Harbor off Los Negros and Manus.

Wartime History
After the American liberation of Manus, it became a major base for the US Navy, cramed with ships of all sizes, and used by seaplanes from the Lombrum Seaplane Base on Manus. It was an imporant base for the future operations and invasion forces bound for Leyte and the Philippines. Several ships were sunk an abandoned there, including a tragic explosion of an American ammunition ship, the USS Mount Hood on November 10, 1944.

Lombrum Seaplane Base
Built by US Navy after liberation as a seaplane base using adjacent Seeadler Harbor

 

USS Mount Hood AE-11
Sunk by accidental explosion on November 10, 1944

AFDB-2 (ABSD-2) Floating Dry Dock
Decomissioned on March 24, 1987

AFDB-4 (ABSD-4) Floating Dry Dock
Attacked on April 30, 1945 by B5N2 Kate from Rabaul. Decomissioned on April 15, 1989

 

Sunken LCVP Landing Craft
There are several abandoned landing craft sunk in the harbor, near Lombrum at the end of the war. Photos by Jeff Hutchinson, 2003.

Veteran CM/2c Frank Morrill, USN recalls:
"As soon as the war was over, we loaded up a whole bunch of LCM's and other landing craft and took them out away. We took off the hatch covers and sunk the whole mess. About ten of them went down to Davey Jones Locker""

Japanese Ship
Sunk to the mast level in Seeadler Harbor. Wartime photo via Frank Morrill.