USS Louisville (CA-28)

Figure 1: USS Louisville (CA-28) photographed during the early 1930s. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 2: USS Louisville (CA-28) steams past Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, New York City, in 1934. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 3: USS Louisville (CA-28) "Vanguard of Fleet Honors War Dead." "Veterans and sons of veterans stand at attention at Grant's Tomb as the USS Louisville fires a salute" (quoted from the original photo caption). These Memorial Day ceremonies took place in New York City, 31 May 1934. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 4: USS Louisville (CA-28) passengers from the British Motor Ship Silver Larch pose with Louisville's Commanding Officer, Captain William S. Farber, upon their arrival at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 14 March 1937. The cruiser had rescued them on the previous day from the burning Silver Larch, about 450 miles northeast of Honolulu. Courtesy of Don S. Montgomery, USN (Retired), 1987. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 5: USS Louisville (CA-28) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 26 May 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection at the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
 

Figure 6: USS Louisville (CA-28) steams out of Kulak Bay, Adak, Aleutian Islands, bound for operations against Attu, 25 April 1943. The photograph looks toward Sweepers Cove. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
 

Figure 7: USS Louisville (CA-28) operating in the Bering Sea during May 1943. She is followed by USS San Francisco (CA-38). Collection of Vice Admiral Robert C. Giffen. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 8: USS Louisville (CA-28) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 17 December 1943. Her camouflage scheme is probably Measure 32, Design 6d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
 

Figure 9: USS Louisville (CA-28) in a Pacific anchorage in 1944, while wearing camouflage Measure 32, Design 6d. This image has been taken from a color motion picture film. Courtesy of Don S. Montgomery, USN (Retired), 1987. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 10: USS Louisville (CA-28) is hit by a kamikaze in Lingayen Gulf, Philippine Islands, 6 January 1945. Photographed from USS Salamaua (CVE-96). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 11: USS Louisville (CA-28) arrives off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, on 6 February 1945 to receive repairs for damage inflicted by two kamikazes a month earlier. The photograph is annotated with details about the suicide plane crashes and the damage inflicted. The ship's camouflage scheme is probably Measure 32, Design 6d. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 12: USS Louisville (CA-28) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 7 April 1945. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection at the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Named after a city in Kentucky, the 9,050-ton USS Louisville was a Northampton class heavy cruiser that was built at the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, and was commissioned on 15 January 1931. Designated CL-28 (for light cruiser) when built, the ship was re-designated CA-28 (for heavy cruiser) shortly after being commissioned in accordance with the provisions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Louisville was approximately 600 feet long and 66 feet wide, had a top speed of 32 knots, and had a crew of 621 officers and men. She was armed with nine 8-inch guns, four 5-inch guns, 6 21-inch torpedo tubes, and four aircraft.

Louisville’s shakedown cruise lasted from the summer to the winter of 1931 and it took her from Bremerton, Washington, to New York City via the Panama Canal. The ship returned to the west coast in 1932 to participate in naval exercises and was based at San Diego, California. During the winter of 1933, Louisville steamed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then returned to the west coast to be used as a training ship for antiaircraft gunnery while based at San Pedro, California. In April 1934, Louisville began a nine-month voyage to “show the flag” in Central America, the Caribbean, and along the gulf and east coasts of the United States. Louisville returned to the west coast in the fall of 1934 to take part in gunnery and tactical naval exercises and then in the spring of 1935 the ship sailed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Towards the end of 1935, Louisville returned to Pearl Harbor for yet another round of naval exercises.

For the next two years, Louisville was based on the west coast and participated in major fleet exercises in 1936 and 1937. She also made good-will visits to Latin America. In January 1938, the cruiser began a long Pacific journey that took her to Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, and Tahiti before returning to Pearl Harbor. While in Sydney, Australia, the Louisville’s crew rescued a large number of passengers from a sightseeing ferryboat which had capsized when most of the passengers crowded to the rail to wave the cruiser off.

