The Corvette “Solimões” (V24) was the third ship to bear this name in the Brazilian Navy, in honor of the main tributary of the Amazonas River. The V24 belongs to the Imperial Marine Corvettes class, developed and built during the management of Admiral Renato de Almeida Guillobel at the then Ministry of the Navy. Her keel was struck on January 18, 1954, and the ship was launched to sea on November 24, 1954, and was incorporated into the Navy on August 3, 1955. He retired in July 2003, after 48 years of active service.
On October 20, 1955, “Solimones” arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Subsequently, she was transferred to the 4th Naval District in Bethlehem (PA), where she went on to integrate the Amazon Flotilla (FlotAM), performing mobile logistics support, river patrol, and civic-social assistance missions to the Amazon’s shoreline populations. In February 1980, they rescued the Merchant Ship “Miroalva”, which was on the coast of Pará, with a load of wood catching fire. To extinguish it, the merchant had to be towed to the port of Bethlehem (PA), where the Corvette’s Collapse Control (CAV) teams controlled the flames. In April of the same year, he participated in Operation RIBEIREX – 80/I, integrating the Ribeirinha Task Force with NPaFlu “Pedro Teixeira” (P20), “Raposo Tavares” (P21), “Roraima” (P30), “Rondônia” (P31) and “Amapá” (P32). Aircrafts from the Amazon Flotilla Embedded Air Detachment (DAeFlotAM), men from a Company of the Marine Special Operations Battalion “Tonelero”, and Health, Engineering, Communications and Amphibious Reconnaissance detachments.
With a displacement of 911 tonnes (standard) and 1,025 tonnes (loaded), it was 55.72 m long, 9.55 m mouth and 3.6 m wide. It was powered by 2 160 kW diesel generators and 1 75 kW backup diesel generator. Their ammunition included 1 76.2 mm cannon and 4 20 mm Oerlikon machine guns. The crew consisted of 64 men, including 6 officers and 58 squad.
In 2004, thanks to an agreement between the Brazilian Navy and the Executive Secretariat of Culture of Pará, the process of requalification of the old Corvette “Solimões” began in a Ship-Museum, becoming the first ship of its kind in the Northern region. Since 2019, the Ship-Museum has undergone a revitalization at the Naval Base of Val de Cães. The return to the pier of the Casa das Eleven Windows and reopening for public viewing are scheduled for November this year, when the ship completes 70 years since it was launched into the sea.