Evidence
6 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-6).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-435 page (timeline, specifications, unit assignments, awards, commanding officers; history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing Company, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM-435 page - timeline block, awards ribbon display, specifications block, commanding officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline and specifications for this hull: LSM-1-class Landing Ship Medium; laid down 10 January 1945 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 23 February 1945 (launch photographs on the page, credited to the USS LSM / LSMR Association); commissioned USS LSM-435, 18 March 1945, LTjg. Robert Dunkerley USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-Two, LSM Division Eighty-Three. Postwar: Occupation Service in the Far East 20 September - 14 November 1945. Decommissioned 20 November 1947; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold 7 January 1949 to Ashland Oil & Refining Co., Ashland, KY; final disposition 'fate unknown'. Awards displayed: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Specifications: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t fully loaded; 203'6" x 34'6"; draft 3'6"/7'8" light, 6'4"/8'3" loaded; 13.2 kt max; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted, troop accommodations 2 officers + 46 enlisted; armament one twin 40mm bow mount + four single 20mm; propulsion two GM 16-278A reversible diesels, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each @720 rpm, twin screws 2,800 shp; diesel-driven generators (2 x 100 kW 450V AC, 1 x 20 kW 120V DC); endurance 4,900 miles @ 12 kt. Commanding officers: Dunkerley (1945-03-18 to 1945-12); Ward (1945-12 to 1946-04-03); Bouffard (1946-04-03 to 1946-06-18); Boys (1946-06-18 to 1947-11-20).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Population
- Dravo Corp. Wilmington construction trades (Jan-Mar 1945); commissioned crew 1945-1947 (design complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; CO list of four)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its underlying history extract is the Turner Publishing LSM-LSMR association volume, and milestone dates generally track official registers. Page verified live 2026-10-01 (navsource.net; the old navsource.org domain is dead). Contains no asbestos or material content. Laid-down and stricken dates conflict with a secondary source (see gaps); complement is a class-design figure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-01
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[2]NARA Catalog file unit 'LSM-435', NAID 2760930 - Record Group 38 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), series 'Material Inspection Reports and Related Documentation, 1940-1978' (NAID 2092723), creator Department of the Navy, Board of Inspection and Survey [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Catalog NAID 2760930; parent series NAID 2092723 (amphibious vessels subseries, alpha-numeric by hull designation); National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds a file unit named for this hull - 'LSM-435' (NAID 2760930) - inside the INSURV material-inspection series, which the series description says 'consists primarily of reports relating to the material inspection of various ships and craft of the U.S. Navy ... Some reports specifically relate to preliminary acceptance trials, underway trials, disposal ...' arranged into subseries including amphibious vessels by hull designation. The unit is paper only at the National Archives at College Park ('Not Yet Available Online'), unrestricted.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1949 (hull's service/disposal window; series spans 1940-1978)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: contents unexamined - the catalog record establishes that a hull-named INSURV file exists, not what it contains. Material-inspection reports document material condition but this record does not establish whether the file addresses insulation composition or asbestos. Retrieval/review at College Park is the open action.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-02
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[3]NARA Catalog full-text search '"LSM-435"' (83 file units returned, 2026-10-01) matching the hull inside digitized WWII-era records: COMTRANSRON 14 - Report of operations in the occupation of the Wakayama Area, Honshu, Japan, 9/25-26/45 (NAID 77501824, RG38 WWII War Diaries, Roll A1883, 55 images, Fold3-scanned); Black Hawk (AD-9) - October 1945 deck log (NAID 93150183, RG24 Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 70 images) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Catalog search '"LSM-435"' results; NAID 77501824 (Wakayama report, 55 images) and NAID 93150183 (AD-9 deck log, 70 images)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The catalog's OCR full-text index matches the string 'LSM-435' inside these digitized records, consistent with this hull's documented assignment to Occupation Service in the Far East 20 September - 14 November 1945: the Wakayama occupation operation report (25-26 September 1945) falls inside that window, and the AD-9 October 1945 deck log plausibly records the hull alongside or in company. Neither pinpoint page was verified this session.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945 (occupation-service window)
- Limitations
- Catalog index-level match only: establishes that the digitized text of these units contains 'LSM-435', not the context of the mention (participant list, movement entry, or passing reference). Pinpoint page and surrounding text unverified - a page-level pull is the open action. Neither document is an asbestos or material record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-03
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[4]Era-standard shipboard asbestos applications for a 1945-built diesel-powered amphibious auxiliary (normalized inference row; no ship-specific source) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Era inference row; corroborating program-level documentation in ev-05 (GAO HRD-80-2)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An LSM-1-class amphibious auxiliary built January-March 1945 at Dravo Corp., Wilmington, DE sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a diesel amphibious auxiliary of this type and period were diesel-exhaust and engine-room insulation/lagging, machinery gaskets, valve packing, bulkhead/joiner insulation board, deck coverings, and electrical insulation. Her direct-drive diesel plant (2 x GM 16-278A) carried no boilers or steam turbines, so the steam-plant lagging typical of larger combatants does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Population
- Dravo Corp. Wilmington construction trades (Jan-Mar 1945); commissioned crew 1945-1947; purchaser's conversion/scrapping crews post-1949 (fate unknown)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-435. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-04
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[5]GAO HRD-80-2, 'Asbestos: ... Navy ships' (Navy asbestos insulation use; product-page description) [gao]
- Locator
- gao.gov product page HRD-80-2
- 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 - spanning this hull's entire construction (January-March 1945) and service era (1945-1947).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1947 (hull's era)
- Population
- U.S. Navy shipboard personnel and shipyard trades, fleet-wide (context)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, standing per Batch-01) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-05
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[6]Batch-6245 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (404 + index scope), NavSource, NARA catalog, CourtListener API v4 type=o/type=r authenticated searches, NVR, shipyards.json yard dataset, NIOSH/OSTI yard-literature search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-01 through sl-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-09
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LSM-435 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener was fully searched this session via the authenticated helper - 'LSM-435' / 'USS LSM-435' / 'LSM 435' returned zero opinions (type=o) and zero dockets (type=r) on 2026-10-01; this is a completed negative, not a throttle. No DANFS entry exists (NHHC page 404; the DANFS corpus covers only five LSM hulls: -175, -373, -398, -446, -540, plus the LSMR series).
- 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. Open leads: NARA NAID 2760930 INSURV file (paper, College Park) and the pinpoint pages of the catalog full-text matches (NAID 77501824, 93150183); Dravo Wilmington yard records and 1949 conversion/disposal records are undigitized. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-435-lsm435-06