The island of El Fraile/Fort Drum/USS No Go, was an island in the Philippines that America got after the Spanish American war. The USS No Go was an island the US turned into an artillery.
The Spanish American war started after the USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana bay. After the war stars America sends some boats to fight the spanish, and while the head into Manilla bay the pass a small island, it was a small rock island called El Fraile, and on El Fraile there was a bunch of Spanish artillery that tried to ambush the US ships, and it was a really good idea, but it didn't turn out well for the Spanish on El Fraile.
After America wins the war they get control of the Philippines, and now that they are in charge of the islands they have to think on how to defend Manilla bay. They look back on how the Spanish put artillery on El Fraile, so the Americans in charge said, “Instead of putting artillery on El Fraile, let's make El Fraile artillery”. So the American engineers plan was to level the entire island, build an enormous concrete bunker on top and put 2 battleship turrets on top, each with 2 12in cannons. So the engineers send the plans to the US war department and they decide instead of 12in guns, they're gonna ship 14in guns. Each shooting 1600 lb shells. So if someone tries to sneak into Manilla bay they’ll be shooting cars until they go away.
Construction started in 1909 and took 5 years. And what they end up with is Fort Drum with concrete anywhere from 25 to 36 feet thick, and the top deck is completely reinforced with steel. This makes Fort Drum completely impervious to any weapon at this point in time. The 14 inch m1909 guns in a dual turret configuration were specially manufactured for Fort Drum and only used here. The turret armor was 18in thick as well making them impervious to. If all that wasn't enough there were even 4 6in guns and 2 3in anti air guns. Inside the bunker was 6 months worth of food, their own power plant, and even their own distillery to make alcohol.
It finished in 1914, and I didn't get much action for the next 20 years, almost obsolete. And army guys are stationed there and on hand if anything happens, and they described it as a naval vessel and they named it the USS No Go, cause it never goes anywhere. During this time period World War 1 happens and after World War 1 America downsizes their military considerably. Then the great depression happens which causes no upgrades or any maintenance gets done to Fort Drum. After 20 years with no upgrades its already becoming obsolete. Then in the next 10 years from 1934 to 1944 America is moving to make the Philippines its own sovereign nation. Which means they're gonna have to give up Fort Drum which means less motivation to pass any upgrades.
Then World War 2 happens and America is not getting involved. Then Pearl Harbor happens and now America is going to war. Less than 10 hours after Pearl Harbor the Japanese show up in the Philippines. They invade and the American forces are not ready, and get driven to the Baton Peninsula, which is also at the mouth of Manilla bay. For the next 5 months American and Filipino forces fight Japanese and Fort Drum shoots any Japanese vessel that gets anywhere near it. The Japanese retaliate with their naval guns and air raids trying to bomb Fort Drum, and none of it is working. During this time the marines stationed there decide to tear all the buildings on top off and tear down the 60ft search tower so the guns can make a full 360° and shoot in any direction. Then April 9th, 1942, Baton falls and the only thing left in Corgador and Fort Drum and 2 other small coastal forts. For weeks Japanese shell `Corgador and Fort Drum with naval gunfire, as well as conduct bombing runs. Since Fort Drum is Impervious this infuriates the Japanese. Corgador is nowhere near as fortified so the only thing defending Corgador is Fort Drum. On May 5th, 1942, the Japanese would launch an amphibious attack on Corgador. Fort Drum landed 2 direct hits on Japanese carriers, sinking them. Fort Drum wasn't enough and the Japanese captured Corgador. Fort Drum and the 240 men manning it are now the only ones holding out against the Japanese in the Philippines. After 2 carriers were sunk the Japanese conducted air raids, doing nothing, and infuriating them more, during these raids the men on the anti-aircraft guns shot down a Japanese bomber infuriating the Japanese even more. By now General Wainwright the man in charge of the American forces in the Philippines after General Mcarthur abandoned the men in Fort Drum and fled to australia. All the men were to surrender May 6th at noon. Instead the men inside Fort Drum discuss if they want to follow those direct orders cause they think they can go toe-to-toe with the Japanese forever. Unfortunately the decision was already made for them cause their distillery that purifies their water was damaged, and without any way of American forces bringing them water there's no way they could holdout. Since they're going to surrender the next day they still want to fight and decide, “lets get rid of all this ammunition we have”. So they fire at the Japanese ships nonstop, as fast as they can for the next 18 hours straight. Apparently it got so hot inside Fort Drum that it was able to increase the muzzle velocity and score hits thought to be out of range. And they fired non-stop until 11:59 on May 6th, when they were forced to surrender. They then proceed to sabotage the guns, the power plant and flood as much of Fort Drum as possible. At the time of their capture all 240 men were still alive and only five had been injured. After weeks of combat they were taken as prisoners by the Japanese where most were tortured, starver, and worked to death. It is believed less than 30 men at Fort Drum returned home after World War ll.
After 3 years in 1945, when the US started winning the war in the Pacific and they returned to the Philippines to reclaim them from the Japanese. At this point people thought that Fort Drum was inoperable, until in April of 1945 an American PT boat would get too close and Japanese machine guns would start firing from Fort Drum. This info gets sent to the chain of command who doesn't really know what's happening. If they’re trying to restore it, or if they're just using it as barracks. So the American want it back, so they try to bomb it, which didn't work then so it doesn't work now. So they tried naval gun fire, and that didn't work. The chain of command lets this get out of hand by giving the demolition crew the blueprint of Fort Drum, and the demolition crew comes up with a plan that involves: a company of infantry, 1,000 gallons of gas, 2,000 gallons of diesel, all the incendiary and white phosphorus grenades, 30 minute fuse, and a camera. And without hesitation the chain of command says, “ok”. On Friday, April 13th, 1945, US forces launched operation Drum D-Day. Two American ships drop landing ramps on Fort Drum, and all the infantry and combat engineers run out and secure the deck of Fort Drum. When the Japanese start firing back with the 6in guns, the Americans all return fire, including the ships. Then the men run a hose and start pumping 3,000 gallons of gas and diesel into the air vent of Fort Drum, they then put 600 lbs of TNT and a bunch of white phosphorus and incendiary grenades on the deck, rig it to a 30 min fuse, light it, and run. Once they were a safe distance away they sat and watched. The explosion was so powerful it launched the 2,000 lb hatch on top 300ft into the air. (Vidoe) Fort Drum burns for 5 days straight. After America wins the war, Japan surrenders, the Phillipines become their own nation, where they get control of Fort Drum which is in the same condition the US left it in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hoflGSRDhY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Drum
Questions:
Would you want to be on Fort Drum
Was Fort Drum a good concecpt
Replies
I see your passion with your topic choices but you do have to rememebr you are writing to a specific audience in mind and want people to comment. Its more of a paper and not a forum post.