Beyond Bataan: The Untold Story of Fort Drum’s Defense

THE world remembers Bataan. 

The scorching heat. The endless miles of the death march. And the heroic last stand which captured a picture of a violent poetry in the country’s history. 

But few know that the final moments of resistance against the Japanese in the Philippines was written not on the battlefields of Bataan, but on a solitary island fortress hidden at the heart of Manila Bay. 

Fort Drum—also known as El Fraile Island—rises like a concrete monolith from the sea. Its story is largely absent from history books, its name unknown to many. 

Yet, despite being overlooked and forgotten by time, Fort Drum stands in isolation, a silent sentinel. It bears witness to the unyielding courage of Filipino and American soldiers who fought until the very end, their heads bloody but unbowed, their sacrifice carved into the fort’s unforgiving walls.

A Rise from the Sea

Fort Drum’s story began in the shadows of a new era, with the American occupation of the Philippines.

It was the evening of April 30, 1898, when Commodore George Dewey, at the helm of the US Navy’s formidable squadron steered his ships into the darkened waters of Manila Bay. 

The air was thick with anticipation as they neared the island known as El Fraile, or The Friar, where Spanish forces lay in wait, unaware that their fate was about to be sealed by the dawn of a new power.

What followed was a brutal clash, a deadly exchange of gunfire, as the crew of the USS McCulloch returned fire against the Spanish defenses with relentless precision. 

The American managed to defeat the forces at the El Fraile, gaining them control over the Manila Bay. 

This day became known in history as the Battle of Manila Bay. It was a turning point in the Philippine chapter as it solidified US control over the country. 

The encounter at El Fraile Island revealed crucial insights to the American forces. It became clear to the colonizers that the island held strategic value, offering an ideal position for defense. During the Battle of Manila Bay, despite their decisive advantage through coordinated firepower and strategy, the presence of the El Fraile defense proved to be a significant threat, one that could not be ignored.

But what was once a formidable obstacle now presented great potential under their control, a power they could harness to their advantage.

Fort Drum was built under Secretary of War William Howard Taft. Initially designed as a mine control station (to manage underwater mines) and a casemate (a fortified structure for housing weapons), it followed post-Civil War U.S. defense trends. However, the island’s location proved inadequate for the planned defenses.

In response, they transformed El Fraile Island into something far more formidable—a fortress that would rise like a concrete battleship, poised to face the tides of war.

Building the fort drum was a challenge. It included leveling the rocky island and constructing a fortress with reinforced concrete. 

The design was inspired by the shape of a battleship, with a top deck 20 feet thick. The fort’s walls varied in thickness, ranging from 25 to 36 feet, depending on the section.

It came armed with four guns in two turrets. Originally, it was planned to have four 12-inch guns, but this was later changed to four 14-inch guns. There were also four 6-inch guns and two 3-inch mobile anti-aircraft guns. 

The living quarters for the soldiers stationed at the fort were located deep inside the structure.

Construction began in 1909 and was completed in 1914, the same year World War I erupted—an ominous sign of the dangers that lay ahead.

Fort Drum in the Japanese Occupation

The true significance of Fort Drum was tested during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines—the darkest chapter in the nation’s history before gaining independence.

In 1941, 27 years after Fort Drum was constructed, the Japanese forces launched a strategic offensive targeting the forces in Manila Bay, including Fort Drum. 

At that time, Fort Drum was held by the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment (E Battery), which had been stationed there since December 7, 1941—the same day as the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The forces were anticipating the Japanese attack. In preparation, they dismantled the wooden barracks on the top deck. 

It wasn’t until January 2, 1942, that Fort Drum faced one of its most daunting challenges.

That day, it came under relentless air bombardment from the Japanese. 

But the fort was unyielding—just like the soldiers within it. Despite the relentless attacks, it withstood every blow, remaining unpenetrated. This only prompted fiercer assaults in the days that followed, including an attempt by a Japanese force to survey its rear using a steamer.

Despite its resilience, Fort Drum endured the full force of these attacks. The anti-aircraft battery was knocked out, one of the six-inch guns was disabled, and sections of the concrete structure were chipped away.

