Leyte–Samar Naval Base

Leyte–Samar Naval Base was not one single base, but a number of facilities on the west, north, east shores of San Pedro Bay, and in the bay. in Guiuan waters during World War II • Tacloban Naval station, on Casiguran Bay, was the Leyte–Samar headquarters, Fleet communication center, the fleet post office, Quonset hut barracks, a base dispensary with beds. After the first landing, existing buildings and warehouses were used for the headquarters and barracks. Fleet Post office FPO# 3964 SF Tacloban. The Tacloban base and Port of Tacloban were at . • Tolosa base at Tolosa had a communication center for the Seventh Fleet and the Philippine Sea Frontier headquarters. Seabees built quonset hut barracks. The 6th, and 13th Air Force were also stationed at Tolosa. Fleet Post Office FPO# 3201 SF Leyte Island. The Tolosa base was at . • San Jose Airstrip later renamed Tacloban Airfield, was built by the Seabees at . • Guiuan Airport was a United States Navy air base built by Seabees of the 61st and 93rd Naval Construction Battalions. Seabees built the runway, the Guiuan strip, that opened December 18, 1944 at , now the Guiuan Airport. Later a second runway was built. • Tubabao Base on Tubabao Island was used for unloading of supplies of ships. To get the supplies to Guiuan a wooden bridge was built. The bridge was 515 feet long and 22 feet wide. Tubabao Base was at • Salcedo PT Boat Base, a large PT boat base, with repair depot and three pontoon drydock, was built at Salcedo, Eastern Samar at . Salcedo Base housed 3,000 troops. • Fleet Recreation Centers were built at San Antonio, near the ship repair base and Osmeña, Marabut, Samar at . • Port of Ormoc, west of Leyte, was freed on December 11, 1944 in the Battle of Ormoc Bay. The port had unlimited anchorage. A small Naval Base was built at the port, Naval Base Ormoc. Fleet Post Office FPO# was 3102 SF Ormoc, Leyte. • Port of Calbayog, north of Leyte, was freed in 1945 by Philippine Commonwealth troops and the guerrillas. The port had unlimited anchorage. A small Naval Base was built at the port, Naval Base Calbayog. Fleet Post Office FPO# 3957 SF Calbayog, Samar. ==History==

floating drydock Before Leyte–Samar Naval Base was built the United States had to clear out the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces from the Philippines. The first main Naval event was the Battle of the Philippine Sea from June 19, 1944 to June 20, 1944. The next was the Battle of Leyte Gulf from October 23, 1944 to October 26, 1944. Battle of Leyte Gulf and Battle of the Philippine Sea were two of the largest naval battle in history. The Battle off Samar was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944. The United States Army landed at Leyte on October 20, 1944, the start, of the Battle of Leyte. Major fighting ended on December 26, 1944. On December 25, 1944, United States Seventh Fleet officially opened its headquarters in Leyte, with Task Group 72.7. Leyte–Samar Naval Base provided major logistic support for the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf on January 3, 1945. The base continued to grow and barracks ships APL-17 and APL-19 arrived in February 1945 to help with the housing shortage. On May 7, 1945, a large convoy departed the base at Ulithi, to move much of that base to Leyte–Samar Naval Base, taking operations closer the action. The convoy arrived on May 13. The second convoy departed May 19, this convoy included the floating drydock a 3,300-ton ARD-19. Also in May, the arrived and was used a barracks ship for the quickly growing base. Many Merchant Navy ships started to arrive with supplies. fuel and ammunition. The ammunition ships SS Bluefield Victory and USS Amador arrived with needed shore and ship ammunition. Also in May the USS Ajax (AR-6) a repair ship arrived and started repair work on ships, late repairing typhoon damaged ships. With many ships in the Pacific War for such a long time, Leyte–Samar Base became a major ship repair depot. More floating dry docks were added to the base including: ARD-15, ARD-18, ADR-23, ADR-25, AFDL-32, and AFD-17. In June 1945 the base had its peak population of 72,000 Troops. On July 27, 1945 the massive USS Artisan floating drydock was assembled in Leyte Gulf. Artisan was able to dry dock and repair the Navy's largest ships, like battleships. Much of the base was abandoned after the war in 1945. Leyte–Samar Base was part of a treaty in 1947" Agreement Concerning Military Bases, Manila, 14 March 1947. That noted that Leyte–Samar Naval Base could be used by the United States if determined to be required by a military necessity. In 1947 the base was abandoned. ==Gallery==

File:LSTs_unload_at_Leyte..jpg|LSTs unloading at Leyte on 8 November 1944 File:Leyte map annotated.jpg|The four main actions in the Battle of Leyte Gulf: 1 Battle of the Sibuyan Sea 2 Battle of Surigao Strait 3 Battle off Cape Engaño 4 Battle off Samar. Leyte Gulf is north of 2 and west of 4. The island of Leyte is west of the gulf. File:Leyte beachhead.jpg|Leyte beachhead on 20 October 1944 File:Dulag airfield Leyte in 1944.jpg|Dulag Airfield Leyte in 1944. USS LST-919 Mindoro Island 15 December 1944.jpg|USS LST-919, , and beached at Mindoro Island, Philippines, 15 December 1944, unloading supplies and equipment ==See also==