Fort Drum: America's Unsinkable 'Concrete Battleship'
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- Fort Drum, originally known as El Fraile Island, is a huge, now ruinous complex of concrete and steel that once guarded the southern entrance to Manila bay. It's consutuction and took years and for much of it's history, it was regarded as strange, unique oddity on the horizon of manila bay. For a brief few months amid the desperate defence of the Philippines during WWII, it proved to be a formible and impervious foe.
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Concrete Battleship : Fort Drum, El Fraile Island, Manila Bay by Francis J Allen (highly reccomended!)
www.concretebattleship.org/co...
A wonderful history and archive of Fort Drum found here: www.concretebattleship.org/co...
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0:00 - Introduction
1:37 - The Islands of Manila Bay
2:13 - El fraile Island & The Battle of Manila Bay
3:23 - Fort Drum - Early Proposals & Designs
6:02 - Fort Drum - Final Plans & Layout
7:40 - Naming Fort Drum
7:57 - Constuction Begins
8:27 - Armament
11:11 - Construction Finishes
12:00 - Garrison & Early Troubles
13:53 - War Preperations Begin
15:32 - A Date That Shall live in Infamy
16:03 - Philippines Invaded
16:46 - Fort Drum's Strong Defenses
19:43 - The Fall of Bataan
20:05 - The Last Line of Defence
20:49 - The Fall of Corregidor
22:21 - Fort Drum Fights on?
24:11 - What Happened to the Garrison?
25:01 - Allies Retake the Philippines
25:22 - Fort Drum Abandoned?
26:24 - Fort Drum's Final Seige
30:25 - What Remains of Fort Drum Today?
31:54 - Outro & Waffling on a bit 
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Who spotted the swimming pool?
Patreon: www.patreon.com/calumraasay
Edit: thanks to those who pointed this out- I misspoke about the floor space: 30,000 square feet of floor space not 3000! Apologies I should have caught it during the edit 👍🏻
Pretty sure it was called “Manila Bay” back then
i saw it
Interesting and professional documentary man.
@@niemanickurwa my Superhero name
@@user-ci9ng7uu4i still called it today
The construction of this fort is a great example of mission creep. Originally intended to merely plug the gap between land to prevent sneaking into the harbor, it ended up being one of the strongest naval forts ever
Good point! I guess the extra strengthening was partly a “well, we’re going to all this trouble anyway might as well make it count”
And that “creep” paid off.
It's like a statement of how the USA fights conflicts, it's either all or nothing we have no chill and can stand the test of time.
@@Khajiidaro that’s always been our tenacious resolve. Hopefully we don’t totally ruin ourselves from the inside though..
it’s also the last time coastal fortifications were built by the US ending 165 years of building big gun forts at harbor entrances
The story of this island should be made into an Epic war film. Based around it's strategic location and Martial history, the battles from each era, the attempts to destroy it, and then recapture it, culminating into the grand finale. What a story man! Thanks for sharing this.
Similar fashion as The Siege of Jadotville? Both defenders surrendered, but they made sure the enemy paid a VERY high price for their victory.
Yes... but the first character of the film should be the fort, not an actor, soldier, general whatever.... an Oscar for the FORT
Just thought of a fictional post apocalyptical movie idea, the last remains of humanity chased onto the fort by zombie/monsters & the survivors fight a pitched battle using the last of the ammunition left stored there to make zombies go boom & as the tide seems to have turned against us, someone gets that old de salinization plant working to produce zombie melting juice, just a thought.
@@bjw4859 nope just keep it historical
As long as it's historically accurate and uses no CGI.
My grandfather fought in the defense of Bataan and walked the Death March, was shot by the japanese 4 times and somehow survived, healed, and fought again until liberation. He lived a full life, died at the age of 92, and is forever my hero.
A hero indeed!
@@zen4men I wonder what would these heroes say about modern world they'd made possible to appear...
@@132ew Horrified, I would think.
For many years it looked good,
then it steadily went rotten.
they dont call them the greatest generation for nothing
@@132ewthey would realized they fought a war to put the powers in place that are controlling society and the flow of information
I lived in the Philippines all my life, and never knew about Fort Drum. Amazing piece of history.
iwitness local documentary featured fort drum for the past decade
Most Filipino I have met don't know much about the history of their country.
