In spite of the magnitude of the job and the tremendous difficulties the construction apparently involved the project was pushed through the Pentagon and in 1951 the Navy's Construction Battalion - the famous Seabees - began the first phase of the project. The first Seabees to arrive were MCB-3 on October 2, 1951; the second - MCB-5 - arrived November 5, 1951.
The first problem encountered was overcome relatively easily. The town of Banicain stood on the site of the proposed airfield and so had to be moved to the community of Olongapo where it became New Banicain. The former Banicain now lies under 45 feet of earth.
The next problem was not so easily solved, for it include the moving of mountains and the building of a 10,000 feet long airstrip that stretches out into Subic Bay, along the waterfront and out into the sea. one of the largest earthmoving projects in the world, the construction of Cubi was equivalent to the construction of the Panama Canal.
The $100 million facility was commissioned on July 25, 1956. The construction of the 8,000 foot runway involved the flattening of a 1,200 foot mountain and is said to be the equivalent of the digging of the Panama Canal.
By the mid 1950s Olongapo grew rapidly as the naval station expanded in response to the communist threat in Southeast Asia. The Navy began a $1.5 million construction plan for the development of the town.
At this same time, a growing number of Filipinos, both in Olongapo and Manila, began to call for the separation of Olongapo from the naval reservation and return of the town to Filipino control. They felt that Olongapo, for all practical purposes, was American territory where the 60,000 Filipino inhabitants were aliens. As a result of negotiations certain reforms were instituted - the Olongapo high school was turned over to the Philippine government and membership in the town council was made elective. Further discussions on the future of the town continued. On December 7. 1959, under provisions of the RP-US Bases Treaty Agreement, the United States relinquished Olongapo to the Philippine government. Included in the turnover were water, electrical and telephone systems valued at $6 million.
The war in Vietnam placed a tremendous workload on Subic Bay. The base became the service station and supermarket for the Seventh Fleet after the Tokien Gulf incident in 1964. From an average of 98 ship visits a month in 1964 the average shot up to 215 by 1967, with about 30 ships in port on any given day. A new record was set in October 1968 with 47 ships in port.
More than $63 million of construction projects were contracted during 1964-1968. The Main Exchange and recreation complex near the main gate and 100 housing units were constructed. The 4,224,503 sailors who visited Subic Bay in 1967 helped the Navy Exchange record the largest volume of sales of any exchange in the world - more than $25 million.
Although the American military and civilian population totaled about 4,300 and Filipino workers numbered more than 15,000, the Ship Repair Facility (SRF) was neither outfitted or manned for the increasing workload and emergency peaks generated by the war. SRF workers worked 12-hour shift for an average of over 60 hours per week. The physical plant consisted of quonset huts put up after World War Two and obsolete tools and equipment. To increase the capabilities of the repair facility, the number of repair ships and tenders was increased from 2 to 3. The shutdown of the New York Shipyard provided a quick source of needed machine tools and equipment and additional floating drydocks were activated.
The fire-ravaged USS Forrestal was repaired in August of 1967 before her return to the United States for complete overhaul. Destroyers Obrien, Osburn, Turner Joy and Edson, damaged by North Vietnamese shore batteries, were repaired, as were amphibious assault craft, river patrol boats and other small craft. A 600 foot extension to Alava pier was completed in 1967 significantly increasing berthing capacity.
Immediately after liberation, Subic Bay was designated Naval Advance Unit No. 6, housing a submarine and motor torpedo boat base unit. Grande Island was reoccupied and garrisoned with 155mm guns and antiaircraft guns but was never developed again as a permanent coastal defense fort. In 1963, most of the remaining guns were moved back to the United States to be displayed in coastal defense parks. Today Grande Island has been developed into a fleet recreation area.
Marines destined for the occupation of Subic Bay landed at Manila on September 26, 1945. They were designated as the 26th Provisional Company and assumed naval base security duties from the Army.
July 1945 naval supply depot established at Maquinaya, about 3 miles from the main base, along with an Advance Base Construction Depot and the 115th Seabees. These combined activities boosted the number of civilian personnel to a peak of 9,000 in 1946.
The town of Olongapo was re-established across the drainage canal on its present site, about 1,000 yards inland from where it stood before the war. The town was patterned after an American town with streets laid out along straight lines, both horizontally and vertically. Even though Philippine Independence was granted on July 4, 1946, Olongapo remained under the administration of the U.S. Naval Reservation. The Commanding Officer of the Naval Station was also chairman of the town council, the school board, the hospital board and other governing bodies.
On March 14, 1947 the Military Bases Agreement was signed granting the United States the right to retain the use of 16 bases or military reservations including Subic Bay and the administration of the town of Olongapo. The agreement took effect on March 28th for a period of 99 years.
The need for a naval air station was realized during the Korean war. The construction of a naval air station at Cubi Point, a rugged and jungle covered finger of land 3 miles from Subic Naval Base was conceived by former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arthur W. Radford who pictured the air station as the vital-link in the defense of the Southwest Pacific.
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