List of Royal Australian Navy bases

The following is a list of current and former commissioned bases used by the Royal Australian Navy.

Current bases

Establishment	Type	Location	Period	Notes
Fleet Base East	Fleet Base, Depot, Dockyard	Sydney, New South Wales	1788 – Present	Includes HMAS Kuttabul, HMAS Waterhen and Garden Island (New South Wales) dockyard and berthing facilities
Fleet Base West (HMAS Stirling)	Fleet Base, Depot	Garden Island, Western Australia	1978 – Present	Major West Coast base, submarine base
HMAS Albatross	Naval air station	Nowra, New South Wales	1948 – Present
HMAS Cairns	Base	Cairns, Queensland	1974 – Present	Patrol boat, hydrography, and minor war vessels base
HMAS Cerberus	Training facility	Crib Point, Victoria	1912–1921 1921 – Present	Formerly located at Williamstown, Victoria
HMAS Coonawarra	Base	Darwin, Northern Territory	1970 – Present	Former Naval Wireless Transmitting Station, now a patrol boat base
HMAS Creswell	Training facility	Jervis Bay	1958 – Present	Location of the Royal Australian Naval College
HMAS Harman	Communications facility	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	1943 – Present	Is currently a tri-service base
HMAS Kuttabul	Administrative, Logistical, Training, Accommodation	Sydney, New South Wales	1943 – Present	Administrative base for Fleet Base East
HMAS Penguin	Depot, specialist training	Balmoral, New South Wales	1913–1942 1943 – Present	Location of Balmoral Naval Hospital, Hydrographic School, Diving School and Medical School
HMAS Waterhen	Base	Waverton, New South Wales	1962 – Present	Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Headquarters, part of Fleet Base East
HMAS Watson	Training facility	South Head, New South Wales	1945 – Present	Location of Maritime Warfare school

Former bases

Establishment	Type	Location	Period	Notes
HMAS Assault	Training facility	Port Stephens	1942–1945
HMAS Basilisk	Depot	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	1942–1945 1974–1983
HMAS Brisbane	Depot	Brisbane, Queensland	1940–1942
HMAS Carpentaria	Base Administrative centre	Thursday Island, Queensland London, United Kingdom	1945–1946 1966–1981
HMAS Commonwealth	Administrative centre	Kure, Japan	1948–1956
HMAS Derwent	Depot	Hobart, Tasmania	1940–1942
HMAS Encounter	Depot	Port Adelaide, South Australia	1965–1994
HMAS Gilolo	Depot	Halmahera Island, Indonesia	1945–1946
HMAS Huon	Depot	Hobart, Tasmania	1942–1994
HMAS Kuranda	Depot	Cairns, Queensland	1944–1945
HMAS Lavada	Depot	Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea	1943–1945
HMAS Leeuwin	Depot Training facility	Fremantle, Western Australia	1940–1986	Currently used by Australian Army, known as Leeuwin Barracks
HMAS Lonsdale	Depot	Port Melbourne, Victoria	1940–1992
HMAS Lusair	Depot	Torokina, Papua New Guinea	1945
HMAS Madang	Depot	Madang, Papua New Guinea	1944–1946
HMAS Magnetic	Depot	Townsville, Queensland	1942–1948
HMAS Maitland	Depot	Newcastle, New South Wales	1940–1946
HMAS Melville	Depot	Darwin, Northern Territory	1940–1975	replaced by HMAS Coonawarra
HMAS Mindari	Training facility	Woolloomooloo, New South Wales	1945–1948
HMAS Moreton	Depot	Brisbane, Queensland	1942–1994
HMAS Nirimba	Naval air station Training facility	Quakers Hill, New South Wales	1953–1955 1956–1994	Now a campus of the University of Western Sydney (2007)
HMAS Platypus	Submarine base	Neutral Bay, New South Wales	1967–1999
HMAS Rushcutter	Depot	Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales	1950
HMAS Seeadler	Depot	Los Negros Island, Papua New Guinea	1950	Name of base changed to HMAS Tarangau.
HMAS Tarangau	Depot	Dreger Harbour near Finschhafen Los Negros Island, Papua New Guinea	1946–1950 1950–1974	Base at Dreger closed in 1950, and the base name and its personnel and equipment transferred to the former HMAS Seeadler at Manus Island.
HMAS Torrens	Depot	Port Adelaide, South Australia	1940–1964
HMAS Waratah	Administrative centre	Washington DC, United States of America	1966–1980

References

• Stevens, D. 2001. The Royal Australian Navy – A History. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0195555422