USS LSM(R)-520

Evidence

12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).

1. [1]research packet 525-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Evidence ID

   uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-pkt-525-packet-md

2. [2]NHHC, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Raccoon River (LSM(R)-520) entry (live page verified 2026-09-30) [nhhc_danfs]

   Locator

   DANFS Raccoon River (LSM(R)-520) entry, spec header and full text (entry dated 7 September 2004)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   DANFS identifies this hull as LSM(R)-520 of class LSM(R)-501, later named Raccoon River for a river in Iowa; laid down as LSM(R)-520 on 28 April 1945 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Houston, Texas; launched 2 June 1945; commissioned 31 July 1945 under Lt. W. F. Chapman, USNR. Service narrative: departed the Texas coast 10 August 1945; arrived Charleston on the 15th; continued to Norfolk in early September and completed shakedown in Chesapeake Bay in early October; on 10 October got underway for the Great Lakes to celebrate Navy Day at Erie, Pa., then returned to Norfolk; departed Norfolk 8 January 1946 for Florida and inactivation, arrived Jacksonville on the 11th, commenced overhaul, shifted to Green Cove Springs, and decommissioned there 15 May 1946; remained berthed with the Florida Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet until ordered activated in August 1950; recommissioned 2 February 1952, returned to the Chesapeake Bay area, based at Little Creek through April, spent May and June at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and returned to Little Creek 11 July for amphibious exercises in the Carolinas; over the next 18 months conducted amphibious operations at Onslow Beach, N.C., training in Chesapeake Bay, two cruises to Vieques Island, P.R., and cold-weather operations off Labrador; on 26 January 1954 headed south, operating through February off Cuba and southern Florida, returned to Little Creek in March and spent the remainder of the year off the east coast, primarily in the Virginia Capes area; departed Little Creek for the last time 1 February 1955, arrived Orange, Tex., on the 8th and again entered the Reserve Fleet; named Raccoon River 1 October 1955; struck from the Navy list 1 February 1960; sold to the Petromar Corp. on 22 June 1960. DANFS header figures: displacement 1,084 (full load); length 206'3"; beam 34'6"; draft 9'9"; speed 12 knots; complement 140; armament 1 5", 4 40mm, 8 20mm, 4 4.2" mortar, 10 rocket launchers.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1945-1960

   Population

   Construction trades (1945); Navy crew (1945-1946, 1952-1955); reserve personnel

   Limitations

   Ship-history evidence only. DANFS does not state that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, does not quantify material, and does not document a survey, abatement, exposure, or present-day condition. DANFS states 'recommissioned on 2 February 1952' where NavSource prints 2 February 1951, and DANFS records the 1955 arrival at Orange and Reserve Fleet entry without a formal second decommissioning date - both discrepancies are carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-01

3. [3]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Raccoon River (LSMR-520), ex USS LSM(R)-520 (live page verified 2026-09-30) [other_primary]

   Locator

   Header, milestone history block, awards list, and photo captions (Detroit October 1945; Green Cove Springs 'Zipper' nest March 1946; San Diego 26 July 1954; Little Creek with LSM(R)-512 circa 1952)

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource identifies this hull as USS Raccoon River (LSMR-520), ex USS LSM(R)-520 (1945-1955), of the LSM(R)-501 class; records the same construction milestones (laid down 28 April 1945 at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston; launched 2 June 1945; commissioned USS LSM(R)-520, 31 July 1945, LT William F. Chapman, USNR, in command); lists wartime assignment 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 Eight; lists the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal; records decommissioning 15 May 1946 at Green Cove Springs, FL, and lay-up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group; recommissioning 2 February 1951 at Green Cove Springs; second decommissioning 8 April 1955 at Orange, TX, with lay-up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group; naming as USS Raccoon River LSM(R)-520 on 1 October 1955; striking from the Naval Register 1 February 1960; and final disposition as sold 22 June 1960 to Petromar Corp., Rockport, TX, converted to a barge, fate unknown. Photo captions place USS LSM(R)-520 moored pierside at Detroit, MI, circa October 1945 (consistent with the DANFS Great Lakes Navy Day cruise) and show her nested with sixteen other LSM(R)s at Green Cove Springs in March 1946 during Operation 'Zipper' fleet mothballing - a quoted LSMR-524 deck-log extract for March 1946 names LSM(R)-520 among the nested hulls; a further caption places her 'under way off San Diego, CA., 26 July 1954', which conflicts with the DANFS east-coast narrative for 1954 and is carried as a gap.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1945-1960

