Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo Explained

Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo
Sobriquet:Espiritu Santo
Location:Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
Coordinates:-15.5144°N 167.1772°W
Archipelago:Inlands of New Hebrides
Major Islands:Espiritu Santo and Aore Island, Espiritu Santo Naval Base from 1942 to 1946
Country:Current name: Vanuatu,
US Navy New Hebrides in 1940s
Country Largest City:City of Luganville

Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo or Naval Base Espiritu Santo, most often just called Espiritu Santo, was a major advance Naval base that the U.S. Navy Seabees built during World War II to support the Allied effort in the Pacific.[1] The base was located on the island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu, in the South Pacific. The base also supported the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, and US Marine Corps. It was the first large advance base built in the Pacific. By the end of the war it had become the second-largest base in the theater.[2] To keep ships tactically available there was a demand for bases that could repair and resupply the fleet at advance locations, rather than return them to the United States.[3] Prior to December 7th, Pearl Harbor was the U.S. fleet's largest advance base in the Pacific. Espiritu became capable of all aspects necessary to support the Fleet's operations from fleet logistics in fuel, food, and ammunition, to transport embarkation for combat operations or returning to the continental United States. The ship repair facilities and drydocks were capable of attending to most damage and routine maintenance. Had it not existed, ships would have had to return to Pearl Harbor, Brisbane, or Sydney for major repairs and resupply. The base became a major R and R destination for the fleet.[4] [5] [6] [7]

History

At the start of the war Espiritu Santo was one of a string of roughly 80 islands under the rule of a joint British and French New Hebrides colony. The administration was the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides. U.S. troops first set up a base in May 1942 on the nearby island of Efate, as a defence against the expanding Imperial Japan.[8] In July 1942 the 1st Construction Battalion (CB) sent a detail from the 3rd CB Construction detachment that was on Efate to Espiritu Santo to build a bomber strip to attack the Japanese on Guadalcanal.[9] The 4th Marine Defense Battalion and the 24th Infantry Regiment both on Efate respectively sent an anti-aircraft battery and an Infantry Company to help the Seabees.[10] Together, working around the clock, they built Turtle Bay Airfield in 20 days.[9] In August, 7th CB arrived tasked with constructing a base.[11] In 60 days they had built a second field and began work on two more.[11] In October, the 15th CB arrived [11], followed by the 35th CB on January 27, 1943.[12] In February, the 36th Naval Construction Battalion arrived as did the 40th CB.[11]

Facilities

Built at the bases were personnel housing, piers, roads, shops, power plants, water plants and large storage depots with fuel, ammunition, food and other consumable supplies. Fuel for ships, planes and vehicles was in much demand. The build up of Espiritu Santo was both a defense strategy and then a staging point for the offense against the Japanese. The base supported action in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The base was very active in the Solomon Islands campaign and New Guinea campaign. There were always fears that New Hebrides and Espiritu Santo would be invaded. To build all the bases and airfield tens of thousands of tonnes of equipment was shipped to the base. By the end of the war 9 million tonnes of equipment had been shipped there and over 500,000 servicemen and women had spent some time at New Hebrides and Espiritu Santo.[16] [5] [17] [18]

Airfields

US Navy seabees built four airfields near the naval base, three to support United States Army Air Forces bombers, one to support fighter aircraft.[8] The Royal New Zealand Air Force and US Marine Corps also operated at the airfield.[19]

The base also supported the US New Caledonia base, to the southwest and the Fiji training base, to the east. Crushed coral was used or the runways, ramps and road. Local coconut logs were used in building the base.[20]

Auxiliary floating drydock

Auxiliary floating drydocks were used to repair ships. Three large floating drydocks were stationed at the base. Advance base sectional dock (ABSD) were able to repair the largest of the Navy's ships.

SS President Coolidge

sank at Espiritu Santo. Coolidge was built as luxury ocean liner in 1931. In 1941 the US War Department converted the ship to a troopship with a capacity of 5,000. On 26 October 1942 it was sunk by two U.S. Navy mines when it unknowingly entered a mined area. It was run aground to keep from sinking while the crew and 5,340 troops safely disembarked. Two died from the mine explosions: a fireman in the engine room and a captain of the 103rd Field Artillery Regiment who had returned to the ship when he heard men were still trapped in the infirmary. As the ship went down it slipped off the reef and sank in the channel. The President Coolidge is the largest and most accessible wreck dive in the world. The ship has vast array of corals and fish, including barracuda and sharks. The President Coolidge is part of the tentative list of World Heritage Site listing.[32] [33]

Million dollar point

At the end of the war a vast amount of vehicles, supplies and equipment at the bases was deemed not needed and too costly to ship to the U.S.[34] Also it would have hurt home front industries in bringing all the gear home as there was already a vast amount of military surplus. The U.S. attempted to sell much of the gear to the French for 6 cents on the dollar. The French hoped that by buying none of the gear the U.S would abandon the base and get everything for free.[34] But the U.S had the Seabees to build a ramp into the sea near Luganville Airfield. The gear was then dumped into the sea. The base was abandoned in February 1946.[34] Today the site is a tourist attraction called Million Dollar Point.[35]

Post war

In 1948 author, James Michener wrote a sequence of fictional short stories called Tales of the South Pacific. The stories became the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific. As many troops stayed at or passed through the base, the island became a tourist spot, including a popular scuba diving spot.[36] [37] [38] The Navy base is now part of the city of Luganville.

