Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 563-packet.md (5 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED — real identity: USS LSM-338 (unnamed; hull designation is the identity)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-338-lsm338-pkt-563-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, 'LSM-338' ship page (reproducing official U.S. Navy commissioning/command data) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM-338 page, construction/commissioning block and commanding-officer roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- This hull was laid down 14 August 1944 at Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company, Chicago, IL; launched 5 December 1944; and commissioned USS LSM-338 on 10 January 1945 with LTjg. John M. Barker, USNR, in command. Two further commanding officers are recorded during the hull's U.S. Navy commission: LT. Major A. Siegel, USNR (November 1945-March 1946) and ENS. Mark L. Norman Jr., USNR (March 1946-June 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Pullman Standard Car Mfg. Co. shipyard-division construction trades, Chicago, 1944; U.S. Navy crew, Jan 1945-Jul 1946
- Limitations
- Establishes identity, builder, construction dates, and command roster for this hull. Does not address shipboard materials, asbestos, or any hazard information. navsource.net is a privately maintained naval-history archive, not a government-hosted page; used here per batch citation guidance because navsource.org (the formerly standard citation) is dead and this hull has no individual NHHC/DANFS narrative page.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-01
-
[3]NavSource Naval History, 'LSM-338' ship page, reproducing U.S. Navy photo caption for photo # NH 351357 and flotilla/group/division assignment data [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM-338 page, WWII service section and photo caption for 'USS LSM-120, USS LSM-123 and LSM-338 landing Army occupation forces at Wakayama, Japan, 23 September 1945'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- During World War II this hull was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater as part of LSM Flotilla Twelve, LSM Group Thirty-Six, LSM Division Seventy-One. On 23 September 1945 LSM-338, together with LSM-120 and LSM-123, landed U.S. Army occupation forces at Wakayama, Japan (documented in U.S. Navy photo # NH 351357, reproduced on the cited page). The hull then served in Occupation duty in the Far East from 20 September 1945 to 20 July 1946 before being decommissioned on 28 July 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- U.S. Navy crew, LSM Flotilla Twelve
- Limitations
- Documents wartime assignment, a specific landing operation, and occupation-duty dates. Does not establish shipboard materials or asbestos content. The underlying NH 351357 photo record could not be independently located on history.navy.mil's own numerical photo index during this research session (connection issues to history.navy.mil in this environment); treated as an access gap, not a missing source, per batch citation-hygiene rules — the navsource.net reproduction is cited as the verified-live source instead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-02
-
[4]NavSource Naval History, 'LSM-338' ship page, transfer/disposition section and photo caption for 'HTMS Phai (LSM-2) (ex-USS LSM-338), foreground and HTMS Kut (LSM-731) moored at Bangkok, Thailand in 1967' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM-338 page, disposition section and final two photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-338 was decommissioned 28 July 1946 and transferred 14 October 1946 to Thailand, where it was renamed HTMS Phai (LSM-2). The hull was later used for spare parts for HTMS Kut (ex-LSM, a sister LSM-1-class hull in Thai service) and ultimately scrapped; its conning tower survives as a static display at a Thai Navy training base. A 1967 photograph (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 102385, reproduced on the cited page) shows HTMS Phai moored at Bangkok, Thailand, alongside HTMS Kut.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-1967
- Population
- Royal Thai Navy crew (post-1946)
- Limitations
- Establishes transfer, renaming, and final disposition. Does not establish shipboard materials or asbestos content aboard either the U.S. Navy or Thai service configuration, and does not establish condition or hazmat status of the surviving conning-tower display. The underlying NH 102385 photo record could not be independently located on history.navy.mil's own numerical photo index during this session (connection issues to history.navy.mil); treated as an access gap, not a missing source — the navsource.net reproduction is cited as the verified-live source instead. Secondary (non-authoritative) sources add a Royal Thai Navy commissioning date of 10 November 1947 and a 2004 Thai decommissioning date; these are excluded here as unverified against an official source (see gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-03
-
[5]NavSource Naval History, 'LSM-338' ship page, specifications table [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM-338 page, specifications table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Specifications for this hull per NavSource's ship-specific table: displacement 520 long tons (light), 743 long tons (landing), 1,095 long tons (full load); length 203 ft 6 in; beam 34 ft 6 in; draft 3 ft 6 in forward/7 ft 8 in aft (light), 6 ft 4 in forward/8 ft 3 in aft (full load); propulsion two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, 1,440 bhp each, twin screws, 2,800 shp combined; speed 13.2 knots; range 4,900 nautical miles at 12 knots; armament one twin bow-mounted 40 mm gun mount and four single 20 mm gun mounts.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Specifications only; establishes no asbestos or materials content. A secondary, non-authoritative aggregation (English Wikipedia's infobox, itself citing NavSource/uboat.net) lists this hull's armament generically as '6 x 20mm AA gun mounts' with no bow-mounted 40mm, which conflicts with NavSource's ship-specific table above; this is likely the difference between the LSM-1 class's original 1944 design armament (six 20mm) and the upgraded armament (one twin 40mm bow mount plus four 20mm) fitted to many late-war hulls including, per NavSource, this one. The discrepancy is carried in gaps rather than silently resolved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-04
-
[6]Naval Vessel Register (NVR), official homepage scope statement [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR homepage, descriptive paragraph beginning 'The Naval Vessel Register contains information on ships and service craft...'
