SRF HISTORY

Subic Bay was selected as a Naval Base site by the the Spanish in 1868. It was officially designated in 1884 and construction begun in 1886. The location was ideal,with three-side mountain protection againts the winds, a large water area of uniform depth and Grande Island,which enabled strategic defense of the bay entrance.
The Spanish Naval Station occupied what was then the Ship Repair Facility. Its west entrance or the "Old Spanish Gate" still stands as a reminder of the Spanish influence.US Naval authorities selected Subic Bay in 1901 for a major repair and supply facility.In 1906,the Dewey Drydock capable of accomodating a 20,000 ton battleship,arrived from the Atlantic Coast,via Suez Canal. By 1907,Subic Bay had become a successful center for ship repair operations and replenishments.
In 1922,most repair work was shifted to Cavite because of its proximity to Manila,but the Dewey Drydock remained at Subic in as much as Cavite had no suitable anchorage.In 1941 it was towed to Mariveles for protection againts a Japanese attact.It was later sunk by the US Navy to prevent the Japanese from using it,only to be raised by the Japanese and soon resunk by American forces in Manila Bay,where it still remains.
The facilities here were completely destroyed during World War II, but after the liberation of the Philippines in 1944,the activity was re-established and by 1945,there was a unit of 20 officers and 443 enlisted personnel ,along with 2000 Filipino workers,constructing and carrying on the base activities.
In that same year,the floating drydock was assigned to SRF.With the demobilization of forces after the war,Subic Bay area operations began to slow down .The major workload is decommissioning and laying up of ships for disposal,along with preparation of ships to foreign agencies. The Tonkin gulf incident brought the US Seventh Fleet into the Vietnamese war and SRF scrambled to keep pace with the workload that doubled in two years time.
With the recent eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991,brought much damage to SRF and Subic.And with the Philippine Senate rejection to renew the treaty,Subic Naval Base was closed in 1992 and was converted to a freeport zone.(Tiger Talk)

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