Naval Base Brisbane was a major

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 in the early part of

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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. At first, operated as a base for

patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol rol ...

and

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacific War to the

Southwest Pacific The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. 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 Brisbane expanded to include a submarine base, repair depot,

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

base and other facilities. US Navy operations started on April 14, 1942, and ended after the war in 1945.US Navy, Bases of World War II
/ref>

History

Australia entered World War II on September 3, 1939, being a self-governing nation within the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. The United States formally entered the war on December 7, 1941, following the Japanese bombing of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

. On April 14, 1942, the USS ''Griffin'' (AS-13) and a fleet of eleven S-class US submarines arrived at Brisbane's New Farm Wharf. The wharf had a few storage sheds and some other support facilities, which the US Navy rented using 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, ...

program, but a much larger facility was needed as a

staging area A staging area (otherwise staging point, staging base, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to: * In construction, a designated area in which vehicles, ...

. The US Government hired Australian construction crews to build a new staging area using mostly Australian supplies but with

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War ...

s shipped in. The S-class submarines' first mission was supporting 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, ...

. Later,

Gato-class submarine The ''Gato'' class of submarines was built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943; they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II. Together with their near-sisters the and es, their design formed the ma ...

s were added to the fleet. By the end of the war the Brisbane submarine fleet had sunk 117 enemy ships, totaling 515,000 tons, and rescued many downed airmen. In the spring of 1943, more space was needed and on March 24, 1943, the US Navy

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

's 55th Battalion arrived and built "Camp Seabee", 5 miles north-east of Brisbane, at

Eagle Farm Eagle Farm is an eastern industrial suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Eagle Farm had a population of 0 people. The neighbourhood of Whinstanes is located in Eagle Farm (). Geography Eagle Farm is situated no ...

. Camp Seabee became a staging camp for Seabees and their equipment in island hopping operations. The first departure was half the Seabees, to build

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 s ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

on May 23, 1943. Some Seabees departed to build an airfield at

Merauke Merauke is a large town and the capital of the South Papua province, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency in South Papua. It is considered the easternmost city in Indonesia. The town was originally called Ermasoe. It ...

in New Guinea and others to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, New Guinea. Most returned at the end of the construction for R&R. The Brisbane Seabees built a mine depot outside of Brisbane. The next departure was most of the Brisbane Seabees going to Palm Island and Cairns. At Palm Island, Seabees built Palm Island Naval Air Station and Palm Island Seaplane Base. Seabees built the Cairns Harbor PT-Boat Base and Cairns Harbor Seaplane Base. At Cairns, Seabees built the Cairns Airfield used for patrols and a staging camp. On June 19, 1943, the Seabee 84th Battalion arrived at Camp Seabee, with half the Battalion departing to continue the expansion at Naval Base Milne Bay. The 55th and 84th Battalion continued to build up Naval Base Brisbane. Seabee built a mine depot, more barracks at Camp Seabee, a Merchant Marine anti-aircraft training camp, and Mobile Navy Hospital No. 9. In May 1943, Seabee 60th Battalion arrived at Camp Seabee. On January 20, 1944, Seabee Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 544th arrived to service the Naval Base Brisbane Bases. At

Hamilton, Queensland Hamilton is an affluent riverside mixed-use suburb in the north-east of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Hamilton is located along the north bank of the Brisbane River. In the , Hamilton had a population of 6,995 people. In 2013, th ...

Seabee built a ship-repair depot was built. Outside of the base, a ammunition depot was built. The 55th Battalion built and operated a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

. By March 1994 the base had 90,000 square feet of depot warehouse space and 53 acres of open deposit storage. The other large

US Naval 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 ...

in Australia were at

Naval Base Sydney Naval Base Sydney was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The base was built with Australian civilian contractors. As the US Navy expanded in the Island hopping campaign, Naval Base Sydney ...

and Naval Base Darwin. Unlink Darwin, Brisbane was out of the reach of Japanese bombers. Parts of Naval Base Brisbane began moving to more forward bases in January 1944. Palm Island base was moved on September 1, 1944, and Townsville moved in July 1944.

Bases and facilities

*Brisbane, Queensland Bases: *

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 ...

