U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
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, 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.
In late 2022, plans to reopen the base under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement emerged after the Philippine Navy reoccupied a portion of the base and a U.S. investment firm, Cerberus Capital Management, purchased the remainder of the port.
Spanish period
's strategic location, sheltered anchorages, and deep water had first been made known when the Spanish explorer Juan de Salcedo reported the bay's existence to the Spanish authorities upon his return to Manila after Salcedo arrived in Zambales to establish Spanish rule. It would be a number of years before Spain would consider establishing a base there.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 waters and lack of shelter. Therefore, a military expedition was sent to Subic Bay in 1868 with orders to survey the area 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 a naval port.
On 8 March 1885, the Spanish Navy authorized construction of the Arsenal de Olongapo and by the following September, work started at Olongapo. Both the harbor and its inner basin were dredged and a drainage canal was built, as the Spanish military authorities were planning to make Olongapo and their navy yard an "island." This canal also served as a line of defense and over which the bridge at the base's Main Gate passes. When the Arsenal was finished, the gunboats Caviteño, Santa Ana, and San Quintín were assigned for its defense. To complement these gunboats, coastal artilleries were planned for the east and west ends of the station, as well as on Grande Island.
Seawalls, causeways and a short railway were built across the swampy tidal flats. To finish these projects, thousands of tons of earth and rock from Kalalake in Olongapo had to be brought in as fill. The magnitude of this quarrying was so huge that a hill eventually disappeared and became a lagoon in the area now known as Bicentennial Park.
The main entrance to the Arsenal was the extant West Gate. This gate was equipped with gunports and served as a jail. This gate was connected to the South Gate, which was near the waterfront, by a high wall of locally quarried stone.
Inside the Arsenal, the Spanish constructed a foundry, as well as other shops, which were necessary for the construction and repair of ships. The buildings were laid out in two rows on Rivera Point, a sandy patch of land jutting into the bay, and named after the incumbent Captain-General of the Philippines, Fernando Primo de Rivera. The Arsenal's showpiece was the station commandant's headquarters, which was a one-storey building of molave and narra wood, and stood near today's Alava Pier and had colored glass windows.
The Spanish navy yard was constructed in the area that was last occupied by the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility. During the Philippine Revolution against Spain, the Cuban-Filiipino admiral of the Philippine Navy, Vicente Catalan, seized Subic Naval base from the Spanish and delivered it to the First Philippine Republic.
Battle of Manila Bay
On 25 April 1898, Commodore George Dewey, Commander of the United States Asiatic Fleet, received word that war with Spain had been declared and was ordered to leave Hong Kong and attack the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.In the Philippines, Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo, realizing that Subic Bay would provide a more defensible position than Cavite, ordered his smaller ships and the batteries in Manila Bay to resist Dewey's fleet and deny them the entrance to Manila Bay. His other units would then use Subic Bay as a sally port, with which he could attack the American fleet's rear and cut off its supplies. On 26 April, Montojo arrived at Subic Bay aboard with seven other ships.
On the morning of the 27 April, Castilla was towed northeast of Grande Island to help control the western entrance to Subic Bay. The eastern entrance, which was between Grande and Chiquita Islands, had been blocked by the scuttling of San Quintín and two other vessels. On Grande Island, the four Ordóñez guns that had been shipped from Sangley Point were not yet installed. Meanwhile, a cable-laying ship, which was commandeered to lay mines, ended up putting only four of the 15 available mines in place.
In Hong Kong, Dewey purposely delayed his sailing until he received news from the U.S. Consul at Manila, Oscar F. Williams, with information about the strength and positions of the Spanish fleet. Williams told Dewey that Montojo and his fleet had sailed to Subic Bay.
On 30 April, Dewey sighted the islands of Luzon and thus ordered and to sail at full speed to Subic Bay to hunt for enemy ships. After seeing no enemy vessels at Subic, Boston and Concord signaled of their findings and rejoined the squadron underway to Manila.
At dawn of 1 May 1898, the American fleet entered Manila Bay. Once the ships closed to within of the Spanish fleet, Dewey ordered the Captain, Charles Gridley, of Olympia "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Montojo's fleet was destroyed, losing 167 men killed and 214 wounded. The Americans only suffered a handful of wounded.
In June 1898, nearly a thousand Spanish nationals left Olongapo and took refuge at Grande Island. By July, Dewey ordered and Concord to sail for Subic Bay to demand the surrender of Grande Island. When the American ships arrived, they saw the German cruiser at the island, but as the Americans cleared for action and started to head for Irene, she fled around the other end of Grande. The Spanish garrison on the island did not resist and immediately surrendered to Captain Joseph Coghlan of Raleigh.
Philippine–American War
During the Philippine–American War, the Americans focused on using the Spanish naval station at Sangley Point, largely ignoring Subic Bay, and the arsenal was occupied by Filipino forces. The Filipinos constructed a gun battery on top of a ridge using one of the guns on Grande Island.In the summer of 1899, gunboats started patrolling Subic Bay and after realizing that the patrols would not stop, the Filipinos started to prepare to confront the Americans. During a routine patrol, the supply ship entered Subic Bay and came under fire from the newly constructed battery. Zafiro withdrew to Cavite and reported the incident to headquarters. The cruiser was then sent to Subic to silence the battery, but as she was withdrawing, the battery gave out one last shot, provoking the Americans.