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- This hull does not appear in the Naval Vessel Register's (NVR) online public database. Attempting to retrieve an NVR ship-detail page for LSM-338 returned the NVR homepage rather than a hull-specific record. The NVR homepage itself 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-338 was decommissioned and transferred out of U.S. Navy custody in 1946, well before that 1987 cutoff, which is consistent with (though not conclusive proof of) its absence from the current online NVR.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-2026
- Limitations
- Explains the absence of an NVR record for this hull; does not itself supply any commission/strike/disposition data for LSM-338, and does not address asbestos or materials. A ship-specific NVR detail page, if one exists, was not located during this research session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-05
-
[7]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 wartime emergency-construction program (the Pullman Standard shipyard division built this hull as one of 44 LSMs produced there in 1943-1945) under which LSM-338 was built. The article does not address landing-craft or diesel-propelled small-craft construction specifically.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews generally (era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, this vessel's builder, or landing-craft/LSM construction specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation. Carried as context_only (not class_or_era) because no LSM-1-specific engineering or BuShips specification document describing asbestos-containing materials was located during this research session, unlike the ship-type-specific manuals available for some other hull types.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-06
-
[8]CourtListener API v4 search, exact-phrase queries "LSM-338" (type=o, type=r) via the batch's authenticated search helper [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results, zero-count responses (see search_ledger entries sl-01, sl-02)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull was located. CourtListener searches for the exact hull designation '"LSM-338"' returned zero opinion results and zero docket (RECAP) results. A further search for the Thai-service name '"HTMS Phai"' could not be completed during this session because the fleet-wide CourtListener request budget was exhausted mid-batch (see search_ledger); it is logged as incomplete rather than a confirmed zero-result search.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026 (search conducted)
- Limitations
- A zero-result keyword search is not proof that no case exists naming this hull (e.g., a case could reference it only as 'HTMS Phai,' as a Thai-registry name, or in un-indexed docket text); it establishes only that no qualifying hit surfaced in these specific indexed searches. No causation, exposure, or product-identification claim is made or implied.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-07
-
[9]Negative-finding summary of this batch's research: NHHC/DANFS, NARA online catalog, CourtListener (see search_ledger) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Search ledger, this record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos record of any kind was located for this hull: no NHHC/DANFS narrative exists for LSM-338 individually (DANFS entries checked for the LSM series cover LSM-337 but not LSM-338); no NARA catalog entry specific to LSM-338 was found online (deck logs/war diaries for Navy small craft of this era are generally held in NARA Record Groups 24 and 38 but this hull's specific records were not individually located in the online catalog); no abatement record, hazmat survey, or environmental record was found for either the U.S. Navy hull or the surviving Thai conning-tower display; and no docketed asbestos case names the hull (see ev-07).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026 (search conducted)
- Limitations
- Documents an honest absence of findings, not a finding that no asbestos was ever aboard this hull. The absence of a qualifying record in the sources searched does not establish the absence of asbestos-containing material aboard the ship during its service life.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-338-lsm338-08