Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet 576-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-432-lsm432-pkt-576-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-432 - timeline, specifications, awards, commanding officers (history extract from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14432.htm - header block, awards line, specifications block, commanding-officer table, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1-class Landing Ship Medium; laid down 18 December 1944 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 5 February 1945; commissioned USS LSM-432, 1 March 1945, LT. Donald W. Alexander USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR. W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-One (flagship), LSM Division Eighty-Two. Post-war: Occupation and China service in the Far East, 11 September to 21 December 1945 (both Navy Occupation Service Medal and China Service Medal extended qualifying periods). 'USS LSM-432 ran aground, 11 January 1947, off the east coast of Babuyan Island, Philippines. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown. Final Disposition, grounded on the north coast of Babuyan Island, about 70 miles north of the north tip of Luzon, Philippines, in December 1946. Declared a total loss and abandoned in August 1947.' Spec block: 520 t. light / 743 t. landing / 1,095 t. full; 203'6" oa; 34'6" beam; 13.2 kts; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted; armament one twin 40 mm + four single 20 mm; vehicle capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVTs, or 9 DUKWs; ship's-service generators two diesel-drive 100 kW AC + one diesel-drive 20 kW DC; two GM 16-278A diesels, 1,440 BHP each at 720 rpm, direct drive, twin propellers, 2,800 shp. COs: LT. Alexander (1 Mar 1945 - Mar 1946), LTjg. Rietz (Mar - May 1946), LTjg. Moore Jr (May 1946 - ?). Photo captions place her in San Diego Bay 1945, Tientsin (nested with LSM-457 and LSM-433) 1945, and Tsingtao (inboard of LSM-115) 1945.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1947
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1944-45); ship's company (1945-47)
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled secondary archive hosting a published-history extract - milestone dates track official records but carry internal conflicts on this page itself (grounding '11 January 1947 ... east coast' vs 'north coast ... December 1946'; see gaps and the correction row). Contains no asbestos or material content. No DANFS entry exists for this hull (history.navy.mil returns 404 on 2026-10-01), so NavSource is the best single compiled timeline located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-01
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[3]NavSource Online, 'USS LSM-432 / USAT Fairfield - Oral History by CAPT. Douglas Stahl USN, Rescue of USAT Fairfield and USS LSM-432 Crews' (Stahl was an Ensign aboard LSM-432; contributed by Wade Armstrong) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14432a.htm - full-page oral history text
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- First-person account of the loss: USAT Fairfield (ex-USS Fairfield AK-178, by then Army-operated with a Japanese repatriation crew) grounded on the north coast of Babuyan Island 18 December 1946. LSM-432, based at Subic Bay, was sent to rescue the Fairfield crew and investigate; weather prevented reaching the wreck but a lifeboat was recovered and taken to Manila. On return, LSM-432 embarked two local banca boats at Camiguin Island (~30 nm south); the bancas were destroyed by rough seas 6 January 1947; during highline operations to recover their crews, LSM-432 drifted onto rocks 'impaling her engine room.' Crew and stores went ashore by highline; no SOS initially (dead radio batteries) until a reboarding party raised an Army post on northern Luzon; a PBY directed the crew to the other side of the island; after about 5 days the crew was rescued by USS LST-844 and returned to Manila. The two wrecks are 'roughly located at 19-33N 121-56E.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-12-18 to 1947-01
- Population
- Ship's company during loss (Jan 1947); rescued Fairfield crew lifeboat occupants
- Limitations
- Oral history written decades later by a junior officer aboard - NavSource itself notes 'the date of grounding differs from the Navy records, but is supported by a personal journal.' Reliable for the loss sequence and Fairfield connection; less authoritative on exact dates. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-02
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[4]Bureau of Ships, 'LSM Class Manual,' 1 March 1944, Serial No. 1766 (issued to USS LSM-294; scanned copy hosted by NavSource), Chapter 31 'Auxiliary Machinery,' section 31-9 'Boilers' [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 'lsm manual' index -> lsm02-31-9.pdf, page No. 31-5, Section II, Chapter 31-9 'Boilers'