   Population

   Construction trades (1945); Navy crew (1945-1946, 1951/1952-1955); reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-1950, 1955-1960); commercial barge-conversion workers (1960)

   Limitations

   Ship-history and disposition evidence only. NavSource does not state that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, does not quantify material, and does not document a survey, abatement, exposure, or present-day condition. The Asiatic-Pacific wartime assignment and campaign ribbon are NavSource listings that sit beside, not inside, the DANFS operations narrative (which shows Atlantic/Great Lakes/Caribbean service only); the two sources are carried without reconciliation. NavSource prints the recommissioning as 2 February 1951 against DANFS's 1952, and supplies the only second-decommissioning date (8 April 1955); the San Diego 26 July 1954 photo caption conflicts with DANFS's all-east-coast 1954 narrative. Final-disposition details (Petromar Corp. sale, barge conversion, fate unknown) rest on NavSource only and are not corroborated by an official disposal record in this session.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-02

4. [4]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, LSM(R) specification block on the USS Raccoon River (LSMR-520) page (live page verified 2026-09-30) [other_primary]

   Locator

   LSM(R) Specifications: displacement, dimensions, complement, armament, armor, endurance, propulsion, and ship-service-generator blocks

   Finding type

   vessel_history

   Finding

   NavSource's specification block gives this hull's displacement as 758 tons light, 993 tons attack, and 1,175 tons fully loaded; length 206 feet 3 inches; beam 34 feet 6 inches; draft 5 feet 4 inches light, 6 feet 9 inches attack, and 7 feet 9 inches fully loaded (mean); speed 13 knots; endurance 3,000 miles at 13 knots; complement 6 officers and 137 enlisted; armament of one single 5-inch/38 dual-purpose mount, two twin 40 mm AA mounts, four twin 20 mm AA mounts, ten twin continuous-loading 5-inch ship-to-shore rocket launchers, and four 4.2-inch mortars; armor of 10-lb STS on the conning station, pilot-house, radio room, radar plot, and rocket control, with 10-lb ASPP around the 40 and 20 mm gun mounts and directors; and propulsion by two General Motors 16-278A non-reversing diesel engines with airflex clutch, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin screws, 2,800 shaft horsepower, with diesel-driven ship-service generators (four 100 kW 450 V AC; two 20 kW 120 V DC) and no boiler or steam-turbine plant.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   supporting

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1945-1960

   Population

   Shipyard and repair personnel; Navy crew

   Limitations

   Technical specifications do not identify insulation or other asbestos-containing products. The diesel specification supports only the statement that no boiler/turbine lagging claim is made; it does not prove the absence of asbestos in other machinery, piping, electrical, or accommodation materials. NavSource figures differ from the DANFS spec header on displacement (1,084 full vs 1,175 fully loaded), draft (9'9" vs 7'9" full), speed (12 vs 13 knots), and complement (140 vs 143) - discrepancies carried in gaps.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-03

5. [5]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM(R)-501-class specification block for this hull (diesel propulsion, two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive); DANFS spec header; GAO HRD-80-2 program documentation (Navy asbestos-insulation era); construction window April-July 1945 [other_primary]

   Locator

   NavSource specifications block; DANFS spec header; GAO HRD-80-2 product page

   Finding type

   asbestos_application

   Finding

   A diesel-driven amphibious landing ship built in the second quarter of 1945 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-insulation era. Era-standard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were thermal insulation on hot machinery and exhaust runs, diesel-exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in a compact, poorly ventilated hull. As a direct-drive diesel vessel she carried no steam plant - 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

   1945-1960

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding construction trades (1945); Navy crew (1945-46, 1951/52-55); reserve-fleet caretakers (1946-50, 1955-60); 1960 barge-conversion crews

   Limitations

   Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, specification sheet, or work package located for this hull. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-04

6. [6]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (18 October 1979; publicly released 22 October 1979) [gao]

   Locator

   GAO HRD-80-2 product page and highlights

   Finding type

   gov_survey

   Finding

   GAO's Navy program review documents that the Navy used asbestos insulation in ships and managed removal under a 1975 policy - remove and replace with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for repairs - modified in 1979 to selectively replace asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas where repairs would be expected during a ship's next operating cycle; the review's fieldwork covered the Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. It is an era-level source for the 1945 construction and 1945-1960 Navy service era of this hull.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1979 report concerning earlier Navy practices

