When was the Naval Base Subic Bay built?
Subic Bay
In 1542, Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo sailed into Subic Bay but no port developed there because the main Spanish naval base would be established in the nearby Manila Bay. When the British captured this base in 1762, the Spanish were forced to find an alternate location and Subic Bay was found to be a strategic and superb port location. In 1884, King Alfonso XII of Spain decreed that Subic was to become "a naval port and the property appertaining thereto set aside for naval purposes."
The Americans captured the Spanish base in 1899 during the Philippine–American War, and controlled the bay until 1991. During this period, the naval facilities were greatly built up and expanded, including a new naval air station that was built in the early 1950s by slicing the top half from a mountain and moving the soil to reclaim a part of Subic Bay. In 1979, the area under American control was reduced from to when the Philippines claimed sovereign rule over the base. The presence of the American forces precipitated the start of a red-light district.
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
The US Army began to acquire of land at Kings Bay in 1954 to build a military ocean terminal to ship ammunition in case of a national emergency. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1958. A 200' wide channel was dredged to Cumberland Sound, and included two turning basins.