The previous article mentioned that Ralph Laedtke had been on the USS Solace at Pearl Harbor. I have never heard of this ship so went to good old Wikipedia.
The USS Solace, AH-5, was the second hospital ship to carry that name. It was built as the passenger liner SS Iroquois at Newport News, Va., and was bought by the US Navy July 22, 1940, and converted into a hospital ship.
It was at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, and immediately sent launches to the stricken Arizona, rescuing wounded men from the ship and pulling those in the oil-covered and burning water to safety. Boats also assisted the West Virginia and Oklahoma.
Stats: 409 feet long, 62 feet beam, 18 knots, could handle 418 patients at a time and had a crew of 466.
It participated in the battles of the Pacific and handles over 25,000 patients, 70% of them wounded, possibly a record for a hospital ship.
When the war ended, it took part in Operation Magic Carpet to bring the troops back home.
The Day of Infamy.
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