EL FRAILE ISLAND
War Department General Order 245,
Dec. 13, 1909, named Fort Drum in honor of General Richard C.
Drum, "who served with distinction during the Mexican
War and the Civil War and who died October 15,
1909."
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Fort Drum was located
on El Fraile Island, about 7500 yards south of Caballo Island and by
virtue of its peculiar
character, a static battleship in the southern approaches to Manila
Bay, it was the most unique of the Harbor Defense forts. The
island itself had been levelled and a reinforced concrete
battleship-shaped structure measuring 350 feet long by 144 feet wide
had been built upon it. The top deck of the 'battleship' was 40 feet
above the mean low water and 20 feet thick, and housed 4 casemated
6in guns and a 60ft fire control cage mast. Its exterior walls
ranged between approximately 25 feet and 36 feet thick, making it
virtually impregnable to enemy naval attack. Also unique to the
defensive forts of the Philippines was that Ft. Drum was equipped
with guns in armored turrets. The concept that forts could be
attacked from the air would not be recognized for decades yet, and
the coastal defense forts of Manila Bay, notably Corregidor, being
entirely open to the skies, would suffer extensively from the air in
later decades.
In
the War Department Annual Report for 1913 Brigadier General E.
Weaver, Chief of Coast Artillery reported in regard to the coastal
defense Manila Bay:-
"The Armament of
Corregidor Island is completed and mounted with the exception of
four mortars which are now under manufacture and will be shipped
this fall. On Carabao Island the emplacements for the 14 inch
batteries and mortar batters are practically completed. The guns
and carriages will be shipped in the fall (1912) and mounted
probably before the close of the fiscal year (June 30, 1913).
With the installation of this armament the strength of the
defenses of Manila Bay will be greatly increased. The fire
control and search light installations for Carabao have
proceeded simultaneous with the battery construction, and the
mounting of the guns will complete the defense at that point. On
Caballo Island (Fort Hughes) the emplacements have been started,
and the armament for the batteries are under construction. It is
believed that the last obstacle to the success of the project
for the fortification of El Fraile Island (Fort Drum) has been
met by the latest plan of construction."
The following year Brigadier General Weaver reported that:
"Fortification
construction continues at the entrance to Manila Bay and has
progressed to include the completion of Fort Frank, Carabao
Island; that at El Fraile and Caballo Islands is making good
progress."
In early 1911 the blessing and curse of modern communication
technology had reached Fort Drum. That year a 1/8 kilowatt radio was
installed at Fort Drum as well as on Carabao Island, Fort Wint and
Fort Mills. It was only a small low-power station, and it was
discontinued by 1914 because, as Brigadier General G. P. Scriven,
Chief Signal Officer of the Army explained, its use was no longer
being necessary following the laying of submarine cables between the
points.
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