USN:
USS Solar DE-221, 30 April 1946
On 30 April 1946, Solar was berthed at Leonardo Pier I of the Naval Ammunition Depot at Earle, N.J., to discharge ammunition. The operation went smoothly until, shortly after 1130, three 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 1 officer and 6 sailors and injured 125 others.
Salvage work on Solar was begun by 1500, and her wrecked superstructure was cut off to prevent her capsizing. She was moved to New York, where she decommissioned on 21 May 1946. Solar was then stripped of all useable equipment, towed 100 miles to sea, and sunk on 9 June 1946 in 700 fathoms of water. Her name was stuck from the Navy list on 5 June 1946.
Additional info in comments and excerpts from New York Times reports.
From a New York Times report: No one seemed certain tonight what had caused the explosion, but what seemed like a possible explanation came from Jack Horne, fireman second class, of Charlotte, N.C. He thought a piece of ammunition carried by Joe Stuchinski, seaman, of Baltimore might have done it. “Ski,” the fireman said, “was carrying a ‘hedgehog’ from the forward magazine. While he was holding it, it just went off. He must have bumped it against something, because those things go off when anything touches them.”
Seaman Stuchinski oddly was not seriously injured. He was deafened, a few minor scratches showed on his chest when he got to the first-aid station and his dungarees were split. “It went off. The thing just went off,” he said.
Some insight into the series of events leading up to the first explosion was given by the members of a five-man ammunition team, which was passing up hedgehogs, or anti-submarine missiles, from below the decks to topside
“I was passing this equipment,” Stuchinski said, “when it suddenly exploded. I saw a guy blown to pieces and I don’t remember how I got out, but I got out.”
"Dog Last to Quit Ship; Mascot Wet But Unhurt" Special to The New York Times
LEONARDO, N.J., April 30 - Lobo, a brown-and-white mongrel of uncertain ancestry, who has been the mascot of the Solar’s crew for the last five months, left the damaged vessel after all the personnel had been removed somewhat damp – but in style.
Lobo returned to the naval ammunition depot headquarters in an ambulance that had come all the way from Oakhurst, N.J., to aid at the disaster. He was attended by a first-aid squad, although he was uninjured. When he arrived a rousing cheer went up from the crewmen who had grown to love Lobo and to regard the part Spitz and part spaniel as a member of the crew.
Lobo joined the Solar in Norfolk, Virginia. He represented an investment of $4.
