USS Solace ( AH - 5 ) The second USS " Solace " ( AH - 5 ) was built in 1927 as the passenger ship SS " Iroquois " by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co . , Newport News , Virginia . The liner was acquired by the Navy from the Clyde Mallory Steamship Line on 22 July 1940 , renamed " Solace " ( AH - 5 ) ; converted into a hospital ship at the Atlantic Basin Iron Works , Brooklyn , N . Y . , and was commissioned on 9 August 1941 , Capt . Benjamin Perlman in command . Service history . World War II . " Solace " was at Pearl Harbor during the attack of 7 December 1941 . The crew from the ship that day captured the exact footage of the USS " Arizona " ' s explosion . She immediately sent her motor launches with stretcher parties to the stricken and burning battleship to evacuate the wounded , and pulled men from the water which was covered in burning oil . After several trips to " Arizona " and , the boat crews then assisted . In March 1942 , " Solace " was ordered to the South Pacific and preceded to Pago Pago , Samoa . From there , she sailed to the Tonga Islands , arrived at Tongatapu on 15 April , and remained there until 4 August . On that day , she got underway and steamed , via Noumea , New Caledonia , to New Zealand . She arrived at Auckland on the 19th and discharged her patients . From then until May 1943 , " Solace " shuttled between New Zealand , Australia , New Caledonia , Espiritu Santo , the New Hebrides , and the Fiji Islands , caring for fleet casualties and servicemen wounded in the island campaigns . Patients whom she could not return to duty shortly were evacuated to hospitals for more prolonged care . From June – August , she operated as a station hospital ship at Nouméa . On 30 August , " Solace " sailed to Efate , New Hebrides , and performed the same duties at that port until sailing for Auckland on 3 October . On the 22nd , the hospital ship departed New Zealand and proceeded via Pearl Harbor to the west coast of the United States . She arrived at San Francisco on 9 November ; disembarked her patients ; and , on the 12th , sailed for the Gilberts . " Solace " arrived at Abemama Island on the 24th , embarked casualties from the Tarawa campaign , sailed the same day for Hawaii , and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 2 December . On 17 December , " Solace " sailed from Oahu with embarked patients to be evacuated to the U . S . She arrived at San Diego on 23 December 1943 . " Solace " remained in San Diego until she sailed on 15 January 1944 for the Marshall Islands . She arrived at Roi on 3 February and departed the next day with a load of wounded for Pearl Harbor . She was there for one day , returned to Roi on 18 February , then proceeded toward Eniwetok on the 21st . After picking up 391 casualties ( of whom 125 had been brought by landing craft directly from the beachheads at Eniwetok and Parry Island ) , she returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 March . " Solace " was next ordered to Espiritu Santo and arrived there on 20 March . During the next nine weeks , she shuttled between New Guinea , the Admiralty Islands , and Australia . She was back at Roi on 6 June and departed there nine days later for the Marianas . The hospital ship anchored in Charan - Kanoa Anchorage , Saipan , on 18 June . While the shores and hills were still under bombardment , she began taking on battle casualties , many directly from the front lines . When she sailed for Guadalcanal on the 20th , all of her hospital beds were filled , and there were patients in the crew ' s quarters . Altogether , the ship was caring for 584 men . " Solace " returned to Saipan from 2 – 5 July and embarked another load of wounded whom she took to the Solomons . From there , she was routed to the Marshalls arriving at Eniwetok on the 19th . Two days later , she sailed for Guam . Between 24 and 26 July , she took on board wounded from various ships and the beachhead for evacuation to Kwajalein . " Solace " was back at Guam from 5 – 15 August where she picked up 502 casualties for evacuation to Pearl Harbor . " Solace " was at Pearl Harbor from 26 August – 7 September , when she left for the Marshalls . She arrived at Eniwetok on the 14th . Three days later , she was ordered to sail immediately for the Palaus . She arrived off Peleliu on the 22nd , anchored from the beach , and began loading wounded . All stretcher cases ( 542 ) were put on board " Solace " . She headed for Nouméa on the 25th and arrived on 4 October . The ship was back at Peleliu from 16 to 27 October tending wounded and then sailed to Manus . " Solace " stood out of Seeadler Harbor on 29 October , bound for the Caroline Islands . From 1 November 1944 – 18 February 1945 , she served as a station hospital ship at Ulithi , providing medical and dental care for the 3rd and 5th Fleets . She proceeded to Guam and was dispatched from there to Iwo Jima , arriving on 23 February . " Solace " anchored within 2 , 000 yards of the beach , but enemy shells fell within of her , and she was forced to move further out . The first wounded were brought on board within 45 minutes of her arrival , and she sailed for Saipan the next day , loaded to capacity . She made three evacuation trips from Iwo Jima to base hospitals at Guam and Saipan , carrying almost 2 , 000 patients , by 12 March . The island was declared secure on the 15th . " Solace " steamed to Ulithi and joined the invasion fleet for Okinawa Gunto . She arrived at Kerama Retto on the morning of 27 March and began bringing patients on board from various ships . In the next three months , the ship evacuated seven loads of casualties to the Marianas . On 1 July , she sailed from Guam to the west coast , via Pearl Harbor . " Solace " arrived at San Francisco on 22 July and was routed to Portland , Oregon , for an overhaul that lasted until 12 September . She was then assigned to " Operation Magic Carpet " , transporting homecoming veterans from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco . She returned to San Francisco from her last voyage on 16 January 1946 and was routed to Hampton Roads , Virginia . Decommissioning and sale . " Solace " was decommissioned at Norfolk on 27 March 1946 , struck from the Navy List on 21 May , and returned to the War Shipping Administration on 18 July . She was sold to the Turkish Maritime Lines on 16 April 1948 and operated as the SS " Ankara " . external link about scrap in 1981 Awards . " Solace " received seven battle star s for World War II service .