HMAS Cerberus is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base that serves as the primary training establishment for RAN personnel. The base is located adjacent to Crib Point on the Mornington Peninsula, south of the Melbourne City Centre, Victoria, Australia. The base is also an official bounded locality of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula and is the only naval base to have a specific listing in the Australian census. HMAS Cerberus recorded a population of 1,124 at the .
History
The site for the Cerberus naval base on Hanns Inlet, between Sandy Point and Stony Point on Western Port Bay was purchased in 1911. The base was opened in September 1920 and became known as Flinders Naval Depot in 1921. The Post Office opened on 2 December 1912 as Flinders Naval Base, was renamed Flinders Naval Depot in 1925 and HMAS Cerberus, Westernport in 1963. Cerberus now occupies most of Stony Point to the north and all of Sandy Point in the south.
From 1930 until 1958, Cerberus was the home of the Royal Australian Naval College, until it was clear that the base was becoming overcrowded and the College was moved back to HMAS Creswell. With the outbreak of World War II, many temporary buildings were erected to facilitate the training of wartime recruits. Many of these buildings were later demolished or replaced.
Climate
HMAS Cerberus possesses an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), with tepid, relatively dry summers and mild, wetter winters. Average maxima vary from in February to in July, while average minima fluctuate between in February and in July. Mean precipitation is moderately low, averaging per annum, but rainfall is frequent, as HMAS Cerberus receives 169.1 precipitation days annually (with a maximum frequency of rain in winter). Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 7 February 2009 to on 3 July 2017.