Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[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-451-lsm451-pkt-579-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-451 (10/14/14451) - history extract credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9), specifications, awards, commanding-officer table, photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14451.htm: history extract block, specifications block, awards bar, CO table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1 class Landing Ship Medium; laid down 16 October 1944 at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Pedro, CA; launched 10 December 1944; commissioned USS LSM-451, 25 January 1945, LT. Jack H. Tilton USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Thirteen (LCDR C. L. Weigle USN), LSM Group Thirty-Eight (LCDR T. F. Lane USNR), LSM Division Seventy-Six. Post-war: occupation service in the Far East 2 September - 21 December 1945. Decommissioned 12 March 1947 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown. Sold for scrapping 26 February 1948 to New Orleans Shipwrecking Co., Chicago, IL. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp. Spec block: displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. full; length 203'6" ovl; beam 34'6"; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm + four single 20mm; two GM 16-278A reversible diesels (1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm), twin propellers, 2,800 shp; troop accommodations 2 officers + 46 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- WPS San Pedro construction trades (1944-45); crew (~59 + embarked troops); Mare Island Navy Yard personnel (1946-47 inactivation)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation; the underlying extract is a credited 1997 Turner Publishing company-history volume, not a primary Navy record - DANFS carries no entry for this hull. CO table contains an internal typo (Banfill tour 'November 1946 - March 1946'; likely November 1945 - see gaps). 'Struck, date unknown' conflicts with uboat.net's 4 April 1947 - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-01
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[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LSM 451 (LSM 451) - milestone table (built by Western Pipe & Steel Co.; ordered 8 Apr 1944; laid down 16 Oct 1944; launched 10 Dec 1944; commissioned 25 Jan 1945; end service 12 Mar 1947; decommissioned 12 Mar 1947; stricken 4 Apr 1947; sold 26 Feb 1948) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/13038.html warship data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent milestone corroboration for this hull: laid down 16 October 1944, launched 10 December 1944, commissioned 25 January 1945, decommissioned 12 March 1947, sold 26 February 1948 - matching NavSource. Adds two data points NavSource lacks: ordered 8 April 1944 and stricken 4 April 1947.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation (uboat.net), not a primary registry. Its stricken date (4 Apr 1947) conflicts with NavSource's 'date unknown' and cannot be verified against NVR (no NVR entry exists for a hull disposed in 1948) - carried as unresolved variant. Its builder location reads 'San Francisco' against two sources' 'San Pedro' (WPS operated both a South San Francisco and a San Pedro yard; the LSM program ran at San Pedro). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-02
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[4]Shipbuilding History / Naval Marine Archive, Western Pipe & Steel production list - hull 212 = LSM 451, US Navy Landing Ship, 743 t., 203 ft, delivered 25-Jan-45, 'Sold to New Orleans Shipwrecking 1948 for scrapping'; ordered 4-Apr-44, built in San Pedro [other_primary]
- Locator
- Western Pipe & Steel yard table, rows for hulls 208-217 (LSM 447-456), 'Ordered 4-Apr-44, built in San Pedro' group header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Yard production-list corroboration: Western Pipe & Steel yard hull number 212 was LSM-451, a US Navy landing ship of 743 tons and 203 ft, ordered 4 April 1944, built at the San Pedro yard, delivered 25 January 1945, and sold to New Orleans Shipwrecking in 1948 for scrapping. The yard list shows Western Pipe & Steel built 32 LSMs in two runs - yard hulls 188-207 = LSM-233 through LSM-252, and yard hulls 208-219 = LSM-447 through LSM-458 (LSM-451 is yard hull 212 in the second run).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- WPS San Pedro construction trades (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Secondary shipbuilding-history database (Tim Colton's shipbuildinghistory.com, mirrored at navalmarinearchive.com), not a primary builder's ledger. Order date 4-Apr-44 conflicts with uboat.net's 8-Apr-44 - unresolved variant. 'New Orleans Shipwrecking' named as buyer without city; NavSource/Turner gives the odd full form 'New Orleans Shipwrecking Co., Chicago, IL' - see gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-03
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[5]NavSource photo captions for USS LSM-451: Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo #557-46 (2/7/46) courtesy Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum; Hilo, T.H., April-May 1945 caption (contributor photo) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14451.htm image table, rows 2 and 3 (photo 101445102 Hilo; photo 101445103 Mare Island berth 12 Feb 1946)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporaneous photography places this hull: (1) beached at Hilo, Territory of Hawaii, circa April-May 1945, unloading 5th Marine veterans of the Iwo Jima campaign (contributor photo, credited 'for her grandfather, George Bavin USS LSM-451'); (2) at a Mare Island berth 12 February 1946 in Navy photo 557-46 alongside USS Montrose (APA-212), USS Uvalde (AKA-88), USS Arneb (AKA-56), and USS Haven (AH-12), with LSM-428, LSM-350, and LSM-426 also identifiable - placing her at Mare Island Navy Yard during inactivation ahead of her 12 March 1947 decommissioning there.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Population
- Crew and embarked personnel (Hilo 1945); crew and Mare Island Navy Yard personnel (1946-47)
- Limitations
- Photographic presence documentation, not work records: the Mare Island photo establishes the hull physically at the yard, not what work (if any) was performed aboard. Hilo caption is family-contributed (partial provenance). Mare Island is a documented asbestos-yard in the Atlas yard dataset, but this row establishes presence only - no hull work order, no exposure event. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-04
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[6]Franklin v. USX Corp., 87 Cal. App. 4th 615, 105 Cal. Rptr. 2d 11 (2001) - shipyard-exposure-map verified yard entry for western-pipe-steel: WWII shipbuilding contracts required use of asbestos-containing materials at Western Pipe & Steel [court_record]
