Singapore Naval Base The Singapore Naval Base ( as Her / His Majesty ' s Naval Base ( HMNB ) Singapore or HMS Sembawang ) , situated in Sembawang at the northern tip of Singapore , was a Royal Navy Shore establishment as well as being a cornerstone of British Defence policy ( the Singapore strategy ) in the Far East between the World Wars . History . After the Great War , the British government devoted significant resources into building a naval base in Singapore , as a deterrent to the increasingly ambitious Japanese Empire . Originally announced in 1923 , the construction of the base proceeded slowly at Sembawang until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 . It was completed in 1939 , at a staggering cost of £60 million — equivalent to £2½ billion in 2006 . The dock covered and had what was then the largest dry dock in the world , the third - largest floating dock , and enough fuel tanks to support the entire British Navy for six months . It was defended by heavy 15 - inch naval guns stationed at Johore battery , Changi , and at Buona Vista Battery . Other important batteries of smaller calibre were located at Fort Siloso , Fort Canning , and Labrador . Air defence relied on the Royal Air Force airfields at RAF Tengah and RAF Sembawang . Winston Churchill touted it as the “ Gibraltar of the East ” . After the fall of Malaya in 31 January 1942 , Singapore came within range of the artillery guns of Imperial Japanese Twenty - fifth Army positioned within sight of the base in Johor , which was poised to capture Singapore within 2 weeks thereafter . The base was subsequently captured , largely intact , by units of the advancing Japanese Army and remained in Japanese control through the end of World War II . With the surrender of Japan in August 1945 , control of the naval base and Singapore was reverted to British and Commonwealth Forces in September 1945 , when allied units of South East Asia Command under Lord Louis Mountbatten started to arrive in Singapore . In line with Royal Navy ' s tradition of naming their respective naval base and dockyard , the accommodation barracks adjacent to the base became known as HMS Terror ( from 1945 to 1971 ) in honour of , an Erebus class monitor armed with twin 15 - inch guns , which was based at one time in Singapore before the war . Since 1972 , part of the compound is now occupied by the Republic of Singapore Navy ' s Naval Diving Unit ( NDU ) . Continued Commonwealth presence . With the complete withdrawal of British forces from Singapore in 1971 , the Naval Base has since been handed over to the Singapore government , which in 1968 converted it into a commercial dockyard ( as Sembawang Shipyard , now part of Singapore Exchange - listed SembCorp Marine ) . After the short term ANZUK arrangement was terminated ( started in 1971 and ended in 1974 ) , New Zealand Force South East Asia ( NZFORSEA ) was created with the HQ being sited at the Stores Basin area adjacent to the current Sembawang Naval Basin . NZFORSEA consisted of 1 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment ( RNZIR ) , which was based at Dieppe Barracks near Yishun New Town , No . 141 Flight of Royal New Zealand Air Force ( RNZAF ) , with its Bell UH - 1D / H Hueys based at Sembawang Air Base and frequent deployments of Royal New Zealand Navy ( RNZN ) frigates . It should be noted this was the last major foreign military presence based in Singapore . Total military strength at the time stood at 850 with some 700 dependents . Under the auspices of the Five Power Defence Arrangements ( FPDA ) , NZFORSEA took over the Royal Navy married quarters and billets , while the Installations Auxiliary Police Force ( IAPF ) was formed , the small police force was staffed by Singaporeans but commanded by an NZ officer to provide security to the whole area . This security blanket covered the British , UK and Australian facilities and personnel . When NZFORSEA withdrew from Singapore in 1999 , it was replaced by the smaller NZ Defence Support Unit , the South East Asia ( NZDSU SEA ) , with the IAPF still providing security to other nations including the US facilities and personnel . However , the British Ministry Of Defence ( MoD ) continues to maintain a small logistics base at Sembawang wharf in order to control most of the foreign military activities there , which includes repair , refuel and resupply for ships of the Australian , British and New Zealand navies as well as those from other Commonwealth countries under the auspices of FPDA . American presence . As part of a 1990 agreement ( concluded in 1992 ) between Singapore and the United States , American military forces ( primarily naval and air force ) have been making use of Sembawang ' s base facilities . The Task Force 73 / Commander , Logistics Group Western Pacific has been headquartered in Sembawang since 1992 , providing logistic support for the U . S . 7th Fleet in its operations in the Pacific and Southeast Asia . Apart from the US naval presence , the United States Air Force has its administration , logistics and support component for the 497th Combat Training Squadron being based there , while the squadron ' s flight operations are based out of Paya Lebar Air Base . Installations . Admiralty IX Floating Dry Dock . A large floating dry dock , the third - largest in the world at the time of its construction , was located at the base . King George VI Graving Dock . The graving dock was completed in February 1938 and was more than 300 meters in length and was the largest dry dock in the world at the time . With the impending capture of Singapore by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942 , the dry dock gates were blown off and machinery destroyed . The dock was subsequently repaired and used throughout the war and was subjected to Allied air attacks to disable the dry dock in late 1944 and early 1945 .