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-278-lsm278-pkt-uh-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, LSM-278 ship page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Specifications block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Specifications: displacement 520 tons light / 743 tons landing / 1,095 tons fully loaded; length 203'6" overall; beam 34'6"; complement 5 officers and 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm gun mounts; propulsion two General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines, 2,800 shp, twin screws, 13.2 knots maximum speed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Limitations
- Establishes this is a diesel-propelled hull with no boiler/steam plant - relevant to scoping which asbestos applications are era-plausible (lagging/gaskets/packing, not boiler insulation) - but documents no asbestos content itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-04
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, LSM-278 ship page; uboat.net Allied Warships database entry for LSM-278 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource disposition line; uboat.net 'Fate' and key-dates fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-278 was decommissioned 1946-06-05 at NOB Subic Bay, Philippines; stricken from the Navy list 1947-09-29; and sold 1948-02-13 to the Republic of China (Taiwan). No subsequent Republic of China Navy name, pennant number, or ultimate fate has been located - both sources explicitly describe the fate as unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-1948
- Limitations
- Disposition and transfer record only; no asbestos, materials, abatement, or condition-at-transfer information in either source. The strike date (1947-09-29) and order date (1943-11-05) appear on uboat.net but not on NavSource; both sources agree on decommission and sale dates.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-03
-
[4]Owens-Illinois, Inc., Supplemental Answers to Second Interrogatories, Tommie L. Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Brazoria County District Court, TX (filed 1990-09-20) [court_record]
- Locator
- Interrogatory response section listing WWII shipyard industrial health surveys
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Owens-Illinois, Inc.'s 1990 supplemental interrogatory answers in Heathman v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (Brazoria County, TX) list an industrial health survey the company conducted at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ, August 30-September 2, 1944, among numerous WWII-era shipyard inspections documenting asbestos insulator work, including Johns-Manville Superex pipe covering.
- 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
- Limitations
- This is a discovery-stage interrogatory response filed in unrelated 1990s Texas litigation that does not involve or name this vessel; it documents conditions at the builder's Kearny, NJ operations during the exact window of LSM-278's construction (laid down-launched), but Federal Shipbuilding operated a second, physically separate facility at Port Newark (built 1942) and NavSource/uboat.net give this hull's builder location simply as 'Newark, N.J.' - which specific facility produced LSM-278 could not be confirmed, so this row is carried as company/era-level context, not a hull-specific or facility-confirmed finding. Establishes nothing about quantity, shipboard presence, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-05
-
[5]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
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material across U.S. shipbuilding during World War II, the era and program under which LSM-278 was mass-produced, and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization fleet-wide.
- 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 context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this builder, or this ship class, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-06
-
[6]Batch-6082 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS index; NavSource; uboat.net; CourtListener API v4 opinion and docket searches [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-03 through sl-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LSM-278 was found. LSM-278 has no individual DANFS/NHHC ship-history entry (consistent with the general DANFS pattern for bare hull-numbered LSMs never renamed before the mid-1950s naming program - confirmed by checking sister hulls LSM-175 and LSM-373, which appear in DANFS only as class-identification footnotes under their later-renamed sisters Oceanside and Lakeland). CourtListener opinion searches for "LSM-278" (9 results) and "USS LSM-278" (1 result) returned only name-collision noise (a New Mexico criminal appeal, a Texas criminal appeal, a Puerto Rico prisoner case, an employment case, a defamation case, a federal-claims patent case, and similar unrelated matters) - no ship, Navy, or asbestos connection in any result. A CourtListener docket keyword search for "LSM-278" returned 521 results; the sampled top 20 were unrelated bankruptcy, MDL, and civil matters with no Navy or asbestos connection.
- 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 this hull during its service life - it establishes only that no qualifying public documentation was found in the sources searched. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-07
-
[7]National Archives and Records Administration, 'Naval Deck Logs' research guide [other_primary]
- Locator
- Deck-logs research guide page; RG24/RG38 series description
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds WWII-era U.S. Navy deck logs (Record Group 24, logbook series, 1941 and later) and war diaries/operational histories (Record Group 38) at the National Archives at College Park, MD, with a published online index of digitized logbooks; these are the generic archival series that could hold hull-specific material for LSM-278, but no LSM-278-specific item was found via public catalog search.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - confirms the generic record series exists and explains where it is held, but does not confirm a specific digitized or cataloged item for this hull. No asbestos content implied or claimed; no reproduction ordered or spend authorized.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-08
-
[8]NavSource Naval History, LSM-278 ship page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Construction/commissioning block and commanding-officer table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-278 (LSM-1 class landing ship, medium) was ordered 1943-11-05; laid down 1944-07-17 at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newark, N.J.; launched 1944-10-06; and commissioned USS LSM-278 on 1944-10-25 with Ens. Stanley C. Orr, USN, in command.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Limitations
- Vessel-history and identity record only; contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information and supports no asbestos claim. Cross-corroborated on these dates by uboat.net Allied Warships (ev-03); no DANFS/NHHC entry exists for this bare hull-numbered LSM (see ev-07).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-01
-
[9]NavSource Naval History, LSM-278 ship page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Service history / campaign narrative block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- During World War II, LSM-278 served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater as part of LSM Flotilla Twelve (LCdr. A. F. Dineen, USN), LSM Group Thirty-four (LCdr. V. W. Webb, USNR), and LSM Division Sixty-Eight, participating in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1-28 April 1945. She earned one battle star for World War II service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Documents operational history and campaign participation only; no asbestos, materials, or hazard information. Does not establish any individual crew member's exposure or health outcome.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-278-lsm278-02