The US Navy Returns to Subic Bay With Expanded Military Role

 Subic Bay operated at an intense pace to prepare U.S. Navy vessels for deployment in WWI.

Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines, once America’s second-largest overseas military base next to its neighbor Clark Air Base, is set for a dramatic revival.

The base, closed in 1992 after lease negotiations failed, is now being transformed into the world’s largest weapons manufacturing and logistics hub.

The US and the Philippines have agreed to a plan that will turn the area into the world’s largest weapons hub, a move intended to help curb Chinese aggression in the region.

A Close Look at Subic Bay’s History

The first European to document contact with the Philippines was the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, serving the Kingdom of Spain, who met his demise there during the Battle of Mactan.

Forty-four years later, in 1565, a Spanish expedition led by Miguel López de Legazpi embarked from modern Mexico, initiating the Spanish conquest of the Philippines during the reign of Philip II of Spain, whose name has remained attached to the country ever since.

From 1565 to 1898, the Philippines was a Spanish colony. In 1868, a military expedition was dispatched to Subic Bay to survey its suitability for a naval yard.

Despite positive findings, the Spanish command in Manila was hesitant to relocate its primary naval base to the relatively isolated Subic Bay. However, after nearly two decades of deliberation, a Royal Decree in 1884 officially declared Subic Bay a naval port.

The US Establishes Control

In June 1898, Commodore George Dewey led an American naval force to formally seize control of Subic Bay, encountering minimal resistance from the Spanish naval forces defending the base. This event, coinciding with the end of the Spanish-American War, set the stage for the subsequent Philippine-American War.

The Spanish colonial period concluded on December 10, 1898, with Spain’s defeat by the United States in the Spanish-American War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris. This marked the beginning of the American colonial era in Philippine history.

When American forces temporarily shifted their focus from Subic Bay, Filipino forces moved to occupy the base. It took the U.S. approximately one year to overcome the Filipino resistance to American rule. On December 10, 1899, exactly one year after the Treaty of Paris was signed, US Marines raised the American flag on the highest flagpole in the navy yard.

Naval commanders in the Philippines debated the suitability of Subic Bay as their primary naval base in the territory. However, President Theodore Roosevelt, a staunch advocate for a naval station at Subic Bay, issued an Executive Order in 1901 establishing the Subic Bay Naval Reservation.

World War I and Its Aftermath

Upon the U.S. entry into World War I, all Navy shipyards, including Subic Bay, operated at an intense pace to prepare vessels for deployment.

Following the war, however, the U.S. and four WWI allies signed the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which mandated the limitation of naval armaments. This treaty led to a reduction in the repair and maintenance capabilities for American naval forces in the Philippines.

Shops at the Subic Bay Navy Yard were dismantled, Fort Wint’s status was downgraded to caretaker, and personnel levels were cut.

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