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Class-design documentation: 'There is an Auxiliary Steam Boiler supplied to each vessel designed to supply 1500 pounds of saturated steam per hour at 35 pounds per square inch gage steam pressure ... It is an oil fired water tube or fire tube type. The burner or burners are electric motor driven rotary cup type. The boiler is located in the boiler room, compartment C-101-1/2E, Main Deck, starboard side, between frames 24 and 26.' The LSM-1 class therefore carried a live steam system aboard each hull - an asbestos-relevant installation on a 1944-45 auxiliary vessel - in addition to diesel main propulsion (GM 16-278A engines). Era-standard applications for the type: boiler and steam-line insulation/lagging, diesel exhaust lagging, machinery thermal insulation, gaskets and packing, electrical insulation, accommodation insulation.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1945 (manual date and build era)
- Population
- Class-wide construction trades and engineering crews (1944-45 builds)
- Limitations
- Class manual, not a hull record: issued to USS LSM-294 and describes the standard class fit; does not name LSM-432 and does not itself state 'asbestos' content of insulation - asbestos presence aboard this hull is era inference, not ship-proven. Scanned page image (no text layer) read at p. 31-5. Does not establish quantity, manufacturer, or material composition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-03
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[5]NARA Catalog search 'LSM-432': digitized WWII war diaries - COM LSM GR 41 monthly diaries 2/1945-1/1946 (NAIDs 77614401, 101733102, 83533950, 77583924, 140087873, 77584959, 140083743, 77608983); 'Commander, Landing Ship Medium Squadron 7 (Staff), 3/1/46-10/1/47' (NAID 190142076); COMTASK-UNIT 78.1.7 Taku/Tientsin occupation-landing report 9/27-10/3/45 (NAID 77563454); Commander Naval Forces Philippines 1/2/47-1/1/49 (NAID 190150851) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov search 'LSM-432' (89 file-unit results); NAIDs 190142076, 77614401, 101733102, 83533950, 77583924, 140087873, 77584959, 140083743, 77608983, 77563454, 190150851
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Digitized NARA records directly relevant to this hull's operations and loss: LSM-432 was flagship of LSM Group Forty-One (per NavSource), whose commander's monthly war diaries February 1945 - January 1946 are digitized in the catalog; the COM LSM Squadron 7 staff diary covers March 1946 - October 1947, spanning the January 1947 loss; the COMTASKUNIT 78.1.7 report documents the September-October 1945 Taku/Tientsin occupation landings in which Group 41 units (and LSM-432's photographed Tientsin presence) participated; the Commander Naval Forces Philippines file covers the January 1947 period and likely administrative handling of the loss.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-02 to 1947-10
- Population
- Group 41 staff embarked aboard flagship LSM-432; ship's company
- Limitations
- Archival leads only: the digitized war diaries are unit-commander records that should reference the flagship and group operations, but individual pages were not read this session - LSM-432's named presence inside each diary is probable, not verified page-by-page. A ship-level 'USS LSM-432' war diary and her RG 24 deck logs (1945-47) were not surfaced among the catalog's digitized results - physical holdings presumed, digitization status unknown.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-04
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[6]In Re: Dravo LLC-Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc., and Certain Affiliated Entities, Nos. 33 WAP 2024 & 34 WAP 2024 (Pa.), J-79A-2025 / J-79B-2025, argued Oct. 7, 2025, decided May 22, 2026 (reversing the Superior Court; veil-piercing of the dissolved LLC's parent unavailable for time-barred asbestos claims) [court_record]
- Locator
- Pa. Supreme Court opinion J-79A-2025/J-79B-2025, No. 33/34 WAP 2024, pp. 1-6 (factual background), holding at conclusion (reversal of Superior Court)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-entity asbestos-litigation context: the Pennsylvania Supreme Court records that '[b]eginning in at least the early 1990s, a number of plaintiffs sued Dravo, alleging asbestos-related injuries,' claims 'typically ... based on allegations of exposure to asbestos during Dravo's operations from the 1940s through the 1980s,' and that '[h]undreds of asbestos claimants' asserted such claims by the July 13, 2020 claim-bar date in the LLC dissolution proceedings. Dravo Corporation - builder of this hull at its Wilmington, Delaware wartime yard - is the defendant entity at the root of those claims. Disposition: trial court (Allegheny CCP) proceedings led to a Superior Court reversal (Dec. 19, 2023), which the Supreme Court reversed on May 22, 2026 - veil piercing is not available, so late-filed asbestos claims against the dissolved entity's parent are barred.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- claims filed 1990s-2020; opinion 2026
- Population
- Dravo workforce (1940s-1980s claims period, site unspecified in opinion)
- Limitations
- Entity-level successor-liability litigation only: the opinion does not name any vessel, does not identify which Dravo operations generated the claimed exposures, and resolves a corporate-law question (claim bar date + veil piercing), not any exposure question. Dravo's principal asbestos-litigation footprint attaches to the Neville Island (Pittsburgh) shipyard; nothing in the opinion ties claims to the Wilmington, DE yard that built LSM-432. Merits-level outcome: plaintiffs' theory rejected at the Commonwealth's highest court - not evidence of exposure aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-05
