USS Holt (DE-706) was a of the United States Navy. She was named after William Mack Holt. Namesake William Mack Holt was born on 9 September 1917 in Great Falls, Montana. He enlisted in the Navy on 4 October 1940, and was appointed an Aviation Cadet 26 December 1940. After completing flight training, he reported to the aircraft carrier as a fighter pilot on 16 December 1941. Later transferred to the carrier air wing aboard (VF-3), Holt participated in the air operations over Guadalcanal. On 7 August 1942, after sighting a group of about 27 Japanese bombers with escorts, Lieutenant (j.g.) Holt led his two-plane section through the enemy fighters, downing several, and helped to turn back the bombers, continuing his attacks until his own aircraft was shot down. Holt was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. Construction and commissioning Holts keel was laid down on 28 November 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan, as one of a series of Buckley-class destroyer escorts ordered from Defoe. After completing 13 ships, Defoe received a contract modification to complete the rest with 5-inch guns, which became known as the Rudderow class. Launched on 15 February 1944, she was sponsored by Mrs. Robert Holt, mother of Lt.(jg) Holt. She was commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana on 9 June 1944, with Lieutenant Commander Victor Blue commanding. Service history World War II, 1944–1946 Holt conducted her shakedown cruise off Bermuda, and after a short stay in Boston, Massachusetts, reported to Norfolk, Virginia, on 8 August 1944. Until 19 August, she helped carry out shallow water tests in the Patuxent River, Maryland, and then joined Escort Division 74 at Norfolk. Holt screened the escort carriers and from Norfolk to Newport, Rhode Island, and departed on 5 September 1944 on anti-submarine operations along the Eastern seaboard. She came upon the torpedoed SS George Ade on 12 September, and joined in the search for the U-boat which had attacked her. The search had to be called off, however, as a hurricane approached the next day. Holt returned to Norfolk, and after escorting coastal convoys to Boston and New York, she sailed from Norfolk for the Pacific. The escort and her division transited the Panama Canal on 23 October, and arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea via the Galapagos and Society Islands on 21 November. The ship then became a unit of the 7th Fleet, and departed