Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet tr-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LSM-166. Verified hull: LSM-166. Designation: LSM (Landing Ship Medium). Type/class: LSM-1-class landing ship medium.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-166-lsm166-pkt-tr-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LSM-166 (LSM-1 class) - construction, commanding officers, service history, specifications, disposal [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14166.htm, header block, specifications block, 'Struck from the Naval Register' line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 20 June 1944 at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.; launched 24 July 1944; commissioned USS LSM-166, 31 August 1944, LT. John F. Doran USNR in command (succeeded by LT. Robert L. Stockus USNR, June 1945, then LTJG. Thomas C. O'Halloran USNR, 5 January 1946). Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater, LSM Flotilla Five, LSM Group Fifteen, LSM Division Twenty-Nine; participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 April-30 June 1945; Occupation Service in the Far East, 2 September-3 December 1945. Decommissioned 2 May 1946 at New Orleans, LA. 'Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown.' Sold October 1947 to Mechanical Equipment Co., New Orleans, LA, converted to a barge, fate unknown. Earned one battle star for World War II service. Spec block: displacement 520 t. (light), 743 t. (landing), 1,095 t. (fully loaded); length 203'6" (ovl); beam 34'6"; speed 13.2 kts. (max.); complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun, four single 20mm gun mounts; propulsion two General Motors (model GM 16-278A, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesel engines, 1,440 bhp each, twin screws.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1944); crew (1944-1946)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific identity and service history only; no asbestos or material content whatsoever. NavSource is a volunteer compilation that transcribes the Navy's own ship-history/spec-block format, not itself a federal repository; no independent NHHC DANFS page for this hull could be located to cross-verify (see ev-03 and search_ledger). Does not establish combat damage - no record of kamikaze or storm damage was found for this hull during the Okinawa campaign, unlike several sister LSMs.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-01
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[3]National Archives at Atlanta, finding aid, RG 181 Naval Districts and Shore Establishments - Ship Commissioning Files, Sixth Naval District at Charleston, SC (NAID 2694599) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Finding aid NAID 2694599, Box 6 entry for LSM-166
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Box 6 of this series holds the commissioning file for 'Landing Ship, Medium LSM-166,' commissioning date 8/31/1944, within a collection described as 'correspondence, invitations, and instructions relating to the commissioning of naval vessels at the Charleston Navy Yard during the World War, 1939-1945' (commissioning files dated 1942-1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (commissioning); finding aid undated
- Limitations
- Finding-aid-level description only; confirms a commissioning file exists and its box location, not its contents. No asbestos content - this is an administrative/ceremonial commissioning record, not a work or materials record. The underlying file itself was not retrieved (on-site NARA record, not digitized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-02
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[4]NHHC Photography, numerical list of images, NH-series catalog entry 'NH 79721 USS LSM-166' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC NH-series numerical list, entry NH-79721 (title only, page unreachable)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's public image-catalog index lists a photograph identified as 'NH 79721 USS LSM-166,' confirming NHHC holds imagery cataloged under this hull number.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- unknown
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - the live NHHC page could not be reached this session (connection refused on repeated attempts, and this harness cannot fetch Wayback Machine captures as a fallback); the photo's actual caption, date, and content are unverified. Listed here solely as a confirmed-to-exist lead, not as support for any specific historical or asbestos claim. No DANFS/NHHC ship-history page (as opposed to this photo-catalog entry) could be located for this hull at all.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (two GM 16-278A diesel engines, twin screw, no steam plant - see ev-01); shipyards.json documented asbestos-use era for Navy shipyards generally; GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing ship medium built in 1944 at a U.S. Navy yard sits inside the Navy's documented WWII-era asbestos-use period; era-standard applications aboard a small diesel-powered vessel of this type were machinery-space thermal insulation, diesel exhaust-manifold and pipe lagging, gaskets and valve packing in the engine and fuel systems, and electrical cable insulation in the confined hull volume. As a diesel-powered ship she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway documented for steam combatants and merchant ships does not apply to this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1944); crew (1944-1946); unknown subsequent barge-conversion/operating population (1947-)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or builder's asbestos-use record for LSM-166 or the LSM-1 class was located. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution, no present-day presence (the hull was converted to a barge in 1947 and its subsequent fate is unknown).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-04
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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 PDF blocked to automated/curl fetch, HTTP 403 confirmed 2026-09-30)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships Navy-wide and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - a program-level finding spanning this hull's entire construction and active-service window (1944-1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers Navy-wide; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; GAO's fieldwork for this report was conducted at the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, neither of which is Charleston Navy Yard (this hull's builder) - supports Navy-wide era context only, not any fact specific to this hull or yard. Full text not independently verified by direct fetch (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated/curl requests, confirmed 2026-09-30); content is from the GAO product-page description, retrieved via a browser-rendering fetch tool.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-05
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[7]Batch-5970 search ledger (this record): NavSource; NARA finding aid; NHHC photo-catalog index (page unreachable); NHHC DANFS (no hull-specific page exists); NVR (not digitized for pre-1987 disposals); CourtListener (partial - see caveat); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-01 through -08
- 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-166 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CAVEAT: CourtListener's exact-phrase query "LSM-166" returned zero hits in both opinions (type=o) and dockets (type=r). Two further phrase variants ("LSM 166", "USS LSM-166") could not be completed - the fleet-wide shared pacing limiter reported its request budget as momentarily spent on repeated attempts across this session and did not clear; logged as blocked, not run to completion, per batch policy against retrying into a ban. An unquoted keyword query against the same term returned only unrelated cases (a patent suit, a debt-collection appeal) that do not contain the search string - classified as noise/false match, not a hit.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. This hull has no individual NHHC/DANFS ship-history page at all (confirmed 404 on all candidate URLs) - unusual even among LSMs, most of which likewise lack one unless later renamed. Litigation status is a genuine partial gap, not a clean negative, given the two unrun phrase variants. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-166-lsm166-06