Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
-
[1]Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Owyhee River entry, DANFS Vol. V (1979) p. 194 (Wayback capture dated 2025-12-08; the live NHHC URLs history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/o/owyhee_river.html and owyhee-river.html returned HTTP 404 on 2026-09-30) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Owyhee River narrative and specification block, Wayback capture 2025-12-08 (8 captures, 2022-10-03 to 2025-12-08)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS identifies LSMR-515 (name for a river in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon; class Elk River; cpl. 146) as laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas, on 21 April 1945 contemporarily with 36 vessels of her class; launched 19 May 1945; and commissioned 16 July 1945 with Lt. F. A. Lovell in command. Following shakedown she proceeded to Baltimore and berthed there until mid-summer 1946, then was homeported at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va. She was not assigned her full complement until the fall of 1948, when she was able to enter active service; from then until assuming reserve status she operated from St. John's, Newfoundland to Caracas, Venezuela, conducting rocket firing tests most frequently off the Virginia Capes and in Chesapeake Bay and participating in training assaults at Onslow Beach, N.C. She was named Owyhee River 1 October 1955, decommissioned 16 November 1955, reclassified inshore fire support ship LFR-515 in January 1969, and into 1970 was berthed at Norfolk as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1970
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction workforce (1945); ship's company, complement 146 per DANFS spec block, 1945-1955; Atlantic Reserve Fleet caretakers 1955-1973
- Limitations
- Archived DANFS capture is the verification surface because the live NHHC page was dead at research time; the entry was published 2015-08-18 on NHHC and transcribes DANFS Vol. V (1979). This historical entry does not document asbestos, insulation, hazmat condition, individual exposure, or causation. DANFS covers service into 1970 only; striking and sale details come from NVR and NavSource, not this source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-01
-
[2]NavSource Online, Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Owyhee River (LFR-515) / LSM(R)-515 page 10/06/06515 - milestone and specification blocks; live page verified 2026-09-30 [museum_official]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06515.htm, LSM(R)-501 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) milestone block and Specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource records this hull as LSM(R)-501 class: laid down 21 April 1945 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 19 May 1945; commissioned USS LSM(R)-515 on 16 July 1945 at Galveston, TX with LT Frederick A. Lovell, USNR, in command; assigned during World War II to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under LSM(R) Flotilla Eighteen (CAPT. C. F. Macklin USN), LSM(R) Group Forty-Four, LSM(R) Division One Hundred Seven; named USS Owyhee River LSM(R)-515 on 1 October 1955; decommissioned 16 November 1955 at Orange, TX and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; reclassified Inshore Fire Support Ship LFR-515 on 1 January 1969; struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1973; sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service on 16 May 1974 to Majid Karoon, Maritime Shipping Co., Ltd., Tehran, Iran; scrapped between 1989 and 1991. Its specification block lists displacement 758 t. light / 993 t. attack / 1,175 t. full load; 203 ft 6 in. length; 34 ft 6 in. beam; 13 kts.; complement 6 officers and 137 enlisted; and a diesel plant of two General Motors 16-278A non-reversing engines with airflex clutch, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, with four diesel-driven 100 kW 450 V AC and two diesel-driven 20 kW 120 V DC service generators, twin screws, 2,800 shp. Displayed ribbons: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1991
- Population
- Ship's company 1945-1955; midshipmen on training cruises (photographed August 1948 and May 1953 events); reserve-fleet caretakers
- Limitations
- NavSource is a specialist photographic archive, not a Navy registry; used for milestones, specifications, and disposal detail. Its listed WWII Asiatic-Pacific theater assignment is an organizational assignment - the DANFS operational narrative shows the ship berthing at Baltimore through mid-1946 and homeporting at Little Creek, with no Pacific deployment described. The page establishes no asbestos, material, or exposure fact. Its 6-officer/137-enlisted complement differs from the DANFS spec block's 146; the discrepancy is carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-02
-
[3]Naval Vessel Register, Ship Details page: OWYHEE (LFR 515), ex LSMR 515, Inshore Fire Support Ship - live record retrieved via NVR quickfind 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- nvr.navy.mil quickfind result page titled 'Ship Details: OWYHEE (LFR 515)'; Vessel Status and Milestone Dates blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Naval Vessel Register detail page for OWYHEE (LFR 515), ex LSMR 515, lists class LFR 501, UIC 75515, status 'disposed of, by navy sale' with date status changed 06/01/1974, stricken date 05/01/1973, custodian 'Schools, Organizations and Private Enterprises', and record last updated 01/02/2002. NVR publishes no milestone dates for this hull: the Commission Date, Keel Date, Launch Date, Decommission Date, Delivery Date, and In Service Date fields are blank, and physical characteristics are withheld under current public-information policy.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1973-1974 (record last updated 2002-01-02)
