Seeadler Harbor with floating drydocks in September 1945

Manus Naval Base, Naval supply depot with piers and quonset Hut warehouses on September 18, 1945 NavalAirstationReceivingstationManus

Manus Naval Base was a number of bases built after the

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Battle of Manus by

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 ...

on the

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles ...

and a smaller island just east,

Los Negros Island Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus Is ...

in the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-co ...

chain. The major naval base construction started with the Los Negros landings on February 28, 1944. The Navy repaired and did the expansion of the airfields on the Admiralty Islands. United States 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 ...

built or repaired the facilities on the islands. The large Manus Naval Base, also called the Admiralty Island base, supported

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 ...

, Southwest Pacific command, and part of the Pacific Fleet. The base was abandoned by the US Navy after the war.

History

Japanese called Los Negros Island the Hyane Island and had built some facilities on the two islands. Manus Island was picked for a major air and sea base as it was near

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 for ...

strong points: 387 miles to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

, 694 miles to Truk, 273 miles

Kavieng Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavi ...

and 244 miles to

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. ...

. The other reason was Manus Island's

Seeadler Harbor Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II. In German, "Seeadler" means sea eagle, pointing to German colonial activity between 1884 an ...

, which offered the largest and most protected Southwest Pacific fleet anchorage. By March 1944 the beaches were secured enough that the Seabees started construction. The first airfield captured was Hyane Airfield which was renamed

Momote Airfield Momote Airport is an airport on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. It also serves Manus Island, which is connected to Los Negros by a bridge. History Hayne Airfield Built by the Imperial Japanese at Momote during Wor ...

. While the airfield was captured the outlining area still had fighting and the airfield was attacked two times while under construction. Hyane Airfield has one 4,000-foot runway in poor condition. On March 10,

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 ...

s began using the Momote Airfield. Seabees completed all Momote Airfield construction and improvements on June 1, 1944 and turned the 7,800-feet runway Momote Airfield over to the

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 ...

. The newly built air base had a camp, 90 fighters and 80

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s, a tank farm with 17,000-barrel

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 ...

that was filled from a small

T1 tanker The T1 tanker or T1 are a class of sea worthy small tanker ships used to transport fuel oil before and during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The T1 tanker classification is still in use today. T1 tankers are about in length and are a ...

harbor and an

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 weapo ...

depot. On April 1, 1944 Seabees started construction at Mokerang Airfield on Los Negros Island with the US Army engineers. The existing runway was improved to 8,000 feet and a new second 8,000 feet runway was built. Built at Mokerang Airfield were: a base camp, supply depot, repair depot, and a 30,000-barrel tank farm. At Hyane Harbor Seabees constructed a 500-bed evacuation hospital for the US Army. For the US Navy, at Hyane Harbor Seabees built a waterfront complex: two cargo ship wharves, a repair pier, 800-foot ship refueling pier, and a ship unloading and repair crane. Also starting on June 19, 1944, at Hyane Harbor was a pontoon assembly depot, as it was found that shipping pontoon flat, unassembled took a lot less space in ships. The pontoon depot had a personnel camp and warehouses. For the US Army and Navy a large aviation supply depot was built. For the Navy a 5,000 runway was built and a 7,000-barrel aviation-gasoline tank farm. To support the activity at Hyane Harbor a small-boat repair depot and camp was built. As the built up in the Pacific continued in April 1944, two new camp constructions were started on Los Negros Island: Papitalai Point and one at Lombrum Point. At Papitalai Point Seabee 58th Battalion built a base camp, depot, a

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 ...

overhaul base,

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bu ...

and diesel tank farm. Seabee started work at Lombrum Point on April 17, 1944, which become

Lombrum Naval Base Lombrum Naval Base, also known as HMPNGS ''Tarangau'' and formerly PNG Defence Force Base Lombrum, is a naval base, naval military base operated by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force#Maritime Operations Element, Maritime Operations Element of the P ...

. At Lombrum Point Seabee built

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 ...

repair base, a

ship repair Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

base, and a

Landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force ( infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are large ...

repair base. Each base required the building of camps, depots, piers and shops. Landing craft base supported LCT, LSM, and a host of smaller landing craft. For ship repair, different sized

Auxiliary floating drydock An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, ...

s were towed to the base. The largest USS AFDB-2 and USS ABSD-4 were able to

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, ...

battleships A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type o ...

