Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-103 (10/14/14103) - milestone timeline, specifications, commanding officers, awards, disposal; history extract keyed to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces,' Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14103.htm header block, specifications block, commanding-officer table, awards ribbons, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 30 September 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 21 October 1944; commissioned USS LSM-103 12 November 1944, LT. Samuel H. Lay, USNR, in command. WWII Asiatic-Pacific assignment: LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-Two, LSM Division Eighty-Four. Occupation service in the Far East 23 September - 9 December 1945. Decommissioned 18 December 1946; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold 5 November 1947 to Southwest Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, PA; final disposition scrapped 1966. Specifications (LSM-1 class): 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t full; 203'6" oa; 34'6" beam; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; troops 2 + 46; armament one twin 40 mm bow mount, four single 20 mm; propulsion two Fairbanks Morse 38D8-1/8 diesels (reversible, hydraulic clutch), 1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm, direct drive, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; generators two diesel-drive 100 kW 450 V AC + one diesel-drive 20 kW 120 V DC. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippines Liberation Medal. Commanding officers: LT Lay (12 Nov 1944-Dec 1945), LTjg Hoyt H. Todd (Dec 1945-Jun 1946), LTjg Robert P. Harris (Jun-Sep 1946), ENS Lawrence C. Baldwin USN (Sep-18 Dec 1946). Photo captions document: Chesapeake Bay maneuvers/practice landings in Maryland circa 1944-45 as an LSM training platform, followed by carriage of two 14-inch and one 16-inch rifle barrels to Pearl Harbor; beached at Mindanao 1945 after end of hostilities; beached at Matsuyama, Shikoku, Japan 18 October 1945 alongside LSM-253, LSM-499, and LSM-122; drydocked at Alameda, CA, July 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46); shipbreakers/salvage (1947-1966 window)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates generally track official records and are here corroborated by the shipbuildinghistory.com yard list (ev-03) and the official ComTransRon 12 action report (ev-02). Photo captions are contributor-recollection level. Contains no asbestos content. Stricken date listed 'unknown' on this page; a 7 February 1947 date from NavalCoverMuseum is carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-01
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[2]Commander Transport Squadron Twelve, U.S. Pacific Fleet (Commodore H. B. Knowles, USN, USS Cambria flagship), 'Action Report, Landings at NAGASAKI, 18-28 September 1945,' serial 0174, CONFIDENTIAL, 30 September 1945 - scanned official Navy action report (52 pp.), NavSource-hosted [other_primary]
- Locator
- Enclosure (A): Part II 'Preliminaries' para. 2 task organization (p. 5 of PDF); Saipan loading table (p. 7); Part III 'Chronology' entries 1700 24 Sep (p. 14), 2400 24 Sep (p. 15), 2000 25 Sep and 1040 26 Sep (p. 16)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A contemporaneous official Navy action report names this hull in the task organization of Task Group 54.3 (Nagasaki Group): LSM-103 is listed under LSM Flotilla 16 (Temp), LSM Unit TWO (Lt. Cdr. Lane) alongside LSMs 450, 448, 465, 263, 462, 452, 122, 466, and 286. The report records that TG 54.3 embarked the 2nd Marine Division at Saipan and landed troops and equipment in the Nagasaki harbor area commencing 23 September 1945; its loading table lists LSM-103 among the Unit TWO hulls embarking personnel, vehicles, and cargo at Saipan. The Part III chronology records LSM-103 among the LSMs completely unloaded by 1700 on 24 September; records a flotilla-level commander's arrival on 25 September embarked in LSM-103 with additional LSMs in company; and logs the 1040, 26 September order forming a task unit (LSMs 78, 94, 103, 122, 170, 227, 253, 286, 307, 309, 452, 462, 465, 466, with USS Roberts (DE-749) as escort) to depart Nagasaki at 1400 that day for onward transport of 10th Army Corps elements to Hiro Wan, reporting to ComPhibGrp Eleven.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- September 1945
- Population
- Crew; embarked 2nd Marine Division troops during the Nagasaki lift (Sep 1945)
- Limitations
- Operational history only - zero asbestos or material content. Scanned PDF has no text layer; transcription is OCR-based and page-level digits were re-verified at higher resolution for the task-organization and unloading entries quoted here; some secondary entries (e.g., the 25 Sep arrival's accompanying hull numbers) remain OCR-uncertain and are described conservatively. NavSource hosts the scan; the document itself is an official Navy record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-02
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[3]Shipbuilding History (T. Colton), Brown Shipbuilding, Houston TX - yard hull list and yard summary (most recent update 7 Aug 2021); corroborated by U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' (June 2025, Vol. 39 No. 3) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Brown Shipbuilding yard list, hull-no. 208 row; yard summary paragraph; USNI Naval History June 2025 (usni.org)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Brown Shipbuilding yard hull list carries LSM-103 as yard hull 208: keel laid 30 September 1944, launched 21 October 1944, delivered 12 November 1944 (the same day NavSource gives for commissioning); disposition 'Sold to Southwest Steel 1947, scrapped 1966.' The yard summary documents Brown Shipbuilding's wartime output: 12 submarine chasers, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 destroyer escorts, and 254 LSMs - 359 vessels in four years - from the Greens Bayou yard built in 1941 with Navy funding; USNI Naval History independently reports the same 254-LSM figure and yard founding by George and Herman Brown of Brown & Root.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1941-45 yard; this hull Sep-Nov 1944)
- Limitations
- Secondary reference compilations (shipbuildinghistory.com; USNI Naval History magazine); corroborate NavSource milestone and disposal data. 'Delivered' is the builder-to-Navy handover date. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-03
