Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 589-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: REAL
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-542-lsm542-pkt-589-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-542 page - construction/milestone timeline, specification block, commanding officer, and Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet photography (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14542.htm header timeline, specification block, commanding-officer table, and '19 LSMs at Green Cove Springs' photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 10 March 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; launched, date unknown; commissioned USS LSM-542 on 20 December 1945, LTjg. William A. Hunter USNR in command; decommissioned 1 July 1946 at Green Cove Springs, FL; laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group, Green Cove Springs; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; transferred 15 July 1959 to Venezuela for cannibalization; final disposition - sold for scrapping 1959. Awards shown: American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal (consistent with post-V-J Day commissioning). A NavSource photo caption ('19 LSMs at Green Cove Springs, FL., date unknown') identifies LSM-542 in the second row of the mothball nest alongside LSM-413, LSM-540, LSM-539, LSM-543, LSM-544, LSM-555, and LSM-558 - physical-presence documentation of her reserve-fleet period. Specification block (class-level spec reproduced on the hull page): 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. full; 203'6" oa x 34'6"; 13.2 kts max; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament one twin 40mm bow + four single 20mm; capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVTs, or 9 DUKWs; diesel fuel 1,225 bbls; endurance 4,900 mi @ 12 kts; propulsion two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, 1,440 bhp each @ 720 rpm, twin screws 2,800 shp.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); crew Dec 1945 - Jul 1946 (LTjg. W. A. Hunter USNR); reserve-fleet caretaker/mothballing personnel, Green Cove Springs (1946-59)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation; the milestone extract is credited to Turner Publishing's LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II (1997), not a primary registry - dates conflict with uboat.net on laid-down, launched, and commissioned (see gaps). The spec block is class-level, reproduced identically on each LSM-1-class hull page. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-01
-
[3]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII database, USS LSM 542 (LSM 542) entry - construction chronology, stricken date, Venezuela transfer [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/13093.htm data table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Secondary chronology for this hull: ordered 30 August 1944; built by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX; laid down 7 July 1945; launched 18 August 1945; commissioned 19 December 1945; end of service (decommissioned) 1 July 1946; stricken 14 January 1958; transferred to Venezuela 15 July 1959. This is the only located source stating a stricken date (14 January 1958) and a launch date (18 August 1945) for this hull.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Population
- Crew and reserve-fleet personnel (as per ev-01)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-curated secondary database, not a primary registry. Three dates conflict with the NavSource/Turner extract - laid down 7 Jul 1945 vs 10 Mar 1945; launched 18 Aug 1945 vs 'date unknown'; commissioned 19 Dec 1945 vs 20 Dec 1945 - and the stricken and launch dates rest on this single secondary source. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-02
-
[4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-543 page - sister-ship same-day Venezuelan transfer and Green Cove Springs mothballing-transit photography (captions by Raymond A. Biswanger, Jr., CO of USS LSM-538, Jan-May 1946) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14543.htm header timeline and photo captions (101453803, 101454301, 101455806)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Sister-ship context for this hull's disposal group: USS LSM-543 was laid down 10 May 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston; commissioned 28 December 1945; decommissioned 20 May 1946 at Green Cove Springs; transferred 15 July 1959 - the same date as LSM-542 - to Venezuela where she was commissioned as Roques (decommissioned by the Venezuelan Navy 6 November 1965, scrapped 1986). NavSource captions also document the group's mothballing transit: a column of LSMs led by LSM-543 en route from Little Creek, VA, to Green Cove Springs, photographed off Cape Hatteras 9 February 1946 and approaching a St. Johns River lift bridge, Jacksonville, 10 February 1946 (photographed from USS LSM-538). LSM-543's commissioned Venezuelan service contrasts with LSM-542's documented cannibalization-only disposition.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Reserve-fleet mothballing crews, Little Creek to Green Cove Springs transit (Feb-Jul 1946)
- Limitations
- Documents the disposal-group context and a sister's parallel timeline; LSM-542 is not itself documented in the February 1946 transit photos (her decommissioning was 1 July 1946) - she is identified only in the undated Green Cove Springs nest photo on her own page. Secondary compilation; no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-1-class spec block (diesel GM 16-278A plant, direct drive); builder identification Brown Shipbuilding Houston (NavSource/Turner, uboat.net, navalmarinearchive all concur); GAO HRD-80-2 program documentation (see ev-05); Corn & Starr 1987 WWII shipbuilding asbestos policy analysis (see ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block (ev-01); builder concurrence across NavSource/uboat.net/navalmarinearchive; GAO HRD-80-2; Corn & Starr PMID 3555021
