FORTRESS: A MILITARY HISTORY OF BLAKANG MATI ISLAND

Abstract

Fortified late in the last century, the island of Blakang Mati played a key role in the defence of British interests in Singapore by being the foremost bastion of southern coast defences from the closing decades of the nineteenth century to the fall of Singapore in 1942. This Academic Exercise explains the evolution of military works on Blakang Mati which transformed it into a colonial fortress and a lynch-pin of Singapore's seaward defence which lived-up to expectations. From the 1870s to the Second World War, cyclical changes in threat perception and technology constantly disrupted the Far East political and military status quo, forcing Britain to act to protect its interests in Singapore. Britain's response was largely determined by its prevailing imperial defence strategy and the evolving objectives of defending Singapore. Up to 1918, Blakang Mati was specifically developed to be the mainstay of defences for the harbour and town areas against a naval attack, especially since mainland defence works were found wanting in several respects. The harbour was not only commercially valuable for the lucrative trade it facilitated, but was also strategically significant as it was one of the navy's main coal depots in the Far East. With the development of the Sembawang naval base as part of Britain's grand strategy to protect its interests in the region during the inter-war years, Blakang Mati's defence works were fundamentally revised. Subsequently, its main objective was to prevent a naval bombardment of the base from its southern flank. Within this context, the following Academic Exercise aims to show that the Blakang Mati fortress was the key to the defence of Singapore's southern coasts since the last century.