The Coastline of Corregidor - Part 1 (Western end)

[fots2]

Its time for a boat ride and a walk on the beaches. I thought some of you may be interested in a break from only the remnants of war and give you some scenic views of the coastline of Corregidor Island. If you ignore the history for a moment you will see a beautiful island there today.



Corregidor Island looking north west.


I will break up the photos into east and west sections starting with the west. Bottomside will be the start and end points. We will depart from the North Dock and return via the South Dock.



View of Bottomside looking north west.



Departing the North Dock. (Ignore the floating garbage; it is a gift from Manila)


Heading west, the coast line is fairly straight with a couple turns to the left. These turns are actually Battery Point and Morrison Point but rather than distinctive points, they are more like just changes in course.



From the North Dock straight to Battery Point then turn left. Note the Sun Cruises day tour boat at the North Dock. Bataan province is in the distance.



Approaching Morrison Point.


The first sort of landmark you see is James Ravine. This area is littered with caves and tunnels, a concrete water tank, concrete foundations, a road bridge and defensive positions etc. Fierce fighting took place here in 1945.



Early morning view of James Ravine. It looks like there is nothing to see here but the vegetation is deceiving.



Photo from James Ravine looking further along the coast. Small islands are quite scenic as you pass around the cliffs at the western tip of the island. Here you can see Rock Point with La Monja Island in the distance.



Approaching Rock Point with Conchita Island in the distance.



Approaching Rock Point with Conchita Island in the distance.


Next we come to Conchita Island. This island is actually just a large chunk of rock protruding from the ocean.



Sea level view of Conchita Island.


From sea level it looks like there is nothing of interest there but on it is one of Corregidor's defensive positions constructed between 1917 and 1919. This one was named X-M-3. (Sector 10, Machine guns, Emplacement #3). Sectors counted from east to west. Thanks to batteryboy and mapmaster for clarifying those designations. FYI, Rock Point had the X-M-2 position but I have never seen it.



Looking down to Conchita Island at the two machine gun positions.


Conchita Island is just offshore from the western cliffs of Corregidor Island. This area is called Cape Corregidor. Of interest here is the view of what we call the 'veranda'. This is actually part of a 3 inch gun block that due to erosion now sits partially hanging over the cliff. The old designation of the positions up there was X-F-1 and X-F-2 (Sector 10, Field guns, Emplacement #1 and #2). X-F-2 later became known as Battery Hanna.



View up the cliffs with the veranda at the top (x3 zoom)



View of the 3 inch gun block (the veranda).


Now look over the edge!!!



View straight down from the veranda.



Before reaching Cheney Ravine, here is a view looking back towards Conchita Island. Mount Mariveles (extinct volcano) on the province of Bataan is in the distance.


Now we arrive at Cheney Ravine. Of interest here is SMSH #8 (Strategic Material Store House #8), Searchlight #3 and remnants of defensive positions.



Looking into Cheney Ravine.



View from the SMSH #8 cliff-side tunnel entrance across the beach at Cheney Ravine towards Bataan.



In the opposite direction, a view of the cliffs south of Cheney Ravine.


Continuing on, Wheeler Point is next. This section of Corregidor's coastline is continuous steep cliffs with narrow rocky beaches at the bottom.



View showing the steep cliffs in this area. Battery Cheney is to the left and Wheeler Point is bottom right.



Early morning view of Wheeler Point. Battery Monja's casemate for the 155mm gun and associated tunnel/magazine are totally obscured by the vegetation. It is located roughly where the horizontal part meets the steeply sloped part.



Next you come to Unknown Point (bottom) and Searchlight Point (top). This view is taken from the top of the cliffs close to Battery Cheney. Cavite province is in the distance. Note the two Japanese caves dug into the side of Unknown Point. They do not go in very far.



These three points are very close together so I will show them all on one photo. To the left is Wheeler Point. To the right is Searchlight Point. The one in the middle is un-named on most maps. One map shows it labeled 'Unknown Point'. Battery Cheney can be seen at the top left.


