Evidence
7 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-7).
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[1]research packet 764-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-pkt-764-packet-md
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[2]DANFS, Donald W. Wolf (DE-713/APD-129) (namesake biography, reclassification, construction, service narrative through 1946 decommissioning; verbatim transcription - live NHHC page serves 404; Wayback capture of the NHHC page 2021-03-06 concurs) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS entry, specifications block + namesake paragraph + full service narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS record for this hull: originally DE-713, reclassified APD-129 on 17 July 1944 and converted to a high-speed transport during construction; launched 22 July 1944 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich., sponsored by Corporal B. S. Wolf, USMCWR, widow of Sergeant Wolf; completed conversion at Todd-Johnson Dry Dock Co., New Orleans, La.; commissioned 14 April 1945, LCDR S. C. O'Rourke in command. Trained at Guantanamo Bay; overhaul at Norfolk, Va.; arrived San Diego 22 June 1945; embarked an underwater demolition team and sailed for the western Pacific 16 August (Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok); Buckner Bay, Okinawa, 4 September; landed men at Jinsen for the occupation of Korea 5 September, returning to Okinawa 18 September; served at Tientsin, Chefoo, and Tsingtao on the Chinese mainland; returned to Okinawa 20 October; debarked passengers at San Diego 11 November; placed out of commission in reserve 15 May 1946. Specs block: (APD-129: dp. 1,450; l. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 13'; s. 24 k.; cpl. 256; a. 1 5"; cl. Crosley). Namesake: Donald William Wolf, b. 7 February 1919 in Hart, Mich., enlisted USMC 5 December 1939; Sgt. Wolf killed in action on Guadalcanal 9 October 1942; shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the First Marine Division; posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for leading his platoon in hand-to-hand combat.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1946
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding construction trades 1944; Todd-Johnson Dry Dock conversion trades 1944-45; wartime crew (cpl. 256 per DANFS); embarked UDT detachment 1945
- Limitations
- DANFS documents identity, builder, service history, and specifications - not materials or asbestos content. Live NHHC page returns 404 (documented link-rot pattern); verbatim hazegray transcription cited with Wayback capture of the NHHC page concurring. DANFS does not state the laid-down date (NavSource supplies 17 April 1944) and the entry text ends at the 1946 decommissioning - postwar strike/transfer dates rest on NavSource's compilation. 'Overhaul at Norfolk, Va.' does not name the facility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-01
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[3]NavSource Online Amphibious Photo Archive, USS Donald W. Wolf (APD-129) (construction designation, chronology, TransDiv assignment, award windows, commanding officers, disposal, specifications) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-129 page - chronology block, awards table, specifications block, commanding-officers table, photo captions (Brandon Pool Chicago 27 Feb 1945; ROCS Hwa Shan 1971, 1974)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource record for this hull: laid down 17 April 1944 as Donald W. Wolf (DE-713), a Rudderow-class destroyer escort, at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI; launched 22 July 1944; redesignated Crosley-class high-speed transport APD-129 while under construction; completed at Todd-Johnson Dry Dock Co., New Orleans, LA; commissioned 14 April 1945, LCDR Stephen C. O'Rourke in command. WWII Asiatic-Pacific assignment TransDiv One Hundred Seven, CAPT N. E. Miller; Navy Occupation Service Medal and China Service Medal (extended) both for 3 September-21 October 1945; decommissioned 15 May 1946 at San Diego; laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet; struck from the Naval Register 1 March 1965; transferred to the Republic of China 3 April 1965 and renamed ROCS Hwa Shan (PF-33); final disposition struck by the Taiwanese Navy and broken up for scrap, date unknown. Photo caption documents the hull at Brandon Pool, Chicago, 27 February 1945 awaiting transit to New Orleans for fitting out (War Department Engineers Office photo via Wisconsin Maritime Museum). Specs: 1,630 t (lt) / 2,130 t (fl); 306' x 37' x 12'7"; 23.6 kt trial; 6,000 nm at 12 kt; complement 12 officers + 192 enlisted, troop accommodations 12 officers + 150 enlisted; propulsion two Babcock & Wilcox 'D' Express boilers (435 psi, 750 F), two GE turbines (turbo-electric drive), 12,000 shp, two shafts; armament one 5"/38, three twin 40mm, six single 20mm, two depth-charge tracks; four LCVP.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1965+
- Population
- Defoe construction trades 1944; Todd-Johnson conversion trades 1944-45; crew April 1945-May 1946; embarked UDT detachment; ROC Navy crew 1965 to striking
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation citing official records and photo captions - not itself a primary document. The laid-down date, strike date (1 March 1965), ROC transfer date (3 April 1965), and pennant PF-33 rest on NavSource's compilation; a NavSource photo caption on another page shows 'PF-53' in ROCN service - carried in gaps. Documents operations and machinery, not materials or asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-02
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[4]NHHC Online Library of Selected Images, 'U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number: APD and LPR' index (ibiblio mirror of history.navy.mil content) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- APD hull-number index, APD-129 line + program-history paragraphs
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Official NHHC hull-number index entry: 'APD-129: Donald W. Wolf (1945-1965). Begun as DE-713' - corroborates the designation path and USN service window. The index page's program note documents that in mid-1944 the Navy began converting steam-powered escort ships (DEs) to high-speed transports (APDs), with DE conversion hull numbers reaching APD-139, and that many later conversions were redesignated while building or before construction began - the program context into which this hull's 17 July 1944 reclassification falls.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1965
