Evidence
16 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-16).
-
[1]research packet 530-packet.md (8 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-119-lsm119-pkt-530-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-119 (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource amphibious archive page 10/14/14119 (specifications, campaign table, commanding-officer roster, disposition paragraph)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Full per-hull record: laid down 28 October 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 18 November 1944; commissioned USS LSM-119 9 December 1944, Lt. Harold S. Sniffen USNR in command; assigned to LSM Flotilla Twelve, LSM Group Thirty-four, LSM Division Sixty-Seven; Asiatic-Pacific campaign Okinawa Gunto (assault and occupation, 1-3 April 1945), earning one battle star; Far East occupation service 22 September-28 November 1945; decommissioned 28 May 1946; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the Naval Register (date unknown); sold October 1958 to Tidewater-Shaver Barge Line, Portland, OR; resold to Republic of Brazil, renamed Goncalo Coelho (sic), re-engined 1978, used as a Roll-on Roll-Off cargo ship, listed in Lloyd's Register 1993/94; sunk off Pernambuco, Porto de Galinhas, Brazil, date unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1999
- Population
- Ship's company 5 officers/54 enlisted (wartime); Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation built on the Turner Publishing unit-history volume and contributed photographs; not an official Navy record. Division assignment (67) conflicts with the NHHC 1 May 1945 fleet organization (68) - see gaps. Prints the Brazilian name as 'Goncoloa Coelho'; Brazilian sources give 'Goncalo Coelho' - see gaps. Contains no asbestos information whatsoever and establishes nothing about materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-01
-
[3]Naval History and Heritage Command, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (Navy Department Library transcription) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC transcription, LSM Flotilla Twelve (1) > LSM Group 34 > LSM Division 68 table row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official fleet-organization roster lists 'LSM 119' under LSM Flotilla Twelve, LSM Group 34, LSM Division 68, commanded by 'Lt. H. S. Sneffen (USNR)' as of 1 May 1945 - placing this hull in the Pacific Fleet amphibious command during the Okinawa operation period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops (Pacific amphibious operations)
- Limitations
- Establishes unit assignment and commanding officer as of 1 May 1945 only. Lists Division 68 where NavSource's history extract lists Division 67 - unresolved discrepancy carried in gaps (unit reorganizations are common, or one source is in error). Spells the CO 'Sneffen' where NavSource spells 'Sniffen'. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-02
-
[4]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, Vol. II (Mine Vessels, Patrol Vessels, Landing Ships and Craft), NAVSHIPS 250-011 (1945 edition, Google-digitized scan hosted by shipscribe.com) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB 1945 Vol. II: LSM characteristics table and footnote 4; LSM build-roster row 'LSM 119 (ex-LCT(7) 1619)'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official BuShips roster lists 'LSM 119 (ex-LCT(7) 1619)' built by Brown S. B. Co., Houston, Tex., keel laid 28 Oct 44, launched 18 Nov 44, first commission 9 Dec 44 - matching NavSource exactly and establishing the hull's original LCT(7)-series designation. The LSM design table (same volume, p. ~150) gives class characteristics: ~743 t landing / 1,095 t full-load displacement, 203 ft oa, diesel direct drive ~2,800 shp on two propellers, and a footnote assigning Fairbanks Morse model 38D8 46x10 engines to hull block LSM 1-145 (which includes LSM-119).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Construction trades at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston (1944)
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous official design/roster document; the scan's OCR text layer is column-jumbled, so table figures were read from layout context and cross-checked against NavSource. Documents construction and machinery fit only - contains no asbestos information and does not address materials used aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-03
-
[5]Landing Ship Medium (LSM) class ship's-organization manual, period document hosted as page-image PDFs on NavSource (contributed by Patrick Blackman) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 'LSM Class Manual' index; ch. 1 General Data (lsm01-01.pdf); ch. 31 Auxiliary Machinery / Boilers (lsm02-31-9.pdf)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The class manual documents the LSM-1-class machinery fit: twin Fairbanks Morse 2-cycle model 38D8 1/8 diesel engines (rated 2,880 shp at 720 RPM continuous / 5,600 shp at 800 RPM emergency across both shafts), diesel-drive ship's-service generators, and - significant for exposure pathways - an oil-fired water-tube auxiliary steam boiler supplying process steam at about 55 psi working pressure, plus refrigeration and distilling plants. The class therefore carried a steam system alongside its diesel plant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Wartime LSM crews (class-level)