Past these three points, the coastline takes an 'S' shaped turn to reach Geary Point.



Geary Point is at the far right.


Quite a ways past Geary Point is a little bump in the coastline called Breakwater Point. Lots of old defenses and structures are here and also at Government Ravine just beside it. A little further is Ramsay Ravine. Government and Ramsay Ravines are hardly visible from a boat and only a dip in the tree tops give you an indication of the hidden ravines.



View of the Government and Ramsay Ravine coastline looking back at them from Bottomside south. The South Dock is in the foreground.


The tour is over. Report to MacArthur's Cafe for cold San Miguels.

[Deleted]

fots2,
As usual this is GREAT photography! I especially liked the fine mix of sea level and shots from above. And we can't forget the naration.

I am just amazed every time I look at your photo series.

I'm waiting with baited breath for the next group!

Thanks,
John

[okla]

hey fots....enjoyed another fantastic fots foto tour. you keep outdoing yourself. it is obvious that you do possess a real knack for the camera (understatement of the year). i especially liked the shot of corregidor showing the whole island looking toward the south china sea. the "rock" is certainly a unique place, even its geological shape. this particular view emphasizes the peculiar "tadpole" shape that corregidor is renowned for. looking forward to part II. postscript....i experienced a slight wave of nausea when viewing the "straight down" view from the veranda.

[fots2]

Tinkfixer and okla, thank-you for the comments. Actually it is hard to take a really bad photo of this island. Natural beauty is everywhere.

Maps are great but I decided to post these photos to show you what this area actually looks like.

Okla, you can show your wife that there is more to Corregidor than big guns.

Part 2 will be posted in a few days. Many people have told me that the east end is not so interesting. Hopefully you will see that it is.

[okla]

hey fots...you betcha the eastern portion of corregidor is interesting, or should be to folks. after all, that is where all the infantry fighting took place in 1942. topside, with the mile long barracks, "big guns", and other ruins, etc are very interesting, but the landing beaches, water tank hill, kindley field area (with some imagination, which i probably have too much of) should be of as much interest. looking forward to seeing where ray lawrence and his scouts took such a heavy toll of japanese infantry.

[fots2]

Hi okla,

Since the two locations you mentioned are inland from the coast, I’ll give you a few photos of them now.



This is the old fresh water tank at the top of Water Tank Hill. When going to Battery Denver area I find that the walking is easiest to go from the road up to the tank and then east along the ridge top. With no trees around, the top of the tank would be a very exposed position.




The original tank’s roof is gone and the walls are damaged. Note that a small post war concrete tank has been built inside the old tank and a pipe has been laid down the southern side of the ridge.





View of Kindley Field looking west taken about 2/3 of the way down the runway




Each end of the runway has concrete pads however most of it is grass. This photo was taken near the western end of the runway looking west. Malinta Hill can be seen in the distance and the rest of the island past that.




This photo was taken at the eastern end of the runway looking west.




Aerial view of the locations we are talking about. I labeled a few interior places and I will cover the coastline when I post Trip #2.

[okla]

