Evidence
5 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-5).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-203 - page states: 'The history extract for USS LSM-203 is from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, (c) 1997.' [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/10/14/14203.htm - header/history block, Awards section, Specifications block, Commanding Officers table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Laid down 13 January 1944 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 10 April 1944; commissioned USS LSM-203, 21 May 1944, Lt. F.L. Townsley, USNR, in command. Commanding officers: Lt. Forrest L. Townsley, USNR (21 May 1944 - November 1945), then Lt.(j.g.) John Tracy Norconk, USN (November 1945 - 11 June 1946). WWII service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater: Lingayen Gulf landings, Luzon (9 Jan 1945); Nasugbu, Luzon (31 Jan 1945); Mariveles-Corregidor (15 Feb 1945); Legaspi, Bicol Peninsula (1 Apr 1945); Brunei Bay operation, Borneo (10 Jun 1945). Earned three battle stars, Combat Action Ribbon, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3 stars), WWII Victory Medal, Philippines Presidential Unit Citation, and Philippines Liberation Medal (1 star). Decommissioned 11 June 1946 at Charleston, SC; struck from the Naval Register on a date the source states is unknown; sold for scrapping 2 December 1947 to Georgia Marine Salvage Co., Inc., Brunswick, GA. Specifications: displacement 520 tons light / 743 tons landing / 1,095 tons fully loaded; length 203'6" overall; beam 34'6"; two Fairbanks Morse (model 38D8-1/8x10, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesel engines, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, twin screws, 2,800 shp; max speed 13.2 kts; armament one twin 40mm bow mount plus four single 20mm mounts; designed complement 5 officers and 54 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Dravo Corporation construction trades, Wilmington DE (1944); wartime crew (1944-1946)
- Limitations
- This is NOT an NHHC/DANFS record - the navsource.net page explicitly credits a commercial unit-history compilation (Turner Publishing, 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces' Vol. II, 1997), not an official Navy publication. Direct access to history.navy.mil and nvr.navy.mil both failed this session with a TLS certificate verification error in the research tool (reproducible; other federal domains, e.g. nps.gov, loaded normally under the same tool), and the Wayback Machine fallback was also unreachable via this tool - a disclosed access gap, not a finding of non-existence. A targeted check of the ibiblio.org/HyperWar DANFS mirror (which does host individual pages for some other LSM hulls, e.g. LSM-215, and for LSM-1-class hulls later renamed into named service, e.g. LSM-175 as Oceanside and LSM-446 as Launcher) returned HTTP 404 for both LSM-203 and the adjacent hull LSM-202, consistent with (but not proof of) LSM-203 never having received an individual DANFS write-up. All vessel-history facts here rest on this single secondary source with no independent corroboration. Contains no asbestos, materials, or condition information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-01
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[2]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed historical study documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII, the era and program under which this LSM-1-class amphibious craft was built (laid down January 1944), and that wartime demand drove unprecedented asbestos utilization across Navy and merchant-type hull construction, including insulation, lagging, gaskets, packing, and fireproofing materials.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article published 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and ship crews (class context)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarly documentation of asbestos use in WWII shipbuilding generally; does not name this vessel, does not address amphibious landing craft specifically, and does not establish that asbestos was or remains aboard this hull, nor quantity, location, condition, or causation. DOI resolves live (confirmed via redirect to publisher 2026-10-01); full text is paywalled.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-02
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[3]CourtListener API v4 (authenticated), search type=o (Opinion) and type=r (RECAP Docket) for query terms "USS LSM-203", "LSM-203", and "LSM 203" - all six queries returned count: 0 [court_record]
- Locator
- CourtListener API v4 search results, queries run 2026-10-01
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No opinion or docketed case naming this hull by exact name or hull number was located. Exact-phrase searches for "USS LSM-203", "LSM-203", and "LSM 203" each returned zero results in both the Opinion and RECAP Docket indexes (HTTP 200 responses, not rate-limited or blocked). A broader class-level search for "Landing Ship Medium" asbestos (Opinion index) also returned zero results.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- A clean negative finding, not an access-blocked search: all CourtListener requests completed successfully via the authenticated helper. Absence of an indexed hit does not prove no case exists (CourtListener's RECAP docket coverage is incomplete for cases not pulled from PACER, and unpublished/unindexed opinions may not be captured); it establishes only that none was found in the public index searched on this date. Establishes nothing about asbestos presence, exposure, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-03
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[4]Batch-6000 search ledger (this record): navsource.net ship-specific page; attempted history.navy.mil and nvr.navy.mil direct access; ibiblio.org/HyperWar DANFS mirror check; CourtListener name/hull search; shipyards.json builder-yard check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-01 through sl-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LSM-203 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 2026-10-01
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1944 amphibious craft built under wartime specifications is era-consistent with asbestos-containing materials having been installed. The hull was scrapped in 1947, decades before any asbestos survey or abatement recordkeeping regime existed, which plausibly explains but does not confirm the total absence of records. Does not establish presence or absence; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-04
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[5]National Archives, Guide to Federal Records: Record Group 19 (Records of the Bureau of Ships), 1794-1972 [other_primary]
- Locator
- archives.gov RG 19 guide page, scope and content notes
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Record Group 19 holds Bureau of Ships records including ship design and construction records, specifications for materials (1909-44), and architectural/engineering plans of Navy vessels - a plausible but unconfirmed record group for Dravo Corporation's wartime LSM construction contract/specification files.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - the online guide's scope notes do not specifically mention landing craft (LSM) records or this hull, and no box-level or digitized holding for LSM-203 or the Dravo Corporation Wilmington yard was located or retrieved. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-203-lsm203-05