Evidence
11 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-11).
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[1]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-434 (10/14/14434) - construction milestones, unit assignment, award record, commanding officers, specifications, photographs. History extract credited to 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II' (Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14434.htm header block, award ribbons, history narrative, specifications block, CO table (courtesy Wolfgang Hechler), photo captions (page last updated 22 August 2025)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1 class; laid down 2 January 1945 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 17 February 1945; commissioned USS LSM-434 on 13 March 1945, Lt. George D. Roth USNR in command. WWII assignment (per the Turner extract): Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-One, LSM Division Eighty-Three. Awards: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal - no battle star. Decommissioned 19 November 1947; struck from the Naval Register, date unknown; sold, date unknown, to Bay City Transportation Co., San Francisco, CA, and converted to a barge; final disposition fate unknown. Commanding officers: Lt. George D. Roth USNR (13 Mar 1945 - Jun 1945); Lt. Harlan T. Hall USNR (Jun 1945 - Feb 1946); Lt. (jg) John A. Schwenke USNR (Feb 1946 - May 1946); Lt. (jg) Clarence William Limdberg USN (May 1946 - 19 Nov 1947). Photography: launch at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, 17 February 1945; underway overhead view (US Navy photo); crew loading Japanese ammunition for dumping at sea at Jaluit Atoll, September 1945; moored outboard in a nest of LSMs; ex-LSM-434 in barge service for Bay City Transportation Co. at the Western Pipe & Steel docks, San Francisco - captioned 'circa 1946,' which conflicts with the November 1947 decommissioning (see gaps).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (Jan-Mar 1945); crew (Mar 1945 - Nov 1947)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation sourced here from the Turner Publishing veterans'-history volume, not a primary registry - milestone dates track official sources where independently checked (the ship's own War History, ev-03, confirms the 13 March 1945 commissioning). The division assignment in this extract (Division Eighty-Three) CONFLICTS with the Navy's own 1 May 1945 fleet-organization document (Division 82) - see ev-09. 'Struck date unknown' conflicts with uboat.net's 22 December 1948 - see gaps. The barge photograph's 'circa 1946' caption predates her decommissioning and is a caption error. Contains no asbestos or material content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-01
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[2]NHHC / Navy Department Library, 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (transcribed fleet organization document) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- Pacific Fleet Organization 1 May 1945, Amphibious Forces Pacific Fleet section, LSM Flotilla Fourteen / Group Forty-One / Division 82 table (transcription page marker --73--)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Primary Navy documentation of this hull's assignment as of 1 May 1945: 'LSM 434' is listed under LSM Flotilla FOURTEEN, LSM Group FORTY-ONE (ComLSMGrp 41: Lt. Cdr. R. McKee, USNR), LSM Division 82, alongside LSM 430, 431, 432 (GF), 433, and 435. The flotilla and group agree with the NavSource/Turner assignment; the division DIFFERS (Turner: Division Eighty-Three - under the Navy document, Division 83 belongs to Group 42 and contains LSM 453 through 458, Lt. W. H. Jungbluth USNR on LSM 453 - see ev-09). The Navy document names no commander for LSM Flotilla Fourteen (dot leaders), so the Turner attribution of the flotilla command to LCDR W. R. McCaleb is uncorroborated by this source.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-05-01
- Population
- Crew (1 May 1945 muster population)
- Limitations
- Organizational listing only - documents the hull's place in the fleet structure on 1 May 1945, not operations, locations, or combat participation, and not material content. Flotilla assignments could shift; the document is a snapshot. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-02
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[3]Ship's War History, U.S.S. LSM 434 (one-page typescript, headed 'U.S.S. LSM 434 / WAR HISTORY') - hosted by NavSource, contributed by Evan Tiberi for his grandfather Loren Young, USS LSM-434 [other_primary]
- Locator
- navsource.net/archives/10/14/pdf/14434b.pdf (single page, typescript; read via page-image OCR-by-review this session)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The ship's own War History document: built by Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware; commissioned March 13, 1945 with Lt. George D. Roth USNR commanding and Lt. (jg) William R. Walton (executive), Lt. (jg) William S. Warren (engineer), Lt. (jg) George E. Graf (gunnery), and Ensign Robert A. Brocklesby (watch), all USNR. Shakedown in Chesapeake Bay; post-shakedown availability at Norfolk Navy Yard. 22 April 1945: proceeded with pontoons for Davisville, Rhode Island, reloading pontoons and pontoon gear assigned to Guam; transit via Key West, Coco Solo (Panama), San Diego, San Francisco. Lt. Harlan T. Hall USNR relieved Lt. Roth as commanding officer at San Francisco on 4 June 1945; departed the same day for Guam via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok. Delivered gasoline-driven finger lifts to Saipan. August 1945: ordered to Commander Marshall-Gilberts Area; arrived