USS SOLEY DD-707

USS SOLEY DD-707 Ship History

The Tin Can Sailor, January 2000

Launched 8 September 1944, the SOLEY (DD-707) was named after James Russell Soley, a distinguished naval scholar. She was commissioned on 7 December 1944, and began her career as a training ship. News of Japan’s surrender found the SOLEY en route to the Pacific, the last major combat vessel to pass through the Panama Canal in World War II. In the Pacific, she operated in the Marshall-Gilbert Islands area, transporting Japanese prisoners from outlying islands to Kwajalein. Among them was the Wake Island commander, Rear Admiral Sakaibara. Following duty with the occupation forces in Yokosuka, Japan, she returned to the states.

The SOLEY was out of commission, in the reserve fleet at Charleston, South Carolina, from April 1947 to January 1949, when she joined Destroyer Squadron 20 in Norfolk. In 1950, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, the SOLEY began her first deployment with the Sixth Fleet. In November, she represented the United States at the funeral of King Gustaf of Sweden. By mid-summer 1952, she was part of the antisubmarine screen off the coast of Korea.

On the bomb line at 2033 on 2 July, her gunners fired their first combat round. With the HELENA (CA-74) and IOWA (BB-61), the SOLEY’s guns targeted enemy positions at Wonsan, Kojo, and Kosong. Later, in the Wonsan-Hungnam area, she bombarded railroad and highway bridges and tunnels and took on more than sixty prisoners and refugees. Ending her Far Eastern tour, she steamed for home, reaching Norfolk on 12 December.

Overhaul and refresher training took up most of 1953, preparing ship and crew for their next Pacific tour. With the STRONG (DD-758) and BARTON (DD-722), the SOLEY headed for the Pacific in early 1954, returning from a patrol off Korea in August.

Subsequent years were filled with local operations, two Mediterranean deployments, and duty in the Middle East. Early in 1958, the SOLEY was engaged in the annual Springboard exercises in the Caribbean when she and the BARTON were called to aid of the SS ST. ELEFTIERO and rescued the crew of the merchantman before she went down. She began 1959 in the Mediterranean where she was twice called to the aid of the burning Panamanian tanker MIRADOR in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey. In a tragic accident, DC2 John L. King was killed during salvage operations that ultimately kept the vessel afloat. A week later, however, the MIRADOR exploded and sank and set a Turkish salvage vessel ablaze. The SOLEY was on hand to extinguish the fire.

Off Cape Canaveral in the fall of 1960, the SOLEY’s crew witnessed the first successful firing of four Polaris missiles from a submerged submarine, the PATRICK HENRY (SSBN-599).

The following spring, she was patrolling the waters off the Dominican Republic following the assassination of dictator Rafael Trujillo. Tours of the Mediterranean and Middle East took her into 1962. While in the Persian Gulf, the SOLEY took aboard a crewman injured in an engine-room fire on the merchantman SS PRIMA MAERSK and transported him to a hospital in Bahrain. In October 1962, the SOLEY joined the United States Quarantine Forces during the Cuban Crisis.

She returned to the Mediterranean in March 1963 and then, in June, joined the Middle East Forces in the Red and Arabian seas and the Persian Gulf. After exercises in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, she ended 1963 in Norfolk. A new assignment as a naval reserve training ship took the SOLEY to Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1964.

Over the ensuing years, she was underway almost continually with routine operations and training cruises, which in February 1967, took her into unusually frigid Florida waters where the temperature in Key West dropped to 35 degrees F. The usual routine was broken by tragedy in October 1968. During exercises off Charleston, she joined the unsuccessful 48-hour search for a crew member lost from the oiler CHUKAWAN (AO-100). Then, when a pea-soup fog paralyzed Charleston Harbor one November night, her crew gained invaluable experience in low-visibility navigation as they helped several small craft safely to their moorings.

In 1968, the SOLEY participated in amphibious exercises, gun fire support training, and selected refresher training in Guantanamo Bay with the ENGLISH (DD-696), DARBY (DE-218), and TWEEDY (DE-532). She was the only reserve ship to complete all that was required of her. Early in 1969, the SOLEY participated in various operations with the BRISTOL (DD-857) and ENGLISH in Florida; with the KEITH (DE-241), HARTLEY (DE-1029), HANK (DD-702), and LASALLE (LPD-3) off the Virginia Capes; with the ENGLISH, GYATT (DE-550), and HYMAN (DD-732) at New York; and finally in November 1969, with the MULLINIX (DD-944), ENGLISH, and FORRESTAL (CVA-59) en route to Fort Lauderdale.

That was when fate dealt a blow that ended the SOLEY’s career. Entering Fort Lauderdale, she struck an underwater object damaging her sonar dome. Then, as she maneuvered to clear the obstruction, her port propeller hit a coral ledge. Relieved by the GAINARD (DD-706), she was deactivated and finally, struck from the navy’s list on 13 February 1970. She was subsequently sunk as a target on 18 September 1970.

USS SOLEY DD-707 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, April 2016

Soley (DD-707) was laid down on 18 April 1944 at Kearny, N.J., by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 8 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. C. M. Cornfelt, Mrs. Howard C. Dickinson, and Mrs. Howard C. Dickinson, Jr.; and commissioned on 7 December 1944, Comdr. John S. Lewis in command.

