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Situated
at the mouth of Subic Bay, on beautiful Grande Island, Fort Wint was
ideally located to defend one of the world's great natural harbors against
enemy warships. The Fort's
importance was four fold. It (1) protected the Navy's small
base and the Dry Dock Dewey at Olongapo, (2) protected Bataan's back door
from enemy naval and amphibious attacks, (3) prevented enemy forces from
using the harbor for a supply base only a few miles from our forces on
Bataan, and (4) provided early warning of enemy ships and aircraft
proceeding south towards Bataan and Manila Bay.
Fort Wint originally had five fixed batteries that mounted two 10-inch
disappearing, four 6-inch disappearing, and eight rapid fire 3-inch guns
as follows:
·
Battery Warwick, two 10-inch disappearing guns
·
Battery Woodruff, two 6-inch disappearing guns
·
Battery Hall, two 6-inch disappearing guns
·
Battery Jewell, four 3-inch rapid fire pedestal guns
·
Battery Flake, four 3-inch rapid fire pedestal guns
However,
a system of controlled mines was originally designed to be the island’s
primary defense against enemy warships.
In
1919, the two 3-inch guns and carriages in emplacements three and four of
Battery Jewell were removed and installed in Battery Hoyle, Fort Frank.
During the 1920s, two guns and their carriages were removed from
Battery Flake and moved to Manila Bay. They were never replaced.
In
1921, the Department Engineer Officer made a study to determine what beach
defenses were needed to defend the island against invasion. Numerous
recommendations were made including the construction of infantry trenches
and the massive use of barbed wire. A
shortage of funds precluded the implementation of these recommendations.
The
285th Company (PS) was the first Scout unit to man the Fort. On June 30,
1924, it became Battery G-91st Coast Artillery.
Later that year, the Battery was transferred to Corregidor and
small caretaking detachments of Scouts, from the 91st CA (PS) and 92d CA
(PS), manned the Fort until 1938. Initially, the detachment consisted of
one officer and 27 enlisted men. It was considerably reduced over the
years until it consisted of a detachment of only several Scouts. All
batteries were put “out of service.” The fire control equipment was
transferred to Fort Mills for storage.
The breach blocks were removed and stored in the magazines.
The
caretakers did not accomplish much as their numbers were very small.
They performed some minor maintenance, kept the jungle from
reclaiming the island and discouraged thieves.
During this period, buildings, especially the wooden ones, started
to deteriorate. Roofs began to leak. The
electrical system deteriorated. The
railway became inoperable and the mine system was abandoned. All mine
material and accessories were moved to Fort Mills.
On
March 8, 1937 Battery A-92d arrived on Fort Wint to prepare Battery
Jewell’s two 3-inch guns for firing. Since this battery had not been
fired since 1921, the Scouts had a lot of work to do.
Of particular importance was the establishment an adequate fire
control system. During
the battery's month long stay, it conducted two fire practices with
excellent results.
In
the fall of 1937, the 92d Coast Artillery test fired five rounds from gun
number two at Battery Warwick. The gun had not been fired since March 1927
and an inspection showed that the base ring was sixteen minutes out of
level. The test was needed to
determine if this gun could be fired without further settling of the base
ring. The gun passed the test and was considered safe for further firing.
In 1938 the War Department leased the Fort to the Philippine Army
for use as the Philippine Army Coast Artillery Training Center. Three
American officers and a small detachment of Scouts formed the cadre for
the Center. Training was frequently conducted in English then translated
into several native languages by the Scouts. The trainees fired Batteries
Warwick and Jewell on several occasions.
War
plans called for manning the Fort with detachments from batteries HQ-92d,
A-92D, and F-92d. A-92d was
responsible for manning Batteries Hall and Jewell.
However, these plans were changed. In January 1941, Battery D-92d,
with two 155-mm GPFs deployed to Fort Wint to conduct training and target
practice. This battery
returned in June 1941 to provide the main defense for the island and help
train Philippine Army personnel. A detachment from Battery HQ-92d also arrived to provide
administrative support and man two 75-mm beach defense guns.
In the summer, Battery H-92d moved from Ft. Mills to the east end
of Subic Bay, near Olongapo. Its mission was to protect the east end of the Bay with
it’s two 155mm guns. The guns could engage any enemy ships that sailed
by the Fort’s guns and enemy forces attempting to land on the east end
of the island.
