Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
-
[1]CourtListener search, queries: "AMCU-5" (types o, r, d); "LCT(6)-889" (types o, d); "LCT-889" (type o); "LCT 889" (type o); "AMCU" minesweeper asbestos (type o) (API v4, via authenticated connector) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-01 through sl-08
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation, or litigation of any kind, naming this hull under any identity (AMCU-5, LCT-889, LCT(6)-889) was located in CourtListener. Searches run: "AMCU-5" opinions (0 hits); "AMCU-5" RECAP dockets (0 hits); "AMCU-5" RECAP dockets, type=d (0 hits); "LCT(6)-889" opinions (0 hits); "LCT(6)-889" RECAP dockets, type=d (0 hits); "LCT-889" opinions (0 hits); "LCT 889" opinions (0 hits); "AMCU" minesweeper asbestos, opinions (0 hits).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Limitations
- Confirms no located litigation, not that none exists - CourtListener's opinion and RECAP databases are not exhaustive of unpublished trial-level dispositions or non-federal state-court filings outside its coverage, and unpublished/discovery-stage material may not be indexed. AMCU-5 and LCT(6)-889 are low-collision identifiers (unlike common names), so the zero-hit result is more probative here than for a common-name hull, but it still establishes no exposure, causation, or product finding either way. Consistent with the batch task assignment's own note that a prior all-tier check found no matching hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-5-amcu5-01
-
[2]Search-engine-indexed summaries of NavSource Naval History, Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index, "AMCU-5" page; and of a Japanese Wikipedia mine-warfare-vessel list entry naming AMCU-5 as ex-LCT(6)-889; NOT independently fetched or read this session [other_primary]
- Locator
- WebSearch tool result summaries only; the underlying NavSource page could not be fetched directly this session (navsource.org: DNS/policy failure; navsource.net: blocked by network egress policy) and its text was never read in full - see limitations_note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Convergent secondary/tertiary summaries (search-engine-indexed paraphrases of NavSource's AMCU photo archive and a Japanese-language mine-warfare-vessel list; NavSource itself not independently read this session) report: LCT(6)-889 was placed in Navy service in 1944 and reclassified Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-5 - one of six unnamed AMCU-1 through AMCU-6 conversions of LCT(6) hulls. No hull-specific builder, laid-down date, launch date, precise in-service date, or disposition/fate for LCT(6)-889/AMCU-5 was located in any summary reachable this session.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (reported, class-level)
- Limitations
- UNVERIFIED. This row is a lead, not a confirmed finding: every fact in it comes from search-engine paraphrase of secondary/tertiary compilations that this session could not fetch and read directly. history.navy.mil (DANFS) returned HTTP 503 on every attempt; nvr.navy.mil (Naval Vessel Register) returned HTTP 503; web.archive.org was unavailable to the fetch tool. No independent primary-source confirmation of any date, name, builder, or disposition fact in this row was possible this session. Does not establish or bear on asbestos content in any way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-5-amcu5-02
-
[3]Cross-reference to this dataset's own uss-amcu-1-amcu1.atlas.json, uss-amcu-2-amcu2.atlas.json, and sibling AMCU-3/AMCU-4 research (batch-1640, batch-1648, and adjacent batches), themselves sourced to search-engine paraphrase of NavSource's AMCU photo archive [other_primary]
- Locator
- Internal cross-reference only; not a hull-specific record for AMCU-5
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Pattern inference from sibling hulls already researched in this dataset: AMCU-3 (ex-LCT(6)-887) is reported laid down 1944-05-20 and placed in service 1944-06-24 by Darby Products and Steel Plate Corp., Kansas City, KS; AMCU-4 (ex-LCT(6)-888) is reported laid down 1944-05-24 and placed in service 1944-06-30 by the same builder. LCT(6)-889 is the next hull in this same numeric series and was very likely built by the same yard on a similar schedule (a late-May 1944 laid-down date and an early-July 1944 in-service date would be consistent with the ~6-day cadence between hulls 887 and 888), but no source located this session names LCT(6)-889 specifically. Separately, sibling hulls AMCU-1 and AMCU-2 (a different builder cluster, Kansas City Structural Steel Co.) are both independently reported reclassified Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) on the same date, 1945-03-10, consistent with a single fleet-wide reclassification order rather than a hull-by-hull action - which is why AMCU-5's reclassification date is inferred as the same date, though not confirmed for this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (reported, sibling hulls)
- Limitations
- This is a reasoned inference from adjacent hulls' data, not an independent hull-specific finding for AMCU-5, and it directly bears on why the batch task assignment's stated '6 July 1944' in-service date is treated here as plausible-but-unconfirmed rather than verified (see gaps). Does not establish or bear on asbestos content in any way. Filed as a correction row so the reasoning behind the dates carried elsewhere in this record is visible rather than asserted without support.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-5-amcu5-03
-
[4]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987); DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311; PMID 3555021 [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed record PMID 3555021 / Wiley DOI record; bibliographic details confirmed via WebSearch, full abstract text not retrievable this session
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as fireproofing and insulating material across U.S. Navy and merchant shipbuilding during World War II, the era and program under which this LCT(6) hull was built (1944), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization in shipbuilding generally, including small-craft construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII U.S. shipyard workers and Navy crews (class/era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of WWII shipbuilding asbestos use generally; does not name this vessel, does not describe LCT(6)-class construction or diesel small-craft engine rooms specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-5-amcu5-04
-
[5]Class-specification inference from the LCT(6) propulsion plant reported for sibling hulls AMCU-1 and AMCU-2 in this dataset, cross-checked against general LCT(6)-class references confirming an all-diesel propulsion plant for the type [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class-type cross-reference only; not a hull-specific record
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- This hull's reported propulsion (diesel engines, no boilers, per the class-standard LCT(6) configuration documented for sibling hulls in this dataset) distinguishes it from the steam-powered combatant and merchant hulls elsewhere in this dataset: diesel small craft of this era carried no boiler or steam-line lagging, so any period asbestos content would be limited to engine/exhaust lagging, gaskets, packing, and insulation felt rather than boiler insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-24
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Scopes what class/era asbestos inference can and cannot claim for this hull type; it is not itself an asbestos finding and does not establish that any of these components were present, contained asbestos, or remain aboard the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-amcu-5-amcu5-05