She was named after William Mack Holt. Holt ' s keel was laid down on 28 November 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 , she was sponsored by Mrs. Robert Holt, mother of Lt. Holt conducted her shakedown cruise off Bermuda , and after a short stay in Boston, Massachusetts , reported to Norfolk, Virginia , on 8 August Until 19 August, she helped carry out shallow water tests in the Patuxent River, Maryland , and then joined Escort Division 74 at Norfolk.
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 ship then became a unit of the 7th Fleet , and departed on 28 November to join carrier forces in Leyte Gulf providing protection for the vital military operations ashore. She completed this duty on 11 December, and steamed with a convoy toward Mindoro for the establishment of a motor torpedo boat base on that island.
During this invasion, an important step in the retaking of the Philippines , Holt's gunfire protected her supply convoy and shot down several planes attempting to attack the invasion forces during the landings on 15 December. The destroyer escort returned to Leyte with a convoy on 17 December, and remained in San Pedro Bay until 22 December Holt's next duty was guarding supply ships on the voyage to Hollandia , and after a stop at Manus Island , she got underway once more from Hollandia on 8 January with the resupply convoy for Lingayen Gulf.
