Henderson’s Vision About To Become A Reality

Just over 115 years since Admiral Henderson made his naval base pitch to the Australian Government, Henderson is slated to become a significant presence in Australia’s naval defence future

Today, a $12 billion “downpayment” is to be announced by Prime Minister Albanese, Defence Minister Richard Marles, and WA Premier Roger Cook on defence spending at Henderson, just south of Fremantle.

It will herald a major investment in expanding Australia’s naval and submarine capabilities at Henderson comprising –

• Construction of surface vessels, starting with the Army’s new landing craft.

• Local build phase of general purpose frigates, part of Australia’s future naval fleet.

• Docking and maintenance facilities for conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines – specifically the Virginia-class subs expected in the 2030s under the AUKUS agreement.

• Depot-level maintenance hub for nuclear-powered submarines, making Henderson a strategic anchor for AUKUS operations.

• Support infrastructure for surface combatant vessels, ensuring long-term sustainment and readiness.

*USS Mississippi at HMAS Stirling, December 2022. Credit Chief Petty Officer Yuri Ramsay*

Commentators assess the strategic goals of these initiatives to be –

• Kickstarting the Defence Precinct at Henderson, which is projected to cost $25 billion over a decade.

• Laying the groundwork for continuous naval shipbuilding in WA, with an eye to long-term capability and sovereign defence industry development.

• Creating up to 10,000 direct jobs over 20 years, with opportunities for WA’s small and medium enterprises.

General purpose frigates. Credit aidn.org.au

This investment positions Fremantle’s southern corridor as a critical node in the Indo-Pacific defence strategy. It complements the $8 billion already underway for Submarine Rotational Force-West, which will host five US submarines and over 1,000 American personnel nearby.

While there is pushback in Australia and especially around Fremantle about the AUKUS arrangements, the political reality is that both the Federal and State Governments are committed to moving forward with the AUKUS plans and making it all happen.

The consequences in terms variously of jobs, sovereignty, strategic alliances, and Fremantle’s historical, continuing and freshly evolving maritime identity are there for all to see, ponder on, and, ultimately, plan for.

The coincidental thing is that, in 1910, just 13 years after the opening of Freo’s inner harbour and 10 years after the Commonwealth of Australia came into existence, on the recommendation of British Admiral Reginald Henderson, the new Australian Federal Government decided to create a naval base on this, the Western side of our large island continent, and acquired Garden Island, as well as a strip of land near Woodman’s Point on Cockburn Sound, for the purpose. The influence of Western Australia’s Sir John Forrest in all of this may be assumed, he being an influential politician in the first decade of the new Commonwealth. Works were actually commenced to carry this undertaking forward.

However, by 1921, after the First World War, the 7,000,000 pound project collapsed. Nonetheless, the Garden Island acquisition remained intact, and today we have the naval base, HMAS Stirling on Garden Island as our western naval protector. And, as a reminder of those times, from over a 100 years ago, just south of Woodman’s Point we have the camping site that still bears the locality name, Naval Base.

In a curious case of history sort of repeating itself, 115 years or so after Admiral Henderson made his pitch to the Australian Government for the establishment of a naval base just south of Fremantle, the locality of Henderson, named for Admiral Henderson, is now slated to become a significant presence in Australia’s naval defence future.

By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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