- Population
- Disposition/sale processing workforce (1973-1974)
- Limitations
- NVR confirms striking and the Navy-sale disposition but supplies no commission, construction, or decommission dates for this pre-1987-disposed hull; the 06/01/1974 status-change date and NavSource's 16 May 1974 DRMS sale date are presented exactly as each source states them. The register documents status events only - it contains no asbestos, material, or exposure information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-03
-
[4]National Archives, Ship Plan Index (Cartographic Research Room finding aid) - live page verified 2026-09-30 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NARA Ship Plan Index row: 'OWYHEE RIVER | LSMR-515 | RG 19 | Hull series of Ship Engineering Drawings | NAID 153715353'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Ship Plan Index lists OWYHEE RIVER, hull LSMR-515, in Record Group 19 (Bureau of Ships) 'Hull series of Ship Engineering Drawings' under NAID 153715353. An indexed file-unit entry confirms hull-specific engineering drawings exist in the archival series.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-era drawings, indexed through 2026
- Limitations
- The index entry confirms drawing series coverage for this hull but the drawings themselves were not reviewed and are not digitized in the public index. A ship-plan series documents design and fittings, not necessarily insulation material content; it does not establish asbestos presence or absence aboard the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-04
-
[5]NavSource Online, USS Owyhee River (LFR-515) live specification block (propulsion plant) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06515.htm, Specifications/Propulsion block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- The vessel's documented diesel propulsion supports only a design/era context: potential asbestos-relevant applications on diesel landing craft of this period include machinery-space thermal insulation, diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation. The vessel had no steam or boiler plant, so boiler and turbine lagging are not a pathway for this hull.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1974
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); ship's company (1945-1955); reserve-fleet and disposal workers (1955-1974)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only. No source identifies asbestos, a product, a manufacturer, a quantity, or an exposure event aboard LSM(R)-515 / Owyhee River. Builder Brown Shipbuilding Co. of Houston is not an Atlas shipyards.json entry, so no yard-dataset cross-link is made. This row cannot establish what was installed on this hull, individual exposure, causation, or present-day material condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-05
-
[6]CourtListener API v4 via authenticated cl-auth-search.py; four exact-name opinion requests were emitted across the session and each was stood down by the fleet pacing limiter before results returned [other_primary]
- Locator
- Authenticated helper output on four attempts: 'fleet-wide request budget momentarily spent; try CourtListener again later in this session'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No litigation classification is assigned because the required CourtListener exact-name and hull-number searches were blocked by the authenticated fleet pacing stand-down on each of four attempts; this is an incomplete sweep, not a no-result finding.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- through 2026-09-30
- Population
- CourtListener opinion corpus
- Limitations
- Every request was authenticated and made through the required helper; no anonymous, raw, or v3 request was used. Do not treat this row as evidence that qualifying asbestos litigation does not exist; the gap is recorded in search_ledger and the batch report.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-06
-
[7]Research sweep of archived NHHC/DANFS, live NavSource, live Naval Vessel Register, NARA Ship Plan Index, NAVSEA inactive-ships list (blocked), and authoritative asbestos-source leads [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-01 through -08; source-by-source exclusions in BATCH-5874-REPORT.md
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos documentation was located for USS Owyhee River / LSM(R)-515 / LFR-515: no survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, product inventory, material list, or primary-source exposure record. Asbestos aboard this hull remains unknown; the 1945 construction date and diesel configuration supply class/era context only.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1991
- Population
- Crew, construction workers, reserve caretakers, and disposal/scrapping workers
- Limitations
- A negative public-source search does not prove absence of asbestos. Class, construction era, diesel machinery, or general Navy asbestos use cannot be converted into a ship-specific finding, product identification, quantity, remaining-material statement, exposure conclusion, or legal eligibility. The NARA-indexed hull drawing series (NAID 153715353) is the strongest remaining archival lead for material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-515-lsmr515-07