USS LSM-85

Evidence

10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).

1. [1]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-85 hull page [other_primary]

   Locator

   Hull page unit assignments and Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns table ('Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 7 May 1945'); battle-star line; photo captions (101408512: alongside Sangamon CVE-26, 15 April 1945, Kerama Retto - caption from Sangamon cruise book via Tracy White; 101434805: with LSM-348 entering ABSD-6 at Guam)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   During World War II, USS LSM-85 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LSM Flotilla Nine (CDR. D. L. Francis, USN), LSM Group Twenty-Five, and LSM Division Forty-Nine, and participated in the Okinawa Gunto operation - assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 7 May 1945. She earned one battle star for World War II service. A NavSource photo caption places LSM-85 taking supplies alongside USS Sangamon (CVE-26) at Kerama Retto on 15 April 1945, and another shows LSM-85 with USS LSM-348 entering the advanced base dock USS ABSD-6 at Guam, Marianas, date unknown.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1944-1945

   Population

   Ship's company (~59) plus embarked troops during Okinawa operations

   Limitations

   Establishes theater assignment and the Okinawa operation for this hull. The page's division number (Forty-Nine) and group commander (Brouwer) conflict with the official 1 May 1945 fleet organization (Division 50; Peacock commanding Group 25, Brouwer commanding Group 26) - both are stated, not conflated; see ev-03 and gaps. Documents no asbestos content or exposure.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-02

2. [2]Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945 (archived copy; live URL returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Archived capture 2020-10-03; LSM Flotilla NINE / LSM Group 25 / LSM Division 50 table, document page ~70

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The official NHHC United States Pacific Fleet Organization record of 1 May 1945 lists 'LSM 85 - Lt. B. C. Dodd (USNR)' under LSM Division 50, LSM Group 25 (ComLSMGrp 25, Lt. Cdr. T. A. Peacock, USNR), LSM Flotilla NINE (Commander LSM Flotilla NINE, Comdr. D. L. Francis) - corroborating the hull's flotilla and group assignment and its commanding officer during the Okinawa operation. The record shows Lt. Cdr. L. Brouwer commanding the adjacent LSM Group 26, not Group 25.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   correction

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1945-05-01

   Population

   Ship's company and Pacific Fleet amphibious personnel

   Limitations

   Official organization record corroborating assignment and command as of 1 May 1945; it does not provide full service history or any asbestos, insulation, exposure, or causation finding. CO initials printed 'B. C. Dodd' here vs 'Bruce G. Dodd' on NavSource - same officer (NavSource CO table and the ship's action report both give Bruce G. Dodd). Division and group-commander assignments differ from the NavSource hull page - documented discrepancy, not resolved here.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-03

3. [3]NARA catalog naId 77581878, RG 38 (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), WWII War Diaries series, microfilm roll A1971; digitized via NARA-Fold3 partnership (14 frames) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA file-unit record naId 77581878 (title, scope note 'Micro Serial Number 151632'); digitized frames 0600-0613 (cover letter, Parts I-VIII, endorsements 1-9) read in full

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The ship's own action report survives at NARA: 'USS LSM-85 - Report of operations in the invasion of the Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands, 3/31/45 - 5/7/45' (file LSM 85/A12, serial 47-45, dated 9 July 1945, CONFIDENTIAL, signed Bruce G. Dodd), RG 38 WWII War Diaries microfilm roll A1971, 14 digitized frames. Content: departed Leyte 24 March 1945 in convoy TU 51.7.9 (eight LSMs, eight LSTs) as part of the Western Islands Tractor Group (TU 51.1.6); arrived off Kamiyama Shima ~0800 31 March, first of its group to discharge cargo - C Battery, 531st Field Artillery, U.S. Army (four 155mm rifles, 3 tractors, 1 bulldozer, 4 trucks, 3 trailers, 2 jeeps, 1,200 rounds), with battery personnel embarked from Tarraguna Beach, Leyte, since 8 March; shelled twice by Okinawa shore batteries 31 March - 1 April (closest 300 yards, no damage); joined TU 51.1.14 in the Kerama Retto anchorage; 3-22 April (except 17-19) operated with LSMs 15, 83, 86 expediting logistics for combatant vessels under CTG 51.15, including depth-charge transfer from crippled DMs/AMs/DEs/DDs and servicing nine CVEs with marine air-drop supplies; beached Hagushi 19 and 23 April; Nago Wan 24-29 April; Red T beach, Ie Shima, from 29 April; on 6 May a Japanese suicide plane diving toward flagship USS Panamint (AGC-13) off Ie Shima was fired on by this ship's .50-cal/20mm/40mm guns, observed hits, and crashed without inflicting damage - a commendatory message was received from Rear Admiral Reifsnider; departed 7 May with convoy TU 51.29.3 for Ulithi, arriving 13 May 1945. Ordnance expended: 233 rounds 40mm, 934 rounds 20mm, 655 rounds .50-cal. Only damage: port superstructure deck, incurred primarily servicing CVEs. Part VII records performance as commendable; no casualty count is asserted. The report was endorsed 'Forwarded' up the chain to CNO through December 1945 (ComLSMGrp 8, ComLSMFlot 8, ComLSTFlot 16, ComTransRon 17, ComFAW-1, ComPhibGru 4, NOB Navy 3256, ComPhibsPac, CincPac).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1945-03-24 to 1945-05-13 (report dated 1945-07-09; endorsements through 1945-12-08)

