Inside America’s first new submarine base abroad for 53 years

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AUKUS is beginning to make waves on Australia’s west coast | World News

Seahorse hotels had to be built first. The bony fish that inhabit Western Australia’s coasts are bad swimmers, spending most of their lives with their tails hooked around bits of rock, or human artefacts like piers and docks. So when the Royal Australian Navy began to upgrade the naval base at Stirling to host nuclear-powered submarines, divers were sent to relocate 263 of the fish to grids of rebar nearby.

No detail is too small as Australia readies Stirling to host American nuclear-powered attack submarines from next year. That will make it the first American submarine base to be established abroad in half a century, transforming it into a port that will project American power deep into Asia. Its location offers one big advantage over America’s existing bases: it is out of range of all but the most advanced conventional land-based Chinese missiles (unlike one at Guam), but closer to Asian waters than other American submarine bases.

It is also the first big milestone for AUKUS, a deal announced five years ago by America, Australia and Britain to jointly design and build nuclear-powered submarines. The American presence at Stirling is part of the first phase of that, enabling Australian sailors to learn how to sail America’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. They will deploy on the boats and maintain them at Stirling. One, USS Colorado, arrived at the base on October 28th for a workover by the Australians, and will return for good at the end of 2027.

In a second phase, Australia is to buy from America and operate its own Virginias in the early 2030s—though there are already doubts over whether these will be delivered on schedule or at all. Finally, Australia and Britain will jointly design, build and operate a new class of nuclear-powered submarine, again assuming all goes to plan. The first Australian boat would begin operation in the 2040s.

AUKUS remains controversial. Much of it was negotiated in secret because Australia was under contract at the…

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