Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-433 (history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II, Turner Publishing, 1997) - construction, service, disposition, specifications, CO list [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14433.htm header block, awards block, specifications block, CO list, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: laid down 28 December 1944 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 12 February 1945; commissioned USS LSM-433, 8 March 1945, LT. John Heywood Thomas, USNR, in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR. W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-One, LSM Division Eighty-Two. Post-war: Navy Occupation Service 11-27 September 1945; China Service (extended) 28 September 1945 - 25 June 1946. Decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register, and transferred to the Republic of China, 28 January 1947. Scuttled in October 1949 by Nationalist China forces; raised by People's Republic of China forces and named Huang Ho; final disposition unknown. Awards: China Service Medal (extended), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp). CO list: LT. Thomas (8 March 1945 - 20 December 1945); LTjg. Ralph H. Colegrave Jr., USNR (20 December 1945 - ?). Photographs document the launch at Dravo Wilmington (12 February 1945) and the ship moored at Tientsin, China, 1945, alongside LSM-457 and LSM-432.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1944-45); crew (1945-47 USN; 1947-49 ROC); PRC salvage/raising crews (1949)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation, not a primary registry; the history extract is from a 1997 Turner Publishing volume. Milestone dates conflict with other sources on commissioning day (see gaps). Contains no asbestos or material content whatsoever. The 1949 scuttling/raising and Huang Ho renaming rest on this single source line.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-01
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[2]U.S. Shipbuilding History (Tim Colton), Dravo Corp. Wilmington DE construction record - yard history and per-hull build table [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Dravo Wilmington page, construction table row 'LSM 433' and surrounding LSM runs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The Dravo Wilmington yard construction table lists 'LSM 433 ... U.S. Navy, Landing Ship, 520 GT, 203 ft, delivered 7-Mar-45 (7 March 1945), To China 1946, seized by PRC 1949.' The table shows the yard's full LSM run: LSM-201 through LSM-232 and LSM-414 through LSM-446 (plus LSTs, destroyer escorts, patrol craft, gate vessels, and yard craft). The yard began as Betts, Harlan & Hollingsworth (1837), became Harlan & Hollingsworth (1849), was bought by Bethlehem Steel (1904), closed 1926, and the property was sold to Dravo Corporation; at the outset of WWII Bethlehem reopened the balance of the yard and the two companies teamed up for wartime construction.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (wartime)
- Limitations
- Independently compiled construction record (secondary), corroborating NavSource on builder and China/PRC disposition; its 7 March 1945 delivery date conflicts with NavSource's 8 March commissioning and HyperWar's 12 March (delivery vs commissioning may explain part of the spread - unresolved, see gaps). Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-02
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[3]HyperWar / ibiblio, Ships of the U.S. Navy 1940-1945: USS LSM-433 spec page [other_primary]
- Locator
- HyperWar LSM-433 spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- HyperWar's LSM-433 page: Landing Ship, Medium; displacement 900 tons (loaded); length 203'6"; beam 34'; speed 13.3 knots; capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks (150 tons max beaching payload), or 6 LVTs or 9 DUKWs, 54 troops; complement 52; 'Fairbanks-Morse Diesel or G.M. Cleveland Diesel direct drive, 2,800 hp'; 'Built at Dravo Corp., and commissioned 12 March 1945.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- Tertiary compilation page (last updated 2001); its commissioned date (12 March) conflicts with NavSource (8 March) and shipbuildinghistory delivery (7 March) - unresolved, see gaps; its complement (52) conflicts with NavSource (5 officers + 54 enlisted). Propulsion line offers a Fairbanks-Morse alternative to NavSource's GM 16-278A pair. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-03
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[4]National Park Service, 'Wilmington, Delaware' (American World War II Heritage City article) [nps]
- Locator
- NPS article, 'American World War II Heritage City' section
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NPS documents Wilmington's wartime shipbuilding: 'The Dravo Corporation was awarded Navy contracts and the Wilmington shipyards received orders for destroyer escorts and landing ships, including the distinctive "Wilmington type" Landing Ship Medium,' built and delivered 'with recognized excellence, safety, and efficiency,' with 'over 14,100 Wilmington workers in two shipyards, along with large numbers of subcontractors.'
