The American Concrete Ship: Fort Drum, Manila Bay

Built in 1909, Fort Drum was equipped with 14-inch (356 mm) guns in turrets and 152mm guns in casemates. It had a crew of 240 men. The walls and roof were made of incredibly thick reinforced concrete and were virtually indestructible. In 1942, during the Japanese invasion, it was subjected to everything the Japanese could throw at it, including aerial bombardment and shelling from 150mm and 240mm howitzers and shrugged it all off. The fort’s crew nevertheless surrendered on May the 6th 1942 after the fall of the last local American positions.

Japanese Occupation and American Recapture

As is customary in fortress warfare, the American crew sabotaged all equipment and weapon systems before surrendering. Japanese forces subsequently occupied the fort. In April 1945, the Americans came back and stormed the fort. They gained access to the roof, pumped a mixture of petrol and diesel through the air vents and ignited the mixture. The Japanese crew was burnt alive inside the fort. The fort burned for several days.

Post-War Abandonment and Looting

At the end of WW2, the fort was abandoned. It has been illegally and steadily looted for scrap metal from the 70’s onward to this day.

-RBM