Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]research packet oz-packet.md (5 sources cited) [museum_official]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED (existence — real identity: USS LCI(L)-403; designation LCI(L); type: Landing Craft Infantry
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lci-l-403-lcil403-pkt-oz-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(G)-403 ex USS LCI(L)-403 - construction, commissioning, reclassification, campaign listing, disposal, specifications, photo captions (history sourced to USS LCI 'Landing Craft Infantry', Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1995) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150403.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 class Landing Craft, Infantry (Large); laid down 20 December 1943 at George Lawley & Sons Shipbuilding Corp., Neponset, MA; launched 7 January 1944; commissioned USS LCI(L)-403, 13 January 1944; reclassified Landing Craft, Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-403, 15 July 1945. Assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater; participated in the Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944. Decommissioned, date unknown; struck from the Naval Register in 1946; sold 10 April 1946; final disposition fate unknown. One battle star for WWII service. Spec block: 216 t. light / 234 t. landing / 389 t. loaded; 158'5.5" x 23'3"; 16 kts max; LCI(L) complement 3 officers + 21 enlisted, LCI(G) 5 + 65; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; propulsion two sets of 4 GM Series 71 diesels (4 per shaft), twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp. Photo captions: nested with LCI(L)-537 and LCI(L)-538 in an English harbor circa 4 June 1944 awaiting Normandy load-out; moored pierside at Weymouth, England, circa January 1945; crew photos credited to family of Tommy Mugan, MoMM1c.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (Dec 1943-Jan 1944); crew (3+21 LCI(L), 5+65 LCI(G)); embarked troops (up to 6 officers + 182 enlisted)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation keyed to the published LCI National Association history (Turner 1995) - milestone dates generally track official records but are not themselves primary. Decommissioning date and post-1946 fate undocumented. Page verified live 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-01
-
[3]NARA Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - 'by Ship Numbers' inventory (archives.gov PDF) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 23, row 'LCI(L)-403 | 1/13/1944 | 9/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA's Special List 44 ship-number inventory lists deck logs for LCI(L)-403 covering 1/13/1944 to 9/30/1945 - log coverage beginning on her commissioning date and running through the month of her LCI(G) reclassification, i.e., her entire in-scope wartime service. Logs are RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel), Entry 118, held at NARA College Park.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-01-13 to 1945-09-30
- Population
- crew and embarked personnel whose daily positions/events the logs record (1944-1945)
- Limitations
- This is a log-coverage inventory entry, not asserted commissioning/decommissioning documentation and not log content itself - the logs' contents were not examined and their digitization status in the National Archives Catalog could not be verified this session (catalog is JS-rendered, unfetchable). No asbestos content. PDF page 23 verified live 2026-09-30; row read via pdftotext -layout extraction.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-02
-
[4]Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 - Landing Ships and Craft (wartime Office of Naval Intelligence tabulation, HyperWar mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-lc.html - LCI(L) table (rows LCI(L)-401 to -408) and LCI(G) table (row LCI(G)-403)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The wartime official tabulation lists LCI(L)-401 through -408 as a block in the LCI(L) table (commissioned 1942-44, no loss note) and lists LCI(G)-403 in the separate LCI(G) gunboat table (1944-45), corroborating both the hull's wartime commission and its mid-1945 gunboat reclassification.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- crew (1944-1945)
- Limitations
- Tabular wartime compilation giving block-level data only - no per-hull detail, no asbestos content. HyperWar/ibiblio mirror of the official wartime publication; verified live 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-03
-
[5]Robin L. Rielly, American Amphibious Gunboats in World War II: A History of LCI and LCS(L) Ships in the Pacific (McFarland, 2013), Appendix II 'Building and Conversion Locations' (accessed via erenow.org full-text mirror) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Appendix II, 'LCI(L) Builders' (Lawley entry) and 'LCI(L) Conversion Locations' (Lawley entry)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The standard published history of LCI gunboat conversions tabulates LCI(L)-403 both in the George Lawley & Sons (Neponset, MA) LCI(L) build list ('LCI(L)s 220, 224-226, 230, 231, 233-237, 351-356, 359, 362, 365, 366, 372, 373, 396-398, 401, 403-408, 412-415, 417-422, ...') and in the Lawley-yard LCI(G) conversion list ('LCI(G)s 401, 403, 408, 412-415, 428') - i.e., this hull returned to her builder at Neponset (Boston) for her mid-1945 gunboat conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945
- Population
- Lawley conversion-yard trades (mid-1945); crew
- Limitations
- Published secondary reference (McFarland) accessed via a third-party full-text mirror - content verified verbatim 2026-09-30, but the mirror is not the publisher; no page-level errata check possible. No asbestos content; the conversion-location listing is documentary but does not establish scope of material disturbance during conversion.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-04
-
[6]Fox News, 'WWII D-Day memorabilia up for auction' (May 2018) - coverage of the LCI(L)-403 ship's bell auctioned by Henry Aldridge and Son [reputable_press]
- Locator
- foxnews.com/science/wwii-d-day-memorabilia-auction (article body)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The ship's bell of LCI(L)-403 survives: it surfaced at a UK dealer and was auctioned 19 May 2018 by Henry Aldridge and Son (pre-sale estimate GBP 1,500-2,500), bearing an apparent bullet strike. The auction provenance account states the craft sailed to Portsmouth in March 1944, landed on Omaha Beach 6 June 1944, collided with another landing craft losing her port ramp, and embarked 32 wounded soldiers for evacuation, and that after 15 months in Europe she returned to the U.S. and was refitted as a gunboat in Boston.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1945; 2018 (auction)
- Population
- crew at Normandy (June 1944); 32 wounded soldiers evacuated (per provenance account)
- Limitations
- Press coverage of an auctioneer's provenance account - the Omaha Beach, ramp-collision, and casualty-evacuation details trace to the auction house, not to an official action report, and are carried at that evidentiary weight only. Establishes the bell's survival and auction, and corroborates (at press/provenance level) the Boston gunboat-refit location documented independently by Rielly. No asbestos content. Verified live 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-05
