Naval Base Merauke

Naval Base Merauke
Naval Base Merauke
	Naval Base Merauke Location in Western New Guinea and Indonesia Naval Base Merauke Naval Base Merauke (Indonesia)
	Coordinates: 8°28′S 140°20′E / 8.467°S 140.333°E
Province	South Papua
Naval Base	United States Navy
Dates	1943-1945
Time zone	UTC+9 (Indonesia Eastern Time)
Climate	Aw

Naval Base Merauke was a United States Navy base built during World War II at city of Merauke in the South Papua province of Indonesia, then Dutch New Guinea. The base was 2 miles from the mouth of the Merauke River. The US Navy built a PT boat base and base dock with anchorage to support the Pacific War and the New Guinea campaign. ^[1]^[2]

History[edit]

Merauke is a tropical city on the south coast of New Guinea Island. Base construction started on May 8, 1943 with the arrival of Seabees of the 55th Battalion. Much of the port had been destroyed by Japanese bombs. Seabee removed debris and repaired that which was usable. With the port dock destroyed, cows and barges were used to bring supply to shore, while a temporary wharf was built. A Seabee camp was built and a water purification plant. A permanent 300-foot pier and a PT boat base were completed on September 3.

On June 28 a 6,000-foot runway construction was started and was completed on July 7, 1943. The Empire of Japan had bases on the north shore of New Guinea, so the base was attacked by air sometimes with strafing and bombing. The first attack was on May 11, with no injuries, and some loss of gear. Naval Base Merauke operated daily reconnaissance patrols and the US Army did bombing missions from the runway. Merauke Force operated out of the base also.^[1]^[3]

Bases and facilities[edit]

Anchorage
PT boat Bases
Tank farm
Naval Port facilities
Supply depot
Fuel depot
Ammunition depot on Frances Bay
Seabees camp
Merauke Airfield 6,000-foot runway, that is now Mopah International Airport

Gallery[edit]

No. 86 Squadron RAAF about to take off in their Kittyhawk fighters at Merauke in April 1944
Lockheed Ventura with RAAF at Merauke 1944
RAAF No. 12 Squadron pilots in the mess at Merauke in December 1943

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III, chapter 26)". US Navy.
^ "Pacific Wrecks - Merauke, Merauke Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia". www.pacificwrecks.com.
^ "Pacific Wrecks - Merauke Airfield (Mopah) Merauke Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia". pacificwrecks.com.

External links[edit]

[auto-1] "Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III, chapter 26)". US Navy.

[2] "Pacific Wrecks - Merauke, Merauke Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia". www.pacificwrecks.com.

[3] "Pacific Wrecks - Merauke Airfield (Mopah) Merauke Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia". pacificwrecks.com.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e World War II Maritime Commission ship designs
Cargo designs	Type C1 Type C2 Type C3 Type C4 Type C5 (Type C6) (Type C7) (Type C8) (Type C9) Type N3
Emergency cargo	Liberty ship ("EC2-S-C1") Victory ship ("VC2-S-AP1")
Tanker	T1 tanker T2 tanker T3 tanker Liberty ship ("Z-ET1-S-C3")
Special-purpose	Type S2 ("Tacoma-class frigate") Type S3-S2-BP ("Landing Ship, Tank") Type S3-S2-BP1 ("Neptune-class cable layer") Type S4-S2-BB3 ("Casablanca-class escort carrier") Type S4-SE2-BD1 ("Gilliam-class attack transport") Type S4-SE2-BE1 ("Artemis-class attack cargo ship") "Crane vessel-Derrick Barge"
Miscellaneous-cargo	Type L6 ("Lakers") Type N ("Coastal Cargo") Type P1 ("Passenger") Type P2 ("Passenger") Type R ("Refrigerated") Type B ("Barge")
Tugs	Type V ("Tugs")
See also:- Empire ship, Fort ship, Park ship, Ocean ship.

