Qualla: Naval Base Hollandia https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Naval Base Hollandia https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia Naval Base Hollandia: Introduction https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. On 22 April 1944, American forces waded ashore at Humboldt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay, twelve miles apart on the north coast of New Guinea. Two weeks later, on 9 May, the 113th Seabee Construction Battalion arrived to turn what they'd just captured into a city. What rose from the mangroves and equatorial rain over the next six months became, for a time, one of the busiest military ports on the planet. Half a million U.S. personnel passed through Naval Base Hollandia before it was shuttered in December 1945. Today the site lies within modern Jayapura, the jungle having reclaimed most of the rest.

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Image: U.S. Navy | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Naval Base Hollandia: Two Bays, One Base https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp, Public domain. Humboldt Bay, on the eastern side, was the main port - good anchorage, protected by headlands, with enough flat land along the shore for piers and depots. Tanahmerah Bay, twelve miles to the west, was where the fuel went: a large tank farm for the fuel oil and diesel that a Pacif...

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Image: Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-two-bays-one-base.mp3 0:06 2 full Naval Base Hollandia: The Seabees' War https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp, Public domain. The 113th Battalion started the port. The 102nd arrived on 12 June to speed things up. The 119th and 122nd followed for Tanahmerah Bay and outlying airfields at Wakde and Aitape. While the piers went up, the Seabees installed pontoon barge docks so cargo could move immediately. A...

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Image: Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-the-seabees-war.mp3 0:06 3 full Naval Base Hollandia: MacArthur's Address https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp, Public domain. Naval Base Hollandia was General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters from its founding until the Philippines campaign pulled the war's center of gravity north in March 1945. His command staff worked from buildings the Seabees had hammered together weeks earlier. Cyclops Airfield, in...

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Image: Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-macarthurs-address.mp3 0:06 4 full Naval Base Hollandia: Empire Walked Away https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp, Public domain. The base closed in December 1945, four months after Tokyo's surrender. The Naval Construction Maintenance Unit 558 shipped the usable pieces forward to bases closer to the remaining action. What was left - the buildings, the piers, the airfield - was sold to the Netherlands East ...

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Image: Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-empire-walked-away.mp3 0:06 5 full Naval Base Hollandia: A Network of Small Bases https://qualla.com/naval-base-hollandia/ Photo credit Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp, Public domain. Hollandia didn't stand alone. It was the anchor of a chain of outlying stations knitting together the northern New Guinea coast. Naval Base Aitape sat 125 miles east, home to a PT boat base operating craft like PT-370, PT-114, PT-144, and PT-368, serviced by USS Oyster Bay. Naval...

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Image: Tec 5 Howard Klawitter, U.S. Army Signal Corp | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/s/1/naval-base-hollandia-wp/rps1-naval-base-hollandia-a-network-of-small-bases.mp3 0:06 6 full