They don't seem to care.
You had to read Phil. History once in a while! for additional learnings!..
As a filipino myself, I am ashamed that most of my fellow people are not aware of this
@@jehoiakimelidoronila5450 no time for being a soapbox. i guess they knew about it as "el fraile" seeing the accumulated views of local content creators and documentary, i hopely assume they do.
I flew over Fort Drum several times while landing in Manila and seen it distantly from Corregidor Island, I would love to see it up close. Unfortunately I was stationed at the "other" Fort Drum, the frozen hell in upstate New York.
Hahaha yeah a lot of my research had to start with me specifying Fort Drum PHILIPPINES haha!
I am from Syracuse and remember after the blizzard of '93 everyone saying "bring it on" when we already had far more than the average 123 inches of snow for the season!
isn't the star fort on Liberty Island basically New York's version of Manila's Ft. Drum?
Surrounded by “Bufferillas”!
@@stevenearlsmith2595 and COW's ( Citizens Of Watertown)
Fort Drum is a sight to see. First time I saw it in person was when I was in a ferry from Manila. I thought it was just an old Navy ship on anchor but as we get a closer look, I realized what it was. I was amazed by the battle scars it has. The holes gives you a perspective of how violent the battles it participated at but you can also clearly see that she was mighty and thicc! Never seen so much thick concrete for a wall in my life.
Ah yes.... le thicc
@@viperhunter7951 C'est chic!
she was what Hitler wanted for the Entire Atlantic Coast of Europe lol!
and the bulk of those holes were from self-destruction to prevent the fort from being used against them when the US returned, eery to think of the power needed to destroy it inside
That last sentence made me feel like I'm missing out
I've been to Corregidor many times. It's one of my favorite places to visit when I'm in the Philippines. From the top of the old Spanish lighthouse, you can see Ft. Drum in the far distance. And yes, it really does look like a massive ship sailing into the bay.
20:36 That's an amazing fact. Almost incredible that the mere heat inside the fort is increasing the range of the cannons by a noticeable amount.
Both THE Netherland and Denmark have artificial islands fortified to defend a capital city
Yep. It works for small guns too. I am a shooter, and one day I was testing muzzle velocities and left my ammo laying out in the hot Texas sun for a little bit. All the rounds were too hot to touch almost, and muzzle velocities were higher than usual. Also on a cold day, I have been shooting a shotgun and experienced malfunctions because the pressure was too low to cycle the gun.
This sounds like it would make for one hell of a movie.
there was one, back in the 40s, it's serviceable and doesnt concentrate on the concrete battleship itself. Imagining hollywood's take on the tale today, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Chris Pratt quipping at one another while CGI Japanese enemies swarm them, would finally be enough to give me an aneurysm and grant me the sweet release of death.
@@jacobs4545 Pretty sure most of the soldiers would be black transgender non binary tree people too.
@@kona8832 You have a baby brain
@@LunaticTheCat welcome to the real world of baby brains
@@kona8832 LOL! Funny as hell but true. Although the movie would also have to include a gay romance that breaks out between two of the crew members as well as a strong woman who single-handedly fights off half the IJN.
Honestly the first time I ever saw this was in the game World of Warships. Sailing around the islands I saw it coming around the corner and was like "the hell is that thing?" before it started shooting at me. A destroyer killed me since I was so fixated on that lil wonder. Found out later it was a real fort which blew my mind. Would love to see this as a movie one day.
Oh wow is it in world of warships?
@@CalumRaasay I can't remember what map it was in and it has been a while since I last played. One of the patches introduced island forts that you can activate or control (can't remember, I never got it to work heh). They didn't do much damage but could be destroyed. WoW tries hard to be historically accurate but tosses in things like that once and a while so I didn't think it was real until I looked it up heh.
@@CalumRaasay ... that sounds like the "Bastion" game mode that was introduced in 2017 and dropped almost instantly. It a real shame, I would love to see more PvE in WoWs. The closest you can get is the one of the Scenario missions that has shore forts and shore bombardment, and that only comes up once a month in the rotation.
@@themadbomber582 LOL WoW... Historically accurate... ROFL.
@@richardfld lmaooooo
I have some personal experience with this story as a U.S. Army War College graduate, and later, as a strategic analyst for the DOD.
