Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 823-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-256-lsm256-pkt-823-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-256 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Live hull page: awards/campaigns block, construction/service chronology, and specifications block; HTTP 200
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive records for this hull: LSM-1 class landing ship, medium; laid down 24 February 1944 at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J.; launched 22 April 1944; commissioned USS LSM-256, 27 May 1944, LTjg. Joseph R. Gilmore USNR in command. Assigned during WWII to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LSM Flotilla One (LCDR H. B. Taliaferro USN), LSM Group One (LCDR F. L. O'Leary USNR), LSM Division One; participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 30 May-30 June 1945 (one battle star). Postwar occupation and China service (11-25 Sep 1945; 7 Oct-22 Nov 1945; 18-21 Mar 1946; 22 May-3 Sep 1946). Decommissioned 3 September 1946 at Shanghai, China, and transferred the same day to the Republic of China; struck from the Naval Register on an unknown date. Eluded Communist Chinese capture in October 1949, escaping to Taiwan as ROCS LSM-341; sunk 16 June 1969 after colliding with the merchant ship Ta Tung in dense fog. Specifications: displacement 520 t. (light)/743 t. (landing)/1,095 t. (fully loaded); length 203'6" (ovl); beam 34'6"; complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted; troop accommodations 2 officers, 46 enlisted; propulsion two Fairbanks Morse 38D81/8X10 diesel engines, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, 2,800 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1969
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. construction workforce (1944); LSM-256 ship's company (1944-1946); ROCS LSM-341 ship's company (1946-1969)
- Limitations
- Supports identity, construction, command, flotilla/group/division assignment, service periods, decommissioning, ROC transfer, and final loss. Does not document asbestos, insulation composition, material condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-01
-
[3]National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, Center for U.S. War Veterans' Oral Histories, 'William Seidler, World War II/Korean War Oral History Interview' (interviewed 18 June 2003 by Michelle Carrara; summarized by Irving Bauman) [museum_official]
- Locator
- Interview summary, paragraphs on LSM-256 assignment and Pacific-theater duties ('Seidler remembered that during his time in the Pacific war his duties aboard ship included repairing a 240 volt cable insulated with asbestos...')
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, Center for U.S. War Veterans' Oral Histories: William Seidler, an electrician's mate who served aboard USS LSM-256 in the Pacific theater (1944-45), recalled in a 18 June 2003 interview that his duties aboard ship 'included repairing a 240 volt cable insulated with asbestos, and replacing worn generator brushes in the engine room.' The interview states he served in the engine room alongside machinist's mates, serviced two electric generators, and maintained the ship's evaporators; it names USS LSM-256 repeatedly and specifically throughout (construction assignment, the Pacific transit via Panama Canal/San Francisco/Pearl Harbor/Eniwetok/Kwajalein/Saipan/Philippines/Okinawa, and a Bronze Star for shooting down a kamikaze).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (service); interview conducted 2003-06-18
- Population
- William Seidler, U.S. Navy electrician's mate, USS LSM-256, 1944-1945
- Limitations
- A single veteran's firsthand recollection, recorded roughly 58-59 years after the events it describes, naming this hull and an asbestos-insulated cable he personally repaired. It establishes that at least one asbestos-containing electrical component was present and serviced aboard this hull during 1944-45; it does not establish the extent, manufacturer, or current status of asbestos aboard the ship, does not constitute a survey or inventory, is uncorroborated by any independent inspection or Navy record, and does not establish causation or medical outcome for this individual. The same interview contains biographical details (commissioning month, construction pier) that conflict with the NavSource/contemporaneous record - see gaps; those conflicts concern ancillary biographical recollection, not the identity of the vessel named or the asbestos-cable detail itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-02
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[4]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944); mirrored document hosting [other_primary]
- Locator
- Atlas shipyards.json yard record 'federal-shipbuilding-kearny', evidence ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944; mirrored survey document
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- Owens-Illinois, Inc. conducted an Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (30 August-2 September 1944) - the same builder yard, during the same general period this hull was under construction there (laid down 24 Feb 1944; launched 22 Apr 1944; commissioned 27 May 1944). The survey documented insulator work with asbestos pipe covering (Johns-Manville Superex) and boiler insulation, with dust counts measured during cutting and fitting operations in confined shipyard spaces. This survey is carried in the Atlas shipyards dataset as yard-level evidence (yard_id federal-shipbuilding-kearny, ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944) and was introduced as an Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit in unrelated asbestos litigation (Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County, TX, 1990).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-08-30 to 1944-09-02
- Population
- Shipyard insulators and pipefitters, Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ, 1944
- Limitations
- Yard-level, era-specific context only. Documents the builder yard's general asbestos-insulation work practices during the hull's construction window; does not name this ship, does not establish what materials (if any) were installed aboard this specific hull, and was conducted by a manufacturer with a commercial interest in the findings (pre-fiber-count-era dust measurement). Does not independently become a ship-specific finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-03
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[5]Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Vessel Register [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR site and scope statement; direct ship-detail URL guesses returned the generic NVR landing page, not a hull-specific record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NAVSEA's Naval Vessel Register page states that ships and service craft disposed of before 1987 are currently not included in the NVR database. No hull-specific NVR detail page for LSM-256 was located; LSM-256 was decommissioned and transferred out of U.S. Navy custody in 1946, consistent with this coverage gap.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- NVR current scope accessed 2026-10-01
- Population
- Pre-1987 Navy disposals
- Limitations
- Explains an official database coverage limitation; it is not evidence that no Navy record exists elsewhere and does not establish anything about asbestos aboard LSM-256.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-04
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[6]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- Search ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-08 through -13; authenticated helper output, count:0 for each
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- The authenticated CourtListener API v4 sweep (opinion and docket searches, exact-quoted 'USS LSM-256', 'LSM-256', and 'LSM 256') found no qualifying asbestos litigation record for this hull. All six searches returned zero results with no pacing throttle encountered.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- Search conducted 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- A clean bounded negative across both CourtListener's indexed opinions and RECAP dockets for three name variants; it is not proof that no litigation naming this hull exists outside CourtListener's indexed collections, and does not establish anything about asbestos presence, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-05
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[7]National Archives and Records Administration, 'Researching Asbestos aboard US Naval Vessel up through 1961' [other_primary]
- Locator
- Primary record groups and ship-information-resources sections (RG 19 Entry P 10; Filing Code S39)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- National Archives guidance on researching asbestos aboard U.S. Navy vessels through 1961 identifies Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships) correspondence and General Information Books (GIBs), including an amphibious-vessel series (RG 19, Entry P 10, 1940-1962) covering LSM-type landing ships, and Filing Code S39 ('Insulation and Lagging') as the relevant holdings for hull-specific material-specification research. No LSM-256-specific GIB or RG 19 correspondence file was requested or reviewed in this session.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- NARA guidance; archival holdings 1940-1962
- Limitations
- Describes where hull-specific records could exist; it does not itself contain any LSM-256-specific material or asbestos finding. The GIB and correspondence files it identifies were not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-256-lsm256-06