USS LSM-385

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-385 hull page [other_primary]

   Locator

   Hull page chronology block (decommissioning, strike, sale, disposition lines)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   USS LSM-385 was decommissioned 14 March 1947 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; struck from the Naval Register on a date NavSource reports as unknown; and sold 9 December 1947 to Western Transportation Co., Portland, Oregon. Final disposition is reported as 'fate unknown.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1947

   Population

   Decommissioning crew; Mare Island Navy Yard inactivation personnel

   Limitations

   Establishes decommissioning location and reported sale; no inactivation-scope, shipbreaking, hazmat, or asbestos record is supplied. Secondary source conflict: uboat.net carries decommissioning 17 March 1947 and striking 10 June 1947 - variants logged in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-05

2. [2]Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 (verbatim transcription via HyperWar/ibiblio) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   HyperWar transcription, LSM Flotilla Eleven section (pp. ~70-71 of the document); transcribed for HTML by Patrick Clancey, Hyperwar Foundation

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The official U.S. Pacific Fleet Organization document of 1 May 1945 does not list LSM 385 in any LSM division. It documents LSM Flotilla Eleven containing LSM Groups Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, and Thirty-Three; within Group Thirty-One, LSM Division 62's hull slots are all blank - consistent with this ship (commissioned 26 February 1945) not yet being in the Pacific Fleet organization at that date. Sister hulls LSM 380-383 appear in Division 79 (Group 40, Flotilla Fourteen) and LSM 384 in Division 87 (Group 44).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1945-05-01

   Population

   Pacific Fleet amphibious force structure, 1 May 1945

   Limitations

   Negative-of-presence finding: establishes that this hull was not yet in the Pacific Fleet organization on 1 May 1945, not when she actually joined. The NavSource/Turner flotilla-group-division assignment is a later organizational state; the document places Division 62 under Group 31 while NavSource reports Group 32 - unresolved structural discrepancy logged in gaps. Live NHHC page returned 404; Wayback captures of the NHHC page are truncated before the LSM section, so the complete HyperWar transcription is the verified copy. No asbestos content.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-03

3. [3]NavSource Online, USS LSM-385 specifications and commanding-officers list [other_primary]

   Locator

   Specification block and commanding-officers table

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The hull page lists LSM-1-class specifications for this hull: 5 officers and 54 enlisted, troop accommodations for 2 officers and 46 enlisted, displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. fully loaded, 203 ft 6 in length, 34 ft 6 in beam, 13.2 kt maximum speed, one twin bow-mounted 40mm gun and four single 20mm mounts, and endurance 4,900 miles at 12 kt. Propulsion: two Fairbanks Morse model 38D81/8X10 reversible diesels with hydraulic clutches, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp, plus two diesel-drive 100-kW AC and one diesel-drive 20-kW DC generators. Six commanding officers are listed, from Lt. Francis E. Gaskins, USNR (26 Feb-30 Aug 1945) through Lt. Lyle Thomas Griffis, USN (to 14 March 1947).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1945-1947

   Population

   Ship's company and embarked troop capacity

   Limitations

   Supports complement, propulsion, and command succession only. It does not identify asbestos-containing components or establish that any insulation, gasket, packing, electrical, or deck material aboard contained asbestos. Diesel plant - no boilers or steam turbines.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-04

4. [4]Inference from the ship-specific NavSource diesel specification and wartime construction dates, bounded by the documented source-review negative [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource propulsion/specification block; source-review negative documented in search ledger

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   No ship-specific asbestos survey, product inventory, abatement record, or condition report was located for LSM-385. Because this was a World War II U.S. Navy diesel-powered landing ship built December 1944-February 1945, machinery or diesel-exhaust insulation, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, and deck covering are possible class/era application categories, but none is documented aboard this hull. Diesel plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.

   Verification

   inferred

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1944-1947

   Population

   World War II Navy diesel landing-ship construction and operating personnel

   Limitations

   Possible categories only - not a finding that asbestos was installed aboard LSM-385. The cited page does not identify asbestos or insulation composition; no quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation is established. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-06

5. [5]U.S. GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (October 18, 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO product page (full text blocked: gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed this session)

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s, with a 1975 policy to remove and replace damaged insulation or insulation removed for repairs - spanning this hull's entire construction and service era (1944-1947).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1979 (report); era covered includes 1944-1947

   Population

   Navy ships and shipyard workers generally

   Limitations

   Navy-wide program context, not hull-specific; the report does not name LSM-385 or establish asbestos aboard this hull, its locations, quantity, removal history, or remaining material. Content via product-page description; full-text pull remains the open lead.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-07

6. [6]shipyard-exposure-map shipyards.json, mare-island-naval-shipyard record (underlying citations: Navy/City of Vallejo Final EIS/EIR, April 1998, DTIC ADA344388; Collins v. Plant Insulation Co., 185 Cal. App. 4th 260 (2010)) [other_primary]

