Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
-
[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Pit River (LSMR-518) ex USS LSM(R)-518 - history block [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06518.htm history block (construction, commissioning, flotilla/group/division assignment, decommissioning, renaming, strike, final disposition) and awards line
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource's live hull page records this hull as laid down 28 April 1945 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX; launched 2 June 1945; commissioned USS LSM(R)-518 on 24 July 1945, LT Albert D. Ullman, USNR, in command; wartime organizational assignment 'During World War II USS LSM(R)-518 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LSM(R) Flotilla Eighteen, CAPT. C. F. Macklin USN; LSM(R) Group Forty-Four; LSM(R) Division One Hundred Seven'; awards listed: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal; decommissioned 21 May 1947 at Green Cove Springs, FL; laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group, Green Cove Springs; named USS Pit River LSM(R)-518, 1 October 1955; struck from the Naval Register 1 October 1958; final disposition sold in June 1959 to Philip Walker Sales Co., fate unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Ship's company (1945-47); Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); Green Cove Springs inactivation/reserve personnel (1947-58)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer archival compilation, not a primary registry - its milestones track DANFS/NVR but are secondary. Documents identity, organizational assignment, and disposition - not material composition, asbestos, exposure, or causation. The 'assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater' organizational line and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon sit against DANFS's narrative statement that the war ended before she completed shakedown and that she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet operating along the east coast - theater credit unresolved (see gaps). Page verified live 2026-09-30 on the .net domain; the dead navsource.org mirror was not cited.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-01
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Pit River (LSMR-518) ex USS LSM(R)-518 - LSM(R) specifications block [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06518.htm 'LSM(R) Specifications' block (displacement, dimensions, complement, armament, armor, endurance, propulsion, generators)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource's LSM(R) specification block for this hull gives: displacement 758 t. light, 993 t. attack, 1,175 t. fully loaded; length 206' 3"; beam 34' 6"; draft 5' 4" light, 6' 9" attack, 7' 9" fully loaded (mean); speed 13 kts; complement 6 officers, 137 enlisted; armament one single 5"/38 dual-purpose mount, two twin 40mm AA mounts, four twin 20mm AA mounts, ten twin continuous-loading 5" ship-to-shore rocket launchers, four 4.2" mortars; armor 10-lb. STS on conning station, pilot-house, radio room, radar plot, and rocket control, 10-lb. ASPP around 40 and 20mm gun mounts and directors; endurance 3,000 miles at 13 kts; propulsion two General Motors 16-278A (non-reversing with airflex clutch) diesel engines, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin screws 2,800 shp; ship's service generators four diesel-drive 100kW 450V A.C. and two diesel-drive 20kW 120V D.C.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Ship's company and shipyard personnel
- Limitations
- Class-standard specifications applied to this hull's page. The specification establishes equipment and propulsion - it does not state that any system contained asbestos and says nothing about insulation material, quantity, condition, or removal. Complement (6 officers + 137 enlisted) conflicts with the DANFS spec block's cpl. 75, and the light displacement (758 t.) conflicts with DANFS's dp. 790 - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-02
-
[3]DANFS, Vol. V (1979), p. 320, 'Pit River' - construction, service narrative, reserve placement, renaming, strike, sale (verbatim transcription; live NHHC page returned 404; NHHC page also verified via Wayback capture 2024-05-27) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Vol. V p. 320 'Pit River' entry - spec block, namesake note, construction and service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS documents for this hull: namesake is the Pit River, 'a river in northern California flowing from Goose Lake in Madoc County and emptying in the Sacramento River'; the ship was 'a medium landing ship (rocket) originally designed as an LSM but redesignated 9 February 1945 as LSMR-518'; laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex., 28 April 1945; launched 2 June 1945; commissioned 24 July 1945, Lt. Albert D. Ullman in command. Service narrative: 'The war ended before LSMR-518 completed shakedown. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, she operated briefly along the east coast, conducting type training exercises and undergoing inport upkeep periods. She called at the Washington Navy Yard 5-7 October 1945 to participate in ceremonies honoring Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.' LSMR-518 was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group 10 January 1947, reporting to Green Cove Springs 5 February; she decommissioned there and was placed in reserve 21 May 1947. Named Pit River 1 October 1955; struck from the Navy List 1 October 1958; sold to Philip Walker Sales Co. in June 1959. Spec block: dp. 790; l. 206'3"; b. 34'6"; dr. 7'3"; s. 13 k.; cpl. 75; a. 1 5", 4 40mm., 8 20mm., 4 4.2"M., 10 rkt.; cl. LSMR-401.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Commissioning crew (1945); east-coast type-training population (1945-46); Green Cove Springs inactivation crew (1947); reserve-fleet caretakers (1947-58)