During the winter of 1939, while World War II had already begun in Europe, Louisville participated in fleet exercises in the Caribbean. She remained in that area until May, when she returned to the west coast. Later that year, the ship left Long Beach, California, for a journey that was to take her through the Panama Canal and to various ports along the eastern coast of South America. While in Bahia, Brazil, Louisville received orders to go to Simonstown, South Africa. Although the United States was still neutral at that time, Louisville had to steam through waters infested with German U-boats. When she arrived at Simonstown, approximately $148 million in British gold was placed on board the ship to be deposited in the United States for safekeeping. Louisville steamed directly to New York City and offloaded the gold and then returned to the Pacific.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Louisville was at sea escorting American ships from the East Indies to Hawaii. She participated in American aircraft carrier raids in the central and southern Pacific in February and March 1942. Later that year, Louisville operated in the Aleutians area, where she was used as a convoy escort and to bombard Kiska Island. In late 1942, the ship was sent to the Solomon Islands and took part in the final months of the Guadalcanal campaign. In late January 1943, she was present during the major Battle of Rennell Island. Louisville was hit by a torpedo during the battle, but fortunately it turned out to be a dud and did no damage to the ship. Louisville did tow the crippled cruiser USS Chicago after the battle, until that job was taken over by the tug USS Navajo.

Louisville returned to the Aleutians in April 1943 and remained there until the United States recaptured the islands of Attu and Kiska from the Japanese. After that, Louisville went to the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, for an extensive overhaul. Once the overhaul was completed, Louisville began a long tour of duty providing heavy gunfire support for American amphibious landings. In this role, the ship bombarded Wotje, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands from January to February 1944. After serving with aircraft carriers on raids in the central Pacific during March and April, Louisville provided invasion support bombardments at Saipan, Tinian, and Guam during June and July 1944, Peleliu in September and Leyte, the Philippines, in October. During the evening of 24-25 October, when what was left of the Japanese battle fleet tried to stop the American landings at Leyte, Louisville participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait, where the United States Navy achieved a major victory over the Japanese Navy.

After the invasion of Leyte, Louisville was assigned to escort aircraft carriers as part of Task Force 38. She participated in pre-invasion bombardments and air strikes against the island of Luzon in the Philippines. By the beginning of January 1945, Louisville was heading towards Lingayen Gulf. At the time, Louisville served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler. On 5 January, a Japanese kamikaze aircraft crashed into Louisville, causing extensive damage. The plane hit the Number 2 turret, killing one man and injuring 59 others. One of the injured crewmembers was the ship’s commanding officer, Captain R.L. Hicks, who was badly burned after the plane exploded and started a large fire. The next day, a kamikaze crashed into the starboard side of the bridge structure, causing even more damage. Standing on the flag bridge at the time was Rear Admiral Chandler, who was badly burned by flaming gasoline after the plane hit the ship. Although seriously wounded, Rear Admiral Chandler assisted in handling a fire hose to combat the fire and then took his turn with the enlisted men for first aid. But the massive flames had severely scorched his lungs and all efforts to save him failed. He died the next day. During this second kamikaze attack, Louisville lost 31 crewmen killed and 56 wounded. But the cruiser continued to shell the beaches and shot down several enemy planes before being ordered to withdraw and sent back to the Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs.

Louisville was again ready for action in the spring of 1945. The cruiser returned to the Pacific and joined Task Force 54 and provided gunfire support for the American troops on Okinawa. On 5 June 1945, Louisville was again hit by a kamikaze. Fortunately, the damage was not too serious and there were no casualties. The sturdy ship remained on station and continued to bombard Japanese positions on Okinawa until ordered back to Pearl Harbor for repairs on 15 June.

By the time the war ended in the Pacific on 14 August 1945, Louisville was repaired and prepared for postwar duties. Louisville supported Allied occupation duties along the Chinese coast but was sent back to the United States in 1946. First arriving at San Pedro, the ship continued on to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was decommissioned on 17 June 1946. The ship entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and remained there for the next 13 years. USS Louisville was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959 and sold for scrapping on 14 September. Louisville was awarded 13 battle stars for her service during World War II.

