Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-91 (10/14/14091) - ship history extract from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-56311-389-9), specification block, awards, commanding officers, and photo captions [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14091.htm - history extract, specifications block, awards strip, commanding-officer table, and photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1 class landing ship medium laid down 7 September 1944 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 30 September 1944; commissioned USS LSM-91 on 22 October 1944, LT. Thomas G. Johnston, USNR in command (relieved by LTjg. Donald W. Mann, USNR, November 1945 - 26 February 1946). WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Eight (CDR. H. Doe USN), LSM Group Twenty-Two (LCDR. N.E. Fryer Jr. USN), LSM Division Forty-Four. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippine Liberation Medal - no named campaign or battle star is listed (unlike sisters LSM-90 and LSM-92, which each show an assault-campaign entry and one battle star). Occupation service in the Far East 4-24 September 1945 and 8 October - 14 November 1945. Decommissioned 26 February 1946 at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC; struck from the Naval Register 12 April 1946; transferred to the Maritime Commission at Seattle, WA for disposal (PDX-225, 27 September 1946); sold 2 December 1947 to Georgia Marine Salvage Co., Inc., Brunswick, GA, and converted to a barge; final disposition 'fate unknown.' Photo captions place the hull at Kewalo Basin, Pearl Harbor 14-16 February 1945 (with LSM-324), beached at Saipan and at Tacloban, P.I., and moored pierside in the Philippines (with LSM-45). Radio call sign NVGY.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew 1944-46 (complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation publishing the Turner Publishing history extract - not a primary registry; milestone dates corroborated independently by two shipbuilding yard lists (shipbuildinghistory.com; navalmarinearchive.com) and uboat.net. Contains no asbestos content. Absence of a listed campaign means no assault credit was recorded in this source, not that no combat exposure occurred.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-01
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[2]Naval Marine Archive (Canadian maritime archive), Brown Shipbuilding yard list - hull 196: LSM 91, laid down 7-Sep-44, launched 30-Sep-44, delivered 22-Oct-44, 'Sold to Georgia Marine Salvage 1947, converted to barge Burton D, later Natcon 2 (ON 261811)'; corroborated by shipbuildinghistory.com LSM table (LSM-91, Brown SB Houston TX, 22 Oct 1944, 'sold to Georgia Marine Salvage 1947, converted to barge') [other_primary]
- Locator
- navalmarinearchive.com Brown Shipbuilding list, row hull 196; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/lsm/ row LSM-91
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Builder's-yard list confirms the construction milestones (yard hull no. 196; laid down 7 September 1944, launched 30 September 1944, delivered/commissioned 22 October 1944) and extends the disposal chain past 'converted to a barge': the post-Navy merchant identity of this hull was barge Burton D, later Natcon 2, documented under USCG official number ON 261811.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Georgia Marine Salvage conversion workers (1947-48); merchant barge crews (post-1948)
- Limitations
- Secondary compiled yard lists, not registry documents - the barge names and ON 261811 rest on this compilation; the underlying USCG merchant-vessel documentation file for ON 261811 was not located in digitized sources (archival lead). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-02
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[3]Naval Historical Center / NHHC, 'LSM and LSM(R) Histories' (DANFS appendix note, 16 September 2005) - documents that the DANFS series parameters covered only commissioned Navy ships with assigned names, and that numbered ships 'such as LSM' were never included; the compiled LSM/LSM(R) history by Captain James B. Birindelli, SC, USNR (Ret.) was distributed only on CD-ROM SH-0068 (archived capture; live page now resolves to NHHC 404) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Wayback capture 2012-10-25 of history.navy.mil/danfs/l8/lsm_lsmr.htm (text dated 16 September 2005); live URL 404 confirmed 2026-10-02
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Establishes why no DANFS entry exists for this hull: DANFS coverage was limited by design to named ships, so no individual DANFS history was ever written for LSM-91 - an official documentation gap, not link rot. The Navy's compiled LSM history (Birindelli, CD-ROM SH-0068, Ships History Branch) is the authoritative-class source for the type but was scanned as non-word-searchable images and is not publicly posted; it remains an open archival lead.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2005 (note); DANFS project era 1950s
- Limitations
- Documents a coverage policy for the whole numbered-LSM type, not any fact about this specific hull's service or material condition. The 2005-era CD-ROM distribution offer is no longer operative; whether the Birindelli history is retrievable from NHHC today is unverified. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-03
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[4]NHHC art-exhibit page 'The Navy's Happy Medium' - official class context for the LSM type (verified live 2026-10-02) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC exhibit page, Reginald Marsh watercolor 88-159-HN description