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[7]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 highlights block
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed 'the use of asbestos in Navy ships, the cost of removing asbestos from Navy ships, and compensation programs for asbestos-related disabilities' at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards - documenting Navy-wide asbestos insulation use and a 1975-79 removal/replacement policy era that post-dates this hull (lost 1947) but confirms the class's construction era sat inside the Navy's asbestos-use period.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers (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 2026-10-01) - content via product-page description. Fieldwork yards were Long Beach and Norfolk; no connection to LSM-432 or Dravo.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-06
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[8]ShipbuildingHistory (Tim Colton), 'Dravo Wilmington' construction table - LSM-432 row: US Navy landing ship, 520 t., 203 ft., 28 Feb 1945, 'wrecked in the Philippines 1947' [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-large/dravow/ - Wilmington LSM table, LSM-432 line
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Independent build-table confirmation that LSM-432 was a Dravo Wilmington product and a wartime loss - 'wrecked in the Philippines 1947' - but the table's 28 February 1945 milestone (delivery/commission column) conflicts with NavSource's 1 March 1945 commissioning date; uboat.net likewise prints 'Commissioned 28 Feb 1945.' The conflict is carried in gaps; NavSource's date is carried in the record because its CO-table starts LT. Alexander's command on 1 March 1945.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades
- Limitations
- Reputable secondary compilation (shipbuilding-history yard tables), not a registry; its date column may reflect delivery rather than commissioning. No asbestos content. Yard table also confirms Wilmington yard's hull series but the marker-cited total output figures for the yard vary across sources - not relied on here.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-07
-
[9]Grounding-record reconciliation: NavSource main entry ('ran aground, 11 January 1947, off the east coast of Babuyan Island') vs same-page final disposition ('grounded on the north coast ... in December 1946'); Stahl oral history (grounding during highline ops after bancas lost 6 January 1947, on the north coast where Fairfield lay); uboat.net ('Wrecked 11 January 1947 on the east coast') [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 14432.htm (timeline + final disposition lines); NavSource 14432a.htm (Stahl oral history); uboat.net ship/13019
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION/CONFLICT FLAG: sources agree LSM-432 was wrecked at Babuyan Island while responding to the USAT Fairfield grounding, but conflict on date and coast. NavSource is internally inconsistent (11 Jan 1947 'east coast' vs 'north coast ... December 1946' on the same page); the Stahl journal-supported account places the drift onto rocks in early January 1947 on the north coast where Fairfield lay; uboat.net repeats the 11 January 1947 east-coast formulation. Record carries 'January 1947, Babuyan Island' as the defensible synthesis with the official-formulation date (11 Jan 1947) noted; 'December 1946' appears to conflate with Fairfield's own 18 December 1946 grounding.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1946-12 to 1947-08
- Limitations
- Conflict unresolved at primary-source level - no deck log, stricken date, or board-of-inquiry record located to settle it. The 'north coast' / January-1947 reading is the better-supported synthesis (Stahl journal + Fairfield's wreck position) but the official-record wording is reported alongside. Not an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-08
-
[10]Batch-6242 search ledger (this record): NHHC/DANFS (no entry); NavSource ship page + oral history + BuShips LSM Class Manual scans; NARA catalog (group war diaries); GAO HRD-80-2 product page; PA Supreme Court J-79A-2025; CourtListener opinion index ('LSM-432' = 0 hits); CourtListener docket index (blocked - fleet pacing); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming LSM-432 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search for the exact string 'LSM-432' returned zero results - a genuine negative for the opinion index; the docket index query was refused by fleet pacing this session and is logged as blocked, not a negative result. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case naming the hull; no law-firm listicle content for this hull was located or used.
- 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 1945-built steam/diesel auxiliary is era-consistent with asbestos insulation, and the wreck's abandonment in Philippine waters means no later survey would be expected. The RECAP docket index is an open gap. Deck logs, group war diaries, and any board-of-inquiry file are undigitized or unread leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-432-lsm432-09