   Population

   Ship's company and embarked 531st Field Artillery battery personnel (March-May 1945)

   Limitations

   Ship-specific primary document establishing the hull's Okinawa operations, task organization (tactical attachment to ComLSMFlot EIGHT / ComLSMGrp EIGHT, TU 51.1.14 - distinct from her administrative Flotilla Nine/Group 25 assignment), cargo lifts, and the 6 May anti-aircraft action. It contains no asbestos, insulation-material, or material-content information whatsoever. The report's typed ship name for the flagship reads 'Panmint (AGC 13)' - read as USS Panamint (AGC-13), Reifsnider's flagship, consistent with the via-chain entry ComPhibGru FOUR (CTG 51.21). Part II names the objective 'Kamiyama Shima' while Part VI records disembarkation 'at Keise Shima' - verbatim variance within the report, noted not resolved.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-04

4. [4]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-85 hull page (chronology, medal table, photo captions) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Hull page 'Following World War II' paragraph and medal-period table; decommission/transfer/strike/final-disposition lines; photo caption NH 81019 (San Francisco Bay 1946) and Ninh Giang captions including Nha Be, RVN, June and October 1971

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Following World War II, USS LSM-85 was assigned to occupation and China service in the Far East (Navy Occupation Service Medal periods 11-28 September 1945 and 29 September - 21 December 1945; China Service Medal (extended) 29 September - 21 December 1945). She was decommissioned 30 July 1946 and laid up in the Reserve Fleet; reactivated and transferred 7 May 1954 to France as L-9051; returned and transferred in October 1956 to South Vietnam as Ninh Giang (HQ-403); struck from the Naval Register on a date NavSource records as unknown. NavSource reports her seized by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975, 'last reported as still active in Vietnamese Navy,' final disposition fate unknown.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1945-1975

   Population

   Ship's company (1945-46); French Navy crew (1954-56); Republic of Vietnam Navy crew (1956-75); Vietnam People's Navy custody from 1975

   Limitations

   Establishes post-war service, decommissioning, foreign transfers, and the 1975 seizure as reported by NavSource; corroborated by the NHHC NH 93785 photo record titling the South Vietnamese HQ-403 'ex-USS LSM-85' (ev-06) and by secondary compilations (ledger sl-12). The French (1954-56) and RVN (1956-75) service details beyond the transfer chain are undocumented in the cited sources; the strike date is unknown. No asbestos, hazmat, or material record accompanies any phase.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-05

5. [5]Naval History and Heritage Command, NH-series photo records NH 81019 and NH 93785 (archived copies; live URLs returned 404) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   Archived captures 2025-12-17 of NH 93785 (NINH GIANG HQ-403 ex-USS LSM-85) and 2025-12-17 of NH 81019 (USS LSM-85, San Francisco Bay 1946): https://web.archive.org/web/20251217085326/https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-81000/NH-81019.html

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   NHHC photo-catalog records provide official confirmation of the hull's identity chain: NH 81019, titled 'USS LSM-85,' captioned 'In San Francisco Bay, 1946' (courtesy Donald M. McPherson, 1974); and NH 93785, titled 'NINH GIANG (HQ-403) (South Vietnamese LSM, ex-USS LSM-85),' captioned 'Photographed during the 1960s.'

