Naval Base Alexishafen (Naval Base Alexishafen-Madang) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

base built during

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 ...

Alexishafen Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

, north of the city of

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. The base was built by the US Navy

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s starting June 13, 1944 as part of the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered Mandated Territory of New Guinea (23 Jan ...

of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. The base was built at the request of the Seventh Amphibious Force of the

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

to support the many boats patrolling the area. The US Navy built a boat repair depot including

Auxiliary floating drydock An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, r ...

s. The base was closed in January 28, 1945.

History

In May 1944, the US Navy's 7th Amphibious Force requested a base at Alexishafen to provide repair and logistical support for the many boats operating off the north shores of New Guinea. Alexishafen and Madang were liberated on April 26, 1944, by 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 ...

30th Battalion in the

Battle of Madang The Battle of Madang, fought between early February and late April 1944, was the Breakout (military), break-out and Breakthrough (military), pursuit phase of the Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range campaign, Markham and Ramu Vall ...

. Alexishafen's Bostrem Bay offered excellent fleet anchorage. The US Navy began using Bostrem Bay on April 27, 1944, when a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

Anchored at Alexishafen. Construction started on June 13, 1944, with the arrival of 200 troops with the US Navy's

91st Construction Battalion. The troops and supplies had arrived from

Naval Base Finschhafen Naval Base Finschhafen was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Finschhafen on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The US Navy built a PT boat base, Dreger Harbor PT Boat Base, boat repair depot, and ha ...

and

Naval Base Milne Bay Naval Base Milne Bay, also called Naval Advance Base Milne Bay, was new major United States Navy sea and airbase base built on Milne Bay in Milne Bay Province in south-eastern Papua New Guinea. By spring 1943, the build up of the US Navy to ...

. Base facilities were built on Alexishafen south peninsula, Megas Island and Ulimal Island. All construction was completed on August 17, 1944. Australian had a base at Madang, including a capture runway, Madang Airfield. The Australians built a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

base in Madang Bay, used by the US Navy also. By November 1944 the Alexishafen base was too far behind the current Navy action and parts of the base were moved to more forward bases. On December 25, 1944, 80 troops from the 91st Construction Battalion packed up parts of the base to be shipped out to forward bases. The US Navy closed the base on January 28, 1945. The Alexishafen water-supply system was transferred to the

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 ...

Bases and facilities

*Madang: *Madang Bay fleet Anchorage at * Madang Airfield Australian, used by US Army and US Navy also. *Madang Seaplane Base,

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

used by US Navy also *Fleet Post Office FPO# 928 SF Madang
*Alexishafen: *Bostrem Bay - Sek Harbor fleet Anchorage at *Alexishafen boat repair depot Alexishafen
'pacificwrecks.com'' *Alexishafen freshwater supply system for base and ships *Two 3,500-ton drydock type AFD * USS Achilles (ARL-41) and USS Remus (ARL-40) repair ships in Sek Harbor *

USS Culebra Island (ARG-7) USS ''Culebra Island'' (ARG-7) was a ''Luzon''-class internal combustion engine repair ship in the service of the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. She was scrapped in 1974. History ''Culebra Island'' was laid down 29 October 1943 as libert ...

engine repair ship in Sek Harbor *

USS Rigel (AD-13) USS ''Rigel'' (AD-13/ARb-1/AR-11) was an destroyer tender named for ''Rigel'', the brightest star in the constellation Orion. Originally built in 1918 as SS ''Edgecombe'' by the Skinner and Eddy Corporation of Seattle, Washington for the Uni ...

destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

in Sek Harbor *

USS Midas (ARB-5) USS ''Midas'' (ARB-5) was planned as a United States Navy , but was redesignated as one of twelve USS Aristaeus, ''Aristaeus''-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Midas (in Greek mytho ...

repair ship *Seabee Camp *Seabee depot *Supply Depot *Repair Depot *Repair base camp,

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

and

mess hall The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

Power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

Base, including PT-341 *Machine shops *

Ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

depot *Fuel Tank farm *Megas Island, base support facilities at *Ulimal Island, base support facilities

References

External links

youtube, Battle for New Guinea 1942-1945 youtube, Madang and Alexishafenyoutube, Madang New Guineayoutube, Australian troops advance in Madang, New Guinea.
{{US Fleets Naval Stations of the United States Navy World War II airfields in the Pacific Ocean Theater Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

Bases and facilities

See also

References

External links