German Auxiliary Cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich, USS DeKalb

Figure 1: Prinz Eitel Friedrich (German passenger liner, 1904) interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 28 March 1917. Behind her is the liner Kronprinz Wilhelm. These ships were seized when the United States entered World War I and subsequently served as USS DeKalb (ID No. 3010) and Von Steuben (ID No. 3017). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: German passenger liners Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm (left), interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, prior to the United States entry into World War I. They are still flying German flags. During 1917-1919, these ships respectively served as USS De Kalb (ID No. 3010) and USS Von Steuben (ID No. 3017). Note US Navy target raft at right. Courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1983. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: German passenger liners Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm (left), interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 26 March 1917, shortly before they were seized by the United States. Photographed from on board USS Salem. During 1917-1919, these ships respectively served as USS De Kalb (ID No. 3010) and USS Von Steuben (ID No.3017). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: German passenger liners Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prinz Eitel Friedrich (left), interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 26 March 1917, shortly before they were seized by the United States. They are still flying the German flag, and German guns are visible on Prinz Eitel Friedrich's stern. During 1917-1919, these ships respectively served as USS Von Steuben (ID No. 3017) and USS De Kalb (ID No. 3010). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: German passenger liner Kronprinz Wilhelm interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 26 March 1917, shortly before she was seized by the United States. Visible on her opposite side are the masts and funnels of the interned liner Prinz Eitel Friedrich. During 1917-1919, these ships respectively served as USS Von Steuben (ID No. 3017) and USS De Kalb (ID No. 3010). Photographed by Replogle. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Prinz Eitel Friedrich (ex-German passenger liner, 1904) sailors pose with empty beer barrels removed from the ship's hold, 20 April 1917, soon after she was seized by the United States. She was refitted for US Navy service at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, renamed DeKalb and commissioned on 12 May 1917. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: Prinz Eitel Friedrich (ex-German passenger liner, 1904) sailors on the pier at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, with items removed from the ship's hold, 20 April 1917, soon after she was seized by the United States. Empty wine bottles are specifically identified, in left center. The ship, seen in the background, was refitted for US Navy service, renamed DeKalb and commissioned on 12 May 1917. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS DeKalb (later ID No. 3010) moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 11 June 1917, the day before she sailed to transport US troops to the European war zone. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS DeKalb (later ID No. 3010) taking US Marines on board for transportation to Europe, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 0600 hours, 12 June 1917. Note the automobiles in the foreground. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS DeKalb (later ID No. 3010) leaving the pier at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 0609 hours, 12 June 1917, en route to the European war zone with US troops on board. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: USS DeKalb (later ID No. 3010) tied up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, after returning from France, 1917. Note sign on the lamp post in the foreground, marking the intersection of 2nd Street West and Preble Avenue. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 12: USS DeKalb (later ID No. 3010) tied up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 18 February 1918. Note her camouflage scheme, ice in the Delaware River, and battleships in the left background. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 13: USS DeKalb (ID No. 3010) underway, circa 1918, probably in New York Harbor. Note the pattern camouflage she wore during the latter part of World War I. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, DC, 1969. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Figure 14: USS DeKalb (ID No. 3010) in port, circa 1917-1919, with US battleships in the background. Built as the German passenger liner Prinz Eitel Friedrich in 1904, she was seized when the U.S. entered World War I. She was renamed DeKalb and placed in commission on 12 May 1917. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 15: USS DeKalb (ID No. 3010) in port, with a small tug alongside, 1919. The original image was printed on postcard ("AZO") stock as one of the "Ship That Brought Us Home" series produced as souvenirs for service personnel returning from Europe. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 16: SS DeKalb in the Hudson River near Sputtan Duyvill Creek, on 16 December 1919, after she had been damaged by fire. The fire broke out while the ship was lying ready to be converted to an oil burner for the South American trade. Her skeleton crew of 35 men was removed safely and the vessel beached. Built in 1904 as the German liner Prinz Eitel Friedrich, this ship served as USS DeKalb (ID No. 3010) from 1917 to 1919. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Prinz Eitel Friedrich was a 16,000-ton passenger liner that was built by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany, in 1904. The ship was built for the North German Lloyd shipping company and for nearly ten years this impressive ocean liner was used to travel the major shipping routes in the Far East. At the start of the First World War in August 1914, Prinz Eitel Friedrich was docked at Shanghai, China. She was given orders by the German Navy to proceed to the German naval base at Tsingtao, China, where she was to be converted into an auxiliary cruiser.

