Japan's Concrete Battleship Fort Beat the Fleet. US Engineers Pumped In 2,500 Gallons and Lit It.
14K views · Sep 12, 2026 · Education
Comments · 5
@WW2-Vanguard · 2 weeks ago · pinned
ENGAGEMENT FILE - Fort Drum burn-out<br><br>Fort Drum walls: 20 ft reinforced-concrete deck; outer walls 25-36 ft thick. (Wikipedia, Fort Drum (El Fraile Island))<br><br>Main armament: Four 14-inch M1909 guns in two turrets, Marshall and Wilson. (Wikipedia, Fort Drum (El Fraile Island))<br><br>1942 siege: Hundreds of hits from 240mm howitzers chipped a few inches; turrets undamaged; no US killed, 5 wounded. (corregidor.org)<br><br>Assault units: Co F, 2nd Bn, 151st Infantry, 38th Div + 113th Combat Engineer Bn, 13 April 1945. (Triumph in the Philippines (R.R. Smith))<br><br>Burn-out mix: ~2,500 US gallons of 2:1 diesel-gasoline pumped through deck vents; 600 lbs TNT, 30-min fuse. (Wikipedia, Fort Drum (El Fraile Island))<br><br>Ignition: Weak blast ~1035; fire reached the magazines ~1045 for the major explosion. (Triumph in the Philippines (R.R. Smith))<br><br>Result: Garrison of ~68-70 eliminated for one US sailor wounded; bodies found 18 April. (Triumph in the Philippines (R.R. Smith))<br><br>Plan origin: Devised by Lt Col Fred Dyer, adapting the burn-out first used days earlier at Fort Hughes. (corregidor.org)
2
@tonyb9185 · 2 weeks ago
So they just sat there watching and waiting while a hose of fuel was pumped in?
1
@MoonlightStoriesTV-i1x · 2 weeks ago
This is great
@MoonlightStoriesTV-i1x · 2 weeks ago
Wow
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