Evidence
14 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-14).
-
[1]research packet 579-packet.md (2 sources cited) [nhhc_danfs]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: UNVERIFIABLE
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-45-lsm45-pkt-579-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-45 (10/14/14045) - build/milestone timeline, specifications, awards, CO list, photo captions incl. NH 79847 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14045.htm header timeline, awards block, specifications block, photo captions, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 6 June 1944 at Brown Shipyard Co., Houston TX (yard hull 150 per shipbuildinghistory build table); launched 30 June 1944; commissioned USS LSM-45, 31 July 1944, LT. Charles D. Freight USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Six (CDR. A. R. Quinn, USN), LSM Group Sixteen (LCDR. J. T. Brugger Jr., USNR), LSM Division Thirty-One. Occupation service in the Far East 4-22 September 1945. Decommissioned 27 March 1947 at Green Cove Springs, FL; laid up Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group. Transferred 3 November 1958 to Greece as HS Ipopliarkhos Grigoropoulos (L-161); struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; returned to the U.S. as a museum project; sold 2010 to Justice Marine to be cut down as a barge. Photo record: beached at Cebu, P.I. 1945; pierside in the Philippines with LSM-91; San Francisco Bay c. 1945-46 (NHHC photo NH 79847); Greek service; Freedom Park Omaha c. 2003; preservation work incl. mast unstepping early April 2004; Camp Lejeune August 2006. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippines Liberation Medal - no battle stars shown. CO list: LT Charles D. Freight USNR (31 Jul 1944-21 Nov 1945), LTjg John D. Mates USNR (to 28 Dec 1945), LTjg Delbert T. Conley USN (to Apr 1946), ENS William L. Bradshaw USNR (to Aug 1946), ENS Cecil H. Hull USN (to 27 Mar 1947). Specs: 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. full; 203'6" x 34'6"; draft 3'6" fwd / 7'8" aft light; 13.2 kt; endurance 4,900 mi @ 12 kt; diesel fuel 1,225 bbls; troops 2 off / 46 enl; armament one twin bow 40mm + four single 20mm; 10-lb STS splinter shield.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-2010
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-47); Hellenic Navy crew (1958-93); museum volunteers and shipbreakers (1998-2014)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates are consistent with the shipbuildinghistory build table but the Naval Register strike date is explicitly unknown. Awards are ribbon-level (no battle stars shown); the page's history extract is credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1997), a veteran-association publication. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-01
-
[3]Amanda Hickey, '$20 million needed to make Museum of the Marine reality,' Jacksonville Daily News (The Daily News, Jacksonville, NC), 23 Feb 2014 (content verified via Wayback Machine capture 2014-03-04) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- JD News 23 Feb 2014 article, 'Where it's been' section (Houle and Justice quotes); Wayback capture https://web.archive.org/web/20140304153350/http://www.jdnews.com/news/military/20-million-needed-to-make-museum-of-the-marine-reality-1.281738
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Ship-specific asbestos statement from the institution that owned this hull: Museum of the Marine Director of Operations Joe Houle (retired Marine Sgt. Maj.) told the Daily News the LSM was given to Justice Marine Repair and Salvage, Sneads Ferry, because sale would have been too expensive - 'In order to sell it it would need to be environmentally safe. They wanted an astronomical amount of money to make it completely safe from asbestos and lead paint before it could be transferred to anyone for sale.' The same article confirms the disposal outcome via Joey Justice, owner of Justice Marine: the ship 'was not fit for a working barge and scrapped,' with the anchor, gun turret and helm saved for the museum. Board chairman Bob Songer stated the LSM Association donated the ship plus $400,000 for upkeep (of which ~$89,000 was spent on insurance, generators, and replacing stolen items), and that the museum had considered sinking the hull as a reef before the transfer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2010-2014 (statement period); retrospective on the 2004-2010 museum ownership
- Population
- Museum staff/volunteers aboard the hull (2004-2010); Justice Marine workers during barge conversion/scrapping (2010-2014)
- Limitations
- A press statement by the owning institution's operations director - not an asbestos survey, sampling record, or abatement contract. It establishes that the museum understood this hull to contain asbestos (and lead paint) requiring remediation before sale; it does not identify products, locations, quantities, or installation dates, and does not establish any individual's exposure. The article's subject is museum finances; the asbestos remark is incidental but direct and attributed. Live page returned HTTP 429 to automated fetch; content verified via Wayback capture of 2014-03-04.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-02
