Subic Bay

duing the nam war almost the entire USN, most Marines and Army as well operated from this base in the Philippines. located just west and north of Manila bay. subic was a fully equipped base that supplied ships with everything. it had storage facilities including dry docks for ships. a main base. fully equipped. an air base called cubi point. subic has a history going back to the spanish/American war as well as WW2






this link give a really good graphic history of subic now and in the past. and full of photo's

subic bay

here's photo from my googles earth

as you can it has an adjoining town called Olongapo City. or sewer city as we called it. god knows how many sailors and marines caught VD there !!!! out near the entrance to the bay you see a small island. grande Island. during nam this was used for R&R. but in ww2 the Army had barage cannons there. replelling the seaward invasion by the japs during the fall of the Islands. those cannons are still there. as far as I know:


wiki gave an accurate account of the base's history

wiki

subic was closed in 92. in 91 the Mount Pinatubo eruption destroyed clarke AFB completely and major damage to subic.
During 1992, tons of material including drydocks and equipment, were shipped to various Naval Stations. Ship-repair and maintenance yards as well as supply depots were relocated to other Asian countries including Japan and Singapore. Finally, on November 24, 1992, the American Flag was lowered in Subic for the last time and the last 1,416 Sailors and Marines at Subic Bay Naval Base left by plane from NAS Cubi Point and by the USS Belleau Wood. This withdrawal marked the first time since the 16th Century that no foreign military forces were present in the Philippines. (from wiki)


The American Flag is lowered and Philippine flag is raised during turnover of Naval Station Subic Bay
subic was part of my growing up training. but no way in hell i'd go back there !!!!!

there are also sunken wrecks in subic. including the Dreadnought USS New York. she was trapped inside the bay when the Japs invaded. no way out so they towed her out in the bay and scuttled her.

also the El Capitan, Hellship – Oryoku Maru, Seian Maru, an LST, and the San Quentin

The Wrecks of Subic Bay