Mios Woendi Base Administration Quonsets

Mios Woendi island is an island in the

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

of Papua province, eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It lies in

Cenderawasih Bay Cenderawasih Bay (, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay () and formerly Geelvink Bay (), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia. Geography ''Cenderawasih Bay'' is a lar ...

(or Geelvink Bay) off the northwestern coast of the island nation of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Description

The island is in an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

southeast of

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

, off the north coast of Papua in

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

. It is roughly a triangle in shape with the longest side in length. Padaido

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

at Mios Woendi, provides a deep-water

anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

of nearly , and the island has of

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...

beach front. The climate is tropical, with an annual rainfall close to . The people are primarily Melanesian.

History

World War II

Mios Woedni was the location of a forward base,Naval Base Mios Woendi , of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

code named "Stinker".31.1 Introduction: Allied Submarine Special Operations Missions in Support of the Allied Intelligence Bureau, Australian Submarines, Michael White, Australian Teachers of Media, POB 2040, St. Kilda West, Victoria, Australia, 2015, p.12

/ref> In June 1944 PT Advance Base 2 arrived along with the

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

of PT Advance Base Construction Detachment of the 113th Naval Construction Battalion.Building the Navys bases in WWII, Volume II, Part III, GPO Washington DC, 1946-47, p.3

/ref> When all was done Mios Woendi would be the largest PT facility in the Pacific and named Camp Taylor for the skipper ''PT-193'' lost. To make that happen the 55th CB was sent to enlarge the camp into a 2,000 man base that would be PT Base 21. There were 12 finger docks to accommodate 50 PT boats. The 19th Special Construction Battalion was sent to take care of the stevedoring and had brought a 100-bed mobile

dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

to set up in addition. The dispensary would be absorbed into the 300 bed Naval Hospital 16 built by the 55th CB. The Seabees had to add more when Navy Seaplane Base 2 arrived in July.

VPB-11 VPB-11 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Torpedo & Bombing Squadron 19-D14 (VT-19D14) on 7 February 1924, redesignated Torpedo & Bombing Squadron 6D14 (VT-6D14) on 1 July 1927, redesignated Patrol Sq ...

VPB-20 VPB-20 was a patrol bombing squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 20 (VP-20) on 15 February 1944, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 20 (VPB-20) on 1 October 1944, and disestablished on 4 February 1946. ...

VPB-33 VPB-33 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 33 (VP-33) on 1 April 1942, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 33 (VPB-33) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 7 April 1945. Squadron I ...

and

VPB-34 VPB-34 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 34 (VP-34) on 16 April 1942, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 34 (VPB-34) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 7 April 1945. Operation ...

all had aircraft there at one point. Also arriving in July was Mobile Amphibious Repair Base 2. This advance base component was designed to provide repairs and support for the operation of 18 LST's, 18 LCI's, 36 LCT's, 60 LCM's, and 240 LCVP's. Five PT drydocks plus repair shops and a torpedo depot were also constructed. The last combat patrol out of Mios Woendi was mid-November 1944. Mios Woendi PT Boat Base(Base 21 Camp Taylor), Pacific Wrecks, Dec. 2017, pacificwrecks.c

/ref> Ships stationed at or transitioning the base to support PT operations were the , , , , , , and . The Hilo was the

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of PT Task Group 70.1 and the Griffen was tasked for submarines. On short notice the Seabees built a stage for a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

show featuring

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nightinga ...

and Patty Thomas. Camp Taylor also served submarines. Its torpedo depot was one reason. The other was special operations of the Combined Field Intelligence Service in support of

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

and coast watchers. These guerrilla sub missions originated at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

's,Capricorn Wharf or Mios Woendi.Guerrilla Submarines, West-Point-org, 23802 Oscar Road, Spicewood, TX 7866

/ref> The

USS Narwhal (SS-167) USS ''Narwhal'' (SS-167), the lead ship of United States Narwhal-class submarine, her class of submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the USS D-1 (SS-17), second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the narwhal. She was named ''V-5' ...

one of these boats. She would have a

refit Refitting or refit of boats and marine vessels includes repairing, fixing, restoring, renewing, mending, and renovating an old vessel. Refitting has become one of the most important activities inside a shipyard. It offers a variety of services for ...

at Mios Woendi and be based there for a period. When the war ended the Dutch Navy used the facilities until 1961. PT Squadrons at Camp Taylor at various times: * MTB Ron 9 * MTB Ron 10War diary USS Mobjack, NARA digital online records * MTB Ron 12 * MTB Ron 13 * MTB Ron 16 * MTB Ron 18 * MTB Ron 21 * MTB Ron 25 * MTB Ron 33 * MTB Ron 36

References

External links

Rising to Victory: The Pacific Submarine Strategy in World War II
says Mios Woendi was east of

near *PTBoats.org
PT Boat Base 21, Mios Woendi, BiakDictionary of American Naval Aviations Squadrons, Appendix 6 - Patrol Squadron Shore Establishments
lists Naval Seaplane Base 2, a.k.a. NAF Biak, as located on Mios Woendi, in 1944 and 1945. Islands of Western New Guinea Landforms of Papua (province) United States Navy installations Military installations closed in 1961 {{Papua-geo-stub