HMAS Watson

HMAS Watson
South Head/Watsons Bay, New South Wales
HMAS Watson, as seen from inside Sydney Harbour
Type	Training base
Site information
Controlled by	Royal Australian Navy (1942–1967)  Royal Australian Navy (1967–Present)
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	1942 to present
Garrison information
Current commander	Captain Jay Bannister, RAN

HMAS Watson is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base on Sydney Harbour at South Head, near Watsons Bay, New South Wales. Commissioned in 1945 (after three years operating as HMAS Radar), the base served as the RAN's radar training school. In 1956, torpedo and anti-submarine warfare training were relocated to the base, and by 2011, Watson was the main maritime warfare training base, as well as providing post-entry education for Maritime Warfare Officers, training for Combat System and Electronic Warfare sailors, and Command training.

The base's name comes from its location at Watsons Bay, which in turn was named after Robert Watson, the quartermaster of HMS Sirius, a ship of the First Fleet. In 1801, Governor Philip King granted Watson land at South Head, where he settled. Watson later becoming boatswain, senior harbour pilot and harbourmaster of the new colony. In 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie commissioned the "Macquarie Lighthouse" appointing Watson as the first superintendent of the lighthouse. Today, the Macquarie Lighthouse is depicted in the centre of the crest of HMS Watson.

South Head was recognised as an important site for the young colony and, as early as the first year of settlement, a signal gun from HMS Sirius was installed at South Head in order to indicate the arrival of any ships.

The first permanent military presence on South Head commenced in 1871 with the development of coastal artillery emplacements to defend the Port of Sydney. The first barracks, occupied by members of the NSW Artillery, were completed 19 March 1877. Extensions were added in 1880 to accommodate additional personnel. Many of the early barracks constructions are still standing.