Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 494-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: verdict: VERIFIED (dates unverifiable)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-pkt-494-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSSL-118 ex USS LCS(L)(3)-118 - milestone timeline, awards, specifications (block sourced to NavShips 250-012, April 15 1945, plus Baker 1989 and Lawley documents) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050118.htm - header timeline, awards block, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 28 October 1944 at George Lawley & Sons Corp., Neponset, MA; launched 6 November 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-118 on 23 November 1944, LT. P. F. Gilmore Jr. USNR in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in LCS(L)(3) Flotilla Four (CDR. N. Phillips), Group Ten (LCDR. J. A. Dodson), Division Nineteen; credited campaign: Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 25 March to 30 June 1945. Decommissioned 6 June 1946; laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs, FL; redesignated Landing Ship Support Large, USS LSSL-118, 28 February 1949; struck from the Naval Register 30 April 1951; transferred to Italy 25 July 1951 and renamed NMM Spinone (L9856); scrapped 1983. Awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and one battle star for World War II service; ribbon display includes Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Okinawa), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1), World War II Victory Medal; individual awards noted: Silver Star (Gunnery Officer LTjg. Charles D. Towers) and Bronze Stars (CO LT. Peter F. Gilmore and five crew members). Specifications block: 250 t light / 387 t full load; 158 ft o.a.; beam 23 ft 8 in; complement 6 officers + 65 enlisted; GM diesel plant, BHP 1,600, twin variable-pitch propellers; armament one single 40mm bow gun, two twin 40mm AA mounts, four single 20mm AA mounts, four .50 cal machine guns, ten Mk7 rocket launchers. Photographs document the hull at Panama (January 1946), Yokosuka (November 1945, moored outboard of LCS(L)(3)-114), in floating drydock at Saipan (1945), and underway in Italian service as Spinone (L9856).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (Oct-Nov 1944); crew (1944-46); Italian Navy crew and yard workers (1951-83); breakers (1983)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track Navy records and the spec block is credited to NavShips 250-012, but the page itself is not the primary document. Contains no asbestos content. Page reads 'scraped in 1983' - typo for scrapped. Minor internal spelling variant 'Spinone' (main page) vs 'Spinoni 9856' (linked unit history).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-01
-
[3]NavSource-hosted 'A Brief History of the U.S.S. LCS(L) 118' by Earl Blanton, Gunner's Mate LCS(L)-118, provided by the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130 (firsthand crew-authored unit history) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050118h.htm - full narrative text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Firsthand unit history of this hull: describes her as the seventy-first of the 130 LCS(L) ships authorized; assembled, launched and commissioned at Neponset in under a month ('in just twenty-five days'), commissioned Thanksgiving Day 23 November 1944 with Ens. Peter F. Gilmore assuming command (per the commissioning board order read by Lt. Cmdr. E. S. Flemming); shakedown with LCS(L) 117, 119 and 120 at Solomons, MD and availability at Lambert's Point, Norfolk (Chrysler marine engines installed to drive Hale firefighting pumps); Panama Canal transit 2 January 1945; San Diego arrival 15 January 1945; departed 31 January 1945 with LCS(L) 114, 115, 116 and 119, Pearl Harbor 10 February, Saipan 17 March, sortied 25 March with TF 51.2 for Okinawa. Documented actions: 1 April - decoy landing force, then moored to the windward quarter of the burning kamikaze-struck LST-884 and boarded her to fight fires ('the ship was subsequently saved'); 9 April - alongside USS Starr when a suicide boat attacked Starr; 29 April - shore bombardment near Nakagusuku Wan; 30 April - Ionabaru Bay sortie with LCS(L) 114 and 119; 4 May - radar picket station 12 with USS Luce (DD-522), LSM(R)-190, LCS(L) 81 and 84 under massed kamikaze attack: Luce and LSM(R)-190 sunk, the 118 credited with two suicide planes and rescue of 114 Luce survivors; 3 and 6 June - one additional kamikaze each day. Record summary: 49 days 16 hours on radar picket stations, 14 nights on suicide-boat patrol, 10 harbor aircraft screens, more than 15 kamikaze attacks, 154 general-quarters calls, four enemy planes credited, no battle losses. Detached from Okinawa 10 July 1945; Tacloban, Leyte; struck an underwater object 9 August 1945 damaging one shaft and propeller; occupation duty at Fleet Activities Yokosuka 2 September - 3 December 1945; return via Saipan, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, Panama Canal; Algiers Naval Repair Base, New Orleans, 19 February 1946; Green Cove Springs 3 April 1946; 'out of commission and in reserve' 6 June 1946; reclassified LSSL-118 on 28 February 1949; stricken 30 April 1951; transferred to Italy under MDAA 25 July 1951, renamed Spinone; scrapped 1983. Lists additional ribbons beyond the NavSource block: Navy Occupation Medal and Philippine Liberation Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1951 (narrative coverage); scrapping 1983