Naval Base Brisbane

*Naval Base Brisbane on the Brisbane River **Navy Headquarters, from Naval Base Melbourne in July 1942. **New Farm Wharf depot, now

New Farm Park ferry wharf New Farm Park ferry wharf is located on the northern side of the Brisbane River serving the Brisbane suburb of New Farm in Queensland, Australia. It is served by RiverCity Ferries and was also served by a Cross River service to Norman Park ...

AHS Centaur Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) ''Centaur'' was a hospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, includi ...

USS Samaritan (AH-10) USS ''Samaritan'' (AH-10) was a hospital ship that served with the US Navy in World War II. Prior to that, she served as a US Navy transport ship under the name USS ''Chaumont'' (AP-5). USS ''Chaumont'', one of twelve 13,400-ton (displacement) Ho ...

and

USS Comfort (AH-6) The second USS ''Comfort'' (AH-6) was launched 18 March 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, Los Angeles, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by First Lieutenant E. Hatchitt, USAMC; transferred to the Navy the same d ...

Hospital ships **Brisbane Submarine base ***Some Submarines Base at Brisbane:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ''Caiman'', ''Pompon'', ''Cod'', ''Raton'', ''Guavina'', ''Bowfin'', ''Grouper'', ''Grouper'', ''Blackfish'', ''Rasher'', ''Balao'', ''Corvina'' **Submarine maintenance depot **Submarine training center **Brisbane Degaussing Station **

Crash boat Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II th ...

base **Fleet Post Office FPO# 134 SF Brisbane **Barracks **Supply depot *Ammunition depot, Brisbane Navy 134 at

Mount Coot-tha Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , there were no residents in the suburb. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mou ...

**Mine depot outside of the city **Mobile Explosives Investigation Unit. No.1 * Archerfield shared with Army, just south of Brisbane. *Camp Perry Park, Navy housing unit at Camp Perry Park *Toowoomba Recreation Center, at

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

west of Brisbane *Coolangatta Recreation Center at

Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people. Geography Coolangatta and its ...

, south of Brisbane *Transmitting Station at Colmslie

Naval Air Station Brisbane

Naval Air Station Brisbane was based in Colmslie on the Brisbane River. *Naval Base Colmslie *NATS Seaplane Base Colmslie (now Colmslie Recreational Park) *Colmslie Seaplane workshop, repair of Navy

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wi ...

planes *Navy and

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

radio station, Pan Am used the base for mail and other services. *

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

, BOAC,

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

and

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

also use the base. **Post war became Barrier Reef Airways base

Hamilton repair depot

*Repair depot *Hamilton repair depot in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on the Brisbane River. * Cairncross Dockyard *Supply depot *Machine shops *Engineering camp *Chemical Engineering Camp *Some repair ship at Brisbane: * USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) * USS Remus (ARL-40) * USS Clytie *

USS Fulton (AS-11) USS ''Fulton'' (AS-11) was the leader of her class of seven submarine tenders, launched on 27 December 1940 by Mare Island Navy Yard and sponsored by Mrs. A. T. Sutcliffe, great-granddaughter of Robert Fulton. ''Fulton'' was commissioned on 12 ...

* USS Sperry (AS-12) * USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) * USS Satinleaf (AN-43) * USS Sonoma (AT-12) * USS Geronimo (ATA-207) *

USS Wright (AV-1) USS ''Wright'' (AZ-1/AV-1) was a one-of-a-kind auxiliary ship in the United States Navy, named for aviation pioneer Orville Wright. Originally built as a kite balloon tender, she was converted into a seaplane tender after kite balloons were ...

* USS Coucal (ASR-8) * USS Mataco (AT-86) *

USS Portunus (AGP-4) USS ''Portunus'' (AGP-4) was an acquired by the U.S. Navy for use during World War II as a motor torpedo boat (MTB) tender. She was named after a Roman god of the sea, who had jurisdiction over ports and the shores. ''Portunus'' was laid down ...

* USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) *

SS Stratheden SS ''Stratheden'' was a UK-built steam turbine ocean liner. She spent most of her career with the P&O (company), Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, including the World War II, Second World War when she served for six years as a Tro ...