Several guns were stripped from small German gunboats based at Tsingtao and placed on board Prinz Eitel Friedrich. After her conversion into an “auxiliary” cruiser (which basically was a merchant ship or ocean liner with some guns welded on board the ship), Prinz Eitel Friedrich was commissioned on 5 August 1914 and set sail the same day from Tsingtao to join Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee’s Far East Squadron. After meeting the Far East Squadron at Pagan in the Caroline Islands on 12 August, von Spee decided to detach Prinz Eitel Friedrich for independent raiding operations against Allied shipping. On 13 August, Prinz Eitel Friedrich left von Spee’s squadron and headed south to begin commerce raiding operations off the coast of Australia.

For the next seven months, Prinz Eitel Friedrich searched the Pacific and South Atlantic for victims. During that time, she sank 11 merchant vessels (most of them sailing ships) for a total of 33,423 tons. One of those ships was the schooner William P. Frye, captured on 27 January 1915 and scuttled the next day. William P. Frye turned out to be the first US flagged vessel to be sunk in World War I.

But by the beginning of March 1915, with her coal bunkers nearly empty and her engines almost worn out, Prinz Eitel Friedrich had no possibility of making her way back to Germany. With few options left and with British warships scouring the seas for German auxiliary cruisers, the captain of the Prinz Eitel Friedrich decided to give up. On 10 March 1915, Prinz Eitel Friedrich steamed into Newport News, Virginia, where she was interned by the United States and forced to stay in American waters for the rest of the war. Although she technically remained under the German flag, the ship was taken to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for storage.

But when the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Prinz Eitel Friedrich was seized by US Customs officials and transferred to the US Navy. The ship was reconditioned and refitted as a troop transport and was renamed USS DeKalb, after General Baron DeKalb (1721-1780), a hero for the American cause during the Revolutionary War. The troop ship was approximately 506 feet long and 55 feet wide, had a top speed of 16 knots, and had a crew of 534 officers and men. DeKalb was armed with eight 5-inch guns and six 3-inch guns and carried roughly 1,000 passengers. USS DeKalb was commissioned on 12 May 1917.

DeKalb was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Atlantic Fleet, and on 14 June 1917 sailed in the convoy carrying the first troops of the American Expeditionary Forces to France. During the next 18 months, DeKalb made 11 such voyages, carrying 11,334 soldiers safely to Europe. After the war ended, she continued her transport duties returning 20,332 troops from Europe back to the United States in eight voyages. On 6 September 1919, the troop ship was turned over to the Commandant, Third Naval District. USS DeKalb was decommissioned on 22 September 1919 and returned to the Shipping Board for disposal the following day. The ship was sold to a private shipping company and was called SS DeKalb, but after 1920 she was re-named Mount Clay. After briefly operating for the United American Lines during the first half of the 1920s, the ship was laid up. She was scrapped in 1934.

Thus ended the strange career of a ship that started its life as a German ocean liner, was converted by the Germans into an armed auxiliary cruiser with 11 “kills” to her credit, then became an American troop transport, and ended her days as an ocean liner with an American company. But DeKalb also showed how important troop transports were to the war effort. The only way to transport large numbers of troops and equipment was still by sea and ships like DeKalb proved to be invaluable to the Allies during World War I.

USS Perkins (DD-877, DDR-877, DD-877)

Figure 1: USS Perkins (DDR-877) leading other ships of Destroyer Division Eleven, Pacific Fleet, circa 1954-1955. The next ship astern is USS Orleck (DD-886). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Perkins (DD-877) at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 30 January 1947. Note the tripod mainmast and extra antennas fitted for her role as a radar picket destroyer. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Perkins (DD-877) at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 30 January 1947. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Perkins (DD-877) at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, 30 January 1947. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Perkins (DDR-877) operating off the coast of Korea, 26 August 1951. Photographed by McClure, of USS Sicily (CVE-118). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Perkins (DDR-877) underway, circa 1953. This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in December 1959, but was taken several years earlier, soon after removal of her mainmast and replacement of her 40mm guns with 3-inch twin mounts. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Perkins (DDR-877) refueling at sea from USS Yorktown (CVA-10), August 1953. Photographed by W.L. Pooler. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Perkins (DD-877) underway following her FRAM II modernization, circa the mid-1960s. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: Seventh Fleet ships replenishing in the South China Sea, May 1969. Photographed by PH1 Long. Ships present are (from front to back): USS Wiltsie (DD-716); USS Tappahannock (AO-43); USS Oriskany (CVA-34); USS Mars (AFS-1); and USS Perkins (DD-877). Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: Jacket patch of USS Perkins’ (DD-877) insignia used during the 1960s. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1969. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after US Navy Commodore George H. Perkins (1836-1899), the 3,479-ton USS Perkins (DD-877) was a Gearing class destroyer that was built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas, and was commissioned on 5 April 1945. The ship was approximately 390 feet long and 40 feet wide, had a top speed of 35 knots, and had a crew of 345 officers and men. As built, Perkins was armed with six 5-inch guns, 12 40-mm guns, five 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges, although this armament changed in later years.

