HMAS Leeuwin (naval Base)
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HMAS ''Leeuwin'' is a former
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
(RAN)
shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French Empire, ...
, located in ,
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. In use between 1940 and 1984, the base reopened in 1986 under the control of the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
as Leeuwin Barracks. Commissioned in August 1940 as the naval depot for Fremantle, the base was adopted for use as a training facility after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, initially for RAN
reservists A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...
and national servicemen, then as the Junior Recruit Training Establishment (JRTE) from 1960 until 1984. There was widespread sexual and physical abuse of trainees at the JRTE, with 10% of reports investigated by the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce relating to incidents at ''Leeuwin''. Decommissioned from naval service in 1986, the base was later reopened under the control of the Australian Army as Leeuwin Barracks. In 2015, the
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
announced that the Leeuwin site will be sold off for residential development.


History

''Leeuwin'' was commissioned into the RAN on 1 August 1940 as the naval depot for Fremantle. The base was named after the Dutch galleon '' Leeuwin'' (lioness), which accidentally discovered the south-east coast of Western Australia in 1622 while sailing to
Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
. The
ship's badge Naval heraldry is a form of identification used by naval vessels from the end of the 19th century onwards, after distinguishing features such as Figurehead (object), figureheads and gilding were discouraged or banned by several navies. Naval heral ...
assigned to the base was based on the
Coat of arms of the Netherlands The coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was originally adopted in 1815 and later modified in 1907. The arms are a composite of the arms of the former Dutch Republic and the arms of the House of Nassau, it features a checkered shield wit ...
. The original facility was centred on a
drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...
constructed in 1926 in
East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
, which prior to commissioning as ''Leeuwin'' was identified as ''Cerberus V'', a sub-base of in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
. In 1942, ''Leeuwin'' was relocated to
Preston Point Preston Point (''Niergarup'' in Noongar) is a small point in the Swan River, Western Australia. It is located in the Perth bordering the suburbs of East Fremantle, and Bicton about south west of the city centre. On the other side of the river ...
, on the other side of the Swan River. After World War II, ''Leeuwin'' was tasked with training reservists and national servicemen. The base was reclassified as the Junior Recruit Training Establishment (JRTE) in 1960:
adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
who joined the RAN between the ages of fifteen years and six months and sixteen years and six months, would attend the JRTE for a year of
secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
along with basic naval training, before they were sent to other bases for training in their speciality. Education and training of junior recruits was shared with the Royal Australian Naval College at , located on
Jervis Bay, New South Wales The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered b ...
. The first JRTE intake consisted of 155 recruits, and by the end of the decade, over 800 junior recruits and 100 officer candidates were in residence. The JRTE was closed in 1984, after having educated 12,074 recruits: the improving quality of
education in Australia Education in Australia encompasses the sectors of early childhood education (preschool) and primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (high schools), and finally tertiary education, which includes higher education (Uni ...
meant that the RAN no longer felt the need to provide secondary education to those wishing to join the navy. ''Leeuwin'' was decommissioned on 11 November 1986: one of several RAN facilities closed during the late 1980s and early 1990s because of funding cuts and the rationalisation and consolidation of shore bases. Control of the base was handed over to the Australian Army, which operated it as Leeuwin Barracks. The Army began using the base in 1987 for the
Western Australia University Regiment The Western Australian University Regiment (WAUR) is an Australian Army Reserve training unit for the 13th Brigade. Unit history The regiment was founded as the Perth University Regiment on 22 April 1949 to provide military training to univer ...
, initially as temporary accommodation along with
Irwin Barracks Irwin Barracks is an Australian Army military base located in , a suburb of , Western Australia. It occupies a site on the western side of the Fremantle railway line. It was previously known as Karrakatta Camp and Irwin Training Centre. Histo ...
, then permanently by 2009. The Barracks provides support for personnel of all three branches of the Australian military in the Fremantle area. The RAN maintains control of the wharves and boatsheds, and uses the base to host the Fremantle Port Division of the
Royal Australian Navy Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia. The current Royal Australian Naval Reserve was formed in June 1973 by merging the former RANR (Seagoing) and the Royal Australian ...
. In June 2014, the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) investigation into sexual and other abuse in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) reported that there had been widespread abuse of teenage trainees at the JRTE. During the two-year DART investigation, 238 complaints of abuse at the JRTE (making up 10% of the cases investigated by the task force) were assessed and found to be plausible. Many of the reported instances of sexual and physical abuse were committed by senior trainees as part of initiation hazing of younger recruits, while others were the acts of naval personnel against the trainees. Taskforce head
Len Roberts-Smith Major General Leonard William Roberts-Smith, (born 25 October 1946) is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. From February 2005, he was one of the inaugural Judges of the Court of Appeal Division, having been first appoint ...
concluded that the abuse was so widespread that Defence had to know about and be ignoring it. Some of the reported cases were referred to the ADF or police for further investigation, and the DART report into the ''Leeuwin'' assaults has been forwarded to the
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Government of Australia, Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 t ...
for possible inclusion under the Royal Commission's scope. In June 2015, the Australian government announced that the Leeuwin site no longer has strategic value, and will be sold for residential development. Defence units and assets will be relocated to Irwin Barracks in . Around 250 dwellings are expected to be constructed on the site.


See also

* List of former Royal Australian Navy bases *
List of Australian military bases A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...


Notes

Like most
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
navies, the RAN considers its shore facilities to be
stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04 ...
s, and names them as ships.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeuwin, Hmas Leeuwin Leeuwin Leeuwin Fremantle 1940 establishments in Australia Military units and formations established in 1940