Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-89 (10/14/14089) - construction/service timeline, awards, specifications, commanding officers; history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14089.htm header block, awards list, specifications block, commanding-officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Timeline for this hull: laid down 30 August 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 23 September 1944; commissioned USS LSM-89 on 18 October 1944, LT. Thomas G. Foster USNR in command. Assigned Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LSM Flotilla Eight (CDR H. Doe USN), LSM Group Twenty-Two (LCDR N.E. Fryer Jr. USN), LSM Division Forty-Four. Occupation service in the Far East 4-24 September 1945. Decommissioned 11 February 1946 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA; struck from the Naval Register 17 April 1946; sold 12 August 1947 to Charles N. Wilson, St. John Tugboat Co. Ltd., East St. John, New Brunswick, and converted to a barge; final disposition: hulk abandoned in 1960 in the Musquash Estuary, New Brunswick. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp) - no battle stars. Specs: 520 t light / 743 t landing / 1,095 t full; 203'6" x 34'6"; 13.2 kt; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; one twin 40mm bow mount, four single 20mm; two Fairbanks-Morse 38D8-1/8X10 reversible diesels direct-drive 1,440 bhp each, twin screws. COs: LT Foster (18 Oct 1944 - Dec 1945), LTjg Robert T. Collins USNR (Dec 1945 - 11 Feb 1946).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); ship's company 1944-46; St. John Tugboat barge crews 1947-c.1960; Musquash wreck-site visitors (present)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; the LSM-89 history block is explicitly credited to the Turner Publishing LSM-LSMR association volume. Dates track the standard references (uboat.net and shipbuilding-history tables agree). Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-01
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[2]'Ports of Call, USS LSM-89, 18 October 1944 to 25 January 1946' - ship-contributed typescript itinerary hosted on NavSource (contributed by Karen Merritt Sturgill; OCR-extracted from image scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/pdf/14089a.pdf (2 pages, itinerary table)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A leg-by-leg itinerary for this hull: commissioning Houston 18 Oct 1944; shakedown Gulf coast (Galveston, Gulfport) then Gulfport -> Coco Solo C.Z. (17-22 Nov 1944); transit via Acapulco to San Diego and San Francisco (Dec 1944); San Francisco -> Pearl Harbor (Jan 1945); Pearl Harbor -> Funafuti (Ellice Is.) -> Noumea -> Manus (Feb-Mar 1945); Manus -> Leyte (May 1945); Philippine inter-island logistics runs Leyte-Puerto Princesa-Zamboanga-Parang-Agusan-Ormoc-Cebu-Samar (Jun-Aug 1945); Leyte -> Manila (28-29 Aug 1945); Manila -> Yokohama (4-9 Sep 1945); Yokohama -> Manila (12-20 Sep); then Naha Okinawa and Ominato, Japan legs (Oct 1945); Yokohama -> Saipan -> Guam -> Pearl Harbor -> San Diego (27 Oct - 26 Dec 1945); San Diego -> Coco Solo C.Z. (Jan 1946) en route to Norfolk decommissioning.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-10-18 to 1946-01
- Population
- Ship's company and embarked troops/vehicle crews at each leg, 1944-46
- Limitations
- Ship-contributed typescript hosted on NavSource, not an official deck log; image-scan PDF read via OCR - some intermediate dates in the Philippine shuttle legs are OCR-ambiguous. Establishes the hull's operational track (Philippine logistics June-August 1945; occupation lift to Japan September-October 1945); contains no asbestos or material content. The occupation-service window it implies exceeds the official 4-24 Sep 1945 medal window - the medal criterion is narrower than mere presence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-02
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[3]'Enlisted crew as of 24 November 1945' - ship-contributed Fleet Post Office roster hosted on NavSource (contributed by Karen Merritt Sturgill; OCR-extracted from image scan) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/pdf/14089b.pdf (1 page, roster)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Enlisted roster for this hull dated 24 November 1945 (ship's Fleet Post Office document): an enumerated list of enlisted crew with service numbers and rates, organized by division (deck, supply control, engineering ratings - MoMM, MM, F, EM visible in scan). Documents actual crew composition in the ship's final commissioned weeks, including MoMM2c George Clinton Agee Jr. (whose son contributed the onboard photographs on the same page).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-11-24
- Population
- Enlisted crew as of 24 November 1945
- Limitations
- Ship-contributed scan of a personnel document, not a survey - establishes who was aboard on the stated date, nothing about materials. Image-scan PDF read via OCR; individual name spellings may carry OCR error. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-03
-
