Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the Naval Base Subic Bay built?
In September 1762, the British invaded the Philippines and took over the Spanish main naval base in Manila Bay. This prompted the Spanish military to scout for the next promising naval station. The expedition returned with the good news for the naval command - a natural bounty and deep waters at Subic Bay. King Alfonso XII issued a decree in 1884 that declared Subic as "a naval port and the property appertaining thereto set aside for naval purposes." Construction of an arsenal and ship repair yard ensued March 8 the following year, as ordered by the new settlers' Naval Commission. Subic Bay's potential as naval station was realized by the Americans. Commodore George Dewey and his men engaged in a battle that destroyed the Spanish Army in 1898, and the Americans took over Subic Bay on December 10, 1899.
The Japanese government kept a close eye on activities in the Philippines for violations of the 1922 treaty. During the typhoon season of 1928, VT Squadron Five which operated Martin torpedo aircraft out of Manila, arrived in Subic Bay on a routine training flight. A typhoon suddenly veered toward Subic Bay and the plane crews had to lay down ramps to haul the seaplanes up on the beach. The pontoons were filled with water and the planes lashed down. When the typhoon had passed, the undamaged planes were refloated and returned to their tenders at Manila.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time (18:18 GMT). The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, dry dock, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section), were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
Japan’s southernmost prefecture, Okinawa, hosts a concentration of US military bases unlike anywhere outside the continental United States. More than half the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan are based here. On the main island of Okinawa nearly 20% of the land is occupied by these bases. This large US military footprint, and the legacy of Okinawa’s history as a US-administered territory until 1972, means that the social and physical landscape of Okinawa is shaped by this relationship with the US military like few other places. In "Hotel Okinawa" (2017), Girard looks at this unique world "on base" and off, separate and yet conjoined, the result of decades of living in close proximity with the US military. Additionally, archival photographs, periodicals and other artefacts, some dating back to the US occupation, appear throughout the book, registering historical strands that are part of the complex fabric of Okinawa today.
Naval Base Kitsap is the third-largest Navy base in the U.S. It features one of the U.S. Navy's four nuclear shipyards, one of two strategic nuclear weapons facilities, the only West Coast dry dock capable of handling a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and the Navy's largest fuel depot.
The first advanced base exercises had taken place on Culebra, Puerto Rico in 1903, proving to the General Board how well the Marines could perform the ideals and concepts that were conceived. It opened many new perspectives for the future of the Marines; and it sparked a harsh chapter of interservice rivalry. The captain of USS "Panther" demanded that the Marines perform their duties as a ship's guard, including ship security and acting as a provost marshal to provide deterrence against mutiny. This act forcibly neglected the advanced base force battalion's training schedule and defense planning. Even ashore the naval officers had little understanding of the problems of moving heavy weaponry and equipment across broken terrain, and the advanced base force languished by 1903 due to the large number of east coast Marines deployed to Panama and Cuba. Only then were the Marines in the Philippines included in the General Board's advanced base force concept.
The United States Marine Corps's Advanced Base Force (Advance Base Force in some references) was a coastal and naval base defense force that was designed to set up mobile and fixed bases in the event of major landing operations within, and beyond, the territorial United States. Established in the beginning of the 20th century, the Advanced Base Force was the United States' first combined task force built on the concept of the Marine Corps' traditional role in expeditionary warfare. The slow development of the advanced base force played a significant role in the controversy over the removal of the ships' guards (Marines on Navy ships) in 1908–1909.
There are currently three shipyards on San Diego Bay, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), Continental Maritime of San Diego (Huntington Ingalls), and Southwest Marine (BAE Systems). NASSCO is the largest new-construction shipyard on the west coast of the United States; "specializing in auxiliary and support ships for the U.S. Navy and oil tankers and dry cargo carriers for commercial markets."
