USS LCS(L)(3)-42

Evidence

8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).

1. [1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCS(L)(3)-42 - construction/milestone timeline, specifications block, campaign table, awards, commanding-officer list, disposal (history attributed to the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/05/050042.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, commanding-officers table, photo captions

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Documented for this hull: laid down 18 September 1944 at Commercial Iron Works, Portland OR; launched 8 October 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-42 on 26 October 1944, LT. R. S. Sondree USN in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LCS(L)(3) Flotilla One (CAPT. R. E. Arison USNR), LCS(L)(3) Group Two (LT. M. C. Fitzgerald USNR), LCS(L)(3) Division Three. Campaign credits: Consolidation and capture of southern Philippines - Zamboanga landing 10 March 1945, Basilian landing 16 March 1945, Jolo/Sulu Island 31 March 1945, Mindanao Island landings 10-19 May 1945; Borneo operation - Brunei Bay 7 June-1 July 1945. Occupation service in the Far East 3 September-10 December 1945. Decommissioned 1946. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown. Two battle stars for WWII service (the page's battle-star line misprints the designation as 'LCI(L)(3)-42'). Final disposition: sold to Martin B. Dahl, Seattle WA, 7 October 1947, fate unknown. Spec block: 250 t light / 387 t full; 158' o.a.; beam 23'8"; draft 5'8" limiting; speed 14.4 trial / 16.5k max at 650 shaft rpm; complement 6 officers + 65 enlisted; armament one 3"/50 DP bow gun, two twin 40mm, four single 20mm, four .50-cal MG, ten Mk7 rocket launchers; 10-lb STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house, conning tower; endurance 5,500 mi at 12 kts. Spec sources cited by NavSource: Baker, Allied Landing Craft of World War II (USNI Press 1989), and George Lawley & Sons Corp. class instructions/original plans.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1944-1947

   Population

   Commercial Iron Works construction trades (1944); crew ~71 (1944-46); any post-sale owners/breakers (1947)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific compilation only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records but the 'fate unknown' disposition wording is the compiler's. The campaign table's 'Jolo, Sulu Island, 31 March 1945' date conflicts with the ship's-history narrative, which dates the Jolo invasion 9-10 April and a separate 'Zanga-Zanga' island landing 2 April (see gaps). Radio call sign NVSM shown on page. Decommissioning given only as 'in 1946'; striking date unknown.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-01

2. [2]'A Short History of U.S.S. LCS(L)(3) 42' by Charles J. Lausberg, headed 'Division of Naval History, Ship's History Section, Navy Department' - ship-specific wartime narrative hosted on NavSource [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/05/050042h.htm full narrative text

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Day-level service narrative for this hull: built by Commercial Iron Works, Portland OR; launched 8 October 1944, commissioned eighteen days later. Shakedown/training at San Diego; departed 1 December 1944 for Pearl Harbor (10-day transit); repairs and drills in Hawaii until 2 January 1945; convoy to Majuro (arrived 12 January); Manus; departed 3 February to Hollandia, New Guinea; then convoyed with LCTs, LCIs and one destroyer escort to Leyte, arriving 25 February 1945; Mindoro 1-2 March; reported 3 March to RADM Forrest B. Royal, Amphibious Group Commander, for Task Group 78.1 (with LCS(L)s 28, 29, 30, 41, 43, 50 plus minesweepers, cruisers, destroyers, DEs, and LCI variants). Minesweeping operations in Basilan Strait 8-9 March; knocked out a 6-inch gun emplacement plus pillboxes and machine-gun nests. First line ahead of the Army wave into Zamboanga 0932 10 March, launching rockets at ~1,000 yards and strafing all day. Basilan Island landing 16 March (unopposed). 'Zanga-Zanga' island landing ~30 miles off Borneo 2 April (returned 4 April). Jolo landing 9-10 April (unopposed). Leyte 14-16 April. Cagayan River mouth, Mindanao, 10 May; grounded 11 May on patrol, freed after five hours; fouled one screw on a reef; limped to Leyte 19-20 May, dry-docked 23 May. Sailed 2 June ahead of the invading task force for Borneo; sweeping began 7 June; invasion of Borneo (Brunei Bay) began 0930 10 June; by 18 June the ship had destruction of 100 mines to credit. RADM Royal found dead in his cabin of a heart attack 18 June. Borneo to Luzon 1 July; Subic Bay 5 July; Manila liberty 20-23 July; trained for the invasion of Japan until Japan's surrender 15 August. Sailed for Okinawa 30 August but returned to Subic Bay 3 September with a broken crankshaft (engine trouble plus typhoon report); sailed again 14 September with a new engine, Okinawa 19 September; to Korea 24-28 September; Pusan 3 October; escorted Japanese destroyers Chinkai-to-Pusan with LCS-48; destroyed a mine in Pusan harbor 6 October; Chinhae (Chinkai, the largest Japanese naval base in Korea) 11 October; Bazan 15 October; train-wreck casualty evacuation to Chinhae/Pusan 17-18 October; towed a Japanese-manned Korean junk to Chinkai 20 October; liberty-party ferry for USS Hubbard (DD-748) Pusan-Bazan 29 October; China/Korea runs 1 November-10 December; ordered to Okinawa 10 December, departed 15 December via Saipan, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor; arrived San Francisco 5 February 1946; 'eventually decommissioned and sold to Martin B. Dahl, Seattle, WA, on 7 October 1947.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1944-10-08 to 1947-10-07

