Subic Bay - Philippines

duing the nam almost the entire USN, most Marines and Army as well operated from this base in the Philippines. located just west and north of Manila bay. subic was a fully equipped base that supplied ships with everything. it had storage facilities including dry docks for ships. a main base. fully equipped. an air base called cubi point. subic has a history going back to the spanish/American war as well as WW2

this link give a really good graphic history of subic now and in the past. and full of photo’s
[[subic bay](subic bay)

here’s photo from my googles earth

as you can it has an adjoining town called Olongapo City. or sewer city as we called it. god knows how many sailors and marines caught VD there !!! out near the entrance to the bay you see a small island. grande Island. during nam this used for R&R. but in ww2 the Army had barage cannons there. replelling the seaward invasion by the japs during the fall of the Islands. those cannons are still there. as far as I know:

wiki gave an accurate account of the base’s history
[URL=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Naval_Base_Subic_Bay#Closure”]wiki](http://www.subicbaypi.com/)

subic was closed in 92. in 91 the Mount Pinatubo eruption destroyed clarke AFB completely and major damage to subic.
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During 1992, tons of material including drydocks and equipment, were shipped to various Naval Stations. Ship-repair and maintenance yards as well as supply depots were relocated to other Asian countries including Japan and Singapore. Finally, on November 24, 1992, the American Flag was lowered in Subic for the last time and the last 1,416 Sailors and Marines at Subic Bay Naval Base left by plane from NAS Cubi Point and by the USS Belleau Wood. This withdrawal marked the first time since the 16th Century that no foreign military forces were present in the Philippines. (from wike)


The American Flag is lowered and Philippine flag is raised during turnover of Naval Station Subic Bay

subic was part of my growing up training. but no way in hell i’d go back there !!!

Very interesting Gary. Nice maps, pics, and stories.

Is that a floating dry dock in the foreground of the Subic Bay picture? We used to have a couple here in Jacksonville, but they were sold off about 10 or 15 years ago to a country in the Persian Gulf.

Was the coastal artillery from Corregidor Island or Grande Island?

Fort Drum (the concrete battleship) south of Corregidor at the mouth of Manila Bay.
http://www.concretebattleship.org/

I remember watching the news about the Mount Pinatubo eruption that destroyed Clarke AFB. A lot of history there.

Your comment on Olongapo City or “sewer city” and the sailors and marines on liberty there reminded me of a book I read by Commander Edward C. Raymer USN (Ret.) called “Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941 A Navy Diver’s Memoir”. It is a fascinating read - all about diving and salvage operations at Pearl Harbor following the attack. Great insight into the exploration and raising of the ships sunk on battleship row.

http://www.amazon.com/Descent-Darkness-Pearl-Harbor-Story/dp/0891417451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219287883&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0891417451/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link](http://www.subicbaypi.com/)

Some excerpts from the book:

Is that a floating dry dock in the foreground of the Subic Bay picture?

yes it is George. its from the same site I found that pic of the New Jersey. the subic bay link I posted.

Was the coastal artillery from Corregidor Island or Grande Island?

if you mean the photo of the cannon, that was on Grande Island. along with others. I read somewhere the Japs left those guns on Grande during the occupation. I never knew about the concrete battleship. ill read about it later.

there are also sunken wrecks in subic. including the Dreadnought USS New York. she was trapped inside the bay when the Japs invaded. no way out so they towed here out in the bay and scuttled her.
[USS New York](USS New York)

also the El Capitan, Hellship – Oryoku Maru, Seian Maru, an LST, and the San Quentin

The Wrecks of Subic Bay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwlAz2SfBF0

I think I screwed up putting subic here. with its WW2 history I should have put it one of the other forums…Vet

I moved this thread to the World War II - American Military forum per your wishes.