Morokrembangan Naval Air Base

Morokrembangan Naval Air Base Pangkalan Udara Angkatan Laut Morokrembangan
Aerial view of Morokrembangan Naval Air Base in interwar period
IATA: none ICAO: WRSP
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	Royal Netherlands Navy (1925-1942, 1945-1950) Imperial Japanese Navy (1942-1945) Indonesian Navy (1950-1960s)
Location	Morokrembangan, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
Elevation AMSL	9 ft / 3 m
Coordinates	7°13′20″S 112°42′41″E
Map
Morokrembangan Naval Air Base Location in Surabaya Morokrembangan Naval Air Base Location in Indonesia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 1,500 4,800 Asphalt 12/30 1,400 4,500 Asphalt
Source:

Morokrembangan Naval Air Base (Dutch: Marinevliegkamp Morokrembangan, Indonesian: Pangkalan Udara Angkatan Laut Morokrembangan) was a former naval air base of the Royal Netherlands Navy in the Dutch East Indies. The air base was located in Soerabaja and used by the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service. At the start of the Pacific War Morokrembangan Naval Air Base was the largest and best equipped naval air base in Southeast Asia and considered to be one of the most modern naval air bases in the world.

After the handover of sovereignty to Indonesia in December 1949, the air base was used by the Indonesian Naval Aviation until 1960s, when it was closed and replaced by the new Juanda Naval Air Base.

History

In 1925 it was decided to move the main naval air base from Tandjong Priok to Soerabaja, where an air base was already being constructed. In the same year, on 30 June 1925, Morokrembangan Naval Air Base was put into service. While the air base had been put into service on 30 June 1925 it was still being equipped during the remainder of the year. The main task of Morokrembangan Naval Air Base was to provide maintenance for the material and equipment of the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service. To this end the base was equipped with several workstations, factories and hangars that were continuously expanded and modernized over the years. In addition, it also had a port for seaplanes. Besides maintenance the base also provided pilot training. The air base was also used for commercial flight by the Royal Dutch East Indies Airways (KNILM).

Second World War

British airmen with various captured Japanese seaplanes, 1946

A recon aircraft from Tainan Air Group scouted the air base on 1–2 February 1942. Morokrembangan Naval Air Base was one of the targets during the first Japanese air raid on Soerabaja on 3 February. During this attack three Dornier Do 24 K, two PBY Catalina, two Fokker T.IV W, three Dornier Do J Wal and two Ryan trainer aircraft were destroyed. Morokrembangan was attacked again on 5 February, with the Japanese bombers escorted by 27 A6M Zero and from Tainan Air Group and 11 A6M Zero from 3rd Air Group. The raid destroyed six Dutch navy aircraft and various facilities of the air base. On 3 March, a force of 75 Japanese aircraft, 27 of which are bombers, attacked Soerabaja. Some of the dive bombers attacked Morokrembangan.

Soerabaja was captured by the 48th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army on 8 March and the air base soon came under Japanese control. The 33rd Air Group of Imperial Japanese Navy, consisted of eight Aichi D3A and eight Nakajima B5N bombers, was stationed in Morokrembangan air base in April 1942.

Post-Second World War

Aerial view of Morokrembangan Naval Air Base in 1948

After the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August 1945, the air base was taken over by Indonesian republican forces. The Republican forces also captured the IJN aircraft stationed there, although they lacked qualified pilots to fly the aircraft. The air base was bombarded by Royal Navy ships during the Battle of Surabaya in October–November 1945. At the conclusion of the battle, the air base was briefly used by the Royal Air Force, and later it was given back to the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service.

Indonesian Navy personnel during ceremony with Fairey Gannet in the background, c. 1950s

At the end of the Indonesian National Revolution in December 1949, the air base was handed over to the Indonesian Navy. As the main air base of the Indonesian Naval Aviation Command, it was the home base of the Indonesian Navy's Fairey Gannet ASW aircraft and Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boats. In preparation for the upcoming Operation Trikora, the Navy felt that the length of the runways in Morokrembangan Naval Air Base were insufficient to operate future jet aircraft. A new naval air base was built to the southeast of Surabaya in Sidoarjo Regency. The new Juanda Naval Air Base was opened in 1964 and the naval aviation operation were gradually moved there. Morokrembangan air base was closed sometime later in the 1960s.

Nowadays, the site of former runways and hangars is located in the container terminal for the Tanjung Perak harbor, while the site of former seaplane hangars was located inside a naval base.

References

• De Java-bode: Wat zij is en brengt (in Dutch). Dutch East Indies: Java-Bode. 1936.
• Bosscher, Ph.M. (1986). De Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Vol. 2: Indië tot en met 8 maart 1942. Franeker: Wever. ISBN 90-6135-372-6.
• Oktorino, Nino (2019). Duel Para Elang - Pertempuran Udara di Atas Hindia Belanda (in Indonesian). Jakarta: PT Elex Media Komputindo. ISBN 9786230000997.
• Swanenburg, B., ed. (1940). Leopold's encyclopaedie (in Dutch). Vol. III: N tot en met Z. Den Haag: Leopold.
• von Faber, G.H. (1934). Nieuw Soerabaia: De geschiedenis van Indië's voornaamste koopstad in de eerste kwarteeuw sedert hare instelling, 1906-1931 (in Dutch). Soerabaja: H. van Ingen.
• Walaardt Sacré, H.; van den Abeelen, W.P.; Spittel, F. (1932). Vijf-en-twintig jaar luchtvaart in Nederland (in Dutch). Amsterdam: A.J.G. Strengholt.
• Woudstra, F.G.A. (1982). Onze Koninklijke Marine (in Dutch). Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 90-6013-915-1.