Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]research packet 590-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (secondary fallback)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Limitations
- qualifier: VERIFIED (secondary fallback)
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-554-lsm554-pkt-590-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-554 - construction, service assignment, decommissioning, transfer, disposal, class specifications (verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14554.htm header block (timeline), 'Specifications' block, awards block, photo captions, and Turner Publishing attribution line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull (extract from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997): LSM-1 class Landing Ship Medium; laid down 3 March 1945 at U.S. Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.; launched 22 March 1945; commissioned USS LSM-554, 14 September 1945 - twelve days after the Japanese surrender of 2 September 1945 - LT. Raymond T. Thomas USNR in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LSM Flotilla Fifteen, LSM Group Forty-Three, LSM Division Eighty-Six (but see the NHHC 1 May 1945 organization document, ev-02, which lists LSM 554 in Division 85). Decommissioned 25 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs, FL; laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; transferred in April 1959 to Peru, named BAP Atico (LSM-37); final disposition - decommissioned by the Peruvian Navy in March 1985, fate unknown. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. Specifications block: displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. full load; length 203'6" ovl; beam 34'6"; speed 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow-mounted 40mm and four single 20mm; propulsion two General Motors 16-278A diesels (1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm, reversible with hydraulic clutch, direct drive), twin propellers, 2,800 shp. Photo captions document the ship at the Charleston Navy Yard fitting-out pier with sisters LSM-553 and LSM-555 through LSM-558 (yard photo # 1997-45), beached at Salisbury, MD in 1945, and in Peruvian service as BAP Atico (LSM-37) (official Peruvian Navy photo from Jane's Fighting Ships 1961-62).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1985
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1945); crew (1945-46); Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-59); Peruvian Navy crew (1959-85)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation (its extract is from a 1997 Turner Publishing veterans volume), not a primary registry - its milestones generally track NVR/DANFS, but no DANFS entry exists for this unnamed hull, the decommissioning date conflicts with uboat.net, and the division assignment conflicts with the official NHHC 1 May 1945 organization document (both conflicts in gaps). Contains no asbestos or material content. Complement figure is from the class specifications block, unverified against DANFS/NHHC. The page's 'During World War II ... assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater' framing survives from the source extract even though this hull commissioned after the 2 September 1945 surrender; no combat service is documented for her.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-01
-
[3]NHHC, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (official wartime fleet organization document, NHHC Online Reading Room) (verified live 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC Online Reading Room page, 'LSM FLOTILLA FIFTEEN' > 'LSM GROUP FORTY-THREE' > 'LSM DIVISION 85' section, 'LSM 554' line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The official U.S. Pacific Fleet organization document of 1 May 1945 lists LSM 554 by hull number under LSM Flotilla Fifteen, LSM Group Forty-Three, LSM Division 85 (listed with LSM 399, LSM 400, LSM 413, LSM 553, LSM 554, LSM 555). Flotilla and group agree with the NavSource extract; the division number does not - NavSource reads Division Eighty-Six, the official 1 May 1945 document reads Division 85. The document predates this hull's commissioning (14 September 1945) by four and a half months, so it records a planned/assigned organization rather than her commissioned-service assignment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Official contemporaneous document naming this hull number, but it is an organizational listing only: it contains no service events, no material or asbestos content, and - being dated before commissioning - does not establish where the ship actually served. The Division 85 vs Division 86 conflict with NavSource is carried in gaps rather than reconciled; amphibious divisions were reorganized, and neither source dates the assignment within her September 1945 - June 1946 commissioned window.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-02
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LSM 554 (LSM 554) - warship data sheet (verified live 2026-10-02) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/13101.html data sheet ('History' block)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Independent secondary corroboration of this hull's milestones: built by Charleston Navy Yard (Charleston, S.C.); ordered 21 August 1944; laid down 3 March 1945; launched 22 March 1945; commissioned 14 September 1945; end of service 26 June 1946 ('Decommissioned on 26 June 1946'); transferred to Peru in April 1959.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Population
- Construction, crew, and transfer populations as in ev-01
- Limitations
- Secondary reference work, not a primary registry. The decommissioning date (26 June 1946) conflicts with NavSource (25 June 1946) - carried in gaps, neither silently reconciled. uboat.net carries no stricken date (NavSource says the date is unknown). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-03
