Holland

U.S.S. Holland

(Hai 315)

Notes: Flagship for Commander Submarine Divisions, Battle Fleet. Assigned to San Diego, with periodic tours to Panama. Among her various commanders was Capt Chester W. Nimitz in 1930-31. On 22 Nov 1941, she arived at Cavite Naval Base, Philippine Islands, to service the submarines of the Asiatic Fleet. After initial Japanese air raids in early Dec, she was sent south, first to Balikpapan, Borneo, then to Soerabaja, Java, and finally to Darwin, Australia, arriving 2 Jan 1942. In Feb she returned to Tjilaljap, Java, to evacuate RAdm Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., and his Asiatic Fleet Submarine Force Staff. For her outstanding service to the Fleet during the first crucial months of the war, Holland was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation. She continued to service and overhaul submarines in Australia before returning for her own overhaul at Mare Island in Feb 1943. She moved to Pearl Harbor in Jun 1943 to support Pacific Fleet submarines. She shifted to Midway in Jun 1944, and then to the Marianas. She returned to Pearl Harbor in Nov 1944 to be fitted out as headquarters ship for the Commander Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet. In Jan 1945 she moved to Guam to embark VAdm Lockwood. In Sep 1945 she started a new career as a repair ship, ARG-18, and sailed for Okinawa, and then Tokyo. She returned to San Diego in Jun 1946 for inactivation, and was scrapped in 1953.