Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 500-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-pkt-500-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCS(L)(3)-39 - construction timeline, wartime assignments, campaigns, awards, disposal, merchant registrations (live fetch verified) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050039.htm - header block (call sign, ribbons), LCS(L)(3)-1 class timeline bullets, campaign table, Commanding Officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 11 September 1944 at Commercial Iron Works, Portland OR; launched 1 October 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-39, 16 October 1944, LT. R. A. Anderson USNR in command (international radio call sign NVSG). Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LCS(L)(3) Flotilla Three (CAPT. T.C. Aylward USN), LCS(L)(3) Group Nine (LT. B. A. Thiakield USNR), LCS(L)(3) Division Seventeen. Campaigns: Okinawa Gunto operation - assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 2 June 1945; Minesweeping Operations Pacific - Omai-Sake (Honshu area), 11 to 16 December 1945. Post-war occupation service in the Far East 10 September to 29 December 1945. Decommissioned 1 November 1946. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown. Sold to Martin B. Dahl, Seattle WA, 7 October 1947. Earned two battle stars for WWII service; ribbon display: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2), WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp. Merchant trail: registered 1956 by Ocean Marine Corp., Seattle WA, as freight barge Maren I; 1958 Murray Suthergreen (Seattle); 1961 Ocean Marine Corp.; 1972 Chena Fisheries; 1975 Emil Vernier Nelson (Homer AK, homeported Juneau AK); 1980 Maren I, Inc. (homeport Anchorage AK); 1988 Inlet Fisheries (Bethel AK, homeport Juneau); out of documentation 2001; final disposition, fate unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-2001
- Population
- Commercial Iron Works construction trades (Sep-Oct 1944); commissioning crew and crew rotation (1944-46); merchant crews/owners as barge Maren I (1956-2001)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates generally track NVR/DANFS practice but the stricken date is unrecorded ('date unknown') and secondary variants exist (see gaps). No asbestos or material content. 'Omai-Sake' is NavSource's transcription; the place is Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Honshu. The merchant-registration trail is reported by NavSource without primary documentation numbers; USCG/MARAD documentation records would settle the trail.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-01
-
[3]NavSource specifications block for this hull - sources cited: A.D. Baker III, Allied Landing Craft of World War II (Naval Institute Press, 1989); George Lawley & Sons Corp., Instructions for LCS(L)(3) Class and Original Plans of LCS(L)(3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050039.htm - Specifications block and Specifications Sources note
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Specifications as published for this hull: displacement 250 t light / 387 t full; length 158 ft o.a.; beam 23 ft 8 in; draft 5 ft 8 in limiting/max loaded (4 ft 9 in fwd, 6 ft 6 in aft); speed 16.5 kt max at 650 shaft rpm (14.4 trial; 14.5 kt at 585 rpm); armor 10-lb STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning tower; complement 6 officers + 65 enlisted; endurance 5,500 miles at 12 kt; fuel/stores 635 bbls diesel (76 tons), 10 tons fresh water, 6 tons lubricating oil, 8 tons provisions; fresh-water distillation up to 1,000 gal/day. Armament: bow gun (one single 40mm mount), two twin 40mm AA mounts, four single 20mm AA mounts, four .50-cal machine guns, ten Mk 7 rocket launchers. Propulsion: 2 quad packs of 4 General Motors 6-71-series diesel engines per shaft (8 engines total), BHP 1,600; single General Motors main reduction gears; 2 diesel-driven 60kW 450V AC ship's service generators; twin variable-pitch propellers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (service window for the as-built spec)
- Population
- Crew operating diesel machinery spaces (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation reproducing class spec-sheet data (Baker; Lawley plans/instructions; NavShips 250-012 'Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels' April 15 1945 appears on sister pages of this series). No asbestos or materials content. The '2 quad packs of 4 engines per shaft' phrasing describes 8 GM 6-71 diesels total (4 per shaft) driving twin variable-pitch props - consistent with the class's published 1,600 bhp total.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-02