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1946; 1960-1969 (per catalog date fields)

   Population

   South Vietnamese Navy personnel (1960s photo context)

   Limitations

   Official NHHC photo-catalog titles confirm the ex-USS LSM-85 / South Vietnamese HQ-403 identity link. Photo records carry no asbestos, material, survey, exposure, or condition information. Live NHHC URLs 404 - archived copies cited and labeled.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-06

6. [6]Inference from the ship-specific NavSource diesel specification and the documented source-review negative (search_ledger) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource propulsion/specification block; negative documentation search across search_ledger rows

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   No ship-specific asbestos survey, product inventory, abatement record, or condition report was located for LSM-85. Because she was a World War II U.S. Navy diesel landing ship built in 1944, 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

   1944-1975

   Population

   Brown Ship Building construction workforce (1944); U.S. Navy ship's company (1944-46); French and South Vietnamese crews and shipyard workers (1954-75)

   Limitations

   Possible categories only - not a finding that asbestos was installed aboard LSM-85. The cited sources do not identify asbestos or insulation composition; no quantity, location, condition, exposure, or causation is established. Diesel plant - no boiler/turbine lagging pathway. The hull's extended career (U.S. Navy 1944-46, reserve 1946-54, France 1954-56, South Vietnam 1956-75, North Vietnamese custody from 1975) spans the full asbestos-use era, but no material record accompanies any phase.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-07

7. [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 to automated fetch (HTTP 403, confirmed 2026-10-02) - program description per batch-98 verification

   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 construction (1944) and service (1944-46), and overlapping the material's documented era during her later foreign service.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   1979 (report); era context 1944-46 U.S. service for this hull

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers and ship's company (program context)

   Limitations

   Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. LSM-85 is not named. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, individual exposure, quantity, or present-day presence. GAO findings address U.S. Navy ships - application to the French or South Vietnamese service periods is not established.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-08

8. [8]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py [court_record]

   Locator

   search_ledger sl-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-07 and -08; helper exit code 2 (paced) on each attempt

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The CourtListener sweep for this hull could not be completed this session. Authenticated helper queries for exact name ('USS LSM-85') and hull number ('LSM-85'), opinions and dockets, were attempted across the session; the fleet-wide pacer reported the shared hourly request budget spent on every attempt and directed that queries not be retried in a loop. The litigation sweep is therefore logged as blocked - an open item, not a negative result - and no litigation classification is asserted either way.

   Verification

   partial

   Role

   negative_finding

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-10-02

   Study period

   2026-10-02

   Limitations

   A blocked sweep establishes nothing - it is not a search negative and not a litigation finding. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull is asserted or ruled out; the docket and opinion indexes were not reached. A name match would in any case require classification, not automatic treatment as an asbestos opinion.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-09

9. [9]Source-review negative across the sources listed in the search ledger [other_primary]

   Locator

   search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-01 through -13

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   No ship-specific asbestos documentation was located in the public sources reviewed: the live NavSource hull page, the official NHHC 1 May 1945 fleet organization record (archived), the ship's own NARA-held Okinawa action report (naId 77581878, read in full), the NHHC photo-catalog records, and the available transfer/disposition records contain no asbestos survey, insulation-material statement, abatement record, hazmat disclosure, or qualifying asbestos litigation record for LSM-85.

   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 - a 1944 Navy hull sits inside the documented asbestos-use era. Non-digitized Navy, shipyard, MARAD/transfer, French Navy, and Vietnamese records may contain additional evidence. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-10

10. [10]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-85 hull page [other_primary]

    Locator

    Hull page chronology ('Laid down, 22 August 1944, at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX. Launched, 15 September 1944. Commissioned USS LSM-85, 12 October 1944, LTjg. Bruce G. Dodd, USNR in command'); commanding-officer table credited to Wolfgang Hechler; history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997)

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    LSM-85 was laid down 22 August 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, Texas; launched 15 September 1944; and commissioned as USS LSM-85 on 12 October 1944 with LTjg. Bruce G. Dodd, USNR, in command. Subsequent commanding officers per the hull page: LT. Vernon J. Bert, Jr., USNR (December 1945 - March 1946) and LTjg. Louis Kleiman, USNR (March 1946 - 30 July 1946).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    supporting

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-10-02

    Study period

    1944

    Population

    Brown Ship Building construction workforce (1944); commissioning crew

    Limitations

    Establishes construction and commissioning identity. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation; the page documents no asbestos, insulation composition, hazmat condition, exposure, or causation.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lsm-85-lsm85-01