Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Corregidor | |
---|---|
Part of the Luzon Island, Philippines | |
Result | Japanese victory |
Kureo Taniguchi
Gempachi Sato
Kizon Mikami
Haruji Morita
Col. Koike
Col. Inoue
Ground units:
4th Marine Regiment
- 59th Coast Artillery Regiment
- 60th Coast Artillery Regiment
- 91st Coast Artillery Regiment
- 92nd Coast Artillery Regiment
- 803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion
- Company A
- 1st Coast Artillery Regiment
- 2nd Coast Artillery Regiment
- Battery D
- Battery F
Naval Units:
16th Naval District
- U.S. Navy Inshore Patrol
- Oahu (PR-6)
- Luzon (PR-7)
- Quail (AM-15)
- USS Pigeon (ASR-6)
- (abandoned ship) crew
Ground units:
- 4th Infantry Division
- 7th Tank Regiment
Aerial units:
1,000 wounded
11,000
1 gunboat sunk
1 gunboat scuttled
1 minesweeper scuttled
1,200 wounded
The Battle of Corregidor (Filipino: Labanan sa Corregidor; Japanese: コレヒドールの戦い), fought on 5–6 May 1942, was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II.
The
Background
Gibraltar of the East
Corregidor, named Fort Mills, was the largest of four fortified islands protecting the mouth of Manila Bay and had been fortified prior to World War I with powerful coastal artillery. Some 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) across at its head, the tadpole-shaped island was 3.5 mi (3.0 nmi; 5.6 km) from Bataan. Its widest and elevated area, known as Topside, held most of the fort's fifty-six coastal defense guns and mortars, and twenty-eight 3-inch antiaircraft guns, besides the three-story "Mile-Long Barracks." Middleside was a small plateau containing battery positions as well as barracks. Bottomside was the lower area, where a dock area and the civilian town of San Jose were located, besides the controlled-mine complex. Americans called it "The Rock" or even the "Gibraltar of the East", comparing it to the fortress that guards the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa.[1]: 5, 16, 43–50, 60–63 [2]
The tunnel system under Malinta Hill was the most extensive construction on Corregidor. It contained a main east–west passage 1,400 ft (430 m) long and 30 ft (9.1 m) wide, with 25 lateral passages, each about 400 ft (120 m) long, which branched out at regular intervals from each side of the main passage. A separate system of tunnels north of this housed the underground hospital with 12 laterals of its own. The facility could be reached either through the main tunnel or by a separate outside entrance on the north side of Malinta Hill. The Navy tunnel system was located south of the quartermaster area that extended south of Lateral 8. Petrol was stored near the west entrance, while General MacArthur's headquarters was located in Lateral 3, next to General George Moore's headquarters in Lateral 2, and President Quezon's quarters next to the east entrance. Reinforced with concrete walls, floors, and overhead arches, it also had blowers to furnish fresh air and an electric trolley along the east–west passage.[2][1]: 19, 25
Defenses
The defensive arsenal on Corregidor was formidable with 45 coastal guns and
Caballo Island, with Fort Hughes, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Corregidor's lighthouse, with an area of 75 acres (30 ha), rises to a height of 381 ft (116 m). Battery Woodruff had a single 14-inch gun M1910, Battery Craighill had four 12-inch M1912 mortars, Battery Leach had dual 6-inch gun M1908s, while Battery Fuger had dual 3-inch gun M1903s.[1]: 5, 50–51
Fort Frank on Carabao Island is 8.1 mi (13.0 km) south of Corregidor's lighthouse, near the Cavite shoreline, and rises 180 ft (55 m) above the sea. Batteries Greer and Crofton have single 14-inch gun M1907s, while Battery Koehler has eight 12-inch gun M1908s, and Battery Hoyle has dual 3-inch guns.[1]: 5, 52
All four forts in Manila Bay—as well as
On 24 December, Subic Bay was abandoned along with
Siege
From 29 December 1941 until 6 January 1942, the Japanese airplanes bombed the island, destroying half of the wooden structures on the island, the electric train system, and the water distribution system. Everyone was put on half rations. With 15,000 people on the island, there was food for only six to eight weeks. On 8 April, the 60th Coast Artillery, commanded by Theodore M. Chase, withdrew from Bataan to Corregidor.[1]: 29–32 [5]
On 3 February USS Trout (SS-202) arrived at Corregidor with 3,500 rounds of 3-inch anti-aircraft ammunition. Along with mail and important documents, Trout was loaded with 20 tons of gold and silver previously removed from banks in the Philippines before departing.[6]
On 5 February, the Japanese started firing on Forts Frank and Drum using 105mm and 155mm guns on Cavite. Then on 15 March, the Japanese started firing with their 240mm howitzers.[1]: 29–31
On 12 March under cover of darkness, MacArthur was
Japanese artillery bombardment of Corregidor began after the fall of Bataan on 9 April. It became intense over the next few weeks as more guns were brought up, and one day's shelling was said to equal all the bombing raids combined in damage inflicted. However, after an initial response from a 155 mm GPF battery, Wainwright prohibited counterbattery fire for three days, fearing there were wounded POWs on Bataan who might be killed.[8]
