Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LCI(L)-443 (10/15/150443) - construction, commissioning, theater assignments, campaigns, awards, disposal, specifications, and NARA-captioned New York Navy Yard photographs [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/15/150443.htm header block, campaign table, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LCI(L)-351 class Landing Craft Infantry (Large); laid down 19 May 1943 at New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber, N.J.; launched 2 August 1943; commissioned USS LCI(L)-443, 13 August 1943. WWII Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCI Flotilla Five, then LCI Flotilla Twenty Two (1944-45), flotilla commanders CDR Paul McD. Smith USN (1944) and CDR Marion M. Byrd (1944-45). Campaigns: Bismarck Archipelago operation, Green Islands landing, 15-19 February 1944; Western New Guinea operation, Morotai Island landings, 15 September 1944; Luzon operation, Lingayen Gulf landings, 4-18 January 1945. Post-war assigned to Commander Philippine Sea Frontier. Decommissioned, date unknown. Struck from the Naval Register 12 April 1946. Earned three battle stars for WWII service. Final disposition: sold 2 December 1946. Spec block: displacement 236 t. light / 264 t. landing / 419 t. loaded; length 158' 5.5"; beam 23' 3"; complement 4 officers + 24 enlisted; troop capacity 6 officers + 182 enlisted; armament five single 20mm; propulsion two sets of 4 General Motors 6051-series 71 diesel engines (4 per shaft), GM main reduction gears, twin variable-pitch propellers, 2,320 shp; two diesel-driven 30 kW 120V DC ship's service generators. Photographs captioned as NARA-held New York Navy Yard photos (nos. F644C4534, F644C4539) show the ship drydocked at New York Navy Yard 7 September 1943 for alteration of skegs; a third photo shows her beached in the Pacific taking on fuel, date and location unknown.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); New York Navy Yard trades (Sept 1943 availability); crew (1943-46); embarked assault troops (transient)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation credited here to 'USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1995); milestone dates are consistent with NARA log-coverage data and the uboat.net/NavalCoverMuseum listings. Decommissioning is explicitly undated. No asbestos or material content. The photo captions' NARA photo numbers were not independently re-verified against the catalog.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-01
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[2]NARA Special List 44: List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947 - Ships by Signal Number Designation section (official NARA finding aid; PDF p. 24) [other_primary]
- Locator
- sl-44-ship-number.pdf, PDF page 24, rows 'LCI(L)-443 8/13/1943 10/31/1943' and 'LCI(L)-443 5/1/1944 6/30/1945' (verified against live archives.gov PDF, 137 pp.)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NARA holds deck logs for this hull in two runs: 8/13/1943-10/31/1943 and 5/1/1944-6/30/1945 (the table's begin/end dates, MM/DD/YYYY). The first run's begin date coincides with the commissioning date. The 11/1943-4/1944 gap in listed coverage spans the transit to the Pacific and includes the entire Green Islands operation (15-19 Feb 1944); the 6/30/1945 end of the second run leaves the final wartime months and the entire Philippine Sea Frontier / disposal period uncovered by NARA-listed logs.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1945 (coverage); 1978 (list compiled)
- Population
- Crew and embarked personnel during logged windows (1943-45)
- Limitations
- Log-coverage index only: establishes that the U.S. Navy created and NARA holds deck logs for the listed windows - it is not proof that logs for other windows do not exist, and it says nothing about the logs' content. The logs themselves are not digitized in the NARA catalog (LCI(L) hulls are absent from the 'Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog' page as of 2026-09-30); access is via RG 24 at NARA. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-02
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[3]HAER No. AK-52, M/V Husky II (USS LCI(L)-653 / USS Avocet) - Historic American Engineering Record written historical and descriptive data, National Park Service / Library of Congress (2012) [haer]
- Locator
- HAER AK-52 written data, pp. 3-6 (Builder, Original plans sections; footnotes 5-8)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official documentation of this hull's builder and the 351-class design. HAER AK-52 (written for sister hull LCI(L)-653, same class and same yard) records: New Jersey Shipbuilding Corporation of Barber, New Jersey was incorporated in 1942 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Barber Asphalt Corporation, leased and converted the idled asphalt plant on Arthur Kill at Perth Amboy into a shipyard, employed about 2,500 workers under Todd Shipyards management, and produced 375 LCI(L)s during the war using prefabricated hull and deck-house sections assembled on ways; the yard's build list (hulls 239-318, 423-657, 782-821, 866-884) includes LCI(L)-443. The report further cites the governing Bureau of Ships document 'Detail and Special Specifications for Building Landing Craft Infantry (Large) LCI(L) 351-542' (1943), which covers hull 443 by number range, and describes the all-welded steel, assembly-line construction of the type.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1942-1945 (yard operation); 2012 (report)