- Limitations
- Class design document, not a hull record - it does not name LSM-119 and does not state insulation materials or asbestos content anywhere reviewed. Scanned page images have no text layer; contents were OCR-verified for the general-data and auxiliary-machinery chapters only. Establishes that the class carried boiler, steam piping, and diesel exhaust systems of the type normally lagged with asbestos in 1944 - the material inference itself is not in this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-04
-
[6]Consolidated era/design inference - BuShips SDB 1945 v2 machinery data + LSM class manual + wartime naval-vessel construction practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- Derived from ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-03 (SDB design table), ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-04 (class manual), and the Fleischer/Ferris-Heimann survey record (ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-06)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a 1944-built Navy contract-yard LSM: asbestos-relevant applications aboard were the auxiliary boiler and its steam piping lagging, diesel exhaust lagging and flange gaskets, engine-room thermal and acoustic insulation, accommodation and galley insulation, deck coverings and tile, valve stem packing, and winch/windlass brake linings. Insulation products of this era were commonly manufactured with asbestos fiber, and federal wartime supply controls reserved asbestos for military use including shipbuilding.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (construction and service period)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce (1944); ship's company and embarked troops (1944-1946); reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-1958); Brazilian commercial crews (c. 1958-1999)
- Limitations
- Design- and era-level inference only. No source names this hull, no materials schedule was located, and no surveyed yard in the published record is identified as Brown Shipbuilding. Does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard LSM-119, in what products, or in what quantity; does not establish individual exposure or present-day presence. The hull now lies as an artificial reef, so any retained material is submerged and unsurveyed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-05
-
[7]Ferris BG Jr, Heimann H, 'Shipyard Health Problems,' Environmental Research 11:140-150 (1976) (CDC Stacks), summarizing the wartime USPHS/Harvard survey - Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P, 'A Health Survey of Pipe Covering Operations in Constructing Naval Vessels,' J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28:9-16 (1946), PMID 21016030 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ferris & Heimann 1976, pp. 145-146 and Table 2 (Fleischer et al. survey data); PubMed record https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21016030/
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The wartime health survey chest-X-rayed some 1,074 shipyard pipe coverers at four yards (two Government navy yards and two Navy contract yards, anonymized A-D) and documented that pipe coverers constructing naval vessels handled primarily amosite asbestos pipe covering, mixed aboard ship without exhaust ventilation. Asbestosis was found only among workers with roughly 10-20+ years of exposure (about 6% of that group). This is the contemporaneous government-affiliated documentation of the construction-phase asbestos exposure pathway aboard WWII naval vessels - the category of work under which LSM-119 was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (survey era); 1976 (review publication)
- Population
- WWII shipyard pipe coverers (naval-vessel construction trades)
- Limitations
- Documents the wartime naval-vessel pipe-covering trade generally; the surveyed yards are anonymized and Brown Shipbuilding is not named in the published paper, so no yard-specific or hull-specific finding attaches to LSM-119. Establishes period exposure conditions aboard naval vessels under construction, not conditions aboard this hull in service.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-06
-
[8]GAO, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (October 18, 1979) - product page [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: asbestos insulation was used throughout the fleet during and after WWII; standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or when required for repairs, modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades absent yard work.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and crews, program-wide