Japanese bombing and shelling continued with unrelenting ferocity. Japanese aircraft flew 614 missions, dropping 1,701 bombs totaling some 365 tons of explosives. Joining the aerial bombardment were nine 240 mm (9.45 in) howitzers, thirty-four 149 mm (5.9 in) howitzers, and 32 other artillery pieces, which pounded Corregidor day and night.[9]
By 14 April, all of Corregidor's north shore batteries were out of action. On 29 April, two Navy
On 24 April, Battery Crockett's guns were hit and put out of action. On 1 May, the Japanese bombardment increased, concentrating on landing sites. On 2 May, 3600 240mm shells fell on Batteries Cheney and Geary, and Battery Geary's magazine detonated, putting all eight guns out of action. The bombardment continued over the next three days.[1]: 33
On the night of 4 May, the submarine USS Spearfish, returning to Australia from patrol evacuated 25 persons. Among the passengers were Colonel Constant Irwin, who carried a complete roster of all Army, Navy, and Marine personnel still alive; Col. Royal G. Jenks, a finance officer, with financial accounts; Col. Milton A. Hill, the inspector general, 3 other Army and 6 Navy officers, and about 13 nurses. Included in the cargo sent from Corregidor were several bags of mail, the last to go out of the Philippines, and "many USAFFE and USFIP records and orders."[10][5]: 152
By 5 May, only three 155mm guns on Corregidor were operational.[1]: 34
Japanese propaganda to its home population repeatedly declared in this period that Corregidor was about to fall, followed by weeks of silence when it did not happen. Imperial General Headquarters finally declared that the resistance was becoming a serious embarrassment.[11]
Homma's invasion plan relied on Kenzo Kitano's 4th Division. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of Gempachi Sato's 61st Infantry, under Infantry Group Commander Kureo Taniguchi, would land first on Corregidor's tail with 2000 men, supported with tanks from the 7th Tank Regiment. A second wave would land below Topside the following night with 4000 men led by Taniguchi, composed of the 37th Infantry and a battalion of 8th Infantry, plus tanks from the 7th Tank Regiment.[12][5]: 142–144 [13]
Fall
On 5 May Japanese forces led by Maj. Gen. Kureo Taniguchi boarded landing craft and barges and headed for the final assault on Corregidor. Shortly before midnight, intense shelling struck the beaches between North Point and Cavalry Point. The initial landing of 790 Japanese soldiers was quickly bogged down by fierce resistance from the American and Filipino defenders, whose 37 mm artillery exacted a heavy toll on the invasion fleet. It was a bloodbath. Observers at Cabcaben described the scene as "a spectacle that confounded the imagination, surpassing in grim horror anything we had ever seen before."[14]
The 1st Battalion landed on Corregidor at 11 p.m., while the 2nd Battalion landed almost an hour later. Difficulty in identifying the intended landing points, plus the current, meant the 21st Engineer Regiments barges landed the Japanese men on North Point eastward, further from their intended objective of Malinta Hill. The Japanese suffered high losses, one Japanese officer calling it a "dreadful massacre", with a least 22 half-sunk landing craft full of Japanese dead, but enough made it ashore to consolidate a beachhead. By 1:30 a.m. the Denver battery and the forward slope of Water Tank Hill had been captured by Sato's men.[5]: 155–164
By 2 a.m., Howard committed Schaeffer's Regimental Reserve in support of Beecher. Robert Chambers' O Company and William F. Hogaboom's P Company led the effort. However, on their way to Water Tank Hill, O Company was decimated by Japanese artillery. The remaining men could not put up a coordinated effort without support weapons. Sato bid his time, strengthening his line, while waiting for the reinforcements expected at dawn. At 4:30 a.m. Paul C. Moore's Q Company, followed by R, S, and T joined the battle, but at 4:40 a.m., an additional 21 Japanese landing craft were spotted headed for the Corregidor shore. The American counterattack started at 6:15 a.m., but supported with only grenades, faltered by 9 a.m. However, some officers bypassed on the tail of the island, were able to form a defensive perimeter at Monkey Point, causing trouble for the Japanese on the other side of Kindley Field.[5]: 164–175
At 10 a.m., Japanese tanks landed on Corregidor, and according to Wainwright, "...it was the terror that is vested in a tank that was the deciding factor." At 10:30 a.m., Wainwright ordered Beebee to broadcast a surrender message to Homma.[5]: 176–185
Aftermath
On 23 May, the Japanese prisoners on Corregidor were marched to the South Mine Wharf and boarded on three ships anchored in San Jose Bay. After landing in
Commemoration
An unnamed Marine from the 4th Marine Regiment wrote the following lyrics to the tune of the "Marines' Hymn," just before going into battle in Corregidor.
