Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]DANFS, Holston River (LSMR-509) - construction, commissioning, service narrative, renaming, striking (ARCHIVED COPY: live NHHC page returned 404 on 2026-09-30; Wayback capture 2024-05-27) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry 'Holston River' spec block and service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: 'LSMR-509 was laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Co. Inc., Houston, Tex., 7 April 1945; launched 5 May; and commissioned 2 June, Lt. William R. Hawes in command.' After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay she trained along the East Coast out of Little Creek, Va.; sailed 20 September [1945] to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, arriving Pittsburgh 22 October for Navy Day ceremonies; returned to Little Creek 14 December; operated along the East Coast for ten months; departed Little Creek 18 October 1946 for the West Coast, arriving San Diego 20 November; decommissioned 5 February 1947 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet; while berthed with the San Diego Group named Holston River 1 October 1955; name struck from the Navy List 1 October 1958. Spec block: 'LSMR-509: dp. 790; l. 206; b. 35'; dr. 8'; s. 13 k.; cpl. 147; a. 1 5", 4 40mm., 8 20mm., 4 4.2" m., 10 rkt; cl. LSMR-101.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1958
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (Apr-Jun 1945); crew (1945-47); reserve-fleet caretakers, San Diego Group (1947-58)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. The 'cl. LSMR-101' class notation in the DANFS spec block does not match the LSM(R)-501 designation used by NavSource and standard references - a probable DANFS typographical artifact (see gaps). Live NHHC page 404s (standing NHHC link-rot); verbatim text via Wayback capture of the official page, published 20 July 2015.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-01
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[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Holston River (LSMR-509) ex USS LSM(R)-509 - construction/milestone timeline, WWII unit assignment, awards, specifications, disposition (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06509.htm header block, unit assignment block, awards line, LSM(R) specifications block, photo caption
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records this hull as LSM(R) 501 class: laid down 7 April 1945 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 5 May 1945; commissioned USS LSM(R)-509 on 2 June 1945, LT William R. Hawes, USNR in command; assigned during WWII to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LSM(R) Flotilla Eighteen (CAPT. C. F. Macklin USN), LSM(R) Group Forty-Three, LSM(R) Division One Hundred Six; decommissioned 5 February 1947 at San Diego and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group; named USS Holston River (LSM(R)-509) 1 October 1955; struck from the Naval Register 1 October 1958; sold in 1959 to American Shipping Co., converted to a barge, scrapped between 1980 and 1991. Awards listed: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal. Specifications: 758 t. light / 993 t. attack / 1,175 t. fully loaded; 206'3" x 34'6"; 13 kts; complement 6 officers + 137 enlisted; one single 5"/38 DP mount, two twin 40mm, four twin 20mm, ten twin continuous-loading 5" SS rocket launchers, four 4.2" mortars; two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, 2,800 shp twin screws. Page carries one period photograph (hull under way, date/location unknown, Ted Stone photo via USS LSM/LSMR Association).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1991
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); crew (1945-47); Pacific Reserve Fleet caretakers (1947-58); American Shipping Co. conversion yard (1959); shipbreakers (1980-91)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; milestone dates corroborate DANFS. TENSION: the 'Asiatic-Pacific Theater' flotilla assignment and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal listing sit against DANFS's stateside-only service narrative (shakedown Chesapeake; East Coast training; Mississippi/Ohio river transit; San Diego by November 1946) - the assignment likely reflects organizational assignment to Pacific amphibious forces, but DANFS records no Pacific combat deployment before war's end (she commissioned 2 June 1945 and was still training on the East Coast in September 1945). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-02
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[3]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LSM(R) 509 (LSM(R) 509) - build and milestone table (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/13161.html data table (Ordered/Laid down/Launched/Commissioned/End service/History rows)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- uboat.net's specialist Allied Warships entry independently identifies this hull: US Navy medium landing ship (rocket), ordered 30 August 1944, built by Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston, Texas), laid down 7 April 1945, launched 5 May 1945, end service 5 February 1947, decommissioned 5 February 1947, stricken 1 October 1958, sold 1959. CONFLICT: uboat.net gives a commissioning date of 28 June 1945 against DANFS's 2 June 1945 (NavSource agrees with DANFS); the 28 June figure also propagates to derivative compilations (uswarships.jounin.jp). DANFS is carried in this record; the 28 June variant is flagged here and in gaps.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Limitations
- Documents a milestone discrepancy, not a material claim - one date variant between independently maintained databases. uboat.net groups the hull under its 'LSM(R) 401 class' umbrella while NavSource and standard references place her in the LSM(R)-501 class (Brown-built production group) - classification-label variance, same hull. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-03