These Seaborne Observers, under the command of Group Commandant C.G. Cooke, undertook specialist training at the Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth, prior to being temporarily seconded to the Royal Navy with the rank of Petty Officer (Aircraft Identifier). The Seaborne Observers continued to wear their ROC uniform, but in addition wore a "SEABORNE" shoulder flash and Royal Navy brassard bearing the letters "RN". During the D-day landings, two Seaborne Observers were allocated to all participating US Navy vessels and Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. The Seaborne Observers assumed control of each ship's anti aircraft batteries with the intention of reducing the previously high incidence of "friendly fire" ("collateral damage"), between allied vessels and allied aircraft. The success of the Seaborne Observers in undertaking this role can be measured by a signal sent from Wing Commander P.B. Lucas, Air Staff Officer, who stated that:
Naval Station Norfolk, is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia. It supports naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hampton Roads peninsula known as Sewell's Point. It is the world's largest naval station, with the largest concentration of U.S. Navy forces through 75 ships alongside 14 piers and with 134 aircraft and 11 aircraft hangars at the adjacently operated Chambers Field and Port Services controls more than 3,100 ships' movements annually as they arrive and depart their berths.
The San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard was a short-lived shipyard formed in 1965 as the combination of the San Francisco Naval Shipyard (aka Hunters Point) and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The combined yards were the largest naval shipyard in the world, but the desired cost savings did not materialize, and the two yards reverted to separate existences in February 1970. The shipyard was used for radioactive testing when the United States was testing the atomic bomb. The site has since been contaminated. Now the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is a Superfund site, as designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is the Navy's job to clean up the site to "reasonable" levels to those who live adjacent to the shipyard.
Imperial Japanese Navy submarines originated with the purchase of five Holland type submarines from the United States in 1904. Japanese submarine forces progressively built up strength and expertise, becoming by the beginning of World War II one of the world's most varied and powerful submarine fleets.
Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Kingdom of Libya. At one time it was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of 20 sq miles on the coast of Tripoli. The base had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the US, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. The base had a radio and TV station, and a shopping mall and fast food outlets. At its height it had over 15,000 military personnel and their dependents. Wheelus Air Base was originally built by the Italian Air Force in 1923 and was known as Mellaha Air Base. Today the facility is known as Mitiga International Airport.
On October 3, 1951, the naval ashore unit Headquarters, Support Activities was created to support Allied Forces Southern Europe, and later the Sixth Fleet. In August, 1953, the support unit became Commander, Subordinate command, U.S. Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic / Commander, Headquarters Support Activities, and re-designated U.S. Naval Activities, Italy / U.S. Naval Support Activity, Naples in November 1957. U.S. Naval Activities, Italy was consolidated with U.S. Naval Support Activity, Naples on August 8, 1966.
The United States Naval Academy was founded in 1845 on the site of Fort Severn, and now occupies an area of land reclaimed from the Severn River next to the Chesapeake Bay. The Annapolis area was the home of a VLF-transmitter called NSS Annapolis, which was used by the United States Navy to communicate with its Atlantic submarine fleet. Students that attend the Naval Academy are enrolled in school for four years with a following five year commitment to serving in the Marine Corps or Navy. There is a typical average of around 4,500 students enrolled.
The United States Marine Corps has a long history of seizing and defending advance bases. Prior to World War I, base defense was the Marine Corps’ primary mission. During World War I, the Advance Base Force was created to seize and defend enemy territory consisting primarily of bases. In 1933, the Advance Base Force transformed into the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) under Commandant Major General Ben Fuller. By 1939, the looming threat of Japanese aggression in the Pacific solidified the need for advance base defense in the region. Commandant Major General Thomas Holcomb formed four Defense Battalions to defend advance naval bases from ground and air attack. The core of the original battalions was formed from two infantry battalions, 1st and 2nd Battalion, 15th Marine Regiment. Subsequent Defense Battalions were formed with air defense personnel and artillerymen; infantrymen were attached as required. The first Defense Battalions included nearly 900 Marines divided into three anti-aircraft batteries, three seacoast batteries, and ground and anti-aircraft machine gun batteries. Follow-on evolutions included more sophisticated artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and search radars. These Defense Battalions provided the first combined arms teams and proved to be a very effective fighting force.
Caribou Air Force Station was the first of five, United States Air Force, Air Material Command (AMC) installations that were constructed during the period of 1951 – 1953. Each of the five installations was built specifically to provide operational storage of the nuclear stockpile, and to provide a specified number of weapons to their adjacent Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases. The first four installations were built and occupied by 1953. The fifth installation, although completed in 1953, would not be utilized until 1955. The first installation, code named “Site Easy” was originally known as the “North River Depot”. It was constructed between 1951-1952, and operations began in 1952. Funds were provided in 1951 to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), for the planning and construction of an ordnance storage site in the vicinity of a new Strategic Air Command Base. The AFSWP was directed to utilize the services of the Corps of Engineers, Department of Army, for planning and construction, and was made responsible for monitoring such work, and for operational security measures during these phases. The original directive to the AFSWP stipulated that upon completion of construction the installation would be turned over to Headquarters, Air Material Command for operational responsibilities.
