The last time the USS CURTIS WILBUR visited Singapore, we had a berth in the Singapore Navy Base. This time our repairs needed to be done at a different base, Sembawang. To reach Sembawang we entered a narrow strait. It was a little weird for me to be up on the bridge watching a warship navigate waters no wider than a large river. On one side of the strait was Singapore and on the other was Malaysia. As both countries are strong allies I do not think territorial waters came into play. Malaysia would have a role to play in a few weeks.
The strait was interesting, on one side was an industrialized nation with modern buildings, yacht clubs, resorts...etc. One the other, small shacks dotted a coastline dominated by undeveloped forest. The ship steamed past oil refineries and factories farther in and that, along with the smell, brought me back to reality. Now I know why we were told not to swim in the water. People in small boats waved to us as we passed by, they were careful to keep out of our way.
As we neared the base, I could see quite a few merchant ships but no warships. I thought that was interesting for being a naval base. I reflected on what a Chief had told me a few minutes before about why Britain and the U.S. share a base so far inside of Singapore. Apparently during WWII, the Japanese invaded Singapore by crossing the Johor Strait from Malaysia and avoided the main batteries and defenses on the coast. After WWII ended a small base was established to defend Singapore from another similar attack. This base was never intended to permanently support warships. It is an excellent place to resupply and repair ships though, thus it currently serves as a hub for the Supply Corps.
No comments:
Post a Comment