   Population

   Navy shipyard workers and Navy asbestos-program personnel

   Limitations

   Program-level context, not a record of Raccoon River / LSM(R)-520. It does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull, identify a product or manufacturer, quantify material, establish exposure, or establish what remained through the 1960 barge conversion. The product page was verified live; the 26-page full report PDF was not individually reviewed line-by-line.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-05

7. [7]U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, 'The Brown Shipbuilding Company's Rise During World War II' (Eric Pearson, June 2025) [reputable_press]

   Locator

   Naval History June 2025 - yard history and postwar-disposition paragraphs

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   Builder documentation: Brown Shipbuilding Company was established in 1941 by George and Herman Brown of Brown and Root on Greens Bayou off the Houston Ship Channel; it was the second-largest employer in the Houston area during World War II and built submarine chasers, destroyer escorts, landing craft, and Landing Ship Medium amphibious craft for the Navy - including the LSM(R)-501 class hulls built at Houston in 1944-45. In 1949 the yard was leased to the Todd Shipyards Corporation as a ship repair facility (the 'Todd Houston' division); Brown and Root took it back as an offshore fabrication yard in 1984; the site was sold piecemeal in 2004 as the Brown Shipbuilding Industrial Park.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1941-2004 (article coverage)

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding workforce (1941-1946); this hull's construction cohort April-July 1945

   Limitations

   Yard-level history, not a hull record - names this hull's builder and documents the wartime workforce scale, but makes no asbestos statement for the yard or this hull. Page retrieved and verified live via Firecrawl extraction, 2026-09-30. Todd-era asbestos litigation cohort documented in the Atlas yard dataset (todd-shipyards) is post-1949 and not attributable to 1945 Brown construction.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-06

8. [8]Miller v. Brown Shipbuilding Co., 71 F. Supp. 672 (S.D. Tex. May 2, 1947) (Kennerly, District Judge); affirmed, 165 F.2d 956 (5th Cir. 1948) [court_record]

   Locator

   71 F. Supp. 672, paragraphs 1-4 (trade list), 10 (dismissal); affirmance at 165 F.2d 956 (5th Cir. 1948)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   A wartime federal court record documents the builder's workforce and trades: plaintiffs William Paul Miller and LaSalle Bryant sued for themselves and approximately 800 similarly situated Black employees of Brown Shipbuilding, pleading that they were classified and paid as common laborers while performing duties 'as sandblasters, Sander's helpers, buffers, carpenter shop helpers, welder's helpers, timekeeper assistants, material checkers, tank cleaners, tool department clerks, sheering machine operators, etc.' under Navy shipbuilding and repair contracts. The district court dismissed for want of jurisdiction; the Fifth Circuit affirmed (165 F.2d 956, 1948).

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   context

   Documentation level

   class_or_era

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1942-1947 (alleged employment period; opinion 1947, affirmed 1948)

   Population

   Brown Shipbuilding wartime workforce (~800 plaintiffs in the alleged class; skilled/semi-skilled trades named)

   Limitations

   Pleading-stage allegations only, at the lowest litigation stage: the complaint's trade list was never adjudicated - the case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds and affirmed without reaching the merits. Not asbestos litigation and not a hull record: documents the construction-era labor population at this hull's builder (the yard active 1941-46, covering this hull's April-July 1945 build) as alleged by the plaintiffs. No asbestos, material, or exposure finding. District opinion text verified live via OpenJurist; the Fifth Circuit affirmance is cited at 165 F.2d 956 in later opinions (e.g., Morris v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 540 F. Supp. 898 (S.D. Tex. 1982)).

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-07

9. [9]NARA Catalog, File Unit 'LSM(R)-520, 7/31/45-4/30/46', NAID 126665677 (live page verified 2026-09-30) [other_primary]

   Locator

   NARA Catalog file-unit page, NAID 126665677 (series: Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities)

   Finding type

   historical_record

   Finding

   The National Archives Catalog carries a digitized ship-specific file unit for this hull: 'LSM(R)-520, 7/31/45-4/30/46', NAID 126665677, 100 images, Record Group 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), Series 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities', container Roll No. 4118, scanned under the Ancestry digitization partnership. The unit covers the hull's first commission period from commissioning (31 July 1945) through 30 April 1946 and is available to access online.

   Verification

   verified

   Role

   archival_lead

   Documentation level

   ship_specific

   Accessed

   2026-09-30

   Study period

   1945-1946 (file coverage); digitized

   Population

   Navy crew of LSM(R)-520, first commission (1945-1946)

   Limitations

   Archival lead only: muster rolls are personnel rosters, not material records - they document the ship's crew population by name and rating across the first commission but contain no insulation, material, or exposure data. Coverage ends 30 April 1946: the second commission period (1951/52-1955) and the reserve-fleet years are not in this file unit. Individual page content was not reviewed beyond the catalog metadata.

