Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet 570-packet.md (8 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-379-lsm379-pkt-570-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-379 page - history extract credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces,' Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997), plus spec block, award table, and CO list [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USS LSM-379 page (navsource.net/archives/10/14/14379.htm), history extract, specifications block, awards table, commanding officers list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource documents this hull's timeline: LSM-1 class Landing Ship Medium laid down 23 Dec 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston TX; launched 13 Jan 1945; commissioned USS LSM-379 on 10 Feb 1945, LT William J. Wallace Jr., USNR, in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty (LCDR O. J. Heggem, USNR), LSM Division Eighty. Post-war occupation and China service: Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 17 Sep-1 Nov 1945 and 24 May 1946-10 Jan 1947; China Service Medal (extended) 24 May 1946-10 Jan 1947. Decommissioned 18 Jul 1947 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo CA; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold 18 Dec 1947 to United Textile Co., San Francisco, and converted to a barge named C-Coaster; final disposition 'fate unknown.' Commanding officers: Wallace (10 Feb 1945-Nov 1945), LTjg William S. Dougherty USNR (Nov 1945-Jun 1946), LTjg Vernon Lee Nielson USN (Jun 1946-18 Jul 1947). Spec block: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t full; 203'6" x 34'6"; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; 1 twin 40mm + 4 single 20mm; two Fairbanks-Morse 38D8-1/8X10 diesels, direct drive, twin screws, 2,800 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Ship's complement (5 officers + 54 enlisted per spec block) and embarked troops (2 officers + 46 enlisted accommodations), 1945-47
- Limitations
- Private compiled archive (Gary P. Priolo) reproducing a published unit-history extract - not an official Navy record, but the standard public vessel-history source for unnamed amphibious hulls; internally consistent with uboat.net and the IML/MVUS-derived barge record on the points they share. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-01
-
[3]uboat.net, Allied Warships of WWII, USS LSM 379 (LSM 379), ship/12978 [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship record table (Navy/Type/Class/Pennant/Built by/Ordered/Laid down/Launched/Commissioned/End service/History)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- uboat.net Allied Warships entry for USS LSM 379 confirms the registry core: built by Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston), ordered 8 Apr 1944, laid down 23 Dec 1944, launched 13 Jan 1945, commissioned 10 Feb 1945, 'End service 17 Jul 1947,' 'Decommissioned on 17 July 1947,' 'Sold on 18 December 1947.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Limitations
- Independent compiled registry agreeing with NavSource on construction and sale dates but diverging by one day on decommissioning (17 vs 18 Jul 1947) - see correction row. 'Ordered 8 Apr 1944' has no corroborating source located. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-02
-
[4]International Maritime Library, 'LSM-379 > C-COASTER' - transcription of U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Vessels of the United States (MVUS) 1960 register entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- IML record fields: Official Number (MVUS) 257997; Radio Letters WC3178; Rig Barge; Tons 81/81; Dimensions 189.3 x 34.0 x 10.7; Owners 'U. S. Government (USN) > Redondo Sport Fishing Co. (CA)'; Homeports 'CA, Los Angeles (1960)'; References 'MVUS (1960)'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The International Maritime Library entry 'LSM-379 > C-COASTER,' sourced to MVUS (Merchant Vessels of the United States) 1960, documents the post-Navy merchant identity of this hull: barge C-Coaster, U.S. Official No. 257997, radio letters WC3178, rig 'Barge,' steel hull, 81 gross / 81 net tons, registered dimensions 189.3 x 34.0 x 10.7 ft, launched 1945, built Houston TX; owner chain 'U.S. Government (USN) > Redondo Sport Fishing Co. (CA)'; homeport Los Angeles CA; service 'Freight (1960).'
