Bremerton - Astoria, Oregon, until 28 May; then moved to the Kaiser Shipyard at Vancouver, Washington, until placed out of commission, in reserve. 'On 12 May 1955, the LST was named Sweetwater County to commemorate a county in Wyoming'; transferred to the Republic of China as Chung Ming (LST-227) on 21 October 1958; struck from the Navy list on 6 February 1959. Spec block: dp. 3,960; l. 328'; b. 50'; dr. 11'2"; s. 11.6 k.; cpl. 119; trp. 147; a. 8 40mm.; cl. LST-542.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Chicago Bridge & Iron construction trades, Seneca (1945); USCG crew (1945-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. Live NHHC DANFS page returned 404 on 2026-10-02; the 2024-05-26 Wayback capture is cited and is labeled archived. Naming date conflicts with NavSource's 1 July 1955 (the fleet-wide county-naming date) - see gaps. Does not state whether the Kaiser Vancouver stay was a work availability or lay-up berth only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Sweetwater County (LST-1152) ex USS LST-1152 - timeline, flotilla assignment, specifications, commanding officers [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/161152.htm timeline block, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull (verified live 2026-10-02): laid down 5 March 1945 at Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, Seneca, IL; launched 8 June 1945; commissioned USS LST-1152, 30 June 1945, LT. Frank W. Hickson, Jr., USCGR, in command - 'commissioned with a US Coast Guard [crew] during World War II'. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LST Flotilla Thirty-Four / Group One Hundred Two / Division Two Hundred Four; occupation service in the Far East 1 November - 22 December 1945; decommissioned 1 July 1946; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet; named Sweetwater County (LST-1152) 1 July 1955; transferred to the Republic of China (Taiwan) 21 October 1958, renamed ROCS Chung Ming (LST-227); struck from Naval Register 6 February 1959; 'Final Disposition, fate unknown' (stale - see ev-03). Commanding officers: LT Hickson (USCGR) 30 Jun - 5 Sep 1945; LT Rinaca (USCGR) 5-22 Sep 1945; LTjg Pettingill (USNR) 22 Sep 1945 - 22 Apr 1946; LTjg Hattrick (USNR) 22 Apr - 1 Jul 1946. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Specifications: 2 x General Motors 12-567A diesels (900 hp), single Falk main reduction gear, 3 x diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V DC ship's-service generators, 2 propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders; complement 13 officers + 104 enlisted; troops 16 officers + 147 enlisted; speed 11.6 kts (trial).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- USCG commissioning crew (1945); USN/USNR crew (1945-46); ROC Navy crews (1958-present)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; milestone dates generally track DANFS but the naming date (1 July 1955) conflicts with the dedicated DANFS entry (12 May 1955) - see gaps. 'Fate unknown' disposition is stale (corrected by ev-03). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-02
-
[4]Radio Taiwan International (carrying Central News Agency reporting), '花蓮強震鐵公路中斷 海軍：完成疏運與救災準備' (Hualien earthquake; Navy completes evacuation and relief readiness), 2024-04-03 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- archive.news.rti.org.tw article 2201272 (2024-04-03), body paragraph on Navy 151st Fleet standby
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- CORRECTION of 'fate unknown': the hull survives in active Republic of China Navy service. The ROC Navy's 151st Fleet dispatched Chung Ming (hull LST-227) to Hualien harbor on standby during the January 2024 Suhua Highway collapse (not ultimately needed), and the April 3, 2024 magnitude-7.2 Hualien earthquake reporting confirms the ship remained a fleet asset: '海軍151艦隊也配合交通部疏運計畫，派遣中明軍艦(舷號LST-227)前往花蓮港待命' (the Navy 151st Fleet, in coordination with the Ministry of Transportation's evacuation plan, dispatched the Chung Ming, hull number LST-227, to Hualien harbor on standby). Taiwan press (China Times, seen via aggregator) describes her as normally berthed at Zuoying naval port, Kaohsiung. The ex-LST-1152 thus remains a commissioned ROC Navy amphibious ship nearly 80 years after launch.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2024
- Population
- ROC Navy crew, Chung Ming LST-227 (2024)
- Limitations
- Documents current ROC Navy operational status only - says nothing about material condition, asbestos, or remaining original-era fitout. Taiwan reporting (secondary press aggregating CNA) notes the Chung Hai-class ships underwent ROC rebuild programs (新中計畫 1960s; 中新計畫 1990s) including engine replacement; that detail is secondary-sourced and not carried as fact here. NavSource's 'fate unknown' is the stale value corrected.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block for this hull (2 x GM 12-567A diesels, Falk reduction gear, diesel-driven generators - no steam plant); LST-1/491/542 design-series class profile (class-f worktree, BuShips SD-1945 v2 design groupings); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/161152.htm specifications block; class-f lst-1-class class profile; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LST built March-June 1945 at a wartime 'cornfield' yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. The diesel plant (no boilers) narrows the steam-lagging pathway; era-standard asbestos applications for a ship of this type and period were diesel engine and exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets and valve packing, deck coverings and tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, and winch/windlass brake linings. The confined tank-deck/engine-room volume of the LST form concentrates whatever materials were installed.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-present
- Population
- CB&I Seneca construction trades (1945); USCG/USN crew (1945-46); Kaiser Vancouver yard contact (1946); ROC Navy crews and Taiwan yard trades (1958-present)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or work package located for LST-1152. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Whether any original-era material survives the ROC Navy rebuild programs aboard the extant hull is unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-04
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[6]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 U.S. construction (1945) and service era (1945-46 active; 1946-58 reserve fleet).
- 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 blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-05
-
[7]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'Historic Ships' index of Coast Guard-manned vessels (archived capture; LST-1152 listed) [other_primary]
- Locator
- history.uscg.mil Historic-Ships index, LST section (LST-1152 line); Wayback capture 2019-04-21
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The USCG Historian's Office index of 'Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard Manned Army & Navy Vessels' lists LST-1152 among the World War II LSTs - the office states it 'maintains a file on most of the following vessels,' so a Historian's Office file on this Coast Guard-manned hull exists as an archival lead (commissioning and crew records, possibly construction/fitting-out detail).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- USCG crew records (1945-46)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the index entry confirms a file exists but its contents were not retrieved - it is not itself a service record or material record. Cited via 2019-04-21 Wayback capture of the Historian's Office index; the live history.uscg.mil site reorganized and no dedicated LST-1152 page is indexed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-06
-
[8]Batch-6641 search ledger (this record): DANFS via Wayback; NavSource (live); RTI/CNA (live); USCG Historian index; CourtListener authenticated API; GAO product page; NARA catalog; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming LST-1152 / USS Sweetwater County / ROCS Chung Ming was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener authenticated API searches: 'USS Sweetwater County' (type=o) returned zero opinions; 'LST-1152' returned 29 opinions and 1,380 dockets, every hit a BM25 fragment collision on 'LST'/'1152' tokens with the literal string absent from returned text - classified name collision, not a qualifying hit; 'Sweetwater County' (type=r) could not run - fleet pacing budget exhausted (logged blocked, not negative). A secondary web sweep surfaced only generic law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos aboard LST-type ships (e.g., Gori Law Firm landing-ships page) - no ship-specific claim for this hull, and excluded by source policy in any 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 - and this hull's post-1958 custody in a foreign navy places it outside the U.S. record channels (museum disclosures, MARAD disposal files, U.S. dockets) that typically surface ship-specific asbestos documentation. USCG Historian's Office file and NARA deck logs (RG 24/26, 1945-46) are unverified archival leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-sweetwater-county-lst1152-07