Though there were some flaws in the overall strategy of its usage, but Fort Drum still remains part of the core curriculum taught to students when discussing methodology of terrain employment. Ultimately logistical dilemmas occur when operating far from home, and Fort Drum is a prime example of commanders collaborating on the issue of solving a strategic problem while also taking advantage of (rather than trying to oppose) natural terrain features in order to make the most efficient usage of resources. While stopping short of calling it "brilliant" it was definitely an inspired idea, and it is constantly reiterated to U.S. officers to think outside the box when faced with defensive operations. In an era where precision weapons and massed artillery and air attack are so common, unusual tactics are necessary to defend effectively from static positions.
The concrete battleship has been fascinating to me for years. The closest I ever got to it was as a tourist on Corregidor in 2002. Great little documentary!
My Grandfather was part of 113th that helped take the concrete battleship back.
He used to tell me stories of it, but I was young and couldn’t understand a concrete battleship. He had some interesting stories about island hopping and the war in the pacific.
It's an astonishing thought to have over 400 men (or even 200), and all that ammo for the guns to last 6 months, plus food and water, etc., packed into only 1000 sq. ft per deck.
I know, not to mention they'd be unable to even get fresh air or get on deck most of the time! Must have been unbearably hot.
@@CalumRaasay No, it's because you were off by about an order of magnitude on the size, probably confusing m² with ft².
The overall size of the installation is approximately 350 x 144 feet in size, or over 50,000 ft² per level before accounting for the walls, so more like 35,000 ft² of usable space *per level* , rather than 3500 ft² total. In metric, 110m x 44m = 4840 m² before walls, so a rough estimate of *3500 m²* of usable space *per level* would again be a reasonable estimate, but most *certainly not* 3500 ft² total. That's an absurd mistake in facts that should never have passed even the most cursory "smell test."
Other than that one glaringly obvious mistake, though, otherwise this is a reasonably good look at this interesting installation. Thanks!
@@drussell_ must have have read it wrong in the script! It happens 🤷♀️
@@CalumRaasay “ssh it” happens!
@@drussell_ yeah I noticed that too. 3500 sqft is like a nicely sized American home.
Fascinating.
Thanks .
I used to explore the tunnels under Fort Queenscliff the Queenscliff side of the heads that are the entrance to Port Phillip bay in my home state of Victoria , Aussie.
Erosion had eaten away the natural sandstone next the the concrete slabs that were intended on keeping people out so that one could squirm in between to rock and cement ( very tight ) and then the oldest tunnels between the fort and pillboxes etc were an amazing explore for a teen ages 14/15 .
These were cemented permanently so access to the actual fort was not possible ,but when we went on a tour ( still an operational army installation at that time ) with a media officer from the army we learnt so much and actually ended up about 5 metres from a tunnel we'd explored from the other side ,suffice to say we didn't mention that to the army liaison ! Lol
I look back in wonder to a simpler time nostalgicly -
Funny , it's so vivid but that was allmost 40 years ago.
I'm going to subscribe -
If your work is so interesting ongoing I look forward to regularly watching it .
Thankyou .
This is something I never would have found on my own but I'm glad it showed up in my feed. Excellent breakdown of the history of Fort Drum, you've definitely earned a new subscriber!
A lot of my countrymen are oblivious to Fort Drum's existence let alone it's contribution to the war, i am fortunate enough to have seen it daily when i was young, my family owns a house in what is now Caylabne Bay from where the fort can be seen not too far away. Last i saw the fort was two months ago.
Thank you for this great video. Mabuhay!
Edit: Caylabne Bay can be seen on 30:28 with dock/breakwater on the left hand side.
id say a a niche subject, it was featured by Kara David from iwitness back past 10 years.
I'm really glad that you were browsing maps when you did. This was an amazing piece of history that you shared. Thanks.
Haha now here's someone who clearly watched until the end! Thanks for watching!
@@CalumRaasay of course I watch your videos till the end! They are all interesting!
@@CalumRaasay Me: Okay i watched thru to The End. What's my Prize?
Calum: Another video!
In all seriousness, this was a fun infobomb of history! Thank you for sharing!
Side Note: This has inspired me to make a small faction in a #StarWars #RPG campaign that has a Duracrete Fleet!
