Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-479 (timeline, specifications, commanding-officer list, photographic record; history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14479.htm header timeline, awards table, specifications block, and commanding-officer list; class total (558 LSM/LSM(R) hulls) from NavSource LSM/LSM(R) photo index 10/14/14idx.htm; both pages verified live 2026-10-01
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline documented for this hull: laid down 3 February 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; launched 24 February 1945; commissioned USS LSM-479, 3 April 1945, Lt. Merle S. Burdick USNR in command; WWII Asiatic-Pacific Theater assignment - LSM Flotilla Sixteen, LSM Group Forty-Seven, LSM Division Ninety-Four; post-war Occupation service in the Far East (Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 11-25 September 1945 and 6 October 1945-7 February 1946); decommissioned 19 December 1946; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group; transferred to France 1 April 1954; returned to US Naval custody 14 October 1956 at Naval Station Subic Bay, P.I.; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; final disposition - sold December 1958 to Fleet Storage Corp., New York, NY, fate unknown. Specifications: 520/743/1,095 t.; 203'6" oa; 34'6" beam; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted; twin 40 mm bow gun plus four single 20 mm; two General Motors (model GM 16-278A, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesels, direct drive, 1,440 bhp each at 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp. One commanding officer listed: Lt. Merle S. Burdick, USNR, 3 April 1945 - ?. Awards: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1958
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (Feb-Apr 1945); USN crew (1945-46); French loan-period crew (1954-56); disposal handlers (1958)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestone dates are not independently verified against Navy records (no DANFS entry exists for this hull; NVR unreachable this session and no entry expected - see gaps). The page's history text is credited to a secondary published work (Turner Publishing, 1997). Contains no asbestos content. 'Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown' - a 14 January 1958 stricken date circulates in secondary sources (uboat.net), unverified.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-01
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[2]Archival photography on the NavSource LSM-479 page (USS LSM/LSMR Association contributions; Ted Stone photographs; Roy Lee contributions) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14479.htm photo table (101447901-05.jpg series and French Naval Service photographs)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Photographs document this hull at named places and dates: the commissioning ceremony at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX, 3 April 1945 (two photographs, one identifying the officer complement - Lt. Merle S. Burdick, CO; LTjg. Willis E. Bucttner; Ens. John C. Mairhuber; Ens. Thedore J. Kotonias; Ens. Harry L. Brundage); moored pierside at Naval Station Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, date unknown; moored to a buoy with two other LSMs in San Pablo Bay, CA, date unknown; under way 20 May 1946, location unknown; and ex-LSM-479 with ex-LSM-17 under way off San Diego, CA, circa April 1954 after turnover to France (photos by Ted Stone). The turnover photograph corroborates the 1 April 1954 France transfer milestone and establishes a West Coast departure point.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1954
- Population
- Commissioning crew and officers (3 Apr 1945); crew during postwar West Coast layup/movement (1945-46); turnover crews, USN and French (Apr 1954)
- Limitations
- Archival leads only: photographs establish physical presence at places and dates, not what work (if any) was performed - none is an availability or work record. Three of six captions carry 'date unknown' or 'circa' qualifiers. Captain names transcribed from the caption contain possible OCR-era spelling variants (Bucttner; Kotonias; Mairhuber; Thedore). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-02
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[3]LSM Class Manual (LSM Type Organization, Regulations and Standard Operating Procedure), Bureau of Ships, 1 March 1944, Serial No. 1766, issued to USS LSM-294 - scanned chapter PDFs hosted on NavSource, contributed by Patrick Blackman [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource LSM Manual index (verified live 2026-10-01); chapter PDFs lsm02-30, lsm02-31-9, lsm02-32 (OCR'd this session)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The class operating manual confirms the propulsion configuration documented for this hull: two diesel-engine makes were used across LSM-class vessels - Fairbanks-Morse (model 38D8-1/8) or General Motors (model 16-27 series) - direct drive, no reduction gear; and the auxiliary machinery section documents a single small oil-fired water-tube auxiliary steam boiler (55 psi working pressure) aboard. No asbestos, lagging, insulation, magnesia, or pipe-covering material specification appears in the chapters reviewed (ch. 30 Main Propelling Machinery; ch. 31-9 Boilers; ch. 32 Pumps, Tanks and Piping Systems) - the manual is an operational SOP, not a construction-materials specification.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944
- Population
- LSM-class crews (1944-45)
- Limitations
- Class-level manual issued to a sister hull (LSM-294), not to LSM-479 - it documents type-standard machinery, not this hull's as-built materials. Absence of insulation specifications in reviewed chapters is a limited finding: only three technical chapters were OCR-reviewed, and construction material lists are outside the manual's scope. No asbestos content found or claimed.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-03