First to jump for holes and tunnels And to keep our skivvies clean,
We are proud to claim the title
of Corregidor's Marines.
Our drawers unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun.
We have jumped into every hole and ditch
And for us the fightin' was fun.
We have plenty of guns and ammunition
But not cigars and cigarettes,
At the last we may be smoking leaves
Wrapped in Nipponese propaganda leaflets.
When the Army and the Navy
Looked out Corregidor's Tunnel Queen,
They saw the beaches guarded
by more than one Marine!
The Pacific War Memorial was built on Corregidor in memory of the American and Filipino soldiers who died. The bridge in Chicago where State Street crosses the Chicago River is named the 'Bataan–Corregidor Memorial Bridge'. The bridge over the Farmington River on Connecticut Route 185 in Simsbury, Connecticut was renamed the "Bataan Corregidor Memorial Bridge." Connecticut State Senator Kevin Witkos hosted the dedication ceremony on Saturday, December 7, 2013.[15]
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9781841764276.
- ^ a b c d Baldwin, Hanson (1966). "The Fall Of Corregidor". American Heritage. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ Bocksel, Arnold A. (1946). "The USAMP General George Harrison in the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bay" (PDF). Coast Artillery Journal. LXXXIX (November–December, 1946). United States Coast Artillery Association: 54. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ISBN 9780815410850.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Belote, James; Belote, William (1967). Corregidor. New York: Playboy Press Paperbacks. pp. 55, 62, 145–146, 164.
- ^ "Trout I (SS-202)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center. 1970.
- ^ Morton 1993, p. 529.
- ^ Morton, p. 536
- ^ Morton, p. 549
- ^ Morton, p. 548
- ISBN 0-07-030612-5
- ISBN 0870528777.
- ^ Morton, Louis (1953). The Fall of the Philippines. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army. pp. 552–561.
- ^ Kazumaro Uno, Corregidor: Isle of Delusion (Press Bureau, Imperial Japanese Army, GHQ, China, September 1942), p. 19
- ^ "Bataan Corregidor Bridge Dedication, Route 185". Simsbury Patch. December 10, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
References
- Belote, James H.; William M. Belote (1967). Corregidor: The Saga of a Fortress. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-010281-0.
- Berhow, Mark A.; Terrance C. McGovern (2003). American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898–1945 (Fortress). Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-427-2.
- Connaughton, Richard (2001). MacArthur and Defeat in the Philippines. New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 1-58567-118-5.
- Jackson, Charles; Bruce H. Norton (2003). I Am Alive!: A United States Marine's Story of Survival in a World war II Japanese POW Camp. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-345-44911-8.
- Morris, Eric (2000). Corregidor: The American Alamo of World War II. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 0-8154-1085-9.
- Morton, Louis (1993). The Fall of the Philippines. U.S. Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 5-2. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
- Schultz, Duane (1981). Hero of Bataan: The story of General Johnathan M Wainwright. St Martin's Press.
- Waldron, Ben; Emily Burneson (2006). Corregidor: From Paradise to Hell!. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1-4120-2109-X.
- Whitcomb, Edgar D.(1958). Escape from Corregidor. Chicago, H. Regnery Co.
Further reading
- The Fall of the Philippines Archived June 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine United States Army Center of Military History
- Hyperwar: The Siege and Capture of Corregidor