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-104 - milestone timeline (history extract from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing 1997), specifications block, awards, commanding-officer list, La Crosse Navy Day photograph [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14104.htm header timeline, specifications block, awards ribbon row, commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 30 September 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 21 October 1944; commissioned USS LSM-104, 13 November 1944, LTjg. Patrick Francis Cooney USNR in command; decommissioned 5 April 1949 at Charleston, S.C.; laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold November 1958 to Commercial Metals Co., Dallas, TX. Final disposition: MV Caribbean King (ex-USS LSM-104) sank 17 October 1974 at 17.03N, 69.41W off the southern coast of the Dominican Republic after a fire on board two days prior. Spec block: displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. fully loaded; 203'6" ovl x 34'6"; draft 3'6" fwd / 7'8" aft light; 13.2 kts max; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament 1 twin 40mm bow mount + 4 single 20mm; capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks / 6 LVTs / 9 DUKWs; troops 2 officers + 46 enlisted; endurance 4,900 mi @ 12 kts; propulsion 2 x Fairbanks-Morse 38D81/8X10 diesels, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm, twin propellers (2,800 shp). Awards block displays American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal only - no Asiatic-Pacific or combat awards, consistent with the stateside/training service described by the La Crosse monograph. Commanding officers: LTjg. Cooney (Nov 1944-Dec 1945); LTjg. Barnett (Dec 1945-Jul 1946); LT. Johnson (Jul 1946-Jun 1947); LTjg. Gilrein (Jun 1947-1947); LTjg. Whiddon (1947-?).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); commissioned crew (1944-49); Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers; Commercial Metals crews; Caribbean King merchant crew (1958-74)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation; the timeline is a verbatim extract from the Turner Publishing LSM-LSMR history (ISBN 1-56311-389-9), not a primary registry - but both milestone dates and the loss narrative corroborate against the La Crosse Public Library monograph (which cites contemporaneous La Crosse Tribune reporting) and uboat.net. The page's single photo is captioned 'Navy Day, 27 November 1945' - a documented caption error (see ev-08). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-01
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[2]La Crosse Public Library, '1945 October 22-28 Navy Day 1945' (J. Rand), local-history monograph sourced to contemporaneous La Crosse Tribune articles (cited in its notes) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Monograph body text and notes 2-11, 21-24 (La Crosse Tribune citations dated Oct 1945)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Ship-specific service detail: LSM-104 arrived at La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Monday 22 October 1945 from its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, with two sister ships, sailing down the Atlantic seaboard, through the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi River (masts removed for bridge clearance); she docked at Riverside Park for public tours on Saturday-Monday, drew 3,279 visitors Saturday and 3,885 Sunday, and demonstrated a smokescreen generator. 'LSM-104 never saw any combat action. From its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, it trained many crews who went on to serve in similar ships.' Twenty-two states were represented in the crew, including three Wisconsin men. After La Crosse she 'served in the United States Navy for almost four more years before being decommissioned on April 5, 1949, at Charleston, South Carolina. In November 1958, it was discarded from the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and sold to Commercial Metals Co. of Dallas, Texas. LSM-104 escaped the scrap heap and was renamed MV Caribbean King. The Caribbean King caught fire on October 15, 1974, and it sank two days later off the southern coast of the Dominican Republic.' Tour spaces described: galley, gun mounts, engine room, ship's office, laundry room, machine shop, water distiller.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945; retrospective through 1974
- Population
- Crew (1945, incl. three Wisconsin men); La Crosse public visitors 27-29 Oct 1945
- Limitations
- Institutional local-history monograph (public library), sourced to contemporaneous La Crosse Tribune reporting - reasonably authoritative for the October 1945 visit and general service characterization, but a secondary compilation. 'Never saw any combat action' and the crew-training role rest on newspaper sourcing, not Navy operational records; consistent with the awards block (no combat ribbons) but not independently confirmed by a service record. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-02
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[3]Shipbuilding History (njscuba.net mirror), 'Landing Ships, Medium' build table - LSM-104 row; corroborated by uboat.net Allied Warships ship/12715 and navypedia LSM list row [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory LSM table row; uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/12715.html; navypedia.org/ships/usa/us_aws_lsm.htm LSM104 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Cross-source corroboration of milestones: Shipbuilding History lists LSM-104 as Brown Shipbuilding, Houston TX, commissioned 13 Nov 1944, 'laid up 1947, sold to Commercial Metals 1958, sank off Dom. Rep.' uboat.net lists: ordered 15 Sep 1943, built by Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston), launched 21 Oct 1944, commissioned 13 Nov 1944, end of service 5 Apr 1949, sold Nov 1958, 'sunk on 17 October 1974 in position 17.03N, 69.41W after being damaged by a fire two days before. She was named Carribean King [sic] at that time.' navypedia lists the hull as stricken 1958.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Limitations
- All three are secondary compilations, cited here for cross-check only: they corroborate the NavSource/Turner and library milestones but introduce two conflicts - uboat.net gives 'laid down 30 Jul 1944' vs 30 Sep 1944 (NavSource, La Crosse), and shipbuildinghistory's 'laid up 1947' vs the documented 5 Apr 1949 decommissioning; navypedia's 'stricken 1958' vs NavSource 'date unknown'. Carried dates follow NavSource/Turner + library; variants in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-03
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[4]Bureau of Ships, 'LSM Class Manual', 1 March 1944, Serial No. 1766, issued to USS LSM-294 - scanned chapter PDFs hosted on NavSource (contributed by Patrick Blackman); image scans, partial OCR check [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource lsm manual index (cover + flyleaf 'March 1 1944, Serial No. 1766 Issued to USS LSM-294'); Ch. 30 pp. 30-2; Ch. 31-9
