Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945 edition, Vol. 2 - Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) roster, 'LSM 486' row (shipscribe.com scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2, LSM class roster table, row 'LSM 486' (Brown S. B. Co., Houston block); LSM design table p.151
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Bureau of Ships' official Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945 edition, Volume 2, roster records LSM-486: built by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; keel laid 24 Feb 1945; launched 17 Mar 1945; first commissioned 20 Apr 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Construction trades (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, 1945)
- Limitations
- Official BuShips publication naming this hull - authoritative for build dates and builder. Contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or condition statement; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-01
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[2]Bureau of Ships, Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1945 edition, Vol. 2 - LSM design table incl. engine-model footnote (shipscribe.com scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SDB1945v2 LSM design table (p.151) and footnote 4 listing engine model by hull range
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The BuShips Ships' Data 1945 v2 LSM design table documents the type as 203 ft 6 in overall, 34 ft 6 in beam, 1,095 t full-load displacement, diesel direct drive 2,800 shp, with an explicit engine footnote: 'The following vessels have General Motors engines Model 16-278A: LSM 146-187, 200, 233-252, 268-309, 320, 353, 389-400, 413, 429-458, 479-500, 537-539 and 553-558' - LSM-486 falls inside the documented 479-500 range. Class accommodations: 5 officers, 54 enlisted. Armament: one twin 40 mm AA mount (plus 20 mm single mounts per NavSource).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- LSM crews (5 officers / 54 enlisted design accommodations)
- Limitations
- Official machinery documentation naming this hull within a numbered range - establishes the diesel plant (no boilers), which bounds the asbestos-relevant systems aboard. Does not document insulation materials; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-02
-
[3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-486 (navsource.net/archives/10/14/14486.htm); history extract attributed to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Page body: history extract, specifications block, commanding officers table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-486 page: LSM-1 class; laid down 24 Feb 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; launched 17 Mar 1945; commissioned 20 Apr 1945, LTjg. Marvin R. Davis USNR in command; WWII assignment Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LSM Flotilla Sixteen, LSM Group Forty-Seven, LSM Division Ninety-Four; decommissioned 19 Dec 1946 at Green Cove Springs, FL; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold 26 Jan 1948 to Southern Shipwrecking Co., New Orleans, LA, converted to a barge; final disposition fate unknown. Photographic record: under way in San Francisco Bay 1945-46 (NHHC photo NH 83280, via D.M. McPherson); moored pierside at Inchon, Korea, with USS LSM-442, date unknown; nested with other LSMs at Boston Naval Shipyard early 1946. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal. Specifications: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t full load; 203 ft 6 in; speed 13.2 kt max; 2 GM 16-278A diesels 1,440 bhp each @ 720 rpm, twin propellers 2,800 shp; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; troop accommodations 2 + 46; one twin 40 mm + four single 20 mm.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Limitations
- Canonical volunteer-compiled per-hull archive; history extract is a secondary compilation (Turner Publishing). Service detail beyond dates is thin - no operational narrative. No asbestos, insulation, survey, or hazmat statement on the page; supports no asbestos claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-03
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[4]NARA, file unit 'LSM-486, 4/20/45-1/1/47', NAID 126648976, RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel), Muster Rolls series, Roll 4039 [other_primary]
- Locator
- File-unit catalog page; scanned images: forwarding sheet for roll dated 1 Jul 1945 (image 5); Report of Changes for 20 Apr 1945 (image 10)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds the ship's digitized muster rolls: file unit 'LSM-486, 4/20/45-1/1/47' (NAID 126648976, RG 24 Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities; microfilm roll 4039; 249 images, unrestricted, Ancestry-partnership scan). Page-level verification: the quarterly roll cover sheet of 1 July 1945 is titled 'MUSTER ROLL OF THE CREW OF THE U.S.S. LSM 486,' annotated 'Com. 4-20-45 to 1-1-47,' certified by M. C. Peterson, Lieutenant USNR (Executive Officer), approved by M. R. Davis, Lieutenant USNR (Commanding Officer), forwarded 5 July 1945 c/o Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, Calif.; the commissioning-day Report of Changes dated 20 Apr 1945 lists crew received for duty from the Receiving Station, Houston, Texas.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1947
- Population
- USS LSM-486 ship's company, Apr 1945 - Jan 1947 (muster-roll population)
- Limitations
- Primary-source personnel record covering the ship's entire commissioned career; documents crew assignment and command, not materials. Names/ratings present in the rolls (incl. engine-room ratings) document who served aboard - not exposure. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-04
-
[5]Library of Congress, Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center - Stanley Sak Collection, AFC/2001/001/89552 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Item page: Veterans History Project Service Summary; service history fields
