Exmouth Submarine Base, called Operation Potshot, was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

base at

Exmouth Gulf Exmouth Gulf is a Bay, gulf in the North West Australia, north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and t ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Exmouth Gulf on western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

was selected as the site for US Naval base as it was thought at the time to be out of the reach of

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

's long-range

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Empire of Japan, Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the ...

on February 19, 1942, demonstrated a more southern port was needed. The submarine operation at Exmouth Gulf and the North West Cape was called Operation Potshot, named after the Potshot airfield that provided

fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are 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 a ...

cover for the base.

History

With the loss of Naval Base Manila in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, US submarines fled to

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

and then

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

until these ports were taken over. This forced the US Submarine Fleet to Australian ports out of bomber range. A submarine base was set up in Exmouth Gulf. To support the submarines,

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

USS ''Pelias'' was stationed at Exmouth Gulf at Exmouth, Western Australia. A 500-ton Type B

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s was stationed at the base to refuel the subs.

Oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

s would refill the barge as needed. A rest camp for the crew was set up at the base. Potshot airfield, near Yanrey, was also called Learmonth Airport of the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF). For added defense, a British GLll

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

station was installed. The base had Australian 3 inch anti-aircraft guns and QF 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns installed. The US installed Bofors gun anti-aircraft guns. A US Naval Naval Communication Station was built at the site. While it was thought that Exmouth Gulf was far enough south to be out of range for an attack, on May 20 and 21, 1943 that base was attacked. Charles A. Lockwood was overseeing the bases at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

and Exmouth. Exmouth Gulf was too north for a base, as it was hit by

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s. Exmouth was used as part of the staging for

Operation Transom Operation Transom was an attack by Allies of World War II, Allied forces against the Japanese-occupied city of Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java during World War II. Conducted by the British-led Eastern Fleet, the operation took place on ...

in May 1944.

1943 raids

On May 20, 1943, two Japanese Betty bombers were first spotted by the radar station at Onslow, just north of Exmouth Gulf. Then spotted by the radar station at Exmouth Gulf. At about 10.55 pm the Japanese planes bombed Exmouth Gulf, but hit nothing. Two RAAF CAC Boomerang planes of No. 85 Squadron RAAF tried to intercept the bombers, but did not find them. On May 21, 1943, again the two radar stations spotted two Japanese aircraft. The two planes dropped nine bombs into the Exmouth Gulf at about midnight, again hitting nothing. Again two Boomerang were sent up, but by the time one plane found a bomber, it was low on fuel and had to return to base. Other raids hit close to the radar station at Exmouth Gulf. On 15 May 1943, Onslow was bombed by Japan when a single bomber, bombed the Onslow airfield with no damage done.

Seaplane Base Exmouth

The US Navy set up a seaplane base at Exmouth Gulf, called Advance Base D that operated two squadrons of

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA- ...

flying boats. US Navy squadrons VPB-33 and

VPB-52 VPB-52 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Torpedo Squadron 3D15 (VT-3D15) on 12 July 1928, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3-S (VP-3S) on 21 January 1931, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3 Base Force (VP-3 ...

operated out of the base. The planes were serviced by the ), a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

that became a

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

. The Double Sunrise airline service also operated from the base. The PBY Catalina did search, combat, rescue, and reconnaissance patrols. On November 26, 1942, PBY-5A # 2407 aborted a take-off at Exmouth, the plane hit a large swell. The front bombing window broke and water poured in. The plane sank in , the captain was killed and eight other were injured. On April 28, 1943, a PBY crashed at Exmouth, killing three in the plane. On July 3, 1943, PBY #08294 crashed in Exmouth Gulf, killing four crew members and eight passengers. The plane was not repairable.

Z Special Unit

Exmouth submarine base was used as a staging base for Z Special Unit. Z Special Unit was

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

use made up of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, Australian, Dutch,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

ese and Indonesian and a few American troops that operated in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

behind Japanese lines. The operation was mostly for reconnaissance and sabotage work. From Potshot Z Special Unit started

Operation Jaywick Operation Jaywick was a special operation undertaken in World War II. In September 1943, 14 commandos and sailors from the Allied Z Special Unit raided Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, sinking three ships and damaging three ships. B ...

, a successful raid on Japanese shipping in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Harbour, in September 1943. Operation Rimau also used the base for staging, the operation was unsuccessful, with all team members were killed as Japanese found them before the raid. Six Z Special crew members killed have streets in Exmouth named after them.

Post war

*Operation Potshot Memorial Plaque was built in 1963 near the Potshot reconnaissance site.

References

External links

youtube World War 2 - Defence of Australia
{{coord missing, Western Australia Military installations established in 1942 Closed installations of the United States Navy 1942 in Australia South West Pacific theatre of World War II Western Australia during World War II