Lat
14° 28' 60N Long 120° 55' 0E Cavite peninsula and is surrounded by Manila Bay.
Cavite Naval Base (Sangley Point, Canacao Point, Cavite)
Known as Sangley Naval Base, Cavite or Cavite Naval Base. Canacao Point is the name of the are and was part of the Cavite Naval Reservoir. The name "Sangley" was a local or colloquial term coined by Filipinos to Chinese merchants (xiang-li) who used the area since early history.
Construction
After the Spanish-American war, the US Navy developed this area into a Navy yard, airfield, seaplane base, hospital and support facilities. This station was headquarters of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet.
Wartime History
Bombed by Japanese aircraft on December 10, 1941 that heavily damaged the Cavite Navy Yard. Occupied in January 1942, the Japanese used Sangley and Cavite for their navy. They rehabilitated and expanded the facilities and used them for repair of their own craft and construction of small wooden vessels for coastal shipping.
Japanese Occupation
Cavite fell to the Japanese on January
2, 1942. By late January, the Kondo Detachment setup four 105mm and two 150mm guns. Later, they brought ten 240mm Howitzers, of the Hayakawa Detachment, commanded by Col. Masayoshi Hayakawa, that began operating in March, deployed in the Ternate area. They began to lay heavy bombardment fire on the Harbor defenses of Manila Bay. In mid-February another two 150mm guns were added to this force. Shelling continued until March 20th when the Hayakawa Detachment was disbanded on March and its guns transferred to Bataan.
American Missions Against Cavite
January 24, 1945 - March 28, 1945
Liberation
Bombed by American carrier-based planes beginning in September 1944. Cavite Navy Yard was badly damaged and the hospital buildings at Cañacao. In March 1945, the area was liberated. Japanese left demolition charges at the installation.
American Usage
Within a month, ACORN-45 arrived and set up an advance base. They immediately began construction of an airstrip in preparation for use in the later operations of the war. The base maintenance organization was officially designated Naval Air Base, Sangley Point in 1945. Postwar, in early in 1955 Sangley Point was designated as a permanent facility. Later, after the establishment of NAS Cubi Point at Subic Bay, the designation was changed to Naval Station Sangley Point. The base also included a Naval Communications Center, Marine Barracks, and other facilities. It was used extensively during the Vietnam War.
Today
On September 1, 1971, the base was officially turned over to the government of the Philippines. It is currently used as a facility of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force.
References
Thanks to Tony Feredo for additional historical information.
The Cavite Navy Yard & Submarine Support Facility
The Cavite Navy Yard, just across Cañacao Bay, became the major ship repair facility for the Asiatic fleet prior to the Pacific War. Submarine support facilities were also established at the naval yard.
Cañacao Naval Hospital
The Hospital started by the Spanish was renamed the Cañacao Naval Hospital Reservation. In the mid-1920's a modern new hospital was built as part of a major construction project to modernize the facility. This hospital served the Navy until early 1942 when it was destroyed during World War II.
Radio Sangley
Three 600-foot steel antenna towers were erected in 1915 for the operation of a powerful radio communications station: 'Radio Sangley'. These towers survived the Japanese bombardment in 1941-42, and American liberation in 1945.
