Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
-
[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-489 (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Live page header/history block, occupation-and-China-service table, specifications block, commanding-officer table; page returned HTTP 200 on live check.
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource identifies USS LSM-489 as an LSM-1-class landing ship medium built at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; it reports commissioning on 27 April 1945 under LT(jg) Sydney A. Smity Jr., USNR; assignment in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater to LSM Flotilla Sixteen, LSM Group Forty-Seven, and LSM Division Ninety-Five; occupation service 14-27 September 1945; China service 28 September 1945-2 May 1946 and 21 November 1946-4 January 1947; decommissioning and transfer to the Republic of China on 2 May 1947; and seizure by People's Republic of China forces in October 1949, with fate unknown. Its specification block gives 5 officers and 54 enlisted and two GM 16-278A direct-drive diesels, 1,440 bhp each, driving twin propellers for 2,800 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Population
- U.S. Navy ship's company and embarked personnel during 1945-1947
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a federal registry or primary vessel record; the credited Turner history was not independently retrieved. It reports date unknown for laying down, launching, and striking. This history and specification record contains no asbestos or materials information and establishes no individual exposure, causation, quantity, condition, or present location.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-489-01
-
[2]Office of Naval Intelligence, ONI 226, Landing Ship, Medium (LSM), reproduced by HyperWar from the Navy recognition manual [other_primary]
- Locator
- ONI 226 page headed 'LANDING SHIP, MEDIUM — LSM,' description/specifications and profile/deck-plan drawings; live PDF located through web search.
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Office of Naval Intelligence's contemporaneous recognition manual describes the Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) type as an oceangoing tank landing ship with a 203-foot-6-inch overall length, 34-foot beam, tank/LVT/DUKW capacity, and either Fairbanks-Morse diesel or General Motors Cleveland Diesel direct drive rated 2,800 hp. The manual's plan depicts engine spaces, fuel, crew spaces, galley, stores, and troop spaces.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- World War II
- Population
- LSM-type crews and embarked troops
- Limitations
- This is a type-level recognition manual, not a construction or configuration record for LSM-489; its either/or engine description conflicts in detail with the hull-specific NavSource specification and is not used to identify this hull's machinery. It does not mention asbestos, identify material composition, establish installation aboard LSM-489, individual exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-489-02
-
[3]Jacqueline Karnell Corn 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
- PubMed PMID 3555021, abstract and bibliographic record (DOI 10.1002/ajim.4700110311); publisher DOI landing page returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch, so PubMed is cited as the accessible live bibliographic/abstract source.
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A peer-reviewed historical study documents extensive use of asbestos as fireproofing and insulation in U.S. shipbuilding during World War II. USS LSM-489 was built in 1945, within that documented period. The record therefore treats engine/exhaust insulation, gaskets, packing, deck coverings, and accommodation insulation as possible era-standard applications requiring hull-specific confirmation, not as products documented aboard this vessel.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s; article published 1987
- Population
- World War II U.S. shipbuilding workers and crews (era context)
- Limitations
- Era-level history of U.S. WWII shipbuilding; it neither names LSM-489 nor identifies the LSM type, its builder, an installed asbestos-containing product, quantity, location, condition, present-day presence, individual exposure, or causation. The listed applications are normalized research targets only and are not a finding that they were installed aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-489-03
-
[4]CourtListener authenticated API search ledger for USS LSM-489 / LSM-489, opinions and dockets, 2026-10-02; unrelated result: AL GINCO v. BUSH, D.D.C. No. 1:05-cv-01310 [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger entries sl-uss-lsm-489-06 through sl-uss-lsm-489-09; saved authenticated API JSON payloads cl-uss-lsm-489-*-{op,docket}.json.
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos documentation was located in the bounded review: no asbestos survey, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, material list, product identification, or primary exposure record naming USS LSM-489 was found. CourtListener authenticated exact-name searches returned zero opinions and zero dockets; exact-hull searches returned zero opinions and one unrelated docket result, AL GINCO v. BUSH, a Guantánamo habeas case whose attachment contains the token LSM-489. That docket is a name collision, not vessel or asbestos litigation.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- A bounded public-source and CourtListener-index search cannot prove that asbestos was absent aboard the hull or that no unindexed, sealed, state-court, archival, or future record exists. CourtListener's name/hull query result is not a merits finding and establishes neither exposure nor legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-489-04
-
[5]Naval History and Heritage Command, 'LSM and LSM(R) Histories,' archived by the Internet Archive; live NHHC URL unavailable [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Wayback capture dated 2015-06-15; DANFS scope statement and CD-ROM SH-0068 paragraph.
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- An archived Naval History and Heritage Command LSM/LSM(R) history landing page states that DANFS covered only commissioned Navy ships with assigned names and did not include vessels carrying only a designation such as LSM. It identifies Captain James B. Birindelli's compiled LSM/LSM(R) history, distributed as CD-ROM SH-0068 on request, as the substitute resource. Accordingly, no DANFS entry was located for numbered hull LSM-489.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- DANFS policy; archived page 2005-2015
- Limitations
- This is an archived copy, explicitly not a live NHHC page. It documents a policy-level coverage exclusion and an archival lead, not a history or materials record for LSM-489; it does not establish asbestos presence, absence, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-489-05