   Population

   Crew ~71 (commissioned service Oct 1944 - 1946); Japanese personnel escorted/disarmed under U.S. supervision; Korean civilians assisted (Oct 1945)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific first-person narrative authored by a veteran (Lausberg) as a Navy Department Ship's History Section 'short history,' hosted in transcription on NavSource - treat as primary-artifact transcription on a secondary host, not as NavSource editorial content. Dates and movements are participant recollection and conflict in places with the campaign table (Jolo listed 31 March on the table vs 9-10 April in the narrative; 'Zanga-Zanga' 2 April landing appears only in the narrative - likely Sanga-Sanga, Sulu Archipelago; carried as written). No asbestos or material content anywhere in the narrative.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-02

3. [3]Letter of Commendation, 13 March 1945, Maynes C. Fitzgerald, Commander LCS(L) Group Two, addressed 'TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF L.C.S. (L) GROUP TWO' from letterhead 'U.S.S. L.C.S. (L) (3) 42' stamped FLAGSHIP (transcription hosted on NavSource) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/05/050042l.htm letterhead line and body

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Contemporaneous document establishes that LCS(L)(3)-42 served as flagship of LCS(L) Group Two: the commendation is typed on 'U.S.S. L.C.S. (L) (3) 42 / FLAGSHIP' letterhead and signed by Maynes C. Fitzgerald, Commander L.C.S. (L) Group Two, dated 13 March 1945, commending the group after the just-concluded operation (marked CENOUT). It records that most of the group's crews were under fire for the first time at Zamboanga, that publicity men aboard the LCS 42 had covered twelve other invasions including Lingayen, that the sweeper-unit commander reported never having swept a beach with more confidence, and that the flag itself issued a 'WELL DONE' - 'short of individual awards, that is the Navy's highest praise.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1945-03-13 (document date); operation window March 1945

   Population

   LCS(L) Group Two ships' companies (three ships at that date, incl. this flagship)

   Limitations

   Document image transcription hosted on NavSource; the text supports flagship/organization facts only - it contains no asbestos, material, or exposure content. The operation codename '(CEN.OUT)' is rendered as printed; it maps to the Zamboanga operation window (J-day 10 March 1945).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-03

4. [4]ShipbuildingHistory (Tim Colton), Commercial Iron Works, Portland OR - yard production table: hull 185 = LCS(L) 42, 250 t / 159 ft, delivered 26-Oct-44, 'Scrapped 1947'; yard founded Nov 1916, closed 1946 (188 WWII boats), site sold to Zidell Marine for ship dismantling [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipbuildinghistory.com Commercial Iron Works table, yard hulls 169-190 block; yard-history header paragraph

