In Greek mythology, Thetis was the mother of Achilles, the hero of the Trojan wars and Homer's epic novel, The Iliad, in which she is  mentioned many times. She was considered to be a goddess of the sea and was a granddaughter of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

On February 2, 1884, the U.S. Navy purchased a wooden-hulled steam whaler to be used in an operation to rescue the Greely Expedition. It was the first of three ships to be name the USS Thetis.

                   
           USS Thetis during rescue operation                        USS Thetis in Seward, Alaska

Thetis Bay, south of Juneau, Alaska is believed to be named for the first USS Thetis. Several of the Casablanca class CVE's built during WWII were named after bays, especially ones in Alaska.

Thus: why CVE-90 was named the USS Thetis Bay.

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