Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 744-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-usat-lst916-pkt-744-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, LST-916 - construction, WWII operations, decommissioning, Army transfer, striking, loss (verbatim transcription via Wayback capture of 11 Aug 2024; live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-10-03) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry text (single-paragraph entry, no spec block)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull (verbatim DANFS): 'LST-916 was laid down on 22 March 1944 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 29 April 1944; and commissioned on 25 May 1944. During World War II, LST-916 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following operations: Leyte landings - October 1944; Lingayen Gulf landings - January 1945; Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto - April 1945. Following the war, LST-916 performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-November 1945. She was decommissioned on 5 April 1946 and transferred to the Army on 28 June that same year. On 29 September 1947, she was struck from the Navy list; and, in 1949, LST-916 was lost in a typhoon at Okinawa. LST-916 earned three battle stars for World War II service.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1949 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific official history only; no asbestos or material content. The DANFS 'in 1949' loss date conflicts with NavSource (4 October 1948), a contemporaneous Stars and Stripes front page (4 October 1948), and the IBTrACS storm record - see correction row ev-06; this record carries 1948. Live NHHC DANFS URL returned 404 on 2026-10-03 (standing NHHC link-rot defect); text preserved via Wayback capture.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USAT LST-916 ex USS LST-916 - designation timeline, campaign/occupation-medal windows, specifications, commanding officers, disposal, photo captions (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/160916.htm header designation line, campaign table, medal windows, specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo caption block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 22 March 1944 at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham MA; launched 29 April 1944; commissioned USS LST-916 25 May 1944, LT. Vincent J. Blumberg USNR in command. Asiatic-Pacific campaigns: Leyte landings 20 October 1944; Lingayen Gulf landings 4-18 January 1945; assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto 2-16 April 1945. Assigned to LST Flotilla Fourteen (CAPT. E. Seay USN), LST Group Forty-One (CDR. E. C. Parsons USNR), LST Division Eighty-One. Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp) windows: 6-23 September 1945 and 20 October-14 November 1945. Decommissioned 5 April 1946; transferred to the US Army 28 June 1946; struck from the Naval Register 29 September 1947; three battle stars for WWII. 'Final Disposition, USAT LST-916 was lost in typhoon Libby at Okinawa, 4 October 1948.' Awards ribbon precedence includes retroactive Combat Action Ribbon (see ev-04). Spec block: 1,625 t. light / 4,080 t. full / 2,366 t. beaching; 328 ft oa; 50 ft beam; 11.6 kt trial; two GM 12-567A 900 hp diesels, single Falk main reduction gears, two propellers 1,700 shp, twin rudders, three diesel-drive 100 kW 230 V DC generators; complement 13 officers + 104 enlisted; troop accommodations 16 officers + 147 enlisted; 2 LCVP. Commanding officers: LT. Vincent Joseph Blumberg USNR (25 May 1944 - 18 December 1945); LTjg. Edgar J. Diener USNR (18 December 1945 - 5 April 1946). Photo captions: NARA photo 80-G-241154 (underway off North Carolina 5 July 1944 carrying disassembled LCT-1049, LCT-1158, LCT-1159 on deck); beached on a ramp at Yokohama 1945; moored Philippines early 1946 awaiting disposition; 'Ex-USS LST-916 aground at Okinawa near the Naminoue Shrine Naha after being driven ashore by typhoon Libby that passed over the Island, in October 1948. photo was taken in March 1951.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1951
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham trades (1944); ship's company 13 off + 104 enl plus embarked troops (1944-46); Army Transportation Corps crew (1946-48)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation tracking DANFS/NVR conventions - milestone dates corroborate DANFS except the loss date (see ev-06). Contains no asbestos content. The March 1951 photo documents the wreck still aground ~2.5 years after the loss; no salvage or removal record located. NavSource's 'lost...4 October 1948' is the detailed date this record carries.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-02
-
[4]ShipbuildingHistory (T. Colton), Bethlehem-Hingham Hingham MA yard table + yard description (verified live 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Bethlehem-Hingham yard table, row 3386; yard-description header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard-table row for this hull: yard hull no. 3386, type LST, hull 916, FY 1943, keel laid 22-Mar-44, launched 29-Apr-44, delivered 25-May-44 - 38 days on the ways, 26 days in the water, 64 days total - disposition 'To US Army 1946, lost 1949.' Yard context from the same page: Bethlehem Hingham Shipyards, Inc., was built in 1941 with $35mm from the Navy for destroyer-escort construction, had 16 building ways, was managed by Bethlehem Quincy (Fore River), employed over 23,000 people at peak, and was closed and liquidated after the war - a purpose-built wartime emergency yard (277 ships produced 1941-45 per secondary yard literature).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (~23,000 peak workforce, 1941-45)