-
[4]Selma Times-Journal (Selma, AL), 'The Mighty Midgets of World War II' - American Legion Post 20 veteran profile of crewman Lewis Calvin Singley, USN, of USS LCS(L)(3)-39 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- selmatimesjournal.com news article text (April American Legion Post 20 veteran profile)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A named crewman's account of this hull's service: Lewis Calvin Singley enlisted 8 May 1944, trained at Great Lakes and at the amphibious-assault facility at Solomons Island MD, then joined the ship at Portland OR. Corroborates construction dates (launched 1 October 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-39, 16 October 1944) and complement (6 officers, 65 enlisted). Narrative: shakedown along the Pacific coast; departed in convoy for Pearl Harbor 1 December 1944, arriving 11 December; six to seven weeks at Pearl, then westward via Johnston Island; typhoon at sea en route. At Okinawa on 1 April 1945 the Mighty Midgets led the assault, making three firing runs on the beachhead with rocket barrages at 1,000/800/500 yards, bow guns engaging to within a few hundred yards; after the beachhead was established the ship took up station warding off suicide boats and aircraft - radar picket duty. The article reports that LCS-39's Okinawa picket service drew 'special commendations' and quotes VADM Kelly Turner: 'We are very proud of the magnificent courage and effectiveness with which these vessels have discharged their difficult and hazardous task.' Ordered to Saipan 2 June 1945. Departed Saipan for Tokyo Bay 14 September 1945; for three months worked around Japanese home-island bases destroying mines cut loose by minesweepers; on 16 December 1945 logged seven mines destroyed, one day before being relieved; on 17 December ordered to Wakayama for onward routing via Saipan and Pearl Harbor to the U.S. West Coast. Singley was released from active duty at NAS New Orleans 26 June 1946.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Crew including Lewis Calvin Singley (1944-46); LT. R. A. Anderson USNR (CO)
- Limitations
- Reputable-press human-interest profile, not an official record: detail claims (convoy dates, three-run assault profile, seven mines on 16 December 1945, commendations) are memoir-grade single sourcing. It corroborates NavSource's campaign table (Okinawa Gunto 26 Mar-2 Jun 1945; Minesweeping Operations Pacific Dec 1945) but the Turner quote is a known commendation addressed to the radar-picket LCS force generally, not a unit citation unique to hull 39. Page blocked automated fetches (HTTP 403); retrieved live via browser-agent fetch and quoted verbatim. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-03
-
[5]NHHC H-Gram H044.2, 'Floating Chrysanthemums - The Naval Battle of Okinawa, Part 1,' Sam Cox, Director of Naval History, 29 March 2020 (canonical history.navy.mil H-Gram URL returns 404; PDF retrieved via navintpro.org mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- H-Gram H044.2 PDF, pp. 6-8 (BUSH/COLHOUN section); header attribution block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official Naval History and Heritage Command account of LCS employment at Okinawa (verbatim): 'After troops had been put ashore on Okinawa, some amphibious craft such as Landing Craft Support (LCS) were assigned to radar picket stations to add some anti-aircraft fire, act as rescue vessels, and occasionally becoming targets themselves.' The H-Gram documents radar picket destroyers and LCSs taking the brunt of Kikusui mass kamikaze attacks from late March 1945 - e.g., LCS-64 rescuing BUSH (DD-529) survivors and LCS-84/LCS-87 taking off COLHOUN's crew on 6 April 1945. Hull 39 is not named; the document establishes the class-level duty this hull performed during its documented Okinawa Gunto campaign window (26 March - 2 June 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- March-June 1945
- Population
- LCS(L) crews on radar picket stations, Okinawa, April-June 1945
- Limitations
- Class/era context: LCS-39 is not named in the document; it documents how the class was employed on the radar picket line, not this hull's individual actions. Canonical NHHC URL (history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/about-us/leadership/hgram_pdfs/H-Gram_044.pdf) returned 404 on 2026-09-30; the mirrored PDF at navintpro.org was downloaded and text-extracted verbatim. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-04
-
[6]National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130, 'A Brief History of the Mighty Midgets' (veterans' association class history) [other_primary]
- Locator
