AVG-97 (later ACV-97, CVE-97, CVU-97 and AKV-33) was initially named Astrolabe Bay for a bay (NS0306022) between Astrolabe Peninsula and Boussole Head, in Glacier Bay, Alaska. It was named in 1883 by George Davidson, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), for L'Astrolabe (under Paul-Antoine Fleuriot, Vicomte de Langle), one of the two ships of the French scientific expedition under Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, which explored the region in 1786. Interestingly, the Geographic Dictionary of Alaska (1906) lists an Astrolabe Point but not an Astrolabe Bay. Anyway, the name Astrolabe Bay was assigned to ACV-60 and, later, to CVE-97.

Renamed, 30 May 1944, after the town of Hollandia (now Jayapura) on the northern coast of New Guinea on Humboldt Bay (now Yos Sudarso Bay). During World War II Hollandia was a major Japanese air base, and was taken by a brilliantly executed American amphibious operation, 22 April 1944. The success of the operation had much to do with securing New Guinea and was a major step toward the eventual invasion of the Philippines.

(Maps courtesy of Google Maps.)

NS0309709a: A Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless bomber en route to strike enemy targets, 21 April 1944. Hollandia airfield is directly below, with Sentani airfield in the middle distance and Lake Sentani at top. Wrecked Japanese planes litter Hollandia field, largely the victims of USAAF attacks earlier in the month. (National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-251419.)

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) shows the gun arrangement of the Casablanca-class in this September 1944 photograph: two twin Bofors on each quarter, and a single 5"/38 (barely visible) aft.

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) underway along an unidentified breakwater circa 1944. She is camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 16A.

US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.488.034.005. Robert L. Lawson Photograph Collection.

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) off California, 18 September 1944. Camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 16A.

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) circa 1945, but exact date and location unknown. Camouflaged in Measure 21.

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) arrives at Naval Air Station Alameda, California on 29 November 1945. She was transporting 1100 servicemen home from Eniwetok and Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Magic Carpet. By this time the ship was camouflaged in Measure 21.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command (#NH 106721).

Veterans of the Pacific, aboard USS Hollandia (CVE-97) at U.S. Naval Air Station, Alameda, California, just prior to disembarking. Some of the passengers pick up their sea-bags from their bunks on the ship's hangar deck. Photograph received November 1945.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-353729.

Bunk rooms on USS Hollandia (CVE-97) which was converted as a troop transport. This space was formerly a clipping room for 40 millimeter ammunition. Photograph received November 1945.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-353732.

Bunk rooms on USS Hollandia (CVE-97) which was converted as a troop transport. Some of the 1100 passengers as they relax on their bunks, just prior to disembarking at Naval Air Station, Alameda, California. Photograph received November 1945.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-353734.

Plank Owner's Certificate, with embossed ship's seal.

Shellback Certificate, dated 19 July 1944, with embossed ship's seal.