- Population
- New Jersey Shipbuilding construction workforce (~2,500 at peak operations, per HAER)
- Limitations
- Class/yard documentation prepared for a sister hull, not a record for 443 itself - builder corroboration and design context only. The report contains no asbestos statement; it does not establish materials aboard this hull. The BuShips specification it cites (covering hulls 351-542) is not digitized - it is an archival lead (NARA RG 19-era BuShips records), not a consulted source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-03
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[4]National Register of Historic Places nomination, U.S.S. LCI-713 (Landing Craft Infantry), NRIS 07000300, listed 4/12/2007 - NPS NPGallery scan (narrative description and significance sections) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS NRHP nomination 07000300, Section 7 (Narrative Description) pp. 1-4 and Section 8
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The NPS nomination for the surviving sister hull documents the 351-class as-built configuration: welded 1/4-inch steel-plate construction designed for rapid assembly-line production; engine room originally holding eight General Motors 6-71 diesel engines in two banks of four (twin variable-pitch propellers, ~1,600 BHP per shaft); diesel-powered galley stoves; engine exhaust arranged for both above-water and underwater discharge; 110-130 tons diesel fuel; two electrical generators; five 20mm guns; accommodation for 182 embarked troops. No steam plant of any kind is described. The nomination recounts the complete NARA-held technical blueprint file for the LCI 351 class consulted for the restoration.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (713's construction); 2006-2007 (nomination)
- Population
- LCI(L)-351 class construction trades and crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Sister-hull documentation (LCI(L)-713, built by George Lawley & Son, Neponset MA - a different yard), used here for class-design context only; per-vessel construction latitude existed between the ten LCI yards. The nomination contains no asbestos statement and does not establish the presence or absence of asbestos aboard this or any hull. NPGallery asset URL verified via GET 2026-09-30 (HEAD request returns 404 by design).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-04
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[5]ONI 226, Allied Landing Craft and Ships, Division of Naval Intelligence, Navy Department, 7 April 1944 (HyperWar/ibiblio scan of the official recognition manual) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ONI-226.pdf, 'LANDING CRAFT, INFANTRY (LARGE) Nos. 351-' section and LCI(G) conversion table
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous official U.S. Navy data for the LCI(L) Nos. 351- class: crew 4 officers and 24 men; five 20mm guns; 2-inch plastic armor to guns, conning and pilothouse sides; capacity 9 officers and 196 enlisted troops with 32 tons cargo (oceangoing configuration); 110 tons fuel oil; General Motors diesel propulsion on twin screws; endurance 8,000 miles at 12 knots. The manual's LCI(G) gunboat conversion tables (hull ranges 365-366, 437-442, 449-453, 455-457, etc.) do not include hull 443 - consistent with this ship retaining its standard LCI(L) configuration throughout service.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944 (publication); 1943-45 (type service)
- Population
- LCI(L)-351 class crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Class-level official reference data as of April 1944, not a record for this hull. Capacity figures (9 officers/196 troops) differ modestly from NavSource's hull page (6 officers/182 troops) - carried in gaps. Recognition data contains no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-05
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[6]USS LCI National Association, 'LCI(L) 618 - History of LCI Flotilla 22' by Jim E. Talbert (unit memoir; via Wayback Machine capture of 2026-03-13 - live site unreachable this session) [museum_official]
- Locator
- usslci.org Flotilla 22 history page (Wayback capture 20260313015333); roster list, Morotai TG 77.4 paragraph, post-war assignment paragraph, reader comment by JoAnn Evans
