USS Hollandia (CVE-97), formerly AVG-97 and ACV-97, was an Casablanca class

Casablanca class escort carrier

The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

 escort carrier of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

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Hollandia was launched under Maritime Commission contract as Astrolabe Bay (CVE-97) by Kaiser Co., Inc., Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

 on 28 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. William H. Wheat; renamed Hollandia on 30 May 1944; and commissioned on 1 June 1944, Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 Charles L. Lee in command.

World War II

Following training off the West Coast, Hollandia sailed 10 July 1944 from San Diego for a shakedown cruise to Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

. She also transported replacement aircraft on this cruise, and on the return voyage stopped at Manus Island

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 and Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

, arriving Port Hueneme, California on 27 August. During the next few months the escort carrier made similar cruises between the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and the Navy's bases in the far Pacific, Manus, Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

, and Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, bringing vitally-needed supplies and passengers.

Hollandia was anchored at Ulithi on 1 April 1945 when the Navy's massive amphibious assault of Okinawa began. She got underway next day and operated off the Okinawan coast, sending fighters to support the advancing troops. The ship then returned to San Diego, arriving on 1 May 1945. Following a cargo and passenger voyage to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 and return, Hollandia departed on 7 June to take part in the climactic events of the Pacific war. Loading replacement aircraft at Pearl Harbor, the ship sailed on 18 June to operate with 3rd Fleet's logistic supply unit, and for the final 2 months of the war, she brought valuable replacements to the carriers of the fast task forces pounding Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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Post-War

Following the surrender of Japan, Hollandia underwent conversion at Guam for use as a passenger ship and joined Operation "Magic-Carpet", charged with the gigantic task of returning the tens of thousands of American servicemen in the Pacific. After four such voyages, the ship returned to San Pedro, California. Departing on 4 February 1946, she arrived Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

on 15 February and decommissioned on 17 January 1947. She was reclassified while in reserve to CVU-97 on 12 June 1955 and to AKV-33 on 7 May 1959. Hollandia was sold to Eisenberg & Co., New York on 31 December 1960, and later scrapped in Portland, Oregon.

External links

• Photo gallery at Navsource.org