Fort Drum (El Fraile Island) in the context of History of the Philippines (1898–1946)

⭐ Core Definition: Fort Drum (El Fraile Island)

Fort Drum, also known as El Fraile Island (Tagalog: Pulo ng El Fraile), is a heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, south of Corregidor Island. Nicknamed a "concrete battleship", 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 American Civil War and early World War II, as it was a sea fort with turrets. It was captured and occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and was recaptured after U.S. forces ignited petroleum and gasoline in the fort, the conflagration killing 68 Japanese soldiers and leaving it permanently out of commission. Due to the high temperature caused by the conflagration, it took five days before U.S. soldiers could enter the fortress.

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Fort Drum (El Fraile Island) in the context of Corregidor Island

Corregidor (Tagalog: [ko.ɾɛ.hɪˈdoɾ], Spanish: [ko.re.xiˈðoɾ], Tagalog: Pulo ng Corregidor, Spanish: Isla del Corregidor) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Manila, the nation's capital city and one of its most important seaports for centuries since the Spanish colonial period. Due to its strategic location, Corregidor has historically been fortified with coastal artillery batteries to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manila itself from attacks by enemy warships.

Corregidor (Fort Mills) is the largest of the islands that formed the harbor defenses of Manila Bay, together with El Fraile Island (Fort Drum), Caballo Island (Fort Hughes), and Carabao Island (Fort Frank), which were all fortified during the American colonial period. The island was also the site of a small military airfield, as part of the defense.

View the full Wikipedia page for Corregidor Island

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