Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon inZambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, it is now the location of an industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone under theSubic Bay Metropolitan Authority (see also, Port of Subic).
Subic, the former US naval base in the Philippines, is now a hub for commerce and tourism. Just two-and-a-half hour drive north from Manila, Subic offers a full view of the blue mountain and sea and of the green background of a three-layered virgin forest.

Points of interest include the 18-hole Binictican Golf Course and Clubhouse, a white-sand beach, bowling and arcade center,a ship wharf past a restricted forested area, firing ranges, fishing grounds and an area for bungee jumping.

Visitors to Subic can take a 12-hour jungle survival course, visit an Aeta tribal village, take a bay cruise, explore the coves, end up at the white-sand beach of Grande Island, engage in water sports, go horseback riding or simply enjoy the scenic view of the sea.

Subic Bay is complete with tourism-support facilities that include a marina, a yacht club, hotels, shopping arcades and food shops. It also boasts of an international airport.

Shipwrecks of Subic Bay

The majority of the wrecks in Subic Bay are a result of either the Spanish–American War in 1898or of World War II, where a number of Japanese vessels were sunk by American aircraft.

El Capitan was a freighter of nearly 3,000 tons just under 130 meters long. She sank in Subic Bay where she rests on a sloping bottom.

Hell ship Oryoku Maru: On 15 December 1944, she had 1,619 American and British prisoners of war on board when she was sunk, under heavy bombardment by American fighters while on her way from Subic Bay to Japan. She was less than half a kilometer off the Alava Pier when attacked. About 300 prisoners died during the short voyage from Manila and during the attack.

Seian Maru: During an air raid on Subic Bay, the 3,712 ton freighter Seian Maru was bombed and sunk. This was only four days after the sinking of the Oryoku Maru on 19 December 1944.

LST (Landing Ship, Tank) This is one of the large LSTs that litter the floor of Subic Bay. She was scuttled in 1946 in the middle of Subic Bay between the southern tip of the runway and Grande Island.

The old USS New York (ACR-2), which had been renamed the USS Rochester (CA-2) in 1917. At the onset of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, this ship was acting as a floating workshop and storehouse. Already decommissioned, the armored hull of the old cruiser was too valuable to allowed to be captured, and so she was scuttled in December 1941 by American forces.

San Quentin: During the Spanish–American war in 1898, the Spanish scuttled their San Quentin in the hope of blocking the passage between Grande Island and Chiquita Islands near the mouth of Subic Bay.