v t e United States naval ship classes of World War II
Aircraft carriers	Lexington Ranger^S Yorktown Wasp^S Essex Midway^C
Light aircraft carriers	Independence Saipan^C
Escort carriers	Long Island Charger Bogue Sangamon Casablanca Commencement Bay
Battleships	Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee Colorado North Carolina South Dakota Iowa Montana^X
Large cruisers	Alaska
Heavy cruisers	Pensacola Northampton Portland New Orleans Wichita^S Baltimore Oregon City^C Des Moines^C
Light cruisers	Omaha Brooklyn Atlanta Cleveland Fargo^C Juneau^C Worcester^C CL-154^X
Gunboats	Dubuque Sacramento^S Asheville Plymouth^S Williamsburg^S St. Augustine^S Vixen^S Erie PGM-1 PGM-9
Destroyers	Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson Farragut Porter Mahan Gridley Bagley Somers Benham Sims Benson Gleaves Fletcher Allen M. Sumner Robert H. Smith Gearing
Destroyer escorts	Evarts Buckley Cannon Edsall Rudderow John C. Butler
Patrol frigates	Asheville Tacoma
Patrol boats	Action PT boat
Minelayers	Oglala^S Wassuc^S Monadnock^S Miantonomah^S Terror^S Keokuk^S Salem^S Weehawken^S Camanche Chimo
Minesweepers	Lapwing Raven Auk Eagle^S Hawk Admirable
Submarines	O R S Barracuda Argonaut^S Narwhal Dolphin^S Cachalot Porpoise Salmon Sargo Tambor Mackerel Gato Balao Tench
Tankers	T1 tanker T2 tanker T3 tanker
Cargo ships	Liberty Victory Haskell Andromeda Arcturus Artemis Tolland Alstede Aldebaran Adria Acubens Arctic Denebola Hyades Mizar
Auxiliary ships	Ammunition Floating drydock Repair dock Barracks Collier Combat stores Destroyer tender Depot High-speed transport Hospital Ice cream barge Net laying Motor torpedo boat tender Reefer Oiler Repair Seaplane tender Submarine tender Underway replenishment
C Completed after the war S Single ship of class X Cancelled

v t e Naval ships and warships in the late modern period
Naval ship classes in service submarine auxiliary Operational zones Brown-water navy Green-water navy Blue-water navy Gun placement Broadside Central battery Casemate Turrets
Aircraft carriers	Aircraft cruiser Amphibious assault ship Anti-submarine warfare carrier Balloon carrier Battlecarrier CAM ship Escort carrier Fighter catapult ship Fleet carrier Flight deck cruiser Helicopter carrier Interdiction Assault Ship Light aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Seaplane tender Submarine aircraft carrier Supercarrier
Battleships	Coastal defence ship Dreadnought Fast battleship Pre-dreadnought battleship Super-dreadnought (Standard-type battleship) Treaty battleship
Cruisers	Armored cruiser Battlecruiser Guided missile cruiser Heavy cruiser Pocket battleship Light cruiser Merchant raider Protected cruiser Scout cruiser Strike cruiser Torpedo cruiser Unprotected cruiser
Escort	Aviso Convoy rescue ship Destroyer Destroyer escort Destroyer leader Escort destroyer Escorteur Frigate Guided-missile destroyer Kaibōkan Radar picket Sloop
Transport	Amphibious transport dock Amphibious warfare ship Attack transport Dock landing ship Landing craft Landing craft carrier Landing Craft Support Landing Ship Heavy Landing ship, infantry Landing Ship Logistics Landing Ship Medium Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship Vehicle Troopship
Patrol craft	Armed boarding steamer Armed yacht Coastal motor boat Corvette Gunboat Harbour defence motor launch Motor Launch Naval drifter Naval trawler Ocean boarding vessel Patrol boat Q-ship Steam gun boat Submarine chaser Torpedo boat
Fast attack craft	E-boat MAS MGB Missile boat MTB MTM MTSM PT boat Shin'yō
Mine warfare	Danlayer Destroyer minesweeper Mine countermeasures vessel Mine planter Minehunter Minelayer Minesweeper
Command and support	Amenities ship Ammunition ship Auxiliary repair dock Auxiliary ship Collier Combat stores ship Command ship Crane vessel Depot ship Destroyer tender Dispatch boat Fast combat support ship General stores issue ship Hospital ship Joint support ship Naval tugboat Net laying ship Repair ship Replenishment oiler Submarine tender
Submarines	Attack submarine Ballistic missile submarine Coastal submarine Cruise missile submarine Cruiser submarine Deep-submergence vehicle DSRV Fleet submarine Human torpedo Midget submarine U-boat Wet sub
Miscellaneous	Armed merchantman Arsenal ship Barracks ship Breastwork monitor Capital ship Flagship Floating battery Guard ship Littoral combat ship Monitor Mother ship River monitor Training ship
Related	Ship types Sailing vessels

History[edit]

Bases and facilities[edit]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]