- Limitations
- Reputable specialist secondary reference (Colton's shipbuilding-history tables), not a primary registry - used for yard-number and build-interval confirmation; dates agree with DANFS/NavSource. Its 'lost 1949' disposition follows the DANFS year and conflicts with the documented 4 October 1948 loss (see ev-06). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-03
-
[5]S/Sgt Charles F. Sexton (35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, US Army Air Corps), 'Story of LST 916, On Trip to Mindoro' - first-person account, hosted as PDF on the NavSource LST-916 page (full text extracted 2026-10-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/16/pdf/160916a.pdf, full text (single-page narrative)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous first-person account of this hull under kamikaze attack: 22 men of the 35th Fighter Squadron embarked aboard LST-916 carrying replacement material 'to replace that lost in the sinking of LST 738 on D-Day.' Convoy departed Leyte 26 December 1944; on the morning of the 27th 'six enemy suicide planes struck... in quick succession [and] sank three ships' (two LSTs and an ammunition-loaded Liberty ship); attacks continued day and night including mine-laying in the convoy's path ('Three ships have already hit them'), torpedo wakes sighted, and repeated dive-bomber approaches until 'LST 916 beached' at Mindoro and unloaded. The account documents embarked Army troops sleeping forward on the bow mine watch, .50-caliber Army ack-ack positions added to the ship's regular guns, and the ship's anti-aircraft defense - the action underlying the retroactive Combat Action Ribbon on her award line.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 26-30 December 1944
- Population
- LST-916 crew; 22 embarked 35th Fighter Squadron troops plus Army ack-ack detachments (Dec 1944)
- Limitations
- A personal narrative (unit memoir hosted on NavSource), not an official after-action report; written by an embarked passenger, undated in the PDF, but internally dated to 26-30 December 1944 by the loading/sailing events it describes. No asbestos or material content. Value: documents embarked-Army population and the transit casualty environment aboard this specific hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-04
-
[6]NOAA/NCEI IBTrACS best-track record for 1948 Typhoon LIBBY (storm ID 1948273N24144, WP171948); corroborating contemporaneous citation: 'West Coast ports in the Pacific and Far East... SOSs Sent By LSTs Off Okinawa Coast,' Pacific Stars and Stripes, 4 October 1948, p. 1 (not directly retrievable - cited via the NavSource/Wikipedia bibliography) [other_primary]
- Locator
- IBTrACS storm page 1948273N24144 (summary table); Stars and Stripes citation in NavSource/Wikipedia bibliographies; NavSource wreck-photo caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The storm that destroyed this hull is a documented meteorological event: IBTrACS records Typhoon LIBBY active 29 September - 7 October 1948, peaking at 125 kt / 924 mb (Category-4-equivalent) on 30 September, tracking through the Okinawa area in early October - a window that contains NavSource's stated loss date of 4 October 1948. A contemporaneous Pacific Stars and Stripes front page dated 4 October 1948 carries the story of LSTs sending SOS off the Okinawa coast in the storm, corroborating the day and the LST-specific nature of the event. The NavSource wreck photograph shows ex-LST-916 aground near the Naminoue Shrine, Naha, after being 'driven ashore by typhoon Libby that passed over the Island, in October 1948' (photo taken March 1951).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 29 September - 7 October 1948
- Population
- USAT LST-916 Army crew at time of loss; other LSTs and vessels caught off Okinawa 4 Oct 1948
- Limitations
- Storm documentation is authoritative (IBTrACS best-track); the Stars and Stripes article is cited from the NavSource/Wikipedia bibliography and was not directly retrieved this session (archived behind paywalled newspaper archives) - treated as corroborating citation, not independently verified text. The 'near Naha Reef' phrasing circulates from the Wikipedia article; NavSource's own caption says 'aground... near the Naminoue Shrine Naha.' No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-05
-
[7]Loss-date cross-check: DANFS text ('in 1949, LST-916 was lost in a typhoon at Okinawa'); NavSource final-disposition line + wreck-photo caption ('lost in typhoon Libby at Okinawa, 4 October 1948'; 'October 1948'); Pacific Stars and Stripes 4 Oct 1948 p.1; IBTrACS Libby window 29 Sep-7 Oct 1948; shipbuildinghistory yard table ('lost 1949') [other_primary]
- Locator
- DANFS final paragraph; NavSource final-disposition line and caption 1016091604; shipbuildinghistory row 3386; IBTrACS 1948273N24144
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: the official DANFS entry dates this hull's loss 'in 1949,' and the shipbuildinghistory yard table follows it ('lost 1949'). The dated evidence points to 4 October 1948: NavSource gives 'lost in typhoon Libby at Okinawa, 4 October 1948,' its wreck-photo caption repeats 'October 1948,' a contemporaneous Pacific Stars and Stripes front page dated 4 October 1948 covers LSTs sending SOS off Okinawa in the storm, and IBTrACS places Typhoon Libby on Okinawa in the 29 September - 7 October 1948 window. The '1949' in DANFS is best explained as a propagated year error; this record carries 4 October 1948 in all disposition fields.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1948-1949 (conflict window)