South Pacific World War II Museum

There is a plan to build a South Pacific World War II Museum on Espiritu Santo in the town of Luganville. The site will be at Unity Park, Main Street, Luganville, Vanuatu. On 26 October 2017 the South Pacific World War II's Museum Museum Project Development Office opened.[39] A few quonset huts and other remnants can still be found on the island.[40]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1944-pt7/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1944-pt7-4.pdf 1944 SENATE - US Government Publishing Office, Report from commanding officer of United States naval advance base Espiritu Santo
  2. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Cruisebooks/wwiicruisebooks/ncb-cruisebooks/57%20%20NCB%20%201942-45.pdf Seabees report on Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo
  3. Web site: USS Independence CVL22 & USS Denver CL58 War Damage Report No. 52. NHHC.
  4. Web site: The South Pacific's WW2 forgotten base . Ww2wrecks.com. 31 March 2021.
  5. Web site: Map – South Pacific WWII Museum . 2021-03-28 . 2021-07-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210716080905/https://southpacificwwiimuseum.com/map/ . dead .
  6. Web site: NH 95045 Espiritu Santo Naval Base, New Hebrides. NHHC.
  7. Web site: LIONS and ACORNS and CUBS, Oh My!! | The Sextant. March 8, 2017. usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil.
  8. Web site: NAVY SEABEE OPERATIONS PACIFIC THEATER DURING WORLD WAR II. Web.mst.edu. March 31, 2021.
  9. Web site: Seabee History: Formation of the Seabees and World War II. NHHC.
  10. Efate, Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, Vol II (Part III), GPO Washington DC, 1947
  11. Espiritu Santo, Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards, and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps, 1940-1946, Volume II, US GPO, Washington, 1947, p.228-31 https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/index.html#contents2
  12. Web site: NCB-List . 2024-08-12 . public1.nhhcaws.local . en-US.
  13. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/seabee/explore/seabee-unit-histories/cbd/1007th-Construction-Battalion-Detachment.html US Navy, Naval Construction Battalion Detachment 1007 - Naval History
  14. Web site: Historical Gallery - 25th Evac. Southpacificwwiimuseum.com. 31 March 2021.
  15. Web site: Santo. Southpacificwwiimuseum.com. 31 March 2021.
  16. Web site: Espiritu Santo | NZETC. nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.
  17. Web site: Naval Construction Battalion Detachment 1007. www.history.navy.mil.
  18. Web site: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II. NHHC.
  19. Web site: New Zealanders in the Pacific War - War in the Pacific | NZHistory, New Zealand history online. nzhistory.govt.nz.
  20. Web site: HyperWar: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II [Chapter 24]]. Ibiblio.org.
  21. Book: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-9.html . Chapter IX, Floating Drydocks . Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940–1946 . I . . Washington, DC . 1947 . Hyperwar . 14 February 2019.
  22. Web site: Floating Dry Docks . Budge . Kent G. . The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia . 14 February 2019.
  23. Sea Going Navy Yard Follows The Fleet . Angas . W. Mack, Capt. (CEC) USN . November 1945 . . 147 . 5 . 121–124 . 10 July 2012.
  24. Web site: Artisan AFDB-1, ABSD-1, IX-521 / IX-525 . 2 February 2018 . NavSource Online . 13 February 2019.
  25. Web site: Floating Dry-Docks (AFDB, AFDM, AFDL, ARD, ARDM, YFD) . Tim . Colton . 30 April 2015 . Shipbuilding History . 8 January 2019.
  26. Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil, By Rear Adm. Worrall Reed Carter, page repair
  27. Web site: Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock AFDL (This is a substitute number 2806 and 6706 are already in use). Navsource.org.
  28. Web site: Ships By Category. Nvr.navy.mil.
  29. Web site: Pacific Wrecks - USS ABSD-2 Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock 2 (AFDB-2). pacificwrecks.com.
  30. Web site: Pacific Wrecks - USS ABSD-4 Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock 4 (AFDB-4). Pacificwrecks.com.
  31. Web site: Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock. Navsource.org.
  32. Web site: SS President Coolidge (+1942) . Pablobini . Vleggert . Nico . 10 January 2012 . WreckSite.eu . 6 May 2013.
  33. Web site: Elwood J. Euart. Web.uri.edu. 31 March 2021.
  34. The Million Dollar Point of Vanuatu, Kaushik Patowary, Amusing Planet web site, November 2016 https://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/11/the-million-dollar-point-of-vanuatu.html
  35. Seabee Junkyard: A holistic and locally inclusive approach to site management and interpretation, Kalle Applegate Palmer, online Museum of Underwater Archaeology, 2014 http://www.themua.org/collections/items/show/1584
  36. Web site: Espiritu Santo Tourism Association - Allan Power Dive Tours, Vanuatu. Espiritusantotourism.com. 25 April 2022 .
  37. Web site: Espiritu Santo Tourism Association - Scuba Diving. Espiritusantotourism.com. 25 April 2022 .
  38. Web site: Diving the Wreckage of World War II in Beautiful Vanuatu. Houstonia Magazine.
  39. Web site: Development Office Opening – South Pacific WWII Museum . 2021-03-28 . 2021-07-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210718084130/https://southpacificwwiimuseum.com/opening/ . dead .
  40. Web site: Contact. Southpacificwwiimuseum.com. 31 March 2021.

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