Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 529-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-111-lsm111-pkt-529-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-111 - construction milestones, unit assignment, occupation service, specifications, commanding officers, merchant chain (history extract credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces,' Vol. II, Turner Publishing Co., Paducah KY, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9); photo record documents the hull beached at Okinawa fall 1945 alongside LCT-1203 and moored at Nagasaki alongside USS LSM-474 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14111.htm header block, unit-assignment list, specifications block, commanding-officers table, photo captions 101411101-101411105
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 14 October 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 4 November 1944; commissioned USS LSM-111 on 26 November 1944, ENS Ralph D. Cline, USN, in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LSM Flotilla Eleven, LSM Group Thirty-One, LSM Division Sixty-One. Post-WWII: occupation service in the Far East 16 September - 1 December 1945. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Decommissioned 4 May 1946; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold (date unknown) for merchant service; resold 1963 to Foss Launch & Tug Co., Seattle, WA, converted to a work boat for Alaskan service and named Alaska Constructor; resold 1968 to Chignik Fisheries Co., Juneau, AK, and converted to a barge; fate unknown. Spec block: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t fully loaded; 203'6" x 34'6"; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; troop accommodations 2 officers + 46 enlisted; one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun, four single 20mm mounts; capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVTs, or 9 DUKWs; 10-lb STS splinter shield on gun mounts, pilot house, conning station; endurance 4,900 miles at 12 kts; two Fairbanks-Morse (model 38D81/8X10, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesel engines, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin propellers 2,800 shp; ship's service generators two diesel-drive 100 kW 450V A.C. and one diesel-drive 20 kW 120V D.C. Commanding officers: ENS Ralph Dale Cline USN (26 Nov 1944 - Dec 1945); LTjg John W. Wahley USNR (Dec 1945 - 4 May 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (naval service); merchant chain to 1968
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46); embarked troops in troop spaces
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; its narrative is credited to the Turner Publishing association history (1997), itself a reunion-volume compilation - underlying primary records (deck logs, BuShips completion sheets) were not located. Photo captions are contributed material consistent with the documented occupation-service window. Contains no asbestos content. Strike and sale dates are stated as unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-01
-
[3]Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton compilation), Brown Shipbuilding Houston TX yard table - hull 216 = LSM 111; yard output totals [other_primary]
- Locator
- Brown Shipbuilding yard table row, hull no. 216
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder's yard table for this hull: Brown yard hull no. 216, LSM 111 - keel laid 14-Oct-44, launched 4-Nov-44, delivered 26-Nov-44; disposition 'Laid up 1947, sold, resold to Foss 1963 as Alaska Constructor, later converted to barge Pax (ON 291635).' Yard context: Brown Shipbuilding was built in 1941 by George and Herman Brown at the junction of Greens Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel with $9 million from the Navy; wartime output 12 PCs, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 DEs and 254 LSMs - 359 vessels in four years; leased to Todd Shipyards in 1949, returned to Brown & Root 1984 as an offshore fabrication yard, sold piecemeal 2004 (now Brown Shipbuilding Industrial Park).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944; disposition chain through merchant service
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944)
- Limitations
- Respected secondary compilation built from official sources (USCG documentation numbers, MARAD records), not itself a primary record. 'Delivered' 26-Nov-44 coincides with the commissioning date in NavSource. The 'Pax' barge name is unique to this source - it does not appear in Lloyd's 1974 (still 'Alaska Constructor') or in the 1988 loss reporting ('Alaska Constructor') - see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-02
-
[4]Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1974, A-L volume (Internet Archive scan), entry for ALASKA CONSTRUCTOR [other_primary]
- Locator
- Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1974 A-L, alphabetical entry 'ALASKA CONSTRUCTOR' (ship no. 5414608)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Primary registry identification of the merchant hull: 'ALASKA CONSTRUCTOR' - Lloyd's Register ship no. 5414608; built 1944 by Brown S.B. Co., Houston; US official number (ON) 291635; call sign WN2231; registered dimensions 113'5" x 34'2" x 8'4.75"; machinery two oil engines, 4SA, each 8 cylinders 6.75" x 8", built by Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, 1020 bhp; owner Foss Launch & Tug Co., Seattle, United States; register notation 'NE63' consistent with new documentation at the 1963 Foss acquisition. This is the same official number that shipbuildinghistory assigns to the LSM-111 merchant hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1963-1974 (registry window)
- Population
- Merchant crew, Foss Launch & Tug Alaskan service (1963-forward)
- Limitations