Right after being commissioned in April 1945, Perkins was converted into a radar picket destroyer, work that was completed in July. In the middle of August 1945, when Japan agreed to surrender, Perkins was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Continuing on to Tokyo Bay, where she arrived in early September, she operated in the western and central Pacific until April 1946. Two more Far Eastern deployments took place in 1947 and 1949. In 1948 she went to the Marshall Islands for atomic weapons tests. While in Chinese waters in February 1949, she was re-designated DDR-877, a belated recognition of the radar picket capabilities she had received some three and a half years earlier.

In mid-1950, Perkins began operating in the central Pacific. During the Korean War, she was assigned to aircraft carrier escort and shore bombardment missions from February to September 1951. A second combat deployment followed in 1952, during which she suffered the loss of one crewman when enemy shore battery shells exploded next to her off Kojo, Korea, on 15 October. For the rest of the decade, and into the early 1960s, Perkins regularly served with the Seventh Fleet in the often tense Far Eastern waters, and operated elsewhere in the Pacific.

Between March and December 1962, Perkins was converted to FRAM II configuration, trading her special radar picket gear and 3-inch guns for anti-submarine torpedo tubes and the capability of operating drone anti-submarine helicopters (DASH). Her designation reverted to DD-877 while this work was in progress. The updated destroyer began her next series of Seventh Fleet cruises in October 1963, continuing them nearly to the end of her US Navy career. Perkins performed Vietnam War carrier escort, bombardment and search-and-rescue duties during deployments in 1966 to 1967, 1967 to 1968, 1969 and 1970 to 1971. Assigned to Naval Reserve training service after her last western Pacific visit, she spent most of 1971 and all of 1972 operating along the U.S. West Coast, with additional trips to Alaska and Hawaii. USS Perkins was decommissioned in mid-January 1973 and was transferred to Argentina. Renamed Comodore Py, she served in that nation's navy until 1984, when she was scrapped.

USS Solar (DE-221)

PLEASE NOTE: Due to a prior commitment, the ship that was going to be posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, will be posted today, April 1. The next ship will be posted on Tuesday, April 10. Thank you.


Figure 1: USS Solar (DE-221) at sea, 15 November 1944. US Navy photo from the Donald T. Ehre Album via Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: Wartime photograph of USS Solar (DE-221), date and place unknown. Courtesy Pieter Bakels, Wehl, Holland. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Solar (DE-221) in New York harbor with a barge and harbor tug alongside, 22 July 1944. Photographed from a 300-foot altitude by Naval Air Station New York aircraft. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Solar (DE-221) on 30 April 1946 tying up at Leonardo Pier I of the Naval Ammunition Depot at Earle, New Jersey, to discharge ammunition. Courtesy J. D. Reed, Fireman 1C. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: On 30 April 1946, USS Solar (DE-221) suffered three explosions in her No. 2 upper handling room while unloading ammunition. Salvage work on Solar began by 1500 hours and her wrecked superstructure was cut off to prevent her from capsizing. Courtesy J. D. Reed, Fireman 1C. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Solar (DE-221) following the explosion of her forward magazine while she was at Naval Ammunition Depot, Earle, New Jersey, on 30 April 1946. Note that her forward superstructure has been folded back, crushing her smokestack and other midships fittings. The barrel of one of her forward 3-inch guns is inside her after 3-inch gun tub, with other parts of the ship's forward structure resting nearby. Donation of Dr. Neal Dinowitz, 2007. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: 30 April 1946, USS Solar’s number 2 gun was demolished and the bridge, main battery director, and mast were all blown aft and to starboard. Both sides of the ship were torn open. Courtesy J. D. Reed, Fireman 1C. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: 30 April 1946, shortly after three explosions blasted USS Solar near her Number 2 upper handling room. Courtesy J. D. Reed, Fireman 1C. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after Boatswain’s Mate First Class Adolfo Solar (1900-1941) who was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor while manning one of the guns on the battleship USS Nevada (BB-36), the 1,400-ton USS Solar (DE-221) was a Buckley class destroyer escort and was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ship was commissioned on 15 February 1944 and was approximately 306 feet long and 37 feet wide, had a top speed of 24 knots, and had a crew of 213 officers and men. Solar was armed with three 3-inch guns, one twin 40-mm gun, eight 20-mm guns, three 21-inch torpedo tubes, one “Hedgehog” Projector Mk. 10, and depth charges.