- Limitations
- gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval on 2026-10-01; this row rests on the GAO product page and the report as characterized in prior batch records - full text not re-extracted this session. Program-level documentation postdating this hull's U.S. service (which ended in 1946); establishes Navy-era context, not anything about LSM-119 specifically, and nothing about her post-1958 commercial or Brazilian condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-07
-
[9]Brasil Mergulho (Brazilian diving magazine), 'Goncalo Coelho Shipwreck' - wreck data sheet and sinking photographs [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Article 'Naufragio Goncalo Coelho,' data sheet fields Date/Location/Type and 'Notes' paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ex-LSM-119, renamed Goncalo Coelho, was deliberately sunk as an artificial reef on 29 December 1999 at 13:45, opposite Serrambi Beach, Pernambuco (published position approx. 8 deg 35 min S / 34 deg 54 min W, depth ~34 m). After Brazilian acquisition she transported supplies on the Recife-Fernando de Noronha route; when judged unsuitable for navigation she was bought by the owner of the Serrambi Resort (formerly Intermares) and reefed.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- c. 1978-1999 (Brazilian service); 1999-12-29 (reefing)
- Population
- Divers (contemporary reef site); prior commercial crews
- Limitations
- Specialty diving publication, not an official registry - but internally corroborated by wrecksite.eu (search-result data: 'brazilian MV Goncalo Coelho (+1999), cargo ship ex-ferry, ex-LSM'; wrecksite page itself was captcha-blocked to automated retrieval) and consistent with NavSource's 'sunk off Pernambuco.' Establishes final disposition and date; contains no asbestos or materials survey information - no pre-reefing hazmat survey is referenced.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-08
-
[10]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton compilation from official yard/Navy records), 'Brown Shipbuilding' per-hull construction table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Brown yard table, hull-224 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent per-hull yard list confirms LSM-119 as Brown yard hull no. 224: keel 28 Oct 44, launched 18 Nov 44, delivered 9 Dec 44; disposition 'laid up 1947, sold to Tidewater BL 1958, to Brazil as Goncoloa Coelho, sank.' Yard summary: Brown Shipbuilding, founded 1941 on Greens Bayou with Navy funding, built 254 LSMs among 359 total wartime vessels.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1958
- Limitations
- Well-regarded specialist compilation of official yard and disposition records, but a secondary source - dates corroborate (and were separately verified against) BuShips SDB 1945. Carries the same 'Goncoloa' misspelling as NavSource. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-09
-
[11]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine (June 2025), 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History, June 2025 issue, article body and footnotes 10-16
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder context: Brown Shipbuilding was founded in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown and Root on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel; it became the Houston area's second-largest wartime employer, peaking above 25,000 workers from late 1942, using assembly-line fabrication with sideways launches into the narrow bayou. Output included 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 61 destroyer escorts, 32 LCI(L)s, and 254 Landing Ship Mediums - the yard category (private Navy contract yard) documented in the wartime pipe-covering health survey.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce (peak >25,000)
- Limitations
- Yard-level background only - the article does not name LSM-119 and contains no asbestos content. Included to characterize the hull's construction site and workforce; nothing in it bears on materials aboard this vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-10
-
[12]Batch-5918 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS, NHHC fleet-organization roster, NavSource, BuShips SDB 1945, LSM class manual, CDC Stacks/PubMed, GAO, shipbuildinghistory, uboat.net, Brasil Mergulho, NARA catalog, CourtListener [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-01 through -16
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no DANFS entry exists for LSM-119 (NHHC returns 404 on all candidate URLs), no asbestos survey, abatement record, or hazmat disclosure was found in the official and specialist sources searched, and no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was identified (CourtListener: docket search '"LSM-119"' returned zero; all 24 opinion-search hits for 'LSM-119' reviewed - incidental token matches naming no vessel; the quoted 'USS LSM-119' opinion variant returned zero in the sibling run committed to this branch - see search_ledger).