. Also at Lombrum Point Seabee built a seaplane base with a concrete seaplane ramp and 8,000-barrel tank farm. At the captured coastal

Lorengau Airfield Lorengau Airfield was an airfield located at Lorengau on the north coast of Manus Island. History An airfield built to service the missions near Lorengau. Extended by the Imperial Japanese during World War II. Consisted of a single grassed runway ...

a large supply depot was built. Lorengau Airfield was a 3,500-foot grass runway and due to lack of space, it was not improved, but a support camp and depot was built at the Lorengau Airfield. Navy Base headquarters was built at Lorengau, near the mouth of Lorengau River. At the Lorengau Navy Base Seabee built a 1,000-bed Navy Hospital 15. The headquarters also had a camp for 5,000 men incoming Troops. Pityilu Airfield, on Pityilu Island was built to support aircraft carriers, with a training center and storage of 350 spare fighter planes for later aircraft carrier use. Ponam Airfield on Ponam Island was also built to support aircraft carrier fighter planes. After the war, most bases were abandoned in 1946 and 1947. Momote Airfield became

Momote Airport Momote Airport is an airport on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. It also serves Manus Island, which is connected to Los Negros by a bridge. History Hayne Airfield Built by the Imperial Japanese at Momote during Worl ...

. Some bases were turned over to 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 ...

and later to the

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into be ...

Bases and facilities

Large fleet anchorage (some times called Manus Island Harbor or Manus Harbor) *Lombrum Seaplane Base, with

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 w ...

G-21 Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and ...

PBM Mariner The Martin PBM Mariner was an American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with th ...

(VPB-71, VPB-52), VP-33 and

VPB-34 VPB-34 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 34 (VP-34) on 16 April 1942, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 34 (VPB-34) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 7 April 1945. Operational ...

PBY-1 Patrols and air-sea rescue, and FAW-17 Patrol and Reconnaissance *

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 ...

Base *

Submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War I ...

base *Pityilu Island fleet recreation center for up to 10,000 troops. *

(HMPNGS Tarangau) *Advanced Base Construction Depot (ABCD) - Seabee Camp *Mokerang, floating

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, 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 constr ...

dock, a fixed Liberty dock, and a pile dock * LST landing beach * USS Hope (AH-7), USS Bountiful (AH-9) and

USS Refuge (AH-11) USS ''Refuge'' (AH-11), was a hospital ship of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was built in 1921 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., of Camden, New Jersey, as SS ''Blue Hen State'', but was renamed ''President Garfield'' in ...

hospital ships * Lorengau Naval Depot *Naval Air Station Receiving station, Lorengau *Salami, communication center *Koruniat Island, on 4 April 1944, the 5th Cavalry established a base on this island. *

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 I ...

base *

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 weapo ...

depots *Base and Fleet Headquarters *Post office FPO# 3205 SF Manus Island *Quartermaster depot *Medical center *128 storage depot buildings *50 refrigerator storage units *5 miles of road * Water-supply systems able to produce 4,000,000 gallons per day *Many piers and Pontoons docks *

Sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, 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 ...

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

quarries for fill *

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 p ...

s * Radar Stations *

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 ...

s * Tankers:

USS Caribou USS ''Caribou'' (IX-114), an ''Armadillo''-class tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the caribou. Her keel was laid down by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, ...

, USS Alameda, USS Arethusa, USS Leopard and

USS Armadillo USS ''Armadillo'' (IX-111), the lead ship of her class of tanker was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the armadillo, an insect-eating mammal which has an armorlike shell encasing its back and head. Construction She wa ...

*Repair Base *Major ship repair base with Large auxiliary floating drydock USS ABSD-4 and ASDB-2 * USS ARD-19 Floating dry dock * USS White Sands (ARD-20) *

Service Squadron A Service Squadron (ServRon) was a United States Navy squadron that supported fleet combat ships and US Navy Auxiliary ships. Service Squadrons were used by the US Navy from their inception in 1943 to as late as the early 1980s. At the time of ...

- Lombrum *Part depots - Lombrum *

Machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or pla ...

s *Engineering camp *Chemical Engineering Camp * Motor pool *

USS Argonne (AS-10) USS ''Argonne'' (AP-4/AS-10/AG-31) was a Design 1024 cargo ship built under United States Shipping Board contract by the International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, Pennsylvania, for the United States Department of War. Named ''Argonne'' f ...

* USS Mindanao (ARG-3) * USS Medusa (AR-1) * USS Briareus (AR-12) * USS Vestal * USS Cebu (ARG-6) * USS Fortune (IX-146) *USS Aviation, parts ship * USS Piedmont (AD-17) *

USS Sierra (AD-18) USS ''Sierra'' (AD-18) was a built just before the start of World War II for the U.S. Navy. Her task was to service destroyers in, or near, battle areas and to keep them fit for duty. The second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, ''Sierra'' wa ...

