This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "HMAS Kuttabul" naval base – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
HMASKuttabul | |
---|---|
Part ofFleet Base East | |
Potts Point,Sydney,New South Wales in Australia | |
![]() Fleet Base East | |
![]() Coat of arms of HMAS Kuttabul | |
Site information | |
Type | Naval base |
Owner | Department of Defence |
Operator | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Location | |
Location inGreater Sydney | |
Coordinates | 33°51′45″S151°13′36″E / 33.86250°S 151.22667°E /-33.86250; 151.22667 |
Site history | |
Built | 1856 (1856) |
In use | 1856 – present |
Battles/wars | Attack on Sydney Harbour |
Garrison information | |
Current commander | Captain Viktor Piličić, CSC, RAN[1] |
Past commanders | Commander Todd Wilson, RAN |
HMASKuttabul is aRoyal Australian Navy (RAN)base located inPotts Point inSydney,New South Wales, Australia.Kuttabul provides administrative, training, logistics and accommodation support to naval personnel assigned to the various facilities that formFleet Base East, the main operational navy base on the east coast ofAustralia.[2][3] A part of Fleet Base East itself,Kuttabul occupies several buildings in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point and in the immediately adjacentGarden Island dockyard. It also supports navy personnel posted to other locations throughout the greater Sydney region.[2]
The base is named for the steam ferryHMASKuttabul that was sunk while docked at Garden Island during a Japanese midget submarineattack on Sydney Harbour in 1942.
Garden Island itself has been host to a naval base since 1856, when the government ofNew South Wales suggested giving the area over to theRoyal Navy as a base for ships serving on the Australia Station. Following the foundation of the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, all naval establishments were given over by the UK to the RAN. However, until 1939, the ownership of Garden Island itself was in dispute, with NSW claiming it as its property. This was solved when the Australian government initially requisitioned the island (together with the naval base) under emergency wartime powers. The government then purchased Garden Island from NSW for £638,000 in 1945.
The Garden Island facility houses the Captain Cook Graving Dock which was, at the time of construction during World War II, the largestgraving dock in the Southern Hemisphere.[4] The dock was constructed between 1940 and 1945, by filling in the area between Garden Island and Potts Point. The dock and associateddockyard are operated under lease byThales Australia. The northern tip of Garden Island is as of 2008 open to the public, accessible only by ferry. The area features theNavy Heritage Centre, opened in 2004, and graffiti dating to the First Fleet in 1788.
From its foundation until the establishment of theTwo Ocean Policy and commissioning ofHMASStirling in 1978,Kuttabul was the RAN's main naval base. With the establishment of two main bases,Kuttabul and Garden Island took on the additional designation ofFleet Base East.
AlthoughKuttabul is the main administrative part of Fleet Base East, Fleet Base East is also responsible for the Mine Counter Measures forces of the RAN stationed on the east coast. These are based atHMASWaterhen.