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Stanley Sak Collection (AFC/2001/001/89552): service summary records Navy veteran Stanley Sak, highest rank Machinist's Mate, service unit/ship 'USS LSM-486 (Landing Ship Medium)', locations of service Hawaii, Philippines, Korea; oral history interview (DVD) collected 2012-10-17.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1946 service period; interview 2012
- Population
- Stanley Sak, Machinist's Mate (engine-room rating), USS LSM-486
- Limitations
- Documents a named engine-room-rated crew member aboard this hull with Pacific/Korea service - corroborates operational posting. Contains no asbestos or materials statement; service aboard is not evidence of exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-05
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[6]Batch-6301 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + HyperWar mirror; NVR; MARAD ShipHistory; NavSource full page; CourtListener 'LSM-486' opinion search [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-486-02, -05, -06, -07, -08, -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-486 was found in the sources searched. LSM-486 has no DANFS entry (NHHC and the HyperWar mirror both 404). The Naval Vessel Register does not include her (NVR excludes ships disposed prior to 1987). No MARAD ShipHistory record was located. CourtListener sweeps on the hull number: 'LSM-486' opinion search returned 12 hits and docket search 417 hits - all OCR-noise or unrelated records (docket-number magistrate initials, an unrelated 'L.S.M. Systems Engineering' party name, OCR garbage); the spaced variant 'LSM 486' returned 0 opinion hits, and the exact quoted-name queries '"USS LSM-486"' returned 0 docket and 0 opinion hits. No asbestos litigation naming this hull was located (see search_ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1945 amphibious hull is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials at construction. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-06
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[7]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373 - DOI link returns 403 to automated fetch (publisher bot-block); DOI is the persistent article identifier
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the era and program under which this LSM-1-class hull was mass-produced at an inland commercial yard - and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization aboard Navy and merchant-type hulls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel or class and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-07
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[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 - gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch; report title and summary content taken from the published report record
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented the Navy's asbestos-protection program: standing policy (1975) removed asbestos insulation only when damaged or required for repairs, modified 1979 to selective replacement in high-maintenance areas - fleet-wide context for the era in which this hull was built.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation postdating this hull's Navy service (sold 1948) by three decades - included as era/program context only. Does not name this vessel or class; establishes nothing about this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-08
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[9]Consolidated era inference - BuShips SDB 1945 v2 LSM machinery data (this hull's documented diesel fit) + era amphibious-ship construction practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- ev-uss-lsm-486-02 machinery documentation; class/era practice per ev-uss-lsm-486-07
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a diesel-powered LSM: with no boilers or steam plant, the asbestos-relevant applications of the era were diesel exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, deck coverings/tile, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, winch brake linings, and electrical insulation. The hull's GM 16-278A diesel fit is officially documented (BuShips footnote range); the asbestos content of its insulation and consumables is not.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Population
- Construction trades (Brown Shipbuilding, Houston); LSM crews; postwar scrapping/barge-conversion workers (Southern Shipwrecking, New Orleans)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-level asbestos record located for this hull. Establishes no quantities, no locations, no present-day presence (hull converted to a barge 1948, fate unknown), and no exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-09
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[10]NARA catalog file units: COM LSM FLOT 16 War Diary 6/1-30/45, NAID 77462758; COM LSM FLOT 16 War Diary 10/1-31/45, NAID 140087870 (RG 38, WWII War Diaries series) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA catalog search 'LSM Flotilla 16' - file units NAID 77462758 and 140087870; 'LSM-486' catalog search returned no ship-titled deck log
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (identified but not examined page-by-page): NARA RG 38 WWII War Diaries series holds Commander LSM Flotilla 16 monthly war diaries - LSM-486's documented parent flotilla - e.g., June 1945 (NAID 77462758) and October 1945 (NAID 140087870), digitized; these may carry ship-level movements/assignments for attached hulls. Deck logs in the RG 24 'Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations' series were not located digitized under an LSM-486 title in this session's catalog search.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945 records
- Limitations
- Flotilla-level records - the war diaries were not read page-by-page this session; whether they name LSM-486 in detail is unverified. No asbestos content expected either way. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-486-10