USS Whitney (AD-4) USS ''Whitney'' (AD-4) was a ''Dobbin''-class destroyer tender named for United States Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney. She was launched on 12 October 1923, and was commissioned on 2 September 1924. She was decommissioned on 22 O ...

* USS Amycus *

USS Current (ARS-22) USS Current (ARS-22) was a ''Diver''-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels. ''Current'' (ARS-22) was launched 25 September 1943 by Basalt Rock Comp ...

* USS Apache (ATF-67) *

USS Chimaera (ARL-33) USS ''Chimaera'' (ARL-33) was one of 39 ''Achelous''-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Chimaera (a mythological character, symbolic of the destructive forces of nature), she was ...

* USS Currituck (AV-7) *

USS Creon (ARL-11) USS ''Creon'' (ARL-11) was one of 39 ''Achelous''-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Creon (the name of two mythological Greek kings, a mythological son of Heracles, and a histori ...

* USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) * USS Euryale *

USS Tangier (AV-8) The second USS ''Tangier'' (AV-8) was a Maritime Commission type C-3 cargo ship, converted to a seaplane tender in the United States Navy during World War II. The ship, the first of the C-3s to be launched and significant in a revival of Paci ...

USS San Pablo (AVP-30) USS ''San Pablo'' (AVP-30) was a United States Navy ''Barnegat''-class seaplane tender which was in commission as such from 1943 to 1947 and then served as a commissioned hydrographic survey ship, redesignated AGS-30, from 1948 to 1969. Thus f ...

USS Willoughby (AGP-9) The second USS ''Willoughby'' (AGP-9) was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the later stages of World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1946, she wa ...

* USS Wright (AV-1)

Airfields

* Mokerang Airfield two 8,000 feet bomber runways, Army and Navy use. *

(Hyane Airfield) 7,800-feet foot runway, turned over to US Army, after war

. *

3,500 foot grass runway, not used, became supply depot. *NAS Ponam Airfield on Ponam Island was built by the US Navy in June 1944. This was an aircraft carrier flighter plane overhaul base, has one coral-surfaced 5,000 foot runway. Ponam Airfield did

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typi ...

patrols. Later became HMS Nabaron, after the US Navy closed base on September 1, 1947. It was also used by the Royal Navy in March–April 1945, camp was at . **Based at Ponam Airfield was: **78th Naval Construction Battalion **140th Battalion ** ACORN 28 - Seabee unit ** VMF-312 (24 x FG

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

unit) **VP-130 (15

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in ...

V-1unit) **VC-75 (

Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

unit) ** Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 42 **Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 13 **Carrier Aircraft Service 587 ** Mobile Naval Air Base 4, (

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

) *NAS Pityilu Airfield, on Pityilu Island Built by US Navy in 1944, 5,500 feet runway. aircraft carrier fighter plane training base, with storage of 350 spare planes. Complete camp for 5,000 troops. Was later transferred to the Royal Navy, camp is at **Based at Pityilu Airfield was: **VPB-146 (PV-1, Lockheed Ventura unit) **ACORN 28 **VJ-2 (JM-1 detachment Able,

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in th ...

unit) **Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 42 **Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 13 *US Navy 5,000 foot x 150 feet runway with 7,000-barrel aviation-gasoline storage **VR-13 Naval Air Transport Service,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

to Manus, with R4D-5 and RY-2 planes ** VPB-117 with PB4Y-1 Liberators ** VB-106 with PB4Y-1 Liberators Aerial view of USS Mindanao (ARG-3) after the explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11) at Seeadler Harbor on November 10, 1944

Attacks and lose

* USS Mount Hood (AE-11), an

ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

, exploded on November 10, 1944 in Seeadler Harbor. The 350 men on the ship were killed. She damaged nearby ships, like the USS Mindanao which had 180 crewmen killed and injured by the explosion. * USS ABSD-4 was attacked on April 22, 1945,

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...

thought that the large floating dock was an aircraft carriers and damaged the dry dock. * USS AFDB-2 was attacked on April 22, 1945 also, damaging section G.

Seabees units

*Seabees working on Manus Naval Base: *2nd Naval Construction Regiment: 11th, 58th and 71st Naval Construction Battalion *

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

Naval Construction Regiment: 35th, 44th, and 57th Battalions * 40th Battalion *46th Battalion *78th Battalion *17th Battalion *58th Battalion *104th Battalion *20th Special Battalion *21st Special Battalion *22nd Special Battalion *63rd Battalion *140th Battalion *561 Construction Battalion *587 Construction Battalion *621 Construction Battalion *PAD 1 - Navy Pontoons Battalion

Post war

On January 1, 1950

(RAN) founded HMAS ''Seeadler'', HMPNGS Tarangau (PNG Defence Force Base Lombrum) at the former US Naval Base. The new base replace the older base at Dreger Harbour, near

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U ...

