Subic Bay

Subic Bay is found on the island of Luzon in the Phillipines. The Subic Bay Naval Base used to be the largest military base of the United States in Asia but is now a highly successful industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Subic Bay lies on the western coast of Luzon about a hundred kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. The bay is surrounded by the Olongapo City, the town of Subic and the Subic Bay Freeport Zone both in the province of Zambales. The development of Olongapo City is largely tied to the presence of the US Base.

US Navy base

The then colonial power, Spain, established an arsenal and ship repair facility at Subic Bay in 1885. Following the Spanish-American war of 1898-1899, Subic Bay became a US Navy and US Marines base, and grew to be a major facility, the Navy's largest base. In 1991 when the Phillipine Senate rejected the terms for renewal of the lease of the base to the United States and a little after nearby Mount Pinatubo erupted, the base closed, the last ships leaving in 1992.

External Links

• Subic Bay Freeport website
• Reunion site for US Marines who were posted to Subic Bay

This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by fixing it.