Naval Base Puerto Princesa, Naval Base Palawan, 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 ...

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

Palawan Island Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 994,101 as of 2020 census. The north west coast of the island is alon ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, after the

Invasion of Palawan The Invasion of Palawan (Filipino: ''Paglusob sa Palawan''), was fought by U.S. liberation forces against the Japanese from 28 February to 22 April 1945, in a series of actions officially designated as Operations Victor I and II, and part of th ...

on February 28, 1945. Puerto Princesa Bay offered an excellent base for fleet anchorage. At the

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

, 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 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, carrier aircraft

fighter plane Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield p ...

repair depot, land airfield and other base facilities.

History

Palawan Island is an eastern island of the Philippines and is the fifth largest of the Philippine islands. The island is 265 miles long and about 25 miles wide. The 84th Seabee Construction Battalion arrived at Puerto Princesa on March 12, 1945. Most of the captured Japanese facilities had been destroyed in bombing raids. One captured runway was easily repaired and was selected for repair and lengthening. The 84th Seabee Construction Battalion unloaded and loaned the needed equipment to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Engineers to work on the runway. The 84th Seabee Construction Battalion built all the other support facilities at the airfield. At the same time, the 84th Seabee Construction Battalion built all the needed port facilities. A large repair dept called a

Carrier Aircraft Service Unit US Navy K-class blimp Carrier Aircraft Service Units (CASU) were United States Navy units formed during World War II for the Pacific War to support naval aircraft operations. From 1942 to 1946, 69 Carrier Aircraft Service Units were formed to ...

was built to service the planes on carrier aircraft. Naval Base Puerto Princesa was support by the very large

Leyte-Samar Naval Base Leyte-Samar Naval Base was a large United States Navy base in the Philippines on the Islands of Leyte and Samar. The Base was built during World War II to support the many naval ships fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of ...

, east of Puerto Princesa. After the war, the base was closed and abandoned.US Navy, Bases of World War II
/ref>

Bases and facilities

*Fuel jetty to unload gasoline *

Aviation gasoline Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, whi ...

Tank farm *Airfield camp, 2,500 troops *Seabee Camp *Seabee depot *Radar station *Fleet Post Office FPO# 3291 SF *Naval hospital - small *Supply Depot *Repair Depot *Coral quarry *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 ...

*Three

Carrier Aircraft Service Units US Navy K-class blimp Carrier Aircraft Service Units (CASU) were United States Navy units formed during World War II for the Pacific War to support naval aircraft operations. From 1942 to 1946, 69 Carrier Aircraft Service Units were formed to ...

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 ...

*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 *Water plant for camp and to supply ships in the port. *Fresh water tank farm, 126,000-gallons * USS Pollux (AKS-4) general stores issue ship

Airfields

Puerto Princesa Airfield Puerto Princesa International Airport ( fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa; ) is an airport serving the general area of Puerto Princesa, located in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is classified as an international airpo ...

now

Puerto Princesa International Airport Puerto Princesa International Airport ( fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa; ) is an airport serving the general area of Puerto Princesa, located in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is classified as an international airport ...

Puerto Princesa Seaplane Base

Puerto Princesa Seaplane Base opened May 15, 1945. Seaplane ramps and a land base was built. A 500-man camp to support the base was built. The USS Pocomoke (AV-9), a seaplane tender serviced the planes of the US Navy Patrol Squadron,

VP-17 VP-17, nicknamed the ''White Lightnings'', was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Reserve Patrol Squadron VP-916 on 1 July 1946. It was redesignated as Medium Patrol Squadron VP-ML-66 on 15 November 1946, as VP-72 ...

Seabee units

Seabee units at Naval Base Puerto Princesa:84th Seabee Construction Battalion
/ref> *84th Seabee Construction Battalion *Acorn 47 *Acorn 52

Palawan massacre

Puerto Princesa is the site of the Palawan massacre. On December 14, 1944

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

held by the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

were killed to prevent the rescue of prisoners.

External links

youtube WWII : Palawan Massacreyoutube "They Came To An Island" U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps Wwii Seabees Construction Battalions 29564

References

{{USWWII Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s Seaplane bases Military installations of the United States in the Philippines Closed installations of the United States Navy