Evidence
10 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-10).
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[1]research packet hf-packet.md (3 sources cited) [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: MISMATCH — real identity: NONE — hull number DD-939 never carried a US Navy ship name
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-dd-939-dd939-pkt-hf-packet-md
-
[2]NavSource Naval History, Destroyer Photo Index - Z-39 DD-939, file 05/939 (operational and building data block; command roster; NHHC/NARA photo catalog) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource file 05/939, 'Operational and Building Data' block and commanding-officer roster
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Ship-specific record for this hull: Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer built by Germaniawerft, Kiel (yard no. 629); ordered 26 June 1939; laid down 15 August 1940; launched 2 December 1941; commissioned as Z39 on 21 August 1943; acquired by the United States as war prize at Plymouth, England, 6 July 1945; commissioned USS DD-939 at Boston, 14 September 1945; stricken 10 November 1947; transferred from Annapolis to France in late 1947; used as replacement-parts reserve for French prize destroyers (1951); stricken as Q-128 in 1953; used as pontoon for minesweepers at Brest (1958); scrapped at Lorient, February 1964. Commanding officers: Korvettenkapitan Konrad Loerke (KM, Aug 1943-May 1945); LCDR C.G. Forsberg (RN, 6-11 July 1945); CDR R.A. Dawes Jr. (USN, 17 July-30 Aug 1945); CDR S.T. Hotchkiss (USNR, 30 Aug-15 Oct 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1939-1964
- Population
- Germaniawerft construction trades 1940-44; Kriegsmarine crew 1943-45 (~330); British prize crew Jul 1945; U.S. Navy trials crew 1945-47; French yard/cannibalization workers 1948-64
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer photographic archive, not an official record - its building-data block is corroborated on dates of record by NHHC/NARA photo captions and published references, but individual French-period dates (1953 stricken, 1958 pontoon) rest on NavSource plus Jourdan & Moulin and were not verified against French primary records. Documents service history only - no materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-01
-
[3]Koop, Gerhard, and Klaus-Peter Schmolke, German Destroyers of World War II (Naval Institute Press, 2003), pp. 118-119; Dodson, Aidan, and Serena Cant, Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets After the Two World Wars (Pen & Sword, 2020), p. 218; Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships Since 1945 (2012), p. 89; Bauer & Roberts, Register of Ships of the US Navy 1775-1990 (1991), p. 207 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Koop & Schmolke pp. 118-119; Dodson & Cant p. 218; Silverstone p. 89; Bauer & Roberts p. 207 (citations as given in the Z39 featured-article reference trail)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Published-reference record for this hull: German service - minelaying in the Skagerrak and Kattegat to March 1944, then 6th Destroyer Flotilla at Reval (with Z25, Z28, Z35); nine-plus minelaying operations Feb-Apr 1944 (Dorothea A and Seeigel barrage series, Narva Bay; 2,831 mines laid 13-26 April); bombardment near Narva-Joesuu 11-12 March; damaged by Soviet bombers at Paldiski 23 June 1944; bombed again by RAF at Kiel 24 July 1944; repaired at Swinemunde with parts cannibalized from Z44 and Z45, resuming operations 1 April 1945; evacuation and escort operations April-May 1945 (incl. 20,000 refugees to Copenhagen 15 April, 35,000 wounded/refugees early May, 20,000 from Hela 8-9 May); decommissioned at Kiel 10 May 1945. U.S. service - sailed to Plymouth 6 July 1945; U.S. prize claim 12 July 1945; arrived Boston 7 August; commissioned as DD-939 after extensive trials 14 September 1945; used to test equipment, principally the high-pressure steam propulsion plant; judged obsolete November 1947. French service - Casablanca January 1948, then Toulon; redesignated Q-128; cannibalized for parts for Kleber (ex-Z6 Theodor Riedel), Hoche (ex-Z25), and Marceau (ex-Z31); minesweeper pontoon near Brest; broken up 1964.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1943-1964
- Population
- Kriegsmarine crew 1943-45; U.S. Navy trials crew 1945-47; French yard workers 1948-64
- Limitations
- Standard published references, accessed through the citation trail of the Wikipedia featured article on Z39 plus corroboration from NavSource and NHHC photo captions - book pages were not directly retrieved. Documents service history, not materials or asbestos content. Minor date variances vs NavSource (e.g., prize acquisition 6 vs 12 July) are carried in gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-02
