Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
-
[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-478 page - construction milestones, theater assignments, occupation service, awards, specifications, disposition (history extract attributed to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14478.htm header block, awards block, specifications block, disposition lines, CO list
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1-class landing ship medium; laid down 10 February 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston TX; launched 3 March 1945; commissioned USS LSM-478, 7 April 1945, LT. N. R. Briscoe USNR in command; assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater (LSM Flotilla Fifteen, LSM Group Forty-Four, LSM Division Ninety); post-war Occupation service in the Far East 4 September - 9 November 1945; decommissioned 28 May 1946 at Astoria, OR; laid up Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, Astoria; reactivated and transferred 1 April 1954 to France; returned to U.S. Naval custody and transferred November 1956 to the Republic of China, renamed Mei Kun (LSM-252); struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; disposed of by the Republic of China Navy in 1973, fate unknown. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). Specifications: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t full load; 203'6" oa; 34'6" beam; 13.2 kt max at 928 t; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm + four single 20mm; propulsion two Fairbanks Morse 38D81/8X10 reversible diesels with hydraulic clutch, direct drive, 1,440 bhp each @ 720 rpm, twin propellers 2,800 shp; ship's service generators 2 x 100 kW 450 V AC + 1 x 20 kW 120 V DC diesel-drive.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944-45); USN crew (1945-46); French Navy crew (1954-56); ROCN crew (1956-73)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; the underlying history extract is Turner Publishing's LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II (1997). No DANFS entry exists for this hull against which to cross-check. Contains no asbestos or material content. Strike date and post-1973 fate are unestablished by this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-01
-
[2]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LSM 478 (LSM 478) entry - order date, build milestones, disposition [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net warship record table, ship ID 13065
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent secondary corroboration of this hull's timeline: ordered 10 July 1944; built by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; laid down 10 February 1945; launched 3 March 1945; commissioned 7 April 1945; end of U.S. service 28 May 1946 - 'decommissioned on 28 May 1946, transferred to France on 1 April 1954, returned to the USN ... in November 1956 and transferred to Taiwan.' The order date (10 July 1944) is not stated on NavSource.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1956
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation only - corroborates NavSource milestones and supplies the order date; carries no asbestos, material, or crew content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-02
-
[3]U.S. Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Brown Shipbuilding Houston TX yard page - yard history and per-hull construction table [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Brown page, construction table row 'LSM 478' (yard hull 285) and yard history header
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Brown Shipbuilding construction table lists yard hull 285: 'LSM 478, Landing Ship, keel laid 10-Feb-45, launched 3-Mar-45, delivered 7-Apr-45' with disposition 'Laid up 1947, to France 1954, to Taiwan 1956 as Mei Kun (LSM 252), scrapped 1973.' The yard history states Brown Shipbuilding was built in 1941 by George and Herman Brown at the junction of Green's Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel with $9 million from the Navy, and produced 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
- 1941-1973
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce (1941-46)
- Limitations
- Independently compiled construction record (secondary), corroborating NavSource/uboat.net on builder, milestones, and the France-Taiwan chain; its 'laid up 1947' conflicts with NavSource's 1946 decommission-and-lay-up (unresolved, see gaps), and its 'scrapped 1973' is stronger than NavSource's 'fate unknown' (unresolved, see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-03
-
[4]navypedia, 'L9011 medium landing ships (1944-1945 / 1954)' - French Navy roster of ex-USN LSMs, incl. L9016 [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia fr_ls_lsm.htm, roster row 'LSM478 (ex-LSM478) L9016' and class notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The French roster row for this hull: 'LSM478 (ex-LSM478) | L9016 | Brown SB, Houston | 1945 | 1945 | 4.1945 // 4.1954 | to USA 11.1956' - i.e., commissioned USN April 1945, transferred to France April 1954, returned to U.S. custody November 1956. The class-level note states these were 'former USN LSM type landing ships, transferred for the war in the South Asia' and that 'after being returned to USN, all ships were immediately transferred to South Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1954-1956
- Population
- French Navy crew (1954-56)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; corroborates the transfer/return months and assigns French pennant L9016. The 'war in the South Asia' note is a class-level statement (First Indochina War context) - it does not by itself establish this hull's operational employment in theater. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-04
-
[5]navypedia, 'MEI CHIN medium landing ships (1944-1945/1949-1962)' - Republic of China Navy roster of ex-USN LSMs [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia tai_ls_meizhen.htm, roster row 'Mei Kun (ex-LSM478) LSM352'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ROCN roster row for this hull: 'Mei Kun (ex-LSM478) | LSM352 | Brown SB, Houston, USA | 1945 | 1945 | 4.1945 // 11.1956 | stricken 1973' - i.e., acquired/commissioned ROCN November 1956 under the name Mei Kun, carried on the roster at pennant LSM-352, stricken 1973.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1956-1973
- Population
- ROCN crew (1956-73)
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation; corroborates NavSource's Mei Kun renaming and 1973 disposal while supplying the redesignated pennant LSM-352 (NavSource gives LSM-252; both variants recorded - see gaps). 'Stricken 1973' does not establish the physical fate of the hull. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-05
-
[6]Photographs via NavSource: USS LSM-478 en route to Saipan at the entrance of Apra Harbor, Guam (collection of Richard W. Friedrich, F/1c, LSM-467); USS LSM-478 in background at Sasebo, Kyushu, September 1945; ex-USS LSM-478 as ROCS Mei Kun (LSM-252) under way circa 1962 (official Republic of China Navy photo) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14478.htm image table (101447801, 101447403 cross-post, 101447802)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival photography places this hull in the Pacific in 1945 and in ROCN service circa 1962: LSM-478 photographed en route to Saipan at the entrance of Apra Harbor, Guam; LSM-478 in the background of a photograph of USS LSM-474 unloading 5th Marine Division tanks at Sasebo, Kyushu, Japan, September 1945; and an official Republic of China Navy photograph of ex-LSM-478 under way as ROCS Mei Kun (LSM-252), circa 1962, location unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1962
