Boatswain's Mate First Class Adolfo Solar (1900–1941), who was killed in action during the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.[1]
Solar was laid down on 22 February 1943, by the
Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 29 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Regina Solar; and commissioned at Philadelphia
on 15 February 1944. The ship was destroyed by an accidental explosion on 30 April 1946.
Naming
The ship was named after Adolfo Solar, who was born on 8 May 1900 in San Antonio, Texas. On 1 June 1922, he enlisted in the Navy as a seaman second class at Houston, Texas, and he served four consecutive enlistments on the battleshipNew Mexico before signing up for a fifth time and serving aboard the battleship Nevada.
Boatswain's Mate First Class Solar was on board the Nevada on the morning of 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked
Secretary of the Navy
.
Service history
World War II
Solar completed post-commissioning trials in the
Casco Bay, Maine
, for more training.
On 25 April, Solar put to sea from
Mediterranean
and back.
On 16 December 1944, the destroyer escort was assigned to the Commander, Operational Training Command,
Oran, Algeria; then escorted convoy GUS-74 to the United States. After yard work at New York, she got underway in the screen of another Gibraltar-bound convoy
.
During the return voyage from Oran with convoy GUS-86, the ship received the news of Allied victory in Europe. Upon her return to the United States, Solar was scheduled for her usual yard period in New York. However, after several sets of confusing and sometimes contradictory orders, the work was carried out in Boston.
Post-war
In the spring of 1945, Solar was slated to be converted to a
anti-aircraft and fighter director practice. The beginning of 1946 brought an assignment as a sonar
test ship.
Destruction by accidental explosion
Solar after the explosions on 30 April 1946.
On 30 April 1946, Solar was berthed at Leonardo Pier I of the
United Press quoted witnesses as saying a shell being passed by Seaman Joseph Stuckinski of Baltimore from the ship to a truck on the pier exploded in his arms and set off the blasts. Stuckinski was not injured.")[2] He was able to escape with relatively minor injuries, but three ensuing explosions blasted the ship near her number 2 upper handling rooms. Her 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 order to abandon ship came after the second explosion and was carried out expeditiously. Nevertheless, the tragedy claimed the lives of seven sailors and injured 125 others.[3]
Salvage work on Solar was begun by 15:00, and her wrecked superstructure was cut off to prevent her from capsizing. She was moved to New York, where she decommissioned on 21 May 1946. Solar was then stripped of all usable equipment, towed 100 nmi (200 km) to sea, and sunk on 9 June 1946, in 700 fathoms (1,300 m) of water. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 5 June 1946.
On July 5, 2022, the last living survivor of the explosions – Seaman J.D. Reed – died at age 95.
References
^Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: VI. 6: R through S. Washington: NAval History Division, Department of the Navy, Washington. 1976. p. 545.
^Associated Press, "Five Lost, 150 Hurt in Blasts—Destroyer Escort Shattered at Pier", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 1 May 1946, Volume 52, page 1.
United States_at_the_Naval_Ammunition_Depot_Earle,_New_Jersey_(USA),_30_April_1946.jpg)
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