The ship was laid down as "Cabot" on 15 July 1941 by Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. In May 1942, , which had been built in the same shipyard two decades earlier, was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea. In June, workers at the shipyard submitted a request to Navy Secretary Frank Knox to change the name of a carrier currently under construction there to "Lexington". Knox agreed to the proposal and "Cabot" was renamed as the fifth USS "Lexington" on 16 June 1942. She was launched on 23 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson. "Lexington" was commissioned on 17 February 1943, with Captain Felix Stump USN in command.
Naval Station Norfolk currently occupies Sewells Point. The base is approximately and is the largest naval base in the world.
US Naval forces had been introduced intermittently off the coast of Vietnam since March 1950 as "show the flag" tours to reinforce the Republic of Vietnam. In May 1964 three carrier task groups took up position at Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Reconnaissance flights were conducted by these carriers, although no combat missions had started. The Soviets had assisted the Vietnamese in the construction of more sophisticated anti-aircraft installations. The Navy sought to bring electronic warfare "DeSoto missions" to identify these installations and sent the , leading to the Tonkin Gulf Incident.
Merchant ships held in reserve are managed as part of the separate National Defense Reserve Fleet within MARAD (US Maritime Administration). Several of its sites, such as at Suisun Bay in California, are also used to store regular Navy ships.
Subic Bay was designated Naval Advance Unit No. 6, and become a submarine and motor torpedo boat base shortly after the Philippines were liberated. arrived on 11 February 1945 and found Subic Bay " "...a primitive, humid, unhealthy, desolate Siberia far from the pleasant climate, facilities, and girls of Australia..." ". A Naval Supply Depot was established at Maquinaya, about 3 miles (5 km) from the main base in July 1945. A new town of Olongapo was built to replace building burned by the retreating Japanese and provide housing for Filipino civilians employed at the base. Olongapo and its 9,000 Filipino residents remained under United States Navy administration when the remainder of the Philippines became independent on 4 July 1946.
Construction of Naval Air Station Cubi Point began during the Korean War. The town of Banicain was demolished to build the airfield, and its residents were relocated to Olongapo. As Olongapo's population grew to 60,000, Filipinos requested control of the town. On 7 December 1959, 56,000 acres of land with electrical, telephone and water utilities was relinquished to Philippine control. Grande Island was converted to a recreation center for naval personnel; and most of the historic Coastal Artillery guns of Fort Wint were moved to United States coastal defense parks in 1963 and 1968.
The freshly arrived Marines were assigned to provide land defense for Subic Bay. Seaward defenses included the batteries at Fort Wint on Grande Island and a minefield, which had been laid off the entrance to Subic Harbor. As the Marines built beach defenses, Consolidated PBY-4 Catalinas from VP101 and VP-102 of Patrol Wing 10, which was stationed at Subic Bay, were conducting daily patrols off Luzon as a response to rumors that the Japanese were approaching the Philippines. On 11 December, seven Catalinas had just returned from patrol when Japanese Zeroes appeared and strafed the aircraft. One ensign was killed and all Catalinas sank to the bottom of Subic Bay's inner basin.
Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the Spanish Navy and subsequently the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. The base was 262 square miles, about the size of Singapore. The Navy Exchange had the largest volume of sales of any exchange in the world, and the Naval Supply Depot handled the largest volume of fuel oil of any navy facility in the world. The naval base was the largest overseas military installation of the United States Armed Forces after Clark Air Base in Angeles City was closed in 1991. Following its closure in 1992, it was transformed into the Subic Bay Freeport Zone by the Philippine government.
Cavite, which had been home to most of the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, suffered from unhealthy living conditions and was vulnerable in time of war and bad weather because of its shallow water and lack of shelter. Therefore, a military expedition was sent to Subic Bay in 1868 with orders to survey the bay to find out if it would be a suitable site for a naval yard. The Spanish explored the entire bay and concluded that it had much promise and thus reported their findings to Cavite. This report was not well received in Manila, as the Spanish command was reluctant to move to the provincial isolation of Subic. Finally, in 1884, a Royal Decree declared Subic Bay as a naval port.