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven LSM-1-class landing ship medium built in 1945 at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston sits inside the documented peak era of asbestos use in U.S. naval ship construction. Era-standard asbestos applications aboard a diesel amphibious auxiliary of this type and period were thermal insulation and lagging on machinery and exhaust trunks, flange and valve gaskets, machinery packing, electrical and cable insulation, deck coverings, and winch/windlass brake linings. The GM 16-278A direct-drive diesel plant carried no boilers or steam system - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, but machinery-space and accommodation-area applications do.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); crew (1945-46); reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-59); Venezuelan cannibalization/scrapping workers (1959)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or yard record located for LSM-542. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution for this hull. Does not establish that asbestos remains or ever was aboard this specific vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-04
-
[6]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 construction (1945), commissioned service (1945-46), and reserve-fleet period (1946-59).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 (report covering wartime-through-1970s practice)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; shipboard personnel (program-level)
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-05
-
[7]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' Am J Ind Med. 1987;11(3):359-73. doi:10.1002/ajim.4700110311 (PMID 3555021) [other_primary]
- Locator
- PubMed abstract, PMID 3555021 (verified via NCBI efetch 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical analysis documenting 'the extensive use of asbestos as a fireproofing and insulating material in shipbuilding in the 1940s,' when WWII industrial expansion drove an unprecedented rise in asbestos utilization in U.S. shipbuilding, and reviewing the Navy's policy and protective-measure decisions of that era - the documented regulatory/material environment in which this hull was built at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, in 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1940s (subject period); 1987 (publication)
- Population
- WWII shipbuilding trades (class context)
- Limitations
- Era-policy scholarship, not a hull or yard record: does not name LSM-542, Brown Shipbuilding's Houston yard specifically, or any LSM; establishes the documented 1940s shipbuilding asbestos-use environment only. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, individual exposure, or quantity.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-06
-
[8]Batch-6328 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull and sister pages; uboat.net and navalmarinearchive chronologies; CourtListener authenticated API (opinion + RECAP docket indexes); NHHC DANFS and photo collections; NVR; NARA catalog; GAO product page; PubMed; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-542-01 through sl-uss-lsm-542-14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LSM-542 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener searched via authenticated API on 2026-10-02: zero hits in opinions (type=o) for 'LSM-542' and 'LSM 542', zero hits in dockets (type=r) for the same terms - a genuine negative result (search executed, not blocked). The only asbestos content surfaced anywhere is law-firm marketing material, and one marketing page covering 'LST 542' - a different ship (LST-542-class tank landing ship, Normandy veteran) - a name collision, not a record for this hull. Excluded by source policy.
- 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-built hull scrapped in 1959 predates modern disclosure regimes, and no records of the Venezuelan cannibalization or the 1959 scrapping were located. Short commissioned life (~6.5 months) reduces but does not eliminate litigation opportunity (construction-era and mothballing workers remain unindexed populations). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-07
-
[9]NARA catalog and RG 24 deck logs for USS LSM-542 (commissioned period Dec 1945 - Jul 1946); Green Cove Springs Atlantic Reserve Fleet records; Venezuelan transfer/disposal documentation (MDAP-era foreign transfer file) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search URL (JS-rendered, unfetchable 2026-10-02); RG 24 P118-series deck-log lead
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Open archival leads: NARA's catalog is JS-rendered and could not be queried from this session (returns the application shell, no result set). RG 24 deck logs for this hull's brief commissioned life (December 1945 - July 1946), Atlantic Reserve Fleet Florida Group preservation records (1946-59), and the 1959 foreign-transfer documentation for the Venezuelan cannibalization transaction are undigitized leads. None were located in digitized form.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1959 (records coverage sought)
- Population
- Crew Dec 1945 - Jul 1946 (if logs exist)
- Limitations
- Lead only, not a located record: the catalog could not be queried and no deck log or transfer file was verified to exist for this hull. If the logs exist they cover only the ~6.5-month commissioned window. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-542-lsm542-08