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Wilmington shipyard workforce, 14,100+ (wartime)
- Limitations
- City-level heritage context from an official source; names the yard's LSM production program but not this hull, and contains no asbestos or materials content. Establishes workforce scale at the builder's yard only.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-04
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[5]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications for this hull (two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, twin screws, 2,800 shp); HyperWar spec page; GAO HRD-80-2 Navy-wide asbestos-use documentation (ev-06) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; HyperWar spec page; GAO HRD-80-2 product page (ev-06)
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-driven LSM-1-class landing ship built December 1944 - March 1945 sits squarely inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era (substitution did not begin until the early 1970s - GAO HRD-80-2). Era-standard applications aboard a small diesel amphibious ship of this period were thermal insulation on machinery and diesel-exhaust runs, gaskets, valve packing, and electrical insulation, in a compact hull with crew accommodations directly above machinery spaces. As a direct-drive diesel ship she carried no boilers or steam turbines - the boiler/steam-line lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1944-1949
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1944-45); USN crew (1945-47); ROC crew (1947-49); PRC salvage crews (1949)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, build specification, or work package located for LSM-433. 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-lsm-433-05
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[6]In re Dravo LLC - Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc., 307 A.3d 146, 2023 PA Super 268 (Pa. Super. 2023) (Nos. 1210 & 1284 WDA 2022); reversed, In re Dravo LLC, Nos. 33 & 34 WAP 2024 (Pa. 22 May 2026) (J-79A/79B-2025) [court_record]
- Locator
- 307 A.3d 146, Stipulation of Undisputed Facts paragraphs 5-7 (opinion pp. 2-3); Pa. Supreme Court opinion J-79A/79B-2025 (22 May 2026), Conclusion (official PDF: pacourts.us)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Published appellate documentation of asbestos litigation against this hull's builder corporation. Per the Stipulation of Undisputed Facts recited in the opinion: Dravo was 'involved in a number of businesses involving heavy industry, including manufacturing watercraft and industrial heating equipment and providing construction and engineering services,' and '[s]ince at least the early 1990s, Dravo had been sued in a number of lawsuits that sought damages due to alleged bodily injury caused by exposure to asbestos, where the exposure typically occurred during its operations from the 1940s through the 1980s' (Undisputed Facts paragraphs 5-7). Litigation posture, exactly: trial court (Allegheny CCP GD-20-010198) granted CLI summary judgment against veil-piercing (5 October 2022); the Superior Court reversed and remanded, finding genuine fact issues (19 December 2023); the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court on 22 May 2026, holding the plaintiffs' claims time-barred under the LLC Act's claim-bar date (July 13, 2020) so no underlying cause of action existed against Dravo to support veil-piercing. The merits of any asbestos exposure were never adjudicated at any stage.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- exposure window 1940s-1980s (stipulated); litigation 2020-2026
- Population
- Dravo operations workforce generally, 1940s-1980s (as stipulated); asbestos plaintiffs represented by GPW and SKG firms
- Limitations
- Builder-corporate-level record: the stipulated facts name Dravo Corporation's operations generally (1940s-1980s) - they do not name the Wilmington shipyard, the LSM program, or any vessel, and the entire appellate record concerns successor liability/veil-piercing and a statutory claim bar, not exposure findings. Exposure allegations against Dravo were never tried; the final disposition is a limitations-based defense win. The '1940s through the 1980s' window covers this hull's 1944-45 construction, but nothing in the case ties any claim to shipbuilding at Wilmington. Does not establish materials aboard this hull, individual exposure, or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-06
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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 (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 (1944-45) and U.S. service era (1945-47).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- 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 2026-10-01) - content via product-page description. Standing gap shared with Batch 01/98 records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-07
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[8]Batch-6243 search ledger (this record): NavSource; shipbuildinghistory Dravo Wilmington; HyperWar; NPS Wilmington Heritage City article; In re Dravo opinions (Pa. Super. 2023; Pa. 2026); GAO product page; CourtListener API v4 (opinion and docket indexes); secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-433-01 through sl-uss-lsm-433-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or docketed case naming USS LSM-433 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion and docket searches for the exact hull string "LSM-433" both returned zero results. Secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no ship-specific 'asbestos aboard' claims of any kind - not even the law-firm marketing listicles that typically attach to named ships; the hull is simply absent from the asbestos content ecosystem.
- 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 naval vessel of this type sits in the documented asbestos era, and her 1947 transfer out of U.S. custody forecloses the survey/abatement paper trail that preserved U.S. museum ships sometimes generate. Deck logs (NARA RG 24), Dravo build records, and ROC/PRC-era records are undigitized or inaccessible leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-433-08