Lombrum Naval Base


Lombrum Naval Base, also known as HMPNGS Tarangau and formerly PNG Defence Force Base Lombrum, is a naval military base operated by the Maritime Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. It is located on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Lombrum is the home port of the PNGDF's Pacific-class patrol boat force.
After redevelopment in 1950 by the Royal Australian Navy, it was known as HMAS Seeadler, being renamed HMAS Tarangau soon afterwards.
The Manus Regional Processing Centre was established within the base in 2001.

History

The naval facility was first built during World War II as a "Lion" which was code for a major Fleet installation of the United States Navy. It was constructed by the Seabees of CBs 11, 58, and 71 and commissioned in January 1944. Although a major base during the latter part of the war, the facility was abandoned by the Americans in 1946 with the downsizing of their military and their policy of containment shifted strategic focus away from the southern Pacific. The Australian government took over the site, redeveloped it, and reopened it as the Royal Australian Navy base HMAS Seeadler, commissioning on 1 January 1950 to replace the RAN base at Dreger Harbour, near Finschhafen. The base was renamed HMAS Tarangau, the name of the former Dreger Harbour base, on 1 April 1950.
The base was used as a refuelling and stores point for RAN ships travelling between Australia and South East Asia. The size of the facility gradually shrank through the 1950s and 1960s, and the decision was made to hand the facility over to Papua New Guinea as part of the process leading to the nation's independence from Australia. As part of this, Tarangau was paid off on 14 November 1974 and given to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, who reactivated the base as PNG Defence Force Base Lombrum.
In 2018 Australian and Papua New Guinea officials met to discuss expanding the base again, so that it can also serve as a base for Australian and United States Navy vessels.