Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-163 (navsource.net), history extract credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II' (Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net LSM-163 page, specifications table, commanding-officers table, and photo-caption block; source credit line at page foot
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-specific build and service record for this hull: laid down 6 June 1944 at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.; launched 26 June 1944 (christened by Miss Mary Ellen Roark); commissioned 22 August 1944, LT. Robert Wiggins Johnson, USNR, in command. WWII service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater as part of LSM Flotilla One (LCDR H.B. Taliaferro, USN), LSM Group Three (flagship, LCDR A.K. Ridgway, USNR), and LSM Division Six. Post-war occupation service in the Far East, 28 September-2 October 1945 (photographed among ABSD-6 and other vessels at Apra Harbor, Guam, October 1945). Commanding officers: LT. Robert Wiggins Johnson (22 Aug 1944-7 Nov 1945); LTJG Donald M. Smith (7 Nov 1945-Feb 1946); LTJG Arvad M. Rouse Jr. (Feb 1946-21 Jun 1946). Photographed at Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor, 4 May 1946. Decommissioned 21 June 1946 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA; sold for scrapping 26 February 1948 to New Orleans Shipwrecking Corp., Chicago, IL. Specifications: displacement 520 t. (light), 743 t. (landing), 1,095 t. (fully loaded); length 203'6" overall; beam 34'6"; draft 3'6" fwd/7'8" aft (light), 6'4" fwd/8'3" aft (loaded); maximum speed 13.2 kt; propulsion two General Motors diesel engines, approx. 2,800 bhp combined, twin screw; complement 5 officers/54 enlisted; troop lift capacity 2 officers/46 enlisted, or 5 medium/3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVTs, or 9 DUKWs; diesel fuel capacity 1,225 barrels; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm gun mounts; awards American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades, 1944; WWII and post-war crew (design complement 59)
- Limitations
- This is a secondary compiled source, not a government primary record: the page's history narrative is explicitly credited to a 1997 Turner Publishing veterans'-history volume, not to DANFS or NHHC. No dedicated NHHC/DANFS page for this hull could be located - confirmed this session by a direct HTTP check against the candidate history.navy.mil URL (404; numbered LSM hulls that were never renamed generally do not receive individual DANFS entries). Carried as the best available ship-specific compilation; documents specifications and service record, not asbestos content or materials aboard.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-01
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[2]NARA finding aid, RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments), Sixth Naval District/Charleston Navy Yard Ship Commissioning Files, 1939-1945 (National Archives at Atlanta) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Atlanta finding aid, RG181 Charleston series description and box inventory (LSM section)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA finding aid confirms this hull appears in the Charleston Navy Yard ship commissioning files series: LSM-163, commissioned 8/22/1944, filed in Box 6 of a 10-box series covering destroyers, destroyer escorts, APDs, LSTs, and an extensive LSM series (LSM-126 through LSM-558) commissioned 1942-1945 at Charleston.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard commissioning-detail personnel, 1944
- Limitations
- Finding-aid/index-level confirmation only; the box's actual contents (correspondence, invitations, and instructions relating to commissioning) were not retrieved or reviewed this session. Documents a commissioning-file record exists, not materials used aboard or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-02
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[3]U.S. General Accounting Office, 'Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure,' HRD-80-2 (18 Oct. 1979, publicly released 22 Oct. 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page summary (gao.gov/products/hrd-80-2); direct curl request returned HTTP 403 (bot-blocking) this session, page content retrieved via browser-style fetch
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- GAO reviewed Navy efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, examining use of asbestos in Navy ships, removal costs, and compensation programs. Documents the Navy's 1975 policy of removing/replacing only damaged insulation during necessary repairs, modified in 1979 to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas ahead of anticipated repair cycles; full one-time removal was not undertaken (estimated $2 billion cost deemed unjustified).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1975-1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers, Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, 1970s
- Limitations
- Navy-wide policy context examining Long Beach and Norfolk shipyards specifically - does not name Charleston Navy Yard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, or LSM-163, and documents 1975-79 era policy, two to three decades after this hull's 1944 construction and 1946 decommissioning. Era/regulatory context only, not a ship- or yard-specific finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-03
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[4]Era/class inference built on: NavSource specifications (LSM-1 class, diesel direct-drive propulsion, 1944 Charleston Navy Yard build) + GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy-wide asbestos-insulation regime) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications table (propulsion); GAO HRD-80-2 summary
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/class inference: an LSM-1-class landing ship built in 1944 with a diesel direct-drive plant (two General Motors diesels, twin screw, no boiler/turbine steam plant) would have carried period-standard asbestos-containing materials in engineering and berthing spaces - engine and exhaust-line lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical cable insulation, and deck/bulkhead covering - consistent with Navy-wide practice of the period (GAO HRD-80-2).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades 1944; WWII/post-war crew; Mare Island Naval Shipyard decommissioning personnel 1946
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only, not an independent ship-specific finding - no boiler/turbine lagging pathway applies to this hull because propulsion was diesel direct-drive, not steam; no survey, manifest, or yard-level industrial-hygiene study for Charleston Navy Yard or Mare Island Naval Shipyard (the two yards tied to this hull) was located to ground this beyond general era practice.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-04
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[5]Negative-finding synthesis across this session's source sweep: NavSource, NARA finding aid, GAO, general web search for ship-specific asbestos claims [other_primary]
- Locator
- Session source sweep: NavSource, archives.gov finding aid, gao.gov, general web search
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation of any kind was located for LSM-163: no abatement record, hazmat/ACM survey, EPA/NIOSH hazard evaluation, or museum-condition disclosure (the hull was scrapped in 1948 and was never preserved, so no modern museum-survey pathway exists). General web searches for 'LSM-163' plus 'asbestos' surfaced no qualifying primary source - only generic law-firm/marketing content (excluded by source policy; not cited).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-2026 (documentation-gap finding)
- Population
- N/A - absence finding
- Limitations
- Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence - this reflects a documentation gap typical of small, scrapped-in-1948 numbered auxiliary craft with no surviving hull and no DANFS entry, not an affirmative finding that no asbestos was aboard. CourtListener's opinion-type search completed and returned zero hits (see ev-06), but docket/RECAP-type search is separately unresolved this session (blocked by fleet-wide pacing) and is NOT folded into this negative finding - see gaps and search_ledger.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-05
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[6]CourtListener API v4, authenticated search (type=o, opinion), query "LSM-163" [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py authenticated request, 2026-09-30, type=o, query_len=9, HTTP 200 response body {"count": 0, "next": null, "previous": null, "results": []}
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Authenticated CourtListener opinion-type search for the exact hull designation "LSM-163" returned zero results (HTTP 200, count: 0). No published federal or state appellate/trial opinion in CourtListener's opinion index names this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- CourtListener opinion index as of 2026-09-30
- Population
- N/A - litigation absence finding (opinions only)
- Limitations
- Covers published opinions only (type=o). RECAP/docket-type (type=r) search for the same query could not be completed this session - blocked by a fleet-wide pacing throttle on every attempt after the opinion search cleared (see search_ledger sl-07b). A pleading-stage complaint or unpublished docket entry naming this hull would not appear in an opinion-only search, so this negative result does NOT establish that no litigation names this hull - only that no published opinion does.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-163-lsm163-06