In July,1941 the Navy moved the Dry Dock Dewey to Mariveles. The
Navy strengthened the Fort’s defenses by laying a mine field across the
main shipping channel. In November, Battery C-91st with four 3-inch
anti-aircraft guns arrived to provide air cover and help teach Philippine
Army personnel how to fire anti-aircraft guns. On December 1, the
Philippine Army personnel were inducted into the armed forces of the
United States as the 2d Battalion, First Coast Artillery Philippine Army.
The start of the war found the defenders moderately ready to defend
the Fort. Batteries C-91st, D-92d, and
H-92d were combat ready. The 2d Battalion, First Coast Artillery
Philippine Army was a combat unit in name only. The 365 members of the
Battalion would need a lot more training before they would be ready to man
coast defenses.
The
first enemy activity was observed shortly before noon December 8, 1941,
when a flight of 54 enemy bombers flew directly over the Fort and headed
Northward. They were too high
for C-91st to engage, but the Scouts open up anyway and the
Japanese promptly spread their formation and proceeded onward.
Battery
C-91st engaged in combat for the second time on December 12.
Before dawn, Filipino coast watchers reported 5 Japanese
battleships and 10 destroyers headed south toward Manila Bay.
Seven Navy PBY seaplanes based at Olongapo searched for four hours
without finding them. Returning at 0900, the planes were resting in the
harbor when at 1010 Japanese fighter planes strafed and destroyed all
seven PBYs. The Scouts of
Battery C-91st fired 40 rounds of 3-inch shells at the 10 Japanese planes
and cheered as one fell burning east of Suesta Light House.
The
Japanese returned the next day at 1145 with 27 planes and bombed the Navy
base at Olongapo. The Scouts
fired 34 rounds of 3-inch shells dispersing the planes towards the east.
On December 15 at 1230, three bombers dived over Grande Island and
were disbursed by the accurate fire of Battery C-91st. There were no
casualties. On December 23,
1941 at 11:40 AM, Fort Wint spotted two fast sailing boats with square
sails at 30,000 yards going southeast.
Corregidor was alerted.
On December 18, a small boat with about 30 armed Japanese soldiers
was observed heading toward Suesta Light House at the mouth of Subic Bay.
Several shots were fired across its bow, but the boat did not stop or
alter its course. Firing was then directed on the boat using one 3-inch
gun at Battery Jewell and one 3-inch anti-aircraft gun at Battery C-91st.
The boat was sunk with no survivors. During the period 8 – 25 December,
the Japanese bomber the Fort 10 times causing minimal damage. About 200
bombs were dropped. Five men were slightly injured.
During this period, Battery D-92d fired several times at suspected
enemy forces in the hills on the western side of Subic Bay. Results were
unknown because the Battery had no gun spotters in the hills.
On
December 23, Lt. Colonel Napoleon Boudreau, the Fort Commander, received
orders to abandon Fort Wint the next day. War plans called for Boudreau's forces to hold the Fort until
directed to withdraw to Bataan by the Commanding General, Philippine
Division. Major General
Wainwright never gave this order. It
is unknown who did, but some commander seeing that the personnel on Fort
Wint were not falling back into Bataan perceived that they would be left
guarding an abandoned port, directed that the Fort be abandoned. Battery C-91st left that evening.
Captain Al D'Arezzo and his Scouts of Battery D-92d removed the
breach blocks from the fixed guns and threw them into the bay.
The next morning, the rest of the troops left the island for
Olongapo. War plans called for his battery to be use as field artillery
on Bataan. His orders were to
proceed to Bataan with his battery and report to the senior Field
Artillery officer. It took
him four days to get to get there. The 2d Battalion, First Coast Artillery
Philippine Army and Battery H-92d were attached to the 31st
Division Philippine Army. C-91st
provided anti-aircraft support on Bataan until it retreated to Corregidor
when Bataan surrendered.
The
fate of Fort Wint and Subic Bay was sealed when General MacArthur decided
to retreat behind the Mabatang - Mauban line.
If Boudreau's forces had remained on the island they would have
been surrounded and cut off without a supply line.
The Fort could not have withstood an amphibious assault.
Almost all the guns faced westward and the eastside of the island
was flat and had a big beautiful sandy beach; ideal for landing troops and
difficult to defend. The loss
of Subic Bay shortened Japanese supply lines by allowing them to unload
their supplies at Olongapo, the "door step" of Bataan rather
than at Lingayen Gulf.
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