When I see these old forts I feel a deep attachment to the men who built and manned these structures. Millions of man hours and stories of friendships and heroism along with horrors and loss.
I want to go back in time and spend time with these individuals as a visitor just passing through.
Did anyone else get slightly sad and feel sorry for the fort almost like it was an old packhorse when its own American creators started bombarding it? It served so well. I was yelling internally “Nooo leave him alone he’s just doing what you built him to do!”(yes the fort is sentient now)
haha
I was mostly thinking about how the japanese just accepted burning to death instead of surrendering.. fighting for flags is so fkn dumb.
@@Pahricida The Japanese were particularly fond of this sort of thing birthday. They had realized before the end of 1942 that there was no way to win the war; they just kept fighting and dying anyway.
@jarodstrain8905 There was more honor to die in the service to the emperor. At that he was viewed as a God. To surrender meant your family would not talk to you.
@@kittredgeseely3542whats funny is the emperor’s authority was in theory iron clad in truth they tried to put him on house arrest when he tried to surrender
On a military exchange to the Philippines, I had the opportunity to overfly Fort Drum and visit Corregidor in 1994. It was an amazing experience and could only begin to experience what the US and Filipino soldiers endured during that spirited defence.
I lived in The Philippines for over 5 years when my dad was stationed at Clark AB back in the 80s and never got to see Ft. Drum. Growing on Clark was pretty cool. Lots of WW2 artifact to find just by digging in the yard as a kid.
Ever found any 'nades?
@@Veldtian1 No, no grenades.
@@McPh1741 that's definitely a good thing
Man, wish to do some digging in Clark. Also found some bullet casings or maybe a helmet?
@@klaushauschen We'd find shell casing, some shrapnel, a friend of mine found a bayonet in his yard. I heard that by the the base post office they were cutting the jungle back and found 3 mounds of .30 cal brass they thought were just dirt mounds. I've always wanted to go back and find the time capsule my elementary school buried in 1987. I don't know if it was ever dug up before the volcano erupted in 1991.
Thanks for sharing this story. I thought I knew most of the big stories of WWII and the Philippines, but I had never heard about Fort Drum and it's a really incredible story, thank you!
This has been the most enjoyable and informative video I have ever seen concerning Ft Drum. Thank you so much for the effort, and the internal pics. I have searched and searched for views of the inside, and they are the best and most recent. Good Job!
I have been passing this structure dozens of time since I was a child, wondering what's inside it. The ferries always pass just less than 50 meters beside it so the passengers could do sightseeing. It is majestic, huge, and solid.
As a naval nerd that also likes big things that make big booms...this is exactly what I needed :D
Haha same! I think the 'warshipporn' subreddit is my home page at this point!
@@CalumRaasay I have spent way too much time looking at this subreddit than I should have. Thanks for telling me about it :D
As a pyromaniac I can only dream of pumping 3000 gallons of fuel into a giant concrete box where it can't spread and setting it off from a safe distance.
1 battleship point blank can put it under the water line
@@AckzaTV Nope xD
Unless you plan to completely eliminate the entire island its based on at the same time.
Calum, thank you for bringing this history to light for those of us who never heard about Fort Drum.
I was fascinated by fort drum when I first became aware of it. I've read the history before. However you really made a fantastic comprehensive job of it's history in this vid! Well done ;)
Finally an unsinkable battle ship. I never knew. Thank you.
Yeah, well it's not floating. That helps.
@Samuel G lol
The Japanese were looking for the wrong things when trying to make an unsinkable ship.
Who said a ship had to float 😂
Nice use of Marine Corps maps! Sad story of 4th Marines who had been evacuated from Shanghai to the PI. They burned their colors and the CO lamented he was the only Marine that ever surrendered. To this day the 4th Marines HQ is located overseas in Okinawa - the myth being they can never return to the US having lost their colors.
Had a conversation with a lady who was born on Corregidor when her father was a coast artillery officer pre-WW2. Fascinating.
It is definitely one of the most interesting things you can see when flying around Manila Bay. Was with the very last Marine squadron of Sea Stallions in 90-91 at Cubi Pt (via Okinawa). It was really cool to check out Ft Drum when we had extra time or on the way back from the embassy. Great flying in the P.I., miss it greatly, wonderful memories.