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[4]PT Boats, Inc. photo archive (pt103.com), caption for NHHC-sourced photograph: 'USS PT-601 photographed from USS LSM(R)-509 in Lock 41 on the Ohio River, on October 13, 1945. Courtesy of Captain C.W. Stoll, Louisville, Kentucky. Received from C.H. Bogart, 1972.' (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- pt103.com PT_Boat_Photos.html, 'USS PT-601 photographed from USS LSM(R)-509' caption
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A photographic caption record places this hull at Ohio River Lock 41 on 13 October 1945, en route upriver - independently corroborating DANFS's documented Mississippi/Ohio River transit to Pittsburgh for Navy Day ceremonies (arrival 22 October 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-10-13
- Population
- Crew aboard during the Ohio River transit (Oct 1945)
- Limitations
- Photo-caption record on a veterans' organization site (PT Boats, Inc.), the image captioned as originating at the Naval History and Heritage Command; corroborates presence, not work performed. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, twin screws - diesel plant, no steam); DANFS construction dates (built April-June 1945); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use documentation (see ev-06); USNI Naval History account of Brown Shipbuilding wartime production (see ev-07) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; GAO product page HRD-80-2; USNI article (ev-07)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven amphibious warship built April-June 1945 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era: GAO documented extensive asbestos insulation use aboard Navy ships with substitution of alternative materials not beginning until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's entire construction and service life. Era-standard asbestos-containing applications aboard a 1945 diesel amphibious hull of this type were thermal insulation of machinery and diesel-exhaust uptakes, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and deck coverings. As a diesel plant with no steam system, the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1991
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); crew (1945-47); reserve-fleet maintenance personnel (1947-58); barge-conversion yard workers (1959); shipbreakers (1980-91)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM(R)-509. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Does not establish that asbestos is or was present aboard this hull, or exposure of any individual.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-05
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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 (1945) and active-service era (1945-47).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- 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 2026-09-30) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-06
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[7]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine (June 2025), Eric Pearson, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' (ARCHIVED COPY: usni.org returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch on 2026-09-30; Wayback capture 2026-03-06) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI Naval History June 2025 featured article, 'Building Different Types of Naval Vessels' section and production figures
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Documents this hull's builder: Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston (Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel) - Brown & Root subsidiary founded 1942, the Houston area's second-largest wartime employer at 25,000+ workers at peak, building 12 PC-461-class submarine chasers, 61 destroyer escorts (38 Edsall- and 23 John C. Butler-class), 32 Landing Craft Infantry, and 254 Landing Ship Medium amphibious landing craft - the production line on which this hull was built. Postwar the yard was sold to Todd Shipyards; after Todd's Houston division closed in 1985 the site returned to Brown & Root barge construction; property sold piecemeal in 2004.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1941-2004
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding workforce (25,000+ at peak, 1942-45)
- Limitations
- Yard-level history, not a hull record - documents the builder's wartime naval production and workforce scale, not materials aboard this specific hull. No asbestos content in the article itself.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-07
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[8]Batch-5868 search ledger (this record): DANFS (via Wayback); NavSource hull page + LSM/LSM(R) index; uboat.net Allied Warships; navypedia class table; Naval Vessel Register; NARA catalog; CourtListener API v4 (opinions + RECAP dockets); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-01 through -17
- 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(R)-509 / USS Holston River (LSMR-509) was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener returned zero results for "LSMR-509" (opinions and dockets), "LSM(R)-509" (opinions), and "LSM-509" (opinions); "Holston River" hits in both indexes are name collisions (Tennessee river litigation - Holston River Electric Co., utility-district and criminal matters, e.g. Tennessee Clean Water Network v. Babelay Farm) unrelated to the vessel. The only 'asbestos' content naming the builder is law-firm marketing material (mesothelioma.com, mesotheliomalawyercenter.org, texasasbestosexposure.com) asserting generic yard asbestos use without primary sourcing - excluded by source policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - the hull was built in mid-1945 at the peak of wartime asbestos shipbuilding and era-consistent insulation applications are a reasonable inference, not a ship-proven fact. Two residual CourtListener docket variants ("LSM-509", "LSM(R)-509") could not be completed this session due to fleet pacing limits - see search_ledger; treated as open, not negative (LSM-509 designates a different, non-rocket hull; the parenthesized form is redundant with the completed LSMR-509 docket search). Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-509-lsmr509-08