. to replace the RAN base at Dreger Harbour, near

. The base was renamed HMAS ''Tarangau'', the name of the former Dreger Harbour base, on 1 April 1950. *Monument 1st Calvary Division Memorial - Los Negros *Remains AFDB / ABSD Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock 2 - Los Negros *Remains AFDB / ABSD Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock 4 *Ship wreck Wrecks LCVP Landing Crafts - Los Negros *Ship Wreck "USS Mount Hood (AE-11)" - Los Negros *Japanese Shipwreck - Los Negros .

Gallery

MapofLosNegrosUSNavy.jpg, US Navy map Manus Naval Base in 1945 ShipRepairFacilities_Lombrum1944.jpg, Ship Repair Facilities Manus Naval Base at Lombrum in 1944. Built by 46th Seabees USS Iowa Floating Drydock.jpg,

USS Iowa USS ''Iowa'' may refer to several vessels: U.S. military vessels Vessels named USS ''Iowa'' * , a battleship that saw action during the Spanish–American War * , a battleship already under construction when she was canceled by the Washington Nav ...

battleship being repaired at Manus Naval Base on December 28, 1944 ARD20 floating repair dry dock.jpg, ARD-20 floating repair dry dock, for repairing subs, destroyers, and small vessels ManusNavalBaseChapelWW2.jpg, Manus Naval Base Chapel. Chapel dedication services on Easter morning, April 1, 1945 WW2 Admiralty Islands ops.jpg, Map Admiralty Islands operations, 29 February to 30 May 1944 Admiralties-day08.JPG, Admiralty Islands map 1944 Map of Manus and Los Negros.jpg, Map of Manus and Los Negros Kittyhawk on Momote.jpg,

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

Kittyhawks on

, 8 March 1944 Ponamisland.jpg, Ponam Island with ruway and base. MomoteAirfieldSeabeesworking1944.jpg,

with Seabees working at night in 1944. CB 40 worked day and night on the Los Negros Momote Airfield. Pityliu IslandAerial.jpg, Pityilu Island with air base. NASPityiluAirfieldmap.jpg, Map Pityilu Island with air base 1944 USNavymaintenancecrewsVB-106Momote Airstrip.jpg, US Navy maintenance crews VB-106 clean engine parts under an airplane wing while raining at Momote Airstrip in March 1944 71 Squadron RAAF Los Negros (AWM image P02874-141).JPG,

No. 71 Squadron RAAF No. 71 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) maritime patrol squadron of World War II. It was formed in January 1943 and conducted patrols off the east coast of Australia until it was disbanded in August 1944. History During the fi ...

on Los Negros base Small floating drydock at Seeadler Harbor in September 1944.jpg, Small Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock, repairing

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War I ...

PC-1121 at Seeadler Harbor in September 1944 P02874.256Kittyhawk1944.jpg, No. 76 Squadron RAAF Seeadler USN drydock 1945.jpg, US Navy floating Dry Dock Number 4 in Seeadler Harbor 1945, surrounded by floating barges with workshops and a tugboat, repairing

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 ...

and Navy

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) tending PT boats in Seeadler Harbor on 25 March 1944.jpg, USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) tending

s in Seeadler Harbor on March 25, 1944 USS Claxton (DD-571), USS Canberra (CA-70) and USS Killen (DD-593) in floating dry dock ABSD-2 on 2 December 1944 (80-G-304088).jpg,

USS Claxton (DD-571) USS ''Claxton'' (DD-571), a , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Thomas Claxton, born in Baltimore, Maryland. ''Claxton'' was launched 1 April 1942 by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mr ...

, USS Canberra (CA-70) and

USS Killen (DD-593) USS ''Killen'' (DD-593), was a of the United States Navy. Namesake Edward Killen joined the Navy on 5 May 1801 as a seaman aboard the schooner . Accompanying her to the Mediterranean he was promoted to Master's Mate on 9 November 1803. He volu ...

in floating dry dock ABSD-2 on 2 December 1944 USS Mindanao (ARG-3) damaged by explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11) in Seeadler Harbor on 10 November 1944.jpg, USS Mindanao (ARG-3) damaged by the explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11) in Seeadler Harbor on November 10, 1944