Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSSL-63 ex USS LCS(L)(3)-63 - construction milestones, unit assignments, Okinawa campaign entry, awards/ribbons, specifications, transfer and disposal (verified live on navsource.net) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 050063.htm header block, campaign table, awards block, and specifications block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 2 October 1944 at Albina Engine and Machine Works Inc., Portland, OR; launched 2 November 1944; commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-63, 11 December 1944, LT. W. E. Pfau USNR in command. Assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: LCS(L)(3) Flotilla Four, Group Twelve, Division Twenty-One; participated in the Okinawa Gunto operation (assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 17 April to 30 June 1945). Post-war: occupation service in the Far East 2 September - 3 December 1945; decommissioned (date unknown on this page); laid up with the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group; redesignated Landing Ship Support Large USS LSSL-63, 28 February 1949; struck from the Naval Register (date unknown); earned one battle star for World War II service; transferred to Italy, named Molosso (L-9854); final disposition: scrapped by the Italian Navy in 1983. Awards shown: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Okinawa), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1), WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp), Philippines Liberation Medal. Spec block (sourced to NavShips 250-012, 15 Apr 1945, plus Baker and Lawley class documents): 250 lt / 387 fl tons; 158 ft o.a.; beam 23 ft 8 in; speed 16.5 kts max; complement 6 officers + 65 enlisted; armament one single 40mm bow mount, two twin 40mm AA, four 20mm AA, four .50 cal, ten Mk7 rocket launchers; propulsion two quad packs of four GM diesels per shaft, 1,600 bhp, twin variable-pitch propellers.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Population
- Albina yard construction trades (Oct-Dec 1944); commissioned crew 6 officers + 65 enlisted (1944-46)
- Limitations
- Volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry - milestones generally track official records but this page carries 'transferred to Italy in 1953' against July 1951 in the companion association history and Italian secondary sources (see gaps). Decommission and Navy List strike dates are listed as unknown. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-01
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[2]NavSource Online: 'A Brief History of U.S.S. LCS(L) 63' - unit history narrative provided by the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130 (verified live on navsource.net) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 050063h.htm 'A Brief History of U.S.S. LCS(L) 63' full narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Association narrative for this hull: keel plates laid 2 October 1944 at Albina Engine and Machine Works, Portland, Oregon; launched 2 November 1944 into the Willamette River; LT. William E. Pfau USNR read his orders and commissioned her 11 December 1944. Next day she moved down the Columbia River to the Pacific, then to San Diego for shakedown; assigned to LCS(L) Group Eleven of Flotilla Four. Sailed for Pearl Harbor 11 February 1945, then Johnston Island, Eniwetok, and Saipan for invasion practice exercises; held at Saipan with the Reserve Force when the invasion fleet sailed. Called forward when kamikaze attacks developed off Okinawa; arrived off the island 16 April 1945 and patrolled the entrance to Nakagusuku Wan against suicide boats and aircraft - the narrative credits her with destroying three boats and one plane - then assigned to radar picket duty. Departed Okinawa 10 July 1945 with Task Unit 99.1.28 for Tacloban, Leyte, arriving 14 July. After the surrender, ordered to Tokyo Bay for occupation duty with LCS Flotilla Four; operated under Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka on picket, dispatch and utility-craft duty until 3 December. Returned via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal to Green Cove Springs, Florida, decommissioned May 1946. Redesignated LSSL-63 on 28 February 1949; transferred to the Republic of Italy under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program in July 1951 and renamed Molosso.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1951
- Population
- Commissioned crew 6 officers + 65 enlisted (1944-46); reserve-fleet caretakers
- Limitations
- Veterans-association unit narrative hosted by NavSource - a secondary source, not a deck log or action report; the kill claims (three boats, one plane) are association assertions not verified against the ship's action report. Conflicts with the companion NavSource data page on group number (Eleven vs Twelve), reserve location (Green Cove Springs FL vs Columbia River Group), and transfer year (July 1951 vs 1953) - all flagged in gaps. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-02
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[3]NHHC, 'Casualties: U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Ships' - LCS(L)(3) loss list (verified live) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- NHHC casualties page, 'Landing Craft, Support (Large)(Mk. III) (LCS(L))' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NHHC lists seven LCS(L)(3)-type casualties: LCS(L)(3)-7, -15, -26, -33, -37 (constructive loss), -49, and -127. USS LCS(L)(3)-63 does not appear - consistent with her NavSource-documented survival of the Okinawa campaign and post-war transfer to Italy rather than wartime loss.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1945 (WWII casualty window)