This video is a massive help! Fort Drum is under the sheet even to Filipinos and the only ones who knew about this Fort's history were the Filipinos who witnessed its bombardment during the Japanese invasion. In which, in my opinion made that place a target for salvaging in the '70s as it's also a decade of mass treasure hunting in the Philippines. Thinking that there could be treasures inside, treasure hunters scoured the concrete island but instead got home with nothing lol. But it's guns and steel parts who survived the war were the ones that are taken interested next.
I have discovered that place since 2017 due to a local documentary, and boy i was mesmerized when i saw that beauty. But as i searched through RUclips for appropriate and better documentaries, but there was none. A few years later, RUclips's algorithm brought me here and reminded me of that place again.. Thanks man! You just earned a sub for your discovery and efforts!
Aside from treasures, I imagine a lot of the easily found iron might have been yoinked at some poiny due to pre-nuke iron going for a premium for awhile.
Mumei
@@piranhaplantX Never undestud why Is Better a pre nuke iron
As a Filipino, this honestly is amazing. Corregidor Island is very well known to us, but the surrounding islands weren't so hearing about the story of this 'Concrete Battleship' is awesome.
Same thanks for featuring this!
It wouldn't fit the narrative of American victoriousness.
@@gawbagecan I think the story is pretty pro-America. America lost the phillippines but they made Japan pay for it, and Fort Drum punched hardest for its small size.
@@gawbagecan 🤡
Kara David form I-WItness featured EL Fraile, back last 10 years.
Great video! Really good. Thanks for making it.
Currently deployed and in the Philippines and watching this video while in sight of fort drum rn. I was so curious so I looked up “big battleship structure in Philippines” this video definitely answered tht question.
The USS Phoenix that bombarded the fort would eventually become the General Belgrano that was sunk in the Falklands War if I'm not mistaken.
You’re right! Was going to mention that but cut it for time.
I saw this fort on an episode of 'Abandoned Engineering' it was fascinating to see the interior as it is today' On another episode there was a piece on another abandoned island off the coast of Japan. I think it was one of the few coal mines to be found in the Japanese islands and a multi-level town was built over it. From some positions the island has the outline shape of a large battleship, so much so that during WW2 an American submarine tried to put a salvo of torpedoes into it!
I saw "The Proper People" channel do an explore of that "battleship" island. Very Erie.
@@Dwendele - Lake Erie? *Eerie.
We actually had trouble getting the local film crew to go into Fort Drum for Abandoned Engineering. There are dangerous areas within the structure but the fact that the 90-man Japanese garrison refused to surrender and were burned alive by US troops sent to recapture the Fort may also have had something to do with it. As for Hashima Island it was the combination of accommodation blocks for its workforce and the smoke coming from the pump works stack that made it look like an early 20th century battleship.
@@tobermory8341 Hashima! That was it, thanks for reminding me! I'm not surprised the film crew were less than enthusiastic, events like that definitely seem to leave an aura or something behind them for many years after. Did Hashima ever appear in an old series called "Life after People" about how the world would carry on after all humans vanished? I've got the series on DVD but haven't watched it for a good few years now. I seem to remember a Japanese abandoned town on an island with the steepest concrete steps I'd ever seen! Must have been about a 60 degree slope going up and down, not a good place to trip!
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That was one of the most interesting videos I’ve seen in such a long time. Bravo, Calum!
This was an amazing story, much appreciate you sharing this, I had never actually heard of Fort Drum or this section of WWII, what a marvel of pure strength.
I have never heard of this before . You truly uncovered forgotten history . Very very well done !! Thank you .
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :D
I absolutely agree.
Thanks to you both.
This is the best video I’ve seen about Fort Drum. I’ve seen this formidable fort from at a distance from Corregidor over 40 years ago and you have somehow managed to convince me to go back for a closer look.
Very interesting video Calum! Subscribed - you should definitely keep going with interesting industrial history videos while in your van... Absolutely love stories about stuff like this and you clearly have a knack for telling them very well!
Definitely! Would love to do a van tour at some point
Great video! Enjoyed the content.
A really interesting and well presented story.