* USS Tangier (AV-8) * USS Dobbin (AD-3)

Camp Seabee

*Camp Seabee at

on the Brisbane River in Brisbane **Camp Seabee **Camp Seabee staging camp and depot **Merchant Marine Anti-aircraft training camp, Wellington Point Gunnery School at

Wellington Point Wellington Point is a residential locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wellington Point had a population of 12,350 people. The suburb is a popular seaside destination within the Brisbane metropolitan area and is nota ...

**Advanced Base Construction Depot (ABCD) **Mobile Navy Hospital No. 9, with 3,000 beds **Theater **Recreation building **Laundry depot **

Power station 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 ...

Decomposed granite Decomposed granite is a kind of granite rock that is weathered to the point that the parent material readily fractures into smaller pieces of weaker rock. Further weathering yields material that easily crumbles into mixtures of gravel-sized par ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

for roads. ** Eagle Farm Airfield, shared with Army ** Allison Engine Testing Area
Camp Seabee was home to the: *19th Construction Battalion Special *20th Construction Battalion *55th Construction Battalion *60th Construction Battalion *77th Construction Battalion *84th Construction Battalion *91st Construction Battalion *

Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 Amphibious Construction Battalion ONE (ACB1 or ACB-1 or PHIBCB 1 or PHIBCB One) is an amphibious construction battalion in the United States Navy based in Coronado, California. Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO is its sister unit based in L ...

- 104th Naval Construction Battalion *115th Construction Battalion *138th Naval Construction Battalion * Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11
From the staging at Camp Seabee, Construction Battalions departed to help build: *Naval Base Cairns *Naval Air Station Palm Island *Townsville Naval Section Base *Thursday Island PT Boat Base *

* Naval Base Merauke * KanaKopa PT Boat Base *

Oro Bay Airfield Oro Bay Airfield (also known as Cape Sudest Airfield) is a former World War II airfield in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state. History Oro Bay Airfiel ...

* Naval Base Lae -

Landing at Lae The Landing at Lae was an amphibious landing to the east of Lae and then the subsequent advance on the town during the Salamaua–Lae campaign of World War II. Part of Operation Postern, which was undertaken to capture the Japanese base at ...

Naval Base Mios Woendi Mios Woendi island is an island in the Schouten Islands of Papua province, eastern Indonesia. It lies in Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) off the northwestern coast of the island nation of Papua New Guinea. Description The island is in a ...

at Mios Woendi PT Boat Base and Owi Airfield * Naval Base Woodlark Island *

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 ...

Naval Base Hollandia Naval Base Hollandia was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Humboldt Bay, near the city of Hollandia (now Jayapura) in New Guinea. The base was built by the US Navy Seabees during the Battle of Hollandia, starting on May ...

* Kiriwina Airfield * Naval Base Cape Gloucester -

Battle of Cape Gloucester The Battle of Cape Gloucester was fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, between 26 December 1943 and 16 January 1944. Codenamed Operation Backhan ...

* Naval Base Alexishafen, at

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. Histo ...

* Naval Base Morotai -

Battle of Morotai The Battle of Morotai, part of the Pacific War, began on 15 September 1944, and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. The fighting started when United States and Australian forces landed on the southwest corner of Morotai, a small isl ...

* Naval Base Banika Island on

Banika 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 ...

: **

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 ...

and Banika Field ** Renard Sound Seaplane Base *

Naval Base Saipan Naval Base Saipan or Naval Advance Base Saipan or Naval Air Base Saipan was a United States Navy Naval base built during World War II to support Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Ocean theater of war and the many warships and troop ...

Naval Base Okinawa Naval Base Okinawa, now Naval Facility Okinawa, was and is a number of bases built after the Battle of Okinawa by United States Navy on the Okinawa Island of Japan. The naval bases were built to support the landings on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, an ...

* Naval Base Amsterdam Island on

Amsterdam Island, West Papua Amsterdam Island is an Islands of Indonesia, island in the Tambrauw Regency, Tambrauw in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. Part of the Su Islands (Mios Su) or the Soe Island Group. See also Middleburg Island References Externa ...

, PT Boat Base * Leyte-Samar Naval Base 60th CB * Naval Base Guadalcanal - Guadalcanal campaign 61th CB ** Tenaru Camp -

Battle of the Tenaru The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guada ...

