Subic Bay History
CHAPTER ONE
THE COLONIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES
In 152.1 Ferdinand Magellan sailed across the Pacific Ocean in search of new lands and wealth for Emperor Charles V of Spain.
Landing on the island of Leyte on March 31, Magellan named the archipelago San Lazaro. He then sailed on to Cebu where he converted 800 subjects of the Rajah Humabon to Christianity. Fighting soon broke out between Magellan's men and the unconverted chieftain Lapulapu, with Magellan being killed on the beach at Mactan, Cebu, on April 27, 1521.
Another expedition soon followed but also failed when the Spaniards led by Rey Lopez de Villalobos betrayed the hospitality of the natives of Samar.
In 1565 a settlement was established on Cebu by Niquel Lopez de Legaspi. Augustine missionary Fray Andres de Urdaneta joined Legaspi as navigator, establishing the pivotal position of the Catholic Church in the islands that exists to the present. Because of the uneasy situation with the local inhabitants, an expedition was sent north to explore the island of Luzon. Manila was captured from the Moslem Rajahs Sulayman and Lakandula and proclaimed the capital of the Spanish colony Las Filipinas, the Philippines.
While the Spanish were busy establishing their new colony, the inhabitants of Zambales on the western coast of Luzon continued to live as they had for centuries. Native outrigger bancas sailed out of a quiet inlet called, Subic Bay to catch fish in the bountiful waters of the South China Sea.
When not fishing, the men from the small village of olongapo, nestled on the bay's green southern shore, hunted the wild pigs, carabao and birds that inhabited the thick jungle surrounding the bay.
Then in 1572 the dashing young grandson of Legaspi, Juan de Salcedo, arrived to collect tributes for the hapless native's new sovereign master King Philip II. Although Salcedo's reception was short of enthusiastic, whatever resistance he met was quickly dispelled. Native lances, bows and arrows were no match for the Spanish aqueous.
On his return to Manila, Salcado reported on: Subic Bay's deep water, sheltered anchorages and strategic location but it would be many years before the Spanish would take a serious look at the bay.
The main Spanish naval bass in the Philippines was at Cavite in Manila Bay. A shipyard capable of, constructing galleons and other classes of vessels had been established there in September, 1766, when the Spanish shipyard at San Blas, California, transferred with all its shipwrights and engineers. The last of the galleons built at Cavite was the Magallanes, (Magellan) which left Manila in 1811, ending a long line of stately ships of Spanish design but almost wholly Philippine labor and craftsmanship.
Cavite suffered from unhealthy living conditions, with malaria and other diseases rampant, and was, with its lack of shelter and shallow water, vulnerable in time of war and bad weather. Because of these shortcomings a board of officers was appointed to investigate a new location for the primary naval station in the Far East. A military expedition was sent to Subic Bay in 1868 with orders to survey the bay to determine if a suitable site existed there. From their camp at the mouth of the Cawag River on the northern side of Subic Bay the Spaniards explored the entire bay and concluded that the area at Olongapo held the most promise. The expedition returned to Cavite and informed the naval command of their findings that Subic Bay, with its deep water and healthy environment, was superior to Cavite and an ideal place for a naval base.
This emphatic report, however, was not well received in Manila. The Spanish command was reluctant to give up the bright city lights of Manila and move to the provincial isolation of Subic Bay. It would be years before plans for a naval station would be completed and submitted for the King's approval. Finally, in 1884, Subic Bay was declared by Royal Decree as a "naval port and the property apertaining thereto set aside for naval purposes."
On March 8, 1885, the Spanish Naval Commission authorized construction of the "Arsenal at Olongapo” and the following September Filipino laborers, working off their heavy tax burden, started work. The Spanish planned to make their naval station and the village of Olongapo an "island", protected against attack by insurrectos. They did extensive dredging of the harbor and inner basin and built a drainage canal, over which the bridge at the Main Gate passes today. The canal served both to drain the swampy area around the. yard and also' formed a line of defense. Gunboats of shallow draught could enter the waterway at the inner harbor, proceed via the drainage canal and the connecting Kalaklan River, and emerge into the bay. The circuit would then be completed by sailing parallel to the beach until coming back to the inner harbor. The gunboats Caviteno, Santa Ana and San Quentin were assigned to the Arsenal for the defense of the naval station.
Shore batteries were planned for the eastern and western sides of the station and on Grande Island to complete the defense of the Arsenal.
Seawalls, causeways and a short railway for the transportation of lumber were built across the swampy tidal flats. The Spaniards removed thousands of tons of rock and dirt from Kalalake Hill on the south bank of the drainage canal to use as fill for these projects. In later years the hill was so extensively used that the hill disappeared and a lagoon was formed in the area we know today as Bicentennial Park.
The West Gate,, which still-stands today and is commonly known as the Spanish Gate, was the main entrance to the navy yard. Defenders could fire small arms through gunports, while remaining protected in two small keeps, one on either side of the entrance way. These keeps also served as a kalaboso to lock up insurrectos and common criminals. A high wall of locally kilned brick connected it to the South Gate near the water front.
Inside the wall the Spanish constructed a foundry and other shops necessary for ship repair and construction. The buildings were laid out in two rows on Rivera Point, sandy spit projecting into the bay, named for the Captain-General of the Philippines, Fernando Primo de Rivera. The ship Marques de la Victoria, provided electricity and steam for the naval yard.
The Arsenal had one unique structure, a three-story building of iron and brick. This building, the station hospital, was constructed on a radically different plan from any previously built in the Philippines and was an attempt to get away from the typical Spanish thick-walled construction. It was built of brick supported in place by huge iron posts cast in Barcelona, Spain. Handrails and other grilled iron work were fabricated locally. The hardwood flooring was of large mahogony boards, hand sawn, trimmed and finished.
Captain Don Julio del Rio, Commandant of the 2nd Commendencia at Subic Bay, had his headquarters in a one-story building of magnificent native hardwoods - molave, narra and tundalo. The building stood near today's Alava Pier and had beautiful colored glass windows. It was the showpiece of the naval station. His garrison consisted of about 30 marines in addition to the ship's crews. He was also in charge of the civilian workers at the yard.
The entire Spanish naval yard was constructed in the area now-occupied by the U.S. Navy Ship Repair Facility. A narrow road lined by large mango trees led from the West Gate a few hundred yards across tidal flats to Olongapo. With the construction of the Arsenal the former fishing village soon grew into a town of almost 300 residents, stretching along the beach from the area around today's Subic Bachelor Officers Quarter ' s to the Kalaklan River. Construction in Olongapo was in accordance with the general Spanish pattern of the day - a plaza forming the nucleus around which was located schools and civic buildings. The. plaza at Olongapo was what we now call
Tappan Park named after Captain Benjamin Tappan, Commandant of the Navy Yard during 1914-1915. San Roque's Catholic Church xiqs established for the Spanish sailors and the Filipinos who had been converted to Christianity. It stood at the corner of the plaza on the same site as today's Subic Base Chapel. St Joseph's School and dormitory stood next to the church.
Source: SUBIC BAY From Magellan to Mt. Pinatubo; by: Gerald R. Anderson; pp. 2-10
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