- mightymidgets.org page6.htm, full-page class history text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Class history: 130 LCS(L)s built by three yards (per the association: Lawley 47, Albina Engine & Machine Works 31, Commercial Iron Works 52). Developed from LCI hull plans for close-in fire support after the Tarawa landing lesson; first gunboat launched 15 May 1944 at George Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA. Campaigns: Philippines (Mariveles Bay suicide-boat attack 16 February 1945 sank LCS(L)s 7, 26, 49 and damaged 27), Iwo Jima assault 19 February 1945, Okinawa Hagushi beaches 1 April 1945 followed by 'skunk patrol' and radar picket duty (LCS(L)s 15 and 33 sunk by kamikazes; 25, 31, 51, 52, 57, 88, 116, 121, 122 damaged; 119 hit returning from a picket station; 37 disabled by a suicide boat), Borneo assault 1 May 1945. Post-war: minesweeping operations around the Japanese islands, Korea, Taiwan and other Far East locations; by early 1946 most ships returned stateside into reserve at Green Cove Springs FL or Astoria WA; remaining in-service LCS(L)s reclassified LSSL in 1949; extensive foreign transfers (53 to Japan; also France, Vietnam, Italy, Greece, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines). Only LCS(L)-102 remains afloat (ex-Royal Thai Navy Nakha, now the Landing Craft Support Museum at Mare Island, Vallejo CA).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- LCS(L) crews class-wide (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Veterans' association secondary history - authoritative on class narrative but not a primary registry; per-yard production counts (47/31/52) do not match the contiguous hull blocks in the shipbuildinghistory delivery table (Lawley 1-25, Commercial 26-47, Albina 48-130), so per-yard totals are carried as a conflict in gaps rather than asserted. Hull 39 is not individually named on the page. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (eight GM 6-71 diesels, GM main reduction gears, twin variable-pitch props, diesel-driven generators - no steam plant); class design history (LCI-derived 158-ft combatant hull); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use era (see ev-07); documented asbestos contamination at the builder's Portland site (see ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications; GAO HRD-80-2; site-cleanup reporting for the builder's yard (ev-08)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A naval combatant built in five weeks of September-October 1944 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel-driven amphibious gunboat of this type and period were: exhaust lagging on the diesel exhaust runs, thermal insulation in machinery spaces, gaskets and valve packing throughout piping systems, and electrical insulation aboard a ship carrying 60kW generation and extensive gun/radar wiring. The confined 158-ft hull concentrates any such materials in small working volumes. As a diesel craft she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-2001
- Population
- Commercial Iron Works construction trades (Sep-Oct 1944); crew (1944-46); merchant crews/conversion trades on Maren I (1956-2001); any breakers if ultimately scrapped
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or builder's specification sheet naming asbestos was located for LCS(L)(3)-39. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The class's Lawley plans and NavShips 250-012 spec sheet (cited by NavSource) are undigitized leads that could carry material callouts.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-06
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (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) and service era (1944-46).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- 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, consistent with prior batches) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-07
-
[9]Oregon Public Broadcasting, 'Zidell's Willamette River Cleanup Is Coming to a Close'; corroborated by Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland) and Herald & News reporting on the Zidell/Commercial Iron Works site remediation [reputable_press]
- Locator
- opb.org Zidell cleanup article; djcoregon.com 22 Dec 2009; heraldandnews.com 'Portland's Toxic Graveyard For World War II Ships'