hey fots...thanks for a preview of the next fantastic fots foto tour. years ago a guide/narrator,etc at the custer battlefield national battlefield in montana told me that "ghosts literally walk at midday" at the little bighorn battlefield. the same can certainly be said about corregidor, in my humble, especially when one gets away from the san miguel watering hole (no knock on san miguel. i had a friend who was stationed at subic for 36 months with the CeeBees and he generally kept an adequate supply of the cerveza from the import beverage company in his home town. i was allowed to sample a few at his discretion. this guy, in his navy tour, never visited corregidor nor bataan. can you imagine?). i read somewhere that during the 1942 fighting two "old salt marine NCOs held forth atop the water tank, throwing hand grenades at the japanese as they fought their way toward malinta. of course, both were KIA and the bodies found a couple of days after the surrender. also, when the enemy pierced the shore defense line and came out on kindley they turned their attention toward the american/filipino defenders to the west and left their rearends totally exposed to the corregidor troops defending the eastern portion of the island. it was said that these troops, if better led and equipped, could have played havoc with a counter attack on the rear flank of the westward attacking nips. kinda similar to the situation on wake island. the marines on the wilkes portion of the wake island group had totally whipped the invaders and were moving eastward toward wake island proper when here comes colonel devereaux with a white flag. the wilkes group couldnt believe their eyes and ears when told to drop their weapons. it would seem that both surrenders were somewhat premature although the final result would have been the same. genl wainwright and colonel devereaux both probably did the correct thing as far as saving american (and filipinos on the rock) lives. aint hindsight great? kindley field, i understand, was originally a baloon base. i guess if you let an observation baloon rise to its maximum height an artillery observer could see almost to singapore. lol. seriously, it would have been most difficult to approach the entrance of manila bay with the batteries receiving gunnery coordinates,etc from high above the bastion. with the addition of light aircraft for expanding search patterns being flown northwest, west and south west from kindley? or maybe from fields near manila, you would think things were in great shape and i guess they were in the 1920s and early 1930s. with the minefields, being the final touch, the folks manning the forts probably slept pretty soundly during those pre-war years.

[fots2]

Interesting comments there okla. Imagine if there had been an effective counter-attack coming from east of Kindley Field in addition to the fighting to the west. As you say, the end result would have been the same later on but history would read a little differently today.


Map of the 1942 Japanese Invasion



On the 1921 map there are two large Balloon Hangars just to the west of what became Kindley Field.



Part of the writing on the 192? photo says from Officer’s Quarters and we can see the ocean to the left. There was a row of Officer’s Quarters further west so this photo would have been taken from near them looking east toward one of the hangars. Part of the coast between Infantry and Cavalry Points is visible. The long building with all the windows to the left is a fabric and carpenter shop.

I don’t see any trace of Kindley Field in the background. A quick search on the net says Kindley Field was constructed in the early 1920s so it may not have existed when this photo was taken.

The 1932 map shows the two hangars are still there but now labeled as Storehouses. Perhaps balloons had been removed from Corregidor by then.

[okla]

hey fots....the baloon facilities on corregidor were'nt exactly up to the later lakehurst, new jersey standards, but they served their purpose of spotting enemy ships that never came. in the days before radar and extensive use of recon aircraft the people on "the rock" didnt know what might be lurking just over the horizon and the baloon squadron (for lack of a better word) served its purpose. looking forward to part II of the fots fantastic foto tour of the eastern portion of the "gibraltar of the east".

[fots2]

Two weeks ago we rented a boat to go explore some locations which are quite difficult to reach via land. Here are a few more coastline photos I took while visiting Battery Monja, Searchlight #4 and Searchlight #5.




Aerial view of the four points mentioned in this post. From left to right is Wheeler Point, No Name (or Unnamed) Point, Searchlight Point and Geary Point.



Approaching our destination for today. From left to right is Wheeler Point, No Name Point and Searchlight Point.



Rocky beach view of Wheeler Point looking in a westerly direction. Searchlight #4 is located on top of the point just inland from the south cliff. Battery Monja is located up the steep hill to the right. Both require some effort to get to. Straight ahead is one of the Japanese caves that housed a Shinyo suicide boat.



At No Name Point looking towards Searchlight Point.



Searchlight Point



Another view of Searchlight Point. The bare rock cliff area towards the left is what is erroneously called “Suicide Cliff”.



The rocky beach at Searchlight Point.



By going up the low area in the middle of the photo, Searchlight Point is relatively easy to climb even though the grasses at the top of the ridge are over my head at times. Searchlight #5 is on the point to the left. Note the recent landslide to the right which has taken out a portion of the old South Shore Road.



From Searchlight Point, No Name Point (in the foreground) and Wheeler Point are clearly visible.



From Searchlight Point to No Name Point. Suicide Cliff can bee seen again.



View from Searchlight Point further east along the southern coast of Corregidor. Geary Point can be seen in the distance with Caballo Island (Fort Hughes) to the far right.