Naval Base Hollandia 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 ...

base built 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 ...

at Humboldt Bay, near the city of Hollandia (now Jayapura) in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. The base was built by the US Navy

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s during the

Battle of Hollandia The Battle of Hollandia (code-named Operation Reckless) was an engagement between Allies of World War II and Japanese forces during World War II. The majority of the Allied force was provided by the United States, with the bulk of two United S ...

, starting on May 9, 1944. Later Naval Base Hollandia became a supply base to support the invasion of the Philippines that started on October 20, 1944. Naval Base Hollandia became an advance headquarter of the

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

History

The Battle of Hollandia started on April 22, 1944, as part of the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered Mandated Territory of New Guinea (23 Jan ...

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

as part of

Operation Persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

landed at both Humboldt Bay and

Tanahmerah Bay Tanahmerah Bay, or Tanah Merah Bay, ( id, Teluk Tanahmerah, "red soil bay") is a bay on the north coast of New Guinea, in Jayapura Regency, Papua, Indonesia, about 50 km northwest of the provincial capital of Jayapura. During World War ...

, 12 miles west of Humboldt Bay. Both bays are in a rain

Tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

climate. On May 9, the Seabee 113th Construction Battalion arrived at Humboldt Bay and start construction on the port and docking facilities. Buildings and roads were built at the port base camp. A

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

water purification Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...

, Seabee camp and depot were built. To receive all the needed supplies for the new Naval Base a pier for Merchant Navy ships was built and completed on June 9. To prepare for the staging of troops, a second pier was built, starting September 13 and completed on November 23. A

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

repair base was completed on September 1. Seabee 102rd Construction Battalion arrived at Humboldt Bay on June 12, 1944, to speed up construction projects. To expand the base a major land fill project was done into the bay. Beach landing ramps were built to support the loading and unloading of LST ships. Before the piers were completed the Seabee installed pontoon barge docks. Seabees were sent 25 miles west to Tanahmerah Bay on June 19. At Tanahmerah Bay a large

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

and

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

tank farm was built. From Tanahmerah Bay some Seabees were sent 8 miles inland to

Lake Sentani Lake Sentani is a tropical, shallow, and at low-altitude open lake located at the northeast extremity of the Jayapura Regency in the Indonesian province of Papua, about from the provincial capital, Jayapura City. It is located just to the south ...

and built an advance naval headquarters. Seabee 119th and 122nd Construction Battalion arrived to help with work at Tanahmerah Bay. The 122nd Battalion worked at facilities the

Wakde Airfield Wakde Airfield is a World War II airfield located on Wakde Island, off the northern coast of New Guinea in Papua, Indonesia. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state. History The airfiel ...

on an Island west of Humboldt Bay and at

Aitape Aitape is a small town of about 18,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the ...

east of Humboldt Bay. Naval Base Hollandia supplied most of the supplies for the invasion of the Philippines. Some of the base was moved to more forward bases by the Naval Construction Maintenance Unit 558. The Naval Base Hollandia was closed in December 1945 and the facilities were sold to the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

Government. .

Bases and facilities

*Harbor administration *Power station *Water purification plant *Seabee Camp *Seabee Depot *Supply Depot *Fleet post office FPO# 3115 SF Hollandia *PT Boat Base, (serviced by USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6)) *Altape PT Boat Base *Repair Depot *Communication center *G-2 Navl hospital 500-beds *Destroyer repair base with 350 troops *Staging camp *Machine shops *Engineering camp *Chemical Engineering Camp *

Degaussing Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to red ...

range *Refrigerator storage *

Crash boat Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II th ...

base *

Barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

Mess Hall The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

s *Pontoon assembly depot *

Ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

depot *

Hollandia Airfield Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport, also known as Sentani International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Sentani) is an airport serving Jayapura,

near Lake Sentan *Cyclops Airfield, inland from Hollandia *Leimok Hill radio station *Tanahmerah Bay tank farm *Lake Sentani Base *Wakde Airfield, remote base *Aitape barracks and Mess hall, PT Boat Base, including PT-370,PT-114, PT-144 and PT-368 (serviced by USS Oyster Bay), remote baseSouthwest Pacific -- Conquest of New Guinea, ''biblio.org Hyperwar''
/ref> *Cape Soeadja Camp *Outlying Bases: Naval Base Hollandia supports nearby small Outlying Bases *Naval Base Aitape at

, Fleet PO Box was 927 *Naval Base Aitape at

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. ...

, Fleet PO Box was 3074 *Naval Base Saidor at

Saidor Saidor is a village located in Saidor ward of Rai Coast Rural LLG, Madang Province, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It is also the administrative centre of the Rai Coast District of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. The village was the ...

, Fleet PO Box was 3086 *Naval Base Saidor Sungum at

, Fleet PO Box was 3088

Gallery

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless over Hollandia airfield on 21 April 1944.jpg,

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/div ...

over Hollandia airfield on 21 April 1944 File:Army Quartermaster General Staff (Reeve 0091553), National Museum of Health and Medicine (4837758582).jpg, Army Quartermaster General Staff on Seabee dock at Lake Sentani Base file:USA-P-Approach-p46.jpg, Map of Tanahmerah Bay east of Hollandia Bay File:CampSeabeeNavalBaseBrisbane buildingtrips.jpg, Map

Camp Seabee Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacif ...

Naval Base Brisbane Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacific ...

building trips File:PT370_US_Navy.jpg, US Navy PT-370 boat in New Guinea in 1944 File:USS PC-598 at Humboldt Bay, New Guinea - October, 1944.jpg,

USS PC-598 The USS ''PC-598'' was a 173ft (approx. 54m) metal hulled in the United States Navy. The submarine chaser fought in the Pacific War, Pacific Theatre during World War II, and was converted to an amphibious landing control vessel during the war, ...

at Humboldt Bay in October 1944

References

External links

youtube, Battle for New Guinea 1942-1945 youtube, Attack On Hollandia (1944)youtube, Allied forces capture Hollandia in New Guinea youtube, Invasion of Hollandia
{{US Fleets Naval Stations of the United States Navy World War II airfields in the Pacific Ocean Theater Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

Bases and facilities

Gallery

See also

References

External links