Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 570-packet.md (5 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-38-lsm38-pkt-570-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-38 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship history and disposition bullets; Asiatic-Pacific campaign table; specifications block; commanding-officer list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records LSM-38 as an LSM-1-class Landing Ship Medium laid down 21 May 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; launched 14 June 1944; commissioned 20 July 1944 with LT. Harry S. Hooper, USNR, in command. It records World War II Asiatic-Pacific service in the Leyte operation (Ormoc Bay landings, 11-13 December 1944), Manila Bay-Bicol operations (Mariveles-Corregidor, 14-28 February 1945), the Luzon operation (Mindanao Island landings, 10 March 1945), consolidation of the southern Philippines (Sulu Archipelago landings, 2-4 and 9-11 April 1945), and Borneo operations (Balikpapan, 26 June-6 July 1945); participation in the rescue of survivors of USS Reid (DD-369) during the Battle of Leyte Gulf; the first landing ship to beach on Corregidor; Far East occupation service 7 October-16 November 1945; decommissioning 1 October 1946; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sale 18 May 1948 to Jefferson Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN, for conversion to a barge; final disposition unknown. It records five World War II battle stars, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Specifications: displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. fully loaded; length 203 ft 6 in; beam 34 ft 6 in; speed 13.2 knots; complement 5 officers and 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm mounts; propulsion two Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; diesel-driven ship's-service generators. The page states its history extract is from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Ship's crew; Navy and disposal personnel
- Limitations
- Ship-history and disposition record compiled from a veteran-association history volume; does not document asbestos content, an asbestos survey, abatement, individual exposure, causation, or legal eligibility. NavSource is used as an archival/photo-archive source and its struck-date field is explicitly unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-01
-
[3]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945, HyperWar transcription, Landing Ships index [other_primary]
- Locator
- ships-ls.html, Landing Ships Medium (LSM) index table, LSM-38 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The HyperWar landing-ship index lists LSM-38 among the numbered Landing Ships, Medium and gives its in-commission years as 1944-45, consistent with the NavSource commissioning and decommissioning chronology.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Ship's crew and construction personnel
- Limitations
- Index-level listing only; no dedicated HyperWar ship page exists for LSM-38 (the candidate URL returned 404). Used to corroborate hull existence and service years, not for specifications or asbestos evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-02
-
[4]NHHC DANFS, Reid III (DD-369) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Reid III (DD-369) DANFS entry, paragraphs on the 11 December 1944 Ormoc Bay action
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The DANFS entry for USS Reid (DD-369) records that on 11 December 1944 Reid, with Task Unit 78.3.8, escorted a re-supply echelon to Ormoc Bay in a column with four other destroyers, ten medium landing ships (LSM), and three infantry landing craft (LCI); that Reid was sunk by kamikaze attack that day; and that Reid's commanding officer and 150 of her crew were pulled from the water by the convoy's landing craft. This corroborates the operational setting of the Ormoc Bay landings and the Reid rescue that NavSource attributes to LSM-38, without naming LSM-38.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-12-11
- Population
- TU 78.3.8 convoy personnel; USS Reid survivors and rescuing landing-craft crews
- Limitations
- DANFS does not name LSM-38; this row corroborates the convoy event and landing-craft rescue only. It does not document asbestos, exposure, or any condition aboard LSM-38.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-03
-
[5]U.S. GAO, HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- GAO reported that the Navy used asbestos in ship thermal insulation, that its 1975 policy was to remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs (modified in 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas), and that the review covered Navy ship asbestos use at the program level. Era/class context only: this hull was a 1944 LSM-1-class landing ship with two Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, direct drive, and diesel-driven ship's-service generators; no steam boiler or turbine system is documented for this hull in the cited specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1979 context/review period
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and Navy ships generally
- Limitations
- Navy-wide/program-level context and a propulsion-type distinction, not a finding that asbestos was aboard this hull. It does not establish product identity, quantity, location, condition, removal, remaining material, exposure, or causation. Direct command-line retrieval of the GAO page returned HTTP 403; the page was retrieved and verified through Firecrawl.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-04
-
[6]NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA 85-021-1654, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard insulation shop [other_primary]
- Locator
- NIOSH HETA 85-021-1654, sections II-III (Introduction and Background)
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- NIOSH documented that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard insulation shop had previously been used for preparation and storage of asbestos insulation material, that the shop manufactured pipe insulation for Navy ships and submarines, and that most of its insulators also performed rip-outs and pipe covering aboard those vessels. The report describes Navy shipyard insulation work practices, not this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1984-1985
- Population
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard insulation workers
- Limitations
- Different shipyard, later period (1984-1985), and program-level occupational-health evidence; it does not identify LSM-38, prove asbestos aboard it, or establish exposure for its crew or workers. Direct command-line retrieval returned HTTP 403; the PDF was retrieved and verified through Firecrawl.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-05
-
[7]Search of official/authoritative sources for ship-specific asbestos documentation [other_primary]
- Locator
- Research sweep documented in search_ledger entries sl-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-01 through sl-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-10
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or other primary asbestos record for USS LSM-38 was located in the sources searched. The ship was sold for conversion to a barge in 1948 and no preserved-hull survey pathway was located. Ship-specific asbestos documentation is unknown, not established absent.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-2026
- Population
- Hull-specific records
- Limitations
- A documentation gap is not evidence that asbestos was absent. Negative finding limited to the searched and accessible public sources; NARA underlying file contents and any non-digitized Navy technical records were not reviewed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-06
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[8]CourtListener public web search, RECAP dockets and published opinions [court_record]
- Locator
- courtlistener.com search, queries "LSM-38" and "USS LSM-38", types r and o; all returned 0 results on 2026-10-01
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener public-site searches for the exact hull number "LSM-38" and exact name "USS LSM-38" returned zero results in both RECAP dockets and published opinions. No qualifying asbestos litigation, other litigation, or name collision naming this hull was located in indexed material.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- CourtListener search run 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Public web-interface searches only: the authenticated CourtListener API v4 path (connector or API key) was not available on this machine, so this is a partial sweep of CourtListener's index, not an authenticated-API result. RECAP does not contain everything in PACER; unindexed, non-digitized, or non-federal matters may exist. This is a search result, not a merits determination.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-38-lsm38-07