Evidence
8 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-8).
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[1]research packet 578-packet.md (1 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-lsm-443-lsm443-pkt-578-packet-md
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[2]NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive, USS LSM-443 (10/14/14443.htm) - construction and service timeline, specifications, commanding officers, photo captions, ribbon block; history extract credited to LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces Vol. II (Turner Publishing, 1997) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14443.htm header timeline, specifications block, ribbon block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: LSM-1 class landing ship medium laid down 26 February 1945 at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE; launched 11 April 1945; commissioned USS LSM-443, 7 May 1945, LT. John F. O'Donnell USNR in command. WWII assignment: Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LSM Flotilla Fifteen, LSM Group Forty-Four, LSM Division Eighty-Eight. Post-war: Occupation service in the Far East 1-24 November 1945. Decommissioned 23 December 1947 at San Francisco, CA. Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown. Sold 16 February 1948 to Crowley Launch & Tugboat Co., San Francisco, CA - fate unknown. Photo captions document the hull beached at Guam with other LSMs on 9 September 1945 and crewmen at Sasebo, Japan, 8 November 1945. Ribbon block: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia clasp) - no battle stars. Specifications: 203'6" oa, 34'6" beam, 520t light / 743t landing / 1,095t fully loaded; two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, 1,440 BHP each @ 720 rpm, twin propellers, 2,800 shp; complement 5 officers + 54 enlisted.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1945); crew (1945-47)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation drawing on the Turner Publishing LSM-LSMR history - milestone dates generally track official records but the struck date is explicitly 'unknown' here. Ship-specific history only; contains no asbestos or material content. Does not establish individual exposure, quantities, or post-sale condition.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-01
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[3]Shipbuilding History (shipbuildinghistory.com), Dravo Wilmington yard table - LSM 443 line entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipbuildinghistory.com Dravo Wilmington yard table, LSM 443 row
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- The Dravo Corporation Wilmington, DE yard's construction list carries 'LSM 443 | U.S. Navy | Landing Ship | 520 | 203 | 7-May-45 | Sold to Crowley 1948' - corroborating the builder, hull type, commissioning date (7 May 1945), and the 1948 sale to Crowley.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1945)
- Limitations
- Independent secondary yard list corroborating NavSource dates; not a primary registry. Contains no asbestos content. Does not state the commissioning location or the struck date.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-02
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[4]Bronxville Review-Press, 10 May 1945, p. 10 - 'David Griffin In Crew Of New Landing Ship' (Hudson River Valley Heritage historical newspapers) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Bronxville Review-Press 1945-05-10, page 10, via news.hrvh.org
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous newspaper account states that 'the LSM 443 (landing ship medium), one of a class of ships known as Pacific Puddle-jumpers,' was 'commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Monday' - i.e., Monday 7 May 1945, matching the NavSource commissioning date - and names a crew member, Fireman Second Class David Hancock Griffin.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945
- Population
- Commissioning crew (May 1945); Philadelphia Navy Yard commissioning detail
- Limitations
- Contemporaneous local-press account (Navy publicity style), not an official commissioning record - it supplies the commissioning location (Philadelphia Navy Yard) that NavSource omits. Contains no asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-03
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[5]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 (1945) and 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.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-04
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[6]Era inference built on: NavSource LSM-443 specifications block (two GM 16-278A diesels, direct drive, twin screws - no steam plant); LSM-1 class design era (1944-45 emergency amphibious construction); GAO HRD-80-2 Navy asbestos-use era [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 10/14/14443.htm specifications block; GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A diesel-powered LSM-1-class landing ship built February-May 1945 sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a landing ship of this type and period were diesel-exhaust lagging, machinery and piping insulation, gaskets, valve packing, bulkhead and overhead insulation, deck covering, and brake linings. As a diesel ship she carried no boilers or steam propulsion plant - the boiler/turbine lagging pathway of steam vessels does not apply.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1945-1948
- Population
- Dravo Wilmington construction trades (1945); crew (1945-47); any yard personnel during availabilities
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for LSM-443. 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-443-05
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[7]In re Dravo LLC - Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc., Nos. 33-34 WAP 2024 (Pa. May 22, 2026) (official opinion PDF), reviewing In re Dravo LLC, 307 A.3d 146 (Pa. Super. 2023) [court_record]
- Locator
- Pa. Supreme Court opinion J-79A/J-79B-2025 (decided 2026-05-22), Factual Background section; Superior Court opinion J-A15029/J-A15030-23 (2023 PA Super 268)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Builder-level asbestos litigation record: stipulated facts establish that Dravo Corporation - this hull's builder - was sued for asbestos-related injuries beginning at least in the early 1990s, and that those claims 'typically were based on allegations of exposure to asbestos during Dravo's operations from the 1940s through the 1980s.' The Superior Court opinion describes Dravo's businesses as including 'manufacturing watercraft and industrial heating equipment and providing construction and engineering services.' Hundreds of asbestos claimants filed by the July 13, 2020 claim-bar date and timely claims were resolved under court supervision; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held on 22 May 2026 that veil piercing against parent Carmeuse Lime is unavailable and reversed the Superior Court - leaving later-filed claims barred by the LLC Act's dissolution statute.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-01
- Study period
- 1990s-2026 (litigation period); alleged exposure era includes this hull's 1945 construction
- Population
- Asbestos claimants against Dravo operations (exposure windows alleged 1940s-1980s)
- Limitations
- Builder/corporate-level litigation, not a hull record: no opinion in the proceedings names the Wilmington shipyard or any vessel, and the exposure allegations in the underlying suits are unadjudicated at the site level. The final disposition is a statutory-dissolution/veil-piercing ruling on non-exposure grounds - it neither establishes nor defeats any exposure claim. Classified context per litigation-stage discipline.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-06
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[8]Batch-6254 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; NavSource; Shipbuilding History Dravo yard table; HRVH contemporaneous press; CourtListener API v4 (type=o, authenticated); NARA catalog deck-log index; NVR; secondary web litigation sweep [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-lsm-443-01 through sl-uss-lsm-443-10
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or litigation naming USS LSM-443 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). CourtListener opinion search for "LSM-443" returned zero results; secondary web sweeps surfaced no qualifying case and no ship-specific asbestos claims - only generic LSM-class marketing listicles, excluded by source policy.
- 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 - era inference remains reasonable. RG 24 deck logs and any Dravo Wilmington construction records are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-lsm-443-07