Exmouth was used by the US Navy as a submarine base in WW2 as their Fleet submarines escaped from Manila Bay. It was considered too remote with a lack of infrastructure and had been bombed by the Japanese. Fremantle then became their base for conducting operations through the Indonesian archipelagic choke points and further afield. Incidentally, the USN used submarine tenders in Exmouth initially- are the relevant to the future of the RAN?
Battles of the last Pacific War seem ever so relevant today as the CCP’s influence creeps south. The last of GB’s theatre maps lacks East Coast weight? Considering the Coral Sea and vital lines of communication to the West Coast of the USA.