Naval Base Sydney 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The base was built with Australian civilian contractors. As the US Navy expanded in the

Island hopping campaign Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The key idea is to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to captu ...

, Naval Base Sydney expanded to include a Naval Base Hospital, repair base and other facilities. US Navy operations started in 1943 and ended after the war in 1945.

History

The base was built with Australian Allied Works Council civilian contractors and rent was paid for under the

reverse Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

act. Work started in the summer of 1943. Rather than build a new ship docking facilities, the existing commercial port facilities were rented at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

in Sydney Harbour. Contractors built a ship repair base, supply depot,

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 and camp for Troops. In Granville Park, in the neighborhood

Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of the Cumberland City Council. History Merrylands was named after the fo ...

in Sydney, the Navy built a Naval Base Hospital that at its peak could service 500 Troops. When needed the Navy rented a large

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

the Australian government built in 1943. The

was 1094 feet long and 140 feet wide, with a depth of 40 1/2 feet. In July 1944 a team of 90 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 with the 84th Battalion arrived from

Naval Base Brisbane Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacific ...

to repair the USS ''Venus''. USS Venus was the Merchant Navy

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

SS ''William Williams'', that was charted to

Isthmian Steamship Company The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910. Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship ...

, that was damaged in a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

attack on 2 May 1943, near

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, by the

Japanese submarine I-19 ''I-19'' was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which damaged and destroyed several enemy ships during World War II while serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the Guadalcanal Campaign, with a single torpedo salvo, the submarine sank the ai ...

. She was full of lumber and did not sink. she was towed to Naval Base Sydney for repair and conversion to a under charter to the US Navy. The US Navy worked with 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 ...

Fleet Base East The Fleet Base East is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) major fleet base that comprises several naval establishments and facilities clustered around Sydney Harbour, centred on HMAS ''Kuttabul''. The Fleet Base East extends beyond the borders of ' ...

, that had its own base in Sydney, HMAS Kuttabul Naval Base) at

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Potts ...

Garden Island Naval Precinct The Garden Island Naval Precinct is a heritage-listed naval base and defence precinct located at Cowper Wharf Roadway in the inner eastern Sydney neighbourhood of Garden Island in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, ...

at Garden Island and HMAS Waterhen Naval Base- HMAS Penguin Naval Base) at North Shore. The other large

US Naval Advance Bases US Naval Advance Bases were built globally by the United States Navy during World War 2, World War II to support and project U.S. naval operations world-wide. A few were built on Allies of World War II, allied soil, but most were captured enemy f ...

in Australia were at

and

Naval Base Darwin file:Darwin Harbour (AWM 027334).jpg, Darwin Harbour with the sunken ship MV Neptuna and burnt-out wharf of Darwin Harbour following the attack on February 19, 1942 file:USS Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside at San Diego, Californi ...

. By late 1944 parts of Naval Base Sydney began moving to more forward

. The ammunition depot was the late operation to be moved. *After

Victory over Japan Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

the base closed and the US Navy started taking Troops home in

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships ...

Bases and facilities

*Naval Base Hospital No. 10, Navy 135, 500 beds, at Granville Park, Merrylands, Sydney at *Temporary Troop camp *Supply depot *

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, 20 concrete magazines, 25 by 50 feet, and two 30-by-100-foot *Messhall *Barracks *Fleet Post Office FPO# 135 SF Sydney *Ship -boat repair base *Drydock -

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

(''Royal Navy, used when needed'') *Outlying bases supported: **Canberra Radio Station in the city of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

inland, FPO# 18 Canberra **US Navy Signal Station Newcastle at

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

FPO# 34 ** Port Stephens amphibious landing training, fleet PO Box 82 **

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

Naval

Torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

Unit, Post Office FPO# 18

Rose Bay Seaplane Base

Rose Bay Seaplane Base also called Rose Bay Water Airport was at Rose Bay at the eastern end of

Sydney Harbor Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ( ...

. Was built in the 1930s to support Qantas Empire Airways (QEA). In the war was used

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

and US Navy.Rose Bay Seaplane Base
''pacificwrecks.com''

Gallery

CampSeabeeNavalBaseBrisbane_buildingtrips.jpg, Camp Seabee Naval Base Brisbane, base building trips File:Ko-hyoteki Sydney.jpg, A Japanese Kō-hyōteki class midget submarine M-21 being raised from Taylor's Bay on 1 June 1942 Royal Australian Navy base Garden Island c1962.jpg, US Navy photograph of the

, HMAS Adelaide launching 1918 IWM 305488.jpeg, The light cruiser being launched at

in 1918 Cockatoo Island aerial view 1951.jpg, Cockatoo Island base aerial view 1951 USSAUGUSTA(CA-31)Sydney.jpg,

USS Augusta (CA-31) USS ''Augusta'' (CL/CA-31) was a of the United States Navy, notable for service as a headquarters ship during Operation Torch, Operation Overlord, Operation Dragoon, and for her occasional use as a presidential flagship carrying both Frankli ...

at Sydney Harbor, Australia, October 1934. Usnavalbasehospitalno10-02.jpg, US Naval Base Hospital #10 at Navy 135, with 500 beds, at Granville Park, Merrylands, Sydney part of Naval Base Sydney in 1944 SoPacStratSit.gif, Strategic situation in South Pacific in July 1942

References

External links