page_title: Fort Drum (Philippines)
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Drum (Philippines) / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: 14-inch turret for Fort Drum (El Fraile Island, Philippines) undergoing tests at the Sandy Hook Proving Ground. The turret has two M1909 14-inch guns, developed solely for Fort Drum.
context_page_description: Fort Drum, also known as "the concrete battleship", is a heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, due south of Corregidor Island. The reinforced concrete sea fort shaped like a battleship was built by the United States in 1909 as one of the harbor defenses at the wider South Channel entrance to the bay during the American colonial period.
  It was unique among forts built by the United States between the Civil War and early World War II, both as a sea fort and in having turrets. It was captured and occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and was recaptured by the U.S. after U.S. forces ignited petroleum and gasoline in the fort, leaving it permanently out of commission. Sixty-eight Japanese soldiers perished in the blaze. It took the U.S. soldiers days before they could even go into the fortress because of the heat.
  The now-abandoned fort was named after Brigadier General Richard C. Drum, who served with distinction during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, and died on October 15, 1909, the year of the fort's construction.
context_section_description: Construction began in April 1909 and lasted for five years. The rocky island was leveled by U.S. Army engineers and then was built up with thick layers of steel-reinforced concrete into a massive structure roughly resembling a battleship, 350 ft (110 m) long, 144 ft (44 m) wide, and with a top deck 40 ft (12 m) above water at mean low tide. The 14-inch (356 mm) M1909 guns and their two custom built M1909 turrets, named Batteries Marshall and Wilson, were delivered and installed by 1916. The M1909 guns were specially designed for Fort Drum and were not deployed elsewhere. The secondary 6-inch (152 mm) M1908MII guns on M1910 pedestal mounts in casemates, Batteries Roberts and McCrea, were installed the same year.
  Searchlights, anti-aircraft batteries, and a 60-foot (18 m) lattice-style fire control tower were mounted on the fort's upper surface. The living quarters for the approximately 240 officers and enlisted men along with the power generators, plotting rooms and ammunition magazines were located deep inside the fort.
  Battery Marshall was named for Brigadier General William Louis Marshall, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and Chief of Engineers 1908–1910. Battery Wilson was named for Brigadier General John Moulder Wilson, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and Chief of Engineers 1897–1901. Battery Roberts was named for Benjamin K. Roberts, a cavalry, artillery, and coast artillery officer, who was made Chief of Artillery for one day in 1905 prior to his retirement. Battery McCrea was named for Tully McCrea, an artillery officer in the Civil War.
caption: 14-inch guns and turret undergoing testing at Sandy Hook Proving Ground before installation at Fort Drum
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