Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 563-packet.md (3 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (identity — real identity: USS LSM-34 (unnamed; hull designation is the identity)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-34-lsm34-pkt-563-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online, LSM Photo Archive, LSM-34 (hull 10/14/14034), verified live 2026-10-01 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14034.htm header block, specifications block, armament block, complement block, commanding-officer block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource ship page for this hull: 'LSM-34 Laid down, 14 May 1944, at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; Launched, 6 June 1944; Commissioned USS LSM-34, 13 July 1944.' Specification block: displacement 520 t. (light), 743 t. (landing), 1,095 t. (fully loaded); length 203' 6" (o.v.l.); beam 34' 6"; speed 13.2 kts (max.); endurance 4,900 miles @ 12 kts; propulsion 'two Fairbanks Morse (model 38D8-1/8X10, reversible with hydraulic clutch) Diesel engines, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm,' twin propellers, 2,800 shp; armament 'one twin bow mounted 40mm gun, four single 20mm gun mounts'; complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted. Commanding officers: 'LT. Hicks, Howard J., USNR, 13 July 1944 - 12 November 1945' and 'LTjg. Malpus, Kenneth Cole, USN, 12 November 1945 - 1946.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Construction trades, Brown Shipbuilding Co. (1944); crew (1944-1946)
- Limitations
- Construction, specification, and command-roster data only - no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not an official Navy registry; its milestone dates are carried as the primary timeline here because no DANFS entry exists for this hull (see ev-08/search_ledger), but the page is not itself a government record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-01
-
[3]NavSource Online, LSM Photo Archive, LSM-34, campaign/award section and photo captions; Life Magazine (Carl Mydans) photo credit, December 1944 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14034.htm campaign/award block and photo captions (Leyte Dec. 1944; Mindanao 17 April 1945; Guam Dec. 1945)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource-documented WWII combat service for this hull: 'LSM-34 operated with LSM Group Four as a replacement for the invasion of Leyte' and 'carried about 100 tons of rolling stock, 107 army engineers, and two navy photographers.' Campaign list: Leyte operation (Leyte landings 13 October and 29 November 1944; Ormoc Bay landing 7-8 December 1944); Luzon operation (Mindoro landings 12-18 December 1944; Lingayen Gulf landings 16-18 January 1945); Manila Bay-Bicol operations (Mariveles-Corregidor 14-28 February 1945); consolidation and capture of the southern Philippines (Mindanao Island landings 10 March, 17-23 April, and 10-16 May 1945). Four battle stars for WWII service. Occupation service in the Far East 28 September-20 October 1945. Page notes 'the symbols on the conning tower representing the two Japanese planes LSM-34 was officially credited with shooting down,' visible in a captioned photograph dated December 1945 (Guam). A December 1944 Leyte beaching photo is credited 'Leyte by Carl Mydans 1944-12, Life Magazine' (TimeLife_Image_115926285), independently corroborating the Leyte deployment window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Crew (1944-1946); embarked Army engineer troops, Leyte 1944
- Limitations
- Operational/combat history only - no asbestos or material content. 'Officially credited with shooting down two Japanese planes' is the page's own framing for the conning-tower markings; no underlying action report was independently located to corroborate the credit (gap).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-02
-
[4]National Archives Catalog, NAID 204950572 (RG 342 photograph), metadata transcribed via NavSource caption [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14034.htm photo caption citing NAID 204950572
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds at least one photograph of this hull: a December 1944 Leyte beaching image is credited on NavSource to 'US National Archives Identifier 204950572, Local ID 342-FH-3A30663-64174AC.' This places original photographic documentation of the hull's Leyte service in NARA's holdings (Still Picture branch, RG 342 series).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-12
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the National Archives Catalog page for this NAID is a JavaScript-rendered single-page application that could not be independently fetched this session (confirmed via direct HTTP request, 2026-10-01) - its NAID and local ID are transcribed from the NavSource caption, not independently read from the NARA catalog record itself. Establishes photographic presence/provenance only, not any material or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-03
-
[5]NavSource Online, LSM Photo Archive, LSM-34, disposition block; NavalCoverMuseum, 'LSM 34' wiki page, verified live 2026-10-01 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14034.htm disposition block; navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/LSM_34 'Decommissioned' and 'Struck' fields
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Final disposition: NavSource states 'Decommissioned in 1946 at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.,' 'Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946,' and 'sold, 2 December 1947, to Georgia Marine Salvage Co., Inc.' in Brunswick, GA, for conversion to a barge; NavSource's final-fate field reads 'fate unknown.' NavalCoverMuseum independently states a decommissioning date of 18 August 1946 and that the struck date is unknown, but otherwise agrees on the sale and 'fate unknown' disposition.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-1947