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The site where this hull was built is a documented asbestos-contaminated industrial cleanup site. Commercial Iron Works founded its 30-acre Willamette River shipyard at South Portland in 1916 and delivered roughly 185-200 small warships to the Navy during WWII (DJC: 'delivered 185 ships to the U.S. Navy from the site'). Zidell Machinery and Supply acquired the yard in 1946 and built it into the nation's largest shipbreaking operation through the late 1970s; the breaking process left asbestos, lead and PCBs in the soil and river bottom - 'the insulation on the ships, the wiring, the linoleum on the floors and even the paint was full of contaminants' (Herald & News). Oregon DEQ flagged the property in 1986; Zidell entered a voluntary cleanup agreement in 2006; remediation included trucking asbestos-contaminated soil to a Wasco County landfill under DEQ oversight (OPB).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1916-2010s
- Population
- Commercial Iron Works wartime workforce (1941-45); Zidell shipbreaking workforce (1946-late 1970s); remediation crews (2006-2010s)
- Limitations
- Yard-site environmental record, not a hull record: the documented asbestos contamination is dominated by the post-1946 Zidell shipbreaking era, which post-dates this hull's 1944 construction. It does not establish that materials aboard LCS(L)(3)-39 contained asbestos, nor quantify wartime-construction exposure at the yard. Oregon DEQ project files for the Zidell site are the primary-source lead behind the press coverage.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-08
-
[10]ShipbuildingHistory (Tim Colton), 'Landing Craft, Support (Large) - LCS(L)' construction table, via Wayback Machine capture (live page returned HTTP 500); corroborating delivery data at uboat.net [other_primary]
- Locator
- ShipbuildingHistory LCS(L) table row for hull 39 (Wayback capture 2026-04-15); uboat.net ship/22271 facts table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: the ShipbuildingHistory delivery table lists hull 39 as 'Commercial IW, Portland OR, FY44, delivery 16-Oct-44, Scrapped 1947.' The 'Scrapped 1947' disposition conflicts with NavSource's documented merchant trail - registered as freight barge Maren I from 1956 through 2001 by a succession of Seattle/Alaska owners (Ocean Marine Corp., Murray Suthergreen, Chena Fisheries, Emil Vernier Nelson, Maren I Inc., Inlet Fisheries), out of documentation 2001, fate unknown. A hull registered continuously as a barge through 2001 was not scrapped in 1947; the table's '1947' matches only the Navy sale date (7 October 1947 to Martin B. Dahl). NavSource's documented merchant trail is carried; 'Scrapped 1947' is treated as a generic disposition label, not a breaking record. uboat.net independently corroborates: ordered 5 April 1944; laid down 11 September 1944; launched 1 October 1944; commissioned 16 October 1944; sold 7 October 1947.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-2001
- Limitations
- Corrects a disposition conflict, not a material claim. NavSource's merchant trail itself rests on unreferenced registration data (no USCG/MARAD documentation numbers given); the final fate after 2001 is genuinely unknown in all sources. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-09
-
[11]Batch-5709 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship page; DANFS/hazegray amphibious index; NVR; Selma Times-Journal; NHHC H-Gram H044.2; mightymidgets.org class history; shipbuildinghistory via Wayback; uboat.net; GAO product page; OPB/DJC/Herald&News site-cleanup coverage; OHS photo collection; secondary web litigation sweep; CourtListener (pacing-throttled) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LCS(L)(3)-39 was found in the public sources searched. No DANFS entry exists for this hull (numbered landing craft were not individually covered in the amphibious index). CourtListener opinion searches ran clean - '"LCS(L)(3)-39"' returned 0 opinions, '"LCS-39" OR "LCSL-39" OR "LCS(L)-39"' returned 0, and '"LCSL" asbestos' returned 1 unrelated name-collision (Select Building Systems v. Robertson Electric, Tex. App.-San Antonio 2015, a construction-contract dispute). CAVEAT: the CourtListener docket-level (type=r) search could not be completed this session - the fleet pacing limiter repeatedly denied tokens (114/hr shared budget) - logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard' material is law-firm marketing content (asbestos-ships.com, mesowatch.org, duboselawfirm.com listing the shipyard/hull categories 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 - and the docket-level litigation search is a genuine open gap (pacing-blocked, not run to completion); opinion coverage is a legitimate no-result for the queries run. NARA RG 24 deck logs (1944-46), Commercial Iron Works contract/work records, Lawley class plans (NavShips 250-012 and the Lawley instruction set cited by NavSource), and USCG merchant documentation for Maren I are undigitized or unverified leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-39-lcsl339-10