There is a strange-looking island in Manila Bay, philippines, a 350-foot-long, 144-foot-wide island with pointed front and back, which looks like a concrete battleship. There was a fierce battle here, the fort was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and later the fort was retaken by the Americans, in order to eliminate the Japanese army inside the fort, the American army poured gasoline into it and ignited, and the Japanese army inside was completely destroyed.
The island, originally called El Fraile, is located at the mouth of the river in Manila Bay, Philippines. The bay is the maritime entrance to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Manila Bay was, and is, and is, of great commercial and strategic importance to the Philippines.
Early on, Spanish colonists deployed some artillery on the island of El Fraile at the end of the 19th century. These are all for maritime defense and anticipate any upcoming conflict, especially with the United States.
El Fraile, which first fought in the Battle of Manila after the outbreak of the Spanish American War in 1898, used the island's batteries to fire on u.S. warships, before being hit by a shell as raleigh returned fire.
The United States took control of the Philippines after its victory in the Spanish-American War and subsequently strengthened its port batteries. In 1905, the Taft Coast Fortifications Commission recommended that the guns needed not only to be reinforced, but also modernized. The board recommended the fortification of the fort because of the growing strategic importance of Manila Bay, especially since it is now the home base of the U.S. Asian Fleet.
Thus, between 1905 and 1915, four forts were built at the mouth of the bay, at a considerable cost. One of them was built in El Fraile and renamed Fort Drum in honor of Brigadier General Richard C. Drum. He was a war hero who served in the Mexican-American War (1846–48) and the American Civil War (1861–65).
The island of El Fraile looked like before the transformation
The change from El Fraile Island to Dramburg was enormous, a small island that was originally made up of a pile of tall rocks that exposed to the sea. The rock was completely razed to the ground and replaced by a concrete bunker structure shaped like a battleship that could no doubt scare those potential enemies.
Construction began in 1909 and took several years to complete. When completed, it was 350 feet long, 144 feet wide, and 40 feet above sea level. The fortress was designed to operate completely independently and could accommodate up to 240 people. It is equipped with a canteen, medical facilities, a 60-foot-tall ranging tower and an integrated communications center.
Internal structure diagram
On top of that, it was fitted with two huge armored turrets, each with a 2 x 14-inch (355 mm) gun. These guns could match any major weapon of any battleship of that period, and the fort's guns had the ability to fire shells from 11 miles (18 kilometers) away.
Although the construction of space warfare was still in its infancy, it was soon realized that some sort of air defense system needed to be built on the fortress. Thus, at the end of World War I, two 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns were added to the top of the structure, as well as several large searchlights. Theoretically, these anti-aircraft guns could reach altitudes of up to 5 miles (8 kilometers).
The 14-inch gun and turret were tested at sandy hooker proving ground and then installed at Drumburg
The concrete steel armored shell of the fort has a reinforced concrete façade 25 to 36 feet (7.6 to 11.0 m) thick. Topped is 20 feet (6 meters) thick reinforced concrete. This would make it resistant to almost any naval or air raid of that period. Even later, by the standards of World War II, there were almost no weapons in any country in the world that could break through the armor protection of the fortress. This level of protection is really scary.
Near the air defense towers you can see the temporary wooden barracks on top of the fortress
Between world wars in the 1920s and 1930s, the United States did little to upgrade or improve Dramborough. In some respects, there is no need to do so, since its very existence is a powerful symbol and an effective deterrent.
But then world war II ensued, and Americans were dragged into conflict. When the Japanese attacked the U.S. Naval Base pearl harbor, the U.S. Navy stationed in Manila suddenly became more important.
Just before the United States was forced into war, Drum Fort was already at war and ready to take possible action. Soon after, these measures were needed, because on January 2, 1942, just four weeks after pearl harbor, Japanese ground forces approached Manila and began bombarding the fort with heavy artillery.
On April 13, 1945, an American landing fleet disembarked to cover the engineer division that was about to inject fuel into Dramburg.
Soon, Manila fell, and then other forts in the area fell, until only Fort Drum remained. After the fort was besieged, the soldiers there began to cut their rations in half, and then stored the collected rainwater in empty 14-inch shell casings.
The fort was isolated from the rest of the world and withstood five months of continuous bombardment. This included attacks from land-based 9.5-inch (240 mm) super heavy howitzers, as well as attacks from the air by Japanese dive bombers and high-altitude bombers.
Nevertheless, the fort persisted until May 1942. During this time, the defenders of the fort managed to inflict damage on several enemy landing craft and suppress or destroy many enemy artillery positions.
What Fort Drumborough looks like in the port of Manila Bay after the attack of their respective weapons.
But after that time, the ammunition had been exhausted and their water supply was almost exhausted. They had used up almost all the oil that powered the generators, and they had no reinforcements to help. Dramburg had no choice but to surrender.
Fort Drum was the last American force to fall in the Philippines, and before they surrendered, they destroyed the fort's 14-inch artillery. Survivors of the defenders were eventually sent to Japanese prisoner-of-war camps and were not liberated by the Allies until the end of the war.
Meanwhile, Manila and Dramburg experienced nearly three years of Japanese occupation. During that time, the Japanese did not seem to have tried to repair the main guns of the fortress.
In October 1944, U.S. forces began to retake the Philippines. In January 1945, as the Americans fought for control of Manila, a particularly brutal and bloody month-long battle culminated in a bloody climax. But one place persisted, and that was the Japanese garrison at Dramburg.
Now, the Americans are faced with the question of what to do with Dramburg, which is occupied by a fanatical and well-stocked Japanese garrison. The Americans were well aware of the fort's almost impregnable defensive capabilities, and knew that conventional attacks would be expensive and potentially ineffective.
Drumbourg in 1983, set in the NEW Jersey
The obvious solution was to besiege the island and wait for the Japanese to run out of supplies, as the Japanese did with the U.S. garrison in 1942.
However, since the 6-inch (152 mm) guns still in use at the fort could easily harass ships entering and leaving the harbor, a siege was not a good idea either.
As a result, the U.S. military drew inspiration from the methods used a few days ago to clear neighboring Hughesburg. A Japanese army also stubbornly rooted in that former American fortress. Hughesburg had 20-foot-thick reinforced concrete walls, so it was decided to pump in a special fuel mixture with a 2:1 ratio of diesel to gasoline and ignite it with a tracer bullet. Although creepy, it proved to be very effective, and all the Japanese soldiers who resisted were killed in the ensuing fire, with no American casualties.
Therefore, the same method was used in Dramburg. First, the fort was heavily bombed in the air and at sea. Then, a medium landing ship, an amphibious assault ship, approached the fort at one of the blind spots. The people on board use a specially modified steel bridge to access the deck or roof of the fort.
Sappers pumped large amounts of diesel/gasoline mixture into several ventilation shafts in the fort. The mixture was then ignited using a time bomb. The mission and evacuation took only fifteen minutes.
The Japanese in the fort were completely destroyed, and the fire burned for several days. It wasn't until five days later that the Americans could enter the fort and confirm that there were no survivors.
After the war, the Philippine military did not attempt to reoccupy the fort because the coastal fort now seems to be an outdated concept. Its huge barrel had rusted and the burned interior had never been repaired. For years, Dramborough has been a victim of predators illegally salvaging scrap metal from the site and has squatters living there. For a historical war relic, it was a sad but inevitable demise.