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1947-1960
- Population
- Merchant crew/dock workforce of barge C-Coaster, Los Angeles area, circa 1948-1960
- Limitations
- Private transcription project (IML) of the official USCG MVUS 1960 register - the underlying register page was not read directly, so field values are partial pending a primary-register check. Establishes that the converted hull was still in documented merchant service in 1960 under a Los Angeles owner - materially extends the NavSource 'fate unknown' endpoint. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-03
-
[5]National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection / Center for Pacific War Studies (records published via the Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries), 'Oral History Interview with Seldon Prothro, November 13, 2014' [museum_official]
- Locator
- NMPW oral-history collection page (collection-level URL); item record indexed via exa.ai aggregation of the Portal to Texas History record
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection holds a 13 Nov 2014 interview with Seldon Prothro, who after an earlier wartime cruise as an Armed Guard gunner/electrician reenlisted and 'was assigned to USS LSM-379'; he 'recalls that the ship delivered doctors to various destinations including Australia, Japan and China' and was discharged in 1947 - a named-crewmember account consistent with the documented 1945-47 occupation/China service periods.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1947 (service); 2014 (interview)
- Population
- Named crewmember (Seldon Prothro), ship's complement circa 1945-47
- Limitations
- Collection and item existence verified; the Portal to Texas History item page sits behind an Altcha anti-bot challenge, so the item was read via an aggregated abstract rather than the canonical page - access gap disclosed, not a missing source. Recollections are 2014 testimony about 1945-47 events; used for service-experience context only. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-04
-
[6]American Legion Post 162 (Hillsdale NJ), 'Roster_Part_1__10_2020.pdf' - community memorial roster, entry submitted by Doug Frank [other_primary]
- Locator
- Roster PDF, 'John J. O'Neill Jr. / U.S. Navy / WWII' entry
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- American Legion Post 162 (Hillsdale, NJ) memorial roster entry for John J. O'Neill Jr., U.S. Navy, WWII: enlisted 1944, boot camp at Sampson NY, amphibious training at Norfolk, 'assigned to LSM 379 (Landing Ship Medium) in Texas' - consistent with the Houston commissioning - served as a radarman; 'the ship went to the Pacific and was poised for the invasion of Japan'; after the war 'served in the Occupation of Japan before returning home.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947 (service); roster published 2020
- Population
- Named crewmember (John J. O'Neill Jr., radarman), ship's complement circa 1945-47
- Limitations
- Self-reported community memorial roster, not an official service record; corroborates the crew-experience outline (Texas commissioning, Pacific deployment, occupation duty) rather than adding independent fact. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-05
-
[7]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' (June 2025); navalmarinearchive.com Brown Shipbuilding yard page (Colton-style shipbuilding-history compilation); Wikipedia 'Brown Shipbuilding' (secondary corroboration of the LSM block assignments) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025 article; navalmarinearchive.com/sbh/shipyards/emergencylarge/brown.html yard table (254 LSMs, LSM-354-388 block); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Shipbuilding
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder context: Brown Shipbuilding Co. was created in 1941-42 by George and Herman Brown of the Brown & Root construction company, building the Greens Bayou Fabrication Yard at the juncture of the Houston Ship Channel and Greens Bayou with approximately $9M in Navy funding; it became the second-largest Houston-area wartime employer and used sideways-launching slips on the narrow bayou. Brown built 254 of the 558 LSMs between May 1944 and March 1946 in the blocks LSM-1 through LSM-125, LSM-354 through LSM-388, and LSM-459 through LSM-552 - LSM-379 falls in the 354-388 block.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1946 (yard program); 1944-45 (this hull)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce, Greens Bayou yard, Houston, 1944-45 construction period
- Limitations
- Yard- and program-level documentation, not a hull record; the LSM block ranges come from secondary compilations consistent with the NavSource builder attribution for this hull. Documents where and by whom the hull was built; says nothing about materials aboard. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-06
-
[8]Fleischer WE, Viles FJ Jr, Gade RL, Drinker P. 'A health survey of pipe covering operations in constructing naval vessels.' J Ind Hyg Toxicol. 1946 Jan;28:9-16 (PMID 21016030) - U.S. Public Health Service wartime survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- J Ind Hyg Toxicol 28:9-16 (1946); PubMed record PMID 21016030 (verified via NCBI E-utilities esummary)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The USPHS wartime survey of pipe-covering operations at two government navy yards and two Navy contract yards documents amosite asbestos as 'an important ingredient of pipe covering material used on U.S. Navy vessels,' with 'much asbestos cloth and asbestos cement' likewise used, and dust/asbestosis findings in the trades installing it during wartime naval construction - the era and program under which this 1944-45-built Navy amphibious hull was constructed.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (survey era)
- Population
- Construction trades (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, 1944-45) and ship's complement during service
- Limitations
- Era/yard-program documentation, not a hull record: yards are anonymized and no vessel or type is named. LSM-379 was diesel-driven with no boilers or steam propulsion plant, so the pipe-covering applications this source documents were less extensive aboard her than aboard steam vessels; the source supports era-consistent possibility of asbestos applications (gaskets, packing, paneling, insulation where fitted), not ship-proven presence, quantity, or individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-07