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[4]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (October 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 (February-April 1945) and U.S. Navy service era (1945-1946, reserve to 1954).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979 (report); exposure era through early 1970s
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; shipboard personnel (era 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, confirmed 2026-10-01); content via product-page description. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, individual exposure, or quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-04
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications for this hull (General Motors 16-278A diesel main propulsion, twin screws); LSM Class Manual (diesel propulsion across class; one small auxiliary steam boiler); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation (ev-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14479.htm specifications; LSM Class Manual ch. 30, 31-9, 32; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven amphibious landing ship built February-April 1945 at a wartime Navy-contract yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel amphibious hull of this type and period were machinery and exhaust insulation, gaskets, valve packing, auxiliary-boiler and steam-line lagging (the class carried one small 55-psi auxiliary oil-fired boiler - a limited steam footprint, not a main propulsion plant), interior insulation and deck coverings, and brake linings on winches and windlass. The boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam-driven combatants does not apply to the main plant; the small auxiliary boiler and its piping are the relevant steam-side surface.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1958
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); USN crew (1945-46); French loan-period crew and yard trades (1954-56); Fleet Storage Corp. disposal handlers (1958)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-479. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. Her French-loan period (1954-56) and any material condition at the 1958 sale are undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-05
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[6]Secondary-source conflict audit: navypedia.org French LSM table; uboat.net USS LSM 479 ship page (ship/13066.html); Wikipedia French-LSM list (via USS LSM-17 and USS LSM-125 articles); everybodywiki.com USS LSM-479 mirror of the deleted Wikipedia article; forummarine.forumactif.com Indochina LSM thread [other_primary]
- Locator
- navypedia.org fr_ls_lsm.htm (L9053? row, 'to USA 10.1956'); uboat.net ship/13066.html history line; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_LSM-17 French-LSM list; military-history.fandom.com USS LSM-125 same list; en.everybodywiki.com/USS_LSM-479; forummarine.forumactif.com/t8615 (secondary, uncited)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTIONS: (1) The everybodywiki mirror of this hull's former Wikipedia article states in its lead that the ship 'was transferred to France but never commissioned' while its body says she 'was commissioned into the French Navy on 1 April 1954' - internally contradictory; NavSource records only the loan transfer, and no French commissioning is verified. (2) The same mirror dates the U.S. return 'October 1958'; NavSource and uboat.net both give 14 October 1956 at Naval Station Subic Bay - the 1956 date is carried. (3) French pennant identity is unresolved: navypedia lists 'LSM479 (ex-LSM479)' with tentative pennant 'L9053?', the Wikipedia/Fandom French-LSM list shows 'ex-LSM-479' with no pennant, and a French naval-forum thread notes the pennant correspondence for the twelve transferred LSMs is disputed across sources - no pennant is asserted in this record. (4) Stricken date: NavSource lists 'date unknown'; uboat.net gives 14 January 1958 - unverified against a primary register, flagged in gaps.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1954-1958 (conflict window)
- Limitations
- Corrects and flags secondary-source conflicts, not material claims. navypedia, uboat.net, Wikipedia mirrors, and the forum are all secondary; none resolves the French pennant or the struck date against a Navy primary source. The turnover photograph (ev-02) independently corroborates that a physical transfer to France occurred circa April 1954. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-06
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[7]Batch-6293 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page and LSM class index; ComTransRon 12 Nagasaki action report scan (checked - hull not named); LSM Class Manual chapters (OCR'd); DANFS index (no entry exists); NVR (host unreachable, TLS reset); GAO (blocked); CourtListener API v4; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-01 through -10
- 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-479 (LSM-479; French loan hull 1954-56) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener queries were repeatedly attempted this session via cl-auth-search.py but remained behind the fleet pacing window (~114/hr shared budget) at write time - logged as blocked, not as a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced only class-level law-firm/marketing content (navyshipexposure.com generic 'USS Class Lsm' page and similar) asserting asbestos in LSMs generally without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- 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 hull sits inside the documented Navy asbestos era, and absence here reflects the thin public record for an unnamed numbered landing ship (no DANFS entry, NVR unreachable/no entry expected, no digitized deck logs located). The litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (fleet-paced, not run). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-479-lsm479-07