Eniwetok the morning of the cessation of hostilities, 15 August 1945; two round-trip shuttle runs Eniwetok - Roi-Namur with aviation supplies; at Majuro assigned by the Atoll Commander to take part in the surrender of the Japanese on Jaluit Atoll on 5 September 1945. At Jaluit: loaded aboard and jettisoned five hundred tons of every type of Japanese ammunition and explosives from the Navy and Army garrison; carried a photo party to Jabor Island (first American ship to visit since the Japanese mandate); repatriated several hundred natives and their possessions throughout the atoll. Returned to Eniwetok late September; inactive awaiting spare parts until 3 December 1945; then departed for Pearl Harbor with 54 passengers and two 65-foot crash boats, towing a disabled LCI the last 700 miles; proceeded to Seattle, Washington, for a complete overhaul pending return to active duty with the Pacific Fleet under Commander Service Force.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-03-13 to 1946 (document coverage)
- Population
- Crew and commissioning officer slate (Mar 1945); passengers and tow crew (Dec 1945)
- Limitations
- A crew-family-contributed copy of the ship's document hosted on NavSource, not a direct NARA scan - provenance is the contributor chain, though the text matches the standard ship war-history format and its commissioning date and CO-change date (4 June 1945) agree with the NavSource CO table; the Jaluit ammunition-dumping photograph caption (ev-01) independently corroborates the September 1945 Jaluit operation. Operational history only - contains no asbestos or material content. The document ends with the Seattle overhaul (early 1946); it does not cover 1946-47 service, decommissioning, or disposal.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-03
-
[4]NARA catalog searches for this hull: quoted full-text 'LSM-434' (77 fuzzy hits) and title 'LSM-434' (0 hits, verified against the LSM-424 title control = 1 hit, NAID 2760923); digitized WWII War Diaries series (RG 38, series 4697018) unit-level leads: 'COM 14 - War History' (NAID 77653184) and 'COM 14 - War Diary, 6/1-30/45' (NAID 101744657), both surfacing on full-text 'LSM-434'; muster-roll index volume 'USS LSM-144 to USS LST-1005' (NAID 118967604) [other_primary]
- Locator
- catalog.archives.gov proxy API: title='LSM-434' = 0 (control title='LSM-424' = 1, NAID 2760923); q="LSM-434" = 77 fuzzy hits incl. NAIDs 77653184, 101744657, 118967604
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- NEGATIVE with unit-level leads: the NARA catalog holds NO ship-named file unit for this hull - no 'LSM-434' title hit of any kind (no INSURV material-inspection file such as sister LSM-424's NAID 2760923, no muster-roll file unit in the digitized muster series, no hull war-diary file unit). What exists: (1) digitized unit-level war-diary file units 'COM 14 - War History' (NAID 77653184) and 'COM 14 - War Diary, 6/1-30/45' (NAID 101744657), which surface on a full-text search for 'LSM-434' - consistent with her documented LSM Flotilla Fourteen assignment (ev-02) and potential mentions of this hull inside the images; (2) an Index to Muster Rolls file unit spanning USS LSM-144 to USS LST-1005 (NAID 118967604, 2,970 images) that indexes this hull's rolls.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- LSM Flotilla 14 / Group 41 ships and staffs (1945)
- Limitations
- Unit-level diaries document the flotilla/group, not necessarily this hull's daily positions - whether 'COM 14' is the LSM flotilla unit (vs another type's Flotilla 14) and whether the contents name LSM-434 must be confirmed inside the digitized images; catalog full-text indexing surfaced them on the hull-number query but page-level attribution is unverified. The zero title search means no ship-named file unit exists in the catalog - a genuinely thinner archival record than sister LSM-424's (which has a ship-named INSURV file). Muster rolls themselves may exist undigitized or under other file units; the index volume only points to them. No asbestos content expected in war diaries; operational records, not material records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-04
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[5]uboat.net Allied Warships, USS LSM 434 (ship/13021); corroborated by navypedia.org/ships/usa/us_aws_lsm.htm hull table and shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/lsm + /us-comm-large/dravow yard table [other_primary]
- Locator
- uboat.net ship/13021 data table; navypedia.org us_aws_lsm.htm row LSM434; shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-navy-small/lsm row LSM-434 and /us-comm-large/dravow row LSM-434
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Independent secondary compilations corroborate the milestone record and supply the disposal dates NavSource lacks: uboat.net lists LSM 434 built by Dravo Corp. (Wilmington, DE), ordered 8 April 1944, laid down 3 January 1945, launched 17 February 1945, commissioned 12 March 1945, end service/decommissioned 19 November 1947, 'Stricken on 22 December 1948,' sold in May 1949. navypedia lists 'LSM434 | Dravo, Wilmington | 1/1945 | 17.2.1945 | 3.1945 | stricken 1948.' Shipbuilding History's LSM table lists 'LSM-434 | Dravo Corp. | Wilmington DE | 13 Mar 1945 | sold to Bay City Transportation 1949, converted to barge' and its Dravo yard table repeats the same row (13 Mar 1945 in the delivered column, 520 GT / 203 ft). All three agree on Dravo Wilmington construction, the 19 November 1947 end of service, and the 1949 sale to Bay City Transportation with barge conversion.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Limitations
