Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]research packet 503-packet.md (2 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lcs-l-3-52-lcsl352-pkt-503-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSSL-52 ex USS LCS(L)(3)-52 (1944-1949) - milestones, campaign credits, awards, specification block sourced to Navships 250-012 and Baker's Allied Landing Craft of World War II [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050052.htm header block, campaign table, awards block, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 21 June 1944 at Albina Engine and Machine Works Inc., Portland, OR; launched 14 August 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-52, 23 September 1944, LT. J. O. Harper USNR in command. Asiatic-Pacific assignment: LCS(L)(3) Flotilla Three (CAPT. T. C. Aylward USN), Group Seven (LCDR. F. P. Stone USNR), Division Thirteen. Campaigns: Iwo Jima operation, assault and occupation 19 February-8 March 1945; Okinawa Gunto operation, assault and occupation 1 April-30 June 1945. Postwar: Navy Occupation Service 19 September-20 November 1945; China Service (extended) 22 November-10 December 1945. Decommissioned, date unknown; redesignated Landing Ship Support Large USS LSSL-52, 28 February 1949; transferred on loan to Japan 29 July 1953, named JMSDF Sasayuri; returned to US custody 29 August 1958; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sunk as a target by gunfire, December 1958. Two battle stars for WWII service; Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) 28 May 1945; Purple Hearts 2 KIA, 10 WIA, 28 May 1945. Specification block: 250 t light / 387 t full load; 158 ft o.a.; beam 23 ft 8 in; complement 6 officers + 65 enlisted; propulsion '2 quad packs of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines per shaft, BHP 1,600', single GM main reduction gears, 2 diesel-drive 60 kW 450 V AC ship's-service generators, twin variable-pitch propellers. Photo captions carry US National Archives identifiers 148728556 and 148728558 showing the ship alongside USS Nevada (BB-36) off Iwo Jima taking aboard 8,000 rounds of 40mm ammunition, 22 February 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Population
- Albina construction trades (1944); crew, 6 officers + 65 enlisted (1944-46); Japanese Coastal Security Force/JMSDF crew (1953-58); gunnery range crews (1958 target sinking)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestones generally track official records but it explicitly marks decommission and strike dates as unknown here. Spec block is sourced to Navships 250-012 (primary publication) but NavSource's own engine-count phrasing is internally ambiguous ('2 quad packs of 4 ... per shaft'); see gaps. Contains no asbestos content. Page verified live at navsource.net on 2026-09-30 (navsource.org is a dead domain).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-01
-
[3]'A Short History of LCS(L)(3) 52' by John Harper, Larry Cullen and Virgil Thill (commanding officer's account plus crew letters/memoir), hosted on NavSource; provided by the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/05/050052h.htm, full narrative text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- First-person ship history: launched 14 August 1944 at Albina Engine and Machine Works, Portland, OR; commissioned 23 September 1944; '65 enlisted men and 6 officers.' After outfitting she transited the Columbia River bar and proceeded to San Diego; departed San Diego 6 November 1944 with LCSs 31, 32, 33 and 51; Pearl Harbor 17 November; Maui gunnery practice c. 12 January 1945; departed Pearl Harbor 22 January for the Central Pacific via Eniwetok (3 February) to Saipan (10 February; minor collision with LCI(L)-627); departed Saipan 15 February for the Iwo Jima invasion. Fired rocket and gun runs on Green 1 beach beginning 0739 on 19 February and delivered call fire through early March; rearmed 8,000 rounds of 40mm from USS Nevada 22 February; departed Iwo 8 March, Saipan 11 March (repairs alongside tender Fulton, AS-11); departed Saipan 25 March with Flotilla Three for Okinawa; diversionary-landing demonstration 1-2 April; radar picket duty from c. 20 April; approximately six enemy aircraft destroyed. Night of 27-28 May (letters dated 27 May; official tally 28 May), on a radar picket station, a kamikaze dived at the ship and was detonated by gunfire directly overhead - Engineering Officer Ens. Spencer Burroughs killed instantly and one crewman (Hawks) died; about 10-11 wounded. Further patrol/escort duty, Kerama Retto; departed Okinawa after 4 July. Postwar: Wakayama and Nagoya patrols; Tientsin 26 November and Tsingtao 7 December (China); departed China 11 December; arrived San Francisco 2 February 1946; the ship 'was put in mothballs back in Oregon.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- crew (1944-46): 6 officers, 65 enlisted; named casualties Ens. Spencer Burroughs (KIA) and one crewman 'Hawks' (KIA)
- Limitations
- Veteran memoir compiled postwar (by Geoffrey Burroughs from CO Harper's letters and crew accounts) - a first-person narrative, not a log or official history; internal dating is 27 vs 28 May for the fatal attack (NavSource award block uses 28 May 1945; see gaps). No asbestos or material content anywhere in the memoir.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-02
-
