Subic Bay History
CHAPTER
SIX
WORLD WAR II
By mid-1940 Hitler had overrun Europe and Japanese troops were moving into French Indo-China. Diplomatic failure had led to a ban on oil shipments to Japan and abrogation of commercial treaties with the U.S. Although the Philippines was not the focal point of Japanese interest, it was highly unlikely that the Japanese would bypass the Islands on their way to oil-rich Indonesia. The United States Congress authorized funds to update the coastal defense of Vanila and Subic Bay but it was too little, too late.
President Roosevelt ordered the integration of military forces in the Philippines into the newly organized U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). General Douglas MacArthur, who had been serving as a military advisor to the Philippines was brought back on active duty with the rank of Lieutenant General and the title of Commander of the Combined Armed Forces in the Philippines and the Philippine Army.
In July 1941, the Dewey drydock, which had served at Subic Bay for 35 years, was towed to Mariveles harbor on the tip of the Bataan Peninsula. It was scuttled there on April 8, 1942 by docking officer Lieutenant C.J. Weschler and Engineer Jose Otero to prevent its falling into Japanese hands.
The Fourth Marine Regiment, guarding the legations in China, was ordered to withdraw to the Philippines. The forward echelon disembarked from the S.S. President Madison at Subic Bay early on the morning of November 1, 1941. The remainder of the regiment arrived on December 1st. The Marines found that temporary wooden barracks were being erected by about 500 Filipino workers. However, it was still necessary to put about half of the enlisted personnel in tents at the naval station and the rifle range.=
The men of the Fourth Marines were assigned to provide the landward defense of Subic Bay. Seward defenses included the guns at Fort Wint and a mine field laid off the entrance to the bay. Due to bad weather, inexperienced personnel and lack of mines, mine laying gear and spare parts, the integrity of the minefield was doubtful.
As the Marines built beach defenses, Consolidated PBY-4 Catalinas from Patrol Wing 10's VP-109 at Subic Bay were conducting almost daily patrols off Luzon responding to rumors of the Japanese approach. On December 11, 7 PBYs had just returned from patrol when Japanese Zeros appeared and began to strafe the aircraft. One Ensign was killed and all 7 PBYs went to the muddy bottom in the inner basin where they still rest today.
On December 14, 1941,
Japanese bombers darkened the skies over the bay and began a devastating
attack. A cock fighting
stadium in Olongapo, filled to capacity with a Sunday crowd of
Filipinos, was hit by a stick of bombs.
Marines and sailors of the station dug through the wreckage
looking for survivors. Few were found.
Not all enemy attacks came from the skies. Telephone and telegraph lines between Manila and Olongapo were sabotaged. All Japanese living in Olongapo were rounded up and turned over to the Provost-Marshall in Manila. Since the arrival of the Fourth Marines at Subic Bay, the priest of the local Catholic church had questioned them persistently on troop strength, defense plans and other sensitive matters. The Filipinos had also reported being questioned by the priest. The Marines became suspicious and a a thorough search-of the man's belongings was ordered. A shortwave radio was discovered. The battalion commander convened a hearing on the spot and the man broke down under questioning, admitting he was a member of the German-American Bund and an agent for Japanese Intelligence. The agent was taken to the back of the church and was shot by a Marine firing squad.
By December 24th, it was obvious that the situation at Subic Bay was hopeless and the order was given to destroy the station and withdraw. All building on the naval station were torched while the Filipinos burned the town of Olongapo.
soon all that remained was the old station ship, the ex-USS New York. She was towed into a deep part of the bay and scuttled. The Marines withdrew into Bataan and eventually to corriegidor where they made their last stand.
Fort Wint, under the command of Army Colonel Napoleon Boudreu, was evacuated on December 25th. All equipment and supplies were either removed or rendered useless. The reason for abandoning Fort Wint and who ordered it is one of the minor mysteries of the war. Various sources give conflicting accounts. In the opinion of the official investigation, whatever the reason for its evacuation "without a struggle gave the Japanese an important objective at no cost. The American garrison on Grande Island, even if it was ultimately lost, might well have paid substantial dividends and certainly would have given the Japanese many uncomfortable moments. From Fort Wint the Americans with their large guns could have disputed control of the bay and of Olongapo, which later became an important enemy supply base and would have constituted a threat to the flank of any Japanese force advancing down the west coast of Bataan."
