Fort Drum
- the Concrete Battleship -
Built: 1909 - 1919
Dimensions: Main deck, - 350 feet long, - 144 feet wide, - 40 feet above water level, thickness: 20 feet
Thickness of side "armour": 25 - 36 feet
Guns: 4 x 14" guns in two rotating turrets, - Battery Wilson and Battery Marshall
4 x 6" guns in casemates, - Battery Roberts
3 x 3" guns
Complement: 200
"Fort Drum" is not really a battleship, - but only looks like one.
It is in fact constructed of steel reinforced concrete by US Army Engineers on top of an island, - El Fraile -, at the entrance of Manila Bay, Philippines.
But is is often referred to as the "Concrete Battleship, - so why not place a few pics of this unique structure here in the battleship section?
What makes it look like a battleship is its shape, - which very much resemples a ships hull -, and also the main battery consisting of two specially made rotating gun turrets that look exactly like the main batteries on a battleship.
In it's heyday it also had a mast of the cage-type used for observation and fire direction, - again very similar to the type of mast that was used on early US battleships -, but today the deck is "cleaned", - only the massive 14" gun turrets remains.
Fort Drum was "battleship" like that could sink any known ship of its time, while it could not be sunk itself, - and it was considered impregnable.
Please enjoy my pics of this unique and rare structure, photographed during a passage in january 1977.
1977-01-009
Fort Drum, - the concrete "battleship" of Manila Bay.
Photo- and copyright: Karsten Petersen )
1977-01-011
Fort Drum, - the concrete "battleship" of Manila Bay.
Photo- and copyright: Karsten Petersen )
1977-01-012
Fort Drum, - the concrete "battleship" of Manila Bay-, heavily scarred from WW2 action, but still "floating".
Photo- and copyright: Karsten Petersen )
1977-01-013
Fort Drum, - the concrete "battleship" of Manila Bay.
(Photo- and copyright: Karsten Petersen )
1977-01-014
Fort Drum, - the concrete "battleship" of Manila Bay.
(Photo- and copyright: Karsten Petersen )
Pge updated and trtansferred: 2022-12-16