Soley sailed on 29 December 1944 for a shakedown cruise in Bermuda waters. On 1 February 1945, she headed back toward the Brooklyn Navy Yard for post-shakedown availability before joining the Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk, Va., on 18 February. After serving in the Virginia Capes area as a training ship, she was ordered to the west coast.

Soley arrived at San Diego on 17 August. She reached Pearl Harbor 10 days later and was routed onward to the Marshall Islands, arriving at Kwajalein on 5 September. Soley joined Task Unit (TU) 96.15.1, a Military Government Unit, which sortied for Kusaie Island, on 7 September, to take part in the acceptance of the surrender of Japanese forces. The surrender articles were signed on the 8th, and Soley remained at Kusaie as station ship until mid-October.

From 14 October to 17 December, the destroyer operated directly under the Commander of the Marshall-Gilbert Islands Area. On two occasions, she was called upon to transport Japanese prisoners from outlying islands to Kwajalein for possible trial before the War Crimes Commission. The most prominent among them was Rear Admiral Sakaibara, the commander at Wake Island.

On 18 December, Soley departed the Marshall Islands for Japan and duty with the occupation forces, arriving at Yokosuka on 27 December 1945. In February 1946, the destroyer was ordered to return to Casco Bay, Maine, via Hawaii, Long Beach, and the Panama Canal. In December 1946, the ship sailed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for training exercises and next reported to Charleston, S.C., for inactivation with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. The destroyer was placed in reserve, out of commission, on 15 April 1947.

Soley was placed in commission again on 29 January 1949. After pre-shakedown training, the ship entered the Charleston (S.C.) Naval Shipyard for an overhaul from March through May. Following shakedown in Guantanamo Bay, Soley joined Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 20, with its home port at Norfolk. She operated with her squadron along the east coast until 4 August 1950 when she sailed to the Mediterranean Sea for duty with the 6th Fleet. The destroyer represented the United States at the funeral of King Gustaf V of Sweden. She was in Stockholm on 9 November, with Rear Admiral Walter F. Boone, the Commander in Chief, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Naval Forces, on board. She rejoined the 6th Fleet in December and, in January 1951, returned to Norfolk for an overhaul.

Yard work was completed on 15 May, and the ship proceeded to Guantanamo Bay for refresher training. Soley resumed her routine east coast operations which she continued until May 1952. On 15 May, she got underway, with three other destroyers, for Japan, via the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor, arriving at Yokosuka on 18 June.

Soley steamed north to the Korean war zone and, from 22 June to 1 July, operated in the antisubmarine screen of Task Force (TF) 77, the fast carrier task force. During this period, the carriers conducted raids against the North Korean hydroelectric power stations on the Yalu River. Soley and Helena (CA-74) were detached from the task force to go to the “bomb-line” to provide shore bombardment in support of ground troops.

Soley and Helena joined Iowa (BB-61), and the trio conducted shore bombardment at Wonsan, Kojo, and Kosong through 9 July. From 21 July to 22 August, the destroyer operated with the United Nations Blockade and Escort Force (TF 95) in the Wonsan-Hungnam area and north to Ch’aho. She bombarded railroad and highway bridges and tunnels. She took on board more than 60 prisoners and refugees from sampans in the bombardment area. During the first half of September, the destroyer operated with an antisubmarine hunter-killer group. She returned to TF 77 on 15 September and operated with it until proceeding to Sasebo on 9 October.

Soley then departed the Far East on 19 October for Norfolk, but not on a direct route. She returned via Malaya, Ceylon, and Arabia; proceeded through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal; and made stops at ports in Italy and France, and Gibraltar; and finally arrived at Norfolk on 12 December 1952. On 25 January 1953, Soley sailed for operations in the Caribbean. Upon her return to Norfolk, she commenced an overhaul and was there from 30 April to 21 August. Refresher training was held from 3 September to 2 November, followed by preparations for her second world cruise.

On 4 January 1954, Soley, Strong (DD-758), and Barton (DD-722) stood out of Norfolk en route to the west coast. They transited the Panama Canal on 9 January and anchored briefly at San Diego where Stickell (DDR-888) joined the group before continuing west. The destroyers called at Pearl Harbor and Midway before arriving at Yokosuka on 7 February. She completed a patrol off Korea, made port calls from Hong Kong to South Africa, and returned to Norfolk on 10 August 1954.

Soley operated along the east coast until being deployed to the Mediterranean from July 1956 to February 1957 and again from July to December 1957. She was participating in “Springboard 58,” the annual Caribbean exercise, during January 1958 when she and Barton (DD-722) rescued the crew of SS St. Eleftiero which later sank. In subsequent years, Soley was deployed to the Mediterranean from October 1958 to April 1959; from September 1961 to March 1962; and from 29 March to 4 September 1963. In 1962, during the Cuban crisis, she served with the quarantine forces off Cuba from October to December.

On 1 March 1964, Soley’s homeport was changed to Charleston, S.C.; and, on 1 April, she was assigned duty as a Naval Reserve Training ship. She served in this capacity until being decommissioned on 13 February 1970. Soley was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1970 and sunk as a target.

Soley received one battle star for service in Korea.