Fortress American Defenses of Corregidor & Manila Bay 1898-1945 Osprey Books

The Philippines were declared an American Territory on January 4, 1899, and construction of seacoast fortifications began after 1905 on the islands in the mouth of Manila Bay: Fort Mills (Corregidor), Fort Frank, Fort Hughes, and Subic Bay's Fort Wint. Tiny El Fraile Island was leveled to create a unique structure, the complex and formidable "concrete battleship" of Fort Drum. Between the world wars, the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty prohibited the U.S. from improving its Philippine defenses. When war came in December 1941, the harbor defenses had only their pre-1920 permanent armament. The Japanese invasion saw the Manila Bay defenses bombarded first from the air and then by artillery on the Cavite Peninsula. After the US forces in Bataan surrendered on April 9, the four harbor forts were on their own. The Japanese never challenged the defenses by sea, but wore them down by constant air and artillery bombardment. Finally, the Japanese invaded Corregidor on May 5, and the remaining American forces in the Philippines surrendered. In 1945, the Manila Bay islands were manned by Japanese soldiers who were determined to hold out to the bitter end. Corregidor witnessed a key moment in US military history, when a combined paratrooper drop and amphibious invasion on February 15, 1945 assaulted the island. In the harbor, bloody and brutal fighting took place in a fort by fort assault, many of which could only be taken by pumping gas and oil into service tunnels and igniting it. Following the American victory, the defenses were a total wreck and were not to be rebuilt. This title brings back to life these key sites. The result is a meticulous documentation of the fortifications and emplacements, and a tribute to the men that died fighting there.