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy history (DANFS Vol. V) - ship-specific service facts, but no asbestos or material content. Spec block conflicts with NavSource: cpl. 75 vs 6 officers + 137 enlisted; dp. 790 vs 758/993/1,175 t.; class 'LSMR-401' vs NavSource/PRIMARY 'LSM(R)-501' (a classing-convention difference - uboat.net likewise files the type under LSM(R) 401 - see gaps). Live NHHC URL history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/pit-river.html returned 404 on 2026-09-30; the verbatim losthistory.net transcription was verified live and the NHHC page content verified via Wayback capture (2024-05-27), labeled archived.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-03
-
[4]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LSM(R) 518 (ship 13170) - construction and service milestone table [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/13170.html data table (ordered/laid/launched/commissioned/end service/stricken/sold)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The uboat.net Allied Warships entry for this hull records: built by Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston, Texas); ordered 30 August 1944; laid down 28 April 1945; launched 2 June 1945; commissioned 24 July 1945; end service (decommissioned) 21 May 1947; stricken 1 October 1958; sold June 1959. Class listed as LSM(R) 401; pennant LSM(R) 518; no commanding officers listed on the page.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1959
- Population
- Ship's company (1945-47)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation - independently corroborates the DANFS/NavSource milestone sequence and supplies the contract order date (30 August 1944) absent from both. It files the hull under the umbrella 'LSM(R) 401 class' label (48 ships: 401-412 and 501-536), matching DANFS's 'cl. LSMR-401' spec block, versus the LSM(R)-501 class name used by NavSource and the master hull list - a convention difference, not a different hull. No asbestos, materials, or exposure content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-04
-
[5]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton), Brown Shipbuilding Houston TX yard production table - yard hull 325 = LSM(R)-518 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Brown Shipbuilding table, hull row 325 (LSM(R) 518); yard-history header paragraph
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Brown Shipbuilding yard production table lists this hull as yard hull number 325, original designation LSM(R) 518, keel laid 28 April 1945, launched 2 June 1945, delivered 24 July 1945 (= commissioning date), disposition 'Later Pit River 1955, sold to Phillips Walker Sales 1958.' Yard context documented on the same page: Brown Shipbuilding was built in 1941 by George and Herman Brown at the junction of Green's Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel with $9 million in Navy funding; the yard built 12 PCs, 32 LCI(L)s, 61 DEs and 254 LSMs - 359 vessels in four years - and was leased to Todd Shipyards Corporation in 1949, operating as Todd's Houston Division.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); any Philip/Phillips Walker Sales or subsequent-owner workforce (1959)
- Limitations
- Specialist secondary compilation of yard records. Date sequence corroborates DANFS/NavSource/uboat.net; its disposition line prints 'sold to Phillips Walker Sales 1958' - buyer spelling ('Phillips') and sale year (1958) conflict with DANFS/NavSource/uboat.net ('Philip Walker Sales Co.', June 1959); the conflict is carried in gaps. The table documents construction and sale, not materials, asbestos, or exposure.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-05
-
[6]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Powder River (LSMR-519) page - transcribed deck-log excerpts of sister ship USS LSM(R)-524, Green Cove Springs, January and March 1946 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/06/06519.htm photo captions - 'USS LSM(R)-524' deck-log excerpts (January 1946 machinery list; March 1946 'Operation Zipper' nest)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A contemporaneous deck-log transcription for sister ship USS LSM(R)-524 at Berth Oak 31, St. Johns River, Green Cove Springs, January 1946 lists the machinery in operation: '#1 ship service generator, #1 boiler, #2 refrigerator, #2 fresh water pump, #2 fire and flushing pump, #2 air compressor' - documenting that this class carried an auxiliary boiler alongside its diesel mains while nested in the mothball fleet. The March 1946 excerpt documents the seventeen-ship 'Operation Zipper' decommissioning nest at Green Cove Springs, the same Atlantic Reserve Fleet Florida Group berthing this hull entered in February 1947.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1946
- Population
- Green Cove Springs inactivation and reserve-fleet personnel, 1946-47 (class level)
- Limitations
- Sister-ship record, not this hull's log: establishes that LSM(R)-524 - a same-class, same-yard hull - operated an auxiliary boiler and documents the class inactivation environment LSM(R)-518 joined a year later. It does not prove LSM(R)-518's own boiler fit, materials, or insulation content; carried as class-level context only. The transcription is hosted by NavSource (deck-log entry submitted by a family member); the underlying RG 24 deck logs are undigitized.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-06
-
[7]U.S. Government Accountability Office, HRD-80-2, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure (18 Oct 1979) - Navy asbestos-use and program context [gao]
- Locator
