The US Navy received an Australian government contract to provide Naval mines for the protection of Australian ports and to disrupt Japanese shipping. As such the Navy built a Naval mine depot at the port of Darwin, in
Darwin Harbour. Due to Japan's southern advance in the
Pacific War into the
Southwest Pacific the US Navy also built a
submarine base and
PT boat Bases on the northwest coast of Australia, to patrol and protect the shipping lanes. The city of Darwin is on a peninsula between
Clarence Strait and Frances Bay in the northern coast of Australia. Naval Base Darwin was part of the 1942
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM). With ABDACOM the
Allies tried to limit the advance of Japan. ABDACOM did not have enough troops or supplies to carry out the mission in 1942. The submarine started with the arrival of the
submarine tender USS Otus (ARG-20) worked at the base from December 10, 1941 to January 1942. The submarine tender
USS Holland (AS3) arrived on January 2, 1942 and began around the clock service to US submarines. A land submarine repair base with docks and depots was built to support the operations. In February 1943
Holland departed Australia for
Mare Island Navy Yard for overhaul. The
USS Coucal (ASR-8) worked at the base from August 12, 1943 to October 29, 1944.
USS Chanticleer (ASR-7) worked at the base from October 1944 to January 1945. The
USS Black Hawk (AD-9) a
destroyer tender operated out of Naval Base Darwin from January 3 to February 1942.
USS Langley (CV-1), the US Navy's first
aircraft carrier, assisted the
Royal Australian Air Force in running
anti-submarine patrols out of Darwin from January 1 to 11 1942. Much of the Darwin submarine base operations was moved to the
Fremantle submarine base in
Western Australia, as this was out of range of land-based Japanese aircraft. Darwin also had a high tide problem. In January 1945 US Navy Seabees built a Seabees base camp at Darwin. The other large
US Naval Advance Bases in Australia were at
Naval Base Brisbane and
Naval Base Sydney. The Royal Australian Navy operated bases in Darwin and worked with the US Navy. Royal Australian Navy base around Darwin:
HMAS Coonawarra Naval Base,
HMAS Melville Naval Base. *After
Victory over Japan Day the base closed and the US Navy started taking Troops home in
Operation Magic Carpet. ==Bases and facilities==