- Limitations
- Corrects a date discrepancy between official and secondary sources - the 1948 dating is corroborated by a contemporaneous press citation and the meteorological record, but the Stars and Stripes page itself was not directly retrievable this session (paywalled archive). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (two GM 12-567A diesel engines, Falk reduction gears, 2 x 100 kW-class diesel generators, 1,700 shp - diesel plant, no boilers); LST-542-class design standard (diesel amphibious ship, mass-produced 1944); GAO HRD-80-2 program context (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; GAO HRD-80-2; LST-542-class design documentation (class-profile background, lst-1-class)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered tank landing ship built in a 64-day wartime construction cycle (38 days on the ways) in spring 1944 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel LST of this period were: engine exhaust lagging and manifold gaskets, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, deck coverings and tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, valve packing, and winch/brake linings. Her diesel plant carried no boilers - the steam-plant lagging pathway dominant on combatants does not apply, but the confined-engine-room and accommodation-space insulation pathways of mass-production amphibious construction do.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 1944-1951
- Population
- Bethlehem-Hingham construction trades (Mar-May 1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-46); Army crew (1946-48); any salvage/breaking trades post-wreck (undocumented)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, or work package located for LST-916. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantities and no manufacturer attribution. The hull's 1948 storm loss predates all abatement regimes, so no removal/abatement record can exist.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-07
-
[9]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 (1944), naval service (1944-46), and Army service (1946-48).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- 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 2026-10-03) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-08
-
[10]Massachusetts DEP filing, RTN 4-3023722, Release Abatement Measure Status Report #3, 'Former Hingham Shipyard, 349 Lincoln Street, Hingham' (O'Reilly, Talbot & Okun for Samuels & Associates Hingham LLC, 30 Nov 2009, via eDEP); corroborated by Boston Environmental project page (PCB/lead soil cleanup at the former shipyard) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MassDEP eDEP document aecfjjej (RAM Status Report #3, RTN 4-3023722); bostonenvironmentalcorp.com Hingham Shipyard project page
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The only located environmental documentation for this hull's builder site concerns post-war soil contamination, not asbestos: the former Bethlehem-Hingham shipyard at 349 Lincoln Street was remediated under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (RTN 4-3023722) for an historic tetrachloroethylene (PCE) release affecting soil and groundwater, and a separate EPA self-implementing cleanup removed over 6,000 tons of PCB-contaminated soils plus ~8,200 tons of lower-level PCB material and lead-treatment waste from a wartime/1950s dumping ground and incinerator area. No asbestos survey, asbestos abatement, or ship-materials record for the yard was located in these filings.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2009 filing; contamination era 1940s-1950s
- Population
- Redevelopment/remediation workers at the former yard site (2000s-2010s); wartime yard workforce (~23,000 peak) unaddressed by filings
- Limitations
- Yard-site documentation, not ship documentation: the property was remediated as a brownfield for chemical contaminants decades after the yard's 1945 closure; the filings' silence on asbestos is negative space, not proof of absence - it means no yard-level asbestos record was located, and says nothing about materials installed aboard hulls built there.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-09
-
[11]Batch-7459 search ledger (this record): DANFS (Wayback); NavSource (live); shipbuildinghistory yard table (live); 35th Fighter Squadron PDF (extracted); IBTrACS (live); MassDEP eDEP filing (live); GAO product page (403); NARA catalog (JS-rendered); CourtListener (quota-blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-usat-lst916-01 through -11
- 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-916 / USAT LST-916 was found in the public sources searched. Notably, even the usual law-firm marketing layer is absent for this hull - the secondary web sweep surfaced zero 'asbestos aboard LST-916' assertions (most WWII hulls attract listicle claims; this one does not). CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - the fleet-authenticated helper reported the daily quota exhausted (~7.8 h to reset); logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-03
- Study period
- 2026-10-03
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (quota-blocked, not run). Deck logs (RG 24), Army vessel records for the 1946-48 USAT period, and any wreck-salvage documentation are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-usat-lst916-10