After completing her shakedown cruise off the coast of Bermuda, Solar steamed to Casco Bay, Maine, for additional training. On 25 April 1944, Solar left New York and joined Task Group 27.1 to escort a convoy bound for Casablanca, Morocco. The convoy reached Casablanca on 4 May and three days later Solar headed back to the United States, arriving in New York on 16 May. Solar spent the next six months escorting three convoys from the United States to the Mediterranean and back.

On 16 December 1944, Solar began a brief assignment training destroyer and destroyer escort crews. On 2 February 1945, Solar resumed escort duty in the Atlantic and assisted in escorting a convoy to Oran, Algeria. The convoy was attacked and lost two tankers at the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. Although Solar assisted the other escorts in the convoy in trying to find the submarines responsible for the attack, they failed to locate them. After reaching Oran, Solar then escorted another convoy back to the United States. After a very brief overhaul in New York City, Solar returned to duty and escorted a convoy to Gibraltar.

While escorting a convoy from Oran back to the United States, Solar received news of the Allied victory in Europe. After returning to the United States, Solar was scheduled for her usual overhaul in New York. However, due to the large volume of ships already in New York at that time, Solar was sent to Boston, Massachusetts, for her overhaul. In the spring of 1945, Solar was assigned to training duty with submarines that were based at New London, Connecticut. On 18 July 1945, the ship was at the Boston Navy Yard preparing for duty in the Pacific. She was going to be used as a radar “picket ship,” but the end of hostilities in the Pacific in mid-August 1945 ended those plans. Solar left Boston on 7 September for two weeks of training exercises at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After those exercises were completed, Solar went to Miami, Florida, where she became a training group flagship. In late October 1945, Solar visited Baltimore, Maryland, for the Navy Day celebration. On 19 December, the ship was assigned to the Commander, Operational Development Force, for antiaircraft and fighter director practice. At the beginning of 1946, Solar was used as a test ship for sonar equipment.

On 30 April 1946, Solar was docked at Leonardo Pier 1 of the Naval Ammunition Depot at Earle, New Jersey, to offload some ammunition. There were no problems until shortly after 1130 hours, when three explosions tore through the ship near her Number 2 upper ammunition handling rooms. Solar’s Number 2 gun was demolished and the bridge, main battery director, and mast were all blown aft and to starboard. Both sides of the ship were torn open and her deck was a mass of flames. The entire forward end of the ship was nothing but a smashed pile of molten metal. It was amazing that the ship even managed to stay afloat, given the catastrophic damage she sustained. The order to abandon ship came after the second explosion, when what was left of the crew got off of the flaming wreck. But the enormous explosions killed 165 men and wounded 65 others.

Salvage work on Solar began as soon as the flames were out, at around 1500 hours. Her demolished superstructure was cut off to prevent her from capsizing. The wrecked hulk was towed to New York where she was decommissioned on 21 May 1946. USS Solar was then stripped of all usable equipment, towed 100 miles to sea, and sunk on 9 June 1946.

This ship made it through World War II without a scratch, only to be blown to pieces shortly after the end of the war. Accidents like this make it painfully clear that major disasters can occur to naval vessels in peacetime as well as wartime.