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[4]Official U.S. Navy / National Archives photographs of ex-Z39 (DD-939): NHHC NH-75378, NH-75382 (drydock inspection, Dry Dock 4, South Boston Annex, Boston Navy Yard, 11 & 13 August 1945), NH-75376 (forecastle, 20 August 1945), NH-75404, NH-75405, NH-75408 (yard detail views, 11 August 1945), and U.S. National Archives 19-N-90594, 19-N-90595, 19-N-90596, 19-N-90598 (underway off Boston, 12 September 1945) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NHHC photos NH-75376/75378/75382/75404/75405/75408; NARA 19-N-90594/90595/90596/90598 (cataloged at navsource.net/archives/05/939.htm); NPS 'The Boston Navy Yard during World War II' (nps.gov/articles/the-boston-navy-yard-during-world-war-ii.htm)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- U.S. government photographic record documents this hull in U.S. custody: the captured German destroyer was docked in Dry Dock 4 of the South Boston Annex of the Boston Navy Yard on 11-13 August 1945 for inspection, photographed in yard waters 20 August, and underway off Boston on 12 September 1945 (two days before her U.S. Navy commissioning) - the documented yard/inspection event for this hull and the physical setting of the U.S. machinery examination. NPS documentation of the South Boston Annex describes Dry Dock 3 and 4 as the yard's large-combatant drydocks, corroborating the facility record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-08-11 to 1945-09-12
- Population
- Boston Navy Yard inspection/drydock and shipyard workers, August 1945; U.S. Navy trials crew
- Limitations
- Photo captions document the hull's presence, inspection drydocking, and trials setting - they establish a documented disturbance/inspection event but contain no information about materials aboard and no asbestos content. Photo numbers are carried via the NavSource catalog and Wikimedia Commons file pages (which cite the NHHC collection); stable NHHC catalog URLs for the individual NH-75xxx images were not located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-03
-
[5]Era/design inference - Type 1936A (Mob) plant per NavSource machinery block and Koop & Schmolke: 6 Wagner water-tube boilers, superheated steam at 70 atm (1,029 psi) / 450 C, 2 sets Wagner geared turbines, 70,000 shp; German WWII naval-construction materials practice [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource file 05/939 machinery/specifications block; Koop & Schmolke design data
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era inference for this hull: a German warship built 1940-44 around a six-boiler, 70-atmosphere/450-degree-C superheated-steam plant - among the highest-pressure marine plants then afloat - would have carried period-standard heat insulation and packing whose era materials commonly contained asbestos: boiler and steam-drum insulation, steam-line lagging between boiler and engine rooms, turbine lagging, valve and flange gaskets, machinery packing, bulkhead and fireproofing insulation, and deck coverings. German naval-yard asbestos exposure in the same era is independently documented (see ev-05).
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940-1964
- Population
- Germaniawerft construction trades 1940-44; Kriegsmarine crew 1943-45; Boston Navy Yard inspection workers and U.S. trials crew 1945-47; French cannibalization/pontoon workers 1948-64
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no ship-specific finding for this hull exists (see ev-09); this row contextualizes, it does not establish, asbestos aboard. The extreme steam conditions are documented; the asbestos content of her insulation is not established by any located source. Quantity, locations, and present-day presence (hull scrapped 1964) are all undocumented.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-04
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[6]Stossel, H.G., P. Dalquen, and U. Carstens, 'Zur Frage des Pleuramesothelioms bei Werftarbeitern' [On the question of pleural mesothelioma in shipyard workers], RoFo - Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Rontgenstrahlen 116(1):41-45 (1972), doi:10.1055/s-0029-1229253 [other_primary]
- Locator
- RoFo 116(1):41-45 (1972); abstract via doi:10.1055/s-0029-1229253
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed German medical literature documenting occupational asbestos exposure in German naval shipbuilding: 28 cases of malignant pleural disease in the Wilhelmshaven area between 1963 and 1969, the majority of the patients having had occupational asbestos contact as employees of the former Marinewerft - the Kriegsmarine naval shipyard that built and maintained German warships of this hull's era. Authors posit a causal link between shipyard asbestos exposure and the pleural tumors.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1963-1969 (case series); wartime exposure period
- Population
- Former Marinewerft (naval shipyard) workers, Wilhelmshaven - wartime construction/repair era
- Limitations
- Documents asbestos exposure at a German naval shipyard (Wilhelmshaven) - not aboard this hull and not at her builder (Germaniawerft, Kiel). Era context for Kriegsmarine-era naval construction only; does not establish that any specific vessel, including Z39/DD-939, carried or released asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-05
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[7]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11:359-373 (1987), PMID 3555021 [other_primary]
- Locator
- Am. J. Ind. Med. 11:359-373 (1987); abstract
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Peer-reviewed history documents the extensive use of asbestos as a fireproofing and insulating material in 1940s shipbuilding, when WWII industrial expansion drove an unprecedented rise in asbestos utilization - the industry-wide era context in which this German-built hull was constructed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1940s
