Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet uh-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-277-lsm277-pkt-uh-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LSM-277 (10/14/14277.htm) - construction and specifications block [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14277.htm header block and Specifications table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 17 July 1944 at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark (Port Newark), N.J.; launched 27 September 1944; commissioned USS LSM-277, 19 October 1944, LT. Frank F. Murtha, USNR, in command (served 19 October 1944 - 1946). Specifications: displacement 520 tons (light), 743 tons (landing), 1,095 tons (fully loaded); length 203'6" (overall); beam 34'6"; speed 13.2 kts (max., at 928 tons displacement); armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm gun mounts; complement 5 officers and 54 enlisted; propulsion two General Motors (model GM 16-278A, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesel engines, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp combined.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Port Newark construction trades (1944); ship's crew (1944-1946)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific construction and specification data only; contains no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer compilation of primary ship data (NVR/BuShips-derived), not itself a government registry; verified live 2026-10-01 (navsource.net, not the dead navsource.org mirror).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-01
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LSM-277 - WWII service narrative and photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14277.htm service narrative and photograph captions (3 photos)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; organizationally part of LSM Flotilla Twelve (LCDR A. F. Dineen, USN), LSM Group Thirty-Six (LT. V. L. Homer, USN), and LSM Division Seventy-Two. Participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 April to 17 June 1945, earning one battle star for World War II service. Photographed off Okinawa in the distance, April-May 1945 (credited to Time-Life photographer J. R. Eyerman); photographed entering or exiting the well deck of USS Oak Hill (LSD-7) at Hagushi, Okinawa, May 1945; and underway with other LSMs, date/location unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Ship's crew, Okinawa invasion fleet population (Apr-Jun 1945)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific service history and photography captions only; no asbestos or material-condition content. Photo credits and captions are as compiled by NavSource; no independent verification of the Time-Life/Eyerman attribution was performed beyond the page's own caption.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LSM-277 - postwar service and disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14277.htm service/disposition narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Following WWII, assigned to occupation service in the Far East, 23 September to 9 December 1945. Decommissioned 18 June 1946 at Terminal Island Navy Yard, San Pedro, CA. Sold 10 March 1948 to Arthur C. Penberthy, Los Angeles, CA; converted to a barge; fate thereafter unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Limitations
- Ship-specific disposition data only; contains no asbestos or hazmat information for the 1946 decommissioning/mothballing or the 1948 sale/conversion. No record of the barge conversion yard, any work performed, or the vessel's ultimate fate was located in public sources.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (diesel propulsion, GM 16-278A x2, no boiler/steam plant); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy-wide asbestos insulation era); shipyards.json Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. documented product list (era products at the company's Kearny Point yard, see ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; GAO HRD-80-2 product-page description
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An LSM-1 class diesel-propelled medium landing ship built in 1944 falls within the Navy's documented WWII/postwar asbestos-use era. As a diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam ships does not apply. Era-standard applications for a diesel landing ship of this design and period: diesel exhaust lagging, pipe insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation, within the confined crew and vehicle/cargo-deck spaces characteristic of LSM-1 construction.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Federal Shipbuilding Port Newark construction trades (1944); ship's crew (1944-1946); any barge-conversion trades (1948, yard unknown)
- Limitations
- Class/design/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-277. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials, manufacturer, or quantity aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-04
-
[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 blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's entire construction and service window (1944-1946) and the era of her 1948 sale.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and ship's crews; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-01) - content via product-page description, consistent with prior batch findings for this same report.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-05
-
[7]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Industrial Health Survey of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ (Aug. 30-Sep. 2, 1944) - per Atlas shipyards.json entry federal-shipbuilding-kearny; introduced as Owens-Illinois interrogatory exhibit #20 in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County TX (1990) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json yard_id federal-shipbuilding-kearny, evidence_id ev-federal-kearny-ihs-1944; https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/4ayjMMY2q6pqomB4eDk5Nq9op
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- The only Atlas shipyard-dataset asbestos documentation tied to this hull's corporate builder: an August-September 1944 industrial health survey found insulator work with Johns-Manville Superex asbestos pipe covering and boiler/pipe insulation (Kaylo, 1948 onward) in confined shipyard spaces, with dust counts measured during cutting and fitting operations. Garlock asbestos gaskets and W.R. Grace Monokote fireproofing are also documented at the company via asbestos-trust claim records (undated, broader period).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- Insulators and pipefitters at Federal Shipbuilding's Kearny Point yard (not this hull's build site)
- Limitations
- CRITICAL SITE CAVEAT: this survey was conducted at Federal Shipbuilding's main Kearny Point yard (Hackensack River/Newark Bay). LSM-277 was built at the company's separate Port Newark satellite yard (the former Submarine Boat Co. site, built out in 1942 for amphibious/escort production) - a different physical worksite under the same corporate parent. This row is therefore corporate-level context only, not even class_or_era evidence for this hull's actual build site; Port Newark has no corresponding Atlas shipyards.json entry (see gaps). Does not establish materials, insulators, or practices at the Port Newark yard specifically.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated, via cl-auth-search.py), type=o (Opinion) and type=r (RECAP docket), queries "LSM-277" and "USS LSM-277" [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-04 through -07
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener was successfully queried this session (authenticated, not blocked): "LSM-277" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets; "USS LSM-277" returned 0 opinions and 0 dockets. No qualifying asbestos litigation, or any litigation, naming this hull was located. A supplementary web sweep for "LSM-277" alongside asbestos/mesothelioma/lawsuit terms likewise surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm marketing content specific to this hull (unlike several other records in this batch set, no marketing-source claim exists here to exclude).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- This is a genuine negative finding (searches executed and returned zero results), not a blocked/unsearched gap. Absence of a located case does not prove absence of exposure or a viable claim - it reflects only the public sources searched as of this date. The no-hyphen variant "LSM 277" could not be queried this session (fleet-wide CourtListener pacing budget momentarily exhausted on that attempt) - logged in search_ledger, not expected to change the result given the hyphenated and USS-prefixed forms both returned zero.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-07
-
[9]Correction/disambiguation: multiple research queries for "LSM-277" surfaced NHHC DANFS page https://history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-277.html ("lst 277") due to keyword/number proximity [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-277.html (confirmed distinct vessel, not used as a source)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION: search results repeatedly surfaced DANFS/NavSource pages for USS LST-277 (a Tank Landing Ship) and USS LST-276 alongside queries for this hull. USS LST-277 is a different vessel of a different type (Landing Ship, Tank vs. this hull's Landing Ship, Medium) with its own independent construction and service history. No content from the LST-277/LST-276 DANFS or NavSource pages was used anywhere in this record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Documents a research-process disambiguation only; not a material or asbestos finding. No dedicated NHHC DANFS page for LSM-277 itself was located in this session - DANFS coverage of individual LSM hulls is inconsistent (some, such as LSM-175/later Oceanside, have entries; this hull does not appear to).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-277-lsm277-08