Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]research packet 594-packet.md (4 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-76-lsm76-pkt-594-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-76 - history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997); specifications, commanding-officer list, awards ribbon display [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14076.htm - history block, campaign table, occupation/China service table, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1-class landing ship medium; laid down 5 August 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 30 August 1944; commissioned USS LSM-76, 23 September 1944, LTjg. Paul Sweedler USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater - LSM Flotilla Six (CDR A. R. Quinn USN), LSM Group Seventeen (LCDR C. H. Johnson USNR), LSM Division Thirty-Three; campaign credit: Okinawa Gunto operation - assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 9 April to 3 June 1945. Postwar: Navy Occupation Service 14 September 1945 - 26 May 1946; China Service Medal (extended) 27 May - 17 June 1946. Decommissioned, stricken from the Naval Register, and transferred to Nationalist China 17 June 1946. One battle star for WWII service. Escaped to Taiwan October 1949; commissioned into the Taiwanese Navy May 1952, renumbered LSM-349; scrapped 1957. Specifications: 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. fully loaded; 203 ft 6 in oa; beam 34 ft 6 in; 13.2 kt; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament one twin bow 40mm + four single 20mm; propulsion 2 x Fairbanks Morse 38D8-1/8X10 diesel engines (1,440 bhp each @ 720 rpm), direct drive, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; generators 2 x 100 kW 450V AC + 1 x 20 kW 120V DC diesel-driven. Ribbon display includes Philippine Liberation Medal. Commanding officers: Sweedler (Sep 1944 - Sep 1945); LTjg. Julius T. Espey Jr. USNR (Sep 1945 - Mar 1946); LTjg. William C. Reinberger USNR (Mar - 16 Apr 1946); ENS. Joseph F. Novotny USNR (16 Apr - 17 Jun 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1957
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (Aug-Sep 1944); USN crew 5 officers + 54 enlisted plus embarked troops (Sep 1944 - Jun 1946); ROCN crew (1952-57)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation - the history extract is credited to Turner Publishing's LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II, not to a primary document, but its milestones corroborate exactly against Shipbuilding History's production table. No asbestos or material content. The Philippine Liberation Medal appears in the ribbon display without a supporting campaign row or dates - specific Philippine service is undocumented. Live page verified 2026-10-02 on navsource.net (the .org domain is defunct).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-01
-
[3]ShipbuildingHistory.com, Brown Shipbuilding yard page and hull table (Houston TX) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Brown yard page - yard narrative and production table row 181 (LSM 76)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipbuilding History's Brown yard table records this hull as yard number 181: laid down 5-Aug-44, launched 30-Aug-44, delivered 23-Sep-44; disposition 'To China 1946, escaped to Taiwan 1949 as LSM 349' - matching NavSource's construction and transfer dates exactly. Yard context from the same page: Brown Shipbuilding was built in 1941 by George and Herman Brown at the junction of Greens Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel with $9mm from the Navy; output totaled 12 PCs, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 DEs and 254 LSMs - 359 vessels in four years; the yard was leased to Todd Shipyards as its Houston Division 1949-1984, returned to Brown & Root as an offshore fabrication yard, and sold piecemeal in 2004 (now the Brown Shipbuilding Industrial Park).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 (construction); 1941-2004 (yard narrative)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1941-45 output window)
- Limitations
- Independent maritime-history reference (shipbuildinghistory.com), not an official record; its role here is corroboration of NavSource dates and yard production context. The table's delivery column equals the commissioning date for this hull. No asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-02
-
[4]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine (June 2025), Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025, Vol. 39 No. 3 - article text, 'Building Different Types of Naval Vessels' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder documentation for this hull's yard: the Brown Shipbuilding Company of Houston, Texas, was established in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of the Brown and Root construction company; it was the second-largest employer in the Houston area during WWII and employed more than 25,000 workers at its peak starting in late 1942. The yard sat on narrow Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel, forcing sideways launches, and used assembly-line fabrication (steel delivered by rail, sections hoisted by crane to the hull). Brown built 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 61 destroyer escorts (38 Edsall-class, 23 John C. Butler-class), 32 Landing Craft Infantry, and 254 Landing Ship Medium amphibious assault landing craft - LSM-76 was one of the 254.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce, >25,000 peak (1942-45)
- Limitations
- Yard-level history: LSM-76 is not named individually. Documents workforce size, production output, and construction method - not materials practice; contains no asbestos content. USNI Naval History is reputable naval press (peer-quality secondary), not a primary record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-03
-