- Locator
- Franklin v. USX Corp., 87 Cal. App. 4th 615 (2001); shipyards.json yard_id western-pipe-steel, flagship evidence ev-western-pipe-01
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Yard-level litigation documentation for this hull's builder: a California appellate opinion (trial finding affirmed as to the exposure premise) records that Western Pipe & Steel's wartime shipbuilding contracts required asbestos-containing materials; the case concerned take-home/bystander exposure - peritoneal mesothelioma in the child of WPS workers (South San Francisco yard per the Atlas yard dataset's reading of the opinion).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- WWII exposure window; opinion filed 2001
- Population
- WPS shipbuilding workers and household contacts (WWII era, South San Francisco yard per opinion)
- Limitations
- Yard-level and company-level only: the opinion does not name LSM-451 or any hull, and the yard dataset notes the case's population is tied to the South San Francisco yard while LSM-451 was built at the company's San Pedro facility - same company, different yard. Documents that WPS contracts required asbestos materials during the era covering this build (Oct 1944-Jan 1945); establishes nothing about this hull's installed materials, individual exposure, or quantity. law.justia.com returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches (confirmed 2026-10-01); reporter citation is the stable anchor and the entry is carried as verified via the Atlas yard dataset's own verification.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-05
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- 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 (Oct 1944-Jan 1945), service life (1945-47), and disposal (1948).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and shipboard personnel, era-wide
- 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, confirmed 2026-10-01 - same standing defect as batches 01 and 98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-06
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[8]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-451 spec block (GM 16-278A diesels, twin screws); NavSource LSM index (558 LSM/LSM(R) built WWII); shipyards.json entries for western-pipe-steel (contract-required asbestos per Franklin v. USX) and mare-island-naval-shipyard (documented ACM and Collins v. Plant Insulation); GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation (see ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14451.htm specifications block; NavSource 10/14/14idx.htm class header; shipyards.json (western-pipe-steel, mare-island-naval-shipyard)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LSM-1-class landing ship built Oct 1944-Jan 1945 sits inside both the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era and its builder's documented asbestos-contract era. Era-standard applications aboard a diesel amphibious ship of this type and period were thermal insulation in machinery spaces, diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation within the hull's confined engineering spaces. As a direct-drive diesel ship she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- WPS San Pedro construction trades (1944-45); crew (1945-47); Mare Island inactivation personnel; 1948 shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-451. 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-451-07
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[9]NHHC, 'The Navy's Happy Medium' (art exhibit, Reginald Marsh watercolor 88-159-HN) - official NHHC statement of the LSM type's design origin (between LCI and LST) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC exhibit page text; NavSource 10/14/14idx.htm header paragraph
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC characterization of the type: needing a landing ship 'somewhere between the size and displacement of an LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and an LST (Landing Ship, Tank),' the Navy designed 'the compact and maneuverable LSM (Landing Ship, Medium).' NavSource's class index adds that 558 LSM and LSM(R) hulls were built during WWII. LSM-451 is one of the 32 hulls Western Pipe & Steel built at San Pedro (yard hulls 188-219: the LSM-233 to LSM-252 and LSM-447 to LSM-458 runs).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- LSM program crews and builders, era-wide
- Limitations
- Class-level background only; names no individual hull. NHHC page verified live 2026-10-01 (page returns 404 to default-curl user agents but loads normally for browser agents - access quirk noted for future fetchers). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-08
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[10]Batch-6263 search ledger (this record): NavSource 14451 + LSM index; uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory/navalmarinearchive WPS list; NHHC DANFS (no entry) + NHHC exhibit; NARA digitized deck-log list; CourtListener API v4 (opinion + docket); GAO product page; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-451-01 through -11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LSM-451 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search 'USS LSM-451' returned zero results; bare 'LSM-451' opinion search returned 7 hits, all name collisions (docket/statute fragments - People v. Merkin, Marco Crane & Rigging v. Masaryk, State ex rel. Rohrs v. Germann, Fernandez v. USPS, a 1942 Texas AG opinion, Conner, Berry v. State - none maritime or asbestos). Docket-level (type=r) search returned 679 hits, likewise all token collisions ('LSM-451' as docket-number/judge-code fragment; zero maritime or asbestos content in returned hits) - the hull was scrapped in 1948, decades before electronic docketing. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no law-firm ship-page listing for this hull. No DANFS entry exists (all candidate NHHC URLs 404); no NVR entry exists (hull disposed 1948, pre-1987); the hull is absent from NARA's digitized deck-log list (WWII-era logs reside in RG 24 at College Park; sister hulls LSM-448/455/462 do appear in the digitized postwar-era listings).
- 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 - a 1944-built hull with era-standard materials was sold for scrapping in 1948 predating modern ACM-handling regulation, and no breakup record was located. A refined 'LSM-451 asbestos' docket query was attempted but not completed (fleet pacing budget spent) - the bare-token docket sweep already showed no qualifying content, so the refinement is marginal; logged as an open refinement in gaps. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-451-09