-
[4]Amphibious Ships Museum v. LSM-45, No. 8:02-cv-00290 (D. Neb., filed 2002-06-18, terminated 2003-05-06) - CourtListener docket 11645557 + FJC Integrated Database record [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener docket page /docket/11645557/ and FJC IDB record (office 8, docket 0200290, NOS 340, sec. 1333, terminated 2003-05-06)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- A federal in rem admiralty action naming this hull exists at docket level: 'Amphibious Ships Museum v. LSM-45,' D. Nebraska No. 8:02-cv-00290, filed 18 June 2002 and terminated 6 May 2003; admiralty jurisdiction (28 U.S.C. 1333); nature-of-suit code 340 'Marine personal injury'; assigned to Judge Thomas M. Shanahan, referred to Magistrate Judge Thomas D. Thalken. Filed while the vessel was moored at Freedom Park, Omaha. Classification: OTHER LITIGATION - not an asbestos or exposure case; no published opinion located (CourtListener opinion index returns zero for 'Amphibious Ships Museum' and 'LSM-45'); no documents in the RECAP archive.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2002-2003
- Limitations
- Docket-metadata level only: no opinion, orders, or pleadings retrieved; the vessel-as-defendant caption is an in rem admiralty form, and the 'marine personal injury' nature-of-suit code does not by itself establish an injury claim or any finding - the docket is consistent with an ownership/possessory or related admiralty proceeding, but the precise theory is undetermined from available metadata. Establishes only that the hull was the subject of a terminated federal action in 2002-2003; says nothing about asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-03
-
[5]ShipbuildingHistory (Colton), Brown Shipbuilding Houston TX yard page and vessel build table [other_primary]
- Locator
- Brown yard table row 150 (LSM 45); yard history header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent build-table corroboration for this hull: Brown yard hull number 150, 'LSM 45,' keel laid 6-Jun-44, launched 30-Jun-44, delivered 31-Jul-44, disposition 'To Greece 1958 as L-161, returned for use as a museum, sold 2010 for conversion to barge.' Yard context: Brown Shipbuilding was built in 1941 by George and Herman Brown at the junction of Green's Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel with $9mm from the Navy; built 12 PCs, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 DEs and 254 LSMs - 359 vessels in four years.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (yard era); hull row 1944
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce (peak >25,000 from late 1942 per USNI)
- Limitations
- Secondary reference database (Tim Colton's shipbuildinghistory), not a primary registry - corroborates NavSource milestones. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-04
-
[6]Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II,' Naval History (U.S. Naval Institute), June 2025 (content verified via Wayback capture 2025-06-20) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025, body text (yard founding, output figures, workforce sections)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder documentation for this hull's construction yard: Brown Shipbuilding (est. 1941, George and Herman Brown / Brown & Root) operated on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel, employed more than 25,000 workers at peak from late 1942, used assembly-line section fabrication with sideways launches into the narrow bayou, earned the Army-Navy 'E' production award December 1942, and built 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 61 destroyer escorts (38 Edsall-class, 23 John C. Butler-class), 32 LCI(L)s and 254 LSMs - placing this 1944 hull inside a high-rate wartime mass-production yard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce, 1941-1945
- Limitations
- Yard-level history - does not name LSM-45 and contains no asbestos, material, or occupational-health content (it documents workforce, discrimination, and labor history). Reputable professional press (USNI), not a government record. Live page returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; content verified via Wayback capture 2025-06-20.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-05
-
[7]Regis Neurohr, 'Historic WWII Ship to leave Omaha,' OmahaRiverFront.com, 7 March 2004 (archived - live site defunct) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- OmahaRiverFront.com article 20040307_lsm45.htm, 'Voyage to Omaha' section (Wayback capture 2008-09-05)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous local account of the hull's recovery and tow: in early 1998 the Amphibious Museum of the Americas found the former LSM-45 in Greece 'half sunk,' raised and restored her, and prepared her for tow in the Hellenic Naval Base repair yard at Skaramanga; she departed 9 September 1998 under tow of chartered Russian tug OST, refueled at Tenerife, arrived Port of New Orleans 20 October 1998, berthed at Morrill Drydock and Repair (Harvey Canal), was towed up the Mississippi by American Commercial Barge Lines and up the Missouri by a Blaske Marine towboat, arriving at Freedom Park, Omaha, 23 November 1998. The article also reports the LSM-45 'was used to shuttle supplies, ammunition and equipment ashore just after the Battle of Okinawa in 1945' (secondary service claim) and describes her as the last of her type in the U.S. still in original configuration.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1998-2004
