Cavite, which had been home to most of the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, suffered from unhealthy living conditions and was vulnerable in time of war and bad weather because of its shallow waters and lack of shelter.

Both the harbor and its inner basin were dredged and a drainage canal was built, as the Spanish military authorities were planning to make Olongapo and their navy yard an "island."

The Arsenal's showpiece was the station commandant's headquarters, which was a one-storey building of molave and narra wood, and stood near today's Alava Pier and had colored glass windows.

In Hong Kong, Dewey purposely delayed his sailing until he received news from the U.S. Consul at Manila, Oscar F. Williams, with information about the strength and positions of the Spanish fleet.

During the Philippine–American War, the Americans focused on using the Spanish naval station at Sangley Point, largely ignoring Subic Bay, and the arsenal was occupied by Filipino forces.

As the soldiers were entering Santa Rita, just outside Olongapo, they met a pocket of resistance, but after returning fire, the armed Filipinos quickly scattered.

When Rear Admiral John C. Watson learned of this action against the navy yard, he set out for Subic aboard Baltimore, accompanied by Oregon.

When the Marines found the highest flagpole on the navy yard, which was in front of the hospital, they immediately raised the American flag on 10 December 1899, one year after the Treaty of Paris was signed.

In 1900, the General Board of the United States Navy made a thorough study of the naval base building program and decided that the American fleet in the Philippines could be easily bottled up in either the Manila or Subic bays.

In June 1907, as tensions with Japan mounted, orders were secretly issued for Army and Navy forces in the Philippines to concentrate at Subic Bay.

In 1917, as the United States was drawn into World War I, all the Navy's shipyards including Subic Bay began working at a feverish pace to prepare ships for sea.

American and Filipino workers would take pride in their workmanship such that destroyers that were overhauled in Subic Bay became the vanguard of Admiral William Sims's convoy.

Shops were dismantled at the navy yard at Subic Bay and Fort Wint was reduced to caretaker status and personnel levels were cut.

During the typhoon season of 1928, VT Squadron Five which operated Martin torpedo aircraft out of Manila, arrived in Subic Bay on a routine training flight.

Within three weeks, the squadron commander was informed of a Japanese complaint that the Navy had violated the treaty by increasing the facilities for plane handling at Subic Bay.

Even though the facilities at Subic Bay were greatly reduced under the Coolidge administration, some ship repair capability remained, including the Dewey Drydock.

The transport ship Merritt set sail from Subic Bay in 72 hours loaded with Red Cross relief supplies and 200 Filipino nurses.

In the 1930s a tree-planting program had begun, transforming the naval station into a virtual tropical garden, with streets lined with coconut palms, hibiscus, and gardenias.

To protect Subic Bay, the Japanese garrisoned Fort Wint with anti-aircraft artillery and automatic weapons but did not repair the American guns nor build permanent fortification.

On 20 October 1944, four U.S. Army divisions aboard 650 U.S. Navy vessels landed at Palo, Leyte, fulfilling MacArthur's promise to return to the Philippines.

USS Fulton arrived on 11 February 1945 and found Subic Bay " ...a primitive, humid, unhealthy, desolate Siberia far from the pleasant climate, facilities, and girls of Australia...

[12] More than $63 million of construction projects contracted between 1964 and 1968 did not prepare the Ship Repair Facility (SRF) for the increasing workload and emergency peaks generated by the war.

On 3 June 1969 the Royal Australian Navy carrier HMAS Melbourne was involved in a collision with USS Frank E. Evans about 240 miles (390 km) southwest of Manila.

Board of Inquiry convened on 9 June in the library of George Dewey High School, the same day the stern section of Frank E. Evans arrived under tow by a tug.

Volcanic earthquakes and heavy rain, lightning and thunder from Typhoon Yunya passing over northern Luzon resulted in a 36-hour period of complete chaos.

[3] Finally on 27 December, President Corazon Aquino, who had previously fought to delay the U.S. pullout to cushion the country's battered economy, issued a formal notice for the US to leave by the end of 1992.

[24] The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 20 November 2012 that Subic Bay will host US ships, Marines and aircraft on a semi-permanent basis which according to analysts will give the US a strategically important force posture for its shift in emphasis to the Pacific.

[28] In 2022, the United States and Philippine governments quietly began preparations for U.S. forces to return to the facility amid heightened tensions with China.

[4] The portion of Redondo Peninsula which was used by HHIC Phil was acquired by the national government in late 2022 and named a Naval Operation Base (NOB) through the Philippine Navy.

[4] On November 24, a day before the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Navy's departure, Rolen C. Paulino, chairman of the SBMA, said that he would be "very surprised" if Subic Bay does not return to service as a U.S. military facility through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, as "during war, time is of the essence.