Evidence
13 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-13).
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[1]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-200 hull page (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page, construction/commissioning lines
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-200 was laid down 21 September 1944 at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.; launched 17 October 1944; and commissioned USS LSM-200 on 11 December 1944, with LTjg. Robert Potter Hallenbeck, USNR, in command.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction workforce and commissioning crew
- Limitations
- Establishes construction and commissioning identity only; the page makes no statement about asbestos, insulation composition, or hazmat condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-01
-
[2]National Archives at Atlanta, RG 181 finding aid, Ship Commissioning Files, Sixth Naval District (Charleston), 1942-1945 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Finding aid table, row 'LSM-200 / 12/11/1944 / Box 8 / Landing Ship, Medium'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- A NARA finding aid for Record Group 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments), 'Ship Commissioning Files - Sixth Naval District at Charleston, South Carolina, 1942-1945' (National Archives Identifier 2694599), lists a commissioning-correspondence folder for 'LSM-200,' dated 12/11/1944, in Box 8, type 'Landing Ship, Medium.' This independently corroborates the 11 December 1944 commissioning date via a separate archival record series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Confirms existence of a commissioning-correspondence folder and date only; box-level contents (correspondence, invitations, instructions per the series description) were not retrieved and contain no asbestos information as described.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-02
-
[3]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-200 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page, decommissioning/disposition lines
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-200 was decommissioned (NavSource: 19 July 1946) and laid up in the Reserve Fleet. The Naval Register strike date is stated by NavSource as unknown. Final disposition: sold in September 1958 to Paul E. McDaniel, Houston, TX; fate thereafter unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-1958
- Limitations
- Establishes decommissioning, reserve lay-up, and 1958 sale; no post-sale record (scrapping, conversion, hazmat survey) was located. A secondary enthusiast database gives a different decommissioning day and a specific strike date not found here - see gaps and ev-07 (correction/negative-finding context).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-06
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[4]NavSource Online, USS LSM-200 specifications block [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page, 'Specifications' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Specifications per NavSource: displacement 520 t. (light), 743 t. (landing), 1,095 t. (fully loaded); length 203'6" overall; beam 34'6"; speed 13.2 kts. max; complement 5 officers and 54 enlisted, troop accommodations for 2 officers and 46 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm gun mounts; two General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; vehicle/boat capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVTs, or 9 DUKWs; 10-lb STS splinter-shield armor to gun mounts, pilot house, and conning station.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troop/vehicle capacity
- Limitations
- Specifications are class-typical figures reproduced on the ship's individual page; no boiler or steam plant is listed, so steam-system asbestos categories (common on larger steam-powered hulls) do not apply to this vessel. Establishes no asbestos-containing component.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-04
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[5]NavSource Online, USS LSM-200 photo captions (credited to USS LSM/LSMR Association and to Chuck Kramer, USS LSM-200 & YDG 11) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page photo-caption block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Dated, photographically documented 1945 activity places LSM-200 in Virginia home waters: approaching and beaching at Amphibious Training Base Camp Bradford, VA during an amphibious exercise for the Army-Navy Staff College on 19 February 1945 (with F4U Corsairs performing strafing demonstrations overhead); and, in July 1945, serving as squadron flagship leading the squadron in file order during maneuvers off the Virginia coast, including a beaching exercise at Cove Point, Virginia Beach.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Ship's company and ATB Camp Bradford exercise personnel
- Limitations
- These are the only dated operational records located; they place the ship in CONUS training waters in February and July 1945, not overseas. No Pacific deployment, port of call, or combat operation is documented in any source reviewed - see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-05
-
[6]Naval Vessel Register (NAVSEA), official site landing page and scope statement [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR home page, scope/coverage statement (verified by direct fetch)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Naval Vessel Register's public site states: 'Ships and service craft disposed of prior to 1987 are currently not included, however the data is gradually being added along with other updates.' LSM-200 was sold/disposed in 1958, placing it outside the NVR's current documented scope; no NVR detail page, strike date, or disposal record for LSM-200 is retrievable from the official register.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Explains why no NVR record exists for this hull; does not itself supply any asbestos information or an official strike date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-07
-
[7]Naval History and Heritage Command - direct verification of DANFS and NMUSN photography URL patterns for LSM-200 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- HTTP 404 response verified by direct fetch, 2026-10-01
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No individual DANFS (Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships) entry or NHHC-hosted photography page exists for LSM-200: direct URL checks at the expected DANFS path and the NMUSN ships-photography path both returned HTTP 404 on verification. This is consistent with general DANFS practice of not writing individual histories for most unnamed LSM hull numbers (as distinct from named auxiliaries later converted from LSM hulls, which do receive DANFS entries).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Absence of an individual NHHC page does not mean the hull is undocumented elsewhere (NavSource and NARA supply the ship-specific record used here); it establishes only that NHHC's own DANFS/photography sections carry no dedicated LSM-200 page as of this research date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-08
