FORT
DRUM. El Fraile Island after the
concrete battleship was constructed. |
|
By the end of 1941 all that could be done
in the limited time since funds had been made available in midyear to
improve the defenses of Corregidor and the adjoining islands had been
accomplished. But the basic weakness of the harbor defenses- their
vulnerability to attack from the air and from their landward flanks-was
never corrected. They accomplished their mission, the denial of Manila
Bay to the enemy, without firing a single round at a hostile warship;
Japanese cruisers and destroyers blockading the bay stayed well out of
range of Moore's heavy guns. But when Bataan fell the flank protection
of Corregidor disappeared and the fortress was left exposed to
destruction by air and artillery attacks and to landings by hostile
forces.