Fleet Base East

Fleet Base East
Garden Island, a major part of Fleet Base East
Active	Various Bases and Units (1788-1987) Fleet Base East (1987–present)
Country	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Navy
Type	Various
Role	Various
Based near	Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia

Fleet Base East is one of the two major fleet bases of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of several naval establishments and facilities clustered around Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson).

Confusingly, naval personnel often use the term Fleet Base East to mean the naval wharves at Garden Island where ships assigned to the Fleet Base usually berth but the official designation includes several other bases and facilities as well.

Sydney was the centre of naval activity in Australia from the earliest founding of the colony in 1788. Over the course of the 19th century the Royal Navy developed facilities around Sydney Harbour, most notably at Garden Island. Those facilities passed to the newly formed Royal Australian Navy in 1911 and Sydney became home port to the Australian Fleet.

During World War II there was significant expansion of the naval facilities around Sydney Harbour, including a large expansion of the dockyards at Garden Island.

After World War II Australia began to have growing interests in the Indian Ocean areas to the west of Australia and the need for a major base on the west coast of the continent was identified. This resulted in the eventual construction of HMAS Stirling, near the city of Perth in Western Australia, in the 1970s.

In 1987 the decision was taken to permanently split the basing of the Australian Fleet. The collection of facilities and bases on Sydney Harbour was designated Fleet Base East while HMAS Stirling was designated Fleet Base West.

HMAS Kuttabul is the shore establishment that provides administrative, logistical, training and accommodation support to Fleet Base East. It is located in Potts Point, immediately adjacent to Garden Island. It also supports naval personnel assigned to other duties throughout the greater Sydney region.

Garden Island is the largest historic naval area on Sydney Harbour, with use going back to the founding of the colony in 1788. Greatly expanded during World War II, it now comprises major dockyard facilities run by a civilian operator, the naval wharves used by major fleet units of the RAN, various training facilities under the control of HMAS Kuttabul and a heritage precinct, open to the public, that includes the official museum of the Royal Australian Navy.