Naval Base Finschhafen was a

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 ...

base built 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 ...

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

on the

Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finist ...

Morobe Province Morobe is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands Province ...

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 ...

. The US Navy built a

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hampe ...

base, Dreger Harbor PT Boat Base, boat repair depot, and harbor facilities at Dreger Harbour and Langemak Bay to support the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

in 1943. Harbor was also built to support the US Navy in building 6,000-foot Finschafen Airfield, also called Dreger Field, now

Finschhafen Airport Finschhafen Airport is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. . It is located on the south-east tip of Huon Peninsula at Finschafen. A half mile inland, parallel to Schneider Harbor, with Dregerhaffen to the south-east ...

on the island. The base was part of the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

History

The

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

took over Finschhafen on March 10, 1942 in the Battle of Finschhafen and the Landing at Scarlet Beach. On October 2, 1943, the Australian Forces recaptured Finschhafen in the

Huon Peninsula campaign The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 1943–1944 during the Second World War. The campaign formed the initial part of an offensive that the Allies launched in the Pacific in late 1943 ...

. On November 2, 1943, members of the US Navy's

Seabee 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 ...

60th Construction Battalion arrived to start work on the Naval Base. The members of the 60th Construction Battalion arrived from Naval Base Woodlark Island, where most work had just been completed. An LST ship did a beach landing of the Seabee crew and the equipment. Work was delayed due to thick mud from a rain storm. On November 16 Seabees began working with 808th Army Aviation Engineer Battalion on the runway. Seabees did grading and mat-laying on the north end of the runway. The runway opened on time on December 5. On December 9 the 78th Battalion arrived at a point south of the city of Finschhafen and started work on a base camp and the Naval Base. On December 16 the 40th Battalion arrived with the first Liberty ship full of supplies. On January 6, the 46th Battalion arrived on the south side of Langemak Bay and built a camp near the 78th Battalion. On January 5, 1944, the 808th Army Aviation Engineers departed Finschhafen. The Seabee 60th Battalion took over all maintenance and the remaining construction at the airfield. 60th Battalion built:

aviation gasoline Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, wh ...

tank farm, aviation repair depot, and parking for

fighter planes Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the air ...

and

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

s. The 60th, 78th, and 46th Battalion built the harbor facilities, including a 200-foot pile timber jetty -dock. The PT Boat was opened. Next in 1944, built was: a 30-by-60-foot pier, a torpedo pier, one finger pier, two unloading piers, and an 84-foot repair pier, base camp, supply depot, torpedo shop, and machine shops. By July 1944, the 91st Battalion arrived and improved the base facilities. The 91st Battalion built four 330-foot timber cargo unloading piers for Merchant Navy ships and recreation buildings. Seabee built a 300-bed hospital, Base Hospital 14, and 500 man Navy camp. To refuel the many ships now stopping at the new Naval Base, Seabee built a 10,000-barrel tank farm of

Fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

.pacificwrecks.com, Dreger PT Boat Base
/ref> Finschhafen became a staging camp for upcoming campaigns, and Seabee built a US Army camp for 17,000 Troops. To support the Troops, Seabee built beach ramps to support 14 LST ships and 15 miles of roads. Seabee built a staging camp for 2,500 Navy Troops. The 102nd Battalion arrived in March 1944 ad departed in June 1944. Construction Battalion Maintenance Units 545 and 543 arrived in February and April 1944 to work at the base. During all the construction projects there were delays due to heavy rains. Finschhafen is in the

Tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

and can have 4,081 mm (160 inches) of rain a year. There were some enemy bombings from

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

, that caused some delay and Seabee casualties. By November 1944 all projects had been completed and by January 1945, some of the base was being shipped to more forward bases. The base was closed at the end of the war. Naval Base Finschhafen Feet Post Office is FPO# 722 SF Finschhafen.

Gallery

CampSeabeeNavalBaseBrisbane buildingtrips.jpg, Camp Seabee

Naval Base Brisbane Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, it operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Paci ...

building trips map Dreger_Harbour.png, Dreger Harbour at Finschhafen Finschhafen area September 1943 (AWM photo 059763).jpg, A view of Finschhafen, October 1943 MilneBayLocation.jpg, Naval Base Finschhafen was supported by nearby

Naval Base Milne Bay Naval Base Milne Bay, also called Naval Advance Base Milne Bay, was new major United States Navy sea and airbase base built on Milne Bay in Milne Bay Province in south-eastern Papua New Guinea. By spring 1943, the build up of the US Navy to s ...

References

External links

youtube, Battle for New Guinea 1942-1945 youtube WW2 - The Battle of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea.
{{USWWII Naval Stations of the United States Navy World War II airfields in the Pacific Ocean Theater Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links