On 23 September 1899, Charleston, Concord,, and Zafiro sailed into Subic Bay to destroy the battery. Upon clearing Kalaklan Point, Monterey, equipped with guns, opened fire. Under this barrage, the battery was only able to fire one shot.
Charleston then sent a signal for 180 sailors and 70 Marines to land on Subic. Meanwhile, the other ships continued firing. The Filipinos then deployed into the town of Olongapo, returning fire with small arms. When the entire landing force was ashore, the ships ceased firing and the landing party entered the battery. In all, three charges of guncotton were placed on the battery, completely destroying it. The party then went back to their ships and sailed for Manila. While the battery was destroyed, the Filipino forces still held the navy yard as well as Olongapo.
In December 1899, the U.S. Army launched an operation to clear the countryside of Filipinos who were resisting American rule; 90 soldiers from the 32d U.S. Volunteers set out to capture Olongapo. As the soldiers were entering Santa Rita, just outside Olongapo, they met a pocket of resistance, but after returning fire, the armed Filipinos quickly scattered. The soldiers then proceeded to capture the navy yard.
When Rear Admiral John C. Watson learned of this action against the navy yard, he set out for Subic aboard, accompanied by. When the ships arrived, Watson was surprised that the U.S. Army was in complete possession of the navy yard. Watson then ordered Marine Captain John Twiggs Myers ashore with 100 Marines to secure the navy yard.
When the Marines found the highest flagpole on the navy yard, which was in front of the hospital, they immediately raised the American flag on 10 December 1899, one year after the Treaty of Paris was signed. The Marines then took responsibility for the navy yard while the Army took over administrative and operational control of Olongapo.
Drinking water was not available on the navy yard and so water details had to be sent to the village of Binictican, near the mouth of the river of the same name. Early during the occupation of Olongapo, the town was offered as a place of refuge for Filipinos who were sympathetic to the Americans. After an ambush of seven Marines, the inhabitants of the villages of Binictican and Boton were ordered to move into Olongapo or be declared outlaws. Those people who owned property in the two villages were given houses in Olongapo. Six days after the villagers settled in Olongapo, shelled Binictican and Boton and later 100 Marines completed the destruction.
The Marines then exercised civil authority over Olongapo and ordered municipal elections, appointed local policemen, gave away food to supplement poor harvests, supplied medical care and supplies, and set up a school for the teaching of the English language.
In 1900, the General Board of the United States Navy made a thorough study of the naval base building program and decided that the American fleet in the Philippines could be easily bottled up in either the Manila or Subic bays. They instead recommended Guimaras Island, south of Manila, as the most suitable site for the main American naval base in the Philippines. Admiral of the Navy George Dewey and Admiral George C. Remey, Commander of the Asiatic Fleet, disagreed. They thought Subic Bay held the greatest potential.
The Navy then called for another study with Remey as the senior member. This board then decided that Subic Bay was the most suitable and practicable place to build a naval base. A board of officers under Rear Admiral Henry C. Taylor was then appointed to develop a plan for the naval station. Extensive plans for fortifications, dockyards, drydocks, workshops, a hospital, a railroad linking Olongapo with Manila and storage facilities for 20,000 tons of coal were drawn up and submitted to the Congress.
The board requested an appropriation of $1 million to begin building the naval station. President Theodore Roosevelt, a strong supporter of the establishment of a naval station at Subic Bay, issued an Executive Order establishing the Subic Bay Naval Reservation.
Because of the establishment of the Subic Bay Naval Reservation in November 1901 more troops were assigned to Subic. When the Samar force returned at the beginning of March 1902, its personnel were divided between Olongapo and Cavite. Cavite, however, still continued to have the largest number of Marines anywhere in the Philippines and continued to be the headquarters of the U.S. Navy because of its proximity to Manila.
In December 1902, Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, Commander of the Asiatic Fleet, directed the first fleet exercise in Asian waters. An expeditionary force of 200 Marines occupied and erected guns on Grande Island. The channels on each side of the island were mined, while vessels of the fleet operated in the bay itself. The exercise was highly successful and confirmed the Admiral's opinion of the strategic advantage of Subic Bay.
The value of Subic Bay as a training area was recognized as the Marines practiced movements in wild and difficult environment. Their building of bridges and roads was also considered to be excellent training.
In June 1907, as tensions with Japan mounted, orders were secretly issued for Army and Navy forces in the Philippines to concentrate at Subic Bay. A large supply of coal and certain advanced base materials including coastal defense guns were to be moved from Cavite. This plan, however, would be opposed by other military leaders and by Governor-General Leonard Wood. An acrimonious debate would emerge and plans to build a major base in the Philippines would be discarded. Roosevelt would be disappointed by this, wrote that the aforementioned decision was a humiliating experience, and instead pushed for the development of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.