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 search endpoint (authenticated token): type=o, type=r, and type=rd queries for 'LSM-379', 'LSM 379', 'USS LSM-379', 'C-Coaster', 'C Coaster' barge, 'Brown Shipbuilding' (+asbestos), 'United Textile' + asbestos [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-08 through sl-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener authenticated API v4 sweep (2026-10-02) returned no qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull: 'LSM-379' opinions 0 / dockets 0 / docket-documents 0; 'LSM 379' opinions 0 / dockets 0; 'USS LSM-379' 0; 'C-Coaster' 0; 'C Coaster' barge 0; 'Brown Shipbuilding' + asbestos 0. Unqualified 'Brown Shipbuilding' returned 12 opinions, all non-asbestos: Miller v. Brown Shipbuilding Co. (S.D. Tex. 1947, 71 F. Supp. 672; aff'd 5th Cir. 1948, 165 F.2d 956 - diversity jurisdiction, repeatedly cited procedurally), American General Ins. Co. v. Ariola and v. Amerson (Tex. App. 1945, compensation), Younger Bros. v. Marino (Tex. App. 1946), Continental Fire & Casualty v. Drummond (Tex. App. 1949), an NLRB matter, and incidental citations - none name a vessel, none involve asbestos. 'United Textile' + asbestos returned 2 opinions, both name collisions unrelated to the San Francisco purchaser (Syngenta corn MDL, D. Kan. 2015; Midland Engineering v. John A. Hall Construction, N.D. Ind. 1975).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Coverage caveat: published opinions only - most asbestos exposure litigation sits at MDL-875 docket/pleading level and is unpublished; a zero result means no published opinion names the hull, not that no claim exists. The 12 'Brown Shipbuilding' opinions are classified OTHER LITIGATION (labor, compensation, jurisdiction) - yard-level, non-asbestos; they are not vessel findings and are not carried as evidence rows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-08
-
[10]NavSource USS LSM-379 page vs uboat.net ship/12978 vs officialmilitaryribbons.com USN occupation/China service medal roster (three compilations compared line-by-line) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource milestones + award table + CO list; uboat.net ship record table; officialmilitaryribbons.com/us_navy_china_service/navy_occupation_china_service_L5.html (LSM 379 rows)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies logged: (a) decommission date - NavSource (Turner extract) reads 'Decommissioned, 18 July 1947, at Mare Island Navy Yard' and its CO list ends LTjg Nielson's tenure 18 Jul 1947, while uboat.net reads 'End service 17 Jul 1947 / Decommissioned on 17 July 1947'; the NavSource 18 July date is adopted, uboat's 17 July carried as a variance. (b) Occupation/China-service end date - NavSource award table reads 10 Jan 1947; the officialmilitaryribbons.com compilation reads '24 May 46 - 19 Jan 47'; NavSource adopted, the nine-day variance flagged. (c) Strike date - NavSource lists 'date unknown'; no source located supplies it. (d) 'Ordered 8 Apr 1944' appears only in uboat.net's compilation - unverified against a contract record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Limitations
- Compilation-level discrepancies across secondary sources; none resolvable to a primary document in-session (deck logs and the decommissioning file are the resolution path). No asbestos significance.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-09
-
[11]Batch-6194 search ledger (this record): NavSource; uboat.net; NHHC DANFS (no entry - unnamed hull); NVR (scope exclusion); MARAD vessel-history search (name, variant names, official number); CourtListener authenticated API v4 (opinions, dockets, docket-documents); Portal to Texas History / NMPW collection; shipyards.json yard_id check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-01 through sl-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, sale/donation condition, or docketed case naming LSM-379 or its barge identity C-Coaster was found in the public sources searched. DANFS has no entry (unnamed hull); the Naval Vessel Register does not cover pre-1987 disposals; the MARAD Vessel History Database returns zero under 'LSM-379,' 'LSM379,' 'C-Coaster,' 'C Coaster,' and official number 257997; CourtListener sweeps were all zero or collisions (see litigation_sweep row).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1945 hull retaining original fabric is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials, though a diesel-driven hull carried less of the canonical insulation than steam ships. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-10
-
[12]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 24 deck logs; USCG merchant-vessel documentation system (official number 257997); Mare Island Naval Shipyard records path [other_primary]
- Locator
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/024.html ; NARA Catalog deck-log digitization program; USCG documentation path for ON 257997
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): (a) NARA RG 24 (Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations) deck logs for LSM-379, Feb 1945-Jul 1947 - would document day-level operations during occupation/China service and any recorded material work; WWII-era deck logs are partially digitized in the NARA Catalog, this hull's coverage unverified (catalog search is JS-rendered; not confirmed). (b) USCG merchant-vessel documentation file for official number 257997 (C-Coaster) - the MVUS 1960 trace implies a documentation jacket that would extend the post-Navy chain and may carry conversion-period detail. (c) Mare Island Navy Yard inactivation/decommissioning records for July 1947. (d) Brown & Root / Brown Shipbuilding contract and construction records for the LSM-354-388 block - no public repository located. (e) United Textile Co. (San Francisco) purchase/conversion records and Redondo Sport Fishing Co. (Los Angeles) barge operations - private, unlocated.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1960 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; existence of asbestos-specific documents for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-379-lsm379-11