** Koli Point Camp - Koli Point action ** Naval Base Lunga at

Lunga Point Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field. is also the name of a United States Navy escort carrier t ...

** Henderson Field 6th CB * Naval Base Manicani Repair base *Radar Station at

Auki Auki is the provincial capital of Malaita Province, Solomon Islands. It is situated on the northern end of Langa Langa Lagoon on the north-west coast of Malaita Island. It is one of the largest provincial towns in Solomon Islands. It was establi ...

for RNZA 60th CB * Naval Base Emirau 60th CB on

Emirau Island Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The local language is a dialect of the Mussau-Emira language. Emira is part of what on ...

* Naval Base Darwin 84th CB * Naval Base Puerto Princesa at

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

84th CB * Naval Base Manus * Naval Base Treasury Islands **

Torokina Airfield Torokina Airfield, also known as Cape Torokina Airfield, is a former World War II airfield located at Cape Torokina, Bougainville. History World War II The 3rd Marine Division landed on Bougainville on 1 November 1943 at the start of the Bou ...

** Piva Airfield *

Naval Base Lingayen file:LST-917 Lingayen Gulf January 1945.jpg, LST-917 and other Landing Ship, Tank, LST ships unloading at Lingayen Gulf January 1945 Naval Base Lingayen was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Lingayen Gulf on the northwest ...

- Sual Bay PT Boat Base 104th CB * Naval Base Subic Bay *

Olongapo Naval Station Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the Spanish Navy and subsequently the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. The base was 262 square miles, about the size of Singapore. Th ...

Olongapo Camp, 115th CB *

NAS Attu Casco Cove Coast Guard Station was a military facility and private use airfield on Attu Island, one of the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. Owned by the United States Coast Guard, Casco Cove CGS is located west of Anchorage, Alas ...

138th CB on Attu Island * Naval Base Auckland at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

*Bases in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

138th CB

Other camps

*Camp La Fayette Prison Stockade at Eagle Farm *Camp Whinstanes, Prison

Remote Advanced Bases

CampSeabeeNavalBaseBrisbane_buildingtrips

Naval Base Brisbane built and supported remote advanced bases in Queensland:

Naval Base Cairns

Naval Base Cairns at Cairns, north of Brisbane, closed January 7, 1945 (now HMAS Cairns Part of the base was on Green Island, 20 miles of the shore. **Cairns Harbor PT-Boat Base, later moved to Milne Bay **Cairns Harbor Seaplane Base **

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 ...

repair base **Escort Base One destroyer repair depot **Naval mine maintenance depot **Patrol-craft repair depot **Supply depot **Mess hall **Navy hospital **Feet post office FPO# 144 SF Cairns, Australia **Floating drydocks: AFD-10, ARD-7 **600-foot timber wharf **5,000-gallon water tank farm **Ammunition depot outside of camp **Cairns Airfield used for patrols **Cairns staging camp **Trinity Bay, amphibious training, US Army, Navy with US Navy support. **Sheridan Street Camp, Cairns Army Camp located along Sheridan, Dutton and Spence Street. *Naval Air Station Palm Island **Naval Air Station Palm Island, at Palm Island north of Brisbane, started July 6, 1943, closed June 1, 1944. **

VPB-29 VPB-29 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Pacific Air Detachment on 17 January 1923, redesignated Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14) on 29 May 1924, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1-Naval District 14 (VP-1D14) o ...

Patrol Bomber unit **

VP-11 Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11), nicknamed ''Proud Pegasus'', was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established at NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island on 15 May 1952 and was disestablished on 2 August 1997. It was the fourth squadron to ...

Patrol Squadron with

**Hangars **Seaplane Base Palm Island **Fleet Post Office FPO# 420 SF Palm Island, Australia **Naval Air Station Wallaby Point **60,000 barrels tank farm **Palm Island patrol bombers repair depot **Docks **Radio stations **PT boat bases **Hospitals **Naval mine depot **Power station **Supply base

Townsville Naval Section Base

*Townsville Naval Section Base **North of Brisbane a section base was built a

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

closed and moved July 1944. **Rose Bay Townsville Navy hospital, 120-bed **Ammunition depot outside of camp **Fleet Post Office FPO# 143 SF Townsville, Australia **Townsville Navy hospital, 100-bed **Black River Navy hospital **US Navy at Cleveland Bay ** Army camp, staging **Army airfields and Army 12th Station Hospital ** HMAS Magnetic Royal Australian Navy base near US base

Horn Island Seaplane Base

**Horn Island Seaplane Base at small Horn Island, far north of Brisbane **

Horn Island Airport Horn Island Airport is an airport on Horn Island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. World War II The Civil Constructional Corps and the Department of Main Roads began construction of an advanced operational airbase on the island ...

