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USS Hollis (DE 794 / APD 86)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - I - D
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal
Second Row: World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal - National Defense Service Medal


Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198
Hollis (DE 794) Building and Operational Data:
  • 05 July 1943: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.
  • 11 September 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Hermione C. Hollis, widow of Lt.(jg) Hollis
  • 24 January 1944: Commissioned at Orange, Lcdr. G. D. Kissam in command
  • 24 April 1945: Reclassified and converted APD 86
  • 05 May 1947: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 3 months of service
  • 06 April 1951: Recommissioned, assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Force at Little Creek, Va.
  • 17 July 1956: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 5 years and 3 months of service
  • 15 September 1974: Struck from the NVR with a total of 8 years and 6 months of service
  • 01 July 1975: Sold, scrapped
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    Hollis
    0679401

    Hollis

    35k Born 10 September 1906 in Crawfordsville, Ga., Ralph Hollis graduated from Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Ga. in 1923. He served in enlisted status 1923-26 in the Navy. For seven years he worked as a Driver-Pump Operator for the Palm Beach Fire Department from 1926 to 1933. For the next eight years he was a Lieutenant with the Palm Beach Police department in charge of radio communications for both Palm Beach P.D. and West Palm P.D. He applied and was appointed Ensign in the Naval Reserve 21 November 1934 and was called to active duty in May 1941. On 06 May 1941 he was sent to Post Graduate School at the United States Naval Academy for training in a Special Course in Communications. He completed the course on 16 August 1941. Ensign Hollis reported to battleship USS Arizona on the 18th of September 1941 and was promoted to the grade of Lieutenant, junior grade on 15 November 1941. He was killed during the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor 07 December 1941. Under General Order 186 by the Secretary of the Navy he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart on 21 January 1943. His other awards included the American Defense Service Medal and World War II Victory Medal posthumously awarded on 24 April 1947. Over his gallant ship, USS Arizona, now stands a monument to men like Ensign Hollis who died on board that fateful morning.

    USS Hollis (DE 794) (1944-1956) was the first ship to be named in his honor
    Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Hollis
    0679403
    52k 28 January 1944: the Gulf of Mexico - Port quarter view of USS Hollis (DE-794) near Houston, Texas, four days after being commissioned, in camouflage scheme 31/14D. The camouflage scheme has used dull black (BK), Haze Gray (5-H).

    (U.S. Navy photo #19-LCM-DE794-2 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md., courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage)
    Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Hollis
    0679402
    210k 06 April 1944: the Atlantic - USS Hollis (DE 794) is now in 31/14D off Newport, Rhode Island, using black and ocean gray. Hollis was participating in sound testing in an effort to combat German acoustic homing torpedoes. There is a remnant of haze gray left on the stack; otherwise all of the haze gray has been repainted to ocean gray. From 04 to 30 April, Hollis operated with AsDevLant in the Narragansett Bay area, conducting various FXR gear sonar tests, and testing various ASW attack procedures.

    (U.S. Navy photo NARA #80-G-229730 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)
    Photo:
    Jerry Church

    Caption:
    Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.

    Hollis History
    View the USS Hollis (DE 794) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Hollis as submitted by the ship at war's end.

    Hollis's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Decommissioned 05 May 1947 - 06 Apr. 1951
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 24 Jan. 1944 - 16 Feb. 1945Lcdr. Gordon Denslow Kissam, USNR (Comm. CO)
    2.) 16 Feb. 1945 - 07 jan. 1946Lcdr. Cyril Fox, USNR
    3.) 07 Jan. 1946 - 31 Jul. 1946Lt.(jg) Howard Harper Huth, USNR
    4.) 31 Jul. 1946 - 05 May 1947Lt. Marion Spencer Evans (Decomm. CO) (Red Oak, Iowa)
    5.) ~1953Lcdr. David Lavalle House Jr., USN (Greenville, Mo.)
    6.) ~1954Lcdr. Raymond Henry James Powell, USN

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information

    None
    Note About Contacts

    Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has
    been made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list
    only a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
    Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.


    Additional Resources

    Navsource APD Pages, USS Hollis (APD 86)
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 19 April 2019