- 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 contract-yard amphibious ship is era-consistent with standard insulation practice, and the OSHA 1994 rulemaking preamble (ev-14) states the era baseline. Does not establish that asbestos is or is not present, and does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility. CourtListener sweep complete for name and hull-number queries at docket and opinion level.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-11
-
[13]Cross-source discrepancy review (NavSource vs NHHC fleet roster vs Brasil Mergulho/wrecksite vs shipbuildinghistory) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14119 vs NHHC fleet-organization table vs brasilmergulho.com/wrecksite search data
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Three source conflicts identified and resolved or flagged: (a) unit assignment - NavSource's Turner-derived history lists LSM Division 67 while the NHHC 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization lists LSM-119 in LSM Division 68 (both under Group 34, Flotilla Twelve); carried as an unresolved discrepancy. (b) Commanding-officer surname spelled 'Sniffen' (NavSource CO roster) vs 'Sneffen' (NHHC roster). (c) Brazilian name printed 'Goncoloa Coelho' in NavSource and shipbuildinghistory vs 'Goncalo Coelho' in Brazilian sources - the Portuguese spelling is treated as correct.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1999 (source dates)
- Limitations
- Discrepancies in secondary/transcribed sources; none affects build or service dates, which are concordant across BuShips SDB, NavSource, uboat.net, and shipbuildinghistory. No underlying document was located resolving the division or surname-spelling conflict.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-12
-
[14]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LSM 119 (LSM 119) warship entry (ship/12730) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net warship entry data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent specialist database confirms the concordant build record: ordered 15 September 1943; laid down 28 Oct 1944; launched 18 Nov 1944; commissioned 9 Dec 1944; end service 28 May 1946; sold October 1958. The 15 Sep 1943 order date appears in no other consulted source.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1943-1958
- Limitations
- Secondary database (Guomundur Helgason's Allied Warships compilation) - corroborative, not official. The 'ordered' date is carried with source attribution only; all other dates independently verified against BuShips SDB 1945 and NavSource. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-13
-
[15]OSHA, Occupational Exposure to Asbestos - final standards, 59 FR 40964 (10 August 1994), incl. the new shipyard-employment standard 29 CFR 1915.1001 (preamble citing RTI 1985 / OSHA 1986) [federal_register]
- Locator
- 59 FR 40964 preamble, shipyard-employment discussion (osha.gov live page, verified 2026-10-01)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- In the 1994 asbestos rulemaking OSHA stated on the record: 'Asbestos products were used extensively on American ships from the early 1940s through the late 1970s in joiner bulkhead systems in living space; for insulation of steam and hot water pipes, boilers, and tanks in machinery space; in ceiling tile; and in fire-resistant sheets in bulkheads,' and further that 'all ships delivered before 1975 contain extensive asbestos insulation materials' (ships delivered 1975-1978 containing asbestos as insulating cement on machinery casings). LSM-119 was delivered (commissioned) in December 1944 - squarely inside the stated window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s-1994 (rulemaking record)
- Population
- Shipyard and vessel crews fleet-wide, early 1940s - late 1970s
- Limitations
- Regulatory preamble finding at the fleet/industry level - it does not name this hull, this class, or Brown Shipbuilding, and 'ordinarily contain' is a generalization that cannot substitute for a hull-level survey. Note also the countervailing wrinkle: the quoted sentence's steam/boiler examples attach only partially to a diesel ship, though the LSM class did carry an auxiliary steam boiler (see ev-04). Establishes the regulatory-era baseline expectation, not ship-specific presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-14
-
[16]National Archives, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' (official research guide) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov guided-topics page; RG 19 entries UD 1015/1017-P series; RG 24 deck logs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's official guide acknowledges that documenting asbestos aboard a specific US naval vessel requires RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) correspondence research: for a 1944-46 hull the responsive series are the General & Unclassified/Confidential Correspondence 1940-1946 files arranged by Navy Filing Manual, supplemented by deck logs (RG 24) and ship plans. The guide confirms both that ship-specific asbestos documentation may exist in undigitized custody and that none is publicly indexed at the hull level.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940-1961 (records coverage)
- Limitations
- A research-path finding aid, not a record about this hull - it names no vessel and proves nothing about LSM-119's materials. Carried as an archival lead marking where a hull-level record would be found if one exists; no RG 19/RG 24 pull was performed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-119-lsm119-15