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Flotilla 22 unit memoir names LCI(L)-443 in the 36-ship flotilla roster (ships 62, 63, 328, 333-335, 357-360, 433-436, 443-446, 518-519, 614-619, 688-690, 776-777, 985-987, 1032-1033), noting the first 19 were spun off from Flotilla 5 in early August 1944. It places hull 443 in the LCI unit of Task Group 77.4 at the 16 September 1944 Morotai invasion and, after V-J Day, lists hulls 63, 333, 334, 335, 357, 358, 360, 443, and 444 as assigned to Commander Philippine Sea Frontier (the flotilla proper departed for the U.S. in December 1945 and decommissioned January 1946). A comment posted on the same page reports that a crew member's letters describe the ship transporting Japanese prisoners of war after the war's end.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1946 (memoir events)
- Population
- LCI(L)-443 crew incl. Quartermaster Lewis S. Evans (family-reported); Flotilla 22 staff
- Limitations
- A veterans'-association unit memoir and unmoderated comment, not an official record: corroborates flotilla assignment and post-war disposition consistent with NavSource, but operational details (including the POW-transport note, which is family-reported from private letters) are unverified against primary documents. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-06
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[7]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications block (GM 6051-series diesel plant, 2 shafts); ONI 226 351-class description (diesel propulsion, 2-inch plastic splinter armor, no steam plant); NPS NRHP nomination 07000300 for sister hull LCI(L)-713 (all-welded steel, diesel throughout incl. galley); HAER AK-52 (assembly-line welded-steel construction); GAO HRD-80-2 (Navy asbestos-use era) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; ONI-226 351-class section; NRHP 07000300 Section 7; HAER AK-52
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A welded-steel diesel-powered amphibious craft built mid-1943 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard naval applications aboard a diesel vessel of this type and period were thermal insulation and exhaust lagging on the diesel exhaust system, gaskets and flange packing in fuel/lube-oil/cooling systems, valve packing, electrical cable insulation, and interior deck covering/insulation compounds. As a diesel craft she carried no steam plant - the boiler and steam-line lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply - but the 158-foot hull concentrated engines, generators, fuel, and 24 crew plus ~182 embarked troops in a small enclosed volume.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1943-1946 (naval service)
- Population
- NJ Shipbuilding construction trades (1943); NYNY availability trades (Sept 1943); crew (1943-46); unknown post-sale commercial or breakers' workforce (1946+)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCI(L)-443, and the class's surviving official design documentation (BuShips spec, ONI 226, NRHP nomination, HAER reports) makes no asbestos statement either way. 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-lci-l-443-lcil443-07
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[8]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 - postdating this hull's entire construction (1943) and naval service (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 returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch, confirmed 2026-09-30 - same standing defect as prior batches); content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-08
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[9]Batch-5159 search ledger (this record): NavSource ship page; NARA Special List 44 ship-numbers PDF; NARA online deck-log catalog; NHHC/DANFS index; NVR; LOC HAER AK-52 and OR-180; NPS NPGallery NRHP 07000300; HyperWar ONI-226 and ships-lc; usslci.org Flotilla 22 memoir (Wayback); uboat.net; NavalCoverMuseum; secondary web litigation sweep; CourtListener (opinion index 0 hits; docket index blocked - see search_ledger) [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, museum-materials statement, or verified litigation naming USS LCI(L)-443 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion index returned zero hits for "LCI(L)-443" and "LCI-443"; the docket index could not be searched this session (fleet pacing) - logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. No law-firm or marketing page specifically asserting asbestos aboard this hull was surfaced either - the hull appears only in general 'asbestos on Navy ships' listicle content at the class level.
- 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 - 1943 naval construction was within the documented asbestos-use era and the class's official design documents are silent on insulation materials. Deck logs (NARA RG 24, two runs per SL44), the BuShips 'Detail and Special Specifications for LCI(L) 351-542,' and the NARA-held LCI 351-class technical blueprint file are undigitized leads that may settle materials questions. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lci-l-443-lcil443-09