- Population
- Crew of LCS(L)(3)-118 (71 complement): wartime construction, shakedown, Okinawa, occupation, and mothballing periods
- Limitations
- Veteran-authored firsthand narrative hosted on a volunteer compilation site - not an official Navy record. Individual details (e.g., the 114 Luce survivors figure, '71st of 130', twenty-five-day build claim) rest on the author's account; the broad Okinawa events are corroborated by DANFS entries for Luce and LST-884 (see ev-03, ev-04) but LCS(L)(3)-118 is not named in those official entries. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-02
-
[4]DANFS, Luce II (DD-522) - official NHHC ship history [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Luce II (DD-522), Okinawa radar-picket passage
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official corroboration of the 4 May 1945 radar-picket action in which this hull's unit history places her: DANFS records that Luce (DD-522), on radar picket duty off Kerama Retto, was attacked about 0740 on 4 May 1945 by two kamikazes that evaded combat air patrol; struck in the after section, she took a heavy list and sank in a violent explosion 'carrying 126 of her 312 officers and men with her.' The LCS(L)(3)-118 unit history records her on the same station (RP-12), credited with destroying two suicide planes and rescuing 114 Luce survivors.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-04
- Population
- Luce crew (126 lost, survivors rescued by station vessels); RP-12 crews
- Limitations
- The DANFS entry does not name LCS(L)(3)-118 or any rescuing vessel - it corroborates the event, not this hull's role in it. The 118's participation rests on the crew-authored unit history. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-03
-
[5]DANFS, LST-884 - official NHHC ship history [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LST-884, full entry
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official corroboration of the 1 April 1945 kamikaze event in which this hull's unit history places her: DANFS records that LST-884, participating in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, suffered 'extensive damage resulting from a kamikaze attack on 1 April 1945'; her hulk was sunk 6 May 1946 and she was struck from the Navy list 21 May 1946. The LCS(L)(3)-118 unit history records her mooring to LST-884's windward quarter and boarding to fight the fires on that date.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-04-01
- Population
- LST-884 crew and embarked Marines; assisting vessels
- Limitations
- The DANFS entry does not name LCS(L)(3)-118 - it corroborates the event (kamikaze hit, extensive damage), not this hull's firefighting role, which rests on the crew-authored unit history. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-04
-
[6]NavSource LCS(L)(3) / LSSL class photo index - class-level build and disposition summary [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/05idx.htm - index header text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class record: one hundred thirty LCS(L)(3)s were built during World War II; the type was developed by the George Lawley Company, Neponset, MA and produced there and by Albina Engine and Machine Works and Commercial Iron Works, Portland, OR; LCS(L)(3)s served only in the Pacific campaign; in 1949 those remaining in the US Navy inventory were redesignated Landing Ship Support Large (LSSL); fifty-three LSSLs were transferred to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1952 and numerous others to allied nations. This hull (Lawley-built, Pacific-only, LSSL-118 in 1949, transferred to Italy 1951) sits inside each element of that pattern.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1952
- Population
- LCS(L)(3) class crews and building-yard trades (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Class-level summary on a volunteer compilation site - not a hull record and contains no asbestos or material content. Does not allocate hulls to yards beyond what the hull page states for this vessel (Lawley).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-05
-
[7]NavSource LCS(L)(3) Operational Description (by Robin L. Rielly) - class design origin and employment [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/05func.htm - full text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class design context: the LCS(L)(3) was conceived after Tarawa (20 November 1943) showed the need for close-in fire support during assaults; the type was based on the LCI(L) hull with redesigned superstructure and interior compartments; George Lawley & Sons performed the design work and produced the first ships. Armament: bow gun (3"/50, single 40mm or twin 40mm), twin 40mm mounts at positions two and three, four 20mm, four .50 cal, ten Mk7 rocket launchers. Tactics: three firing runs on the beach, rocket barrages at 1000/800/500 yards, then close-in gun support. At Okinawa the type additionally screened anchorages against suicide boats and intercepted kamikazes on radar picket duty, and carried 'excellent fire-fighting equipment' used to aid damaged vessels - matching this hull's documented LST-884 assist and RP-12 service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945
- Population