-
[5]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM specifications block (diesel propulsion, 2 x GM 16-278A, no steam plant); Atlas shipyard dataset record for Charleston Naval Shipyard (see ev-05); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block (propulsion); shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard'; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel Landing Ship Medium built in 1945 at a U.S. Navy yard sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a 1945 diesel amphibious hull of this size were thermal insulation, machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in machinery spaces. As a diesel hull she carried no boilers or steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard construction trades (1945); crew (1945-46)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, work package, or photograph of insulation was located for LSM-554. 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-554-lsm554-04
-
[6]Atlas shipyard dataset (shipyards.json), record 'charleston-naval-shipyard' (evidence_tier 2; flagship ev-charleston-naval-shipyard-06, Whalen v. John Crane 2014 verdict) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipyards.json record 'charleston-naval-shipyard', asbestos_products_documented field
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Yard-level documentation for this hull's builder: the Atlas shipyard record for Charleston Naval Shipyard (Charleston, S.C.) documents asbestos products at the yard including magnesia pipe insulation, spray-on insulation for walls and ship interiors, asbestos gaskets in pumps and valves, packing materials for rotating equipment, thermal insulation for steam systems, and fireproofing materials in living quarters; the yard record carries evidence_tier 2 with a documented 2014 verdict for a Navy machinist (Whalen v. John Crane, Inc.). LSM-554 was built at this yard in 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945 (this hull's construction); yard documentation spans the yard's operating life
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard trades, 1945 construction era
- Limitations
- Yard-level documentation, not a hull record: documents asbestos products in use at Charleston Naval Shipyard generally - LSM-554 is not named in any yard evidence row, and yard product lists do not establish materials installed aboard this hull. The dataset's own limitations note on its fiber-measurement row flags that the 70 f/cc figure is not a Charleston measurement.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-05
-
[7]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 entire U.S. Navy era (construction 1945, service 1945-46, reserve 1946-59).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- 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 2026-10-02) - content via product-page description, consistent with the Batch-01/98/6109 treatment of this report.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-06
-
[8]NARA, 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' (digitized deck-log index); NHHC, 'Deck Log Access' (post-1940 logs held at NARA) [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online (LSM section, LSM-554 absent); history.navy.mil/about-us/services-and-policies/deck-log-access.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Deck logs for USS LSM-554 (September 1945 - June 1946 commissioned service) are held by the National Archives (per NHHC, deck logs after 1940 are at NARA) but are NOT among the digitized deck logs in the National Archives Catalog: the NARA digitized-index page lists other LSM hulls (e.g., LSM-161, LSM-297, LSM-397, LSM-419, LSM-448, LSM-462, LSM-508, LSM-540) but no entry for LSM-554. The logs are the open archival lead for her short commissioned service and any recorded yard availabilities.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1946 (log window)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: the digitized index was checked 2026-10-02 and LSM-554 is absent; the physical logs' existence at NARA follows from NHHC's general deck-log custody statement, not from a catalog entry verified for this hull. Deck logs in any case record movements and events, not materials - they are a lead for service history, not an asbestos source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-07
-
[9]Batch-6341 search ledger (this record): NavSource (live); NHHC official 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization document; uboat.net; NARA digitized deck-log index; shipyards.json cross-check; CourtListener API v4 (type=o and type=r); GAO product page (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LSM-554 / LSM-554 / BAP Atico was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener was searched this session via the authenticated fleet helper: exact name and hull number ('LSM-554', 'USS LSM-554', 'LSM 554') against both dockets (type=r) and opinions (type=o) - all completed queries returned count 0 on 2026-10-02 (a genuine negative result, not a block; interim fleet-pacing stand-downs were obeyed and retried - see search_ledger). Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case; the only 'asbestos aboard Navy ships' material is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos across pre-1983 Navy ships without hull-specific primary sourcing - 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 - it establishes only that no ship-specific public documentation was found. Deck logs, Charleston Navy Yard work packages, the 1959 transfer (MDAP) file, and any Peruvian disposal records are undigitized or unfetched leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-554-lsm554-08