- Population
- Crew during Pacific transit and occupation service (1945); ROCN crew (c. 1962)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: photographs establish physical presence and configuration, not work performed or materials aboard. Original NARA/ROCN catalog identifiers not extracted; captions as transcribed by NavSource. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-06
-
[7]Digital Public Library of America item 'LSM-478, 4/7/45-5/28/46' - Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities (NARA) [other_primary]
- Locator
- dp.la item eaaade085b56684abad1683532c795cc (title and collection fields from search-engine index; underlying NARA catalog entry behind JS-rendered catalog)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A NARA catalog record (surfaced via DPLA) documents Bureau of Naval Personnel muster rolls for this hull spanning 7 April 1945 - 28 May 1946, i.e., the ship's entire commissioned U.S. Navy career from commissioning to decommissioning at Astoria. The muster-roll series records the names of the ship's company by reporting period - the primary personnel-accountability record for this hull's USN crew.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- USN ship's company of LSM-478, 1945-46
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the catalog record establishes that muster rolls exist and were digitized via the NARA-Fold3 collaboration; page-level content was not retrieved this session (catalog.archives.gov is JS-rendered and unfetchable to automation; DPLA item page returned empty body, full NARA ID not captured). A muster roll documents who served aboard and when - it is NOT an exposure record and contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-07
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (Fairbanks Morse diesel plant, no boilers); GAO HRD-80-2 finding that asbestos thermal insulation was the Navy's major shipboard asbestos use until the 1973 specification revision (ev-09); LST-1-class profile era analysis for the diesel-powered amphibious family [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14478.htm specifications block; GAO HRD-80-2 'Navy's Policy on Use of Asbestos' section
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LSM-1-class landing ship built February-April 1945 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a landing ship of this type and period were diesel-exhaust lagging, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, gaskets, valve packing, deck coverings, accommodation/bulkhead insulation, and electrical cable insulation. As a diesel ship she carried no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply; the exposure pathway concentrates in the engine room and interior finishes of a small, enclosed amphibious hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1973 (all service eras); ROCN-era extent unbounded
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944-45); USN crew (1945-46); reserve-fleet maintenance (1946-54); French Navy crew (1954-56); ROCN crew (1956-73)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-478. 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-478-08
-
[9]GAO, Navy's Efforts to Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 and full-text PDF https://www.gao.gov/assets/hrd-80-2.pdf (both HTTP 403 to automation)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented Navy-wide asbestos practice spanning this hull's construction era: 'all ships contain some asbestos in such components as clutches and electric cables'; 'thermal insulation ... was the Navy's major use of asbestos aboard ships'; product specifications for thermal insulation were changed in 1973 to specify asbestos-free materials, but 'asbestos materials had already been purchased and in some cases installed in ships under construction,' with some ships delivered with asbestos insulation as late as May 1978. A ship built in early 1945 therefore sits well inside the era of standard asbestos thermal insulation use.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979 (report); practice window spans 1945 construction era
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, not Brown Shipbuilding. gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch on both product page and PDF (confirmed 2026-10-01); quoted findings carried from Batch-6284's successful Firecrawl full-text retrieval the same date. Does not establish materials aboard LSM-478, individual exposure, or quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-09
-
[10]Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas, 'Shipbuilding' (Robert H. Peebles); U.S. Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Brown Shipbuilding yard history [other_primary]
- Locator
- tshaonline.org Handbook 'Shipbuilding' WWII paragraphs; shipbuildinghistory.com Brown page header
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder context for this hull: Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston - a purpose-built 1941 Navy-funded yard ($9 million Navy investment, per shipbuildinghistory) founded by George and Herman Brown at Green's Bayou on the Houston Ship Channel. TSHA documents combined Brown/Todd-Galveston Navy contracts exceeding $100 million with $200 million in supplemental awards in August 1942. The yard produced 359 vessels in four years (12 PCs, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 DEs, 254 LSMs per shipbuildinghistory), including this hull - a wartime-recruited, high-tempo production environment typical of WWII emergency yards.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce (1941-46)
- Limitations
- Yard-level history, not a hull record: documents the builder's WWII production scope and workforce environment, not materials installed aboard LSM-478. Brown's naval production ended in 1946 - before OSHA-era surveys - and the yard is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry (see gaps). TSHA contract figures are combined Brown/Todd totals, not Brown alone. No asbestos content in either cited source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-10
-
[11]Batch-6292 search ledger (this record): NavSource LSM-478 page; NHHC DANFS; HyperWar; hazegray; NVR; uboat.net; shipbuildinghistory Brown table; navypedia France and Taiwan rosters; DPLA/NARA muster-roll record; GAO HRD-80-2; TSHA Handbook; CourtListener API v4 (opinion and docket indexes); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-478-01 through sl-uss-lsm-478-15
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LSM-478 (or its French L9016 or ROCN Mei Kun identities) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion and docket searches for the exact hull strings 'LSM-478', 'USS LSM-478', and 'LSM 478' returned zero results each (final ledger status). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no ship-specific 'asbestos aboard' claims of any kind.
- 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 1945-built naval vessel of this type sits in the documented asbestos era, and the hull's 1954 French transfer, 1956 ROCN transfer, and 1973 disposal outside U.S. custody foreclosed the survey/abatement paper trail that preserved U.S. ships sometimes generate. Deck logs (NARA RG 24), muster rolls (located but not retrieved - ev-07), Brown Shipbuilding build records, and French/ROCN-era records are undigitized or inaccessible leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-478-11