Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 566-packet.md (2 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (hull — real identity: USS LSM-359 (never named)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-359-lsm359-pkt-566-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-359 (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource USS LSM-359 page: Commanding Officers table; Commercial Service photo captions; image captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS LSM-359, an LSM-1-class landing ship medium. Commanding officers: LTjg/LT William Whatley, USNR (4 January 1945 - March 1946); LTjg Chester H. Overbey, USNR (March 1946 - July 1946); LTjg William C. Potter, USNR (July 1946 - August 1946); ENS Robert R. Kelly, USNR (August 1946 - September 1946); LTjg Earl Helmuth Ninow, USN (September 1946 - 1947); LT Sidney Eugene McCartney, USN (1947 -). Photographed underway off San Diego, August 1948. Post-Navy commercial service: ex-LSM-359 in service of Tidewater Barge Lines, Vancouver, WA, as #541, a tie-off (spud) barge, on the Columbia River - bow and stern views photographed December 2002, shown stern-to-stern with #542 (ex-LSM-37).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-01 to 2002-12 (photo evidence)
- Population
- Commissioning crew (5 officers, 54 enlisted class-standard); Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce (1944)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer-compiled secondary archive; its LSM-359 page is photo-heavy and carries no construction/service timeline block (unlike some sister hulls), so laid-down/launched/commissioned dates are sourced from navypedia (see ev-02). The page's history extract is credited to a 1997 Turner Publishing veterans' volume, not to DANFS or NHHC. Contains no asbestos information whatsoever. No decommission date or sale date is stated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-01
-
[3]Navypedia, LSM1 medium landing ships (1944-1946) - class construction table, LSM359 row [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navypedia LSM1 class table, LSM359 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM359: builder Brown SB, Houston; laid down 11/1944; launched 9 December 1944 (table date 9.12.1944, day.month.year format); commissioned January 1945; fate stricken 1957.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-11 to 1957
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce (1944)
- Limitations
- Navypedia is a volunteer-compiled secondary reference. Dates are month-level (laid down 11/1944, commissioned 1.1945); the launch date 9.12.1944 is read as 9 December 1944 per navypedia's day.month.year convention, consistent with the surrounding rows. Commissioned January 1945 is consistent with the NavSource commanding-officer list beginning 4 January 1945. No DANFS entry exists to cross-check. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-02
-
[4]Navypedia, LSM1 medium landing ships (1944-1946) - class technical data block [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navypedia LSM1 class page, Technical data block; inference per draft asbestos section
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class/era inference only (not ship-proven): USS LSM-359 was an LSM-1-class diesel hull (non-steam plant — no boilers, no steam turbines, no boiler/steam-drum lagging pathway). Era-typical asbestos applications aboard diesel LSM-type hulls of this class are therefore narrowed to: machinery and exhaust insulation, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, electrical insulation, and winch brake linings. No source documents asbestos aboard this specific hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (class build era)
- Population
- LSM-1-class diesel hulls generally
- Limitations
- Inferred from vessel type and era, never asserted as documented aboard this hull; does not establish presence, quantity, or condition of any asbestos-containing material on USS LSM-359. Supports the draft's 'every factual claim maps to an evidence row' claim, which requires this row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-06
-
[5]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 the Navy's asbestos-protection program and the service's long reliance on asbestos insulation aboard ships: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - meaning original-era insulation typically remained in place for decades unless a yard period disturbed it. This is the program-level backdrop for any WWII-built Navy hull, including the LSM-1 class.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; GAO fieldwork was at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, not Brown Shipbuilding. Supports era context only - establishes nothing specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved: gao.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-10-01 (consistent with Batch-01 and Batch-6112 findings); title and description per the GAO product page as previously verified 2026-09-14 in Batch 01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-04
-
[6]Batch-6172 search ledger (this record): NavSource; navypedia; NHHC/DANFS (unreachable); Naval Vessel Register (unreachable); GAO; NARA catalog (JS-blocked). CourtListener queries blocked by fleet pacing - not searched. [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-01 through sl-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located in the sources that could be searched this session: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, or hazmat disclosure naming LSM-359 was found (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion and docket queries were blocked by fleet-wide pacing and are logged as blocked, not as zero-results - no litigation negative is claimed for this hull. The ship left Navy custody after striking in 1957 and spent her later life as a commercial spud barge, foreclosing museum-era documentation of the kind available for preserved ships.
- 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 - 1944 Brown Shipbuilding construction is era-consistent with asbestos use. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present in any quantity; does not establish or defeat any individual claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-05
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[7]Navypedia, LSM1 medium landing ships (1944-1946) - class technical data block [other_primary]
- Locator
- Navypedia LSM1 class page, Technical data block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Class-standard LSM-1 technical data: 520 t standard / 1,095 t full displacement; 59.9 m wl / 62.0 m oa length; 2 shafts; 4 General Motors diesels, 2,800 hp, 12.5-13.2 kts; complement 60; armament 1x2 40mm and 4x1 20mm. The class had no steam plant - no boilers, no steam lines.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (construction era)
- Population
- Engine-room and machinery-space crew
- Limitations
- Class-standard data, not a measurement of this individual hull; treated as class_or_era. Engine count (4 GM diesels) differs from the 2-engine figure on some NavSource ship pages (e.g., the LSM-304 page's GM 16-278A x2 block) - a known cross-source inconsistency in secondary LSM references; the no-steam-plant conclusion is consistent across all sources. No asbestos content is stated; the absence of a steam plant means the boiler/steam-lagging exposure pathway of steam combatants does not apply to this type.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-359-lsm359-03