OLD PHOTO: ROYAL MALAYSIAN NAVY (2)

1980 : the largest military base of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Built in Phases throughout the 1970's, construction completed in early 1980. On September 9, 1984, Lumut Officially replaced the Woolandss as the RMN's main headquarters.

LUMUT NAVAL BASE, LUMUT, PERAK

Refer: Notebook: History of Lumut Naval Base & Intake 139 (1980)

26 JUNE 1980: The very first group of young recruits from intake 139/80 to complete their training at the Newly Lumut Naval Base following the RMN's transition from the Woodlands base in Singapore. The cohort officially commenced their training on 14 January 1980 and celebrated their passing out for the first time in Lumut on 26 June 1980. 

Refer: Zulheimy Maamor Blog : 1980: TLDM intake 139 & Pengkalan TLDM Lumut Perak. 

On 1 July 1980, the Royal Malaysian Navy welcomed its very first intake of 14 female officer cadets. This historic pioneer batch began their military training at the officer School, KD Pelandok, Lumut, Perak. 

1980: OPS TUGU - critical military operation executed by the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Army Engineers (RAJD). The mission's goal was to construct sovereignty monuments on several reefs within Spratly Islands to solidify Malaysia's Maritime Territorial claims. Among the reer were Commodore Reef, Swallow Reef, Terumbu Semarang Barat Kecil, Terumbu Mantanani, Terumbu Ubin etc....

1982: WOODLANDS NAVAL BASE

Photo taken in 1982 when I was serving at the FOCRMNCCS , Woodland Naval Base. Also known as KD Malaya, was a prominent naval base located off Admiralty Road West in Woodlands, Singapore. 

Established by the British in 1952, the base served as the home and HQ of the Malayan Naval Force (later Royal Malaysian Navy). 

Following Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965, the base uniquely remained under Malaysian operation. It hosted the main fleet until 1979 and officially operated as the naval headquarters until September 1984, when the command moved to Lumut, Perak. 

However, the base was used as recruit training facility from 1984 until 1997, when the site was officially transferred to Singapore. 

The Singapore government utilised the site as the Admiralty West Prison from 2000 - 2018 after which most of the structures were demolished in 2021 for regional redevelopment.

8 January 1984: The sinking of the RMN patrol craft, KD Sri Perak, in South China Sea. The ship capsized near Midai Island after battling severe storms and towering waves while sailing in a convoy with KD Hang Tuah and KD Sri Trengganu toward Labuan.Out of 29 crew member onboard, 26 survivors were rescued by a passing merchant ship after drifting for 72 hours in an overload liferaft. Sadly, 3 navy personnel lost their lives and were swept away by currents. 

Notably, the former Chief of Navy, Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Ayob, was a senior Cadet Officer on board during the incident and survived. The bodies of the 3 lost crew members were never recovered. 

11 DECEMBER 1985:  The image captures the historic first crew and Project Team of the RMN Lerici-Class Mine Countermeasures Vessels (MCMVs). 4 MCMV ships built here are KD Mahamiru (M26), KD Jerai (M27), KD Ledang (M28) and KD Kinabalu (M14), built by Intermarine SpA.

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

2 August 2026: 9.09 p.m