-
[7]HAER AK-52, M/V Husky II (ex-USS LCI(L)-653, later AMCU-16/MHC-16) - documentation of the LCI(L)-351 class from 'Detail and Special Specifications for Building Landing Craft Infantry (Large) LCI(L) 351-542' (U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships, [1943]) [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 report pp. 5-6 (construction narrative), notes 4/8/12 (BuShips spec citations)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- HAER documentation of a same-class sister hull records the LCI(L)-351-class construction under the BuShips specification covering hulls 351-542 (which includes 403): welded steel throughout; 15-lb high-tensile steel in pilot house and conning tower and 10-lb in the forward-third sides/bulwarks; additional armoring by '2 inches of plastic splinter protection (i.e., crushed granite pebbles embedded in bitumen)' on gun tubs, conning tower, and pilot house; eight six-cylinder General Motors Series 71 diesel truck engines in quads, four per shaft; twin variable-pitch propellers; 16 knots; 110 tons diesel fuel; complement per the wartime ONI guide 4 officers + 24 sailors, troop load 9 officers + 196 enlisted. NARA holds the George Lawley & Son LCI(L) 351-class plans (RG 19, microfilm roll 5899).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (specification and build era)
- Population
- construction trades at LCI builders (1943-44); crew and embarked troops
- Limitations
- Class documentation via a sister hull - LCI(L)-403 is inside the cited spec range (351-542) but is not itself the documented vessel. The HAER report contains NO asbestos statement for the class: the only insulation it describes is post-service spray foam in a commercial reefer conversion. The 'plastic splinter protection' it describes is a bitumen-and-granite composition, not asbestos per this source. Does not establish installed materials aboard hull 403.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-06
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (8 x GM Series 71 diesels, no steam plant); HAER AK-52 / BuShips spec class documentation; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-era documentation; Corn & Starr 1987 WWII shipbuilding asbestos history [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource spec block; HAER AK-52; GAO HRD-80-2 product page; Corn & Starr doi:10.1002/ajim.4700110311
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built December 1943 - January 1944 sits squarely inside the documented WWII shipbuilding asbestos era. Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel combatant of this period were thermal insulation around machinery and diesel exhausts, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation in a confined hull volume. As a diesel craft she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - but the small-craft confined-space exposure dynamic (machinery space below deck housing eight engines) applies.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- Lawley construction trades (1943-44); crew (1944-45); Lawley conversion-yard trades (1945)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-403. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials; no quantity; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The LCI(L) wartime spec is held at NARA (RG 19 microfilm roll 5899 per HAER) but was not examined - a check of the spec's insulation section is the open primary-source lead.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-07
-
[9]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 (1943-44), wartime service, and 1945 gunboat conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1979 (report); covers WWII era
- 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 - standing defect per BATCH-01/98); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-08
-
[10]Corn JK, Starr J. 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding.' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 1987;11(3):359-373 (PMID 3555021) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am. J. Ind. Med. 11(3):359-373; doi:10.1002/ajim.4700110311; PMID 3555021
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed history documenting extensive use of asbestos as fireproofing and insulating material in WWII shipbuilding, the 1940s surge in utilization during wartime industrial expansion, and the Navy's wartime industrial-health policy responses - the era frame within which this hull was built at a wartime contract yard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1940-1945
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers (class context)
- Limitations
- Industry- and policy-level history; does not name this hull, this yard, or landing craft specifically, and does not establish that any particular craft carried asbestos. Full text paywalled (Wiley); abstract/metadata verified via PubMed PMID 3555021 on 2026-09-30.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-09
-
[11]MIT Museum collection record for George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA (archived capture; live page rate-limits automated fetch, HTTP 429) [other_primary]
- Locator
- MIT Museum collections, 'George Lawley & Son' organization record (Wayback capture 2024-07-22)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Museum documentation of this hull's builder: three generations of the Lawley family built yachts and working vessels at Neponset, Massachusetts from the 1860s to the 1940s; 'the yard built both wood and steel vessels, including dozens of World War II landing craft, before closing in 1946.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (yard's WWII period)
- Population
- Lawley yard workforce (1860s-1946)
- Limitations
- Establishes the builder's profile and closure date only - no asbestos, materials, or workforce-exposure content. Cited via Wayback capture 2024-07-22 because the live page returned HTTP 429 to automated fetch on 2026-09-30 (site is live; bot rate-limit, not a dead page).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-10
-
[12]Batch-5115 search ledger (this record): NARA Special List 44; NavSource; wartime ONI tabulation (HyperWar); Rielly Appendix II; HAER AK-52; Fox News (bell); MIT Museum (archived); USCG Historian flotilla history (archived); GAO product page; Corn & Starr metadata; CourtListener (partially run); NARA catalog; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-403-01 through sl-uss-lci-l-403-13
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LCI(L)-403 or LCI(G)-403 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener was PARTIALLY searched: the opinion index query '"LCI(L)-403"' returned zero hits, but variant-spelling queries and the docket index were blocked by fleet-wide API pacing this session - the litigation result is 'no opinion-index hit,' not a clean all-index negative. The only 'asbestos aboard' material surfaced is law-firm listicle content asserting asbestos 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 - era-consistent inference stands as inference. Deck logs (RG 24, coverage 1/13/1944-9/30/1945), the BuShips LCI(L) 351-542 specification insulation section, and Lawley conversion work packages are undigitized leads that could materially change this finding. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-403-11