- Population
- AMA/LSM-LSMR Association volunteers; tow crews; Morrill Drydock and Repair yard workers (New Orleans, Oct-Nov 1998)
- Limitations
- Local riverfront-news outlet, archived only (site defunct) - secondary service claims (Okinawa resupply) are not independently verified; the tow/recovery chronology is corroborated by NavSource captions and the LSM-LSMR association page. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-06
-
[8]USS LSM-LSMR Association, 'The Landing Ship Medium-45' page (archived - live site defunct); includes embedded USMC story by Lance Cpl. Matthew K. Hacker on the 31 July 2004 donation ceremony [other_primary]
- Locator
- lsmlsmr.org/lsm45.html (Wayback capture 2008-07-04): transfer paragraphs, 'USS LSM 45 Coming Home' section, embedded Hacker story
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Veteran-association record of the transfer and museum chain: on 3 November 1958 at Portsmouth, VA, LSM-45 was transferred to the Hellenic Navy, accepted by Cdr. Leon Stergiakis HN, renamed IPOPLIARCHOS GRIGOROPOULOS (L-161) in honor of Lt. N. Grigoropoulos (killed 26 September 1943 in the sinking of destroyer VASSILISSA OLGA); she was one of six LSMs ceded to Greece in 1958 under the military assistance program and decommissioned 27 April 1993. At 0945 GMT 5 August 1998 the ship came under full control of the USS LSM-LSMR Association at Skaramanga for return to the U.S. The embedded USMC story documents the 31 July 2004 donation ceremony at Mile Hammock Bay, Camp Lejeune - the Amphibious Ships Museum's transfer of the ship to the Marine Corps Museum of the Carolinas, attended by Rep. Walter Jones, Sen. Cecil Hargett, museum executive director Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Joe Houle, museum president Maj. Gen. (ret.) Ray Smith, and AMA founder Rolf Illsley, with an additional ~$36,000 donated by the LSM/LSMR association president.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1958-2004
- Population
- Hellenic Navy crew (1958-93); association volunteers
- Limitations
- Veteran-association publication (archived copy) reproducing a USMC news story - a primary-adjacent organizational record for the museum chain, not a registry. The AMA/association is also the litigant in ev-03. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-07
-
[9]Fred 'Seadog' Lehman, 'Last Surviving Crew Member From U.S.S. LSM 45 Succumbs in Florida,' Beach Carolina Magazine, 4 Nov 2010 (archived) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Beach Carolina Magazine, 4 Nov 2010 article body (Wayback capture 2014-09-04)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Regional-press obituary/ship update documenting the disposal in progress: the ship 'now rests in the New River at Justice Marine in Sneads Ferry North Carolina, where it is being altered into a barge by its newest owners,' and the museum planned to remove the tower/superstructure and twin 40mm bow mount for display. Reports QM1 Joseph F. Dill Jr. (d. 13 Oct 2010, Bushnell FL) as the last surviving WWII crewmember, and claims the ship 'took part in the Battle of the Philippines and the Battle for Okinawa during the final stages of the war' (secondary service claim).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2010 (retrospective to 1944-45)
- Population
- Justice Marine workers (2010); surviving crew/family
- Limitations
- Regional magazine tribute - contains two factual slips (places the Omaha relocation 'in 1993' - all other sources give Nov 1998; and gives '540 of these class ships built' vs. the canonical ~558 ordered/built). Okinawa/Philippines battle claims are secondary and uncorroborated at battle-star level (NavSource shows no battle stars). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-08
-
[10]NHHC, 'The Navy's Happy Medium' (art exhibit caption, Reginald Marsh watercolor, 1944) - archived capture; live history.navy.mil page returned 404/403 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC art-exhibit caption, accession 88-159-HN
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC statement of the LSM type's design niche: 'Needing a landing ship somewhere between the size and displacement of an LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and an LST (Landing Ship, Tank), the Navy turned the problem over to its architects and designers who came up with the compact and maneuverable LSM (Landing Ship, Medium).'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (design/program era)
- Limitations
- Type/design context only - not hull-specific and no material content. Live NHHC URL returned 404 (and 403 on alternate path) on 2026-10-01 - the standing NHHC link-rot defect first noted in BATCH-01; content verified via Wayback capture 2019-06-02.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-09
-