Thank you! Much appreciated
I agree it was a fascinating story. I can only imagine how hard life was for the US forces that defended the rock and even worse their life in captivity. Thoughts must go out to the Japanese who died in the firestorm.
@@simonkevnorris reading accounts of the Bataan peninsula is tough stuff. Quite the struggle.
What a rare and utterly fascinating piece of history. You almost never see coastal fortifications do this well. It always frustrates me when there's some unique military marvel that simply never sees any action or is put out of commission by unfortunate events. Not the case here!
I'm from Tacloban City, Leyte Island, Philippines. In the mid 1990's I would ride a passenger ferry boat from tacloban to manila. On the entrance to Manila Bay, you can see Fort Drum on your left side. It's a massive concrete structure with it's massive guns guarding the entrance to Manila Bay. The strategic location of the Philippines in southeast asia is the reason why the Philippines is rich in military history. Most Filipinos don't know about it's existence. Powerful invaders have always wanted to control the Philippines: Spanish, British, Americans, Japanese, and now it's Red China who encroaching in our territory. Same dog, different collar.
Wow, what an amazing story. Can't imagine what it was like being in there when it was being relentlessly battered and what a grizzly and yet fitting end of its days of action. Very interesting.
What a great video! Thank you 🙏
I grew up in the Philippines in the ‘70’s and passed Fort Drum many times on our way into and away from Manila on various sailboats. I was always told that Fort Drum never fired a shot as the Japanese didn’t invade by sea but came over land so this was really eye opening. I wish I had done more research when there…
Ibalik sà dati, tourism pop!
I saw the concrete battleship but only from a distance when I went to see Corregidor Island several times. But even from a distance, I find it very very fascinating. Somehow, I fell in love with Corregidor island on my first visit.. I plan to go back there after the pandemic. Will try to see the concrete battleship closer next time if given the opportunity. For those who are into WW2 history, I recommend Corregidor Island. Incidentally, I never expected that one of the guns in Corregidor Island to be that huge (and I can only imagine the size of the guns in a battleship or in that concrete battleship).. There’s a hotel in Corregidor Island (but don’t expect much). I feel strange when I’m in the island… probably due to the silence and its history.. This is the best I encountered so far about Fort Drum or USS "No-Go". Amazing work! Thank you for sharing this history.
Bro what a well investigated and researched video. Awesome work!
Great video!!! Thanks!
I had heard a few things about this "fort" in the past. I have to say, the history and information you covered here was far more than anything I had found when I read about it years ago! Great job! Definitely earned a sub, and I'll be binge watching your content now!
Thank you!
I now watched the video for a second time (first time was mostly listening while being at work).
The editing is excellent. E.g. the little inch/cm conversions.
Same for the whole presentation and quality of the pictures and markings on them to show what you are talking about.
Cant wait for the next video!
Very cool video! great work, thanks for the upload!
Great job in producing this video.
This has to be one of the coolest things ever. The fact that it held out so very long is amazing.
Its only real limitation was drinking water.
Keep that info in mind when designing the next one.
@randomguy8196 More armor, better armor, more anti aircraft, better anti aircraft, better everything!
Well I think a micro thermal nuke would just turn it into dust and a ball of plasma instantly without effort and there wouldn’t even be a fight
@randomguy9777 that's what the Japanese thought for all those months I'm sure...
As awesome as forts are, bunker busters are even more incredible.
When you dive deep into a topic you really go far as to do things properly. Excellent quality content!
I appreciate that!
Except for spell checking.
@@budgiefriend at this point it’s part of my brand
@@CalumRaasay Hardly something to be proud of, when spell check exist. You do you of course. Only slight skin off my nose😊 your content is top notch in Any case.
This was an amazing documentary that you made, Great Work! Make Another Please!
Amazing story of this island built just after the turn of the century ended being undefeated during so many days of combat.
Finally someone does more then a 5 minute video on Fort Drum!
I own the book you referenced and I'm well read on all the forts in Manila Bay. Your documentary was the best I've seen. Good work.
Wow, thank you!
@@CalumRaasay well we really done nothing we are tend to be forgotten for www mainly focus to the main countries that fight
Excellent video - Thanks!
I just stumbled upon your channel and it's amazing, I can't believe I've not been subscribed before this but I am now. Keep up the amazing job. You deserve a million subscribers in my opinion.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for watching (and subscribing!)