RAAF

Thursday Island PT Boat Base

*Thursday Island PT Boat Base was built on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

, far north of Brisbane, by the Seabees. The base opened in February 1943 and closed in September 1945. Thursday Island PT Boat Base had a PT Boat repair depot. The base was shared, HMAS Carpentaria base. The US also stationed some submarine bases at the base.

Toorbul Combined Training Centre

Toorbul Combined Training Centre (CTC) was a joint Army and Navy amphibious training center opened on the summer of 1942 at

Toorbul Toorbul is a coastal town and a locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toorbul had a population of 930 people. Geography Toorbul is north of Brisbane. Toorbul is bounded on the east by Pumicestone Channel which s ...

on Toorbul Point, now called Sandstone Point. The center had classrooms, camp, mess hall,

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

, slipway, a mock ship, and workshops.

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

also had Radar Station at the base. Fleet PO Box was 146.

Other bases

*Fleet Radio Unit Radio Station Cooktown at

Cooktown, Queensland Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repair ...

. FPO# 813 SF Cooktown *For

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 w ...

16 camps were built in

by Australians and US. *

Mareeba Airfield Mareeba Airfield is an airfield located south of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. Built in 1942 as a US Army Air Force base during World War II, the airfield had two runways, with a complement of taxiways, hardstands and a containment area. A ...

(Hoevet Field) US Army *Torrens Creek Airfield in

Torrens Creek Torrens Creek is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Flinders, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Torrens Creek had a population of 70 people. Geography The town is on the Flinders Highway, north-west of the state capital, ...

, US Army, now Torrens Creek Airport * Mackay Airfield and Mackay recreation facilities at

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensla ...

Post war

*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 ...

. A number of Memorials were built in memory of the World War II activities in Australia: *Catalina Memorial Cairns Esplanade, at Cairns Esplanade near Cairns Harbor. Three white pillars with a model of a

Consolidated Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...

atop and a memorial plaque to the crew of Catalina A24-25, at *Cairns War Cemetery, administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) at * Cairns Museum *Beck Museum in

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

, closed *Milne Bay Military Museum in

*Townsville War Cemetery at *Centaur Park, Memorial plaque and park dedicated to AHS Centaur sunk offshore at in

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

. *Bundaberg War Cemetery in Bundaberg at . *Memorial at Bakers Creek in Bakers Creek.

Gallery

CampSeabeeNavalBaseBrisbane-fromair.jpg, Camp Seabee at Naval Base Brisbane from the air File:Damaged USS Growler (SS-215) at the submarine base at New Farm, Australia, in February 1943.jpg, Damaged USS Growler at the submarine base at New Farm in February 1943 StateLibQld 1 149299 Dunedin (ship).jpg, ''Dunedin'' at Gardens Reach on the Brisbane River. South Brisbane wharves in background BRISBANE, QLD. C.1942. THE DOCK GATE UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNFINISHED CAIRNCROSS GRAVING DOCK. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION).jpg, Cairncross Dockyard in 1942 BRISBANE, QLD. C.1942. THE DRYDOCK UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT CAIRNCROSS GRAVING DOCK, LOOKING TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION).jpg, Building Cairncross Dockyard in 1942 StateLibQld 1 79147 Royal Australian Naval ship ML 1322 at Colmslie Naval Base, Brisbane, ca. 1944.jpg, Colmslie Naval Base Brisbane in 1944 SoPacStratSit.gif, Strategic supply chain situation in South Pacific in July 1942

External links

youtube, Abandoned Navy Base on The Brisbane Riveryoutube, World War 2 - Defence of Australia

References

{{USWWII 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 World War II sites in Australia