Naval Base Banika Island 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 opposing ...

Mbanika Mbanika or Banika is an island in Solomon Islands; it is located in the Central Province and is the second largest of the Russell Islands Group. The principal settlement is Yandina. As portrayed in the HBO miniseries, '' The Pacific'', episod ...

Island in the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwest o ...

, part of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. A larger supply depot was built to support the ships fighting in the Pacific War. Also built were a repair base for landing craft, PT boats, and other boats. Banika Island offered excellent fleet anchorage. Banika Island was taken during the

Solomon Islands campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, ...

. Also at the base was built the Renard Sound Seaplane Base.

History

US Navy

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

Construction Battalions built the base starting in February 1943. Seabee 33rd Battalion, 35th Battalion and other Construction Battalions built the Naval Base and much of the airfields on Banika Island. Enemy planes bombed one of the Naval Base Banika Island's tank farms on June 25, 1943. One 1,000-barrel tank was destroyed by fire. Three had

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

damage. The pipelines to the port and airfields were damaged. It took the Seabees five days to repair the damages. The airfields remain open during the repair work. In all air attacks, four Seabees were killed. A

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

was built from Banika Island's Renard Sound to Pavuvu Island. On Pavuvu Island a barge landing dock was built. The complete base was completed by November 1943. In the fall of 1943, the port was turned over for operation to the 6th Seabee Battalion and 9th Special Battalion. Operations were turned over to the 11th Battalion and the 12th Special Battalion in February 1944. The 93rd Battalion built Naval Mobile Hospital - MOB 10 with 1300-beds. A pontoon assembly depot was built, it took a lot less space in the ships to transport the pontoons in flat parts. The pontoon assembly depot was run by the 20th Battalion - PAD 2. Seabee built two airfields on the island

Banika Field Banika Field was a World War II airfield on Mbanika in the Russell Islands in the Solomon Islands. Banika Field was built and supported by Naval Base Banika Island. History A US Navy Seebee Naval Construction Battalion began construction for t ...

, used by US Navy,

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and

Renard Field Yandina Airport is an airport on Mbanika in the Solomon Islands. History The 33rd Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Banika Island in late February 1943 and commenced construction of a fighter airfield. By 13 April a basic airfield known a ...

. By February 1945 Naval Base Banika Island was no longer in the front line of action and parts of the base were packed up and sent to move

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

. Naval Mobile Hospital - MOB 10 was one of the first units to be shipped out. Much of the base was shipped over a four-month span. The base was closed and abandoned after the war.

Bases and facilities

*300-foot

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*Radar station *Naval hospital *Naval hospital dispensary *Naval Mobile Hospital - MOB 10 *Fleet Post Office FPO# 60 SF Russell Islands *Naval Recovery hospital *Naval training center *Supply Depot *Seabee Camp *Seabee depot - Advanced Base Construction Depot (ABCD) *Seabee sawmill *Repair Depot *Coral quarry *Repair base camp, barracks 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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

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 war ...

Base *Machine shops * Ammunition depot *

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 *Blue Beach landing mats for LST ships and LCT craft *Yellow Beach landing mats *Two-lane coral road around Banika Island (connect beaches to port) *Tillotson Cove, two 432-foot pontoon docks *Pontoon assembly depot *Pavuvu Island a barge landing dock * VMF -121 and

VMF(N)-531 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) was a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of F/A-18 Hornets. Known as the "Grey Ghosts”, the squadron participated in action during World War II and the Vietnam War. They were dec ...

United States Marine Corps unit camp

Airfields

The airfields were used to attack 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 Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 200th-largest island in the world. Geography New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most ...

and Munda. *

, used by US Navy for

Interstate TDR The Interstate TDR was an early unmanned combat aerial vehicle — referred to at the time as an " assault drone" — developed by the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation during the Second World War for use by the United States Nav ...

(USAAF) and

used by USAAF and US Navy VB-140 and VB-148, both with Lockheed Ventura PV-1

Renard Sound Seaplane Base

Near Banika Field, in the channel to the east of the runway, the US Navy operated the Renard Sound Seaplane Base. The Base was at Renard Sound Seaplane Base
''tracesofwar.com''

Seabee units

Seabee units that spent time at Naval Base Banika Island: *33rd Battalion *35th Battalion *93rd Battalion *6th Seabee Battalion *9th Special Battalions *20th Battalion *24th Battalion *35th Battalion *36th Battalion *87th Battalion *11th Battalion *12th Special Battalion *CBMU 503 *CBMU 571 *CBMU 572 *CBMU 573 *CBMU 501 *CBMU 580 *CBMU 503 *CBMU 550 *ACORN 15 *Bobcat 15 *Bobcat 24 *Bobcat 33 *Bobcat 36 *PAD 2 *1054 CBD

External links

youtube, A runway strip under construction by Seabees at Banika Island during War IIyoutube, Military Secrets of Banika Atoll

References

{{Islands of the Solomon Islands 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