Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
-
[1]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-56 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page disposition block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USS LSM-56 was decommissioned 18 March 1946 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia; struck from the Naval Register 12 April 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission at 'Clermeont' [sic], Virginia, for disposal (PDX-225, 27 September 1946); sold 23 October 1947 to Charles N. Wilson, New Brunswick, Canada, and converted to a barge to haul pulpwood; final disposition, hulk abandoned in 1960 in the Musquash Estuary, New Brunswick, Canada.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1946-1960
- Population
- Decommissioning yard trades (Norfolk Navy Yard, 1946); Canadian barge-conversion workers and pulpwood-trade crews (1947-c.1960)
- Limitations
- Establishes decommissioning, striking, Maritime Commission transfer, sale, and reported 1960 abandonment; no shipbreaking, hazmat, or asbestos record is supplied. 'Clermeont' spelling retained as printed (presumably Claremont, VA). The 1960 abandonment date conflicts with the UNB heritage project's 'not known' - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-05
-
[2]Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Archived copy, LSM Flotilla Six / LSM Group 16 / LSM Division 31 table, pages ~68-69 of the online reading-room document
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The official NHHC 1 May 1945 Pacific Fleet organization record lists LSM 56 with a (GF) group-flagship marker in LSM Division 31 under LSM Group 16 (ComLSMGrp 16: Lt. Cdr. J. T. Brugger, Jr., USNR), LSM Flotilla Six (Comdr. A. R. Quinn), and records 'Lt. H. Dark (USNR)' as the ship's officer.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Ship's company and Pacific Fleet personnel
- Limitations
- Official organization record corroborating assignment and flagship status in May 1945; it does not provide service history or any asbestos, insulation, exposure, or causation finding. CO name appears as 'Lt. H. Dark' vs NavSource's 'Lt. Harold Dash' - probable transcription variant, unresolved. Live NHHC URL returned 404; the later 2019 Wayback capture truncates before the LSM sections, so the 2016 capture is cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-03
-
[3]NavSource Online, USS LSM-56 specifications [other_primary]
- Locator
- Specification block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The hull page lists 5 officers and 54 enlisted, troop accommodations for 2 officers and 46 enlisted, and two Fairbanks Morse model 38D81/8X10 reversible diesel engines with hydraulic clutches, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin propellers, and 2,800 shp; ship's service generators were two diesel-drive 100-kW 450V AC units and one diesel-drive 20-kW 120V DC unit. Displacement 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. fully loaded; length 203'6"; beam 34'6"; speed 13.2 knots; endurance 4,900 miles at 12 knots; fuel capacity 1,225 barrels diesel.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troop capacity
- Limitations
- Supports complement and diesel propulsion only. It does not identify asbestos-containing components or establish that any listed machinery insulation, gasket, packing, electrical insulation, or deck covering contained asbestos. Armament line conflicts with a secondary-source variant - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-04
-
[4]University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Military Heritage Project - 'WWII American Landing Ships in Musquash Estuary' point of interest [other_primary]
- Locator
- NBMHP point-of-interest entry, St. John County
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The University of New Brunswick's New Brunswick Military Heritage Project confirms the hulk's survival: two abandoned landing-ship hulks are beached in the Musquash Estuary west of Saint John (a third is submerged mid-estuary), identified by local historian Darren McCabe as American World War II naval craft; 'one of the beached craft is Landing Ship Medium (LSM) #56, which was involved in the assault and occupation of the Island of Okinawa in 1945.' The project records post-war sale, purchase by Charles N. Wilson by 1947, and log-transport use between New Brunswick and Maine; it states the abandonment date at Musquash is not known. Site coordinates: 45.193117, -66.271829.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- c.1960-present
- Population
- Present-day estuary site visitors; any future salvage/removal workforce
- Limitations
- University heritage-project documentation confirming the hulk's identity and present-day in-place survival; it supplies no asbestos, material-condition, or contamination assessment of the hulk. The identification rests on local-historian work carried by the university project.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-06
-
[5]Inference from the ship-specific NavSource diesel specification and the documented source-review negative [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource propulsion/specification block; source-review negative documented in search ledger
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos survey, product inventory, abatement record, or condition report was located. Because LSM-56 was a World War II U.S. Navy diesel landing ship, machinery or diesel-exhaust insulation, gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, and deck covering are possible class/era application categories, but none is documented aboard this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-present
- Population
- World War II Navy diesel landing-ship construction and operating personnel; barge-era crews; present-day site
- Limitations
- Possible categories only, not a finding that asbestos was installed aboard LSM-56. The cited hull page does not identify asbestos or insulation composition; no quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation is established. Because the hulk survives in place, any residual-era-material question is open rather than foreclosed - no survey of the hulk was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-07
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger sl-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-05; authenticated exact-name and hull-number queries
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The authenticated CourtListener sweep found no qualifying asbestos litigation record for USS LSM-56: seven authenticated queries ("LSM-56", "USS LSM-56", "LSM 56", "Landing Ship Medium 56" in opinions; "LSM-56", "USS LSM-56", "LSM 56" in dockets) all returned count=0 - no qualifying case, no other litigation, and no name collisions surfaced.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- This is a search result, not proof that no unindexed or non-text-linked case exists. CourtListener's opinion/RECAP indexes do not cover every court, and a mariner asbestos claim could exist in state court or MDL-875 dockets without the hull number in indexed text.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-08
-
[7]Source-review negative across the sources listed in the search ledger [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No ship-specific asbestos documentation was located in the public sources reviewed: the live NavSource hull page, archived NHHC Pacific Fleet organization record, NVR resource, MARAD vessel-history database, UNB heritage page, and authenticated CourtListener results contain no asbestos survey, insulation-material statement, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos litigation record for LSM-56.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- A negative public-source finding is not proof that asbestos was absent. Non-digitized Navy, shipyard, Maritime Commission, and Canadian owner/site records may contain additional evidence; asbestos documentation therefore remains class_or_era. The hulk's in-place survival makes present-day material condition a live open question.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-09
-
[8]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-56 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page chronology (laid down/launched/commissioned block) and call-sign header
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- LSM-56 was laid down 30 June 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; launched 21 July 1944; and commissioned as USS LSM-56 on 31 August 1944 with Lt. Harold Dash, USNR, in command. International radio call sign NVEH.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1943-1944
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce and commissioning crew
- Limitations
- Establishes construction and commissioning identity; the page does not document asbestos, insulation composition, hazmat condition, exposure, or causation. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - its history extract is credited to Turner Publishing's LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-01
-
[9]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-56 hull page [other_primary]
- Locator
- Hull page service chronology, campaign table, awards ribbons, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- During World War II, USS LSM-56 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LSM Flotilla Six (Cdr. A. R. Quinn, USN), LSM Group Sixteen - for which LSM-56 was the flagship (Lt. Cdr. J. T. Brugger Jr., USNR) - and LSM Division Thirty-Six, and participated in the Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation, 2 April to 17 June 1945), earning one battle star. Post-war it performed Far East occupation service during 4-20 September 1945 and 8 October-20 November 1945. US Navy photographs show LSM-56 underway off Brown Shipbuilding circa August 1944 (Camouflage Measure 31, Design 10L) and beached at Okinawa alongside LSM-26 in April 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops; Okinawa operating personnel
- Limitations
- Establishes theater assignment, group-flagship status, and the Okinawa operation; it is not a complete voyage narrative and does not establish asbestos content or exposure. The Division Thirty-Six assignment conflicts with the official NHHC organization record's Division 31 - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-56-lsm56-02