Singapore's 15" Guns

Fall of Singapore
Written By John Casey

Singapore 15” land based naval gun

Gun Loacations as at December 1941 (Click to enlarge)

In 1927, the British Government commissioned a review of Singapore’s coastal defences. The review focused on the protection of the seaward approaches to the new naval base to be built in the north of Singapore on the Strait of Johore which separated Singapore and Malaya. As a result, several improvements were to be made to existing fort facilities and, as the centrepiece of the review, included the construction of two new gun batteries that would house land-based 15” naval guns. Three of the guns would be located in the east of Singapore at Changi and two in the south west at Buona Vista. These guns would provide an overlapping arc against large heavily armoured warships, with the smaller guns providing protection against ships and fast-moving torpedo type boats closer to shore. The 15” guns had the capability of propelling an 879 kilogram armour-piercing shell over a range of 34 kilometres.

In all, there would be 29 coastal guns (5 x 15” Guns, 6 x 9” Guns and 18 x 6” Guns), all facing seaward.

15” Gun, Johore Battery

At the time of the review, the location of possible enemy airfields given that aircraft range was limited combined with the poor road system in Malaya, deemed that a land-based attack on Singapore was extremely unlikely. However, all of the guns except for one 15” at the Changi Battery and the two 15” at the Buona Vista Battery, would be installed with a 290-degree firing arc enabling them to be turned landward if required. Construction of the new 15” gun batteries was slow and it wasn’t until a substantial donation by the Sultan of Johore, that the building of the batteries was completed. In recognition, the Changi Battery was renamed the Johore Battery.

With the fortifications and the additional 15” gun batteries, Singapore became referred to as “Fortress Singapore” and the “Gibralter of the East” which tended to give governments (including the Australian Government) an unrealistic confidence in the ability of the island’s defences, to ward off any would-be aggressor. Specifically, there were no fixed defences in the north of the island. Later, prior to the outbreak of WWII, when Prime Minster Churchill became aware of this situation, he stated that to have no defences in the north was like “launching a battleship without a bottom”. It was in 1937 that Colonel Arthur Percival (later Lieutenant- General, GOC Malaya), carried out a review on Singapore defences. He identified the greatly improved range of aircraft and improvement of the road system on the west coast of Malaya. His report noted that it was more likely that an attack on Singapore would come from the land side and not from the sea as originally expected. Unfortunately, this report was largely ignored by the British War Office back in London and no meaningful fixed defences were built in the north of Singapore. (As a footnote to this, when Percival became GOC Malaya, he did nothing to improve Singapore’s northern defences.)

Recreation of a 6” Gun Emplacement, Fort Siloso

The Japanese invaded Malaya on the 8th December 1941 and quickly made their way down the Malay Peninsula until on the 31st January 1942, the last of the allied soldiers retreated across the Strait of Johore to Singapore.

On the 5th and 7th February, using only armour-piercing shells, the two 15” guns of the Johore Battery that could be turned, were first brought into action against Japanese targets at Johore Bahru on the Malay side of the Strait of Johore. On the night of the 8th February, the Japanese launched their attacked on the west coast of Singapore. The following day, the Johore guns were used against the Japanese. Colonel Tsuji (Japanese Imperial Army) who developed the plans for the Japanese invasion of Malaya, recounted about coming under fire near Tengah Airfield, that these one tonne shells were coming in every few minutes leaving a crater about 15 metres in diameter and about 5 to 6 metres deep. The deafening roar of the shells overhead provided a morale boost to the allied soldiers. On the 11th February at Bukit Timah in the centre of Singapore, the use of the Johore guns enabled allied soldiers to make a successful break off after being trapped by the advancing Japanese.

But the use of the 15” guns had only limited effect due to:

Replica No. 2 15” Gun at the Johore Battery

1) Poor communications made observation of fire (bringing onto target) difficult,

2) The location of the batteries, although suitable for seaward targets, was not suitable for land-based targets as the field of view inland was limited,

3) The batteries were supplied with armour-piercing shells which had limited capabilities against land-based targets.

The Buona Vista Battery was captured by the Japanese on the 10th February without firing a shot in anger. The Johore Battery was destroyed and abandoned on the 12th February.

The allies surrendered to the Japanese on the 15th February.

Of the smaller coastal defence guns, the 6” guns at the Pasir Laba Battery on the west coast, combined with the 6” guns at the Sphynx Battery and the 9” guns at Tekong Battery on the north-east coast, were immediately used to support the Australian and Indian forces when the Japanese landed on Singapore. However, after sustaining substantial damage from shelling by Japanese artillery and bombing by Japanese aircraft, the Pasir Laba Battery was abandoned only a day after the invasion. The other guns continued to bombard targets along the north and centre of the island until the order was given to destroy and abandon the batteries.

9”Gun, Connaught Battery

Some of the 6” guns around Keppel (Singapore) Harbour and Sentosa Island, had a screen added at the rear of the gun prior to the war to protect the gunners. This had the effect of restricting their ability to turn fully, resulting in a limited use on land-based targets. The 9” guns at the Connaught Battery on the eastern end of Sentosa Island, were used to moderate effect on targets in the centre regions of Singapore. But as with most of the guns, they were destroyed by the allies before the surrender to the Japanese.

John Casey
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