[4]University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Military Heritage Project (NBMHP) database - 'WWII American Landing Ships in Musquash Estuary' point-of-interest record (45.193117, -66.271829) [other_primary]
- Locator
- UNB NBMHP point-of-interest text; coordinates 45.193117, -66.271829; NavSource sister-hull pages 14046, 14056, 14078 (verified live 2026-10-02)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Site record for the wreck group this hull reportedly joined: 'Two abandoned hulks beached in the Musquash Estuary west of the City of Saint John, and a third submerged in the middle of the estuary, have been identified by Darren McCabe, an amateur New Brunswick historian, as American naval craft from World War Two. One of the beached craft is Landing Ship Medium (LSM) #56.' The craft were sold after the war, purchased by 1947 by Charles N. Wilson (Saint John tugboat company and dry dock owner), used to transport logs between New Brunswick and Maine; 'It is not known when they were abandoned at Musquash.' NavSource's per-hull pages attribute all four Wilson-purchased LSMs to the estuary - LSM-46 (sold 23 Oct 1948), LSM-56 (sold 23 Oct 1947, 'converted to a barge to haul pulpwood'), LSM-78 (sold 12 Aug 1947), and LSM-89 (sold 12 Aug 1947), each with 'hulk abandoned in 1960 in the Musquash Estuary' - while the site record documents only three hulks.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1947-1960 (commercial use); site record undated
- Population
- Wreck-site visitors; Musquash Estuary users
- Limitations
- Does NOT name LSM-89: the page firmly identifies only LSM-56 among the three hulks. It corroborates the Wilson/St. John Tugboat purchase group and the existence of the wreck site where NavSource attributes this hull's abandonment; it cannot resolve which hulk is LSM-89 (or reconcile NavSource's four-hull attribution against the three hulks documented) and gives no abandonment date. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-04
-
[5]Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area page - MPA designation, advisory committee (est. 2007), visitor access/safety notes [other_primary]
- Locator
- DFO Musquash Estuary MPA index page, 'Plan your visit' safety notes
- Finding type
- environmental_record
- Finding
- The estuary where this hull's hulk reportedly lies is a federal Marine Protected Area administered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada: scientific, educational, archaeological, commercial tourism and habitat-restoration activities inside the MPA require an activity plan approved by the Minister. DFO's visitor guidance notes 'old marine vessels and structures may be unsteady' - a generic safety acknowledgment of the hulks without identifying them.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2007-present (MPA administration)
- Population
- MPA users; any future activity-plan researchers
- Limitations
- MPA-level documentation only: confirms the wreck site's regulatory setting and DFO's generic acknowledgment of old vessels; does not name or survey this hull, and contains no hazmat or asbestos assessment of the hulks.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-05
-
[6]NHHC, 'The Navy's Happy Medium' (Naval Amphibious Operations from WWII art-exhibit page, Reginald Marsh watercolor 1944) - official Navy description of the LSM type's origin and role [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC exhibit page text block (artwork accession 88-159-HN)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC describes the LSM type this hull belongs to: 'Needing a landing ship somewhere between the size and displacement of an LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and an LST (Landing Ship, Tank), the Navy turned the problem over to its architects and designers who came up with the compact and maneuverable LSM (Landing Ship, Medium).' No individual DANFS entry exists for LSM-89 - hull-numbered LSMs generally lack individual DANFS coverage; this NHHC page is the located official description of the type.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 (artwork); page undated
- Limitations
- Type-level description only - names no hull and contains no material content. NHHC/DANFS ship-history index carries no individual LSM-89 entry (see search_ledger sl-04).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-06
-
[7]Consolidated era inference - NavSource LSM-1-class spec block (diesel plant, no boilers); BuShips-era amphibious diesel-ship construction practice; parallel Atlas class-file pattern (lst-1-class profile, diesel landing-ship inference row ev-lst-1-class-03) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14089.htm specifications block; Atlas lst-1-class.class.json inference precedent
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/design inference for a diesel-powered LSM-1-class hull built in a US wartime yard in 1944: no boilers aboard - the asbestos-relevant applications are Fairbanks-Morse diesel exhaust lagging and gaskets, engine-room thermal/acoustic insulation, bulkhead and accommodation insulation, deck coverings/tile, winch and windlass brake linings, and electrical insulation, inside a small (203 ft) welded-steel hull with confined machinery spaces.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1960
