Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(G)-437 ex USS LCI(L)-437 (1943-1944) - construction, commissioning, redesignation, campaigns, awards, disposal, specifications, photo captions (page verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150437.htm header block, campaign table, awards block, specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI-351 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large), laid down 23 April 1943 at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.; launched 17 July 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-437, 31 July 1943, LTjg. W. B. Watkins Jr. in command; designation changed to Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-437, 15 June 1944. Asiatic-Pacific service with LCI Flotilla Three (CDR. R. Eikel Jr. USNR), LCI Group Nine (LCDR. C. J. Starkus USN Ret.), LCI Division Eighteen. Campaigns: Marshall Islands - occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 Jan-8 Feb 1944; Marianas - capture and occupation of Guam, 23 Jul-12 Aug 1944; Iwo Jima - assault and occupation, 19-26 Feb 1945 (Combat Action Ribbon, retroactive); Okinawa Gunto - assault and occupation, 21-30 Jun 1945. Four battle stars plus Navy Unit Commendation as a member of LCI(G) Flotilla 3 (31 Jan-28 Jul 1944) for Kwajalein/Eniwetok (Marshalls) and Saipan/Guam/Tinian (Marianas). Decommissioned in 1946; struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946; sold 2 December 1946, buyer unknown; fate unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); LCI(L) crew 4 officers/24 enlisted then LCI(G) crew 5 officers/65 enlisted (1943-46); embarked troops (up to 6 officers/182 enlisted per landing); disposal-era buyers unknown
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - its milestone dates track official records but its stated source is the Turner Publishing USS LCI volume (Vol. II, 1995). Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. 'Decommissioned in 1946' gives no month/day. Spec figures on NavSource differ across sibling hull pages and vs. class references - see gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-01
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[2]uboat.net Allied Warships of WWII, USS LCI(L)-437 (LCI(L)-437), LCI 351 class - build/commission/disposal corroboration (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship ID 21479 detail table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent secondary corroboration of the NavSource timeline: built by New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. (Barber, New Jersey); ordered 22 March 1943; laid down 23 April 1943; launched 17 July 1943; commissioned 31 July 1943; reclassified as LCI(G), Landing Craft Guns, on 15 June 1944; sold on 2 December 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Limitations
- Secondary database (uboat.net Allied Warships), consistent with NavSource on every shared data point. Adds only the order date (22 Mar 1943). No asbestos content. No decommission date carried ('End service' blank).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-02
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[3]NARA Special List 44, 'List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947' (by ship number) - LCI(L)(G)-437 logbook coverage entry (PDF p. 17, verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- SL44 by-ship-number PDF, p. 17, row 'LCI(L)(G)-437 7/31/1943 6/30/1945'
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA Special List 44 lists Navy logbooks for LCI(L)(G)-437 covering 7/31/1943-6/30/1945 (PDF page 17) - i.e., deck logs exist in RG 24 (Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) holdings for the hull under the combined LCI(L)(G) designation, spanning commissioning through the end of the SL44 coverage window.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (log coverage)
- Population
- LCI(L)/LCI(G) crew (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Log-coverage dates only - SL44 lists what logbooks exist, not their contents; the dates are not commissioning/decommissioning dates for the hull. Logs are paper records (RG 24 Entry 118) at NARA College Park; the listed end date 6/30/1945 predates the hull's 1946 disposal, so late-service logs may reside in the post-1941 deck-log series. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-03