- Population
- WWII-era shipbuilding workers (context)
- Limitations
- U.S./Allied-framed study - documents the era-wide shipbuilding surge in asbestos use, not German Kriegsmarine construction specifically and not this hull. Does not establish asbestos content aboard Z39/DD-939; paired with ev-05 for German-yard documentation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-06
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[8]CourtListener API v4 search (type=o and type=r): 'DD-939', 'USS DD-939', 'Z39'/'Z-39', 'Q-128' - via fleet helper cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- cl-auth-search.py runs 2026-09-28 (opinion type=o, 'DD-939'; pacing-blocked); web-index check same date
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Litigation sweep status: CourtListener API queries for this hull were attempted repeatedly on 2026-09-28 and returned the fleet-wide pacing block (HTTP 429 shared-budget exhaustion, ~114/hr cap) on every attempt - no anonymous or unauthenticated requests were made. Residual surface checked via indexed-web search: the only indexed hit naming this hull in an asbestos context is a law-firm marketing ship list (mesotheliomasymptoms.com 'DM Z-39 Zerstorer DD-939') that names the hull with generic asbestos boilerplate and no primary support - an excluded source class. No qualifying asbestos litigation naming Z39, DD-939, or Q-128 was located in the public sources searched.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- CourtListener sweep is incomplete - paced-blocked, not exhausted: a court record naming this hull could exist despite the negative web-index surface. Litigation status should be re-run when the fleet budget clears. A war-prize hull scrapped in France in 1964 has a thin U.S. litigation profile in any case; foreign-built hulls rarely appear in U.S. asbestos MDL pleading lists.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-07
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[9]Archival leads for this hull: NARA Still Pictures 19-N-90594/90595/90596/90598 (Boston, 12 Sep 1945) and NHHC NH-75376/75378/75382/75404/75405/75408 (Dry Dock 4 inspection, 11-13 Aug 1945); Boston Navy Yard / Bureau of Ships inspection and machinery-trial reports for ex-Z39 (1945-47); U.S. Naval Technical Mission in Europe Series IV report 474-45 'Main propulsion shafting and bearings of German naval vessels' (10 Oct 1945, indexed in the NavTechMisEu report list); Tripartite Naval Commission allocation files; Bundesarchiv-Militararchiv Z39 construction/war-diary files; French SHD Marine file for Q-128 [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavTechMisEu Series IV index entry 474-45 (pacificwararchive.wordpress.com index); NHHC/NARA photo numbers via NavSource catalog; archives.gov
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Unretrieved primary records for this hull: the Boston Navy Yard/BuShips inspection and machinery-trial documentation of ex-Z39 is the most promising hull-level technical record (the Navy 'used her to test her equipment, namely her high-pressure steam propulsion plant' per published references); the NavTechMisEu Series IV index lists report 474-45 on German naval-vessel propulsion machinery; NHHC/NARA photographic coverage of the drydock inspection is cataloged but the full series was not individually retrieved; German (Bundesarchiv) and French (SHD) files cover her Kriegsmarine and Q-128 careers respectively.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 1945-1947 (trial period); records as held
- Population
- U.S. Navy inspectors, trials crew, Boston Navy Yard workers 1945-47
- Limitations
- Leads only - none of these records was retrieved or reviewed; whether any contains materials, insulation, or hazmat content is unknown. NAVSEA SUPSALV PDF (unrelated Prinz Eugen report consulted for era context) returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; gao.gov similarly blocks - official .mil/.gov PDF retrieval was not completed this session.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-08
-
[10]Batch-3865 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS + HyperWar DANFS mirror (both 404 - no entry exists); NavSource file 05/939; NPS Boston Navy Yard articles; published references (Koop & Schmolke; Dodson & Cant; Silverstone; Bauer & Roberts); PubMed/peer-reviewed literature (Stossel 1972; Corn & Starr 1987); CourtListener fleet helper (paced-blocked); indexed-web residual check [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-dd-939-dd939-01 through sl-uss-dd-939-dd939-08
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, materials inventory, museum condition report, or docketed case naming Z39, DD-939, or Q-128 was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The hull additionally lacks a DANFS entry - the standard authoritative vessel-history layer does not exist for this ship.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-28
- Study period
- 2026-09-28
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - a 1940-44 German warship with an extreme-pressure steam plant is era-consistent with asbestos insulation, and her complete destruction by scrapping in 1964 forecloses any present-day survey. Does not establish that asbestos was or was not present; does not establish or defeat any exposure claim.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-dd-939-dd939-09