- Secondary compilations; uboat.net's 'ordered 8 Apr 1944' (identical to the date it gives for LSM-424 - a likely generic block-order date), its 'laid down 3 Jan 1945' (vs NavSource 2 Jan), and its 'commissioned 12 Mar 1945' (vs NavSource/War History/SBH 13 Mar) are uncorroborated or conflict - see gaps. uboat's 'stricken 22 December 1948' is the only specific struck date anywhere (navypedia: 'stricken 1948'; NavSource: 'date unknown') - carried as secondary-only, unresolved. Shipbuilding History's 13 Mar 1945 sits in a DELIVERED column - delivery and commissioning the same day is plausible for an LSM and reconciles with NavSource. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-05
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[6]Shipbuilding History, 'Dravo Wilmington' yard page - yard lineage (Betts, Harlan & Hollingsworth 1837 -> Harlan & Hollingsworth 1849 -> Bethlehem Steel 1904 -> closed 1926, most property sold to Dravo; WWII Bethlehem/Dravo teaming) and Wilmington hull table including the LSM-434 row; corroborated by Wikipedia Dravo Corporation (10,500 wartime employees at Wilmington; 65 of 558 LSMs built at Wilmington in blocks LSM-201-232 and LSM-414-446; first corporation to receive the Army-Navy 'E' Award, 5 March 1942) [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net/us-comm-large/dravow (yard narrative + hull table row LSM-434); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravo_Corporation (cross-check only, verified live)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- The builder yard's documented construction-era context: Dravo's Wilmington shipyard was a wartime emergency-production yard on the Christina River, in a yard tracing to 1837 (Betts, Harlan & Hollingsworth -> Harlan & Hollingsworth -> Bethlehem Steel -> Dravo). At the outset of WWII Bethlehem reopened the balance of the yard and the two companies teamed for wartime construction; the Wilmington yard employed roughly 10,500 workers during the war and built about 65 of the 558 LSMs (blocks LSM-201 through LSM-232 and LSM-414 through LSM-446). LSM-434 was built in this yard's mass-production environment January - March 1945 (laid down to commissioning: 70 days).
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1941-1945 (wartime yard operation)
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (~10,500 peak, wartime); LSM-434 build window Jan - Mar 1945
- Limitations
- Yard-level context, not a hull record. No authoritative asbestos documentation for Dravo Wilmington was located - the yard does not appear in the Atlas shipyards.json dataset, and the only 'asbestos jobsite' assertions are law-firm marketing lists (excluded source class). The Riverfront Wilmington historical-marker transcription (hmdb.org m=191296) used by the LSM-424 batch for the ~10,000-worker figure returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches this session - access gap; the 10,500 figure here is Wikipedia (cross-check only). Does not establish materials aboard this hull.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-06
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[7]Era inference built on: NavSource specifications (2 x General Motors GM 16-278A reversible diesels with hydraulic clutch, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; diesel ship's-service generators); Wikipedia LSM-1-class article (558 ships built 1944-45, 'Fairbanks-Morse or GM Cleveland diesel engines'); GAO HRD-80-2 era documentation (ev-08) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource specifications block; Wikipedia 'LSM-1-class landing ship medium' general characteristics (cross-check); GAO HRD-80-2 Highlights
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered amphibious transport built January - March 1945 at a wartime production yard sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard an LSM-1-class hull of this period were thermal and machinery insulation, engine and exhaust lagging, gaskets, valve packing, electrical insulation, fireproofing and deck coverings, and brake linings on winches and handling gear. With a General Motors diesel direct-drive plant she carried no steam system - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply. Note the machinery variant: this hull's specification block lists GM 16-278A engines, not the Fairbanks-Morse plant fitted to many LSM-1 sisters - the two diesel types were both class-standard.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945-1949
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (Jan - Mar 1945); crew (Mar 1945 - Nov 1947); reserve/caretaker trades (1947-48); Bay City Transportation barge-conversion trades (1949)
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material schedule, or construction work package located for LSM-434, and unlike sister LSM-424 no ship-named INSURV file exists in the NARA catalog for this hull (ev-04). 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-434-lsm434-07
-
[8]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (published Oct 18, 1979; released Oct 22, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2, Highlights section
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO reviewed the Navy's efforts to protect workers from asbestos exposure (fieldwork at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Shipyards) covering the use of asbestos in Navy ships, removal costs, and compensation programs; the Navy's 1975 policy removed and replaced with nonasbestos materials only insulation that was damaged or had to be removed for necessary repairs, modified in 1979 to add selective replacement in high-maintenance areas. This documents the Navy's asbestos-insulation era spanning this hull's construction (1945) and entire U.S. service life (1945-49).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1979 (report); program era 1940s-1970s