-
[8]CourtListener API v4, authenticated search via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- Authenticated queries, 2026-10-01: type=o and type=r, exact-phrase "LSM-200"/"USS LSM-200" (count=0 both); unquoted 'LSM-200 asbestos' type=o (count=1, non-qualifying)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A CourtListener litigation sweep via the authenticated fleet helper found no qualifying case naming this hull: exact-phrase searches for "LSM-200" and "USS LSM-200" returned zero results across both opinion and docket (RECAP) record types. A broader unquoted keyword search ('LSM-200 asbestos') returned exactly one hit, In Re Managed Care Litigation, 298 F. Supp. 2d 1259 (S.D. Fla. 2003), a healthcare-provider antitrust/RICO MDL with no vessel, Navy, or asbestos-exposure connection - classified as a keyword false-positive/name collision, not a qualifying case.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Covers CourtListener's indexed opinions and RECAP dockets only as of the search date; state-court filings, settled claims never reduced to a published opinion, and trust-fund claims outside CourtListener's index are not covered by this sweep and would not appear here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-09
-
[9]LSM Manual (Navy operating/technical manual for the LSM-1 class), digitized copy contributed by Patrick Blackman, hosted by NavSource Online [other_primary]
- Locator
- Chapters lsm01-01.pdf (General Data), lsm02-30.pdf (Main Propelling Machinery), lsm02-31-9.pdf (Auxiliary Machinery); OCR'd at 300dpi, tesseract 5
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A direct OCR review of the NavSource-digitized LSM-1 class Navy operating manual - Chapter 1 (General Data), Chapter 30 (Main Propelling Machinery), and Chapter 31-9/31-6 (Auxiliary Machinery, refrigeration and auxiliary boiler sections) - found no reference to asbestos, insulation material, or pipe/exhaust lagging in the sections reviewed. These chapters are dimensional and mechanical-rating specifications (hull dimensions, engine horsepower/weights, auxiliary equipment lists); they are not a materials or outfitting specification, and the manual's remaining ~40 chapters (including compartmentation, labeling, and storerooms) were not exhaustively reviewed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- LSM-1 class construction and operating personnel generally
- Limitations
- A class-level manual's silence on materials in the chapters reviewed does not establish that the class was asbestos-free; thermal/electrical insulation specifications, if present at all in this manual, were not located in the sections searched. Does not name this hull and does not establish presence or absence of asbestos aboard LSM-200.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-10
-
[10]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- DOI resolves live to the publisher record (verified by direct HTTP check, 302 to onlinelibrary.wiley.com); full text blocked behind a Cloudflare bot-challenge (HTTP 403) - an access gap, not link rot
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II, the era and wartime production program under which this diesel landing ship was built, and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard Navy and merchant-type hulls alike.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class/era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name LSM-200, this class, or any diesel-powered small craft specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-11
-
[11]Batch-5997 search ledger (this record): see search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-01 through -09 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-01 through sl-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record exists for LSM-200: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming the hull was located in NavSource, the NARA RG181 finding aid, the NVR, NHHC/DANFS, or CourtListener's indexed opinions and dockets. Asbestos documentation for this hull is therefore class/era inference only, not a ship-specific finding.
- 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 diesel landing ship built under wartime materials standards is era-consistent with asbestos-containing gaskets, packing, and electrical/exhaust insulation. Does not establish presence, absence, quantity, exposure, or legal eligibility for any claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-12
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records (RG 181, RG 38, RG 24); NavSource photo-credit line [other_primary]
- Locator
- RG181 finding aid Box 8 row; RG38/RG24 record-group mapping only, no box-level retrieval performed; NH 304549 credit line on https://www.navsource.net/archives/10/14/14200.htm
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - no spend authorized): NARA RG 181 Box 8 commissioning-correspondence folder for LSM-200 (contents not pulled beyond the finding-aid index entry); RG 38 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations) World War II action/operational reports; RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) deck logs, which for LSM-type hulls are catalogued individually in the National Archives Catalog. Separately, a NavSource photo caption credits one 19 February 1945 image to 'US Navy photo # NH 304549 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center,' but a current NHHC-hosted copy of that catalog number could not be located in this research pass.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946 records
- Limitations
- Record-group/box mapping only; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-13
-
[13]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-200 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page, theater/flotilla assignment and commanding-officers list (credited 'Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves')
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- During World War II LSM-200 was organizationally assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LSM Flotilla Sixteen, LSM Group Forty-Six, LSM Division Ninety-One. Commanding officers, per the hull page's official-looking roster: LTjg. Robert Potter Hallenbeck, USNR (11 December 1944 - 3 November 1945); LT. Robert B. Field, USNR (3 November 1945 - 15 February 1946); LTjg. J.M. McKeough, USNR (15 February 1946 - June 1946); LTjg. Warren O. Johnson, USNR (June 1946 - 19 July 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company, 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Establishes organizational assignment and CO succession, not a voyage-by-voyage deployment history; no port of call or operation placing the ship overseas is documented. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-200-lsm200-03