- Registry entry confirms identity chain (1944 Brown-built hull, ON 291635, Foss Launch & Tug, Seattle) and documents that the 203'6" naval hull was shortened to a registered length of about 113 ft in merchant conversion - resolving the '113-foot' figure in 1988 press and wreck-list accounts. OCR-scanned register text; tonnage figures partially garbled (233 / 136). Register shows Foss as owner in the 1974 edition, after NavSource's stated 1968 resale to Chignik Fisheries - register lag or date conflict, flagged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-03
-
[5]Cook Inlet Risk Assessment Final Report, January 27, 2015 (Revision 1) - Nuka Research and Planning Group LLC and Pearson Consulting LLC; management team Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Coast Guard, Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council [other_primary]
- Locator
- CIRA Final Report, benefit-cost analysis section (Trans-Foreland Pipeline option), p. 3 of that section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Government-documented loss of the merchant hull: 'the grounding of the M/V Alaska Constructor in the Upper Cook Inlet in November 1988 resulted in the deaths of three crewmen. At the time of grounding, the vessel was en route from Anchorage to Trading Bay to deliver fuel to an earth-moving operation.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1988-11
- Population
- M/V Alaska Constructor crew (1988) - three deaths
- Limitations
- Cites the casualty as an incident example inside a pipeline benefit-cost analysis, not a casualty investigation - it documents the event and the three deaths but not proximate cause detail. Establishes end-of-life of this hull, not any material content. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-04
-
[6]UPI wire dispatch, 'A fuel boat burst into flames Wednesday and went aground in Cook Inlet...' (Jeff Berliner), Anchorage, 2 November 1988 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- UPI Archives, 1988-11-02 dispatch (full text)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous casualty reporting: the 113-foot Alaska Constructor caught fire at 8:45 a.m. 2 November 1988 while approaching a vessel landing site at Trading Bay on the west side of Cook Inlet, 60 miles southwest of Anchorage; drifted for three hours and went aground 100 yards from shore, 4 miles from the Dolly Varden offshore drilling platform. The 197-ton vessel carried 36,000 gallons of diesel oil and a tank truck with 3,000 gallons of gasoline. Three crewmen unaccounted for and presumed dead; a fourth rescued. Owner identified by the owner's lawyer, John Wiederholt, as MV Constructors of Anchorage. Elmendorf AFB HH-3 helicopter searched two hours; Nikiski Fire Department responded; fire burned 90 minutes, appeared out, then re-erupted after the vessel listed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1988-11-02
- Population
- M/V Alaska Constructor crew (4 aboard; 3 missing, 1 rescued)
- Limitations
- Same-day wire copy: 'presumed dead' is contemporaneous reporting, not a final casualty determination (final outcome per ev-04 and ev-06). '197-ton' and '113-foot' are as reported by the Coast Guard source quoted; Lloyd's 1974 independently records a shortened registered length of about 113 ft (ev-03). Names the owner at loss as MV Constructors of Anchorage - extends the merchant chain beyond NavSource's 'fate unknown'. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-05
-
[7]BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011) entry for ALASKA CONSTRUCTOR (1988), transcribed at alaskashipwreck.com [other_primary]
- Locator
- alaskashipwreck.com 'Shipwrecks A' page, ALASKA CONSTRUCTOR (1988) entry; source credited BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Final disposition: 'The 113 foot supply barge Alaska Constructor was consumed by fire November 2, 1988 off of Trading Bay in Upper Cook Inlet. A tank truck containing 3,000 gallons of gasoline caught fire on the deck of the barge and exploded. Lost were captain Stan Hanson (36) of Homer, engineer Bruce Babcock (34) of Anchor Point and Carl Anderson (58) fuel truck driver of Anchorage. First mate Stephen Hobbs survived by lowering himself by rope from the burning vessel and wading to shore. The Alaska Constructor was later towed to deeper water where it was sunk by a demolition team.' Wreck position listed 60 55 N 151 35 W, chart 16660.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1988-11-02 and scuttling thereafter
- Population
- 1988 casualty crew (3 dead, 1 survivor); demolition/salvage team
- Limitations
- Entry is transcribed by a private shipwreck-history site from the federal BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011) - the transcription is consistent with the government CIRA report and UPI dispatch but the underlying BOEM list was not independently retrieved this session. 'Sunk by a demolition team' = scuttling after total constructive loss by fire. No hazmat or salvage-material record attached. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-06
-
[8]U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships, Administrative History of the Bureau of Ships During World War II, vol. 4 (official Navy history; HyperWar/ibiblio transcription) [other_primary]
- Locator
- BuShips Admin Hist WWII v.4, 'Asbestos-Glass Insulation Lagging Cloth' (ch. ~157) and rubber-asbestos gasket text (~p. 218); LSM program procurement table
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Official wartime materials documentation: the Bureau of Ships history records a shortage of asbestos fiber and weaving capacity that 'necessitated development of an alternate' - a glass-asbestos yarn cloth that 'used about 1/2 the asbestos used in the Standard asbestos cloth,' confirming standard asbestos insulation lagging cloth as the baseline wartime Navy material; and 'high temperature resistant rubber asbestos gaskets' among improved rubber developments. The same volume tabulates the Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) procurement program. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel amphibious of this type: engine and exhaust lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, decking/interior finishes.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (wartime materials program)
