Lombrum Naval Base
| Lombrum Naval Base | |
|---|---|
| Manus Island in Papua New Guinea | |
| Coordinates | 2°02′24.8″S 147°22′19″E / 2.040222°S 147.37194°E |
| Type | Naval base |
| Site information | |
| Owner |
United States Navy (1944-1946) Royal Australian Navy (1950-1974) Papua New Guinea Defence Force (1974-present) |
| Site history | |
| Built | January 1944 |
Lombrum Naval Base is a military base operated by the Maritime Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). It is located on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
The facility started life during World War II as a United States Navy base, established in January 1944 after the recapture of the island from the Japanese.[1] Although a major naval base during the latter part of the war, the facility was abandoned by the Americans in 1946 as their policy of containment shifted strategic focus away from the southern Pacific.[1] The Australian government took over the site, redeveloped it, and reopened it as the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base HMAS Seeadler, commissioning on 1 January 1950[1][2] to replace the RAN base at Dreger Harbour, near Finschhafen.[2][3] The base was renamed HMAS Tarangau, the name of the former Dreger Harbour base,[4][2] on the 1st of April the same year.[1][4]
The base was used as a refuelling and stores point for RAN ships travelling between Australia and South East Asia.[4] The size of the facility gradually shrunk through the 1950s and 1960s, and the decision was made to hand the facility over to Papua New Guinea as part of the process leading to the nation's independence from Australia.[1][5] As part of this, Tarangau was paid off on 14 November 1974 and given to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, who reactivated the base as PNG Defence Force Base Lombrum.[5]
Lombrum is the home port of the PNGDF's Pacific-class patrol boat force.[1]
The Manus Regional Processing Centre was established at Lombrum in 2001.
Citations
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. p. 349. ISBN 9780195517842. OCLC 271822831.
- 1 2 3 "The Sydney Morning Hearld, 21 Dec 1949, Page 1. Base At Manus". National Library Of Australia.
- ↑ Verbal History, Stephen Eldridge (member, RAN, 1947-1950)
- 1 2 3 "Royal Australian Navy News, Vol. 14, No. 8, April-16-1971" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. RAN.
- 1 2 Moore, John, ed. (1977). Jane's Fighting Ships 1977-78. Jane's Fighting Ships (80th ed.). London: Jane's Yearbooks. p. 20. ISBN 0531032779. OCLC 18207174.