Soldiers of the 14th Infantry Division, Japanese Imperial Army marched into Olongapo on January 10, 1942. Two days later the Japanese used native boats to seize Grande Island. The Subic Bay naval station was established with 4 companies of soldiers and 1 company of Kempetai, or military police.
Within a week of the Japanese occupation, American PT boats from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three at Cavite were ordered to attack a Japanese armored merchant ship shelling American positions from anchorage in Subic Bay. PTs 31 and 34 entered the bay separately, the 31 boat along the east shore and the 34 along the west shore. While dodging fire from Grande Island, PT 31 suffered an engine causality and grounded on a reef. She was abandoned by the crew and destroyed. PT 34 entered undetected and attacked, sinking a 5000 ton transport off-loading supplies. She was immediately taken under fire but managed to escape without damage.
PT 32 was next to go into action in Subic Bay. She attacked and hit a light cruiser on February 1st.
On February 17th, PT 34 made a final, unsuccessful attack at Subic Bay before the PT boats were ordered to leave the Philippines.
To protect their newly acquired harbor the Japanese garrisoned Fort Wint with antiaircraft guns and automatic weapons but no effort was made to repair the American guns or build new permanent fortification.
The Japanese ship building firm of Marati and Takimoto began constructing wooden auxiliary vessels at Subic Bay. Several hundred workers from occupied China and Formosa were brought in as laborers, in addition to about 1,000 Filipinos. Logs were cut in the jungle and brought by narrow-gauge railroad to 2 steam operated sawmills. Nine ships were built and shipped to Cavite for engine installation but they would never see service, all 9 were destroyed by U.S. Navy planes.
Of the few buildings left standing, the Catholic Church had withstood both the burning of the town by the Filipinos and the bombings of the Japanese. The Japanese stripped it of all religious articles and converted it into a motion picture theater. Later it was used to imprison Americans and Filipinos captured in the area. Those that died were buried behind the church in a small common cemetery. When all the prisoners had been transferred to Manila, the Japanese stabled their horses in the church.
The underground resistance in Zambales, headed by a native of Olongapo, Captain Edward S. "Ding" Johnson, started soon after the Japanese arrived. Lack of arms and ammunition reduced the guerrillas ability to mount any significant attacks. The Japanese warned that for every Japanese soldier killed, 10 prominent residents of the town would be decapitated. This horrifying threat, which no one doubted would be carried out, compelled the guerrillas to avoid the enemy. Unless attacked in their mountain strongholds they confined their activities to collecting stray weapons, tracking down Filipino spies, gathering intelligence and keeping in touch with the American officers in their refuge while waiting for General MacArthur's return.
As in most other places occupied by the Japanese the soldiers in Zambales were often bullying and merciless. In 1942, 52 suspected guerrillas, including the son and brother of Captain Johnson, were tortured then beheaded at Olongapo. Countless people-would be slapped for the slightest real -or perceived error, a practice particularly humiliating for the Filipinos.
The Japanese hold on the Philippines lasted for 3 years. On October 20, 1944, 4 Army divisions onboard a fleet of 650 U.S. Navy vessels landed at Palo, Leyte. MacArthur had returned.
As American forces pushed north, the Japanese began evacuating civilians and non-essential personnel from Manila. On December 13, 1944, the former Japanese luxury liner Oryoku Maru left Manila enroute Japan with 4 merchant ships. Suddenly fighters from the USS Hornet screamed down out of the sky. Japanese soldiers and civilians scrambled for cover as machine gunners on the deck of the Oryoku Maru desperately tried to fend off the attack. The attack lasted only minutes but left hundreds of Japanese dead or wounded. It was not until after the war that the real tragedy of the attack was known. Crammed below deck into 3 filthy, steaming holds were 1,619 American and Allied prisoners, Over 100 died in the attack that day.
The Oryoku Maru, severely damaged with a shattered steering gear, limped into Subic Bay. Throughout the night the Japanese civilians debarked while the prisoners passed a night of sickness and insanity below decks.
The quiet of the tropical sunrise was broken by shouts from the Japanese guards ordering the prisoners to come up on deck immediately. U.S. Navy planes had again found the Oryoku Maru. The Americans remembering the horror of the previous day's attack, raced across the deck, wildly waving their arms. As the pilots approached they suddenly recognized the white shapes as Americans and sharply pulled up, rocked their wings in recognition and flew off.