[4]NHHC H-Gram 048-2, 'Naval Battle of Okinawa (Continued)' - radar picket station order of battle during Kikusui Nos. 6 and 8 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- H-Gram 048-2, sections 'USS LCS(L)-88, 11 May 1945' and 'USS Drexler (DD-741), 28 May 1945'; verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC documents this hull by name at Okinawa on the radar picket line during two massed kamikaze raids: (1) 11 May 1945 - 'destroyer Douglas H. Fox and destroyer-minelayer Harry F. Bauer (DM-26) were on a radar pickett station, along with LCS(L)-52, -88, -109, and -114, when they were attacked by one G4M Betty bomber and four Ki-43 Oscar fighters' (Kikusui No. 6; LCS(L)-88 suffered nine dead and seven wounded); (2) morning of 28 May 1945 - Radar Picket Station No. 15 northwest of Okinawa with destroyers Drexler (DD-741) and Lowry (DD-770) 'along with LCS-52, -55, -56, and -114' when Drexler was sunk (Kikusui No. 8). NHHC also states: 'During the Battle of Okinawa, 12 LCSs were hit by kamikazes and bombs, most while assisting destroyers on the radar picket stations, with a combined total of 65 crewmen killed and 103 wounded.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05
- Population
- crew (radar picket duty, April-June 1945)
- Limitations
- Names this hull in the picket order of battle only; the 52's own 27-28 May casualties (2 KIA, 10 WIA per NavSource) come from the memoir and NavSource award block, not from this H-Gram text. Combat history only - no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-03
-
[5]NHHC Navy Department Library, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' - landing craft support roster [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Fleet organization document, 'LANDING CRAFT SUPPORT / LCS DIVISION 14' table; verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization document lists 'LCS 52 - Lt. J. O. Harper (USNR)' under LCS Division 14, corroborating this hull's operational status and commanding officer mid-way through the Okinawa campaign.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- crew (1945)
- Limitations
- Roster listing only - confirms ship in service and CO name on 1 May 1945; it places LCS-52 in Division 14 while NavSource's campaign block states Division Thirteen (unit-assignment discrepancy carried in gaps). No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-04
-
[6]NHHC Navy Department Library, Bureau of Ships war damage report, 'Destroyer Report - Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage' (USS Stormes DD-780 section) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- War damage report, USS Stormes (DD-780) subject paragraph; verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The BuShips war damage narrative for USS Stormes records: 'On 25 May 1945, STORMES, in company with DD's DREXLER and AMMEN and LCS's 52, 61, 85, 89, was on radar picket station north of OKINAWA in Lat. 27-22.5N Long. 127-48.E.' - independently placing this hull on the radar picket line during the late-May kamikaze period in which it took casualties.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-05-25
- Population
- crew (radar picket duty, May 1945)
- Limitations
- BuShips document names the hull as a station consort only; the 52's damage and casualties (2 KIA, 10 WIA) come from NavSource/the memoir. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-05
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[7]NHHC Navy Department Library, 'Korean War Chronology, January-April 1953' - LSSL/PF transfers to Japan under Public Law 467, 82nd Congress [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Chronology entry under 15 January 1953; verified live 2026-09-30
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC documents the program under which this hull was later loaned: on 15 January 1953 'six PF and four LSSL were formally turned over to the Japanese government... the first increment under Public Law 467, 82nd Congress, pending, for loan to Japan of 18 PF and 50 LSSL,' to be operated by the Japanese coastal Security Force. LSSL-52's own loan followed on 29 July 1953 (per NavSource), within the same statutory program.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1953
- Population
- Japanese Coastal Security Force crews receiving loaned LSSLs (1953)
- Limitations
- Program-level context - the chronology does not name LSSL-52; it documents the authority and operating service (coastal Security Force, the JMSDF predecessor) for the 1953 LSSL loans, of which this hull was a later increment. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-06
-
[8]Albina Engine & Machine v. Director, OWCP (McAllister), 627 F.3d 1293 (9th Cir. 2010), reviewing DOL Benefits Review Board No. 08-0403 (30 Dec 2008); BRB decision at https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/brb/decisions/lngshore/published/08-0403.pdf [court_record]
- Locator
