Naval Base Lingayen

Naval Base Lingayen was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Lingayen Gulf on the northwestern Island of Luzon in the Philippines. The base was founded after the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945 at Lingayen city and the surrounding gulf. The Naval base was used to support the later operations at Manila and the rest of Luzon Island and then at Okinawa. Lingayen Gulf offered excellent fleet anchorage.[1]

Naval Base Lingayen
Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippines
Lingayen Gulf with landing spots January 1945
Coordinates16°17′N 120°12′E
TypeNaval base
Site information
Operator United States Navy
Site history
Built1945 (1945)
Seabees unloading ships at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon in January 1945
LST-917 and other LST ships unloading at Lingayen Gulf January 1945
Lingayen Gulf January 1945 with beach runway, Lingayen Airfield
Navy Seabee bulldozer working on the invasion of Lingayen Gulf
Map 1945 with China, Japan, and the Philippines, with South Pacific War sites

History

US Navy Seabee pontoon battalion landed with the troops at Lingayen on January 9, 1945. The Seabee task was building pontoon piers out into Lingayen Gulf so the massive about of supplies needed for the invasion could be unloaded quickly. Over 90% of the invasion supplies were unloaded on the pontoon piers.[2][3] Seabee built a Naval Base Headquarters at the city of San Fernando on the north east side of Lingayen Gulf. A supply depot was built at Lingayen, US Navy Advance Base 6. The US Army had its Headquarters at San Fernando also, called Base M. The Army had a number of camps around Lingayen Gulf.[4][5][6]

Bases and facilities
  • San Fernando, La Union Naval section base, Harbor HQ, Base HQ
    • Radar station
    • Naval hospital
    • Fleet anchorage
    • Fleet Post office 3960 SF
    • Boat pool (to get to ships and other Lingayen Gulf facilities)
    • Look out tower
    • Base camp


Lingayen Gulf:

PT Boat Sual Bay

A large PT boat Base was built at Sual Bay's port of Sual at Sual at 16.078°N 120.102°E / 16.078; 120.102. Motor torpedo boat tender USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) help keep the boat supplied and running.

Airfields

Seaplane Base Lingayen

Seaplane base was built in Cabalitan Bay at Cabalitan Island at 16.111°N 120.120°E / 16.111; 120.120 The seaplane were served by the seaplane tenders: USS Barataria (AVP-33) and USS Currituck (AV-7). Later the Seaplane base was moved to Sual Bay. The US Navy's VPB-71, Patrol Bombing Squadron 71, operated Consolidated PBY Catalina type PBY-5A, called "Black Cat" out of the seaplane bases. On February 28, 1945, VP-28 arrived operating Martin PBM Mariners. The Black Cat and Martin PBM, did antisubmarine patrols and attacked Empire of Japan shipping in the South China Sea. The USS Tangier (AV-8) took over the seaplane tender duties on March 13. US Navy Seabees built seaplane ramps and bases both at Sual Bay and Cabalitan Island.[8]

Seabee units
Main article: Seabees in World War II
  • 115th Construction Battalion[9]
  • 102nd Construction Battalion[10]
  • 1st Special Naval Construction Battalion, Sept. 1945 only[11]
  • Naval Construction Maintenance Unit 606 [12]
  • Seabee Pontoon battalion
World War II Memorial Ground Site, Town Park & Capitol Grounds (Lingayen, Pangasinan).

Loses
Main articles: Invasion of Lingayen Gulf and Bataan Death March

The invasion of Lingayen Gulf was costly for the US Navy, from December 14, 1944, to January 13, 1945, 24 ships were sunk and 67 were damaged by kamikaze attack planes. In the attacks, 746 seamen were killed and 1,365 wounded. Most of the ships were with the United States Third Fleet and United States Seventh Fleet, Task Group 77.2. Many of the ships had come from Naval Base Ulithi staging.[13] A few ships were damaged in Lingayen Gulf by small maru-ni boats, that had depth charges. LST-925 and LST-1028 were damaged by a maru-ni boats (US calling them torpedo boats at the time) from Sual. The USS Philip (DD-498), USS Robinson (DD-562) and USS Leutze were able to stop maru-ni boats before they attacked, 45 maru-ni boats were lost in total.[14][15]

Japan landed and took Lingayen on December 22, 1941. US and Filipino Troops at Lingayen, retreated to Bataan, most becoming prisoners of war and part of the Bataan Death March in April 1942.[16]

Post war

With two large Naval Bases on Luzon: Naval Base Manila and Naval Base Subic Bay, Naval Base Lingayen was closed after the war.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of the Philippines (1941–42).

References
  1. Lingayen Gulfpacificwrecks.com
  2. Seabee News Issue 60, 20 Feb. 1945
  3. US Army Philippines
  4. US Navy Bases, San Fernando
  5. Lingayen beachpacificwrecks.com
  6. HyperWar: Beans, Bullet and Black Oil, Chapter 22
  7. US Army, Red Ball Express, by Major James B. Deerin, Q.M.C.
  8. US Navy USS Barataria
  9. Seabees 115th Battalion World War II Memory Book NCB 115
  10. US Navy 102nd Construction Battalion
  11. US Navy 1st Special Naval Construction Battalion
  12. Naval Construction Maintenance Unit 606
  13. Smith, Robert Ross (1993). Triumph in the Philippines (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Army. pp. 60, 62, 66. ISBN 978-1-4102-2495-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  14. JAPANESE EXPLOSIVE MOTORBOATS Iweaponsandwarfare.com
  15. JAPANESE EXPLOSIVE MOTORBOATS IIweaponsandwarfare.com
  16. William L. O'Neill, A Democracy at War: America's Fight at Home and Abroad in World War II, p 115 ISBN 0-02-923678-9
  17. Veterans Memorial Park Lingayen
  18. 3" Naval Gunpacificwrecks.com
  19. Twin 40mm Anti-aircraft gunpacificwrecks.com
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