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); ship's company 1944-46; barge-conversion and scrapping labor (1947-c.1960)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-89. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution, and no exposure finding for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-07
-
[8]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 era (1944).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation, not hull-specific; this hull left US Navy custody in 1946 and US ownership in 1947, decades before the removal/replacement programs the report describes applied to the in-service fleet - it says nothing about what remained aboard or was removed from this hulk. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-08
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 searches, authenticated, 2026-10-02: opinion index 'LSM-89' (33 hits); opinion index '"LSM-89" asbestos' (0 hits); docket index '"LSM-89" asbestos' (0 hits); docket index 'LSM-89' unqualified (1,711 hits) [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-08 through -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation naming this hull. The 33 unqualified opinion hits were reviewed: all are name collisions - 'LSM-89' tokens inside unrelated documents (e.g., 'L.S.M. General Contractors' in Logan-Baldwin v. L.S.M. General Contractors, Tex. App.; form/document codes in federal dockets). The asbestos-qualified queries returned zero on both the opinion and RECAP docket indexes. The 1,711 unqualified docket hits are token noise (sampled top results: unrelated civil, bankruptcy, and criminal dockets).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- CourtListener indexes opinions and RECAP dockets, not every trial-court filing - a state-court complaint never reaching RECAP or an opinion would be invisible to this sweep. 'LSM-89' as a hull token is low-collision for ships but collides with form/document codes; a complaint naming the hull without the hyphen ('LSM 89') could additionally exist outside these queries.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-09
-
[10]Batch-6382 search ledger (this record): NavSource page + two contributed ship documents (OCR); UNB NBMHP; DFO Musquash MPA; NHHC exhibit page; CourtListener (4 queries, run); NARA catalog (JS-blocked); secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LSM-89 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The only 'asbestos aboard' material located is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos at Brown Shipbuilding or aboard Navy ships generally 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 - the hull was never surveyed in the modern era (sold 1947, abandoned as a partially-scrapped hulk circa 1960) and no Canadian hazmat assessment of the Musquash hulks was located. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-10
-
[11]Rice University Woodson Research Center, ArchivesSpace - 'Series V: Brown Shipbuilding Company Files, 1939-1950' (Brown & Root records collection) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Rice ArchivesSpace record 222619 (Series V scope note)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder's surviving business records are archived: Series V of the Brown & Root collection at Rice's Woodson Research Center holds Brown Shipbuilding Company files 1939-1950 (correspondence, internal memos, project site drawings, photographs, reports; U.S. Navy among correspondents). This is the lead for any hull-level material list, subcontractor invoices, or Navy correspondence that could establish ship-specific materials for LSM-89.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1939-1950 (records coverage)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding trades (construction era)
- Limitations
- Archival lead only - catalog description read; contents not fetched or itemized. No evidence any document in the series addresses this hull or asbestos materials. Off-site storage; access via Woodson Research Center request.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-11
-
[12]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine (June 2025, Vol. 39 No. 3), 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025 article body
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Builder history: Brown Shipbuilding was established in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown & Root on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel; it was the second-largest employer in the Houston area during WWII and won Navy contracts for submarine chasers, destroyer escorts, and landing craft - the yard that built this hull. Postwar the yard was sold to Todd Shipyards.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1946
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce
- Limitations
- Yard-history context only - the article describes the company and workforce, not this specific hull, and contains no asbestos or materials content. USNI is a professional naval institute publication, not a government record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-89-lsm89-12