- Population
- Construction trades at LSM builders (1944-45); crew era 1944-46
- Limitations
- Era-level official documentation of standard Navy materials - does not name this hull or the LSM type's material schedule. The class manual for the LSM-1 design (Ser. 1766, issued to USS LSM-294, March 1944) is scanned at NavSource but as un-OCR'd page images - an open archival lead for the class's fitted materials (ev-09). Asbestos presence aboard this specific hull is era inference, not ship-proven. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-07
-
[9]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 naval service era (1944-46) and the wartime amphibious construction program generally.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979 (report); era coverage 1940s-1970s
- 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, same standing defect as Batches 01/98.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-08
-
[10]NavSource hosted scan: LSM Class Manual, 1 March 1944, Serial No. 1766, issued to USS LSM-294 - LSM-1 class organization and systems manual [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM manual index (lsm01-01.pdf General Data through lsm02-xx machinery chapters)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The class's own systems manual survives as scanned page images: table of contents covers main propelling machinery, auxiliary machinery (including a boilers chapter - the LSM carried a small heating/utility boiler despite diesel main propulsion), pumps/tanks/piping, diesel oil system, fire/drainage systems, and ship's organization bills. Chapter 1 'General Data' (OCR spot-check) confirms Fairbanks-Morse 2-cycle propelling engines and armament 'six 20 M/M A.A. guns' for the early fit. This is the primary class-level document for the LSM-1 design's fitted materials and systems.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Class-level reference
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the scan is un-OCR'd page images issued to a sister hull (LSM-294), not LSM-111; it documents the class design, not this hull's as-built material schedule. Full review of the machinery chapters for insulation/lagging specifications was not completed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-09
-
[11]Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II,' Naval History (U.S. Naval Institute), June 2025 [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History, June 2025 issue, Pearson article (full text)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder context: Brown Shipbuilding was established in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown & Root; it was the second-largest employer in the Houston area during WWII and employed more than 25,000 workers at peak (from late 1942). Output: 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 61 destroyer escorts (38 Edsall-class, 23 John C. Butler-class), 32 Landing Craft Infantry, and 254 Landing Ship Medium amphibious craft. The yard sat on narrow Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel and launched vessels sideways; assembly-line technique fabricated sections hoisted by crane to the hull. Postwar: leased to Todd Shipyards in 1949, returned to Brown & Root 1984 as offshore fabrication, sold off 2004 as the Brown Shipbuilding Industrial Park.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce (>25,000 peak; included women and minority workers under documented discriminatory conditions)
- Limitations
- Scholarly popular-press account (with academic citations) of the yard, not a government record; provides construction-population context. Documents workforce scale and labor conditions at the yard where this hull was built in 43 days (Oct 14 - Nov 26, 1944). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-10
-
[12]Batch-5910 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page + LSM class index + LSM class manual scans; shipbuildinghistory/Naval Marine Archive yard table; uboat.net warship card; Lloyd's Register 1974 (Internet Archive); Alaska DEC CIRA final report; UPI 1988 dispatch; BOEM shipwreck-list transcription; BuShips Admin History v.4 (HyperWar); USNI Naval History; GAO product page; NHHC DANFS index and photo-archive lookups; NVR; NARA digitized deck-log list; CourtListener API v4 (partial - see locator) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-01 through -13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LSM-111 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener, queried by exact name and hull number: '"LSM-111"' opinions returned 0; '"LSM-111"' dockets returned 3 results that are all name collisions (U.S. v. Bordman, N.D. Iowa CR 16-81; U.S. v. Jurisic, N.D. Iowa CR 20-1042; Energy Transfer L.P. v. EPA, D.C. Cir. 23-1306 - none involve this vessel or asbestos); '"Alaska Constructor"' opinions returned 0. Remaining planned queries ('Alaska Constructor' dockets, 'MV Constructors') were attempted but blocked by the fleet-wide hourly pacing budget this session - logged as blocked, not as negative results. No DANFS entry exists for this hull (NHHC DANFS L-index carries no LSM entries; NHHC photo-archive URL for LSM-111 404s). NVR excludes pre-1987 disposals. NARA's digitized deck-log list includes 16 LSMs but not LSM-111. The hull burned and was scuttled in 1988 - no surviving structure, and no ACM-handling record for the casualty or scuttling was located.
- 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 combat-program amphibious sits squarely inside the documented Navy asbestos-materials era. CourtListener coverage is partial: two planned queries were not completed (pacing budget) and are flagged open in the search_ledger, so litigation status is 'no qualifying result on completed queries' rather than a clean negative. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-111-lsm111-11