[11]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (Fairbanks-Morse diesel plant, no boilers); shipbuildinghistory/USNI yard records (wartime mass-production amphibious construction 1944); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era context (ev-11); hull's documented original-configuration survival to ~2010 (ev-06, ev-07, ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; shipbuildinghistory brown.htm; USNI June 2025; JD News 23 Feb 2014
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven amphibious landing ship built in mid-1944 at a wartime mass-production yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (pre-1970s substitution). Era-standard applications aboard a 1944 amphibious ship of this type were thermal insulation, machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, accommodation insulation, and deck coverings. The diesel plant means no boiler/steam-turbine lagging pathway. Independently, the hull's survival in original configuration through the museum period (volunteer restoration at Omaha 1998-2004; static display at Camp Lejeune 2004-2010; barge conversion/scrapping 2010-2014) is consistent with retained period materials, and the owning institution's 2014 statement (ev-02) asserted asbestos was present and required remediation before sale.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-2014
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-47); Hellenic Navy crew and refit yards (1958-93); museum volunteers/staff (1998-2010); Justice Marine shipbreakers (2010-2014)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed products; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution. The survival-in-original-configuration point is supported by secondary/veteran sources and the 2014 institutional statement, not by a material survey.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-10
-
[12]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO 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 U.S. construction and service era (1944-47).
- 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; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov product page used; the standing gao.gov automated-fetch block noted since BATCH-01).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-11
-
[13]Batch-6261 search ledger (this record): NavSource; shipbuildinghistory build table; USNI Naval History; JD News; OmahaRiverFront; LSM-LSMR Association; Beach Carolina Magazine; NHHC; CourtListener (opinion + docket indexes); DANFS probe; NVR probe; NARA catalog probe [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-01 through sl-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No asbestos survey, sampling record, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos litigation naming USS LSM-45 (or HS Ipopliarkhos Grigoropoulos / L-161) was located in the public sources searched. CourtListener returned zero opinion hits for 'LSM-45', 'USS LSM-45'/'LSM 45', 'Amphibious Ships Museum', and '"landing ship medium" asbestos'; the sole docketed case naming the hull (ev-03) is an in rem admiralty action, not exposure litigation. No DANFS entry exists (NHHC candidate URLs 404 - numbered landing ships were generally not individually entered). No NVR entry (transferred abroad 1958; NVR covers post-1987 inventory; site also unreachable from this network, curl error 35). NARA catalog is JS-rendered and unfetchable; WWII deck logs (RG 24) are an undigitized lead.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- The single ship-specific asbestos statement (ev-02) is an institutional press remark, not a survey - absence of deeper documentation does not prove absence of asbestos. Greek-era (1958-93) refit/maintenance records and any Justice Marine hazmat/abatement paperwork are outside public indexes. Absence of a located record does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-12
-
[14]Cross-source consistency check: NavSource timeline + shipbuildinghistory Brown yard table + Wikipedia infobox + Lehman (Beach Carolina) + LSM-LSMR association page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Beach Carolina 4 Nov 2010 vs OmahaRiverFront 7 Mar 2004 and lsmlsmr.org; NavSource header vs shipbuildinghistory/USNI; CourtListener docket caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS carried against circulating secondary errors: (1) Lehman (Beach Carolina, 2010) places the Omaha relocation 'in 1993' - the documented arrival at Freedom Park was 23 November 1998 (OmahaRiverFront, LSM-LSMR association). (2) Lehman's '540 of these class ships built' understates the canonical program (~558 LSMs ordered/built per NHHC/class literature). (3) Organization naming varies across sources - 'Amphibious Museum of the Americas,' 'Amphibious Ship Museum,' 'Amphibious Ships Museum,' 'USS LSM-LSMR Association' - the federal docket styles the litigant 'Amphibious Ships Museum.' (4) NavSource prints the builder as 'Brown Shipyard Co.'; USNI and the yard's own record give 'Brown Shipbuilding Co./Company.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1998-2014 (error window)
- Limitations
- Corrects secondary-source slips, not material claims. The ~558 figure itself is program-level literature; exact built/ordered counts vary by source convention (LSM(R) conversions counted differently).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-45-lsm45-13