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[4]NavalCoverMuseum wiki, LSM 103 - designation history and postal record (Locy type 2# postmark, cover dated 1946-07-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavalCoverMuseum LSM 103 page, 'Ship Name and Designation History' and 'Postmarks' sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavalCoverMuseum's designation history for this hull: keel laid 30 September 1944; launched 21 October 1944; commissioned 12 November 1944; decommissioned 19 December 1946; struck from the Naval Register 7 February 1947; sold 5 November 1947; scrapped 1966. A Locy type 2# postmark is documented on a cover dated 3 July 1946, consistent with the hull's in-commission status through that date. Medal list: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Philippines Liberation Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Limitations
- Museum-wiki secondary source. It supplies a strike date (7 Feb 1947) that NavSource lists as unknown and a decommission date (19 Dec 1946) one day later than NavSource's 18 December - both variants logged in gaps; neither variant is confirmed correct. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-04
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[5]NHHC, 'The Navy's Happy Medium' (Naval Amphibious Operations from WWII art exhibit, Reginald Marsh watercolor 88-159-HN) - official description of the LSM type [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC exhibit page, 'Related Content' description block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC describes the LSM (Landing Ship, Medium) as the type produced when, 'needing a landing ship somewhere between the size and displacement of an LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and an LST (Landing Ship, Tank), the Navy turned the problem over to its architects and designers' - the compact, maneuverable intermediate landing ship of which LSM-103 is an LSM-1 class example.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- WWII
- Limitations
- Official NHHC class-level description only - not a DANFS entry and names no individual hull; used solely for class context. This hull has no DANFS entry (see ledger). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-05
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[6]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-103 specification block (Fairbanks Morse diesel plant, no steam); Corn & Starr 1987 (ev-08) on extensive asbestos use as fireproofing/insulating material in 1940s shipbuilding; GAO HRD-80-2 (ev-07) on Navy-ship asbestos insulation persisting under management into the 1970s [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; composite of era sources cited in ev-07 and ev-08
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LSM-1 class landing ship built September-November 1944 sits inside the WWII emergency-shipbuilding era in which asbestos was extensively used for fireproofing and insulation. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel amphibious ship of this type and period were machinery and diesel exhaust-system insulation/lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and interior finish materials such as deck tile and paint. As a direct-drive diesel ship she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1966
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46); any repair/yard trades during availabilities; 1947-66 scrapping personnel
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, plan, or work package located for LSM-103. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-06
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (published Oct 18, 1979; released Oct 22, 1979; 26 pp.) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section (full report PDF linked)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed the Navy's efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, including the use of asbestos in Navy ships and the cost of asbestos removal. Per the report 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 of asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas - i.e., asbestos insulation remained installed across the Navy ship population well after this hull's era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1975-1979 (reviewed policies)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. The review postdates the hull's disposal (scrapped 1966) - it documents that WWII-era-installed asbestos persisted in the fleet, not what was aboard this ship. Product page and highlights verified live 2026-10-01; fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-07
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[8]Corn, J. K. & Starr, J., '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 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract; AJIM 11(3):359-373 (1987)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed industrial-medicine history documenting 'the extensive use of asbestos as a fireproofing and insulating material in shipbuilding in the 1940s, when World War II industrial expansion brought about a hitherto unprecedented rise in the amount of asbestos utilized,' with asbestos diseases manifesting some twenty years later among shipyard workers and others exposed in the 1940s and postwar period. Covers the era that includes this hull's September-November 1944 construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s construction era; review published 1987
- Population
- WWII-era shipbuilding workers (industry-wide)
- Limitations
- Literature-level era documentation - shipbuilding-wide, not yard- or hull-specific; does not name Brown Shipbuilding or this hull. Supports era inference only; does not establish materials aboard this hull, individual exposure, or quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-08
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[9]Batch-5901 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS; NavSource amphibious archive; ComTransRon 12 action report (NavSource-hosted scan); shipbuildinghistory.com; USNI Naval History; NavalCoverMuseum; NVR; NARA catalog; CourtListener API v4; GAO; Wiley AJIM; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming USS LSM-103 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS entry exists for this hull (NHHC candidate URL 404s; no Wayback capture; NavSource keys its history extract to the Turner volume rather than DANFS). CourtListener opinion search (authenticated API v4, 2026-10-01): 'USS LSM-103' (quoted) returned 0 results; 'LSM-103' unquoted returned 31 hits, all name collisions - the token occurs inside unrelated opinions (contract, criminal, postal-law matters) as internal identifiers, none ship- or asbestos-related. CourtListener docket search could not be completed - fleet pacing budget spent at attempt time; logged as blocked, not a negative result.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was scrapped in 1966 before modern hazmat-record regimes, and no ship-breaking or material record for the disposal was located. The docket-index half of the CourtListener check is an open gap (pacing-limited), not a negative result. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-103-lsm103-09