- GAO HRD-80-2 product page and indexed text (full text blocked, HTTP 403); NavSource 06518 specification block (propulsion); NavSource 06519 sister-ship deck-log excerpt (auxiliary boiler)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- This hull's April-July 1945 construction and diesel-plus-auxiliary-boiler plant place it inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era: 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 and service life. Era-standard asbestos-relevant applications aboard a rocket LSM of this type were machinery and pipe thermal insulation, diesel exhaust lagging, auxiliary-boiler lagging (a sister-ship deck log documents the class carried a boiler), gaskets, packing, electrical insulation, and fireproofing/deck-finish materials. Diesel main propulsion means no main boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1959 (hull era); 1979 (GAO review)
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers and ship's company generally; Green Cove Springs reserve-fleet trades
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package was located for LSM(R)-518; names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity. GAO full text not retrievable this session (gao.gov product page and PDF asset both returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30) - context carried from the product-page description and indexed report text. Does not establish individual exposure, causation, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-07
-
[8]Miller v. Brown Shipbuilding Co., 71 F. Supp. 672 (S.D. Tex. 1947), affirmed per curiam (5th Cir. 1948) - wartime Fair Employment Practice Committee wage-discrimination suit at this hull's builder; surfaced via the batch-5864 sibling record's research, not via this session's (blocked) CourtListener sweep [court_record]
- Locator
- Miller v. Brown Shipbuilding Co., 71 F. Supp. 672 (S.D. Tex. 1947); 5th Cir. affirmance 1948 (per curiam)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- A wartime federal court record documents the construction-era labor population at the yard that built this hull: approximately 800 Black employees of Brown Shipbuilding pleaded that they performed work at the yard as sandblasters, welders' helpers, buffers, tank cleaners, material checkers, and similar trades during the Navy shipbuilding contracts. The district court dismissed for want of jurisdiction and the Fifth Circuit affirmed per curiam - the trade list is a pleading allegation, never adjudicated on the merits. It is a court record of who worked at the builder's yard in the wartime period, not an exposure finding.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1948 (war-contract period and litigation)
- Population
- Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce (~800 plaintiffs); construction-era yard trades
- Limitations
- Yard-level pleading record, not a hull record and not an asbestos record: the complaint's trade descriptions are allegations disposed of on jurisdictional grounds - the least-final litigation stage (dismissal, affirmed). Brown Shipbuilding's yard is documented; no worker, trade, or material is tied to LSM(R)-518 itself. Citation carried from the sibling batch-5864 record's documented research; this session's own CourtListener sweep was blocked (see ev-09 and gaps).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-08
-
[9]Batch-5877 search ledger (this record): DANFS Vol. V transcription + NHHC/Wayback; NavSource live hull page; uboat.net ship entry; Brown yard production table; NARA Ship Plan Index; NVR; NHHC photo index; GAO; NAVSEA PDF; CourtListener (hull-number queries zero-hit; name query blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-01 through -13
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, product inventory, or verified litigation naming USS LSM(R)-518 / LSMR-518 / USS Pit River was found in the public sources searched. NARA's live Ship Plan Index lists plan file-units for neighbor hulls (LSMR-514, -515, -517, -522, -525, -536) but contains no entry for LSMR-518 or Pit River - the hull is absent from that index. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no hull-specific marketing content for this hull. CAVEAT: CourtListener coverage is partial - hull-number opinion queries completed at zero hits, but the 'Pit River' name query and docket-type coverage were blocked by fleet pacing; logged accurately, not as a full negative.
- 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 - and the litigation repository search is a genuine open gap (paced, not run). RG 24 deck logs, Brown/Todd work packages, reserve-fleet inactivation records, and any post-sale commercial records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-09
-
[10]CourtListener API v4 via /Users/charlesfletcher/devin-prompts/cl-auth-search.py - hull-number queries completed (count 0); name/docket queries blocked by fleet pacing [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs 2026-09-30: '"LSMR-518"' type=o count 0; '"LSM(R)-518"' type=o count 0; '"Pit River"' type=o blocked (pacing stand-down, multiple attempts)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener searches (authenticated API v4, type=o) for hull numbers ran to completion: '"LSMR-518"' returned count 0 and '"LSM(R)-518"' returned count 0 - no opinions name this hull by either hull-number form. The exact-name search '"Pit River"' (and docket-type coverage) could not be completed: the helper returned the fleet-wide pacing stand-down on every name-query attempt. No asbestos litigation, pleading, discovery record, trial finding, or judgment naming this hull is asserted; the completed hull-number sweeps are a genuine negative, the name sweep remains an open gap.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2026-09-30
- Limitations
- Partial coverage: hull-number opinion searches completed with zero hits (a real negative result); the common-name query '"Pit River"' - a high-collision geographic name - was never executed (pacing stand-down), so name-based opinions are unsearched, not negative. Docket-type (type=rd) coverage likewise unexecuted. Re-run name + docket queries when the fleet budget allows.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-r-518-lsmr518-10