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Yard-level production table names this hull: Commercial Iron Works yard hull number 185 = LCS(L) 42, delivered 26 October 1944 (the commissioning date). Contract context: LCS(L)s 26-47 were Commercial Iron Works yard hulls 169-190, reordered from the cancelled LCI(L) 845-865 contract; LCS(L)s 79-92 (hulls 191-205) were reordered from cancelled LCI(L) 929-942. Sibling dispositions in the same table show the commercial-resale pattern: LCS(L) 41 'Sold 1947, later fishing vessel Kayak (ON 257769)'; LCS(L) 39 'Sold for scrap 1947 but resold as barge Maren I (ON 276932)'; LCS(L) 40, 43-47 'Scrapped 1947'; LCS(L) 42 itself listed 'Scrapped 1947.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1944 (this hull); 1916-1946 (yard operation)

   Population

   Commercial Iron Works trades (1916-46 operation); subsequent dismantling workforce at the Zidell Marine site (lead only)

   Limitations

   Respected secondary compilation of merchant/contract shipbuilding output, not a primary registry - 'Scrapped 1947' is the compiler's inference from the 1947 dealer sale and conflicts with NavSource's 'fate unknown'; carried as a variance in gaps. Yard-hull and delivery data corroborate NavSource construction/commissioning dates. Contains no asbestos or material content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-04

5. [5]NavSource Landing Craft Support Photo Archive, LCS(L)(3) class index - class framing for all 130 hulls [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 10/05/05idx.htm index header paragraph and hull index table (row for LCS(L)(3)-42)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Class documentation: one hundred thirty LCS(L)(3)s were built during WWII; 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 Navy's 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 (42) was sold in 1947 and was never part of the LSSL redesignation or any foreign transfer.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1944-1952 (class window)

   Population

   All 130 LCS(L)(3) hulls' crews and builders

   Limitations

   Class-level framing only - does not name hull 42's individual history beyond indexing it. Secondary compilation. Supports the negative-designation point (sold pre-1949, so never LSSL-42) and yard context; no asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-05

6. [6]Era inference built on: NavSource spec block (diesel propulsion - GM diesel quad packs, no steam plant); NavSource class index (1944 wartime construction); shipbuilding-history yard table (standard commercial-yard wartime build); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use documentation (see ev-07) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource 050042.htm spec block; NavSource 05idx.htm class header; shipbuildinghistory.com yard table; GAO HRD-80-2 product page

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   A welded-steel diesel landing-craft gunboat built Sep-Oct 1944 at a Portland commercial yard sits inside the era of ubiquitous asbestos use in U.S. ship construction. Era-standard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were thermal insulation on engine-room piping, machinery and diesel-exhaust/muffler lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation, in a compact 158-foot hull where machinery spaces and crew spaces were close-coupled. As a diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam ships does not apply, and her shallow-draft landing-craft design carried no heavy high-pressure piping; exposure-relevant materials concentrate around the eight main diesels, generators, and exhaust trunks.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1944-1947

   Population

   Commercial Iron Works construction trades (1944); crew ~71 (1944-46); any dismantling workers post-sale (1947)

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or abatement record located for LCS(L)(3)-42. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Original Lawley class plans/instructions (cited by NavSource as spec sources) were not located in digitized form - they are the open lead for actual installed materials.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-06

7. [7]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 and service era (1944-1947).

   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, confirmed again 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description, same standing defect as BATCH-01/BATCH-98.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-07

8. [8]Batch-5713 search ledger (this record): NavSource main/history/commendation/index pages; Navy Department Ship's History Section narrative (Lausberg); shipbuilding-history yard table; NHHC DANFS candidate-URL sweep; NVR check; NARA online deck-log index; CourtListener (opinions + dockets); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-lcsl342-01 through -14

   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)-42 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero opinions and zero dockets on the hull-number variants ('LCS(L)(3)-42', 'LCSL-42', 'LCS(L) 42', 'LSSL-42'), zero opinions on 'landing craft support' + asbestos, and only OCR-noise name collisions on the bare string 'LCSL' (five hits in unrelated Texas opinions and AG opinions, none naming a vessel). No DANFS entry exists for this hull; NVR holds no entry (disposed 1947, pre-coverage); NARA's online deck-log index contains no landing-craft logs. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no hull-specific 'asbestos aboard' marketing content - unlike larger ships, this hull does not appear on law-firm ship lists located this session.

   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 - it establishes that no ship-specific public documentation was found. RG 24 deck logs and any shipyard work packages for Commercial Iron Works hull 185 are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lcsl342-08