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A wartime Bureau of Ships class manual for the LSM type survives as a scanned document: Section I covers ship's organization and bills (damage control, watertight integrity, fire, collision, abandon ship, loading/unloading); Section II covers ordnance, plans list, and ship systems - main propelling machinery (two F-M 10-cylinder Model 38D8 1/8 diesels, continuous duty 1440 BHP at 720 rpm per Ch. 30), auxiliary machinery incl. ship's service generators, bow doors/ramp, windlass, steering, distilling plant, air compressors, refrigeration, and an auxiliary oil-fired fire-tube steam boiler rated 1,500 lb saturated steam/hr at 55 psi (Ch. 31-9), plus pumps/piping, ventilation, and compartmentation chapters. The manual documents the class's installed machinery plant - including that the type carried a small steam system despite diesel main propulsion.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944 (manual issue)
- Population
- Class-wide crews and construction trades
- Limitations
- Class-level operational manual, not a material schedule: fetched chapter scans are image-only PDFs; sampled OCR (Ch. 30 propelling machinery, Ch. 31-9 boilers) found no insulation-material terms - absence of the word 'asbestos' in sampled pages does not establish absence elsewhere, and material composition is not enumerated in the chapters reviewed. Issued to sister ship LSM-294, applicable to the LSM-1 class generally, not a hull-specific record for LSM-104.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-104 spec block (Fairbanks-Morse diesels, direct drive); BuShips LSM Class Manual machinery chapters (auxiliary oil-fired boiler; distilling plant; machinery spaces); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-06); NHHC 'The Navy's Happy Medium' LSM type description [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications; NavSource-hosted BuShips LSM Class Manual ch. 30-32; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An LSM-1-class ship built in late 1944 sits inside the documented Navy asbestos-use era. Asbestos-relevant systems aboard a vessel of this type and period were narrower than on a steam combatant but not absent: diesel-exhaust and machinery lagging, gaskets and valve packing throughout the piping/fuel/flushing systems, electrical insulation, fireproofing and insulation in accommodation and galley spaces, and lagging on the small auxiliary steam boiler and its steam lines. No hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package was located for LSM-104.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); commissioned crew (1944-49); reserve-fleet caretakers (1949-58); merchant crew/conversion trades (1958-74)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - names era-standard applications for the type, not confirmed installed materials aboard this hull. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution, no present-day relevance (hull lost 1974). The auxiliary boiler is documented by the class manual; its insulation composition is not.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-05
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[6]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 construction (1944), active service (1944-49), and the reserve/merchant career that followed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- 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 2026-10-01) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-06
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[7]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine (June 2025, Vol. 39 No. 3), Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025 article, 'Building Different Types of Naval Vessels' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder context: the yard that built this hull was a purpose-built wartime yard - Brown Shipbuilding Co., established 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown and Root, on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel, launching vessels in sideway slips because of the narrow waterway. It built submarine chasers, destroyer escorts, and landing craft under Navy contracts and was the second-largest employer in the Houston area during WWII. The yard was sold to Todd Shipyards after the war.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce (1941-45), incl. the trades that built this hull
- Limitations
- Yard-level history from a reputable professional journal; documents the builder's plant and wartime product mix (landing craft = the LSM line that included this hull) but names no individual hull and contains no asbestos or material documentation. Does not establish materials used aboard LSM-104.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-07
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[8]La Crosse Public Library monograph, note 6: 'The single photo of LSM-104 on this website is captioned "USS LSM-104 moored pierside at La Crosse Wisconsin, Navy Day, 27 November 1945." The date must have been October 27, 1945, based on contemporary newspaper stories.' [other_primary]
- Locator
- La Crosse monograph note 6; NavSource photo caption on 10/14/14104.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: NavSource's sole photograph of this hull is captioned 'La Crosse Wisconsin, Navy Day, 27 November 1945' - the month is wrong. Navy Day 1945 was 27 October, and contemporaneous La Crosse Tribune coverage places the ship's public tours on 27-29 October 1945; the La Crosse Public Library monograph explicitly flags the caption error in its note 6. The correct visit window is 22-29 October 1945 (arrived Mon 22 Oct, tours Sat-Mon, departed midweek).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- October 1945
- Limitations
- Corrects a photo-caption date, not a material claim. The library's own inference ('must have been') is grounded in dated contemporaneous newspaper reporting; the correction is sound. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-08
-
[9]Batch-5902 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship page + class manual; La Crosse Public Library monograph; shipbuildinghistory / uboat.net / navypedia corroboration rows; USNI yard history; GAO product page; NHHC DANFS (no entry exists); NVR (no entry); NARA digitized-deck-log index; CourtListener API v4 type=o [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-104-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LSM-104 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS/NHHC ship-history page exists for this unnamed hull; no NVR entry (disposed 1958, pre-dating NVR coverage); no Wikipedia article. CourtListener (authenticated API v4): exact phrase "LSM-104" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets; unquoted 'LSM-104' returned 31 opinions, all reviewed as name collisions (BM25 token matches on unrelated cases - no naval, asbestos, or vessel context in any).
- 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 - a 1944-built Navy amphibious hull sits squarely inside the documented asbestos era, and the class manual confirms machinery spaces typical of lagged construction. CourtListener coverage extends to indexed opinions/dockets only - unreported state filings, MDL-875 rows without the hull string, and claims records are outside it. Deck logs, muster rolls, and any builder or conversion work packages are undigitized archival leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-104-09