- Population
- n/a
- Limitations
- Index-level corroboration of designation and service dates only - no materials or asbestos content; program note is class-level context, not a hull record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-03
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[5]Bert C. Brennan, 'Fighting Ships from Bay City,' Inland Seas, July 1945 (republished by the National Museum of the Great Lakes) - contemporaneous account of the Defoe Shipbuilding DE/APD program [other_primary]
- Locator
- NMGL republication of the July 1945 Inland Seas article (Defoe yard description, DE/APD program paragraphs, delivery-route narrative)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Contemporaneous (July 1945) account of this hull's builder during her construction window: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, employed ~4,000 and by mid-1945 had produced seventeen destroyer escorts plus 'auxiliary personnel destroyers (APD)' among ~135 wartime hulls; describes the Defoe DE/APD as powered by 'steam turbo-electric drive, oil fired express type boilers' with 5.6 miles of pipe and ~105 miles of single-conductor wire; documents the 'upside-down and roll-over' build method and the delivery route down the Mississippi to New Orleans 'where the ship is refitted, handed over to the Navy and commissioned' - the pattern this hull followed (Brandon Pool, Chicago, 27 February 1945 photo; commissioned at Todd-Johnson Dry Dock, New Orleans, 14 April 1945).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1941-1945
- Population
- Defoe Shipbuilding workforce (~4,000 employees, 1941-45); Todd-Johnson Dry Dock workers; civilian delivery crews
- Limitations
- Program-level journalism contemporary with construction - documents the builder, machinery type, build method, and delivery/commissioning pattern, not materials; contains no asbestos statement. Defoe Shipbuilding is NOT in the Atlas shipyard dataset (37 yard_ids checked) - the missing yard is carried in gaps rather than mapped.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-04
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[6]NavSource APD-129 propulsion block (2 Babcock & Wilcox 'D' Express boilers, 435 psi/750 F; 2 GE turbines, turbo-electric drive; 12,000 shp) + DANFS-documented post-shakedown overhaul at Norfolk, Va. (spring 1945) + navypedia Rudderow (TEV) class page [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource APD-129 specifications block; DANFS service narrative (Norfolk overhaul); navypedia us_de_tev machinery table + conversion note
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era/yard inference: a Crosley-class high-speed transport completed April 1945 on a Rudderow-class destroyer-escort hull, with a turbo-electric steam plant (two oil-fired express boilers, two GE turbines, 12,000 shp), would have carried period-standard asbestos applications - boiler insulation, turbine lagging, steam-line and pipe lagging, gaskets and packing, fireproofing, deck coverings, and bulkhead insulation. The Rudderow (TEV) class carried the 12,000-shp turbo-electric plant - one of only two DE groups besides Buckley (TE) and John C. Butler (WGT) with a full steam installation (navypedia TEV page; DE710-720 Defoe block reclassified 17.7.1944 into the APD-87-136 group). Documented availability where era insulation work would apply: post-shakedown overhaul at Norfolk, Va., between Guantanamo training and San Diego arrival 22 June 1945 (DANFS; facility not named). NARA RG19 Bureau of Ships 'General Information Books' and Defoe/Todd-Johnson build records are archival leads for hull-level material specifications.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1944-1990s
- Population
- Defoe construction trades 1944; Todd-Johnson conversion trades 1944-45; Norfolk-area yard workers spring 1945; crew and embarked troops 1945-46; ROC crew 1965 to striking
- Limitations
- Class/era and builder-yard inference only - NOT a hull-specific finding; no ship-specific asbestos row exists in this record. 'Overhaul at Norfolk, Va.' does not establish that asbestos work was performed on this hull or which facility performed it. Crosley-class members used both B&W and CE 'D' Express boilers by builder; NavSource lists Babcock & Wilcox for this hull (the page's 'Babcox' is the compiler's spelling). NARA GIB and yard material schedules not retrieved.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-05
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[7]Batch-4494 search ledger (this record): CourtListener API v4 sweeps for "USS Donald W. Wolf", "Donald W. Wolf", "DE-713", "APD-129" (opinion and docket indexes) - see search_ledger for per-query disposition [court_record]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-07 through -10
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- No qualifying litigation naming this hull located. Completed sweeps: "USS Donald W. Wolf" opinion search returned 0 hits; "Donald W. Wolf" docket search returned 4 hits, all name collisions (two unrelated personal bankruptcies for a Donald W. Wolf / Donald W. Wolf Jr. and Secrest-Wolf, plus Maulson v. Salazar - an unrelated Indian-law case); "DE-713" docket search returned 52 hits, all matching 'DE 713'-style docket-entry numbers in unrelated federal cases; "APD-129" docket search returned 3 hits, all form/document-number matches in unrelated cases - none reference a vessel. Remaining hull-number opinion sweeps and the foreign-name sweep were blocked by fleet-wide CourtListener pacing - see search_ledger.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of located litigation does not prove absence of exposure or of asbestos aboard. Public court indexes do not cover non-indexed state-court filings, settled cases, or asbestos trust claims. 'Wolf' is a common surname - a high-collision name; any future hit requires hull-number or service-window confirmation before attribution to this vessel. Coverage is partial: APD-129/DE-713 opinion sweeps and the Hwa Shan sweep were blocked by fleet pacing limits and are logged as a blocked row.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-donald-w-wolf-de713-06