That concrete block sure did make some foreman somewhere proud. “You see that boat? Not a boat. Fortress. I built that. “
From an old sailor thank you Sir. I spent over 10 years of my life in that area of Manila. Asawa ko Filipina
Thanks for this story. I used to pass Ft Drum on frequent trips from Manila on inter-island ships and always wondered about it. The last time was maybe 10 years ago. I'd love to visit it, that concrete battleship.
Fantastic video mate 👍🏼
This really needs to be an epic film.
I feel the Philippines are a very overlooked area of the war in general.
@@CalumRaasay I agree. Not sure if it's because the island-hopping was in some way more 'glamorous', but the battle(s) for the Philippines do seem under-represented in popular culture.
Thank you for that. National Guard troops from my home state of New Mexico were in the P.I when the war started. Many never got home again. I had read some on Fort Drum but, not a lot. Found it amusing that ships sometimes coming into the bay would report a Navy ship making five knots heading out of the bay.
Excellent work as always, Calum. Also loved your Operation Tracer vid.
In 1843, when my ship was passing Fort Drum, my crew and I looked in awe at the massive armaments'. We were one of the first men to defend the island. Was quite amazing.
1843 👀
1843 - That's some serious seniority!
Yes, I recall that I was engineer on 'your ship', can't recall if it was sail or steam but whatever 1843, 1943 the fort will still be there in 2043.
Duncan MacLeod? Is that you?
Great video! I've long been fascinated by coastal fortifications, and Fort Drum is among the coolest of the lot.
It really is!
A well told story of history! Thank you for all your hard work as I'm sure there was a lot of research done to put this all together. I can't wait to dive into a few more of your videos, and even if they're only half as good as this one, they are still going to be epic! I subbed!
Amazing video mate!
Great vid, thanks for the in-depth info!
I’ve been to Corregidor with the Navy commemorating the 50th anniversary of the conflict, but never heard the story of THIS Fort Drum, which I thought was in NY. Amazing history; thank you!
I admire the passion you put into these videos, keep them coming!
Thank you! Much appreciated!
Excellent job on this one!!!
This was one of the best youtube videos I have ever watched.
Well Done Callum! In 1978/79/80 whenever my aircraft carrier (USS Ranger) called in to Naval Base Subic Bay north of Manila, our helicopters flew many a practice flight over the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor and Fort Drum. Always wondered about Drum, this is a fascinating historical video! I still remember being on one of these flights - in my flight suit complete with gun harness, sitting in the doorway of the helo with my legs dangling out and looking out at Drum as we passed nearby. We were not given permission to land by the local ATC, so we landed in Corregidor instead. A very historical area, full of both American and Japanese tourists. P.S.: the nickname 'USS NO GO' has an ironic twist to it. Spanish is a widely spoken language in the Philippines (they were a Spanish colony for roughly 300 years). The phrase 'no go' in Spanish is 'no va' - very similar to the name of a very popular Chevy car in the States, and the astronomical term as well. That's why the Chevy 'Nova' did not sell very well in Spanish speaking countries. Who wants to buy a car that bears the title 'no go'!!!
What a great story! Must be a hell of an experience serving on a carrier!
Andele Brandito!
Funny thing, I was on the Ranger from 81-82. Small world.
Thanks for continuing to produce such high quality content. I knew the general story of Fort Drum, but had never heard it in it's entirety, or told so well.
Glad you enjoy it! Always a pleasure exploring a niche subject!
The advantage of YT not showing me your videos in my list for months is that I can now binge-watch them :-)
haha not that many to bing to be honest!
epic work dude! nicely done
During the american civil war, there was a ship, I think it was an iron clad, that was sunk into a river to serve as a fort to protect the river from enemy use. I really need to look it up again because I was very impressed with how it did very well and meet the needs very well.
you may be thinking of the CSS savanah, similar story but not exactly the same
If that water plant was operable or upgraded, those defenders in Fort Drum would have been a big middle finger to the Japanese until the allied forces came back and relieved them.