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. This hull left U.S. custody in 1949 - before the 1975 policy existed - so the policy history is context, not an event in her life. Full-text PDF not fetched this session; product-page Highlights verified live.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-08
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[9]Source-quality cross-check: NHHC 'United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945' (primary Navy document) vs NavSource/Turner Publishing extract 'LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II' (1997) on this hull's NavSource page [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14434.htm history paragraph; NHHC fleet-org page LSM Flotilla Fourteen / Group Forty-One / Division 82 and Group Forty-Two / Division 83 tables
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION/CAUTION: the two sources disagree on this hull's WWII division assignment. The NavSource/Turner extract assigns LSM-434 to 'LSM Flotilla Fourteen (LCDR W. R. McCaleb), LSM Group Forty-One, LSM Division Eighty-Three.' The Navy's own 1 May 1945 fleet organization places LSM 434 in LSM Flotilla FOURTEEN, LSM Group FORTY-ONE (Lt. Cdr. R. McKee USNR), LSM Division 82, alongside LSM 430, 431, 432 (GF), 433, and 435 - and shows Division 83 (under Group 42) containing LSM 453 through 458 instead. Flotilla and group agree; the division does not. The Navy document also names NO commander for LSM Flotilla Fourteen (dot leaders), leaving the Turner flotilla-commander attribution uncorroborated. The primary document is carried for the 1 May 1945 snapshot; a different-date roster behind the Turner extract cannot be ruled out.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 1945
- Limitations
- A unit-assignment conflict, not a material claim. The Turner extract is undated; it may reflect a different snapshot than the 1 May 1945 document, but as presented (WWII assignment) its division conflicts with the primary record. Resolution lead: the digitized COM 14 unit war diaries/history at NARA (ev-04). No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-09
-
[10]Batch-6244 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 authenticated searches via cl-auth-search.py - quoted 'LSM-434' type=o (0 hits), quoted 'LSM 434' type=o (0 hits), quoted 'LSM-434' type=r docket search (0 dockets, 0 documents); unquoted 'LSM-434' type=o (13 fuzzy hits, all name collisions - none naming any ship); secondary web sweep for litigation [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-02, -03, -11
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying asbestos litigation located: CourtListener opinion and RECAP docket indexes contain no document naming this hull (all quoted searches zero; 13 unquoted fuzzy hits were name collisions on 'LSM'/'434' tokens - criminal, insurance, and employment dockets, e.g., Wilkerson (Tex. App. 2015), United States v. Duhamel (E.D. Tenn. 1981), Firstmark Standard Life Insurance v. Goss (Ind. App. 1998) - none naming USS LSM-434 or any vessel). A secondary web sweep surfaced no qualifying case - only generic mesothelioma-law-firm marketing results, none mentioning this hull.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public docket does not prove no claim was ever filed - PACER and state-court records are not fully indexed by CourtListener, and short-lived numbered amphibious hulls are thinly litigated generally. A name match is not automatically an asbestos case; here no name match exists at all. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-10
-
[11]Batch-6244 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS hull and collective type entries (404); NVR ship detail (blocked this session - TLS); NARA catalog title and full-text searches; NavSource page + ship's War History PDF; NHHC Pacific Fleet Organization 1 May 1945; uboat.net/navypedia/shipbuildinghistory corroboration; Dravo Wilmington yard page; GAO product page; secondary web sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-01 through -12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, ship's material schedule, or court record naming USS LSM-434 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). No DANFS entry exists for this hull and the collective LSM/LSMR DANFS entry is dead on NHHC (404, the standing link-rot defect). The hull served 32 months in commission (March 1945 - November 1947), was stricken in December 1948 (secondary), and left U.S. custody in 1949 for barge conversion - predating the Navy's 1975 asbestos-management policy, so no modern survey or abatement record could be expected to exist. Unlike sister LSM-424, no ship-named INSURV material-inspection file exists in the NARA catalog for this hull (title search verified zero against the LSM-424 control).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-02
- Study period
- 2026-10-02
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - construction-era asbestos use at a 1945 production yard is era-consistent, and the barge-conversion phase (1949 onward) is undocumented. NARA holds undigitized leads (RG 24 deck logs; Dravo construction records if any exist in RG 19/contract files; the unit-level war diaries of ev-04 for operational context only). NVR was unreachable this session (TLS failure from this host) - an access gap, not a verified negative; no entry is expected because the register excludes hulls disposed decades before its online coverage. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-434-lsm434-11