Naval Station Coco Solo with submarines 1923

Coco Solo was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

submarine base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Na ...

and naval air station, active from 1918 to the 1960s.

History

The submarine base at Coco Solo was established May 6, 1918. The site corresponds with modern-day

Cativá Cativá is a corregimiento in Colón District, Colón Province, Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of N ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. It was on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

(northwest) side of the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

, near

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was l ...

. Five C-class submarines were based there during 1914–1919.

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

was born in 1936 at a small Navy hospital, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station.pp. 17–34.
/ref> The larger Coco Solo Hospital was constructed in the summer of 1941. The area containing it was transferred from the civil part of the Panama Canal Zone to the naval part when

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

signed Executive Order 8981 on December 17, 1941. On December 7, 1941, three V-Class submarines (''Barracuda'', ''Bass'' and ''Bonita'') were stationed at Coco Solo. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Coco Solo also served as a Naval Air Facility, housing a squadron of

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

aircraft. By the 1960s, no U.S. Navy vessels remained, only some support staff and housing. At the far end of Randolph Road was Fort Randolph, unused except for military training exercises, and where the Fort Randolph Riding Club was located as used by the Canal Zone Horsemen's Association. Until the mid-1990s, the town site of Coco Solo was used by the civilian employees of the Panama Canal as a residential area. The nearby Galeta Island U.S. Navy communications facility continued in operation as well. After the turnover of the Panama Canal to Panamanians in 1999, US military activity ceased at both Coco Solo and Galeta Island. Coco Solo is now the site of two

container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

s: Colón Container Terminal and

Manzanillo International Terminal Manzanillo International Terminal (abbreviation: MIT, UN/LOCODE: PAMIT) is located east of the Atlantic opening of the Panama Canal on Manzanillo Bay, Colón Province, Panama. MIT is a distribution center for cargo destined for cities within Pana ...

, which is the busiest container port in Latin America.

Climate

References

External links

*
Photo of the US Naval Hospital Coco Solo

"The Battle for Coco Solo Panama, 1989", Infantry Magazine

"Tropical decay blights McCain's Panama birthplace", 2008 Reuters story
{{coord, 9.37262, N, 79.8812, W, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Panama Canal Zone Townships Military installations of the United States in Panama Colón, Panama United States Navy submarine bases Buildings and structures in Colón Province Military installations established in 1918 Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

Climate

See also

References

External links