Certainly makes for an interesting “what if” scenario
Much fun as it is to imagine that situation, the Japanese during WWII had no compunction against using the same techniques the Americans used at the end of the war to neutralize it or worse. They'd have stormed it with a landing force, welded anything metal shut or in place and poured fuel down any vents they could find. The defenders only had so many rounds and had lost most of their infantry scale defenses from the bombardments, so this would have only been a short matter of time once covering fire from the other forts was gone.
@@johnpaulvanson5170 The main difference is that Fort Drum has 280 soldiers in it during its defense, while when the Americans plan to recapture it, there was only 68.
The fort was attempted to be boarded one time but all the landing boats was immediately sank one time because the 16 inch guns manages to catch them in time. The Japanese Soldiers who were assigned to that fort didn't have the luxury and only resorted to small arms fire.
The only way to neutralize it was to bring Yamato or Musashi and sail it straight to Manila Bay to take the guns out, and doing so has major implications in the war effort of Japan (because of interservice rivalry, the Arny and Navy will fight to death on how to capture this damn American stronghold, and letting the Navy do what should've been an Army job is a huge blow to the Army's ego, which will result into the two branches to compete on who gets it out first before proceeding to the Solomons and Guadalcanal. The time brought by Bataan and Corregidor are critical in actually mounting an okayish defense on the East Indies. Had Fort Drum still fought for like 2 months more, the Allies would've organized their navies on the Dutch Indies, and the Japanese Navy will be forced to use the Kido Butai and Yamato on it, thereby delaying Midway. A decisive Naval engagement would've happened then and there.
@@johnpaulvanson5170 The guns were disabled when Japanese occupied making that landing possible and the garrison was 1/3 the size. Japan doing what the US did would cost them ruinous casualties assuming it even succeeded. Meanwhile every day hold-up buys other Allied locations more time to fortify.
@@johnpaulvanson5170 doubt it. The Japanese had no way to defend themselves because the 6 and 14 inch guns were inoperable. The Americans wouldn’t have that problem. They may have eventually retaken it but there’s a decent chance they wouldn’t have bothered wasting the men and ships to do it.
great video, my father was in the area during WWII....and was in the Coast Artillery Corp.....I am sure he knew of this fort....
Thank you for doing this excellent video!
Outstanding! Tons of military history in the PI and as familiar as I am with Ft Drum you had many 'new' pics and floorplans. I had to stop and go back many times for a closer look. High praise, cheers.
There is an actual concrete ship that has been beached for over 100 years off the shore of DuPont Washington. There isn't much information about it. I read somewhere that it got lose from the dock and floated to the sand bar, where it then beached itself, and when the tide lowered, it cracked in two. Which then cemented its fate to be stuck there forever
Yeah I’ve actually heard of that! Concrete barges and ships were surprisingly common (well, not that common maybe) as an experimental hull type back in the day. I actually visited a concrete yacht once that stopped by the island here! Now a PYKRETE hull, there's something special!
There was a concrete ship used as a 'pirate' radio station in the US too - probably in the 60s.
Galveston has a half sunk concrete ship off seawolf park...most of the hull is above the waterline
During WW II, concrete hulled ships were routinely as cargo vessels. Cheap to build and if you lost one, not a big loss.
For a frist military history video, this was bloody well done mate. I have always been fascinated by Fort Drum, most detailed video I've seen on it.
Thank you!
Thank you for such a great video. Great job 👍👍
You did it again! another fine production, thanks Calum!
Thank you Leon! Much appreciated.
Have the book. fascinating. In 1965 [?] my family took our summer vacation on the SS Pesident Wilson, from tokyo to Hong ZKong and Manila ad return. Saw thw remais of both Drum an Mills [Corregidor] as we arrived in Manila. Wanted to visit, but both were off limits at that time. sigh . great show. 'Axe
I didn’t plan on watching the whole thing, but I was glued to my screen, what a fantastic fortification and history ❤️
Absolutely amazing video! Bravo sir!
This is impressively well-researched and well-told. Instant sub. Good work!
Excellent video, fascinating outtro. Very well done all around.
Nice to see a very detailed video on Fort Drum/El Frayle. I've always wondered on what kind of engineering feats were implemented to create such a man-made island fortress in that time period.
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a great episode!!! The narrator gives an impressive account of the history that was saved about this interesting guard point, into the entrance of Manilla Bay.... This reminds me of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay... A Great history lesson was given here !!!