[5]NHHC DANFS, 'LSM and LSM(R)' appendix page (page dated 16 September 2005; live URL returned 404 on 2026-10-02 - Wayback capture of 2015-06-15 cited and labeled archived) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS LSM and LSM(R) appendix page body text (Wayback capture 20150615043803)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC's own statement of coverage policy: DANFS 'was designed to cover only commissioned Navy ships with assigned names... Ships with only a designation, such as LSM, were not included in the DANFS series.' Therefore no DANFS history exists for LSM-76 - its absence is structural, not a search failure. The page further documents that the Ships History Office scanned a compiled history of LSMs and LSM(R)s by Captain James B. Birindelli, SC, USNR (Retired), distributed only as CD-ROM SH-0068 by mail order ($10, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard) because the scan is not word-searchable.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2005 (page date)
- Limitations
- Coverage-policy statement, not a history of this hull. The Birindelli compilation is the NHHC-acknowledged authoritative history of the LSMs but is not digitized publicly - an open archival lead for any ship-specific detail beyond what secondary compilations carry. Live history.navy.mil URL 404s (same standing NHHC link-rot pattern as BATCH-01); archived capture verified and labeled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-04
-
[6]NARA catalog, file unit 'LSM-76, 9/23/44-5/31/46' (NAID 126471308), Record Group 24, series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' - 131 digitized images [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAID 126471308 file-unit page (RG 24 muster rolls; Ancestry-provided scans, file 32861_250324)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds digitized muster rolls for this hull covering 23 September 1944 - 31 May 1946, i.e., the vessel's entire U.S. Navy commission from commissioning to the eve of transfer (131 images, digitized online). Muster rolls document the crew by name and date - a primary-source crew-population record for this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-09-23 to 1946-05-31
- Population
- USN crew of LSM-76, Sep 1944 - May 1946 (individual names on the rolls)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only: muster rolls establish who served aboard and when - they are personnel records, not materials, insulation, or asbestos records. Individual pages not reviewed in this pass; no asbestos content expected. WW-II-era deck logs for this hull were not located as a digitized NARA unit (may exist undigitized).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-05
-
[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 construction (August-September 1944) and entire U.S. service era (1944-46).
- 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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-76 specifications (Fairbanks Morse diesel plant, no steam); Shipbuilding History Brown yard table (construction Aug-Sep 1944); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use era (see ev-06); NHHC LSM design context ('The Navy's Happy Medium', https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/exhibits/conflicts-and-operations/wwii/art-of-naval-amphibious-operations-from-wwii/the-navys-happy-medium.html - LSM designed between LCI and LST) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Record-internal inference row; inputs cited in citation_value
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- An LSM-1-class diesel landing ship built August-September 1944 at Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were insulation and lagging on diesel-engine exhaust runs and machinery, gaskets and valve packing, and electrical insulation within the confined hull volume. As a diesel ship she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply, but the small-ship confined-space dynamic applies to whatever insulation was fitted.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1957
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (Aug-Sep 1944); USN crew (Sep 1944 - Jun 1946); ROCN crew (1952-57); 1957 scrapping workers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation schedule, material list, work package, or survey located for LSM-76. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution for this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-07
-
[9]Batch-6368 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS (404 + Wayback policy page); NavSource (live); ShipbuildingHistory (live); USNI Naval History (live); NARA catalog (live); NVR (out of coverage + unreachable); GAO (403-blocked full text); CourtListener API v4 type=o and type=r (authenticated); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-01 through -10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying litigation naming USS LSM-76 (LSM-76) was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener (authenticated API v4): '"USS LSM-76"' opinions = 0 hits; '"LSM-76" asbestos' opinions = 0 hits; '"LSM-76"' dockets = 0 hits; unquoted 'LSM-76' opinion search returned 32 results, all name collisions (e.g., L.S.M. General Contractors, Leo Ship Management) - no asbestos case naming this hull. The only 'asbestos' material on the web is law-firm marketing content (mesothelioma.com, mesotheliomalawyercenter.org, mesothelioma.net Brown Shipbuilding yard pages) asserting yard-level asbestos use without 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 - WWII-era Navy amphibious construction sits inside the documented asbestos era, and era inference (ev-07) is the strongest available statement. Undigitized/unlocated leads: the Birindelli LSM/LSM(R) history (NHHC CD SH-0068), WWII-era deck logs, BuShips work packages, and the 1957 ROC scrapping record. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-76-lsm76-08