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NHHC class context for the type: the Navy needed a landing ship between the LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and the LST (Landing Ship, Tank) in size and displacement, and its designers produced 'the compact and maneuverable LSM (Landing Ship, Medium)' - the class to which this hull belongs (LSM-1 class).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1944 (painting); WWII design era
- Limitations
- Type-level official context only - the exhibit page does not name LSM-91 and addresses the design rationale, not any hull's service record or material content. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-1 class specification block (two Fairbanks-Morse 38D8-1/8x10 diesels, direct drive, no steam plant; 1944 build); shipbuildinghistory.com Brown Shipbuilding yard record (wartime emergency yard, 1941-45 production only); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14091 specifications block; shipbuildinghistory.com Brown yard overview; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven amphibious landing ship built in 1944 at a wartime emergency yard sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (GAO: asbestos insulation used extensively aboard ships until substitution began in the early 1970s). Era-standard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were thermal insulation, machinery and diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and insulation in berthing and cold-storage spaces. As a direct-drive diesel ship 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
- 1944-1948
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1944); crew (1944-46); Charleston Navy Yard decommissioning trades (1946); Georgia Marine Salvage conversion workers (1947-48)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, build specification, or work package was located for LSM-91. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity, no manufacturer attribution. Does not establish individual exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-05
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[6]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 construction (1944) and naval service (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 returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-10-02 - same standing defect as BATCH-01/98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-06
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[7]Atlas shipyards.json entry charleston-naval-shipyard (Tier 2 documented yard: OSHA inspection 100361849, 1988 asbestos-standard citation, 29 CFR 1910.1001; Pace v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., 4th Cir. No. 14-2416 (2016) documenting asbestos gasket/packing work at the yard in the 1970s-80s) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14091 (decommissioning line); shipyards.json charleston-naval-shipyard evidence rows ev-03/-06/-07 and OSHA inspection 100361849
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- This hull decommissioned 26 February 1946 at Charleston Navy Yard (per NavSource/Turner extract) - a yard independently documented in the Atlas shipyards dataset as an asbestos-exposure site (OSHA asbestos-standard citation in the 1988 inspection record; litigation-documented gasket, packing, and thermal-insulation work in the 1970s-80s per Pace v. Air & Liquid Systems).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1946
- Population
- Charleston Navy Yard decommissioning/inactivation trades (Feb 1946); LSM-91 skeleton crew
- Limitations
- Physical presence at a documented asbestos yard is not proof of asbestos work on this hull - decommissioning lay-up is documented, but no work order, availability record, or material record for LSM-91 at Charleston was located. The yard's documented findings (1988 OSHA case; 1970s-80s litigation record) post-date this hull's 1946 presence by decades. Does not establish exposure for any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-07
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[8]Batch-6385 search ledger (this record): NavSource page (live); NHHC DANFS LSM/LSMR appendix note (Wayback); NHHC 'Navy's Happy Medium' exhibit; shipbuildinghistory.com and navalmarinearchive.com yard lists; uboat.net; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; CourtListener API v4; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-91-01 through sl-uss-lsm-91-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum record, or docketed case naming USS LSM-91 was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion index (type=o) returned zero hits for "LSM-91" (authenticated query, 2026-10-02). CourtListener docket index (type=r) returned exactly one hit - a NAME COLLISION, not a vessel case: In re Nortel Networks Inc., Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Bankr. D. Del. 09-10138 (Judge Walrath, filed 2009), where the string 'LSM-91' matches inside OCR-garbled docket-document text; the vessel is not a party or subject. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying litigation; notably, even the usual law-firm marketing listicles do not carry a dedicated LSM-91 page in the results returned.
- 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 - a hull of this era and type plausibly carried era-standard materials. The single docket-index hit is a collision on the literal string, not litigation about the ship; phrase variants and merchant identities ('Burton D', 'Natcon 2') were not separately queried - flagged in gaps. The Birindelli compiled LSM history (NHHC CD SH-0068) and NARA RG 24 deck logs are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-91-08