   Atlas source

   true

   Evidence ID

   ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-08

10. [10]NHHC photographic catalog, NH 85000, 'USS LSMR-520 (later: RACCOON RIVER)' (live page verified 2026-09-30) [nhhc_danfs]

    Locator

    NHHC photo catalog page NH 85000 (title, caption, catalog number)

    Finding type

    vessel_history

    Finding

    The Naval History and Heritage Command's photographic catalog holds image NH 85000 titled 'USS LSMR-520 (later: RACCOON RIVER)', captioned 'Photographed in 1954', courtesy of Donald McPherson, 1976 - an official NHHC record corroborating this hull's identity and its LSMR-520 designation during the second commission period (the year DANFS places her operating off the east coast).

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    supporting

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1954 (photograph date)

    Population

    Navy crew (1954)

    Limitations

    Identity corroboration only: a cataloged photograph establishes that the hull existed and was photographed in 1954; it establishes nothing about materials, asbestos, exposure, or condition.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-09

11. [11]U.S. Navy, LSM Class Manual, 1 March 1944, Serial No. 1766, issued to USS LSM-294 - scanned complete section set on NavSource (Ship's Organization; Ordnance; Main Propelling Machinery; Auxiliary Machinery incl. boilers; Pumps/Tanks/Piping; Ventilation) [other_primary]

    Locator

    NavSource LSM Class Manual index, archives/10/14/lsm manual/ - lsm01-01 through lsm05-xx section PDFs (chapters 28-48 incl. lsm02-30 Main Propelling Machinery, lsm02-31 Auxiliary Machinery, lsm02-32 Pumps/Tanks/Piping)

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    A period U.S. Navy class manual for the LSM family (the parent design of the LSM(R)-501 class) is digitized on NavSource: a complete scanned section set covering organization, ordnance, main propelling machinery, auxiliary machinery (including a boilers section), piping systems, and ventilation. The scans are image-only PDFs; material specifications (insulation, lagging, gasket, or packing schedules) cannot be keyword-searched from the index page, and no readable asbestos/insulation material specification was extracted in this session.

    Verification

    partial

    Role

    archival_lead

    Documentation level

    class_or_era

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    1944 (issue)

    Population

    LSM-family crews and maintenance trades (reference document)

    Limitations

    Archival lead only: the manual was issued to USS LSM-294 for the base LSM transport design, not the LSM(R) rocket variant (superstructure carried aft, no open well deck, rocket-launcher fit) - applicability to this hull is at class-family level only. Image-only scans mean absence of extracted asbestos mentions is a limitation of the scan, not evidence of absence in the manual. Full manual OCR is the open lead.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-10

12. [12]Batch-5879 research ledger: NHHC DANFS hull entry; NHHC photo catalog NH 85000; NavSource hull page and specification block; Naval Vessel Register check; NARA catalog check; CourtListener authenticated API opinion sweep; Firecrawl live-web research; targeted official-source web searches [other_primary]

    Locator

    Search-ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-01 through sl-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-13

    Finding type

    historical_record

    Finding

    No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, material list, or other primary record documenting asbestos aboard USS Raccoon River / USS LSM(R)-520 (LSMR-520) was found in the sources searched. The completed CourtListener opinion-name sweep for 'Raccoon River' returned 54 results; the returned set was reviewed and all hits are name collisions - the Iowa Raccoon River litigation record (Des Moines Water Works drainage-district litigation, Iowa DNR environmental cases, the Dico Superfund case, navigation, drainage, and municipal matters) - with no qualifying asbestos case naming this hull; the hull-number opinion sweeps ('LSMR-520', 'LSM(R)-520', 'USS Raccoon River') and the docket-level sweep were blocked by the fleet pacing budget and are logged as blocked, so no broader negative litigation conclusion is drawn.

    Verification

    verified

    Role

    negative_finding

    Documentation level

    ship_specific

    Accessed

    2026-09-30

    Study period

    2026-09-30 research sweep

    Limitations

    A failure to locate a public record does not prove that asbestos was absent. This negative finding does not establish or defeat exposure, causation, legal eligibility, or present-day material condition. CourtListener coverage is incomplete: the opinion-name query completed, but the hull-number opinion queries and the docket query are logged as blocked in the search ledger.

    Atlas source

    true

    Evidence ID

    ev-uss-lsm-r-520-lsmr520-11