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[4]NARA Catalog, RG 38 'World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories' - USS LCI (L) 437 war diaries (NAID 78156687, 7/31/43-8/31/43, 33 images; NAID 135956666, 9/1-30/43; NAID 134340063, 10/1-31/43; NAID 136014530, 11/1-30/43) and action report LCI(G)-437 Guam (NAID 633400340, 7/20/44-8/12/44, 9 images) - all digitized (pages verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAIDs 78156687 (Roll A520), 135956666 (Roll A558), 134340063 (Roll A642), 136014530 (Roll A707), 633400340 (Roll A1527)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized ship-generated records exist for this hull in the National Archives Catalog: four monthly war-diary file units for USS LCI(L) 437 covering July-November 1943 and the LCI(G)-437 report of operations in support of the invasion of Guam, 7/20-8/12/44. The 31 July 1943 war-diary page (NAID 78156687, image 1) was read directly: 'The USS LCI(L) 437 was placed in commission this date in accordance with Vice Chief of Naval Operations letter Op23-... of 6 July 1943' while moored starboard side to the fitting-out pier at New Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Barber, N.J.; it then records underway for Pier 42, North River, New York the same day - independently confirming the commissioning date and builder.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1944 (units located)
- Population
- LCI(L)/LCI(G) crew (1943-44)
- Limitations
- Archival leads: the war diaries and action report are primary ship-generated documents but their pages were not exhaustively read - only the commissioning-day page was verified image-by-image; operational detail beyond it (yard availabilities, material mentions) is unexamined. Additional monthly war-diary file units likely exist under variant catalog spellings ('LCI (L) 437' vs 'LCI(L) 437'). No asbestos content was observed on the page read.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-04
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[5]NARA Catalog, RG 24 'Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities' - 'LCI(L) 437 - Muster Rolls' (NAID 120226714, 82 images, Ancestry partner scans, from 24 September 1943) and 'LCI(G) 437 - Muster Rolls' (NAID 120226797, 126 images) - both digitized (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov NAIDs 120226714 and 120226797
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized muster rolls exist for this hull under both designations - LCI(L) 437 (82 images) and LCI(G) 437 (126 images) - the personnel-of-record source for anyone who served aboard.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- All hands (1943-46) as enlisted on the rolls
- Limitations
- Archival lead: roster documents only - muster rolls establish who served aboard, not what materials were present. Individual images not read. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-05
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[6]NavSource photo captions with NARA/US Navy photo identifiers: USMC photo 127-GW-112135 (LCI(G)-437 pulling wreckage off the Iwo Jima beach, March 1945); George Hansen Putnam set (alongside USS Putnam DD-757 at an Okinawa anchorage, summer 1945); US Navy photo 379476 (entering USS ABSD-6 floating dry dock, Apra Harbor, Guam, 5 June 1946); LIFE image by J. R. Eyerman (Naval Station Guam anchorage, July 1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150437.htm photo captions (images 1015043701, 1015043702, 101433005, 1015034504)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous photography places this hull at Iwo Jima in March 1945 (wreckage-recovery work off the invasion beach), at an Okinawa anchorage in summer 1945 (personnel/cargo/mail runs alongside USS Putnam), at Naval Station Guam in July 1945 (alongside LCI(G)-345, -346, -348, -449 and LC(FF)-423), and entering floating dry dock USS ABSD-6 at Apra Harbor, Guam on 5 June 1946 - the last documenting a drydocking after her 25 February 1946 strike date and before her 2 December 1946 sale.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945-1946
- Population
- Crew (1945-46); ABSD-6 floating-dock workforce (June 1946)
- Limitations
- Photo-caption evidence transcribed via NavSource; the NARA catalog does not surface the individual image under local ID 127-GW-112135 in a public search (JS-rendered catalog queried 2026-09-30). Captions establish physical presence, not work scope - the ABSD-6 drydocking documents hull presence, not what was done aboard. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-06
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[7]shipbuildinghistory.com (Tim Colton), 'New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber NJ' - yard record and LCI(L)-437 line entry (verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencysmall/newjersey.htm yard narrative + build table row 'LCI(L) 437'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The builder yard is documented: New Jersey Shipbuilding was 'an assembly line for LCIs on Arthur Kill, in Barber, a community immediately to the east of Perth Amboy... later absorbed into Perth Amboy and is now called Maurer. Management of the yard was taken over by Todd Shipyards in 1942, at the Navy's request, and was closed after the war.' Its build table carries the line entry: LCI(L) 437, US Navy, Landing Craft, Jul-43, 'Later LCI(G) 437, sold 1946.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction workforce (1943)
- Limitations
