Mariveles U.S.N. Tunnels

I was a bit disappointed in that absolutely nothing remains to give a visitor any indication of these tunnels being military in origin. On the other hand, they are part of Bataan's WWII history. To explore inside them was interesting and well worth the effort. Some books mention many more tunnels than we know of today plus there were even two more at the Mariveles airfield. Just walking the area was great for getting a realistic feeling of locations I had only been reading about.

Google Earth satellite view of the Mariveles Navy Tunnels. (My GPS software program has a feature where waypoints can be placed in their exact positions on a Google Earth photo).

Tunnel #1B (collapsed) is most likely a second entrance to Tunnel #1A. Tunnel #2 has not been located.

Similar view, different orientation. The tunnels are in the hillside at the top of this aerial photo taken in December 2007.

In December 2010, Karl arranged for the entrance of Tunnel #1 to be dug out. It had been open years ago but later landslides had completely sealed it.

Sketch of Tunnel #1A. I'll call this entrance 1A as a nearby sealed entrance only 68 meters away may be a second entrance to this tunnel. At the moment, this cannot be confirmed 100%. (Sketch courtesy of Karl Welteke)

On the outside looking towards the entrance to Tunnel #1A.

Looking back towards the entrance we just came in.

You can easily stand up in most of this tunnel. Humidity is quite high and no concrete is visible anywhere. Near the entrance to the first lateral on the left are bags of sifted soil. The owner said people had been working in the tunnel years ago 'looking' for things. I saw no air vents anywhere in this tunnel.

The entrance to the first lateral on the left.

Near the end of this lateral, we see a water-filled hole in the floor that is the width of the tunnel. You can easily see the bottom through the clear water. I did not measure it but I will estimate it at 5 to 6 feet at the deepest. If you look closely you can see a little wall of neatly stacked rocks which prevents anyone from going any further. Walls are for either keeping something in or keeping something out. Not sure which scenario fits here. (Mystery #1)

Approaching the water-filled hole and rock wall.

Note the stacked rock wall. The tunnel appears to continue past this point.

Back at the main tunnel, continue inside and have a look at the next lateral which is on the right. This one is interesting in that it is low in places and a bit up and down. When you reach as far as you can go you are definitely not at the end. Bats are flying in and out of a 10 inch high gap between the rock ceiling and the soil floor. Crawling forward and sticking my light in here, I am reasonably sure that see a tunnel on both sides of me that is parallel to the main tunnel #1A. This is why we feel that Tunnel entrance #1B may be a second entrance to #1A. A bit of digging would get us past here. (Mystery #2)

Proceeding down the second lateral.

Getting narrow ahead. Look at that grey pile of soil. Has someone been digging here?

As far as I can go but open ahead. Bats are coming in and out of here.

Back at the main tunnel, we continue on again. There is an area where you slide over some rocks that have fallen from the ceiling. Another short lateral appears on the right. After traveling quite a ways we come to the end or more correctly, to as far as we can go today.

Nearing the end of the main tunnel.

This is the farthest point we could go in this long tunnel.

A pool of water is in front of me and the tunnel may or may not be fully collapsed past that. The rectangular hole is full of clear water. It looks like a very professional construction job and I wonder why someone would go to so much bother digging it. The tunnel floor is muddy, sloped, wet and slippery. Venturing too close to the edge does not seem wise.

I would like to know how deep the hole is so I come up with this 'bright' idea of using a chemical light stick that I always carry. I snapped the stick and it glowed bright yellow. After tying a rock to it, I dropped it in the middle of the hole. In 3 seconds it went out of sight and I saw nothing. I turned off my flashlight and gave my eyes a couple minutes to adjust to total darkness. The water is crystal clear so I expected at least a faint yellow glow from down there. Nothing!!! Why dig such a hole and how deep is it? (Mystery #3)

Close-up view down the rectangular hole.

Closer view of as far as I could see past the hole. The tunnel appears to continue further on.

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