 Still, it did not surrender. 

Its armored turrets— a few of the fort that remained undamaged— continued rendering their service, never running out of bullets until the very last moment. Yet, the 14-inch guns and Fort Frank’s 12-inch mortars were ineffective, and this proved to be a challenge to the increasing weapon and forces assaulting the fort. 

When the resistance in Bataan— the defining battle in the Philippines and the Pacific— finally crumbled, only Fort Drum and the other harbor forts stood defiant, holding the last flicker of hope.

But all things must come to an end. With the fall of Corregidor, Fort Drum found itself in a forced surrender. 

Like the structure that holds, the soldiers were willing to fight— but it was made impossible by the biological necessities that their bodies demand. They lack enough food and supplies. The fort garrison also received an order to stand down from General Wainwright, who had taken charge of the Philippines’ defense after Douglas McArthur’s evacuation.

On May 6, 1942, just hours after the surrender of Corregidor, Fort Drum lowered its flag as well.

Before handing the fort over to the Japanese, the American forces disabled the guns, ensuring they couldn’t be used.

Yet, there was no question that Fort Drum and its defenders had fulfilled their duty. Despite the brutal fighting, only five injuries were reported among the men stationed there.

Recapturing Fort Drum

But Fort Drum’s story would not be defined by the enemy’s last words.

In 1945, just as Manila was recaptured from the hands of the Japanese, a campaign was launched to retake Fort Drum— which was also the last stand of the Japanese stronghold. 

On April 13, 1945— the same month that saw both the Battle of Manila Bay and the earlier American takeover from the Spanish— the irony is undeniable. American troops landed on Fort Drum’s deck, reclaiming it by trapping the Japanese garrison below.

To conquer Fort Drum— their own creation turned against them— the Americans, specifically Company F of the 2nd Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, with support from the 113th Combat Engineer Battalion, employed a unique strategy.

Like Victor Frankenstein who was forced to confront his monstrous creation, the Americans turned to Fort Drum’s own design to conquer the Japanese. 

White phosphorus mortar rounds ignited a deadly mix of diesel and gasoline pumped into the fort through a vent. The resulting fire tore through the heart of the structure, plunging the Japanese garrison into chaos and confusion.

But the flames were so intense, and the heat so unbearable, that the Americans had to wait five long days before daring to enter. When they finally did, they found that the fire—and the collapse that followed—had claimed every life inside.

A timed fuse and 600 pounds of TNT triggered the explosion, an earth-shattering blast that sent a one-ton hatch soaring 300 feet into the air, while pieces of the fort’s reinforced concrete were scattered like debris in the wind.

This marked the bitter end of the Japanese Occupation. 

What happened to Fort Drum?

Despite its pivotal place in the nation’s history, the future proved unkind to Fort Drum. Its significance faded, and the once-imposing fortress— that never surrendered even when its defenders did— was left to decay.

The fort’s valuable components, including metals and steel, were stripped away by thieves who saw only material worth, unaware of the lives those very materials had once protected and preserved. 

Today, Fort Drum stands as a silent watchman in Manila Bay, a former sentinel that witnessed and participated in the tides of history— from Spanish to American, to the Japanese Occupation, and now to our time. 

It served with unwavering strength, and yet we turned our backs to it, stripping it of its worth, letting the thieves steal not just its material elements but the very memories of sacrifices done in the name of our independence. 

But the past still echoes within its walls, and perhaps, it’s time we listen. 

On this Araw ng Kagitingan, as we honor the heroes of our past, let us not only remember but also take responsibility for the freedom they fought for. Let us no longer take it for granted, but cherish it with the awareness that the struggles of those before us must guide how we shape the future.

References

Allen, F. J. (1988). The Concrete Battleship: Fort Drum, El Fraile Island, Manila Bay. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company.

Coast Defense Study Group. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide (M. A. Berhow, Ed.). Coast Defense Study Group Press.

Ryan, C. (2023, June 16). Fort Drum – The Concrete Battleship –. Naval Historia. Retrieved April 9, 2025, from https://navalhistoria.com/fort-drum-the-concrete-battleship/