- LCS(L)(3) class crews; Okinawa picket crews
- Limitations
- Class-level description by a named historian on a volunteer site - context for how the type was employed, not a hull-specific record. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 highlights (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 (Oct-Nov 1944) and US service era (1944-46, reserve 1946-51). Per the product-page highlights, the Navy's 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979 (report); exposure era covered back through WWII
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. GAO fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - not Lawley/Neponset. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov PDF blocked to automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-09-30) - content via product-page highlights.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-07
-
[9]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (GM diesel plant, twin variable-pitch propellers - no steam plant); NavShips 250-012 attribution for class specs; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use era (ev-07); diesel-electric/submarine-era analogue for small non-steam combatants [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 050118.htm specifications block; 05func.htm design text; GAO HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven amphibious fire-support gunboat built Oct-Nov 1944 to wartime Navy specifications sits inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a small non-steam combatant of this type and period: engine and exhaust-system lagging, machinery insulation in the engine room, gaskets, valve and flange packing, electrical insulation, and interior joiner/insulation panels (period shipboard sheet insulation commonly contained asbestos). The diesel plant means no boiler or steam-line lagging pathway; asbestos relevance concentrates on machinery spaces, exhaust runs, gaskets/packing, and any board insulation in accommodation and magazine spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46); Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet/mothball workers (1946, 1951 reactivation); Italian yard and crew (1951-83); breakers (1983)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, build specification text, or work package located for LCS(L)(3)-118. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no manufacturer attribution for this hull; no quantity; nothing about the 1951-83 Italian refit/service period is documented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-08
-
[10]Batch-5667 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page, unit history, class index and operational description; live NHHC DANFS (Luce II, LST-884; L-index checked for any LCS/LSSL entry - none exists); NVR; GAO product page; CourtListener API v4 (authenticated, type=o); NARA catalog; VA BVA and secondary web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum/registry material note, or litigation naming USS LCS(L)(3)-118 / LSSL-118 / Spinone was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search for all designations returned zero results on 2026-09-30; the docket index returned no qualifying docket - its returns were numeric '118' collisions (IP-address copyright dockets), and a tightened confirmation query was paced by the fleet budget. The only 'asbestos aboard' material surfaced is law-firm marketing content naming the class or Lawley yard (e.g., mesowatch.org shipyard page) asserting exposure without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944-built Navy combatant's era materials are consistent with asbestos use, and absence of survey/disclosure is the norm for amphibious craft of this size. Italian-service (1951-83) and scrapping (1983) records were not examined; MDAA transfer and Italian refit work packages are undigitized. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-09
-
[11]Archival leads: NARA RG 24 deck logs for USS LCS(L)(3)-118 (Nov 1944 - Jun 1946); Lawley 'Instructions for LCS(L)(3) Class' and 'Original Plans of LCS(L)(3)' (cited by NavSource as specification sources); MDAA transfer and Italian refit records [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov (RG 24, not located/JS-rendered); NavSource 050118.htm specifications-sources list
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Undigitized primary material that could support ship-specific claims: (1) RG 24 deck logs for this hull's commissioned period - NARA's WWII deck-log digitization program covers many amphibious craft but no digitized item for this hull was located this session (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and its v1/v2 APIs returned HTML to scripted queries); (2) the Lawley documents NavSource credits as spec sources - 'Instructions for LCS(L)(3) Class' and 'Original Plans of LCS(L)(3)' - which, if extant (likely via the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130 or maritime museum collections), could contain material-level detail; (3) MDAA transfer files and Italian Navy records for NMM Spinone (L9856), 1951-1983.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these documents was examined. Deck-log existence at NARA College Park is expected for a commissioned Navy vessel but unverified for this hull. No asbestos content established.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-118-lcsl3118-10