- 627 F.3d 1293, opinion sections I (facts/stipulations), II.D (liable employer), III (disposition); BRB 08-0403 slip op. at 1-2, 8-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Adjudicated asbestos litigation involving this hull's builder yard. James R. McAllister worked as a shipyard carpenter at three Portland/Seattle yards 1956-1960 - Willamette Iron & Steel (WISCO), Albina Engine and Machine (work ceased 1957), and a Lockheed predecessor - and died in 2002 of mesothelioma; all parties stipulated his death 'was due to mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos' in that employment, and the widow's LHWCA death-benefits claim against all three employers was compensable. At trial on the second remand, ALJ Berlin found Albina was the last employer to expose the decedent to asbestos - contemporaneous-worker testimony established 'work and conditions at Albina Engine were similar to those at WISCO,' where asbestos exposure was undisputed - and the Benefits Review Board affirmed (BRB 08-0403, 30 Dec 2008). On petition for review, the Ninth Circuit granted the petition and REVERSED on burden-allocation grounds only - holding the section 20(a) presumption must be invoked against each employer and the analysis run sequentially from the last employer; under that analysis Lockheed (the last employer) failed to rebut and was held liable, so the exposure analysis 'need not be conducted for earlier employers.' The Albina trial-stage exposure finding was left undisturbed but unaffirmed by the appellate disposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1956-1960 (exposure); 2003-2010 (litigation)
- Population
- Albina Engine and Machine Works shipyard workers (repair era, 1950s); Portland/Seattle shipyard trades
- Limitations
- Yard-level exposure litigation - the decedent's Albina employment was 1956-57 (repair era), not this hull's 1944 construction window, and no vessel is named. Stage discipline: the Albina-exposure finding is a trial finding (ALJ, affirmed by the Board); the Ninth Circuit reversed the case's outcome for Albina on legal-methodology grounds and assigned liability to the later employer, without disturbing the record evidence of asbestos exposure conditions at the Albina yard. Establishes that the builder's yard was a proven asbestos-exposure site in the postwar era; says nothing about materials aboard LCS(L)(3)-52.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-07
-
[9]GAO HRD-80-2, report product page (published 18 October 1979): review of Navy efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - use of asbestos in Navy ships, removal costs, and compensation programs [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page 'Highlights' block
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Program-level documentation that the Navy used asbestos insulation in ships and managed it under removal/replacement policy: per the GAO product description, the 1975 policy removed and replaced with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs; in 1979 this was modified to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas. Establishes Navy-wide asbestos use aboard ships as official program fact for the era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (policy period)
- Population
- Naval shipyard workers (program level)
- Limitations
- Navy program-level record - does not name the LCS(L)(3) class or this hull, and its shipyard fieldwork (Long Beach, Norfolk NSY) concerns overhaul-era worker exposure, not 1944 construction of small amphibious craft. Direct fetch returns HTTP 403; product-page text captured via Firecrawl 2026-09-30; full report PDF not examined.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-08
-
[10]Batch-5724 search ledger (this record): NavSource vessel and memoir pages; NHHC H-Gram 048-2, Pacific Fleet organization 1 May 1945, BuShips war-damage report, Korean War chronology, DANFS index and casualties list; Naval Vessel Register; DOL Benefits Review Board; GAO; CourtListener API v4 opinion/docket indexes; NARA catalog; LCS(L)(3)-102 museum public materials [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lcs-l-3-52-01 through sl-uss-lcs-l-3-52-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LCS(L)(3)-52, LCS(L)-52, or LSSL-52 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull was expended as a gunnery target in December 1958, before any ACM-survey regime existed, so no hull-material record is expected to exist.
- 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 - era-standard applications (exhaust lagging, gaskets, electrical insulation, compartment insulation) are consistent inference but not ship-proven. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-09
-
[11]Archival leads located but not digitized: NARA photo identifiers 148728556 and 148728558 (ship alongside USS Nevada off Iwo Jima, 22 Feb 1945, per NavSource captions); WWII deck logs (RG-24) and war diaries/action reports (RG-38) for this hull; Lawley, George & Sons 'Instructions for LCS(L)(3) Class' and 'Original Plans of LCS(L)(3)' (cited by NavSource as specification sources) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 050052.htm photo captions (NAIDs); NARA catalog search not executable via automated fetch
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Lead inventory for follow-on research: NARA holds the two referenced photographs; wartime deck logs and any action reports for LCS(L)(3)-52 would sit in RG-24/RG-38 but were not located in digitized form (the NARA catalog interface is JavaScript-only and could not be queried programmatically); the class builder's instruction manual and plans (Lawley) are the likeliest documents to state actual insulation/material specifications for the class.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Limitations
- Leads only - contents unverified. The Lawley class instructions, if obtained, could upgrade the class/era material inference to class documentation; NARA deck logs would verify dates but are unlikely to contain material-content data.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-52-10