The 1,350 surviving Allied prisoners were now forced to strip and swim ashore where they were crowded into a fenced-in tennis court near the Spanish Gate.
Early the next morning 3 fighters appeared over the now abandoned and smouldering ship. The planes scored 2 direct hits and the Oryoku Maru burst in flames. After burning steadily for 2 hours she settled into the water about 100 yards off Alava pier.
When the planes had left the Japanese served the prisoners their first meal since leaving Manila 2 days before - 2 teaspoons of dry, raw rice. The water situation was desperate. There was only one facet from which the water trickled out so slowly that a prisoner was lucky if he managed one drink every 18 hours.
Roll call was taken each morning. Those that had died during the night were buried in an improvised cemetery next to the seawall.
After 4 days at Subic Bay, the prisoners continued their journey of agony, madness and death,, barely 450 reaching the labor camps of Japan.
The Oryoku Maru - christened the "Hell Ship" with the blood of the American prisoners - still rests where she went down 45 years ago. One of her guns was removed after the war and was placed in front of the American Legion post in Olongapo where it serves today as a memorial to the prisoners that died at Subic Bay. At the war crimes trials held after the Japanese surrender, the officer in charge of the Oryoku Maru’s prisoners, Lieutenant Junsaburo Toshiro, and his interpreter, Sergeant Shuske Wada, were sentenced to death. Other Japanese involved received long prison sentences.
By January, 1945, the Japanese had all but abandoned Subic Bay. The U.S. Fifth Air Force had dropped 175 tons of bombs on Grande Island evoking only light fire from the skeleton Japanese force manning the anti-aircraft guns. The commander of Japanese forces in the Philippines, General Tomoyoku Yamashita, had withdrawn his forces into defensive mountain positions and ordered Colonel Sanenbou Nagayoshi to block Highway 7 near Subic Bay. Colonel Nagayoshi deployed the majority of his troops - 2,750 - along Zig Zag Pass, 3 miles from Olongapo. They honeycombed every hill and knoll with a labyrinth of 200 caves linked by tunnels. They dug trenches and constructed over-70 log and dirt pillboxes. All the defenses were well camouflaged by thick jungle foliage.
On January 29th, 40,000 American troops of the 38th Division and 34th Regimental Combat Team poured ashore without resistance at San Antonio, Zambales, near the site of today's San Miguel Naval Communications Station. The column advanced toward Subic Bay, meeting their first resistance at the bridge spanning the Kalaklan River near the Olongapo Cemetery. Artillery was brought up and "it had been apparent since early afternoon that not much would be left of Olongapo ... billows of black smoke told that the Japs were burning what they couldn't hope to save or take with them. Since they had decided to try to hold the Kalaklan River bridge, certainly it seemed they'd make some effort to hold the town. Further indication of such an intent came from the 24th Calvary Recon. Aside from confirming the apparent attempt to destroy the town, they reported having located 100 to 150 Japs in Olongapo. So, American artillery started to do its usual thorough job... In the end the enemy evacuated and the 34th took over....”
Grande Island was taken the next day and Navy minesweepers began clearing the bay immediately. Engineers of the 38th Division remained in Olongapo and began to reactivate the naval station. Considerable quantities of lumber and other materials were recovered and used to repair bridges and buildings. The water system was repaired and beaches and streets cleared. LSTs were soon making dry-ramp landing near Subic Town, reducing road travel from the original landing site by 25 miles.
While the Army engineers were busy around Subic Bay, the remaining troops moved east along Route 7, planning to cross the base of Bataan to meet elements of the U.S. Army's 'XIV Corps moving west on the same road. on the morning of January 31, 1945, the Americans began climbing the jungled hills of Zig Zag Pass and into a veritable hornet's nest of Japanese.
In the first 3 days at Zig Zag Pass the U.S. 152nd had more casualties than during 78 days of combat in Leyte. General Henry L. C. Jones was relieved and the command given to General Roy W. Easley who used P-47s for air support. The planes began an intensive strafing and bombing program and dropped napalm on the Japanese positions.
After 15 days of fighting the enemy positions were finally overrun. The Japanese had succeeded in their mission to slow the American advance but the price had been heavy. More than 2,400 Japanese had been killed and 25 taken prisoner. American losses were over 1,400 killed.
Source: SUBIC BAY From Magellan to Mt. Pinatubo; by: Gerald R. Anderson; pp. 62-75
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