- Limitations
- Marked 'correction' because the two sources disagree on which specific day the ship left naval service and in what order (struck 5 June 1946 per NavSource would precede an 18 August 1946 decommissioning per NavalCoverMuseum, an unusual but not impossible sequence - see gaps). Neither source states what happened to the hull after the 1947 sale; no asbestos, abatement, or hazmat disclosure for the barge-conversion scrapping/conversion work was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-04
-
[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 confirmed 2026-10-01)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships Navy-wide and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - covering the entirety of this hull's 1944-46 active-service window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979 (report); program described from WWII forward
- Population
- Navy shipyard and fleet population generally; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports fleet-wide era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved - gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (confirmed again this session); content via product-page description only, same standing defect noted in prior batches.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-05
-
[7]Era inference built on: NavSource propulsion/specification block for this hull (ev-01) and GAO HRD-80-2 fleet-wide era documentation (ev-05) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Synthesis of ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-01 and ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-05
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered amphibious landing ship built in 1944 at a wartime-emergency shipyard, fitted with two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines (ev-01), sits inside the Navy's documented peak asbestos-use era (ev-05). Era-standard applications for this ship type include diesel engine/exhaust-line lagging, auxiliary steam-line insulation (galley, laundry, heating), gaskets, valve and pump packing, and fireproofing or deck covering in crew and troop-accommodation spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Construction trades, Brown Shipbuilding Co. (1944); crew (1944-1946)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, work order, or material list exists for this hull. Names era-standard applications for the ship type generally, not confirmed installed materials aboard LSM-34 specifically. The builder, Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston), has no entry in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset, so no yard-level product documentation could be cross-checked against this hull's construction period (gap, same treatment as the O'Brien/New England Shipbuilding precedent in BATCH-01). Current material condition of the hull is unknown given its undocumented post-1947 fate.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-06
-
[8]National Archives and Records Administration, 'Naval Deck Logs' guidance page [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov naval-deck-logs guidance page, LCT-retention passage
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official NARA guidance on WWII deck logs notes that most amphibious/landing craft were administratively 'in service' rather than 'in commission' and consequently 'there are logs for only a few of the 1,465 LCTs constructed during the war' with similarly sparse retention for comparable small craft. LSM-34, by contrast, was formally commissioned with a named commanding officer and relief (ev-01), which is the administrative status NARA associates with retained deck-log series (Record Group 24) and war-diary/action-report series (Record Group 38) for the WWII Navy.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: this establishes that a deck log and/or war diary series plausibly exists for this hull in RG 24/RG 38 given its commissioned status, but no specific LSM-34 deck-log or war-diary catalog entry was independently located or read this session - whether surviving records exist, and what they contain, is unverified (gap). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-07
-
[9]Batch-6151 search ledger (this record): direct HTTP checks of history.navy.mil DANFS URL pattern; nvr.navy.mil; CourtListener API v4 [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-01 through -08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No DANFS/NHHC entry exists for this hull: the standard DANFS URL pattern (history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lsm-34.html) returns HTTP 404, confirmed by direct request; the same URL pattern also 404s for other individually-unremarkable LSM hulls tested (e.g., LSM-135, LSM-243), consistent with DANFS not maintaining individual entries for most numbered LSM hulls. No Naval Vessel Register (NVR) record was located for this hull either; NVR coverage does not extend to this ship's 1946-47 disposal era. CourtListener litigation search for this session is logged as blocked, not negative - see search_ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Absence of a DANFS/NVR record and of a located qualifying asbestos case does not prove absence of asbestos aboard or absence of litigation naming this hull - it documents what this session's search did and did not find. CourtListener access was throttled for the whole session by the fleet-wide pacing limiter (see search_ledger); litigation status for this hull remains an open gap, not a confirmed negative.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-34-lsm34-08