- Limitations
- Absence from an official loss list corroborates survival but documents nothing about her operations, materials, or any asbestos condition. No NHHC DANFS entry exists for this numbered landing craft (DANFS does not cover individual LCS(L) hulls); this page is the only located NHHC content touching the hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-03
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[4]U.S. Department of Labor, Benefits Review Board, K.M. (widow of J.M.) v. Lockheed Shipbuilding / Albina Engine and Machine / Willamette Iron and Steel, BRB No. 08-0403 (Decision and Order, 30 December 2008); incorporating McAllister v. Lockheed Shipbuilding, 39 BRBS 35 (2005) and 41 BRBS 28 (2007) [court_record]
- Locator
- BRB 08-0403 Decision and Order, pp. 1-11 (facts pp. 1-2; exposure finding and affirmance pp. 9-11)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Adjudicated asbestos finding at this hull's builder yard: a shipyard carpenter worked at three Portland-area shipyards 1956-1960, including Albina Engine and Machine until 1957, and died 22 September 2002 of left pleural mesothelioma. The ALJ found - and the Benefits Review Board affirmed - that the decedent was last exposed to asbestos at Albina Engine, making it the responsible employer for Longshore Act death benefits; the Board found substantial evidence in coworker depositions that work and conditions at Albina Engine were similar to the documented-exposure yard (WISCO) and in the widow's statement that the decedent specifically named Albina Engine as having exposed him to asbestos.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1956-2008 (employment 1956-57; death 2002; decision 2008)
- Population
- Albina Engine and Machine yard workers (1956-57 adjudicated window; yard operated 1904-1987)
- Limitations
- Yard-level record only: Albina Engine and Machine is the builder of this hull, but the adjudicated exposure window (1956-57) post-dates LCS(L)(3)-63's 1944 construction by twelve years - the decision documents asbestos conditions at the yard generally, not aboard or during construction of this hull. Administrative LHWCA proceeding (ALJ finding affirmed at BRB), not an Article III court judgment; merits-stage for that claimant, not evidence about any vessel.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-04
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[5]NavSource LCS(L)(3) class index (130 vessels, three builders, 1949 LSSL reclassification, 53 LSSLs to JMSDF 1952) + this hull's specification block sourced to NavShips 250-012 (15 Apr 1945); DOL BRB 08-0403 for builder-yard context (ev-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource class index 05idx.htm class paragraph; NavSource 050063.htm specifications block
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A combat gunboat built October-December 1944 at a working Navy contract yard sits inside the documented Navy asbestos era; era-standard applications aboard a vessel of this type and period were engine exhaust and muffler lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, and fireproof/insulation panels in accommodation and ammunition spaces. The plant is all-diesel - eight Grey Marine/General Motors diesels in two quad-packs, four per shaft, 1,600 bhp, twin variable-pitch propellers, with two 60 kW diesel-driven ship's-service generators - so there is no boiler or steam-line lagging pathway, but the confined-volume crew-space dynamic of a 158-foot craft applies with full force.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-30
- Study period
- 1944-1983
- Population
- Albina construction trades (Oct-Dec 1944); crew (1944-46); reserve caretakers; Italian Navy crew and maintainers (1951-1970s); Italian shipbreakers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LCS(L)(3)-63. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. No quantity. NavSource renders the engine series as '6051 series 71' (consistent with GM/Detroit 6-71 diesels per class literature); no manufacturer attribution for any insulation product aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-05
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[6]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 U.S. Navy era (1944 construction, 1944-46 active service, 1946-51 reserve) and consistent with continued-era material aboard at 1951 transfer.
- 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; standing access defect noted since batch 01.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-06
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[7]Batch-5736 search ledger (this record): NavSource main/history/class pages; NHHC casualties page; NVR; DOL BRB 08-0403; NARA catalog; GAO product page; CourtListener opinion searches (two completed); CourtListener RECAP docket search (blocked); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LCS(L)(3)-63 / LSSL-63 / ITS Molosso was found in the public sources searched. CourtListener opinion searches for 'LCS(L)(3)-63' and 'LSSL-63' each returned zero results (authenticated API, HTTP 200). CAVEAT: the RECAP docket search could not be completed - the fleet pacing limiter refused requests all session (exit 2 on four spaced attempts); logged as blocked, not a negative result. The only 'asbestos aboard' material surfaced is law-firm marketing content (mesothelioma.net and similar Albina Shipyard pages) asserting yard asbestos use 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 - and the docket-level litigation search is a genuine open gap (throttled, not run). Deck logs (RG 24), Albina production records, and Italian Navy disposal files are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lcs-l-3-63-lcsl363-07