   Locator

   shipyards.json mare-island-naval-shipyard evidence and product lists; decommissioning presence documented in ev-05

   Finding type

   environmental_record

   Finding

   LSM-385 was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, in March 1947. The project shipyard dataset documents asbestos-containing products used at Mare Island Naval Shipyard - Unibestos, Marinite boards, Transite pipe, Kaylo, Careytemp, Gold Bond, Super 66, pump and valve packing, gaskets, bonnet insulation, and refractory materials - supported by the Navy/City of Vallejo 1998 EIS/EIR ACM documentation and by Collins v. Plant Insulation Co., 185 Cal. App. 4th 260 (2010), a verified appellate record of asbestos exposure of a Mare Island worker.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1947 (yard presence); yard documentation spans 1940s-1998

   Population

   Mare Island Navy Yard inactivation/decommissioning workforce, March 1947

   Limitations

   Yard-level context only: documents asbestos products at the decommissioning yard, not aboard this hull. No Mare Island work package, inactivation order, or material record for LSM-385 was located - decommissioning presence is documented, work scope is not. Collins involved Mare Island welding exposure 1976-1994, decades after this hull's 1947 inactivation. DTIC EIS link returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; the yard record's underlying citations were not independently re-verified this session.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-08

7. [7]Source-review negative across the repositories listed in the search ledger [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-01 through -10

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record was located for USS LSM-385 in the public sources searched: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, product inventory, or condition report exists on the NavSource hull page, NHHC/DANFS (no entry exists for this unnamed LSM), the Naval Vessel Register (pre-1987 disposals not included), or in official-source web results. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no asbestos claim tied to primary sourcing - only veteran oral-history and obituary mentions of service aboard, which are not exposure records.

   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. The CourtListener sweep was completed and is a separate verified negative (ev-10). Deck logs, Brown Shipbuilding construction records, Mare Island inactivation work packages, and post-sale disposition records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-09

8. [8]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py (authenticated) [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger sl-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-05; four authenticated queries (type=o and type=r), exact-name and hull-number variants

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The authenticated CourtListener sweep found no qualifying asbestos litigation record for USS LSM-385. 'USS LSM-385' (opinions) returned 0 results; 'LSM 385' (opinions) returned 0 results; 'LSM-385' (opinions) returned 14 hits, all name/text collisions - an Arizona LLC named 'LSM L.L.C.' (Marco Crane & Rigging Co. v. Masaryk), USPS 'LSM' mail-sorting-machine references (Belton, Joyce, Fernandez), a converted but unidentified LSM used as Shaver Transportation's floating machine shop (Chamberlain v. Shaver Transportation Co., 263 F. Supp. 47, D. Or. 1966 - a mechanic's injury case, not asbestos, hull number not identified), and unrelated securities and oil-and-gas matters. 'LSM-385' (dockets) returned one hit - Boyd v. Winn (D. Mass., prisoner civil rights) - whose match is an OCR artifact in a scanned marshal's process receipt, not a vessel reference.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   2026-10-01

   Limitations

   This is a search result, not proof that no unindexed or non-text-linked case exists. Chamberlain v. Shaver is flagged as vessel-adjacent context only: the converted LSM in that case is not identified by hull number, so it cannot be tied to LSM-385 despite the ship's documented 1947 sale to a Portland, Oregon buyer (Western Transportation Co. - a different Portland firm than Shaver). No asbestos opinion naming this hull was located.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-10

9. [9]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-385 hull page [other_primary]

   Locator

   Hull page chronology block (laid down / launched / commissioned lines)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   LSM-385 was laid down 30 December 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; launched 20 January 1945; and commissioned as USS LSM-385 on 26 February 1945 with Lt. Francis E. Gaskins, USNR, in command.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-01

   Study period

   1944-1945

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce and commissioning crew

   Limitations

   Establishes construction and commissioning identity only; the page documents no asbestos, insulation composition, hazmat condition, exposure, or causation. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation; the history extract on this page is credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1997).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-01

10. [10]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-385 hull page [other_primary]

    Locator

    Hull page chronology block (theater assignment and occupation-service lines)

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    During World War II, USS LSM-385 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater with LSM Flotilla Eleven, LSM Group Thirty-Two, and LSM Division Sixty-Two. Following the war she was assigned to occupation service in the Far East from 8 November 1945 to 22 January 1946.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    supporting

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-01

    Study period

    1945-1946

    Population

    Ship's company and embarked troops (occupation-service period)

    Limitations

    Establishes the listed theater assignment and occupation-service window; it is not a complete voyage narrative and establishes no asbestos content or exposure. Discrepancy: the official 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization places LSM Division 62 under LSM Group Thirty-One (not Thirty-Two) within Flotilla Eleven, and does not list LSM 385 at all - see ev-03 and gaps. No battle star or named operation is listed for this hull.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lsm-385-lsm385-02