- Secondary shipbuilding-history compilation (Tim Colton) - the standard public reference for U.S. yard production records. Yard-level context: establishes where and in what kind of emergency facility the hull was built; no material or asbestos content. New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber NJ is not an entry in shipyards.json - no yard asbestos profile exists to cross-link.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-07
-
[8]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (two sets of 4 GM 6051-series 71 diesels, 4 per shaft; GM main reduction gears; twin variable-pitch propellers; two 30 kW 120V DC diesel-drive ship's service generators); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos insulation era); Rushworth NEJ 2005 (Navy shipboard asbestos thermal insulation, WWII and post-WWII) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; GAO product page HRD-80-2; Rushworth, NEJ 117(2):35-48 (2005), DOI 10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered landing craft built April-July 1943 inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era. There is no steam plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply. Era-standard asbestos-relevant applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were diesel exhaust-system lagging, machinery insulation, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical/thermal insulation in the confined hull volume.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); crew and embarked troops (1943-46); conversion-yard workforce (1944, yard unlocated); disposal-era buyers (1946)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-437/LCI(G)-437. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. Product names are normalized era terms; no manufacturer attribution for this hull. The 1944 LCI(G) gunboat conversion added weapons systems but no material record for that work was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-08
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[9]Rushworth, Denis H., 'The Navy and Asbestos Thermal Insulation,' Naval Engineers Journal 117(2):35-48 (April 2005), American Society of Naval Engineers, DOI 10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x (abstract verified live 2026-09-30) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Naval Engineers Journal 117(2):35-48 (2005); ingentaconnect abstract page; DOI 10.1111/j.1559-3584.2005.tb00336.x
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Engineering-literature era documentation: 'Asbestos was once used in U.S. Navy shipboard pipe and machinery thermal insulation and in many other shipboard products,' and plaintiffs in Navy asbestos litigation 'include many who were exposed to asbestos while serving in Navy ships built during and following WWII.' The article traces the evolution of thermal insulation systems in WWII and post-WWII ships - covering this hull's 1943 construction era.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 2005 (publication); WWII-forward (era described)
- Population
- Navy shipboard personnel era-wide (context)
- Limitations
- Era-level engineering review, not a hull record: does not name this or any specific landing craft. Full text is paywalled; content via the published abstract. Supports era context only - establishes that asbestos in shipboard thermal insulation and other shipboard products was Navy-standard in WWII construction, not that it was present aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-09
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[10]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) and service era (1943-46).
- 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-lci-l-437-lcil437-10
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[11]Batch-5152 search ledger (this record): NavSource hull page; uboat.net; NARA Special List 44 (RG 24 logbook coverage); NARA Catalog war diaries/action report/muster rolls; shipbuildinghistory.com yard record; NHHC DANFS (no entry exists); NVR (no entry - pre-1987 disposal); CourtListener authenticated API sweep; secondary web litigation sweep; BVA/VA decision sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-437 / LCI(G)-437 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener was swept in full: all designation variants ('LCI(L)-437', 'LCI-437', 'LCI(G)-437', 'LCI(L) 437', 'LCI(G) 437', 'USS LCI(L)-437') returned zero opinion hits, and docket queries returned zero hits except one classified name collision (WWE v. Jakks Pacific, S.D.N.Y. 2004 - a docket-token match, not the vessel). No VA/BVA decision naming the hull surfaced in indexed web sweeps. The only 'asbestos aboard' material found is law-firm marketing content asserting asbestos aboard WWII landing craft 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 - hull material records were never expected to be published and the digitized war diaries/muster rolls were not exhaustively read. The record establishes only that no public ship-specific asbestos documentation was located, not that none exists. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-437-lcil437-11